Mrs. Harris Wants to Go to the Market

22.1 Basic Sentences — Mrs. Harris Wants to Go to the Market

Carmen and Mrs. Harris are having a telephone conversation about going to the market together.

Dialog

English	Spanish
How’s everything going around your house?	¿Cómo sigue todo por su casa, señora?
Very well, even though I’m extremely busy.	Muy bien, aunque yo estoy ocupadísima.
Forgive me for calling you so early.	Perdone que la llame tan temprano.
On the contrary, I’m glad you did. I was just going to call you.	Al contrario, me alegro mucho. Yo iba a llamarla ahora mismo.
Is something the matter?	¿Tiene algún problema?
Yes. This business of the prices in the market is driving me insane.	Sí. Esto de los precios en el mercado me vuelve loca.
Oh, yes. That is a mess.	Ah, sí. Eso es algo terrible.
If you like, we can leave the other shopping for this afternoon and go to the market now.	Si quiere, dejamos lo de las tiendas para la tarde y vamos al mercado ahora.
Then can you go with me?	Entonces, ¿puede acompañarme?
Of course, and that way I’ll show you where there’s a very good one.	Por supuesto, y así le enseñaré dónde hay uno muy bueno.
Thanks a lot. What time shall I come by for you?	Muchas gracias. ¿A qué hora paso por usted?
I’ll be dressed in half an hour.	Yo en media hora me visto.
Good. I’ll say goodbye, then. So long.	Bueno, me despido, entonces. Hasta luego.

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22.10 Notes on the Basic Sentences

(1) Considering its literal meaning, the English speaker is apt to be somewhat surprised at the variety and extent of usage seguir has by comparison with English. Besides the meaning that appears in this basic sentence, there is also the meaning “Keep on going,” both literally (as in the sign on doors of business establishments in Bogotá, meaning “Come right in”) and figuratively (as in the admonition heard when one hesitates in the middle of an anecdote, meaning “Go on, please”). Still another meaning appears in a sentence like Usted sigue, señor (“You’re next, sir”).

(2) The form llame is a present subjunctive, 1 sg. The form will be introduced in Unit 36, and this particular usage (in a noun clause) in Unit 37. It is perhaps worth noting, this far in advance, that the form of the present subjunctive 1-3 sg is identical with the singular of the polite command, which will be taken up in Unit 27 but which is already to be seen in a form like perdone from perdonar in this same sentence.

(3) Without any special point having been made of it, the periphrastic future has been used several times in the dialogs. Here, however, is an example of the past tense of the same construction: note that it appears in Past II, not in Past I.

(4) It is worthy of note that English cannot use “this” and “that” with the same degree of nominal status as can Spanish: English permits “This is driving me insane” but not “This of the markets is driving me insane.” English must have a busy-word which merely serves to nominalize the form: “This business about…” or “This matter of…”

(5) The construction lo de las tiendas is taken as the basis for Variation Drill C later in this unit.

(6) This is an example of future tense, which will not be fully examined until Unit 53. Study of it is postponed not because of any special difficulty, but because it is relatively infrequent and unimportant.

(7) Note this use of simple present tense paso in a context that requires it to be interpreted with future meaning. This is one reason why future tense itself is so rare: present is used instead.

(8) Here, in me visto, is another example of the matter discussed under #7 above.

(9) Still another. It’s no wonder the future tense can be postponed.

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22.2 Drills and Grammar

22.21.1 Present tense irregular verbs — Stem vowel changing

In certain irregular verbs the last stem vowel changes in some present tense forms to a diphthong or another vowel. This change occurs whenever strong stress falls on the stem — that is, in all sg and 2-3 pl forms, but not 1 pl.

Change	Sample verb	Stressed stem	Unstressed stem
o → ué	poder	puéd-	pod-
e → ié	querer	quiér-	quer-
e → í	seguir	síg-	seg-

Only verbs with /o/ or /e/ in their stems can change in this pattern, though not all do. Verbs from all theme classes may show o → ué or e → ié changes, but only -ir verbs show an e → í change.

Full conjugation examples

	poder (o → ué)	querer (e → ié)	seguir (e → í)
yo	puedo	quiero	sigo
tú	puedes	quieres	sigues
él/Ud.	puede	quiere	sigue
nosotros	podemos	queremos	seguimos
ellos/Uds.	pueden	quieren	siguen

Verbs following this pattern (presented so far)

o → ué: almorzar (almuerza), volar (vuela), volver (vuelve), encontrar (encuentra), costar (cuesta), llover (llueve), poder (puede), probar (prueba), recordar (recuerda)

e → ié: atender (atiende), querer (quiere), pensar (piensa), sentar (sienta), sentir (siente), cerrar (cierra)

e → í: vestir (viste), despedir (despide), repetir (repite), seguir (sigue)

Translation drill

English	Spanish
We can’t eat lunch now.	No podemos almorzar ahora.
She doesn’t want to go.	Ella no quiere ir.
What do you think?	¿Qué piensa Ud.?
I don’t remember anything.	Yo no recuerdo nada.
We plan to go afterwards.	Pensamos ir después.
We want to send some suits to the cleaners.	Queremos mandar unos trajes a la tintorería.
We’re getting along fine.	Seguimos muy bien.
How’re you getting along?	¿Cómo sigue Ud.?
What time do we start to work?	¿A qué hora empezamos a trabajar?
What time do you start?	¿A qué hora empieza Ud.?
Don’t you remember?	¿No recuerda?
Are you all coming back tomorrow?	¿Vuelven Uds. mañana?
No, we aren’t coming back.	No, no volvemos.
What time do they close the Foreign Office?	¿A qué hora cierran el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores?
The colonel doesn’t fly in that squadron.	El coronel no vuela en ese escuadrón.

22.21.2 Statement intonation patterns — Sentence modifiers

In Spanish, sentence modifiers following a sentence (vocatives, terms of address) are usually a separate phrase on pitch level /1/ with a final falling intonation. This contrasts with the English pattern, which tends to keep the modifier on a rising /222↑/ pattern.

Using the English rising pattern on sentence modifiers in Spanish sounds strange and inappropriate, suggesting something akin to effeminacy in a man, or the kind of subservient tone a soldier uses to address an officer.

Translation drill — Sentence modifiers

English	Spanish
Good morning, gentlemen.	Buenos días, señores.
Good afternoon, ladies.	Buenas tardes, señoras.
Good evening, Miss.	Buenas noches, señorita.
Good morning, Mr. Molina.	Buenos días, señor Molina.
Come on in, Mr. Molina.	Pase adelante, señor Molina.
Come in, Miss García.	Pase, señorita García.
Come in, Mrs. García.	Adelante, señora García.
All right, Miss González.	Está bien, señorita González.
Of course, Louise.	Por supuesto, Luisa.
I can’t now, Carmen.	Ahora no puedo, Carmen.
Same here, thanks.	Igualmente, gracias.
Yes, Mr. Molina.	Sí, señor Molina.
No, thanks.	No, gracias.
I’m sorry, John.	Lo siento, Juan.
Don’t mention it, Colonel.	De nada, Coronel.

22.24 Review drill — Theme class in Past I tense forms

English	Spanish
They came down, but they didn’t go up.	Bajaron, pero no subieron.
I came down, but I didn’t go up.	Bajé, pero no subí.
He called, but he didn’t go out.	Llamó, pero no salió.
I called, but I didn’t go out.	Llamé, pero no salí.
We called, but we didn’t go out.	Llamamos, pero no salimos.
She washed, but she didn’t sweep.	Lavó, pero no barrió.
I washed, but I didn’t sweep.	Lavé, pero no barrí.
We washed, but we didn’t sweep.	Lavamos, pero no barrimos.
I worked, but I didn’t live there.	Trabajé, pero no viví allí.
We worked, but we didn’t live there.	Trabajamos, pero no vivimos allí.
They worked, but they didn’t live there.	Trabajaron, pero no vivieron allí.

Note: The full drills and practice exercises are designed for oral work with the audio recordings. Open the Student Text PDF for the complete drill sets.

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22.4 Reading — Jane and Ruth

The reading selection continues the Robinson-Fuentes evening visit. It is nearly ten o’clock and everyone is chatting peacefully in the living room when a noise is heard in the kitchen. Virginia is alarmed — it sounded like plates falling. Fred jokes that it’s probably the rats, which infuriates Virginia, who recalls the night he refused to investigate a noise and they ended up losing their brand-new $300 television set. Fred goes to check and returns with the real culprits: their two young daughters, Jane and Ruth, who were in the kitchen and dropped some plates while washing them. Virginia calls the girls out, and the Fuentes are charmed by the two precious little girls in their pajamas, who converse politely in Spanish — a language their mother had insisted on teaching them since they were very small.