THE THREE ESSENTIALS: ESSENTIAL 3, THE FUTURE

The third of the 3 Essentials - after the Present and the Past - is talking about the future. You will definitely get asked questions that force you to speak in the future.

The easiest way to talk about the future is by using the verb Ir with a and the infinitive...

Ir + a + infinitive

Voy a visitar a mis abuelos mañana.
Vamos a estudiar mucho este fin de semana.
Jorge va a ir de vacaciones a Francia.

More practice here...

You also need to vary the expressions you use. You may be asked about your plans for the future...

¿Qué planes tienes para el año que viene?

Espero..... Quiero..... Me gustaría..... Pienso (I intend to..) Voy a......

ir/ estudiar/ trabajar/ ser/ viajar.....

All of these expressions are used with the infinitive.

You can use the same expressions for the other likely questions you will get about he future...

¿Qué vas a hacer este fin de semana?

¿Qué vas a hacer este verano?

¿En qué quieres trabajar en el futuro?

For a full breakdown on talking about the future, check out this guide....

LEAVING CERT ORAL, ROLE PLAY 3

ROLE PLAY 3, EL HOTEL

In this role play, you are staying in a hotel in Alicante. You have booked a room with a view, but have been given one looking on to a courtyard. You complain to reception.

Some useful expressions here are....

acabo de llegar - I have just arrived

una terraza - a balcony

da a - it looks on to..

insatisfactorio - unsatisfactory

una mala evaluación - a bad review

decepcionado/a - disappointed

lujoso - luxurious

el último piso - the top floor

As always, it is easier to learn the individual expressions, and then put them together when learning the whole role play.

For a full guide to Role Play 3, check out all the necessary expressions here.

LEAVING CERT ORAL ESSENTIALS - ESSENTIAL 2, THE PRETERITE

The second "essential" that you will get asked in the oral exam is the Preterite, in other words, talking about the past.

You may get asked about last weekend - ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana pasado?

Or last summer - ¿Qué hiciste el verano pasado?

Or for your last birthday - ¿Qué hiciste para tu último cumpleaños?

Or last night - ¿Qué hiciste anoche?

So it is important to know how to form the Preterite tense in Spanish, to enable you to talk about the past. As usual, it is about learning endings.

AR verbs - HABLAR - Hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron

So the endings are.... é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron

ER/IR verbs - COMER - comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron.

í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron.

There are also some common irregular verbs

Ser - fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron

Ir is the same as Ser in the Preterite

Tener - tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron

Hacer - hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron

For a full breakdown on the possible questions you can be asked in the Preterite, and some sample answers, check out this guide...

ROLE PLAY 2: EL CURSO

In the second role play, you are given the part of someone who has booked a place on a Spanish course. Unfortunately, you have broken your ankle, and cannot take your place on the course. You phone the language school to try and get your deposit back.

Full list of expressions for this role play here

A couple of words and expressions of note here...

to attend - asistir 
Note that "asistir" is a False Friend, asistir does not mean "to assist" here

I have broken my ankle - Me he roto el tobillo 
In English, when we talk about parts of our body, we use the possessive - "my hand," "his finger" etc. In Spanish we do not do this, we only talk about "la mano", "el dedo" etc. Instead, we make the verb reflexive... - me he roto...

The subjunctive...

There are two uses of the subjunctive in this role play. 
1. "Is there any way that you can return the deposit?" - ¿Es posible que ustedes puedan devolver...?
After "Es posible que..." we need the subjunctive - "puedan"

2. "I cannot afford..." - There is no direct translation of "afford" in Spanish, so we have to rephrase the sentence...
- No tengo tanto dinero que pueda perder ciento cincuenta euros - Literally, "I don't have so much money that I can lose one hundred and fifty euros,"
After the negative, "no tengo tanto dinero que.." we need the subjunctive.

Full list of expressions here

WELCOME! ¡BIENVENIDOS!

Welcome, y bienvenidos, to Spanish Grinds Online, a new website designed specifically to help those people who are studying for the Irish Junior and Leaving certificates in Spanish. 

The emphasis at first will be on the Leaving cert oral exam, which is coming up in just over two months, but in the coming weeks we will be adding useful information for all second level students of Spanish. 

To contact us, email spanishgrindsonline@gmail.com with any queries or questions.