Monday, January 27, 2014

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

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