Lesson 73 Notes

CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
In this edition:
listening
practice; using
the future
tense
Lesson 73
Notes
Lo pasaremos bien
We will have a great time
Programme Notes
Coffee Break Spanish notes guide you through the content of each lesson. Lesson 73 continues the
series of lessons featuring conversations between Andrew and María-José. This week Andrew is
preparing a piece of work for his Spanish class in which he has to talk about birthdays. María-José
finds out Andrew’s birthday is approaching and they talk about how he plans to celebrate his
birthday.
.
Conversation
Andrew
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
María-José
Mi cumpleaños es el 18 de marzo
Andrew
Y dime, para celebrar tu cumpleaños, ¿qué te gusta hacer?
María-José
Normalmente me gusta ver a mi familia y a mis amigos. Comemos mucha tarta
de cumpleaños y después abro mis regalos.
Andrew
Tu último cumpleaños, ¿qué recibiste como regalo?
María-José
Recibí un CD, unos zapatos, un libro y dos entradas al teatro.
Andrew
¡Qué bien!
María-José
Ahora tú. ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
Andrew
Mi cumpleaños es la semana que viene. Es el 20 de agosto.
María-José
¡Qué bien! ¿Y qué vas a hacer?
Andrew
Voy a celebrar mi cumpleaños con mis dos amigos. No tenemos clase y por eso
vamos a ir a la playa.
María-José
Oye. Hará mucho calor, ¿sabes?
Andrew
Sí, lo sé. Pero lo pasaremos muy bien. ¿Quieres venir tú también?
María-José
Lo siento. La semana que viene estaré en Sevilla para la boda de mi prima.
Andrew
Pues, quizás otro día.
María-José
Sí. Volveré el sábado que es el día 23, así que podremos ir a la playa juntos el
domingo.
Andrew
¡Perfecto!
The following language notes should help you get more out of the conversation and will outline
any difficult or noteworthy points of grammar and vocabulary covered.
Language notes
el cumpleaños
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 73
birthday
page 1
Language notes
cumplir
to complete, reach, attain
Note that cumplir is often used
when talking about birthdays:
mañana cumplo 16 años “tomorrow I’ll be 16 years old”
la tarta de cumpleaños
birthday cake
In Latin America the word torta
is more common
¿qué recibiste?
what did you receive/get?
In this question, recibir is in the
preterite tense
una entrada
entrance, ticket
Literally la entrada is “the
entrance”. In this context it is
used to mean the entry ticket
to the theatre
ahora tú
now it’s your turn
Also, te toca a tí which is
commonly used when playing
games.
la semana que viene
next week
literally, “the week that comes”
hará mucho calor
it will be very hot
Future tense of hacer - see
below for further information
on the future tense
lo sé
I know (it)
Note that it’s normal to use lo
in this construction - in
Spanish it’s more natural to
say “I know it”
la boda
the wedding, marriage
el primo, la prima
cousin
quizás. quizá
perhaps
juntos / juntas
together
Formation of the future tense
Until now we have used either the present tense or the ‘immediate future’ to talk about the events
which are happening in the future:
mañana voy al mercado
tomorrow I’m going to the market
la semana que viene vamos a ir al cine
next week we’re going to go to the cinema
There is, however, a future tense in Spanish which is very easy to form and to use. The key element
of this tense is what is referred to as the “future stem”, and a set of easily-learned endings are
added to this future stem.
For regular verbs, the future stem is the same as the infinitive:
The future stem of regular verbs
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 73
cantar
cantar-
beber
beber-
vivir
vivirpage 2
The great news is that the endings for the future tense are the same for all verbs, including the
verbs which have irregular future stems! The endings are listed below:
Future tense: endings
(yo) -é
(nosotros) -emos
(tú) -ás
(vosotros) -éis
(él, ella, usted) -á
(ellos, ellas, ustedes) -án
To help you visualise regular verbs correctly in the future tense, here are the full conjugations of
cantar, beber and vivir. In each case, the endings listed above are added to the future stem. Remember
that for regular verbs, the future stem is the same as the infinitive.
cantar - to sing (FUTURE)
cantaré
cantaremos
cantarás
cantaréis
cantará
cantarán
beber - to drink (FUTURE)
beberé
beberemos
beberás
beberéis
beberá
beberán
vivir - to live (FUTURE)
viviré
viviremos
vivirás
viviréis
vivirá
vivirán
There are a number of common verbs which have ‘irregular future stems’. Note, however, that this
is the only irregular aspect of these verbs: once you know the future stem of any verb, the endings
remain exactly the same as those listed above. The table below provides some common verbs
which have irregular future stems.
Common verbs with irregular future stems
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 73
Spanish
English
Irregular future stem
decir
to say
dir-
hacer
to make, to do
har-
querer
to want, to love
querrpage 3
poder
to be able
podr-
poner
to put
pondr-
saber
to know
sabr-
salir
to go out, to leave
saldr-
tener
to have
tendr-
venir
to come
vendr-
Remember: although these verbs are seen as irregular in the future tense, they all have the same
endings. Consider hacer and tener below as examples:
hacer - to do/make (FUTURE)
haré
haremos
harás
haréis
hará
harán
tener - to have (FUTURE
tendré
tendremos
tendrás
tendréis
tendrá
tendrán
Test yourself
The bonus podcast exercise for this lesson will test your understanding of the future tense which
has been introduced in this lesson.
English
Spanish
1
We will speak in Spanish together
hablaremos en español juntos
2
They will sing a song for you
cantarán una canción para ti/usted/
vosotros/ustedes
3
Will you live in Guatemala? (tú)
¿Vivirás en Guatemala?
4
He will open the window
Abrirá la ventana
5
We will sell the house next week
Venderemos la casa la semana que viene
6
They will arrive tomorrow
Llegarán mañana
7
I’ll be able to do it tomorrow
Lo podré hacer mañana / Podré hacerlo
mañana
8
You will know what you will have to do
(that which...)
Sabrás lo que tendrás que hacer
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 73
page 4