BellaOnline Forums Education Spanish Language SPANISH READING BOOK - June '05 Book.

�Hola a todos!

This month's book is The ugly duckling - El patito feo. If you want to read more about it or just want to buy the book, here's the link:

The ugly duckling / El patito feo (A bilingual book)

For those who have the book, I think we could start by reading the first 2 pages (note that there are no numbers, so the first page is the one begining with "I was summer... / Era verano...)

This is a tale, so we'll have the opportunity of getting used to Spanish past tenses!

So please, read pages 1 and 2 and send you comments (or questions!).

Hope to hear soon from you!

�Hola!

There is a sentence is page "1" (the one starting with 'Era verano...'):

"El trigo estaba dorado, y la avena, verde"

Do any of you know if we can change the verb "estaba" to "era"? Would the this sentence keep the same meaning?

Clue: Read The verb Estar

I will be receiving my copy of the book sometime this week.

No problem, Gerg, as the book is not too long and I think we'll have time enough! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Is it is condition of the wheat which requires estaba and not era? There are so many slight variations in the use of the verg.

Estaba is used also in Hac�a tanto estaba incubando. It translates into a much longer sentence then it appears. Please explain.

(Also change does to do....)

a abrirse = to hatch
abrir = to open

explain a�ad�an maravillados
explain todav� no se hab�a roto
explain del corral

Yes, there are a lot of variations!

And note that you're close to the answer. "Ser" denotes 'permanent state' and "estar", on the contrary, 'non-permanent states'. So, if the sentence says that "El trigo estaba dorado..." we understand that at that concrete moment, wheat was golden, but it isn't a permanent state, as i.e. some days before, wheat could have other color.

"�Hac�a tanto tiempo que estaba incubando!" appears as "She had been waiting for a long time for her eggs to hatch".

Sometimes some expressions in certain languages do not have an exact translation, and we must use the most approximate terms. This is the case of "Hace tiempo..." In this case, it's an impersonal sentence, and it means "a long time ago" or "for a long time"; That's why the sentence has been translated as "She had been waiting for a long time".

Ok, the translation is not exactly the same, as in English, it says that she has been waiting for a long time, but in Spanish is says that she had been 'incubating' the eggs for a long time. The verb 'incubar' refers to the action of sitting on the eggs, heating them until they crash.

So, this is why the Spanish sentence corresponds to a long English one.

Hope this helps!

The book says: "Finalmente los huevos empezaron a abrirse" and the English sentence is: "Finally, the eggs started to crack open".

So, according to this, "a abrirse" corresponds to "to crack open", as "hatch" is "to incubate". And yes, "abrir", is "to open", but we also have "abrirse", a reflexive verb.

-->"a�ad�an maravillados" it is translated in the book as "amazed, they added"; the literal translation for the Spanish part would be something like: "they added, amazed".

--> "todav�a no se hab�a roto". Yes, in page '2', it says; 'one of the the eggs hadn't hatched yet". So, there is still a confussion between "to hatch", "incubar", and "abrirse". The literal translation for this in Spanish is: 'uno de los huevos todav�a no se hab�a incubado' but they translate this verb as "romper", not as "incubar".

From my point of view, I'd translate the Spanish sentence as 'one of the eggs hadn't cracked open yet'.

--> del corral = Yes, this has been ommited in English. 'Del corral' means 'from the barnyard'.

Hope this helps!

oh! thanks! I changed it! ;-)

Hi again,

First of all, sorry if you haven't seen me here very often. I'm still "a little bit" ill, and my doctor has called it "asthenia". <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> Ok, I think it's time we go on with June's book, and these are some questions that I think could help you:

[color:"red"] 1. [/color] On page "3" ("La pata se dirigi� orgullosa..."), sure you'll have found out that the first English sentence has not been translated. The sentence is:



Please, try to translate it and post it here. If you have any question regarding this traslation, let us know.

[color:"red"] 2. [/color] What about if you give us the names of all those animals and how many animals are there for each of them (i.e. "There is one pork")? Some of their names are already included on page 3.

[color:"red"] 3. [/color] Page "4" ("Al poco tiempo,...").
Questions:
a. �D�nde lleg� el patito?

b. "y uno de los gansos cay� muerto al agua". What's the infinitive for "cay�"?

c. Find an interpretation to the Spanish expression "morirse de risa" . Do you think the English translation on the book for this expression has anything to do with the Spanish one?


(No need to tell you, keep on asking if you don't understand a word, sentence, etc.)

Qu�ndo ellos volvieron desde el lago

2. un cerdo, un carbr�o, dos gallinas, un gallo, un toro, una pata blanca, tres beb�s mallards y mam� mallard.

3. a. el patito lleg� a un gran estanque.

b. cear es el infinitivo de cay�

Hola!

First, the translation for 'when they returned from the lake' is correct but,...

a. It is not 'Quando', but 'Cuando'. Also, note that you only have to use the accent with interrogative pronouns. In this case, as it it not an interrogative sentences, 'cuando' is written without an accent.

About question number 2, 'un cerdo', 'dos gallinas', 'un gallo', 'un toro', 'una pata blanca' are correct.

But what about:

- 'un carbr�o'? In fact, the correct word is very similar to this one. Do any of you know the word in Spanish?

- 'tres beb�s mallards y mama mallard'? The word 'mallard' doesn't exist in Spanish.

3. a. el patito lleg� a un gran estanque. --> Correct. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

b. cear es el infinitivo de cay� --> Ay! It is not 'caer' but 'c_ _ r'! Just a question of changing the vowels! Do any of you know it?

Let's wait in case any of you want to answer these questions, and then I'll post the correct ones.

About the last question on 'morir de risa', any idea? I know it is a bit difficult, but try it! <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

Hi!

This is my first post in this forum. I majored in Spanish and graduated with 48 credits in Spanish, mostly advanced literature courses, and also studied in Spain at the U.

In this sentence: "El trigo estaba dorado, y la avena, verde", the verb "estaba", meaning was, is indicating a temporal condition. The wheat was golden (at that moment).

The wheat may not always be golden. Maybe it turns brown or black, or is green when it first comes up. Who knows? If we use the ver "ser" here, in the past tense = "era", it would indicate that the wheat was always golden.

Think of ser, or in this case, era, as indicating a permanent and/or habitual condition.

In the case above, the poetic, descriptive quality demands the use of the verb "estaba". Estar is used to denote a state of being that may change over time.

Patricia, www.quiltersmuse.com

Hola Patricia,

Thanks a lot for this good explanation and welcome to this forum!

Hope to hear soon from you!

[color:"blue"]Muchas gracias por esta buena explicaci�n y bienvenida a este foro!

�Esperamos tener noticias tuyas pronto! [/color] <img src="/images/graemlins/rolling.gif" alt="" />

Hola!

Muchas gracias por el bienvenido! Mi amiga de la Argentina me ha mandado un titulo, La Casa de Los Espiritus por Isabel Allende. Me parece que tendre que buscar muchas palabras desconocidas, y tener el diccionario cerca!

Hace mucho tiempo que estudio el espanol. Entonces, empezar con un libro para los ninos seria muy interesante! Habra otro libro para el mes de julio?

Tambien, tendre que buscar el guia de conversion para las letras para (type them) correctamente.

Con carino,

Pat, www.quiltersmuse.com

[color:"blue"]Hola!

�Bueno! Me encanta Isabel Allende!! <img src="/images/graemlins/heart.gif" alt="" />

Yo le� "La casa de los esp�ritus" hace unos a�os, y adem�s, hace unos meses le� tambi�n "Paula". Creo que son unos libros muy interesantes. Y s�, creo que ser� una buena idea tener tu diccionario cerca. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Por esta raz�n, pienso que es bueno comenzar a leer libros para ni�os.

S�, hay un libro para el mes de julio:

El principito (Spanish)
by Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry, Bonifacio Carril

Si no lo encuentras en tu ciudad, puedes comprarlo aqu�:

"El principito" (by Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry

De paso, quiero deciros a todos que aunque cada mes tenemos un nuevo libro para leer, pod�is tambi�n seguir posteando sobre cualquier libro anterior. �De acuerdo? [/color]

Hello!

Well! I really love Isabel Allende!! <img src="/images/graemlins/heart.gif" alt="" />

I read "La casa de los esp�ritus" some years ago, and some months ago I also read "Paula". I think these books are very interesting. And yes, I think it will be a good idea if you have your dictionary nex to you. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

That's why I think it's good if people start reading books for children

Yes, there is a book for July:

El principito (Spanish)
by Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry, Bonifacio Carril

If you can't find this book in your city, you can buy it here:

"El principito" (by Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry

By the way, I want to tell you all that, although each month we have a new book to read, you can also post about any other previous book. �De acuerdo? [/color]

Oops! Sorry, Patricia, I forgot to tell you I have some corrections: (so, please, do correct my English if you think I should go on studing English grammar!!! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> )

Ok, you wrote:

"Muchas gracias por el bienvenido"

It is "[color:"purple"]Muchas gracias por la bienvenida [/color] "

"tendre que buscar el guia de conversion para las letras para (type them) correctamente"

It is "la gu�a", not "el gu�a". And you can translate "type them" as "teclearlas" or simply "escribirlas".

Hope this helps!