Sunday 10 February 2013

More music(al) lessons

OK,OK. I'll try and make this the last song-based post for a while, but I just think that music is such a great way of remembering lessons in Spanish, and having fun, away from the classroom, at the same time. So, this time, I have two videos for you.
The first song, I've mentioned before. It's 'Ven a mi', which is a translation of the brilliant 'Stay with me', by Shakespeare's Sister, performed by Il Divo (going to see them, again, in April.Can't wait)



I'm using this song to illustrate what my Teacher refers to as 'Clausulas Ambiguas' or Ambiguous Clauses.
This is a rather tricky characteristic of the Subjunctive (yes, THAT again!)
The Clause referred to is actually a single word in this case. It's 'cuando'.

As you know, the Subjunctive is used often in cases of negation or doubt, and it's the second of those which applies here.
In the video, you'll hear . .
'Cuando el te HAGA sufrir, y te ROMPA el corazón'
instead of
 'Cuando el te HACE sufrir'
and
'Cuando no PUEDAS sonreír y MUERAS de dolor'
instead of
'Cuando no PUEDES sonreír y MUERES de dolor'

So why are we using the subjunctive here?
It all hangs on the meaning of the word 'Cuando' - 'When'
In this case it means 'if and when' or 'in the event that', suggesting that the events spoken about may or may not actually occur.

This is different to, say, following instructions for boiling an egg, which might say 'cuando hierve al agua', where the verb 'hervir' (to boil) remains in the indicative, because the water IS going to boil, once you begin to heat it, as opposed to 'Lo haré cuando HIERVA el Océano Antártico' (I'll do it when the Antarctic Ocean boils - i.e. Never!)

The same fine distinction affects the word 'Aunque' - 'Although', when it is used in the sense of 'Even if'
So 'Viene aunque no está feliz ' - 'he's coming, although he's not happy'
but
'Aunque no ESTES conmigo, siempre estarás en mi mente' - 'even if you are not with me, you'll always be in my mind''

Right on to the next video.
This one's by Gloria Estefan from the excellent album 'Mí Tierra', and is called 'Hablemos el mismo idioma' (remember in a recent post, I mentioned the construction 'Let it...', using 'Que' followed by a verb in the subjunctive?
Well this another way of doing it, using the imperative, so 'Hablemos' reads 'LET US speak'
.


Nothing too taxing in this video.
I was just listening to the song a few days ago, and had an odd thought.
If I ran a competition to identify lines from songs, which illustrated, or contained reminders of, as many facets of Spanish grammar as possible, there's a line in this song which would be in the top ten.

Towards the end, the chorus goes 'Hablemos el mismo idioma, da me la mano, mi hermano'

For me, there are four important points in the one line.

First, as already mentioned, 'hablEmos' illustrates how the last vowel in the verb switches from A to E, or vice-versa, when using the imperative (or Subjunctive)

Second 'el mismo idioma' illustrates the exception to the 'nouns ending in 'A' are feminine' rule, reminding us that words ending in 'ama' are from Greek roots, and are masculine - like 'el programa'

Third, and Fourth 'da me la mano' shows how the previously mentioned vowel 'switch' doesn't actually happen in the imperative, in the positive 'tu' form (and you also drop the 's')
Otherwise, you'd say 'des me la mano'.
Note, however, that, in the negative command, it does, so
'no me des la mano' -don't give me your hand'

A couple more examples
With 'llamar' - to call
'llama me' - 'no me llames'
With 'tocar' -to touch
'Toca me' - 'no me toques'
With 'mirar' - to look
'mira me' - 'no me mires'

And, finally, another exception 'LA mano', a noun ending in 'O' which is feminine.

And that's why I keep going on about songs. If you learn the chorus, you'll never forget it.
So, if the content of the post has been a little heavy, just enjoy the videos!!

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