Hola y bienvenido a una nueva lección de escucha. Today’s lesson will introduce some common uses of the verb TENER in Spanish and will relate this really important verb with common phrases for planning a birthday party in Spanish. Moreover, we have included two listening activities using both the grammar and vocabulary covered throughout the lesson. Comencemos…
Grammar Introduction: How to use the verb TENER in Spanish
As you may already know, TENER has different conjugations for most pronouns. Thus, TENER is an irregular verb, so the only way to remember some of its forms is by memorizing them. One of the ways to use TENER in Spanish is for talking about the things that belong to us or other people. A clear example of this would be “(Yo) tengo un auto” (I have a car).
Second, we always use TENER when talking about people’s age, instead of using the verb SER as the literal translation would suggest. Basically, it is correct to say “Ella tiene 30 años”, but not “Ella es 30 años”. This is a very common mistake foreigners make when they speak Spanish. Make sure to use the right conjugation of the verb too.
Third, we also use TENER in Spanish in the form “Tener que…” to talk about our obligations, the same way you would use “Have to…” in English. For instance, in order to say “I have to do my homework”, you could say “(Yo) tengo que hacer mi tarea”. With that said, let’s see if you are able to recognize some of the ways to use TENER in Spanish in the first listening activity.
Listening Activity No.1: Talking about my family in Spanish
Listen to a man talking about his family in Spanish, the things they have, their ages and more. Then, use the information in the recording to solve the quiz.
Planning a birthday party in Spanish: verbs and phrases
For planning a birthday party in Spanish, you need to know a few common verbs and phrases, apart from the ones needed to wish the “cumpleañero” a happy birthday in Spanish. Here are a few of them:
PLANEAR – This verb means “to plan” and it is a regular verb. It will be normally used in infinitive after “Tener que” as in the sentence “Tengo que planear una fiesta”. It can placed before “IR A” for the future tense as in “Voy a planear mi cumpleaños” too.
CELEBRAR – Perhaps the most important verb would be “Celebrar”, e.g. “Hoy estamos celebrando mi cumpleaños número 100”
ORGANIZAR – “Organizar” is used almost the same way as “Planear”
NECESITAR– This verb will be used to say what we need for the birthday party in Spanish, e.g. “Necesito comprar un pastel”. It is a regular verb too, and one to remember due to its multiple uses in the language.
REVENTAR UNA PIÑATA – Piñata is a word used to refer to an object made of clay, wrapped up with colorful paper, and filled with candies. People will try to hit them while dancing with their eyes covered until all the candies inside the “Piñata” have fallen. The verb “Reventar” means “to hit/to crush”, e.g. “Vamos a reventar una piñata”.
DECORAR – This verb means “to decorate” and will be used with other words such as “Adornos” (ornaments), “Globos” (baloons), “Flores” (flowers) and more, e.g. “Decoremos las mesas con flores”
TE INVITO A MI FIESTA DE CUMPLEAÑOS – You can use this phrase to invite others to your party in Spanish.
YA QUEREMOS PASTEL, AUNQUE SEA UN PEDACITO… – This is part of the lyrics for the happy birthday song in Spanish. It literally means “We want to eat cake, even if it is just a little piece…”
Listening Activity No.2: Planning a birthday party in Spanish
Key questions and phrases in the lesson:
- “¿Tienes bastante tiempo esperándome?” means “Have you been waiting for a long time? ”
- “Yo tengo que planear” means “I have to plan…”
- “¡El tiempo vuela!” means “Time flies!”