VENIR & TRAER

The usage of the verbs venir (to come) and traer (to bring) are a little different in Spanish (I am told that it is the same as in British English). The main difference comes with the destination of venir and traer.

In Spanish, venir means to come, but only if the destination is HERE, not elsewhere. Anywhere else, you go with ir.

The same goes with traer which means the same as llevar (to take something or someone from one place to another). The difference is that the destination of traer is ONLY HERE. If the destination is elsewhere, you have to use llevar.

For example in English, if you were speaking with a coworker at the office you may say:

“There is going to be a party in my house in the suburbs. You may come and bring your wife too.”

So obviously the party is not here, so (in Spanish) you cannot come or bring, but have to go (ir) and take (llevar). In Spanish we would say:

“Va a haber una fiesta en mi casa en los suburbios. Puedes ir y llevar a tu esposa también.”

must vs. should

Hola Bloguers,

Now, when do we "must" versus "should"? To me, must sounds more like an obligation and should like a recommendation.

Much has been, is and will be said about the matter, but I like to abbreviate as follows:

• Deber (in present tense*) + infinitive verb = must + infinitive verb

Por ejemplo: Debo aprender español (I must learn Spanish)

• Deber (in conditional tense**) + infinitive verb = should + infinitive verb

Por ejemplo: Debería aprender español (I should learn Spanish)

*Present tense: debo, debes, debe, debemos, deben

**Conditional tense: debería, deberías, debería, deberíamos, deberían

Be aware that sometimes we use "deber de + infinitive." The truth is that it does not matter if you use de or not.

Buena suerte y hasta pronto,

Juan

What's the deal with "there to be"?

I find that none of my students seem to understand the concept of there to be. However, everybody does seem to know how to use it -- in English, that is. I will now address this matter in a concise manner.

Fact 1: The action there to be DOES exist and is not the same as to be.

Fact 2: There to be is haber, and to be can either be estar or ser.

I will now list the common uses of haber (there to be) to indicate “existence”:

1. hay - there is, there are
2. hubo - there was, there were (used with events)
3. había - there was, there were (used with everything other than events), there used to be
4. habrá - there will be
5. habría - there would be
6. quizás haya - there might be (pres. subj.)
7. aunque hubiera/hubiese - even if there were (imp. subj.)
8. ha habido - there has been, there have been
9. había habido - there had been
10. habrá habido - there will have been
11. habría habido - there would have been
12. quizás haya habido - there might have been (pres. subj.)
13. aunque hubiera/hubiese habido - even if there had been (imp. subj.)

Other important and common uses of there to be:

1. va a haber - there is/are going to be
2. tiene que haber - there has/have been
3. puede haber - there can be
4. debe haber - there must be
5. debería haber - there should be
6. necesita haber - there needs to be

Hope this was helpful.

Hasta pronto,

Juan