Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish (10 page)

cooperé, I co-operated

cooperó, you, he, she co-operated

Then there are a great number of verbs that are rarely used in everyday speech in English but that are common, everyday words in Spanish.

comencé, I began	comenzó, you, he, she began
terminé, I finished	terminó, you, he, she finished
felicité, I congratulated	felicitó, you, he, she congratulated
molesté, I bothered	molestó, you, he, she bothered
entré, I came in, went in, entered	entró, you, he, she came in, went in, entered
estacioné, I stationed, parked ( car )	estacionó, you, he, she stationed, parked ( car )
saludé, I greeted, said “hello”	saludó, you, he, she greeted, said “hello”

As you can see by all the preceding material in the book, there is a great similarity between English and Spanish. This is of tremendous advantage to you, for it will help you to learn very quickly. But you must press this advantage and give your imagination encouragement. Try to guess the meaning of every Spanish word you encounter. Make up words and sentences. In other words, let yourself go.

Now let’s see how the third man verb form is used: “I voted” is “voté.” But if you wish to say that anyone else in the world voted, you must use the third man verb form “votó.”

If you wish to ask a question invert the word order.

Below, I have written some sentences for you to translate into English. If you come upon a sentence which you feel you can’t translate, study it and make a wild stab at a translation. You will find that you are almost invariably right in your guess. After you
have written out all the sentences in English check with the correct translation below the exercise.

You will find a
personal “a” after verbs which are followed by persons.

1. Invité a un amigo a mi casa anoche.
   
2. Roberto visitó a un amigo en Cuba.
   
3. Mamá preparó la cena anoche.
   
4. El presidente aceptó la invitación.
   
5. Terminé la composición para la clase.
   
6. María estudió la lección esta mañana.
   
7. Roberto tomó la cena en un restaurante.
   
8. El doctor tomó una aspirina.
   
9. Usé el vocabulario en la clase.
   
10. Alexander Graham Bell inventó el teléfono.
    
11. Don Ameche no inventó el teléfono.
    
12. Marconi inventó el radio.
    
13. Copié la lección anoche.
    
14. El profesor tomó una Pepsi Cola.
    
15. El agente importó perfume de Francia.
    
16. Mi mamá visitó a un amigo en el hospital.
    
17. Tomé espárragos.
    
18. Estacioné mi automóvil.
    
19. Mi padre recomendó a su amigo.
    
20. El general entró en la capital.