Sunday, December 21, 2014

Your Last Meal® (a business plan)



“Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde en que su padre lo llevo a conocer el hielo.”

What would be your last meal if you were going to face the firing squad or climb the gallows? What did Colonel Aureliano Buendía order? If there is an execution in your near future you should start planning your menu unless you want your last meal brought to you in a bag with Burger King written on the side. If you can’t decide perhaps you should call us, the people at Last Meals.® Last Meals® is a company that specializes in…yes, last meals.  

And don’t forget, our company policy for last meals is “Delivered in 30 minutes or the next meal is free!”

Here are just a few of your menu options:

The “Valenciano Until the Bitter End” Meal

This is for all of you that have Valencia burned into your DNA and includes paella (with or without snails), beer or wine, and an orange for dessert. For atmosphere you can choose between a CD of pasodobles or a radio re-broadcast of Valencia Club de Fútbol and Bayern Munich playing in the final of the 2001 Champions League (the last five minutes have been edited so that Valencia wins this time). We guarantee that you will die happy.

The “Don’t Be Afraid of Hangovers or Heart Attacks” Meal
(also known as (AKA) The American Diet)

This selection includes fried chicken, patatas bravas (extra mayonnaise, please) with a bottle of Jack Daniels for dessert. For entertainment you can watch The Great Escape with Steve McQueen (spoiler alert! He doesn’t escape).

The “Are There Fat People in Heaven?” Meal

This is for people who want to go to their next life as thin as they can be. This meal includes raw carrots and broccoli, a salad of lettuce and spinach, and water to drink. You can also choose to skip (miss) this meal and go 30 minutes early to your execution.

................................Vocabulary...............................

Meal - comida
To Fire – disparrar  Squad – peletón  Firing Squad - peletón de fusiliamiento
Gallows – horca, patíbulo
Gallows Humor - humor negro
To Deliver – entregar, repartir,
Alert – aviso, alarma
To Spoilarruinar, estropear

Spoiler Alert - Es una frase que usas para advertir a las personas que te están oyendo que vas a revelar detalles de cómo termina, por ejemplo, una película o un libro. Por ejemplo, podría decirte "I went to see that new thriller. Spoiler alert! The murderer is the detective." Supuestamente te da la oportunidad de taparte los oídos para no escuchar el desenlace de la película.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Much, Many, Some, Any, Lots of, A Lot of



  • Se utiliza "much" (mucho) y "little" (poco) con sustantivos que no se pueden contar:

Did he drink much water?
¿ Bebió él mucha agua ?
No, he drank little water.
No, él bebió poca agua
Do you have much time?
¿ Tienes mucho tiempo ?
No, I have little time.
No, tengo poco tiempo

  • Mientras que "many " (mucho) y "few" (poco) se utilizan con sustantivos que se pueden contar:

Do you have many books?
¿ Tienes muchos libros ?
No, I have few books.
No, tengo pocos libros
Does he have many brothers?
¿ Tiene él muchos hermanos ?
No, he has few brothers.
No, él tiene pocos hermanos

  • "Much" y "many" se utilizan principalmente en oraciones negativas e interrogativas, ya que en oraciones afirmativas se suelen sustituir ambos por "a lot of" o "lots of"(muchos, un montón):

Do you have many friends?
¿ Tienes muchos amigos ?
Yes, I have a lot of friends.
Sí, tengo muchos amigos
No, I don't have many friends.
No, no tengo muchos amigos


Did you spend much money?
¿ Gastaste mucho dinero ?
Yes, I spent a lot of money.
Sí, gasté mucho dinero
No, I didn't spend much money.
No, no gasté mucho dinero


  • No obstante, "much" y "many" sí se utilizan en oraciones afirmativas cuando van precedidos por algunas partículas, como "so" (tanto), "too" (demasiado), etc.:

He has so many friends....
El tiene tantos amigos ...
You have too many doubts.
Tú tienes demasiadas dudas
We drank too much beer.
Bebimos demasiada cerveza.
We spent so much money....
Gastamos tanto dinero ...



How many books do you have?

How many people live in Valencia?

How many days are there in a week?



I have many books.

I have a lot of books.

I have lots of books.



How much money do you have?

How much water is in the glass?

There is not much time. (No hay mucho tiempo.)

We have much to do! (¡Tenemos mucho que hacer!)



Is there much milk in the fridge? Hay mucha leche en la nevera?

Do you have many Friends? Tienes muchos amigos?




There are too many changes for me. (Hay demasiados cambios para mí.)



There are so many things I want to do! (¡Hay tantas cosas que deseo hacer!)

There is too much work. (Hay demasiado trabajo.)

We have so much work to do! (¡Tenemos tanto trabajo que hacer!)




Some (algunos, unos)


He has some friends in New York. (Tiene algunos amigos en Nueva York.)

There is some milk in the kitchen. (Hay leche en la cocina.)

Are there some tourists? (¿Hay unos turistas?)

Would you like some coffee? (¿Quieres café?)




    She is very friendly and has a lot of friends. Ella es muy amable y tiene un montón de amigos.
 
    
I don't have many paintings in my flat. No tengo muchos cuadros en mi piso.


    When you were unemployed, did you receive much help from your family?
Cuando estabas en el paro, ¿recibiste mucha ayuda de tu familia?


    This bookshop has few books about Spanish history. Esta librería tiene pocos libros sobre la historia española.


    There is little hope that the hostage will be released.  Hay pocas esperanzas de que el rehén será liberado.



How many students are in your English class?¿Cuántos estudiantes hay en tu clase de Inglés?
There are ten students in my class. Hay diez estudiantes de mi clase.
How much money do you have?
I have ten Euros.
How much milk is in the fridge?
There is a half a bottle of milk in the fridge.
How many bottles of milk did you buy yesterday? ¿Cuántas botellas de leche compraste ayer?
I bought two bottles.
How much water do you drink every day?
I drink two liters of water every day.
How many liters of water do you drink every day?

I have a lot of books. I have many books. I have lots of books.
Tengo muchos libros.
I have lots of money. =  I have a lot of money. Tengo mucho dinero.
 I have many money.
I don’t have much money. I don’t have a lot of money. No tengo mucho dinero.
I don’t have lots of money (No tengo un montón de dinero).




To Be

How old were you when you started/began school?
I was 3 years old when I started school.
How old will you be when you finish school?
I will be 18 years old when I finish school.
How old will you be when you finish university?
Con solo 12 años Estela entró en la universidad.
Estela was only 12 when she entered the university.
My dog is 2 years old.
My car is five years old.
I was 88 when I came to Valencia and now I am 96.

I am hungry. Tengo hambre.
I am thirsty.  Tengo sed.
I am sleepy. Tengo sueño.
I am lucky.  Tengo suerte.
I am cold.  Tengo frío.
I am hot.  Tengo calor.
I am right. Tengo razón.
I am wrong. Estoy equivocado.
Be careful!  ¡Ten cuidado!
I am afraid. I am frightened. I am scared. Tengo miedo.
I’m afraid of cats.  Cats are afraid of dogs.
I am in a hurry/rush. Tengo prisa. To Be in a Hurry
1. She’s fifteen.
2. You’re right.
3. Are you cold?
4. I’m really cold.
5. He’s in a rush.
6. I don’t like being/to be hungry.
7. You’re really lucky!
8. Are you cold?
9. We’re cold.
10. We aren’t cold.
11. We’re really cold.
12. We’re not very cold.
13. Were they very hungry?
14. They weren’t very hungry.
15. Are you in a hurry?
16. You’re always right.
17. She always has to be right.
18. I don’t know if they’re right.
19. If I hadn’t eaten peanuts I wouldn’t have been thirsty.
20. How long have your feet been cold?
21. I hope you’re not hot.
22. He might be sleepy.
23. Are you usually in such a big hurry in the morning?
24. It depends on how old they are.
25. If she hadn’t died, how old would she be now?

I’m tired. Estoy cansado.
I am sad. I am happy. I am glad to meet you. I am fat. I am thin. I am ugly. I’m beautiful. I’m gorgeous.
I’m handsome (hombres guapo).
I’m tall. She is short. They are stupid. He is intelligent. He is smart. He is clever.

Adjective vs. Past Participles
We are bored. - Estamos aburridos  But…
He is boring.  - Él es aburrido.
The movie is interesting. – La película es interesante.
He is interested in Greek history.  -  Le interesa la historia griega.
My teacher is very interesting.
My teacher is very interested in languages.
alarmed  - alarmado
alarming - alarmante
annoyed ) - irritado
annoying  - irritante


confused - confundido
confusing  - confuso
depressed  - deprimido
depressing  - deprimente
excited  - excitado
exciting  - excitante
frustrated  - frustrado
frustrating  - frustrante
interested  - interesado
interesting  - interesante
surprised  - sorprendido
 surprising  sorprendente


worried  - preocupado
worrying  - preocupante


·                     A growing population
Una población
 creciente
·                     A crying baby 
Un bebé
 que llora
·                     A smiling girl 
Una niña
 sonriente
·                     The following days 
Los días
 siguientes
·                     The employees belonging to the union 
Los empleados
 pertenecientes al sindicato
·                     A terrifying experience
Una experiencia
 terrorífica
·                     An embarrassing situation 
Una situación bochornosa
·                     A disgusting dictator 
Un dictador asqueroso
·                     A disappointing book
Un libro
 decepcionante
·                     An exciting job 
Un trabajo
 excitante
·                     An amusing story 
Una historia
 divertida
·                     An astonishing scene 
Una escena
 asombrosa
·                     A passing plane 
Un avión
 que pasa

·  The frightened soldier stayed in his trench during the bombardment.
El asustado soldado se quedó en su trinchera durante el bombardeo.

·  The children were fascinated by the animals at the circus.
Los chicos estaban fascinados por los animales del circo.

·  He seemed very embarrased about having made that mistake.
El parecía muy abochornado por haber cometido ese error.

·  She felt very frustrated for having failed the exam.
Ella se sentía muy frustrada por no haber aprobado el examen.

·  The students were pleased with their progress in school.
Los estudiantes estaban complacidos con su progreso en la escuela.

·  I was astonished by how much she had learned in such a short time
Yo estaba asombrado por todo lo que ella había aprendido en tan corto tiempo.

·  They were shocked when they learned that their house had been destroyed.
Ellos estaban conmocionados cuando se enteraron de que su casa había sido destruída

To Have

What time do you have breakfast?
I have breakfast at eight o’clock (08:00).
What time do you have lunch?
I have lunch at two o’clock (14:00 or 2:00).
What time do you have dinner?
I have dinner at ten.
What do you have for breakfast?
I have coffee and toast for breakfast.
What do you have for lunch in Spain?
In Spain we have paella for lunch.
What do you have for dinner?
For dinner I have many different things.

After class I will have a cup of coffee. Después de la clase tomaré un café.
I will have a beer with my friends. Tomaré una cerveza con mis amigos.  
I had a sandwich at school today. He comido un bocadillo en el cole.