Five Minute Study - SPANISH and ENGLISH compared

Guía de la gramática inglesa...

En estas lecciones breves se comparan el inglés hablado y coloquial con el español con el fin de ayudar al estudiante a apreciar tanto las diferencias como las similitudes lingüísticas entre los dos idiomas.

Verb "be" versus "have" / Verbo "ser"/"estar" contra "tener"

Both learners of Spanish and English can get confused about which verb to choose in the foreign language. Here are some examples of use together with common colloquial expressions:

One difference learners of English fail to realize is that "tener + noun" in Spanish is often "be" + adjective in English:

Tengo un hambre (noun) que me muero

I'm starving (adjective)

Yet after "of" we have a noun:

I'm dying of hunger

Me muero de hambre

Tengo hambre de algo dulce / salado

I feel like something sweet / savoury

Also note this translation:

Nadar mucho da hambre

Swimming a lot makes you hungry

Tengo un montón de frío

I'm really cold

Also with stress on the the Spanish "un" it is common to hear:

Tengo un frío (noun) (que me muero)

I am so cold / I'm freezing (adjectives)

But the Spanish will use "ser" if we are talking about personality:

Ese Juan es tan frío. Realmente, no me gusta nada

Juan is such a cold person. I really don't like him

And "estar" if we talk about the way someone treats us:

Estuvo muy frío con su novia.

No se cómo le soporta

(Note use of "towards" is better than "with"):

He was very cold towards his girlfriend.

I don't know how she puts up with him

The Spanish tend to use the direct article (el, la, los, las) when referring to parts of the body:

Tengo los pies fríos

My hands are cold

or...

I've got cold hands

Or, again for emphasis we can say:

Tengo un frío en los pies

My feet are absolutely freezing cold

Tengo un dolor en la cabeza que me revienta

I've got a splitting headache

Tengo tanto calor que me desmayo

I'm so hot I think I'm going to faint

or...

I'm feeling so hot...

You will be familiar with:

¿Cuántos años tienes?

How old are you?

But watch out learners of Spanish if you are talking about a baby or a puppy etc. Then you should say:

Ay, qué cosa más linda. ¿Cuánto tiempo tiene?

Oh, what a sweet little thing. How old is he / she?

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