Language Log Blog

Present Subjunctive

From spanishdict.com:  The subjunctive is used to express desires, doubts, the unknown, the abstract, and emotions.

Conjugation:

First, conjugate the verb in the present yo form.

Then, add the proper present subjunctive ending:

For -ar verbs:

yo - e 

tú - es 

él/ella/usted - e 

nosotros - emos 

vosotros - éis 

ellos/ellas/ustedes - en

For -er / -ir verbs:

yo - a 

tú - as 

él/ella/usted - a 

nosotros - amos 

vosotros - áis 

ellos/ellas/ustedes - an

Examples:

(tú) venir - vengas

(nosotros) respirar - respiremos

Remember that if the verb has an irregular yo form (such as venir in the example above), you keep that form when conjugating in the subjunctive! Stem changes also remain the same except in the nosotros and vosotros forms for -ir verbs. In nosotros/vosotros, ue --> u and ie --> i. ex. dormir - durmamos / durmáis , sentir - sintamos, sintáis.

Also remember the spelling changes for verbs ending in -car, -gar, -zar.

-car --> -que

-gar --> gue

-zar --> ce

Ex: (él) almorzar --> almorce

Irregular verbs:

hay --> haya

                                  dar          estar           ir                saber             ser

yo                              dé           esté            vaya           sepa              sea

tú                               des         estés          vayas         sepas             seas

el/ella/usted               dé           esté            vaya          sepa               sea

nosotros                    demos    estemos     vayamos   sepamos        seamos

vosotros                    deis         estéis         vayáis       sepáis            seáis

ellos/ellas/ustedes    den          estén          vayan       sepan             sean

Some expressions always followed by the subjunctive:

Es bueno que... - It’s good that...

Es importante que... - It’s important that...

Es mejor que... - It’s better that...

Es necesario que... - It’s necessary that...

Es malo que... - It’s bad that...

Es urgente que... - It’s urgent that...

Es probable que... - It’s probable that...

Es recomendable que... - It’s recommended that 

Example: Es importante que estudie por la prueba. - It’s important that I/he/she/you study for the quiz.

For more: https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/impersonal-expressions-with-the-subjunctive

Now I will be going into verbs that are commonly followed by the subjunctive but before that it is important to understand in what circumstances you would use the subjunctive.

The subjunctive is used when there is more than one subject in a sentence. For example, “I hope that I can go to the party,” would not use the subjunctive since “I” is the subject of both clauses. If you were to say, “I hope that you can go to the party,” it would use the subjunctive since the subject of the second clause is different from the first.

This first set of verbs are called verbs of “will and influence” meaning you use them when you are hoping to influence the actions of others.

aconsejar - to advise

desear - to wish ; to desire

importar - to be important

insistir (en) - to insist (on)

mandar - to order

necesitar - to need

pedir - to ask (for)

preferir - to prefer

prohibir - to prohibit

querer - to want

recomendar - to recommend

rogar - to beg

sugerir - to suggest

Example: Me importa que ustedes vengan a mi fiesta. - It’s important to me that you guys come to my party.

Formal Commands

Formal commands are used to give a command to someone you speak formally to (usted) or a group of people (ustedes).

Conjugation: For both usted and ustedes, start by conjugating the verb in the yo form in present tense. Ex: lavar --> lavo

Add the appropriate ending.

Ar: Usted - e , Ustedes - en

Ir / Er : Usted - a , Ustedes - an

Example phrases:

lavar - Lave los platos, por favor. -- Wash the dishes please

escriber - Escriban notas durante la lectura. -- Write notes during the lecture.

Irregular Verbs:

                 Usted                            Ustedes

dar            dé                                  den

estar         esté                               estén

ir               vaya                              vayan

saber        sepa                              sepan

ser            sea                                sean

Remember spelling changes:

-car --> -que, quen

-gar --> -gue, guen

-zar --> -ce, cen

For commands in the negative, the conjugation of the verb is the same, just add no in front. 

Example Phrases:

lavar - No lave los platos. -- Do not wash the dishes.

escribir - No escriban notas durante la lectura. -- Do not write notes during the lecture.

Lastly, with pronouns, attach them to the end of the verb when the command is affirmative but put the pronouns before the verb when the command is negative. When attaching the pronoun to the end of the verb, do not forget to add if the command has two or more syllables.

Examples:

Decir - Dígamelo. - Say it to me.

Next vocab list from Duolingo:

plano - flat

seguir - to follow

mostrar - to show

pesar - to weigh

acabar - to finish, to end

caber - to fit

actualmente - currently

las tijeras - scissors

la fuente - source

la campana - bell

el hogar - home

el barrio - neighborhood

el salón de clases - classroom

la esquina - corner

la cárcel - jail

la hacienda - ranch, estate

la frontera - border

la patria - home country

una pareja - couple

el cuidadano - citizen

la costumbre - habit, custom

un testigo - witness

sino - but, but rather

los campesinos - peasants

la feria - fair

el caballero - knight, gentleman

alrededor de - about, around

la mitad de - half of

una tonelada - a ton

estadounidense - American

extranjero - abroad

Next vocab list from duolingo:

anoche - last night

el piso - floor

elegir - to choose

tercer(a) - third

ninguno - none of

el probador - fitting room

el anuncio - ad

gracioso - funny

la muñeca - doll

ahí - there

la oración - sentence

caluroso - hot

llover - to rain

nevar - to snow

esperar - to wait

entonces - then, so

acordarse - to remember

encima - on top

despertarse - to wake up

el tamaño - size

la cuna - crib / cradle

el espejo - mirror

la sartén - pan

el horno - oven 

el techo - roof, ceiling

la sábana - bed sheet

el empresario - businessman, entrepreneur

la mudrugada - daybreak

el chuchillo - knife

útil - useful

bilingüe - bilingual

Last time I updated on how far I am in Duolingo I was only up to Travel 2. Since then I managed to Schedule - Objects (despite being pretty lazy and not doing it everyday).

I think I should be able to finish reaching level 1 in each topic by the end of the month, especially since I'm able to test out of a lot of them.

Anyway while I've been doing to duolingo I've been trying to note down words that either new to me or hard for me to remember. These aren't all of them because I don't always remember to write them but it's still a pretty good sized list.

Vocab list:

ambos - both

mecánico - mechanic

a menudo - often

la compañia - company

dibujar - to draw

abrir - to open

el curso - course

quedarse - to stay

cambiar - to change

manejar - to drive

probarse - to try on

volar - to fly

ponerse - to put on

coger - to take

caja - box

traer - to bring

la estantería - bookshelf

la pared - wall

la granja - farm

el césped - grass

mandar - to send

girar - to turn

dentro - inside

atrás - the back

ir derecho - to go straight

ir arriba - to go upstairs

detrás - behind

la librería - bookstore

hace (un año) - (a year) ago

el cerdo - pig

el búho - owl

Learning Korean with song lyrics: days gone by - Day6

저녁 노을을 바라보며

That day when we were looking at the sunset

널 만나 다행이라고 하던 날이

And when I said I was lucky to find you

벌써 꽤나 오래 전 이야기야

It was quite a long time ago

이제는 노을은 밤의 시작일 뿐이야

Now the sunset is just the beginning of a night

모든 게 아름다웠어

Everything was beautiful

우울한 날들은 없었어

There were no sad days

지금 돌이켜보면

Now as I look back

우습기도 하지만

It’s kind of funny but

후회는 남기지 않았어

There’s no regret 

사랑했으니까 뭐 됐어

Because I loved you it’s cool

첫째 날부터

From the first day

마지막 날까지

To the last day

아 행복했던 날들이었다

Ah what’s happy days

꿈만 같았었지

They were like a dream

이제 더는 없겠지만

Now there won’t be more

지난 날로 남겨야지

I’m going to leave them in the past

말하다 생기는 정적은

The silence between conversations

전엔 아무렇지 않았는데 이젠 달라

Used to not be a problem, now it’s different

너무도 길게 느껴지고

It feels too long now

가슴이 쓰리고 답답해서 힘들어

And it hurts my heart, bothers and pains me

매 순간이 아까웠어

Each moment felt wasted

가는 시간이 참 미웠어

I hated the time passing

지금 돌이켜 보면

Now as I look back

바보 같긴 하지만

It seems silly but

후회는 남기지 않았어

There were no regrets

사랑했으니까 뭐 됐어

I loved you so it’s cool

첫째 날부터

From the first day

마지막 날까지

To the last day

아 행복했던 날들이었다

꿈만 같았었지

이제 더는 없겠지만

지난 날로 남겨야지

아주 가끔은 (그리워할 거야 널)

A lot of times (I’ll miss you)

사실 가끔은 (아니고 자주겠지)

Actually sometimes (No, often)

아주 가끔은 (눈물이 흐를 거야)

A lot of times (Tears will be shed)

그 때도 괜찮다고

Even then I’ll say that I’m ok

되뇌일 거야

Over and over

아 행복했던 날들이었다

꿈만 같았었지

이제 더는 없겠지만

지난 날로 남겨야지

Vocabulary:

노을 - morning / evening glow; red sky

바라보다 - to look, stare, gaze

꽤 - quite, fairly

돌이키다 - to reminisce, think of

우습다 - to be funny

남기다 - to cause to stay, to cause to not be forgotten, to leave

생기다 - to be formed, come into being

정적 - silence, calm, quiet

쓰리다 - to hurt, suffer

아깝다 - to be regrettable

되뇌다 - to repeat, say something over and over

Once again since I’m waiting for Day6′s new album to drop we doin Day6 songs

Learning Korean with lyrics: 혼잣말 Talking To - Day6

혼잣말이 늘어가 네가 떠난 뒤로

Talking to myself more after you left

이젠 어색하지도 않아

Now it’s not even that awkward

어쩌나

What do I do?

아까는 식탁 위에 있던 죄 없는 과자봉지만 구기고 던지면서

I was just crumpling and throwing around the poor bag of chips on the table

화내고 있더라

And getting mad

어쩌나

What do I do?

(뭐하냐) 아 몰라

(What’re you doing?) I don’t know

(괜찮냐) 괜찮겠냐

(Are you ok?) You think I’m ok?

널 대신할 머릿속의 목소리 

Voices in my head take your place

(나가자) 아 싫어

(Let’s go) No

(일어나) 싫다고

(Get up) I said no

무기력해 뭣도 하기 싫어 

I’m feeling lazy I don’t want to do anything

나도 알아 안다고

I know I said I know

뭐라도 해야지

I know I should do something

근데 참 엉덩이가 (엉덩이가)

But my butt

안 떨어지는걸 

Won’t get off this seat

나더러 어떡하라고

So what do you want me to do?

Just talking to 나

Just talking to myself

말할 사람이 없어서

Since there’s no one else to talk to

누가 봐도 널 보낸 건 나니까

Because anyone can see I’m the one who let you go

I’m just talking to 나

I’m just talking to myself

탓하지도 못하겠어

I can’t even blame you

나를 혼자가 되게 만든 건

Because the one that made me become alone

나였으니까

was me

야 그때 왜 그랬냐 이 자식아

Hey, why did you do that back then, dude?

너도 문제다 상태는 심각

You have issues, its serious

이 정도면 거의 뭐 던짐각

This is just throwing it out there

나도 알어 아아아 나도 알어

I know I know

야 자존심이 그리 중요했냐

Was pride really that important?

뭣이 중요한지도 몰랐던 거냐

Did you not know what was truly important?

나도 안다니까

I said I know

아는데 왜 그랬냐

If you knew, why did you do that?

인간은 같은 실수를 반복하니까?

Because humans tend to repeat their mistakes

Just talking to 나

말할 사람이 없어서

누가 봐도 널 보낸 건 나니까

I’m just talking to 나

탓하지도 못하겠어

나를 혼자가 되게 만든 건

나였으니까

사실 요즘 다 귀찮아

Actually, I’m just lazy (Everything is too bothersome)

밥 먹기도 특히 치우는 게 귀찮아

Too lazy to eat and especially clean up

나도 모르게 습관이 됐나 봐

It’s just become a habit now

2인분을 차리는 거 마마말이야

Making enough food for two every time

사실 요즘 잠도 안 와

Actually, I can’t even sleep these days

더워서 더욱 그런가 봐

Probably because it’s too hot

항상 이불 뺏던 네가 옆에 없으니깐

Because you’re not here to steal the blanket

더워 죽겠다

It’s so hot

잠이 안 와 미치겠다

I can’t sleep I’m going crazy

Just talking to 나

말할 사람이 없어서

누가 봐도 널 보낸 건 나니까

I’m just talking to 나

탓하지도 못하겠어

나를 혼자가 되게 만든 건

나였으니까 

Vocabulary:

늘다 - to increase

떠나다 - to leave

어색하다 - to be awkward, embarrassing

구기다 - to crumple, crush

던지다 - to throw

무기력하다 - to be spiritless, lethargic, lazy

떨어지다 - to fall off, come off, be removed

탓하다 - to lay blame on, find fault

자식아 - child, kid (but used as a casual way to refer to a friend like “dude”)

문제 - problem, question, issue, trouble

상태 - condition, state

심각하다 - to be serious, grave

던지다 - to throw

자존심 - pride

중요하다 - to be important

인간 - human

실수 - mistake

반복하다 - to repeat

귀찮다 - to feel annoyed

특히 - especially, particularly

치우다 - to clean, tidy up

습관 - habit

차리다 - to set the table

빼다 - to take out, pull out, remove

Since Day6 is dropping Youth Part 2 soon ~

Studying Korean with song lyrics: Freely - Day6

All right 눈치만 보다 하루를 보낸 너

All right you spent your day being so cautious

할 일은 제껴 두고 나를 따라와

But just push aside your work and follow me

All right 별빛 아래 drive with me tonight

All right, under the starlight drive with me tonight

손끝을 스치는 바람을 느껴봐

Feel the wind passing through your fingers

어디라도 괜찮아 멀지 않아도 좋아

I don’t care where we go, it doesn’t matter if it’s not far

그저 떠나고 있는 이 순간이 좋아

I just like this moment of leaving

잠시라도 괜찮아

I don’t care if it’s not for long

조급할 필요는 없잖아

There’s no need to rush

오늘 밤 다 같이 저 하늘 아래

Tonight, we’ll be together under the sky

So free 하게 내일은 걱정 말고

So be free, don’t worry about tomorrow

아무 신경 쓰지 말고

Don’t have a single care

So free 하게 우리들뿐이라고 생각해봐

So be free, just think that it’s just us

Now now everybody dance

Dance dance tonight

다 같이 free하게

Everyone together freely

Dance dance tonight

Now now everybody dance

Dance dance tonight

다 같이 free하게 yeah

Everyone together freely

자 you got a feeling

Now you got a feeling

자유를 느끼러 일단 박차고 일어나서 get together

Let’s get up and feel the freedom, get together

해 뜨기 전 오늘 밤 음악은 turn up

Before the sun comes up, the music turns up tonight

털어 내 All day stress

Brush off your all day stress

들어 손은 하늘 높게

Raise your hands high to the sky

흔들어 누가 보든 말든 상관 말어

Shake it no matter who sees

어차피 놀 거 조금이라도 더 푸는 게 이득이야

If you’re gonna play, going a little harder will be your benefit

비가 와도 괜찮아 흠뻑 젖어도 좋아

It doesn’t matter if it rains, it doesn’t matter if we get wet

그저 춤추고 있는 이 순간이 좋아

I just like this moment of dancing

밤을 새도 괜찮아

It doesn’t matter if we stay up all night

신경 쓸 사람 없잖아

There’s no one to care about

오늘 밤 다 같이 저 하늘 아래

Tonight we’ll be together under that sky

So free 하게 내일은 걱정 말고

아무 신경 쓰지 말고

So free 하게 우리들뿐이라고 생각해봐

Now now everybody dance

Dance dance tonight

다 같이 free하게

Dance dance tonight

Now now everybody dance

Dance dance tonight

다 같이 free하게 yeah

Free하게 오늘 밤 모두 잊고

Free하게 오늘 밤은 Let it go

Free하게 오늘 밤 모두 잊고

Free하게 oh

So free 하게 내일은 걱정 말고

아무 신경 쓰지 말고

So free 하게 우리들뿐이라고 생각해봐

Now now everybody dance

Dance dance tonight

다 같이 free하게

Dance dance tonight

Now now everybody dance

Dance dance tonight

다 같이 free하게 yeah

Vocabulary:

눈치만 보다 - to mind others

제껴 두다 - to push aside

스치다 - to graze, brush

그저 - just

잠시 - for a moment

조급하다 - to be impatient

신경 쓰다 - to worry

자유 - freedom

뜨다 - to come up, to come out

털다 - to shake off, brush off

들다 - to raise, lift

어차피 - in any case

이득 - profit, gain

흠뻑 - completely

젖다 - to get wet

밤을 새도 - to stay up

Since this is my first learning log post I’ll just post about how I’ve been studying Korean for the past few years to start off and give my resources and then starting from my next one will be actual content I’m currently studying.

I’ve been studying Korean on and off for about the past 3-4 years and since I haven’t been very consistent in my studies (usually due to being busy with school or sudden lack of motivation) I’m still at a pretty low level for someone who started learning as long ago as I did. Hopefully I can use this blog to fix that tho.

So to start: learning to read the korean alphabet, hangeul ( 한글)

I started this off by using youtube videos so I could hear the pronunciation and do the worksheets linked down in the description for writing practice. 

I also used a book my parents got me after I had started with the youtube videos from a series called Korean Made Easy. The book for learning to read and write in Korean was definitely really helpful. 

Next: Beginning to stockpile vocabulary

For this I used a lot of the resources already mentioned above. The channel that did the videos for reading and writing in hangeul has a series called kwow where she introduces a new vocabulary word each video and examples on how to use it. Also the starter book in the Korean Made Easy series does introduce some vocabulary as well.

If you’re looking just to start learning some vocabulary, you can easily look up vocabulary lists on google which I did occasionally.

There is also an app I downloaded called Learn Korean that has lists of vocab with sample sentences and it has numerous quiz options so you can test yourself on them.

There is also a website and app called memrise where lots of people put up flashcards of vocabulary (kinda like quizlet but more suited to learning a language) and I personally think it’s a great study tool so I used that as well and still do.

There are more resources I used to learn vocabulary but I’m gonna introduce them in the next section because they also taught grammar.

Next: Grammar (and more vocabulary)

When I started learning grammar I started off with the second book in the Korean Made Easy series.

This book does teach basic grammar, has vocabulary lists, and teaches a lot of phrases. However when it came to learning grammar, I personally didn’t really like this book. Once I started using other resources I felt like a lot of what I had learned from this book started making sense. It isn’t bad but the order in which they teach the grammar didn’t bode well with me. However, it was really useful for learning vocabulary and phrases and I still reference it to this day because it had some useful lessons. It also has dialogues which you can listen to with the CD and quizzes at the end of each lesson that test your writing, reading, and listening abilities. So overall, it’s still a good book to have and use I just believe that branching out and using multiple resources is always best.

The main resource that I have been using to study Korean is the website Talk to me in Korean (TTMIK). They have thorough lessons explaining the grammar with lots of sample sentences and each lesson comes with a podcast on soundcloud (that is linked on the lesson) and a pdf so you can listen to them teach it while following along on the pdf. This website has been the most helpful in helping me learn grammar and how to piece together sentences myself.

Another website I have occasionally referenced is How to Study Korean. I personally haven’t used it much however it is my friends main resource and he says its really good so I will also link that.

Lastly: extra resources for practice

If you wanna practice speaking with other people, there are numerous websites and apps you can use to get in contact with native speakers such as hinative, hellotalk, penpalworld, etc.

As for listening, it’s important that you often watch things with Korean because a lot of the grammar is stuff that you’ll only catch on to or get used to using once you’ve heard it used in the right context a bunch of times. So watch kdramas, korean variety shows, korean youtubers, listen to korean music and look at the lyrics (i do this a lot lately), do whatever you can to expose yourself to the language.

Also, if you can travel to Korea after getting a little familiar with the language, I highly recommend it. I went there for a month recently and spoke Korean a lot during my last two weeks and it’s crazy how much I improved. I didn’t necessarily learn a lot of new stuff (although I did learn some) but it really helped me become more comfortable with what I had already learned so that it was easier to recall and use certain grammar and vocabulary more naturally. It also improved my listening skills a lot.