Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

***Ojo! (Be careful) If you are a beginning Spanish student or haven’t mastered the present tense yet, then save this series of articles for future reference.***

Here is a quick review of last weeks article.

We form the present subjunctive of most “ar, - er, and ir ” verbs by dropping the - “o” of the present indicative tense “yo” form and by adding the subjunctive verb endings.

AR VERB ENDINGS
Add o, as, a, amos, an

ER and IR VERB ENDINGS (note they are the same)
o, es, e, emos (imos), en

Below are some of the most frequently used irregular verbs that don’t follow the rule above. The good news is that ninety-nine percent of the verbs are regular.

Poner (to put or place) - Yo (I) pongo, tú (you familiar) pones, él (he), ella (she) pone, nosotros (we) ponemos, ellos (them-masculine), ellas (them-feminine), Ustedes (plural ..you all) ponen.

Tener (to have) - yo tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tienen.

Seguir (to follow) - yo sigo, sigues, siguen, seguimos, sigan.

Venir (to come) - yo vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, vienen.

Hacer (to do or make) - yo hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacen.

Dar (to give) - yo doy, das, da, damos, dan.

Estar (to be……location or temporary conditions) - estoy, estas, está, estamos, estan.

Ir (to go) - voy, vas, vá, vamos, van.

Saber (to know a fact) - yo sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, saben.

Conocer (to know people or places) - conozco, conoces, conoce, conocemos, conocen.

Ser (to be….permanent conditions) - soy, eres, es, somos, son.

*Haber (there is or there are) - Haya (NOTE there is only one form of this verb)

THERE ARE SOME MORE IRREGULAR ENDINGS THAT ARE LESS FREQUENLY USED. WRITE ME OFF LINE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO USE THEM.

MEMORIZE THE VERBS ABOVE AND NEXT WEEK I WILL SIMPLIFIY THE USE OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE “MOOD” BY GIVING YOU THE FIRST RULE OF HOW TO USE IT.

Tiquismos of the week

Bochinche is a type of dispute, argument or fight. A person who engages in this behavior is called a bochinchero.
Amarraperros - is someone who doesn’t pay a debt
Caco - a criminal

Perhaps the two most difficult concepts for Spanish students to master are object pronouns and the correct use of the subjunctive tense. I will address the former in future articles.

In this series of lessons I am going to try and simplify the subjunctive. When I was a Spanish teacher in the States I had the opportunity to teach this concept to thousands of students at both the high school and university levels. With a little time and effort most of my students mastered the basics of the subjunctive.

During the 27 years I have lived in Costa Rica I have only run across about twenty five foreigners who speak Spanish fluently (fluency is the ability to be able to let the language flow effortlessly). However, only a handful of them have really master the use of the subjunctive tense.

The first step in learning the subjunctive is to memorize the verb endings. The second step is to know when and how to use them.

Memorize the following REGULAR verb endings.

We form the present subjunctive of most  AR, - ER, and  IR verbs by dropping the - “o” of the present indicative tense “yo” form and by adding the subjunctive endings.

Ojo! (Be careful) If you are a beginning Spanish student or haven’t mastered the present tense yet, then save this series of articles for future reference.

AR VERB ENDINGS
Add o, as, a, amos, an

CantAR
(to sing)
Yo canto
Tú cantas
Usted, él, ella canta
Nosotros cantamos
Ustedes, ellos, ellas cantan

(for advanced students the vos form is cantas)

ER and IR VERB ENDINGS (note they are the same)
o, es, e, emos (imos), en

ComER (to eat)
yo como
Tú comes
Usted, él, ella come
Nosotros comemos
Ustedes, ellos, ellas comen

(for advanced students the vos form is comes)

VivIR (to live)
Yo vivo
Tú vives
Usted, él, ella vive
Nosotros vivimos
Ustedes, ellos, ellas viven

(for advanced students the vos form is vivis)

The purpose of these lists of words is to build your vocabulary. The more more words you know the better you will be able to express yourself and the more you will understand.

obituario – obituary
difunciones – obituary
esquela – space on the obituary page where a dead person is mentioned
angel de la muerte – angel of death
cremar or incinerar – to cremate
enterrar or sepultar – to burry
entierro or sepultura – burial
Sepulturero - gravedigger
panteón or cementerio – cemetery
tumba - grave
cripta – crypt
lápida – tombstone
cielo –heaven
infierno – hell
embalsamar – to embalm
morir or fallecer – to die
patear el balde – to kick the bucket
con una pata en la tumba – with one foot in the grave (saying)
estar de luto – to be in mourning
llorar – to mourn
ataúd or féretro – coffin
portaféretro - pallbearer
carro funerario/fúnebre- hearse
vela or velorio or velatorio – wake
sala de velación – viewing room
funeral – funeral
funeraria – funeral home

Tiquismos of the week - palmarse – to die (in Costa Rica) pasar a mejor vida – to die (in Costa Rica)

Slang is often referred to as “Street” or Colloquial Spanish.

If your goal is to speak the language fluently and understand native speakers, you should study the expressions I have listed below.

Hablar por los codos - to be very talkative.
Vender gato por liebre - to cheat or deceive.
Meter la cuchara - to meddle or to butt in to a conversation, put in two cents worth etc.
Como para chuparse los dedos - delicious or finger licking good.
Hacérsele agua la boca - to make your mouth water.
Andar de fiesta or andar de parranda - to go out partying or paint the town red. In Costa Rica they also use Andar de manteles largos.
Media naranja - spouse, better half.
Andar para arriba y para abajo - go all over the place
Estar limpio - to be broke

Tiquismo of the week: Cascarudo is a shameless person in Costa Rica.

“Christopher Howard’s Guide to Costa Rican Spanish”
By Steve Silver
Special for Costa Rica Today

Christopher Howard  first became  fascinated by the Spanish language and culture while studying in Puebla, Mexico over thirty years.  Mr. Howard’s latest 160-page guidebook reflects his life-long interest in the subject.  It is a must read for anyone thinking of spending long  periods of time in Costa Rica.

When Mr. Howard moved to Costa Rica in the early 1980s he quickly realized that he would have to learn Costa Rican-style Spanish. Despite having an advanced degree in Spanish, having studied and lived in Mexico and having traveled to every country in Latin America he quickly realized that Spanish was spoken a little different here.  First, he noticed that  there were a lot of local expressions and vocabulary with which he was not familiar.  So he set out  learn all the nuances  of the local lingo.   His new guidebook is the result of almost 25 years of research in the field of Spanish as a second language. By no means is it a complete course in the Spanish language, but does provide neophytes with the basics to  survive here.  Travelers, students, full and part-time residents as well as serious language students will all benefit from the information in this handy book. Howard has taken some of the material from his weekly newspaper columns “Learning the language” and “Short Cuts for Learning Spanish.”

The book is divided into different sections.  The first part deals with pronunciation and has some handy drills to help students sound  more like native speakers.  The next section contains essential Spanish survival phrases you will need for  most daily situations you will encounter in Costa Rica. There is another chapter which shows how Costa Ricans use the vos form of verbs instead of the tú form to address friends. Then there are two chapters dedicated to Costa Rican street slang and useful idioms.  You won’t be able to find most of this material in a standard Spanish dictionary or any other source in English.

The next chapter contains a section on piropos or phrases used for flirting.  Two great sections follow where Chris gives his  secrets for learning  the language.  At the end of the guide is a list of good books  and other sources for learning the language. Finally, the is a short English- Spanish, Spanish-English dictionary.

This guide is pocket-size so you can take it with you wherever you go.

It is available  in Costa Rica through 7th Street Books, Librería Internacional and  Librería Universal. On line it can be obtained through  Amazon.com or www.escaprartist.com.  It can also be purchased in U.S. and Canadian bookstores. Worldwide distribution is through Book Surge.

Mr. Howard has also authored: The bestselling “New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica.”,  the equally popular “Living and Investing in Panamá.”  the one-of-a-kind “Living and Investing in Nicaragua” and  “Living and Investing in Cuba,”  He has co-authored “Driving the Pan-American Highway to Mexico and Central America”  and the soon-to-be released  blockbuster “The Official Guide to Costa Rican Real Estate.”

October 2005