Lesson 23

Sentir, -ma Words, and Perfect Questions

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

This lesson introduces a small but important exception: a group of nouns ending in -ma are masculine in Spanish. It also adds sentir and keeps practicing perfect-tense questions.

New vocabulary

Spanish	English
el problema	the problem
el sistema	the system
el programa	the program
el tema	the topic / theme
el aroma	the aroma
sentir	to feel
siento	I feel
lo siento	I'm sorry
comprender	to understand
entender	to understand
perdido	lost

Example sentences

Spanish	English
¿Ha entendido el problema?	Have you understood the problem?
¿Has entendido el sistema?	Have you understood the system?
¿Has entendido el programa?	Have you understood the program?
¿Has sentido el aroma?	Have you smelled / felt the aroma?
Siento.	I feel.
Lo siento.	I'm sorry.
Me he perdido.	I have gotten lost.
Te has perdido.	You have gotten lost.
Nos hemos perdido.	We have gotten lost.
Lo hemos perdido.	We have lost it.

Key notes

Many common nouns ending in -ma come from Greek and are masculine: el problema, el sistema, el programa, el tema, el aroma.
Lo siento is one of the most common fixed expressions in Spanish; literally it means I feel it, but in real use it means I'm sorry.
This lesson contrasts losing something with getting lost: lo hemos perdido vs me he perdido.