Lesson 4
Turning English Words into Spanish Verbs
New vocabulary
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| te quiero | I love you (literally "I want you") |
| te amo | I love you (much more serious) |
| te | you (informal object pronoun) |
| quiero | I want |
| no quiero | I don't want |
| me | me / myself |
| con | with |
| firma | signature |
| frente | forehead |
| urgentemente | urgently |
Rule 6: English -ion → Spanish -ión (stress on end)
- -tion → -ción (pronounced /sión/ in Latin America, /thión/ in Spain)
Convertible words: opinión, pasión, preparación, organización, generación, confirmación, conversación, confrontación, complicación, cooperación, cancelación, exploración, salvación, situación, participación, creación, experimentación, información, imaginación, justificación, explicación (exception!)
★ THE KEY VERB-BUILDING RULE
Take an -ation word → remove -tion → add -r → you get the Spanish verb!
This gives ~1,000 verbs.
| English -ation word | Spanish noun | Spanish verb |
|---|---|---|
| preparation | preparación | preparar (to prepare) |
| generation | generación | generar (to generate) |
| confirmation | confirmación | confirmar (to confirm) |
| complication | complicación | complicar (to complicate) |
| cooperation | cooperación | cooperar (to cooperate) |
| cancellation | cancelación | cancelar (to cancel) |
| exploration | exploración | explorar (to explore) |
| salvation | salvación | salvar (to save) |
| participation | participación | participar (to participate) |
| creation | creación | crear (to create) |
| experimentation | experimentación | experimentar (to experience/experiment) |
Etymology hooks
-
con = with → confirmación = "with signing" → firmar = to sign
-
conversación = "with verses"
-
confrontación = "with forehead" (frente)
-
complicación = "with folding" (Latin plicare = to fold)
Exception: explanation → explicación (NOT explanación). Think of English "inexplicable."
Example sentences
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Quiero preparar. | I want to prepare. |
| Quiero cooperar. | I want to cooperate. |
| Quiero cancelar. | I want to cancel. |
| No quiero cancelar. | I don't want to cancel. |
| Quiero explorar. | I want to explore. |
| Quiero prepararme. | I want to prepare myself / get ready. |
Key notes
-
Te quiero is common and broad; te amo is much more serious.
-
The
-ción -> -rshortcut is one of the biggest productivity rules in the course. It opens up a huge verb family very quickly. -
Latin words that feel formal in English are often perfectly everyday in Spanish. Quiero prepararme is completely natural.