Motifluent
Language Transfer Spanish notes

Lesson 78

What If It Were Different?

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

Seguir = to follow / to continue. Irregular: sigo. Sigo hablando = I continue speaking (seguir + gerund).

Gratis = free (no cost). From same root as "gratuitous."

The past subjunctive: Based on the "they" preterite — replace -ron with -ra:

  • hablaron → hablara / comieron → comiera / pudieron → pudiera

  • Full endings: -ra, -ra, -ran, -ras, -ramos

Si + past subjunctive = hypothetical "if": Si pudiera... = If I could...

Empezar a / comenzar a = to start to (these verbs need "a" to connect, even though they're not movement verbs).

Sentences practiced

SpanishEnglish
Sigo.I follow.
Sigo hablando.I continue speaking.
Sigue hablando.He continues speaking.
Es probable que siga hablando.It's probable he'll continue speaking.
Es imperativo que siga siendo gratis.It's imperative it continues being free.
Es espectacular que comiencen a hablar español.It's spectacular they start speaking Spanish.
Quiero que hablen conmigo.I want them to speak with me.
Cuando terminen de venderlos.When they finish selling them.
Quiero que hablen conmigo cuando terminen de venderlos.I want them to speak with me when they finish selling them.