Southpat's Super-Simple Spanish Tips

From Six Conjugations, to One!

One of the most challenging things for Spanish speakers to adjust to when learning a Latin-based language is conjugating all those verbs. Memorizing verb endings is way too confusing, so the BAB has come up with some helpful tips to streamline the learning process:

In most Spanish textbooks, you will find the following pronouns to conjugate verbs with:

• Yo
• Vos (or Tú)
• Usted/El/Ella
• Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes
• Nosotros
• Vosotros

Let's take a look at these one by one, and see if we can simplify your Spanish learning by eliminating the unnecessary ones:

Yo: You don't need it if you talk about yourself in the third person.
Example:

¿Te gustan los libros de L. Ron Hubbard, Southpat?

Si, Southpat le gustan mucho. Son muy graciosos.

Vos/Tú: Let's just eliminate this confusion altogether. Why bother yourself with whether you need to speak Porteño or like the resst of Latin America? Just use the formal with everybody. They will get used to it.
Example:

Hola, Southpat! ¿Cómo estas?

Muy, bien, Tom. ¿Y Usted? ... Que bueno! ¿Y cómo esta Katie?

Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: You can avoid this by rephrasing sentences to avoid using "they." Instead mention a single person first, and then someone else at the end of the sentence.
Example:

Southpat! ¿Cuándo estan viniendo John Travolta y Kelly Preston ?

John esta viniendo a las ocho. Y Kelly tambien.

Nosotros: You can avoid this by careful rephrasing as well.
Example:

Southpat, Tom y vos tienen lo mismo auditor?

Si. Yo tengo David Miscavige. Y Tom tambien.

Vosotros: Don't bother with this one. Only Spaniards use it. And no one trusts them.

As you can see, with Southpat's Simple Spanish Method (trademark pending), the teduim of memorizing conjugations is gone! From six persons to one!

Next time, vocabulary tips....