Day 4: Talking About Work, Hobbies, and Daily Activities

¡Hola!

This class focused on expanding vocabulary around daily activities, work, free time, and practicing some of the most useful sentence patterns in Spanish.

The Four Sentence Patterns We Keep Using

One thing I’m noticing is that Spanish becomes much easier when I master a few sentence structures and reuse them in different situations.

Tengo que… (I have to…)
Used for obligations and responsibilities.

Examples:

• Tengo que trabajar.
• Tengo que reparar mi carro.
• Tengo que asistir a muchas reuniones.
• Tengo que ir al parque con mi hijo.

Voy a… (I’m going to…)
Used for future plans.

Examples:

• Voy a limpiar mi casa.
• Voy a cocinar comida india.
• Voy a viajar.
• Voy a estudiar español.

Quiero… (I want…)

Used to express desires and goals.

Examples:

• Quiero hablar español.
• Quiero viajar a México.
• Quiero aprender más vocabulario.

Me gusta… (I like…)

One of the most useful expressions for conversations.

• Me gusta cocinar.
• Me gusta correr.
• Me gusta meditar.
• Me gusta viajar.

Vocabulary: Activities at Home

We learned several verbs commonly used around the house.

Activities at Home

• Trabajar — To work
• Limpiar — To clean
• Leer — To read
• Hacer — To do / make
• Comer — To eat
• Dormir — To sleep
• Ver — To watch
• Hablar — To speak
• Cocinar — To cook

Activities at Work

This section felt especially relevant because many of these activities describe a typical workday.

• Asistir a reuniones — To attend meetings
• Asignar trabajos — To assign tasks
• Dibujar diagramas arquitectónicos — To draw architectural diagrams
• Planear proyectos — To plan projects
• Solucionar problemas — To solve problems
• Documentar proyectos — To document projects
• Hablar con mi jefe — To talk with my boss
• Discutir con mi equipo — To discuss with my team

Free Time Activities

We also covered hobbies and leisure activities.

• Jugar — To play
• Viajar — To travel
• Pasar tiempo — To spend time
• Ir de compras — To go shopping
• Correr — To run
• Meditar — To meditate
• Estudiar — To study
• Tocar la guitarra — To play the guitar
• Ver deportes — To watch sports

A Useful Grammar Observation

Spanish verbs are grouped into three major infinitive endings:

-ar
-er
-ir

Examples:

• Trabajar
• Comer
• Dormir

This may seem like a small detail now, but it becomes very important once verb conjugations start getting more advanced.

Core Expressions

• Me gusta... — I like...
• Tengo que... — I have to...
• Voy a... — I am going to...
• Quiero... — I want...
• ¿Te gusta...? — Do you like...?
• ¿Qué te gusta? — What do you like?
• Sí, me gusta. — Yes, I like it.
• No, no me gusta. — No, I don't like it.
• Dime... — Tell me...
• ¿Cómo se dice...? — How do you say...?

Common Nouns

• La reunión — The meeting
• Las reuniones — The meetings
• El proyecto — The project
• Los proyectos — The projects
• El jefe — The boss
• El equipo — The team
• La casa — The house
• El trabajo — The work / job
• El problema — The problem
• Los problemas — The problems
• El día — The day
• La clase de Español — The Spanish class

Verb Endings (Infinitives)

Spanish verbs are grouped into three categories based on their endings:

• -AR

  • Trabajar — To work
  • Limpiar — To clean
  • Hablar — To speak
  • Cocinar — To cook
  • Viajar — To travel

• -ER

  • Comer — To eat
  • Beber — To drink
  • Leer — To read
  • Correr — To run

• -IR

  • Dormir — To sleep
  • Asistir — To attend
  • Discutir — To discuss