día.Just as in English, you can also make a suggestion simply by asking ¿Por qué no…? (Why don’t…?).
Why don’t…?
| ¿Por qué no les llamas? | Why don’t you phone them? |
| ¿Por qué no invitamos a Pablo y a su novia? | Why don’t we invite Pablo and his girlfriend? |
| ¿Por qué no quedamos algún día? | Why don’t we get together sometime? |
| ¿Quieres que comamos juntos? | Why don’t we have lunch together? |
Another way to make suggestions is to use ¿Y si… ? (How about…?) and a verb in the present tense.
How about…?
| ¿Y si les invitamos a cenar? | How about inviting them for dinner? |
| ¿Y si te vienes con nosotros? | How about coming with us? |
| ¿Y si paso a por ti por la mañana? | How about I pick you up in the morning? |
If you want to state your opinion, the Spanish en mi opinión is just like the English in my opinion.
In my opinion…
| En mi opinión, es una buena propuesta. | In my opinion, it’s a good suggestion. |
| En mi opinión, no es verdad. | It’s not true, in my opinion. |
| En mi opinión, va a causar problemas. | In my view, it’ll cause problems. |
When you want to ask someone what they think of something, you can use the verb parecer again, only this time in the phrase ¿Qué te parece…? (What do you think of…?).
What do you think of…?
| ¿Qué te parece su última película? | What do you think of his latest film? |
| ¿Qué te parece la idea? | What do you think of the idea? |
| ¿Qué te pareció el nuevo equipo? | What did you think of the new team? |
| ¿Qué te parece? | What do you think? |
To agree or disagree with what other people say, you can use estoy de acuerdo (I agree) or no estoy de acuerdo (I don’t agree).
I agree…
| Estoy de acuerdo. | I agree. |
| Estoy de acuerdo con Mercedes. | I agree with Mercedes. |
| No estoy de acuerdo con esta decisión. | I don’t agree with this decision. |
| No estoy en absoluto de acuerdo con Maite. | I completely disagree with Maite. |
| ¡Estoy totalmente de acuerdo contigo! | I entirely agree with you! |
| ¿Estás de acuerdo? | Do you agree? |
¿LO SABÍAS?
Remember that contigo is the way to say with you to someone you speak to as tú.
In Spanish, the verb tener (to have) is used in the phrase tener razón (to be right). For more information on tener, see here.
You’re right…
| ¡Tienes razón! | You’re right! |
| Creo que tienes razón. | I think you’re right. |
| Es Antonio quien tiene razón. | It’s Antonio who’s right. |
You’ll want to make plans with business associates and friends. If you want to talk about a definite arrangement, for instance I’m seeing him tonight, you often use the future tense in Spanish. For more on the future tense, see here.
I’m…ing
| Veré a Felipe el jueves. | I’m seeing Felipe on Thursday. |
| La veré esta tarde. | I’m seeing her this afternoon. |
| Iremos al cine esta noche. | We’re going to the cinema tonight. |
| Comeremos juntos el próximo viernes. | We’re having lunch together next Friday. |
¿LO SABÍAS?
As you’ll see in the first example above, in Spanish you say ver a alguien. For more on this use of a, see here.
In English, to talk about the future we often say I’m going to. Spanish works the same way. To say that you’re going to do something, put voy a (I’m going to) or vamos a (we’re going to) before the verb. voy and vamos come from the verb ir. For more information on ir, see here.
I’m going to…
| Voy a telefonearle. | I’m going to phone him. |
| Voy a decirle que no puedo ir. | I’m going to tell him I can’t come. |
| Vamos a decirles que vengan un poco más tarde. | We’re going to tell them to come a little later. |
When organizing things with people you know, you can use ¿Qué te parece si…? (Will it be all right if…?) to ask if something suits them. parece comes from the verb parecer (to seem).
Will it be all right…?
| ¿Qué te parece si cenamos a las nueve? | Will it be all right if we have dinner at nine? |
| ¿Qué te parece si te llamo la semana que viene? | Will it be all right if I phone you next week? |
| ¿Qué
|
