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1 for
fo:
1. preposition1) (to be given or sent to: This letter is for you.) para2) (towards; in the direction of: We set off for London.) para, hacia, en dirección a3) (through a certain time or distance: for three hours; for three miles.) durante4) (in order to have, get, be etc: He asked me for some money; Go for a walk.) (pedir dinero); (salir) a (pasear)5) (in return; as payment: He paid $2 for his ticket.) por6) (in order to be prepared: He's getting ready for the journey.) para7) (representing: He is the member of parliament for Hull.) por8) (on behalf of: Will you do it for me?) por9) (in favour of: Are you for or against the plan?) por, a favor de10) (because of: for this reason.) por, a causa de11) (having a particular purpose: She gave me money for the bus fare.) para12) (indicating an ability or an attitude to: a talent for baking; an ear for music.) para13) (as being: They mistook him for someone else.) por, para14) (considering what is used in the case of: It is quite warm for January (= considering that it is January when it is usually cold).) para15) (in spite of: For all his money, he didn't seem happy.) a pesar de
2. conjunction(because: It must be late, for I have been here a long time.) ya que, puesto quefor prep1. parais this the train for London? ¿es éste el tren que va a Londres?2. porI bought it for £12 lo compré por 12 libraswhat can I do for you? ¿qué puedo hacer por ti?3. desde hace4. durante5. de"T" for Tony "T" de Tonywhat's the word for "cheese" in Spanish? ¿cómo se dice "cheese" en español?6. a favor deare you for the plan, or against it? ¿estás a favor del plan, o en contra?tr[fɔːSMALLr/SMALL]1 (intended) para■ there's a phone call for Mr. Smith hay una llamada para el Sr. Smith2 (purpose) para■ what's this for? ¿para qué sirve esto?■ shall we meet for lunch? ¿quedamos para comer?3 (destination) para■ where do I catch the train for Newcastle? ¿dónde se coge el tren para Newcastle?4 (in order to help, on behalf of) por5 (because of, on account of) por, a causa de■ a meeting has been called for 10.00 se ha convocado una reunión para las 10.00■ I've lived here for 5 years hace 5 años que vivo aquí, vivo aquí desde hace 5 años■ it's the first accident here for a long time es el primer accidente que ocurre aquí desde hace mucho tiempo8 (in exchange, as replacement of) por■ I got it for £500 lo conseguí por 500 libras■ the record went for $50 el disco se vendió por 50 dólares9 (in favour of, in support of) por, a favor de■ who did you vote for? ¿a quién votaste?■ are you for or against the new laws? ¿estás a favor o en contra de las nuevas leyes?10 (despite) a pesar de, para; (considering, contrast) para■ I still love him, for all his faults lo quiero, a pesar de todos sus defectos11 (as) de, como, por■ what do they use for fuel? ¿qué utilizan de combustible?12 (in order to obtain) para■ for further details... para más información....13 (representing) por; (meaning) de■ I can't go to the meeting - will you go for me? no puedo asistir a la reunión - ¿quieres ir en mi lugar?■ what's the Spanish for "pool"? ¿cómo se dice "pool" en castellano?14 (as regards, concerning) por, en cuanto a■ for my part, he can do as he likes por mí, que haga lo que quiera■ as for him, who cares? en cuanto a él, ¿a quién le importa?■ luckily for us, it didn't rain afortunadamente para nosotros, no llovió15 (as part of, as being) por, para■ do you know that for a fact? ¿lo sabes a ciencia cierta?■ what do you want for dinner? ¿qué quieres para comer?1 para16 formal use literal ya que, puesto que\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLas for me por mi parte, en cuanto a mífor all I know que yo sepafor all that a pesar de todo, con todofor good para siemprefor the first time por primera vezfor the last time por última vezoh for...! ¡ojalá tuviera...!■ oh for a star to guide my way! ¡ojalá tuviera una estrella que me guiara los pasos!there's nothing for it but... no hay más remedio que...to be for it cargárselafor ['fɔr] conj: puesto que, porquefor prepclothes for children: ropa para niñosit's time for dinner: es la hora de comer2) because of: porfor fear of: por miedo dea gift for you: un regalo para tihe fought for his country: luchó por su patriaa cure for cancer: una cura para el cáncerfor your own good: por tu propio bienI bought it for $5: lo compré por $5a lot of trouble for nothing: mucha molestia para nada7) as for: para, con respecto ahe's going for two years: se va por dos añosI spoke for ten minutes: hablé (durante) diez minutosshe has known it for three months: lo sabe desde hace tres mesesconj.• para conj.• pues conj.• ya que conj.n.• por s.m.prep.• a causa de prep.• como prep.• de prep.• durante prep.• en honor de prep.• en lugar de prep.• para prep.• por prep.
I fɔːr, fɔː(r), weak form fər, fə(r)1) preposition2)a) ( intended for) parais there a letter for me? — ¿hay carta para mí?
clothes for men/women — ropa de hombre/mujer
is it for sale? — ¿está en venta?, ¿se vende?
b) ( on behalf of) porhe plays for England — forma parte de or juega en la selección inglesa
c) ( in favor of) a favor de3) ( indicating purpose)what's that for? — ¿para qué es eso?, ¿eso para qué sirve?
it's for trimming hedges — es or sirve para recortar setos
to go out for a meal — salir* a comer fuera
to be for it — (colloq)
here comes Dad, we're for it now! — ahí viene papá ahora sí que estamos listos or (Col tb) hechos or (CS tb) fritos! (fam)
4)a) (as)we're having chicken for dinner — vamos a cenar pollo or hay pollo para cenar
what's for dessert? — ¿qué hay de postre?
b) ( representing)what's (the) German for ``ice cream''? — ¿cómo se dice ``helado'' en alemán?
c) ( instead of) porcould you call him for me? — ¿podrías llamarlo tú?, ¿me harías el favor de llamarlo?
5) ( giving reason) porif it weren't for Joe... — si no fuera por Joe...
for one thing it's too costly and for another we don't need it — para empezar es muy caro y además no lo necesitamos
6)a) ( in exchange for) porI bought the book for $10 — compré el libro por 10 dólares
b) ( indicating proportion) porfor every one we find, there are 20 that get away — por cada uno que encontramos, se nos escapan 20
7)a) ( as concerns) para8)a) ( in spite of)for all her faults, she's been very kind to us — tendrá sus defectos, pero con nosotros ha sido muy buena
is there time for us to have a cup of coffee? — ¿tenemos tiempo de tomar un café?
9) ( in exclamations)oh, for some peace and quiet — qué (no) daría yo por un poco de paz y tranquilidad!
10) ( in the direction of) parathe plane/bus for New York — el avión/autobús para or de Nueva York
11)a) ( indicating duration)I've only been here for a day — sólo llevo un día aquí, hace sólo un día que estoy aquí
how long are you going for? — ¿por cuánto tiempo vas?, ¿cuánto tiempo te vas a quedar?
b) ( on the occasion of) parac) (by, before) para12) ( indicating distance)
II
conjunction (liter) pues (liter), puesto que (frml), porque[fɔː(r)] When for is part of a phrasal verb, eg look for, make for, stand for, look up the verb. When it is part of a set combination, eg as for, a gift for, for sale, eager for, look up the other word.1. PREPOSITION1) (=going to) parathe train for London — el tren para or de Londres
2) (=intended for) parais this for me? — ¿es para mí esto?
3) (to express purpose) parawe went to Tossa for our holidays — fuimos a pasar las vacaciones a Tossa, fuimos a Tossa para las vacaciones
•
what for? — ¿para qué?what's it for? — ¿para qué es or sirve?
what do you want it for? — ¿para qué lo quieres?
what did you do that for? — ¿por qué hiciste eso?
4) (employment) para5) (=on behalf of)"I can't iron this shirt" - "don't worry, I'll iron it for you" — -no puedo planchar esta camisa -no te preocupes, yo te la plancho
"I still haven't booked the ticket" - "I'll do it for you" — -no he reservado el billete todavía -ya lo haré yo
who is the representative for your group? — ¿quién es el representante de vuestro grupo?
6) (=as in) de7) (=in exchange for) porhe'll do it for £25 — lo hará por 25 libras
for every one who voted yes, 50 voted no — por cada persona que votó a favor, 50 votaron en contra
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to pay 50 pence for a ticket — pagar 50 peniques por una entradathe government will match each donation pound for pound — el gobierno igualará cada donativo, libra a libra
•
I sold it for £5 — lo vendí por or en 5 libras8) (=to the value of)a cheque for £500 — un cheque or talón por valor de 500 libras
how much is the cheque for? — ¿por cuánto es el cheque?
a) (making comparisons) parahe's tall/mature for his age — es alto/maduro para su edad or para la edad que tiene
b) (specifying)it was too difficult for her — era demasiado difícil para ella, le era demasiado difícil
that's easy for you to say — para ti es fácil decirlo, a ti te es fácil decirlo
10) (=in favour of) a favor deanyone for a game of cards? — ¿alguien se apunta a una partida de cartas?
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are you for or against the idea? — ¿estás a favor o en contra de la idea?are you for or against us? — ¿estás con nosotros o en contra?
•
I'm all for it — estoy completamente a favor•
the campaign for human rights — la campaña pro derechos humanos, la campaña en pro de los derechos humanos•
a collection for the poor — una colecta a beneficio de los pobres11) (=as, by way of)what's for dinner? — ¿qué hay para cenar?
12) (=because of) por•
for fear of being criticized — por miedo a la crítica, por temor a ser criticado13) (=in spite of) a pesar de•
for all his wealth — a pesar de su riquezafor all he promised to come, he didn't — a pesar de habérmelo prometido, no vino
a) (future/past duration)When translating for and a period of time, it is often unnecessary to translate for, as in the examples below where durante is optional:Alternatively, translate [for] using [durante], or, especially when talking about very short periods, [por]. Use [por] also with the verb [ir], although again it is often optional in this case:I'm going for three weeks — me voy tres semanas, estaré allí tres semanas
for a moment, he didn't know what to say — por un momento, no supo qué decir
Use hace... que and the present to describe actions and states that started in the past and are still going on. Alternatively use the present and desde hace. Another option is sometimes llevar and the gerund. Don't use the present perfect in Spanish to translate phrases like these, unless they are in the negative.he won't be back for a couple of hours/days — no regresará hasta dentro de un par de horas/días, tardará un par de horas/días en regresar
he has been learning French for two years — hace dos años que estudia francés, estudia francés desde hace dos años, lleva dos años estudiando francés
it has not rained for 3 weeks — hace 3 semanas que no llueve, no llueve or no ha llovido desde hace 3 semanas, lleva 3 semanas sin llover
I have known her for years — hace años que la conozco, la conozco desde hace años
Notice how the tenses change when talking about something that [had] happened or [had been] happening [for] a time:I haven't seen her for two years — hace dos años que no la veo, no la he visto desde hace dos años, no la veo desde hace dos años, llevo dos años sin verla
he had been learning French for two years — hacía dos años que estudiaba francés, estudiaba francés desde hacía dos años, llevaba dos años estudiando francés
I hadn't seen her for two years — hacía dos años que no la veía, no la había visto desde hacía dos años, no la veía desde hacía dos años, llevaba dos años sin verla
15) (=by, before) paracan you do it for tomorrow? — ¿lo puedes hacer para mañana?
when does he want it for? — ¿para cuándo lo quiere?
16) (=on the occasion of) parahe asked his daughter what she would like for her birthday — le preguntó a su hija qué le gustaría para su cumpleaños
17) (=for a distance of)you can see for miles from the top of the hill — desde lo alto de la colina se puede ver hasta muy lejos
for this to be possible... — para que esto sea posible...
it's not for me to tell him what to do — yo no soy quien para decirle or no me corresponde a mí decirle lo que tiene que hacer
•
it's bad for you to smoke so much — te perjudica fumar tanto•
it's best for you to go — es mejor que te vayas•
there is still time for you to do it — todavía tienes tiempo para hacerlowhat's the German for "hill"? — ¿cómo se dice "colina" en alemán?
oh for a cup of tea! — ¡lo que daría por una taza de té!
exampleI'll be for it if he catches me here! * — ¡me la voy a cargar si me pilla aquí! *
2.CONJUNCTION liter pues, puesto queshe avoided him, for he was rude and uncouth — lo eludía puesto que or pues era grosero y ordinario
* * *
I [fɔːr, fɔː(r)], weak form [fər, fə(r)]1) preposition2)a) ( intended for) parais there a letter for me? — ¿hay carta para mí?
clothes for men/women — ropa de hombre/mujer
is it for sale? — ¿está en venta?, ¿se vende?
b) ( on behalf of) porhe plays for England — forma parte de or juega en la selección inglesa
c) ( in favor of) a favor de3) ( indicating purpose)what's that for? — ¿para qué es eso?, ¿eso para qué sirve?
it's for trimming hedges — es or sirve para recortar setos
to go out for a meal — salir* a comer fuera
to be for it — (colloq)
here comes Dad, we're for it now! — ahí viene papá ahora sí que estamos listos or (Col tb) hechos or (CS tb) fritos! (fam)
4)a) (as)we're having chicken for dinner — vamos a cenar pollo or hay pollo para cenar
what's for dessert? — ¿qué hay de postre?
b) ( representing)what's (the) German for ``ice cream''? — ¿cómo se dice ``helado'' en alemán?
c) ( instead of) porcould you call him for me? — ¿podrías llamarlo tú?, ¿me harías el favor de llamarlo?
5) ( giving reason) porif it weren't for Joe... — si no fuera por Joe...
for one thing it's too costly and for another we don't need it — para empezar es muy caro y además no lo necesitamos
6)a) ( in exchange for) porI bought the book for $10 — compré el libro por 10 dólares
b) ( indicating proportion) porfor every one we find, there are 20 that get away — por cada uno que encontramos, se nos escapan 20
7)a) ( as concerns) para8)a) ( in spite of)for all her faults, she's been very kind to us — tendrá sus defectos, pero con nosotros ha sido muy buena
is there time for us to have a cup of coffee? — ¿tenemos tiempo de tomar un café?
9) ( in exclamations)oh, for some peace and quiet — qué (no) daría yo por un poco de paz y tranquilidad!
10) ( in the direction of) parathe plane/bus for New York — el avión/autobús para or de Nueva York
11)a) ( indicating duration)I've only been here for a day — sólo llevo un día aquí, hace sólo un día que estoy aquí
how long are you going for? — ¿por cuánto tiempo vas?, ¿cuánto tiempo te vas a quedar?
b) ( on the occasion of) parac) (by, before) para12) ( indicating distance)
II
conjunction (liter) pues (liter), puesto que (frml), porque -
2 be
'bi: ɡi:( abbreviation) (Bachelor of Engineering; first degree in Engineering.) licenciatura en Ingenieríabe vb1. serwhat time is it? It's 3 o'clock ¿qué hora es? Son las treswho is it? It's me ¿quién es? Soy yo2. estarhow are you? I'm fine ¿cómo estás? estoy bienwhere is Pauline? ¿dónde está Pauline?how far is it? ¿a qué distancia está?what day is it today? ¿qué día es hoy? / ¿a qué día estamos?3. tenerhow old are you? I'm 16 ¿cuántos años tienes? tengo 16 años4. costar / valer / serhow much is it? ¿cuánto cuesta? / ¿cuánto vale? / ¿cuánto es?the tickets are £15 each las entradas valen 15 libras cada una5. hacer6. haberhow many children are there? ¿cuántos niños hay?Se usa también para construir el tiempo verbal llamado present continuous que indica una acción que está pasando en estos momentoswhat are you doing? ¿qué estás haciendo? / ¿qué haces?look, it's snowing mira, está nevando
be sustantivo femenino: name of the letter b, often called be largaor grande to distinguish it from v 'be' also found in these entries: Spanish: A - abasto - abate - abismo - abotargarse - abreviar - abrirse - absoluta - absoluto - abultar - abundar - aburrir - aburrirse - acabose - acariciar - acaso - acertar - achantarse - acometer - acostada - acostado - acostumbrar - acostumbrada - acostumbrado - acreditar - activa - activo - adelantar - adelantarse - adentro - adivinarse - admirarse - adolecer - aferrarse - afianzarse - aficionada - aficionado - afligirse - agonizar - agotarse - agradecer - agua - ahogarse - ahora - aire - ajo - ala - alarmarse - alcanzar - alegrarse English: aback - abate - about - absent - accordance - account for - accountable - accustom - acquaint - action - addicted - address - adequate - adjust - admit - affiliated - afford - afraid - agenda - agree - agreement - ahead - air - airsick - alert - alive - alone - along - aloof - alphabetically - always - am - ambition - amenable - amusing - anathema - annoyance - anomaly - anxious - apologetic - appal - appall - are - arm - around - arrears - as - ashamed - aspire - assertbetr[biː]intransitive verb (pres 1ª pers am, 2ª pers sing y todas del pl are, 3ª pers sing is; pt 1ª y 3ª pers sing was, 2ª pers sing y todas del pl; pp been)2 (essential quality) ser3 (nationality) ser4 (occupation) ser5 (origin) ser6 (ownership) ser7 (authorship) ser8 (composition) ser9 (use) ser10 (location) estar11 (temporary state) estar■ how are you? ¿cómo estás?12 (age) tener13 (price) costar, valer■ a single ticket is £9.50 un billete de ida cuesta £9.5014 tener■ he's hot/cold tiene calor/frío■ we're hungry/thirsty tenemos hambre/sed1 (passive) ser■ she was arrested at the border fue detenida en la frontera, la detuvieron en la frontera■ he's hated by everybody es odiado por todos, todos lo odian■ he was discharged fue dado de alta, lo dieron de alta■ the house has been sold la casa ha sido vendida, la casa se ha vendido, han vendido la casa■ thirty children were injured treinta niños fueron heridos, treinta niños resultaron heridos■ the two areas of the town are divided by a wall las dos zonas de la ciudad están divididas por un muro1 (obligation) deber, tener que1 (future)phrase there is / there are1 hay■ is there much traffic ¿hay mucho tráfico?1 había■ were there many people? ¿había mucha gente?1 habrá1 habría■ if Mike came, there would be ten of us si viniera Mike, seríamos diez\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLto be about to «+ inf» estar para + inf, estar a punto de + infto be or not to be ser o no serbe ['bi:] v, was ['wəz, 'wɑz] ; were ['wər] ; been ['bɪn] ; being ; am ['æm] ; is ['ɪz] ; are ['ɑr] viJosé is a doctor: José es doctorI'm Ana's sister: soy la hermana de Anathe tree is tall: el árbol es altoyou're silly!: ¡eres tonto!she's from Managua: es de Managuait's mine: es míomy mother is at home: mi madre está en casathe cups are on the table: las tazas están en la mesato be or not to be: ser, o no serI think, therefore I am: pienso, luego existohow are you?: ¿cómo estás?I'm cold: tengo fríoshe's 10 years old: tiene 10 añosthey're both sick: están enfermos los dosbe v impersit's eight o'clock: son las ochoit's Friday: hoy es viernesit's sunny: hace solit's very dark outside: está bien oscuro afuerabe v auxwhat are you doing? -I'm working: ¿qué haces? -estoy trabajandoit was finished yesterday: fue acabado ayer, se acabó ayerit was cooked in the oven: se cocinó en el hornocan she be trusted?: ¿se puede confiar en ella?you are to stay here: debes quedarte aquíhe was to come yesterday: se esperaba que viniese ayerbev.(§ p.,p.p.: was, were, been) = estar v.(§pres: estoy, estás...) pret: estuv-•)• ser v.(§pres: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son) subj: se-imp: er-fu-•)biːˌ weak form bi
1.
2)a) (followed by an adjective)she's French/intelligent — es francesa/inteligente
he's worried/furious — está preocupado/furioso
he's blind — es or (Esp tb) está ciego
have you never had gazpacho? it's delicious! — ¿nunca has comido gazpacho? es delicioso!
the gazpacho is delicious, did you make it yourself? — el gazpacho está delicioso ¿lo hiciste tú?
she was very rude to me — estuvo or fue muy grosera conmigo
Tony is married/divorced/single — Tony está or (esp AmL) es casado/divorciado/soltero
to be married to somebody — estar* casado con alguien
3)a) (followed by a noun) ser*who was Prime Minister at the time? — ¿quién era Primer Ministro en ese momento?
it's me/Daniel — soy yo/es Daniel
if I were you, I'd stay — yo que tú or yo en tu lugar me quedaría
b) ( play the role of) hacer* de4)how are you? — ¿cómo estás?
I'm much better — estoy or me encuentro mucho mejor
she's pregnant/tired — está embarazada/cansada
I'm cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/sleepy — tengo frío/calor/hambre/sed/sueño
b) ( talking about age) tener*how old are you? — ¿cuántos años tienes?
he's a lot older/younger — es mucho mayor/menor
c) (giving cost, measurement, weight)how much is that? - that'll be $15, please — ¿cuánto es? - (son) 15 dólares, por favor
they are $15 each — cuestan or valen 15 dólares cada una
how tall/heavy is he? — ¿cuánto mide/pesa?
5)a) (exist, live)I think, therefore I am — pienso, luego existo
to let something/somebody be — dejar tranquilo or en paz algo/a alguien
b) ( in expressions of time)don't be too long — no tardes mucho, no (te) demores mucho (esp AmL)
I'm drying my hair, I won't be long — me estoy secando el pelo, enseguida estoy
how long will dinner be? — ¿cuánto falta para la cena?
c) ( take place) ser*6) (be situated, present) estar*where is the library? — ¿dónde está or queda la biblioteca?
where are you? — ¿dónde estás?
what's in that box? — ¿qué hay en esa caja?
who's in the movie? — ¿quién actúa or trabaja en la película?
how long are you in Chicago (for)? — (colloq) ¿cuánto (tiempo) te vas a quedar en Chicago ?
7) (only in perfect tenses) ( visit) estar*have you been to the exhibition yet? — ¿ya has estado en or has ido a la exposición?
2.
v impers1)a) (talking about physical conditions, circumstances)it's sunny/cold/hot — hace sol/frío/calor
it's so noisy/quiet in here! — qué ruido/silencio hay aquí!
I have enough problems as it is, without you... — yo ya tengo suficientes problemas sin que tú encima...
b) ( in expressions of time) ser*hi, Joe, it's been a long time — qué tal, Joe, tanto tiempo (sin verte)
c) ( talking about distance) estar*it's 500 miles from here to Detroit — Detroit queda or está a 500 millas de aquí
2)a) (introducing person, object) ser*it was me who told them — fui yo quien se lo dije or dijo, fui yo el que se lo dije or dijo
b) (in conditional use) ser*if it hadn't been o had it not been for Juan, we would have been killed — si no hubiera sido por Juan or de no ser por Juan, nos habríamos matado
3.
v aux1) to be -inga) ( used to describe action in progress) estar* + gerwhat was I saying? — ¿qué estaba diciendo?
she was leaving when... — se iba cuando...
how long have you been waiting? — ¿cuánto (tiempo) hace que esperas?, ¿cuánto (tiempo) llevas esperando?
b) ( with future reference)he is o will be arriving tomorrow — llega mañana
when are you seeing her? — ¿cuándo la vas a ver or la verás?
2) (in the passive voice) ser* [The passive voice, however, is less common in Spanish than it is in English]it was built in 1903 — fue construido en 1903, se construyó en 1903, lo construyeron en 1903
she was told that... — le dijeron or se le dijo que...
it is known that... — se sabe que...
3) to be to + infa) ( with future reference)if a solution is to be found... — si se quiere encontrar or si se ha de encontrar una solución...
b) ( expressing possibility)what are we to do? — ¿qué podemos hacer?
c) ( expressing obligation) deber* + inf, tener* que + inf, haber* de + inftell her she's to stay here — dile que debe quedarse or tiene que quedarse aquí, dile que se quede aquí
am I to understand that... ? — ¿debo entender que... ?
4) ( in hypotheses)what would happen if she were o was to die? — ¿qué pasaría si ella muriera?
5)she's right, isn't she? — tiene razón, ¿no? or ¿verdad? or ¿no es cierto?
so that's what you think, is it? — de manera que eso es lo que piensas
are you disappointed? - yes, I am/no, I'm not — ¿estás desilusionado? - sí (, lo estoy)/no (, no lo estoy)
she was told the news, and so was he/but I wasn't — a ella le dieron la noticia, y también a él/pero a mí no
[biː] (present am, is or are pt was or were pp been)I'm surprised, are/aren't you? — estoy sorprendido, ¿y tú?/¿tú no?
1. INTRANSITIVE VERB1) (linking nouns, noun phrases, pronouns) serit's me! — ¡soy yo!
who wants to be Hamlet? — ¿quién quiere hacer de or ser Hamlet?
if I were you... — yo en tu lugar..., yo que tú... *
2) (possession) serUse [estar] with past participles used as adjectives describing the results of an action or process:it's round/enormous — es redondo/enorme
4) (changeable or temporary state) estarshe's bored/ill — está aburrida/enferma
how are you? — ¿cómo estás?, ¿qué tal estás?
how are you now? — ¿qué tal te encuentras ahora?
In certain expressions where English uses [be] + adjective to describe feelings ([be cold]/[hot]/[hungry]/[thirsty]), Spanish uses [tener] with a noun:I'm very well, thanks — estoy muy bien, gracias
I'm cold/hot — tengo frío/calor
I'm hungry/thirsty — tengo hambre/sed
afraid, sleepy, rightbe good! — ¡pórtate bien!
5) (age)"how old is she?" - "she's nine" — -¿cuántos años tiene? -tiene nueve años
6) (=take place) ser7) (=be situated) estarit's on the table — está sobre or en la mesa
where is the Town Hall? — ¿dónde está or queda el ayuntamiento?
it's 5 km to the village — el pueblo está or queda a 5 kilómetros
we've been here for ages — hace mucho tiempo que estamos aquí, llevamos aquí mucho tiempo, estamos aquí desde hace mucho tiempo
•
here you are(, take it) — aquí tienes(, tómalo)•
there's the church — ahí está la iglesiaa) (referring to weather) hacerit's hot/cold — hace calor/frío
b) (referring to time, date etc) serwake up, it's morning — despierta, es de día
what's the date (today)? — ¿qué fecha es hoy?
But note the following alternatives with [estar]:it's 3 May or the 3rd of May — es 3 de mayo
it's 3 May or the 3rd of May — estamos a 3 de mayo
c) (asking and giving opinion) seris it certain that...? — ¿es verdad or cierto que...?
is it fair that she should be punished while...? — ¿es justo que se la castigue mientras que...?
it is possible that he'll come — es posible que venga, puede (ser) que venga
it is unbelievable that... — es increíble que...
it's not clear whether... — no está claro si...
d) (emphatic) serwhy is it that she's so successful? — ¿cómo es que tiene tanto éxito?, ¿por qué tiene tanto éxito?
it was then that... — fue entonces cuando...
9) (=exist) haberthere is/are — hay
what is (there) in that room? — ¿qué hay en esa habitación?
is there anyone at home? — ¿hay alguien en casa?
there being no alternative solution... — al no haber or no habiendo otra solución...
let there be light! — ¡hágase la luz!
See:THERE IS, THERE ARE in there10) (=cost)how much was it? — ¿cuánto costó?
the book is £20 — el libro vale or cuesta 20 libras
how much is it? — ¿cuánto es?; (when paying) ¿qué le debo? frm
11) (=visit)has the postman been? — ¿ha venido el cartero?
have you ever been to Glasgow? — ¿has estado en Glasgow alguna vez?
12) (in noun compounds) futuro•
my wife to be — mi futura esposa•
been and * —you've been and done it now! — ¡buena la has hecho! *
that dog of yours has been and dug up my flowers! — ¡tu perro ha ido y me ha destrozado las flores!
•
you're busy enough as it is — estás bastante ocupado ya con lo que tienes, ya tienes suficiente trabajo•
if it hadn't been for..., if it hadn't been for you or frm had it not been for you, we would have lost — si no hubiera sido por ti or de no haber sido por ti, habríamos perdido•
let me be! — ¡déjame en paz!•
if that's what you want to do, then so be it — si eso es lo que quieres hacer, adelante•
what is it to you? * — ¿a ti qué te importa?2. AUXILIARY VERB1) (forming passive) serThe passive is not used as often in Spanish as in English, active and reflexive constructions often being preferred:it is said that... — dicen que..., se dice que...
she was killed in a car crash — murió en un accidente de coche, resultó muerta en un accidente de coche frm
what's to be done? — ¿qué hay que hacer?
•
it's a film not to be missed — es una película que no hay que perderse•
we searched everywhere for him, but he was nowhere to be seen — lo buscamos por todas partes pero no lo encontramos en ningún sitio2) (forming continuous) estarUse the present simple to talk about planned future events and the construction to talk about intention:what are you doing? — ¿qué estás haciendo?, ¿qué haces?
"it's a pity you aren't coming with us" - "but I am coming!" — -¡qué pena que no vengas con nosotros! -¡sí que voy!
will you be seeing her tomorrow? — ¿la verás or la vas a ver mañana?
will you be needing more? — ¿vas a necesitar más?
The imperfect tense can be used for continuous action in the past: for, sinceI'll be seeing you — hasta luego, nos vemos (esp LAm)
a)"he's going to complain about you" - "oh, is he?" — -va a quejarse de ti -¿ah, sí?
"I'm worried" - "so am I" — -estoy preocupado -yo también
"I'm not ready" - "neither am I" — -no estoy listo -yo tampoco
"you're tired" - "no, I'm not" — -estás cansado -no, ¡qué va!
"you're not eating enough" - "yes I am" — -no comes lo suficiente -que sí
"they're getting married" - "oh, are they?" — (showing surprise) -se casan -¿ah, sí? or -¡no me digas!
"he isn't very happy" - "oh, isn't he?" — -no está muy contento -¿ah, no?
"he's always late, isn't he?" - "yes, he is" — -siempre llega tarde, ¿verdad? -(pues) sí
"is it what you expected?" - "no, it isn't" — -¿es esto lo que esperabas? -(pues) no
"she's pretty" - "no, she isn't" — -es guapa -¡qué va!
he's handsome, isn't he? — es guapo, ¿verdad?, es guapo, ¿no?, es guapo, ¿no es cierto?
it was fun, wasn't it? — fue divertido, ¿verdad?, fue divertido, ¿no?
she wasn't happy, was she? — no era feliz, ¿verdad?
so he's back again, is he? — así que ha vuelto, ¿eh?
you're not ill, are you? — ¿no estarás enfermo?
3. MODAL VERB(with infinitive construction)1) (=must, have to)he's not to open it — no debe abrirlo, que no lo abra
I am to do it — he de hacerlo yo, soy yo el que debe hacerlo
I wasn't to tell you his name — no podía or debía decirte su nombre
2) (=should) deberam I to understand that...? — ¿debo entender que...?
she wrote "My Life", not to be confused with Bernstein's book of the same name — escribió "Mi Vida", que no debe confundirse con la obra de Bernstein que lleva el mismo título
he was to have come yesterday — tenía que or debía haber venido ayer
3) (=will)4) (=can)if it was or were to snow... — si nevase or nevara...
BEif I were to leave the job, would you replace me? — si yo dejara el puesto, ¿me sustituirías?
"Ser" or "estar"?
You can use "ser": ► when defining or identifying by linking two nouns or noun phrases:
Paris is the capital of France París es la capital de Francia
He was the most hated man in the village Era el hombre más odiado del pueblo ► to describe essential or inherent characteristics (e.g. colour, material, nationality, race, shape, size {etc}):
His mother is German Su madre es alemana
She was blonde Era rubia ► with most impersonal expressions not involving past participles:
It is important to be on time Es importante llegar a tiempo
Está claro que is an exception:
It is obvious you don't understand Está claro que no lo entiendes ► when telling the time or talking about time or age:
It is ten o'clock Son las diez
It's very late. Let's go home Es muy tarde. Vamos a casa
He lived in the country when he was young Vivió en el campo cuando era joven ► to indicate possession or duty:
It's mine Es mío
This is your responsibility Este asunto es responsabilidad tuya ► with events in the sense of "take place":
The 1992 Olympic Games were in Barcelona Los Juegos Olímpicos de 1992 fueron en Barcelona
"Where is the exam?" - "It's in Room 1" "¿Dónde es el examen?" - "Es en el Aula Número 1" NOTE: Compare this usage with that of estar (see below) to talk about location of places, objects and people.
You can use "estar": ► to talk about location of places, objects and people:
"Where is Zaragoza?" - "It's in Spain" "¿Dónde está Zaragoza?" - "Está en España"
Your glasses are on the bedside table Tus gafas están en la mesilla de noche NOTE: But use ser with events in the sense of "take place" (see above)}. ► to talk about changeable state, condition or mood:
The teacher is ill La profesora está enferma
The coffee's cold El café está frío
How happy I am! ¡Qué contento estoy! NOTE: Feliz, however, which is seen as more permanent than contento, is used mainly with ser. ► to form progressive tenses:
We're having lunch. Is it ok if I call you later? Estamos comiendo. Te llamaré luego, ¿vale?
Both "ser" and "estar" can be used with past participles ► Use ser in {passive} constructions:
This play was written by Lorca Esta obra fue escrita por Lorca
He was shot dead (by a terrorist group) Fue asesinado a tiros (por un grupo terrorista) NOTE: The passive is not used as often in Spanish as it is in English. ► Use estar with past participles to describe the {results} of a previous action or event:
We threw them away because they were broken Los tiramos a la basura porque estaban rotos
He's dead Está muerto ► Compare the use of ser + ((past participle)) which describes {action} and estar + ((past participle)) which describes {result} in the following:
The window was broken by the firemen La ventana fue rota por los bomberos
The window was broken La ventana estaba rota
It was painted around 1925 Fue pintado hacia 1925
The floor is painted a dark colour El suelo está pintado de color oscuro ► Ser and estar are both used in impersonal expressions with past participles. As above, the use of ser implies {action} while the use of estar implies {result}:
It is understood that the work was never finished Es sabido que el trabajo nunca se llegó a terminar
It is a proven fact that vaccinations save many lives Está demostrado que las vacunas salvan muchas vidas
"Ser" and "estar" with adjectives ► Some adjectives can be used with both ser and estar but the meaning changes completely depending on the verb:
He's clever Es listo
Are you ready? ¿Estás listo?
Chemistry is boring La química es aburrida
I'm bored Estoy aburrido ► Other adjectives can also be used with both verbs but the use of ser describes a {characteristic} while the use of estar implies a {change}:
He's very handsome Es muy guapo
You look great in that dress! Estás muy guapa con ese vestido
He's slim Es delgado
You're (looking) very slim ¡Estás muy delgada! For further uses and examples, see main entry* * *[biːˌ] weak form [bi]
1.
2)a) (followed by an adjective)she's French/intelligent — es francesa/inteligente
he's worried/furious — está preocupado/furioso
he's blind — es or (Esp tb) está ciego
have you never had gazpacho? it's delicious! — ¿nunca has comido gazpacho? es delicioso!
the gazpacho is delicious, did you make it yourself? — el gazpacho está delicioso ¿lo hiciste tú?
she was very rude to me — estuvo or fue muy grosera conmigo
Tony is married/divorced/single — Tony está or (esp AmL) es casado/divorciado/soltero
to be married to somebody — estar* casado con alguien
3)a) (followed by a noun) ser*who was Prime Minister at the time? — ¿quién era Primer Ministro en ese momento?
it's me/Daniel — soy yo/es Daniel
if I were you, I'd stay — yo que tú or yo en tu lugar me quedaría
b) ( play the role of) hacer* de4)how are you? — ¿cómo estás?
I'm much better — estoy or me encuentro mucho mejor
she's pregnant/tired — está embarazada/cansada
I'm cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/sleepy — tengo frío/calor/hambre/sed/sueño
b) ( talking about age) tener*how old are you? — ¿cuántos años tienes?
he's a lot older/younger — es mucho mayor/menor
c) (giving cost, measurement, weight)how much is that? - that'll be $15, please — ¿cuánto es? - (son) 15 dólares, por favor
they are $15 each — cuestan or valen 15 dólares cada una
how tall/heavy is he? — ¿cuánto mide/pesa?
5)a) (exist, live)I think, therefore I am — pienso, luego existo
to let something/somebody be — dejar tranquilo or en paz algo/a alguien
b) ( in expressions of time)don't be too long — no tardes mucho, no (te) demores mucho (esp AmL)
I'm drying my hair, I won't be long — me estoy secando el pelo, enseguida estoy
how long will dinner be? — ¿cuánto falta para la cena?
c) ( take place) ser*6) (be situated, present) estar*where is the library? — ¿dónde está or queda la biblioteca?
where are you? — ¿dónde estás?
what's in that box? — ¿qué hay en esa caja?
who's in the movie? — ¿quién actúa or trabaja en la película?
how long are you in Chicago (for)? — (colloq) ¿cuánto (tiempo) te vas a quedar en Chicago ?
7) (only in perfect tenses) ( visit) estar*have you been to the exhibition yet? — ¿ya has estado en or has ido a la exposición?
2.
v impers1)a) (talking about physical conditions, circumstances)it's sunny/cold/hot — hace sol/frío/calor
it's so noisy/quiet in here! — qué ruido/silencio hay aquí!
I have enough problems as it is, without you... — yo ya tengo suficientes problemas sin que tú encima...
b) ( in expressions of time) ser*hi, Joe, it's been a long time — qué tal, Joe, tanto tiempo (sin verte)
c) ( talking about distance) estar*it's 500 miles from here to Detroit — Detroit queda or está a 500 millas de aquí
2)a) (introducing person, object) ser*it was me who told them — fui yo quien se lo dije or dijo, fui yo el que se lo dije or dijo
b) (in conditional use) ser*if it hadn't been o had it not been for Juan, we would have been killed — si no hubiera sido por Juan or de no ser por Juan, nos habríamos matado
3.
v aux1) to be -inga) ( used to describe action in progress) estar* + gerwhat was I saying? — ¿qué estaba diciendo?
she was leaving when... — se iba cuando...
how long have you been waiting? — ¿cuánto (tiempo) hace que esperas?, ¿cuánto (tiempo) llevas esperando?
b) ( with future reference)he is o will be arriving tomorrow — llega mañana
when are you seeing her? — ¿cuándo la vas a ver or la verás?
2) (in the passive voice) ser* [The passive voice, however, is less common in Spanish than it is in English]it was built in 1903 — fue construido en 1903, se construyó en 1903, lo construyeron en 1903
she was told that... — le dijeron or se le dijo que...
it is known that... — se sabe que...
3) to be to + infa) ( with future reference)if a solution is to be found... — si se quiere encontrar or si se ha de encontrar una solución...
b) ( expressing possibility)what are we to do? — ¿qué podemos hacer?
c) ( expressing obligation) deber* + inf, tener* que + inf, haber* de + inftell her she's to stay here — dile que debe quedarse or tiene que quedarse aquí, dile que se quede aquí
am I to understand that... ? — ¿debo entender que... ?
4) ( in hypotheses)what would happen if she were o was to die? — ¿qué pasaría si ella muriera?
5)she's right, isn't she? — tiene razón, ¿no? or ¿verdad? or ¿no es cierto?
so that's what you think, is it? — de manera que eso es lo que piensas
are you disappointed? - yes, I am/no, I'm not — ¿estás desilusionado? - sí (, lo estoy)/no (, no lo estoy)
she was told the news, and so was he/but I wasn't — a ella le dieron la noticia, y también a él/pero a mí no
I'm surprised, are/aren't you? — estoy sorprendido, ¿y tú?/¿tú no?
-
3 BE
'bi: ɡi:( abbreviation) (Bachelor of Engineering; first degree in Engineering.) licenciatura en Ingenieríabe vb1. serwhat time is it? It's 3 o'clock ¿qué hora es? Son las treswho is it? It's me ¿quién es? Soy yo2. estarhow are you? I'm fine ¿cómo estás? estoy bienwhere is Pauline? ¿dónde está Pauline?how far is it? ¿a qué distancia está?what day is it today? ¿qué día es hoy? / ¿a qué día estamos?3. tenerhow old are you? I'm 16 ¿cuántos años tienes? tengo 16 años4. costar / valer / serhow much is it? ¿cuánto cuesta? / ¿cuánto vale? / ¿cuánto es?the tickets are £15 each las entradas valen 15 libras cada una5. hacer6. haberhow many children are there? ¿cuántos niños hay?Se usa también para construir el tiempo verbal llamado present continuous que indica una acción que está pasando en estos momentoswhat are you doing? ¿qué estás haciendo? / ¿qué haces?look, it's snowing mira, está nevando
be sustantivo femenino: name of the letter b, often called be largaor grande to distinguish it from v 'be' also found in these entries: Spanish: A - abasto - abate - abismo - abotargarse - abreviar - abrirse - absoluta - absoluto - abultar - abundar - aburrir - aburrirse - acabose - acariciar - acaso - acertar - achantarse - acometer - acostada - acostado - acostumbrar - acostumbrada - acostumbrado - acreditar - activa - activo - adelantar - adelantarse - adentro - adivinarse - admirarse - adolecer - aferrarse - afianzarse - aficionada - aficionado - afligirse - agonizar - agotarse - agradecer - agua - ahogarse - ahora - aire - ajo - ala - alarmarse - alcanzar - alegrarse English: aback - abate - about - absent - accordance - account for - accountable - accustom - acquaint - action - addicted - address - adequate - adjust - admit - affiliated - afford - afraid - agenda - agree - agreement - ahead - air - airsick - alert - alive - alone - along - aloof - alphabetically - always - am - ambition - amenable - amusing - anathema - annoyance - anomaly - anxious - apologetic - appal - appall - are - arm - around - arrears - as - ashamed - aspire - assertbetr[biː]intransitive verb (pres 1ª pers am, 2ª pers sing y todas del pl are, 3ª pers sing is; pt 1ª y 3ª pers sing was, 2ª pers sing y todas del pl; pp been)2 (essential quality) ser3 (nationality) ser4 (occupation) ser5 (origin) ser6 (ownership) ser7 (authorship) ser8 (composition) ser9 (use) ser10 (location) estar11 (temporary state) estar■ how are you? ¿cómo estás?12 (age) tener13 (price) costar, valer■ a single ticket is £9.50 un billete de ida cuesta £9.5014 tener■ he's hot/cold tiene calor/frío■ we're hungry/thirsty tenemos hambre/sed1 (passive) ser■ she was arrested at the border fue detenida en la frontera, la detuvieron en la frontera■ he's hated by everybody es odiado por todos, todos lo odian■ he was discharged fue dado de alta, lo dieron de alta■ the house has been sold la casa ha sido vendida, la casa se ha vendido, han vendido la casa■ thirty children were injured treinta niños fueron heridos, treinta niños resultaron heridos■ the two areas of the town are divided by a wall las dos zonas de la ciudad están divididas por un muro1 (obligation) deber, tener que1 (future)phrase there is / there are1 hay■ is there much traffic ¿hay mucho tráfico?1 había■ were there many people? ¿había mucha gente?1 habrá1 habría■ if Mike came, there would be ten of us si viniera Mike, seríamos diez\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLto be about to «+ inf» estar para + inf, estar a punto de + infto be or not to be ser o no serbe ['bi:] v, was ['wəz, 'wɑz] ; were ['wər] ; been ['bɪn] ; being ; am ['æm] ; is ['ɪz] ; are ['ɑr] viJosé is a doctor: José es doctorI'm Ana's sister: soy la hermana de Anathe tree is tall: el árbol es altoyou're silly!: ¡eres tonto!she's from Managua: es de Managuait's mine: es míomy mother is at home: mi madre está en casathe cups are on the table: las tazas están en la mesato be or not to be: ser, o no serI think, therefore I am: pienso, luego existohow are you?: ¿cómo estás?I'm cold: tengo fríoshe's 10 years old: tiene 10 añosthey're both sick: están enfermos los dosbe v impersit's eight o'clock: son las ochoit's Friday: hoy es viernesit's sunny: hace solit's very dark outside: está bien oscuro afuerabe v auxwhat are you doing? -I'm working: ¿qué haces? -estoy trabajandoit was finished yesterday: fue acabado ayer, se acabó ayerit was cooked in the oven: se cocinó en el hornocan she be trusted?: ¿se puede confiar en ella?you are to stay here: debes quedarte aquíhe was to come yesterday: se esperaba que viniese ayerbev.(§ p.,p.p.: was, were, been) = estar v.(§pres: estoy, estás...) pret: estuv-•)• ser v.(§pres: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son) subj: se-imp: er-fu-•)biːˌ weak form bi
1.
2)a) (followed by an adjective)she's French/intelligent — es francesa/inteligente
he's worried/furious — está preocupado/furioso
he's blind — es or (Esp tb) está ciego
have you never had gazpacho? it's delicious! — ¿nunca has comido gazpacho? es delicioso!
the gazpacho is delicious, did you make it yourself? — el gazpacho está delicioso ¿lo hiciste tú?
she was very rude to me — estuvo or fue muy grosera conmigo
Tony is married/divorced/single — Tony está or (esp AmL) es casado/divorciado/soltero
to be married to somebody — estar* casado con alguien
3)a) (followed by a noun) ser*who was Prime Minister at the time? — ¿quién era Primer Ministro en ese momento?
it's me/Daniel — soy yo/es Daniel
if I were you, I'd stay — yo que tú or yo en tu lugar me quedaría
b) ( play the role of) hacer* de4)how are you? — ¿cómo estás?
I'm much better — estoy or me encuentro mucho mejor
she's pregnant/tired — está embarazada/cansada
I'm cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/sleepy — tengo frío/calor/hambre/sed/sueño
b) ( talking about age) tener*how old are you? — ¿cuántos años tienes?
he's a lot older/younger — es mucho mayor/menor
c) (giving cost, measurement, weight)how much is that? - that'll be $15, please — ¿cuánto es? - (son) 15 dólares, por favor
they are $15 each — cuestan or valen 15 dólares cada una
how tall/heavy is he? — ¿cuánto mide/pesa?
5)a) (exist, live)I think, therefore I am — pienso, luego existo
to let something/somebody be — dejar tranquilo or en paz algo/a alguien
b) ( in expressions of time)don't be too long — no tardes mucho, no (te) demores mucho (esp AmL)
I'm drying my hair, I won't be long — me estoy secando el pelo, enseguida estoy
how long will dinner be? — ¿cuánto falta para la cena?
c) ( take place) ser*6) (be situated, present) estar*where is the library? — ¿dónde está or queda la biblioteca?
where are you? — ¿dónde estás?
what's in that box? — ¿qué hay en esa caja?
who's in the movie? — ¿quién actúa or trabaja en la película?
how long are you in Chicago (for)? — (colloq) ¿cuánto (tiempo) te vas a quedar en Chicago ?
7) (only in perfect tenses) ( visit) estar*have you been to the exhibition yet? — ¿ya has estado en or has ido a la exposición?
2.
v impers1)a) (talking about physical conditions, circumstances)it's sunny/cold/hot — hace sol/frío/calor
it's so noisy/quiet in here! — qué ruido/silencio hay aquí!
I have enough problems as it is, without you... — yo ya tengo suficientes problemas sin que tú encima...
b) ( in expressions of time) ser*hi, Joe, it's been a long time — qué tal, Joe, tanto tiempo (sin verte)
c) ( talking about distance) estar*it's 500 miles from here to Detroit — Detroit queda or está a 500 millas de aquí
2)a) (introducing person, object) ser*it was me who told them — fui yo quien se lo dije or dijo, fui yo el que se lo dije or dijo
b) (in conditional use) ser*if it hadn't been o had it not been for Juan, we would have been killed — si no hubiera sido por Juan or de no ser por Juan, nos habríamos matado
3.
v aux1) to be -inga) ( used to describe action in progress) estar* + gerwhat was I saying? — ¿qué estaba diciendo?
she was leaving when... — se iba cuando...
how long have you been waiting? — ¿cuánto (tiempo) hace que esperas?, ¿cuánto (tiempo) llevas esperando?
b) ( with future reference)he is o will be arriving tomorrow — llega mañana
when are you seeing her? — ¿cuándo la vas a ver or la verás?
2) (in the passive voice) ser* [The passive voice, however, is less common in Spanish than it is in English]it was built in 1903 — fue construido en 1903, se construyó en 1903, lo construyeron en 1903
she was told that... — le dijeron or se le dijo que...
it is known that... — se sabe que...
3) to be to + infa) ( with future reference)if a solution is to be found... — si se quiere encontrar or si se ha de encontrar una solución...
b) ( expressing possibility)what are we to do? — ¿qué podemos hacer?
c) ( expressing obligation) deber* + inf, tener* que + inf, haber* de + inftell her she's to stay here — dile que debe quedarse or tiene que quedarse aquí, dile que se quede aquí
am I to understand that... ? — ¿debo entender que... ?
4) ( in hypotheses)what would happen if she were o was to die? — ¿qué pasaría si ella muriera?
5)she's right, isn't she? — tiene razón, ¿no? or ¿verdad? or ¿no es cierto?
so that's what you think, is it? — de manera que eso es lo que piensas
are you disappointed? - yes, I am/no, I'm not — ¿estás desilusionado? - sí (, lo estoy)/no (, no lo estoy)
she was told the news, and so was he/but I wasn't — a ella le dieron la noticia, y también a él/pero a mí no
I'm surprised, are/aren't you? — estoy sorprendido, ¿y tú?/¿tú no?
N ABBR(Econ) = bill of exchange L/C* * *[biːˌ] weak form [bi]
1.
2)a) (followed by an adjective)she's French/intelligent — es francesa/inteligente
he's worried/furious — está preocupado/furioso
he's blind — es or (Esp tb) está ciego
have you never had gazpacho? it's delicious! — ¿nunca has comido gazpacho? es delicioso!
the gazpacho is delicious, did you make it yourself? — el gazpacho está delicioso ¿lo hiciste tú?
she was very rude to me — estuvo or fue muy grosera conmigo
Tony is married/divorced/single — Tony está or (esp AmL) es casado/divorciado/soltero
to be married to somebody — estar* casado con alguien
3)a) (followed by a noun) ser*who was Prime Minister at the time? — ¿quién era Primer Ministro en ese momento?
it's me/Daniel — soy yo/es Daniel
if I were you, I'd stay — yo que tú or yo en tu lugar me quedaría
b) ( play the role of) hacer* de4)how are you? — ¿cómo estás?
I'm much better — estoy or me encuentro mucho mejor
she's pregnant/tired — está embarazada/cansada
I'm cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/sleepy — tengo frío/calor/hambre/sed/sueño
b) ( talking about age) tener*how old are you? — ¿cuántos años tienes?
he's a lot older/younger — es mucho mayor/menor
c) (giving cost, measurement, weight)how much is that? - that'll be $15, please — ¿cuánto es? - (son) 15 dólares, por favor
they are $15 each — cuestan or valen 15 dólares cada una
how tall/heavy is he? — ¿cuánto mide/pesa?
5)a) (exist, live)I think, therefore I am — pienso, luego existo
to let something/somebody be — dejar tranquilo or en paz algo/a alguien
b) ( in expressions of time)don't be too long — no tardes mucho, no (te) demores mucho (esp AmL)
I'm drying my hair, I won't be long — me estoy secando el pelo, enseguida estoy
how long will dinner be? — ¿cuánto falta para la cena?
c) ( take place) ser*6) (be situated, present) estar*where is the library? — ¿dónde está or queda la biblioteca?
where are you? — ¿dónde estás?
what's in that box? — ¿qué hay en esa caja?
who's in the movie? — ¿quién actúa or trabaja en la película?
how long are you in Chicago (for)? — (colloq) ¿cuánto (tiempo) te vas a quedar en Chicago ?
7) (only in perfect tenses) ( visit) estar*have you been to the exhibition yet? — ¿ya has estado en or has ido a la exposición?
2.
v impers1)a) (talking about physical conditions, circumstances)it's sunny/cold/hot — hace sol/frío/calor
it's so noisy/quiet in here! — qué ruido/silencio hay aquí!
I have enough problems as it is, without you... — yo ya tengo suficientes problemas sin que tú encima...
b) ( in expressions of time) ser*hi, Joe, it's been a long time — qué tal, Joe, tanto tiempo (sin verte)
c) ( talking about distance) estar*it's 500 miles from here to Detroit — Detroit queda or está a 500 millas de aquí
2)a) (introducing person, object) ser*it was me who told them — fui yo quien se lo dije or dijo, fui yo el que se lo dije or dijo
b) (in conditional use) ser*if it hadn't been o had it not been for Juan, we would have been killed — si no hubiera sido por Juan or de no ser por Juan, nos habríamos matado
3.
v aux1) to be -inga) ( used to describe action in progress) estar* + gerwhat was I saying? — ¿qué estaba diciendo?
she was leaving when... — se iba cuando...
how long have you been waiting? — ¿cuánto (tiempo) hace que esperas?, ¿cuánto (tiempo) llevas esperando?
b) ( with future reference)he is o will be arriving tomorrow — llega mañana
when are you seeing her? — ¿cuándo la vas a ver or la verás?
2) (in the passive voice) ser* [The passive voice, however, is less common in Spanish than it is in English]it was built in 1903 — fue construido en 1903, se construyó en 1903, lo construyeron en 1903
she was told that... — le dijeron or se le dijo que...
it is known that... — se sabe que...
3) to be to + infa) ( with future reference)if a solution is to be found... — si se quiere encontrar or si se ha de encontrar una solución...
b) ( expressing possibility)what are we to do? — ¿qué podemos hacer?
c) ( expressing obligation) deber* + inf, tener* que + inf, haber* de + inftell her she's to stay here — dile que debe quedarse or tiene que quedarse aquí, dile que se quede aquí
am I to understand that... ? — ¿debo entender que... ?
4) ( in hypotheses)what would happen if she were o was to die? — ¿qué pasaría si ella muriera?
5)she's right, isn't she? — tiene razón, ¿no? or ¿verdad? or ¿no es cierto?
so that's what you think, is it? — de manera que eso es lo que piensas
are you disappointed? - yes, I am/no, I'm not — ¿estás desilusionado? - sí (, lo estoy)/no (, no lo estoy)
she was told the news, and so was he/but I wasn't — a ella le dieron la noticia, y también a él/pero a mí no
I'm surprised, are/aren't you? — estoy sorprendido, ¿y tú?/¿tú no?
-
4 Usage note : have
When used as an auxiliary in present perfect, future perfect and past perfect tenses, have is normally translated by avoir:I have seen= j’ai vuI had seen= j’avais vuHowever, some verbs in French, especially verbs of movement and change of state (e.g. aller, venir, descendre, mourir), take être rather than avoir in these tenses:he has left= il est partiIn this case, remember the past participle agrees with the subject of the verb:she has gone= elle est alléeReflexive verbs (e.g. se lever, se coucher) always conjugate with être:she has fainted= elle s’est évanouieFor translations of time expressions using for or since (he has been in London for six months, he has been in London since June), see the entries for and since.For translations of time expressions using just (I have just finished my essay, he has just gone), see the entry just1.to have to meaning must is translated by either devoir or the impersonal construction il faut que + subjunctive:I have to leave now= il faut que je parte maintenant or je dois partir maintenantIn negative sentences, not to have to is generally translated by ne pas être obligé de e.g.you don’t have to go= tu n’es pas obligé d’y allerFor examples and particular usages see the entry have.When have is used as a straightforward transitive verb meaning possess, have (or have got) can generally be translated by avoir, e.g.I have (got) a car= j’ai une voitureshe has a good memory= elle a une bonne mémoirethey have (got) problems= ils ont des problèmesFor examples and particular usages see entry ; see also got.have is also used with certain noun objects where the whole expression is equivalent to a verb:to have dinner = to dineto have a try = to tryto have a walk = to walkIn such cases the phrase is very often translated by the equivalent verb in French (dîner, essayer, se promener). For translations consult the appropriate noun entry (dinner, try, walk).had is used in English at the beginning of a clause to replace an expression with if. Such expressions are generally translated by si + past perfect tense, e.g.had I taken the train, this would never have happened= si j’avais pris le train, ce ne serait jamais arrivéhad there been a fire, we would all have been killed= s’il y avait eu un incendie, nous serions tous mortsFor examples of the above and all other uses of have see the entry. -
5 have
(to have or keep (something) in case or until it is needed: If you go to America please keep some money in reserve for your fare home.) tener algo de reserva, guardar algohave vb1. tenerdo you have a video? ¿tienes vídeo?2. tomar3. haberhave you read Don Quixote? ¿has leído Don Quijote?have you had your hair cut? ¿te has cortado el pelo?Esta construcción se emplea cuando no eres tú quien hace algo, sino que pagas a alguien para que te lo hagato have lunch almorzar / comerto have a swim bañarse / nadartr[hæv]1 (posess) tener, poseer■ will you have a brandy? ¿quieres tomar un coñac?■ to have breakfast/lunch/tea/dinner desayunar/comer/merendar/cenar3 (cigarette) fumar■ how many cigarettes have you had today? ¿cuántos cigarros has fumado hoy?4 (shower, bath, etc) tomar■ when she got home she had a shower cuando llegó a casa se dio una ducha, cuando llegó a casa se duchó■ have you had a wash and a shave? ¿te has lavado y afeitado?5 (treatment) recibir6 (illness) tener7 (experience) tener■ I had a scare tuve un susto, me asusté■ have a good time! ¡divertíos!, ¡pasadlo bien!8 (receive, invite) recibir, invitar9 (borrow) pedir prestado, dejar■ can I have your book for a second, please? ¿me dejas tu libro un segundo, por favor?■ are you going to have a party for your birthday? ¿vas a hacer una fiesta para tu cumpleaños?11 (according to) según■ rumour has it that... corre el rumor de que...12 (baby) tener, dar a luz13 (cause to happen) hacer, mandar14 (allow) permitir, consentir■ if you paid £200 pounds for that you were had si has pagado doscientas libras por eso te han timado1 haber\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLhad better más vale quehave got SMALLBRITISH ENGLISH/SMALL tenerto have done with acabar conto have had it (broken) estar hecho,-a polvo, estar fastidiado,-a 2 (in trouble) haberlo,-a cagado,-a 3 (finished) estar acabado,-a■ this radio's had it, I'll have to get a new one esta radio está en las últimas, tendré que comprar una nueva■ your dad's seen you, you've had it now! te ha visto tu padre, ¡la has cagado!■ if this scandal gets out he's had it as an MP si la gente se entera de este escándalo, se han acabado sus días de diputadoto have it away / have it off taboo echar un polvoto have it in for somebody tenerla tomada con alguiento have it out with somebody ajustar las cuentas con alguiento have it over and done with acabar algo de una vez y para siempreto have just acabar deto have somebody over to one's house / have somebody round to one's house invitar a alguien a casato have somebody up for something SMALLLAW/SMALL llevar a alguien ante los tribunales por algo, procesar a alguien por algoto have something on tener algo planeado, tener algo que hacerto have something on somebody tener información comprometedora sobre alguien, saber algo comprometedor acerca de alguiento have to tener que, haber deto have to do with tener que ver conhave ['hæv,] in sense 3 as an auxiliary verb usu ['hæf] v, had ['hæd] ; having ; has ['hæz,] in sense 3 as an auxiliary verb usu ['hæs] vt1) possess: tenerdo you have change?: ¿tienes cambio?2) experience, undergo: tener, experimentar, sufrirI have a toothache: tengo un dolor de muelas3) include: tener, incluirApril has 30 days: abril tiene 30 días4) consume: comer, tomar5) receive: tener, recibirhe had my permission: tenía mi permiso6) allow: permitir, dejarI won't have it!: ¡no lo permitiré!7) hold: hacerto have a party: dar una fiestato have a meeting: convocar una reunión8) hold: tenerhe had me in his power: me tenía en su poder9) bear: tener (niños)she had a dress made: mandó hacer un vestidoto have one's hair cut: cortarse el pelohave v aux1) : habershe has been very busy: ha estado muy ocupadaI've lived here three years: hace tres años que vivo aquíyou've finished, haven't you?: ha terminado, ¿no?3)to have to : deber, tener quewe have to leave: tenemos que salirexpr.• merecer v.expr.• tener algo en mente expr.v.(§ p.,p.p.: had) = contener v.(§pres: -tengo, -tienes...-tenemos) pret: -tuv-fut/c: -tendr-•)• poseer v.• tener v.(§pres: tengo, tienes...tenemos) pret: tuv-fut/c: tendr-•)v.• haber v.(§pres: he, has...) subj: hay-pret: hub-fut/c: habr-•)hæv, weak forms həv, əv
1.
2) ( possess) tener*I have o (esp BrE) I've got two cats — tengo dos gatos
I don't have o (esp BrE) haven't got any money — no tengo dinero
do you have a car? - no, I don't o (esp BrE) have you got a car? - no, I haven't — ¿tienes coche? - no (, no tengo)
3) (hold, have at one's disposal) tener*look out, he's got a gun! — cuidado! tiene una pistola or está armado!
how much money do you have o (esp BrE) have you got on you? — ¿cuánto dinero tienes or llevas encima?
can I have a sheet of paper? — ¿me das una hoja de papel?
may I have your name? — ¿me dice su nombre?
could I have your Sales Department, please? — ( on phone) ¿me comunica or (Esp tb) me pone or (CS tb) me da con el departamento de ventas, por favor?
I have it!, I've got it! — ya lo tengo!, ya está, ya está!
all right: have it your own way! — está bien! haz lo que quieras!
what have we here? — ¿y esto?
to have something to + inf — tener* algo que + inf
4)a) ( receive) \<\<letter/news\>\> tener*, recibircould we have some silence, please? — (hagan) silencio, por favor
we have it on the best authority that... — sabemos de buena fuente que...
rumoradition has it that... — corre el rumor de que.../según la tradición...
to have had it — (colloq)
I've had it — ( I'm in trouble) estoy frito (AmL), me la he cargado (Esp fam); ( I've lost my chance) la he fastidiado (fam)
I've had it up to here with your complaining — estoy hasta la coronilla or hasta las narices de tus quejas (fam)
to have it in for somebody — (colloq) tenerle* manía or tirria a alguien (fam)
to let somebody have it — (sl) ( attack - physically) darle* su merecido a alguien; (- verbally) cantarle las cuarenta a alguien (fam), poner* a alguien verde (Esp fam)
b) ( obtain) conseguir*they were the best/only seats to be had — eran los mejores/únicos asientos que había
I'll have a kilo of tomatoes, please — ¿me da or (Esp) me pone un kilo de tomates, por favor?
5) ( consume) \<\<steak/spaghetti\>\> comer, tomar (Esp); \<\<champagne/beer\>\> tomarto have something to eat/drink — comer/beber algo
to have breakfast/dinner — desayunar/cenar, comer (AmL)
to have lunch — almorzar* or (esp Esp, Méx) comer
what are we having for dinner? — ¿qué hay de cena?
we had too much to drink — bebimos or (AmL tb) tomamos demasiado
6)a) (experience, undergo) \<\<accident\>\> tener*did you have good weather? — ¿te (or les etc) hizo buen tiempo?
have a nice day! — adiós! que le (or te etc) vaya bien!
I had an injection — me pusieron or me dieron una inyección
he had a heart transplant/an X ray — le hicieron un trasplante de corazón/una radiografía
she had a heart attack — le dio un ataque al corazón or un infarto
b) ( organize) \<\<party\>\> hacer*, dar*c) ( suffer from) \<\<cancer/diabetes/flu\>\> tener*to have a cold — estar* resfriado
he's got a headache/sore throat — le duele la cabeza/la garganta, tiene dolor de cabeza/garganta
7) ( look after) tener*8) ( give birth to) \<\<baby\>\> tener*9) (colloq)a) (catch, get the better of)they almost had him, but he managed to escape — casi lo agarran or atrapan, pero logró escaparse
you've been had! — te han timado or engañado!
10) (causative use)we'll have it clean in no time — enseguida lo limpiamos or lo dejamos limpio
he had them all laughing/in tears — los hizo reír/llorar a todos
to have somebody + INF: I'll have her call you back as soon as she arrives le diré or pediré que lo llame en cuanto llegue; I'll have you know, young man, that I... para que sepa, jovencito, yo...; to have something + PAST P: we had it repaired lo hicimos arreglar, lo mandamos (a) arreglar (AmL); to have one's hair cut — cortarse el pelo
to have something + INF/+ PAST P: I've had three lambs die this week se me han muerto tres corderos esta semana; he had his bicycle stolen — le robaron la bicicleta
12)a) ( allow) (with neg) tolerar, consentir*I won't have it! — no lo consentiré or toleraré!
b) (accept, believe) aceptar, creer*she wouldn't have it — no lo quiso aceptar or creer
13) (indicating state, position) tener*you have o (BrE) you've got your belt twisted — tienes el cinturón torcido
2.
1) v aux2) (used to form perfect tenses) haber*I have/had seen her — la he/había visto
I have/had just seen her — la acabo/acababa de ver, recién la vi/la había visto (AmL)
have you been waiting long? — ¿hace mucho que esperas?, ¿llevas mucho rato esperando?
had I known that o if I'd known that... — si hubiera sabido que..., de haber sabido que...
when he had finished, she... — cuando terminó or (liter) cuando hubo terminado, ella...
3)a) ( in tags)you've been told, haven't you? — te lo han dicho ¿no? or ¿no es cierto? or ¿no es verdad?
you haven't lost the key, have you? — no habrás perdido la llave...!
b) ( elliptical use)you may have forgiven him, but I haven't — puede que tú lo hayas perdonado, pero yo no
the clock has stopped - so it has! — el reloj se ha parado - es verdad! or es cierto!
you've forgotten something - have I? — te has olvidado de algo - ¿sí?
I've told her - you haven't! — se lo he dicho - no! ¿en serio?
4) ( expressing obligation)to have to + inf — tener* que + inf
I have o I've got to admit that... — tengo que reconocer que...
you don't have to be an expert to realize that — no hay que or no se necesita ser un experto para darse cuenta de eso
5) ( expressing certainty)to have to + inf — tener* que + inf
you have to o you've got to be kidding! — lo dices en broma or en chiste!
•Phrasal Verbs:- have in- have off- have on- have out- have up[hæv] ( 3rd pers sing present has) (pt, pp had) When have is part of a set combination, eg have a look, have a good time, have breakfast, had better, look up the other word. For have + adverb/preposition combinations, see also the phrasal verb section of this entry.1. TRANSITIVE VERB1) (=possess) tenerhe's got or he has blue eyes — tiene los ojos azules
have you got or do you have 10p? — ¿tienes diez peniques?
have you got or do you have any brothers or sisters? — ¿tienes hermanos?
he hasn't got or he doesn't have any friends — no tiene amigos
I've got or I have a friend staying next week — tengo a un amigo en casa la semana que viene
Don't translate the [a] in sentences like [has he got a girlfriend?], [I haven't got a washing-machine] if the number of such items is not significant since people normally only have one at a time:I've got or I have an idea — tengo una idea
Do translate the [a] if the person or thing is qualified:has he got a girlfriend? — ¿tiene novia?
•
all or everything I have is yours — todo lo que tengo es tuyoyou must give it all or everything you have — tienes que emplearte a fondo
you must put all or everything you have into it — tienes que emplearte a fondo
•
can I have a pencil please? — ¿me puedes dar un lápiz, por favor?•
the book has no name on it — el libro no lleva or tiene el nombre del dueñoI've got or I have no Spanish — no sé español
•
to have something to do — tener algo que hacerI've got or I have nothing to do — no tengo nada que hacer
haven't you got anything to do? — ¿no tienes nada que hacer?
handy, ready 1., 1), a)•
hello, what have we here? — vaya, vaya, ¿qué tenemos aquí?2) (=eat, drink) tomar•
what are we having for lunch? — ¿que vamos a comer?•
to have something to eat/drink — comer/beber algo, tomar algo•
what will you have? — ¿qué quieres tomar?, ¿qué vas a tomar?will you have some more? — ¿te sirvo más?
3) (=receive) recibir•
you can have my ticket — puedes quedarte con mi billete•
we had some help from the government — recibimos ayuda del gobierno•
I had a letter from John — tuve carta de Juan, recibí una carta de Juan•
I must have them by this afternoon — necesito tenerlos para esta tarde•
we had a lot of visitors — (at home) tuvimos muchas visitas; (at exhibition etc) tuvimos muchos visitantes4) (=obtain)they can be had for as little as £10 each — pueden conseguirse por tan solo 10 libras
there was no bread to be had — no quedaba pan en ningún sitio, no podía conseguirse pan en ningún sitio
5) (=take)I'll have a dozen eggs, please — ¿me pones una docena de huevos, por favor?
which one will you have? — ¿cuál quiere?
can I have your name please? — ¿me da su nombre, por favor?
•
you can have it or I'll let you have it for £10 — te lo dejo en 10 libras, te lo puedes llevar por 10 libras, te lo vendo por 10 libras6) (=give birth to) [+ baby, kittens] tenerwhat did she have? — ¿qué ha tenido?
7) (=hold, catch) tener•
he had him by the throat — lo tenía agarrado por la garganta•
I have it on good authority that... — me consta que..., sé a ciencia cierta que..., sé de buena tinta que... *I've got it! — ¡ya!
•
you have me there, there you have me — ahí sí que me has pillado *8) (=allow) consentir, tolerar•
we can't have that — eso no se puede consentir•
I won't have this nonsense — no voy a consentir or tolerar estas tonteríasI won't have it! — no lo voy a consentir or tolerar
she won't have it said that... — no consiente or tolera que digan que...
I won't have him risking his neck on that motorbike — no voy a consentir que se juegue el cuello en esa moto
9) (=spend) pasarto have a pleasant afternoon/evening — pasar una tarde agradable
have a nice day! — ¡que pases un buen día!
what sort of day have you had? — ¿qué tal día has tenido?
10) (on telephone)can I have Personnel please? — ¿me puede poner con Personal, por favor?
11) * (=have sex with) acostarse con12) (=make)to have sth done hacer que se haga algo, mandar hacer algo to have sb do sth mandar a algn hacer algohe had me do it again — me hizo hacerlo otra vez, me hizo que lo hiciese otra vez
what would you have me do? — † ¿qué quiere que haga?
to have sth happen to have sb doing sthI'll have you know that... — quiero que sepas que...
to have sth against sb/sth tener algo en contra de algn/algo to have had itshe soon had them all reading and writing — (=organized them) enseguida los puso a leer y a escribir; (=taught them) enseguida les habían enseñado a leer y a escribir
you've had it now! he knows all about it * — ¡ahora sí que te la has cargado! se ha enterado de todo
to have it thatI've had it up to here with his nonsense * — estoy hasta la coronilla or hasta el moño de sus tonterías *
to be hadrumour has it that... — corre la voz de que...
to have to do with tener que ver conyou've been had! * — ¡te han engañado!
to let sb have sth (=give) dar algo a algn; (=lend) dejar algo a algn, prestar algo a algnthat's got or that has nothing to do with it! — ¡eso no tiene nada que ver!
what have youlet him have it! * — ¡dale!
would have it... and what have you —... y qué sé yo qué más
luckas ill-luck or fate would have it — desgraciadamente
2. AUXILIARY VERB1) haberhas he gone? — ¿se ha ido?
hasn't he told you? — ¿no te lo ha dicho?
had you phoned me frm or if you had phoned me I would have come round — si me hubieras llamado habría venido
never having seen it before, I... — como no lo había visto antes,...
just I, 1., 3)having finished or when he had finished, he left — cuando terminó or cuando hubo terminado, se fue
See:SINCE in sincea)"he's already eaten" - "so have I" — -él ya ha comido -yo también
"we haven't had any news yet" - "neither have we" — -no hemos tenido noticias todavía -nosotros tampoco
"you've made a mistake" - "no I haven't!" — -has cometido un error -no es verdad or cierto
"we haven't paid" - "yes we have!" — -no hemos pagado -¡qué sí!
"he's got a new job" - "oh has he?" — -tiene un trabajo nuevo -¿ah, sí?
"you've written it twice" - "so I have!" — -lo has escrito dos veces -es verdad or cierto
"have you read the book?" - "yes, I have" — -¿has leído el libro? -sí
"has he told you?" - "no, he hasn't" — -¿te lo ha dicho? -no
he hasn't done it, has he? — no lo ha hecho, ¿verdad?
you've done it, haven't you? — lo has hecho, ¿verdad? or ¿no?
you've all been there before, but I haven't — vosotros habéis estado allí antes, pero yo no
he has never met her, but I have — él no la ha llegado a conocer, pero yo sí
have you ever been there? if you have... — ¿has estado alguna vez allí? si es así...
so I, 1., norhave you tried it? if you haven't... — ¿lo has probado? (porque) si no...
3.MODAL VERB (=be obliged)I've got to or I have to finish this work — tengo que terminar este trabajo
have we got to or do we have to leave early? — ¿tenemos que salir temprano?
I haven't got to or I don't have to wear glasses — no necesito (usar) gafas
do you have to make such a noise? — ¿tienes que hacer tanto ruido?
you didn't have to tell her! — ¡no tenías por qué decírselo!
does it have to be ironed? — ¿hay que plancharlo?
- have in- have off- have on- have out- have up* * *[hæv], weak forms [həv, əv]
1.
2) ( possess) tener*I have o (esp BrE) I've got two cats — tengo dos gatos
I don't have o (esp BrE) haven't got any money — no tengo dinero
do you have a car? - no, I don't o (esp BrE) have you got a car? - no, I haven't — ¿tienes coche? - no (, no tengo)
3) (hold, have at one's disposal) tener*look out, he's got a gun! — cuidado! tiene una pistola or está armado!
how much money do you have o (esp BrE) have you got on you? — ¿cuánto dinero tienes or llevas encima?
can I have a sheet of paper? — ¿me das una hoja de papel?
may I have your name? — ¿me dice su nombre?
could I have your Sales Department, please? — ( on phone) ¿me comunica or (Esp tb) me pone or (CS tb) me da con el departamento de ventas, por favor?
I have it!, I've got it! — ya lo tengo!, ya está, ya está!
all right: have it your own way! — está bien! haz lo que quieras!
what have we here? — ¿y esto?
to have something to + inf — tener* algo que + inf
4)a) ( receive) \<\<letter/news\>\> tener*, recibircould we have some silence, please? — (hagan) silencio, por favor
we have it on the best authority that... — sabemos de buena fuente que...
rumor/tradition has it that... — corre el rumor de que.../según la tradición...
to have had it — (colloq)
I've had it — ( I'm in trouble) estoy frito (AmL), me la he cargado (Esp fam); ( I've lost my chance) la he fastidiado (fam)
I've had it up to here with your complaining — estoy hasta la coronilla or hasta las narices de tus quejas (fam)
to have it in for somebody — (colloq) tenerle* manía or tirria a alguien (fam)
to let somebody have it — (sl) ( attack - physically) darle* su merecido a alguien; (- verbally) cantarle las cuarenta a alguien (fam), poner* a alguien verde (Esp fam)
b) ( obtain) conseguir*they were the best/only seats to be had — eran los mejores/únicos asientos que había
I'll have a kilo of tomatoes, please — ¿me da or (Esp) me pone un kilo de tomates, por favor?
5) ( consume) \<\<steak/spaghetti\>\> comer, tomar (Esp); \<\<champagne/beer\>\> tomarto have something to eat/drink — comer/beber algo
to have breakfast/dinner — desayunar/cenar, comer (AmL)
to have lunch — almorzar* or (esp Esp, Méx) comer
what are we having for dinner? — ¿qué hay de cena?
we had too much to drink — bebimos or (AmL tb) tomamos demasiado
6)a) (experience, undergo) \<\<accident\>\> tener*did you have good weather? — ¿te (or les etc) hizo buen tiempo?
have a nice day! — adiós! que le (or te etc) vaya bien!
I had an injection — me pusieron or me dieron una inyección
he had a heart transplant/an X ray — le hicieron un trasplante de corazón/una radiografía
she had a heart attack — le dio un ataque al corazón or un infarto
b) ( organize) \<\<party\>\> hacer*, dar*c) ( suffer from) \<\<cancer/diabetes/flu\>\> tener*to have a cold — estar* resfriado
he's got a headache/sore throat — le duele la cabeza/la garganta, tiene dolor de cabeza/garganta
7) ( look after) tener*8) ( give birth to) \<\<baby\>\> tener*9) (colloq)a) (catch, get the better of)they almost had him, but he managed to escape — casi lo agarran or atrapan, pero logró escaparse
you've been had! — te han timado or engañado!
10) (causative use)we'll have it clean in no time — enseguida lo limpiamos or lo dejamos limpio
he had them all laughing/in tears — los hizo reír/llorar a todos
to have somebody + INF: I'll have her call you back as soon as she arrives le diré or pediré que lo llame en cuanto llegue; I'll have you know, young man, that I... para que sepa, jovencito, yo...; to have something + PAST P: we had it repaired lo hicimos arreglar, lo mandamos (a) arreglar (AmL); to have one's hair cut — cortarse el pelo
to have something + INF/+ PAST P: I've had three lambs die this week se me han muerto tres corderos esta semana; he had his bicycle stolen — le robaron la bicicleta
12)a) ( allow) (with neg) tolerar, consentir*I won't have it! — no lo consentiré or toleraré!
b) (accept, believe) aceptar, creer*she wouldn't have it — no lo quiso aceptar or creer
13) (indicating state, position) tener*you have o (BrE) you've got your belt twisted — tienes el cinturón torcido
2.
1) v aux2) (used to form perfect tenses) haber*I have/had seen her — la he/había visto
I have/had just seen her — la acabo/acababa de ver, recién la vi/la había visto (AmL)
have you been waiting long? — ¿hace mucho que esperas?, ¿llevas mucho rato esperando?
had I known that o if I'd known that... — si hubiera sabido que..., de haber sabido que...
when he had finished, she... — cuando terminó or (liter) cuando hubo terminado, ella...
3)a) ( in tags)you've been told, haven't you? — te lo han dicho ¿no? or ¿no es cierto? or ¿no es verdad?
you haven't lost the key, have you? — no habrás perdido la llave...!
b) ( elliptical use)you may have forgiven him, but I haven't — puede que tú lo hayas perdonado, pero yo no
the clock has stopped - so it has! — el reloj se ha parado - es verdad! or es cierto!
you've forgotten something - have I? — te has olvidado de algo - ¿sí?
I've told her - you haven't! — se lo he dicho - no! ¿en serio?
4) ( expressing obligation)to have to + inf — tener* que + inf
I have o I've got to admit that... — tengo que reconocer que...
you don't have to be an expert to realize that — no hay que or no se necesita ser un experto para darse cuenta de eso
5) ( expressing certainty)to have to + inf — tener* que + inf
you have to o you've got to be kidding! — lo dices en broma or en chiste!
•Phrasal Verbs:- have in- have off- have on- have out- have up -
6 know
nəupast tense - knew; verb1) (to be aware of or to have been informed about: He knows everything; I know he is at home because his car is in the drive; He knows all about it; I know of no reason why you cannot go.) saber, conocer2) (to have learned and to remember: He knows a lot of poetry.) saber, conocer3) (to be aware of the identity of; to be friendly with: I know Mrs Smith - she lives near me.) conocer4) (to (be able to) recognize or identify: You would hardly know her now - she has become very thin; He knows a good car when he sees one.) reconocer•- knowing- knowingly
- know-all
- know-how
- in the know
- know backwards
- know better
- know how to
- know the ropes
know vb1. saberdo you know what time it is? ¿sabes qué hora es?2. conocerdo you know Madrid? ¿conoces Madrid?tr[nəʊ]1 (be acquainted with) conocer■ do you know Colin? conoces a Colin?■ this building is known as "La Pedrera' este edificio se conoce como "La Pedrera"■ their terrorist activities were known to the police la policía tenía conocimiento de sus actividades terroristas2 (recognize) reconocer3 (have knowledge of) saber■ do you know English? ¿sabes inglés?■ do you know where the station is? ¿sabe dónde está la estación?\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLI know! ¡lo sé!, ¡ya lo sé!who knows? ¿quién sabe?as far as I know que yo sepafor all I know ¡vete a saber!■ he could be dead for all I know podría estar muerto, ¡vete a saber!don't I know it! ¿y me lo dices a mí?, ¡ni que lo digas!how should I know? ¿yo qué sé?if only I'd known! ¡haberlo sabido!not that I know of que yo sepa, noto know apart saber distinguirto know... from... distinguir entre... y...you know what? ¿sabes qué?you never know nunca se sabeI know what! ¡ya lo tengo!I might've known debí imaginármeloto be in the know estar enterado,-ato get to know somebody (llegar a) conocer a alguienyou know best tú sabes mejor que yo, sabes lo que más te convieneto know better tener más juicio■ you ought to know better at your age! ¡a tu edad deberías saber comportarte mejor!to know by sight conocer de vistato know how to do something saber hacer algoto know what one's talking about hablar con conocimiento de causato make oneself known presentarse, darse a conocerdon't know (in survey) persona que no sabe, no contesta1) : saberhe knows the answer: sabe la respuesta2) : conocer (a una persona, un lugar)do you know Julia?: ¿conoces a Julia?3) recognize: reconocer4) discern, distinguish: distinguir, discernir5)to know how to : saberI don't know how to dance: no sé bailarknow vi: saberv.(§ p.,p.p.: knew, known) = conocer v.(§pres: conozco, conoces...)• reconocer v.(§pres: reconozco, reconoces...)• saber v.(§pres: sé, sabes...) subj: sep-pret: sup-fut/c: sabr-•)
I
1. nəʊ1)a) (have knowledge of, be aware of) saber*I don't know his name/how old he is — no sé cómo se llama/cuántos años tiene
to know something ABOUT something — saber* algo de algo
not to know the first thing about something — no saber* nada or no tener* ni idea de algo
how was I to know that... ? — ¿cómo iba yo a saber que... ?
I don't know that I agree/that I'll be able to come — no sé si estoy de acuerdo/si podré ir
I'll have you know that... — has de saber que..., para que sepas,...
you know what he's like — ya sabes cómo es (él), ya lo conoces
before I knew where I was, it was ten o'clock — cuando quise darme cuenta, eran las diez
it is well known that... — todo el mundo sabe que...
it soon became known that... — pronto se supo que...
to be known to + INF: he's known to be dangerous se sabe que es peligroso; I know that for a fact me consta que es así; to let somebody know something decirle* algo a alguien, hacerle* saber or comunicarle* algo a alguien (frml); ( warn) avisarle algo a alguien; let me know how much it's going to cost dime cuánto va a costar; he let it be known that... dio a entender que...; to make something known to somebody hacerle* saber algo a alguien; without our knowing it sin saberlo nosotros, sin que lo supiéramos; there's no knowing what he might do quién sabe qué hará; do you know what! ¿sabes qué?; I know what: let's go skating! tengo una idea: vayamos a patinar!; wouldn't you know it: it's starting to rain! no te digo, se ha puesto a llover!; not to know which way o where to turn no saber* qué hacer; to know something backwards: she knows her part backwards — se sabe el papel al dedillo or al revés y al derecho
b) ( have practical understanding of) \<\<French/shorthand\>\> saber*c) (have skill, ability)to know how to + INF — saber* + inf
2)a) ( be acquainted with) \<\<person/place\>\> conocer*how well do you know her? — ¿la conoces mucho or bien?
I only know her by name — la conozco or (AmL tb) la ubico sólo de nombre
you know me/him: ever the optimist — ya me/lo conoces: siempre tan optimista
to get to know somebody: how did they get to know each other? ¿cómo se conocieron?; I got to know him better/quite well llegué a conocerlo mejor/bastante bien; to get to know something \<\<subject/job\>\> familiarizarse* con algo; we knew her as Mrs Balfour — para nosotros era la Sra Balfour
he has known poverty/success — ha conocido la pobreza/el éxito
he knows no fear — no sabe lo que es or no conoce el miedo
c) ( be restricted by) (liter) tener*3)a) (recognize, identify) reconocer*to know something/somebody BY something — reconocer* algo/a alguien por algo
b) ( distinguish)to know something/somebody FROM something/somebody — distinguir* algo/a alguien de algo/alguien
I don't know one from the other — no los distingo, no distingo al uno del otro
4) (see, experience) (only in perfect tenses)
2.
vi saber*what happened? - nobody knows — ¿qué pasó? - no se sabe
how do you know? — ¿cómo lo sabes?
I won't argue: you know best — no voy a discutir: tú sabrás
I know! — ya sé!, tengo una idea!
the government didn't want to know — el gobierno se desentendió completamente or no quiso saber nada
I'm not stupid, you know! — oye, que no soy tonto ¿eh? or ¿sabes?
to know ABOUT something/somebody: he knows about computers sabe or entiende de computadoras; did you know about John? ¿sabías lo de John?, ¿estabas enterado de lo de John?; can I invite him? - I don't know about that, we'll have to see ¿lo puedo invitar? - no sé, veremos; to get to know about something enterarse de algo; to know OF something/somebody: she knew of their activities tenía conocimiento or estaba enterada de sus actividades; not that I know of que yo sepa, no; do you know of a good carpenter? ¿conoces a or sabes de algún carpintero bueno?; I don't actually know her, I know of her — no la conozco personalmente, sólo de oídas
II
[nǝʊ] (pt knew) (pp known)to be in the know — estar* enterado
1. TRANSITIVE VERBLook up set combinations such as know the ropes, know one's stuff, know sth backward at the other word.1) (=be aware of)a) [+ facts, dates etc] saberto know the difference between... — saber la diferencia entre...
•
she knows a lot about chemistry — sabe mucho de químicaI know nothing about it, I don't know anything about it — no sé nada de eso
•
one minute you're leaving school, then before you know it, you've got a family to support — dejas el colegio y al minuto siguiente, antes de darte cuenta, tienes una familia que mantenerto know why/when/where/if — saber por qué/cuándo/dónde/si
do you know how he did that? — ¿sabes cómo lo hizo?
•
I'll or I'd have you know that... — que sepas que..., para que te enteres,...•
you haven't time, as well he knew — no tienes tiempo, como él bien sabíayou know as well as I do that... — sabes tan bien como yo que...
I know what I said — ya sé qué or lo que dije
•
I don't know whether or not you've heard, but... — no sé si has oído o no pero...- know what's whatI knew it! — ¡lo sabía!
•
that's all you know! * — ¡y más que podría yo contarte!•
don't I know it! — ¡a mí me lo vas a contar!"she's furious" - "don't I know it?" — -está furiosa -¡a mí me lo vas a contar!
•
how was I to know that...? — ¿cómo iba yo a saber que...?•
I should have known you'd mess things up! — debería haberme figurado or imaginado que ibas a estropear las cosas•
do you know what, I think she did it! — ¿sabes una cosa? creo que lo hizo ellaI know what, let's drop in on Daphne! — ¡ya sé! ¡vamos a pasarnos por casa de Daphne!
you know what you can do with it! * — ¡mételo por donde te quepa! **
(well,) what do you know! * — ¿qué te parece?, ¡fíjate!, ¡mira nomás! (LAm)
what does he know about dictionaries! — ¡qué sabrá él de diccionarios!
•
Peter, wouldn't you know it, can't come! — Peter, como era de esperar, no puede venird)to know to do sth >: does he know to feed the rabbits? * — ¿sabe que tiene que dar de comer a los conejos?
2) (=be acquainted with) [+ person, place] conocer; [+ subject] saberdo you know him? — ¿lo conoces?
to know one's classics/linguistic theory — saberse los clásicos/la teoría lingüística
•
most of us know him only as a comedian — la mayoría de nosotros lo conocemos solo como comediante•
don't you know me better than that! — ¿o es que no me conoces?, ¡como si no me conocieras!•
to know sb by sight/name — conocer a algn de vista/de nombre•
she knew him for a liar and a cheat — sabía que era un mentiroso y un tramposo•
they know each other from university — se conocen de la universidad•
if I know him, he'll say no — me apuesto a que dice que no•
I've never known him to smile — nunca lo he visto sonreír•
I don't know him to speak to — no lo conozco personalmente4) (=understand)I don't know how you can say that — no sé or no entiendo cómo puedes decir eso
•
you know what I mean — ya me entiendes, ya sabes lo que quiero decir•
I know the problem! — conozco el problemaI know the problems that arise when... — sé los problemas que surgen cuando...
5) (=recognize) reconocer•
I knew him by his voice — le reconocí por la voz•
to know right from wrong — saber distinguir el bien del mal6) (=be certain)I don't know if or that it's a very good idea — no sé si es una buena idea, no estoy seguro de que sea una buena idea
7) †† (sexually)to get to know sb (llegar a) conocer a algn to get to know sthto let sb know...as you get to know the piece better... — cuando conoces mejor la pieza..., cuando estás más familiarizado con la pieza...
2. INTRANSITIVE VERB1) (gen) saberyes, I know — si, ya lo sé
he thinks he's going to get the job, but I know better — cree que va a conseguir el trabajo, pero yo sé mejor lo que cabe esperar
you ought to know better than to... — ya deberías saber que no se puede...
Mary knows better than to risk upsetting me — Mary sabe demasiado bien que no le conviene que me enfade
•
how should I know? — ¿cómo iba yo a saberlo?•
I know, let's... — ya sé, vamos a...•
there's no (way of) knowing — no hay manera de saberlo•
afterwards they just don't want to know — (in relationships) después "si te he visto no me acuerdo"; (in business) después no quieren saber nada del asunto•
who knows? — ¿quién sabe?•
"was she annoyed about it?" - "I wouldn't know" — -¿se enfadó por eso? -¿y yo que sé?•
it's not easy, you know — no es fácil, sabesall 2., 4) to know aboutyou know, I think I'm beginning to like Richard — ¿sabes? creo que me está empezando a gustar Richard
to know about sth/sb: did you know about Paul? — ¿te has enterado de or sabes lo de Paul?
I didn't know about the accident — no me había enterado de lo del accidente, no sabía nada de lo del accidente
•
"you must be delighted!" - "I don't know about that" — ¡debes estar encantado! -no sé qué decirte"you're a genius!" - "oh, I don't know about that" — -¡eres un genio! -hombre, no sé qué decirte
"I'm taking tomorrow off" - "I don't know about that!" — -mañana me tomo el día libre -no sé, habrá que ver
to get to know about sth enterarse de algo to know of (=be acquainted with) conocer•
I don't know about you, but I think it's terrible — a ti no sé, pero a mí me parece terribleI know of no reason why he should have committed suicide — que yo sepa no tenía razones para suicidarse
•
the first I knew of it was when Pete told me — lo primero que oí or supe del asunto fue lo que me dijo Peteto let sb know•
not that I know of — que yo sepa, nowe'll let you know — ya te diremos lo que sea, ya te avisaremos
why didn't you let me know? — ¿por qué no me lo dijiste?
3.NOUN•
to be in the know * — (=well-informed) estar enterado; (=privy to sth) estar al tanto or al corriente* * *
I
1. [nəʊ]1)a) (have knowledge of, be aware of) saber*I don't know his name/how old he is — no sé cómo se llama/cuántos años tiene
to know something ABOUT something — saber* algo de algo
not to know the first thing about something — no saber* nada or no tener* ni idea de algo
how was I to know that... ? — ¿cómo iba yo a saber que... ?
I don't know that I agree/that I'll be able to come — no sé si estoy de acuerdo/si podré ir
I'll have you know that... — has de saber que..., para que sepas,...
you know what he's like — ya sabes cómo es (él), ya lo conoces
before I knew where I was, it was ten o'clock — cuando quise darme cuenta, eran las diez
it is well known that... — todo el mundo sabe que...
it soon became known that... — pronto se supo que...
to be known to + INF: he's known to be dangerous se sabe que es peligroso; I know that for a fact me consta que es así; to let somebody know something decirle* algo a alguien, hacerle* saber or comunicarle* algo a alguien (frml); ( warn) avisarle algo a alguien; let me know how much it's going to cost dime cuánto va a costar; he let it be known that... dio a entender que...; to make something known to somebody hacerle* saber algo a alguien; without our knowing it sin saberlo nosotros, sin que lo supiéramos; there's no knowing what he might do quién sabe qué hará; do you know what! ¿sabes qué?; I know what: let's go skating! tengo una idea: vayamos a patinar!; wouldn't you know it: it's starting to rain! no te digo, se ha puesto a llover!; not to know which way o where to turn no saber* qué hacer; to know something backwards: she knows her part backwards — se sabe el papel al dedillo or al revés y al derecho
b) ( have practical understanding of) \<\<French/shorthand\>\> saber*c) (have skill, ability)to know how to + INF — saber* + inf
2)a) ( be acquainted with) \<\<person/place\>\> conocer*how well do you know her? — ¿la conoces mucho or bien?
I only know her by name — la conozco or (AmL tb) la ubico sólo de nombre
you know me/him: ever the optimist — ya me/lo conoces: siempre tan optimista
to get to know somebody: how did they get to know each other? ¿cómo se conocieron?; I got to know him better/quite well llegué a conocerlo mejor/bastante bien; to get to know something \<\<subject/job\>\> familiarizarse* con algo; we knew her as Mrs Balfour — para nosotros era la Sra Balfour
he has known poverty/success — ha conocido la pobreza/el éxito
he knows no fear — no sabe lo que es or no conoce el miedo
c) ( be restricted by) (liter) tener*3)a) (recognize, identify) reconocer*to know something/somebody BY something — reconocer* algo/a alguien por algo
b) ( distinguish)to know something/somebody FROM something/somebody — distinguir* algo/a alguien de algo/alguien
I don't know one from the other — no los distingo, no distingo al uno del otro
4) (see, experience) (only in perfect tenses)
2.
vi saber*what happened? - nobody knows — ¿qué pasó? - no se sabe
how do you know? — ¿cómo lo sabes?
I won't argue: you know best — no voy a discutir: tú sabrás
I know! — ya sé!, tengo una idea!
the government didn't want to know — el gobierno se desentendió completamente or no quiso saber nada
I'm not stupid, you know! — oye, que no soy tonto ¿eh? or ¿sabes?
to know ABOUT something/somebody: he knows about computers sabe or entiende de computadoras; did you know about John? ¿sabías lo de John?, ¿estabas enterado de lo de John?; can I invite him? - I don't know about that, we'll have to see ¿lo puedo invitar? - no sé, veremos; to get to know about something enterarse de algo; to know OF something/somebody: she knew of their activities tenía conocimiento or estaba enterada de sus actividades; not that I know of que yo sepa, no; do you know of a good carpenter? ¿conoces a or sabes de algún carpintero bueno?; I don't actually know her, I know of her — no la conozco personalmente, sólo de oídas
II
to be in the know — estar* enterado
-
7 Usage note : that
In French, determiners agree in gender and number with the noun they precede ; that is translated by ce + masculine singular noun ( ce monsieur), cet + masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel or mute ‘h’ ( cet homme) and cette + feminine singular noun ( cette femme) ; those is translated by ces.Note, however, that the above translations are also used for the English this (plural these). So when it is necessary to insist on that as opposed to another or others of the same sort, the adverbial tag -là is added to the noun:I prefer THAT version= je préfère cette version-làFor particular usages, see the entry that.As a pronoun meaning that one, those onesIn French, pronouns reflect the gender and number of the noun they are referring to. So that is translated by celui-là for a masculine noun, celle-là for a feminine noun and those is translated by ceux-là for a masculine noun and celles-là for a feminine noun:I think I like that one (dress) best= je crois que je préfère celle-làFor other uses of that, those as pronouns (e.g. who’s that?) and for adverbial use (e.g. that much, that many) there is no straightforward translation, so see the entry that for examples of usage.When used as a relative pronoun, that is translated by qui when it is the subject of the verb and by que when it is the object:the man that stole the car= l’homme qui a volé la voiturethe film that I saw= le film que j’ai vuRemember that in the present perfect and past perfect tenses, the past participle will agreewith the noun to which que as object refers:the apples that I bought= les pommes que j’ai achetéesWhen that is used as a relative pronoun with a preposition, it is translated by lequel when standing for a masculine singular noun, by laquelle when standing for a feminine singular noun, by lesquels when standing for a masculine plural noun and by lesquelles when standing for a feminine plural noun:the chair that I was sitting on= la chaise sur laquelle j’étais assisethe children that I bought the books for= les enfants pour lesquels j’ai acheté les livresRemember that in cases where the English preposition used would normally be translated by à in French (e.g. to, at), the translation of the whole (prep + rel pron) will be auquel, à laquelle, auxquels, auxquelles:the girls that I was talking to= les filles auxquelles je parlaisSimilarly, where the English preposition used would normally be translated by de in French (e.g. of, from), the translation of the whole (prep + rel pron) will be dont in all cases:the Frenchman that I received a letter from= le Français dont j’ai reçu une lettreWhen used as a conjunction, that can almost always be translated by que (qu’ before a vowel or mute ‘h’):she said that she would do it= elle a dit qu’elle le ferait -
8 Usage note : be
I am tired= je suis fatiguéCaroline is French= Caroline est françaisethe children are in the garden= les enfants sont dans le jardinIt functions in very much the same way as to be does in English and it is safe to assume it will work as a translation in the great majority of cases.Note, however, that when you are specifying a person’s profession or trade, a/an is not translated:she’s a doctor= elle est médecinClaudie is still a student= Claudie est toujours étudianteThis is true of any noun used in apposition when the subject is a person:he’s a widower= il est veufButLyons is a beautiful city= Lyon est une belle villeFor more information or expressions involving professions and trades consult the usage note Shops, Trades and Professions.For the conjugation of the verb être see the French verb tables.Grammatical functionsThe passiveêtre is used to form the passive in French just as to be is used in English. Note, however, that the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject:the rabbit was killed by a fox= le lapin a été tué par un renardthe window had been broken= la fenêtre avait été casséetheir books will be sold= leurs livres seront vendusour doors have been repainted red= nos portes ont été repeintes en rougeIn spoken language, French native speakers find the passive cumbersome and will avoid it where possible by using the impersonal on where a person or people are clearly involved : on a repeint nos portes en rouge.Progressive tensesIn French the idea of something happening over a period of time cannot be expressed using the verb être in the way that to be is used as an auxiliary verb in English.The presentFrench uses simply the present tense where English uses the progressive form with to be:I am working= je travailleBen is reading a book= Ben lit un livreIn order to accentuate duration être en train de is used: je suis en train de travailler ; Ben est en train de lire un livre.The futureFrench also uses the present tense where English uses the progressive form with to be:we are going to London tomorrow= nous allons à Londres demainI’m (just) coming!= j’arrive!I’m (just) going!= j’y vais!The pastTo express the distinction between she read a newspaper and she was reading a newspaper French uses the perfect and the imperfect tenses: elle a lu un journal/elle lisait un journal:he wrote to his mother= il a écrit à sa mèrehe was writing to his mother= il écrivait à sa mèreHowever, in order to accentuate the notion of describing an activity which went on over a period of time, the phrase être en train de (= to be in the process of) is often used:‘what was he doing when you arrived?’‘he was cooking the dinner’= ‘qu’est-ce qu’il faisait quand tu es arrivé?’ ‘il était en train de préparer le dîner’she was just finishing her essay when …= elle était juste en train de finir sa dissertation quand …The compound pastCompound past tenses in the progressive form in English are generally translated by the imperfect in French:I’ve been looking for you= je te cherchaisFor progressive forms + for and since (I’ve been waiting for an hour, I had been waiting for an hour, I’ve been waiting since Monday etc.) see the entries for and since.ObligationWhen to be is used as an auxiliary verb with another verb in the infinitive ( to be to do) expressing obligation, a fixed arrangement or destiny, devoir is used:she’s to do it at once= elle doit le faire tout de suitewhat am I to do?= qu’est-ce que je dois faire?he was to arrive last Monday= il devait arriver lundi derniershe was never to see him again= elle ne devait plus le revoir.In tag questionsFrench has no direct equivalent of tag questions like isn’t he? or wasn’t it? There is a general tag question n’est-ce pas? (literally isn’t it so?) which will work in many cases:their house is lovely, isn’t it?= leur maison est très belle, n’est-ce pas?he’s a doctor, isn’t he?= il est médecin, n’est-ce pas?it was a very good meal, wasn’t it?= c’était un très bon repas, n’est-ce pas?However, n’est-ce pas can very rarely be used for positive tag questions and some other way will be found to express the extra meaning contained in the tag: par hasard ( by any chance) can be very useful as a translation:‘I can’t find my glasses’ ‘they’re not in the kitchen, are they?’= ‘je ne trouve pas mes lunettes’ ‘elles ne sont pas dans la cuisine, par hasard?’you haven’t seen Gaby, have you?= tu n’as pas vu Gaby, par hasard?In cases where an opinion is being sought, si? meaning more or less or is it? or was it? etc. can be useful:it’s not broken, is it?= ce n’est pas cassé, si?he wasn’t serious, was he?= il n’était pas sérieux, si?In many other cases the tag question is simply not translated at all and the speaker’s intonation will convey the implied question.In short answersAgain, there is no direct equivalent for short answers like yes I am, no he’s not etc. Where the answer yes is given to contradict a negative question or statement, the most useful translation is si:‘you’re not going out tonight’ ‘yes I am’= ‘tu ne sors pas ce soir’ ‘si’In reply to a standard enquiry the tag will not be translated:‘are you a doctor?’ ‘yes I am’= ‘êtes-vous médecin?’ ‘oui’‘was it raining?’ ‘yes it was’= ‘est-ce qu’il pleuvait?’ ‘oui’ProbabilityFor expressions of probability and supposition ( if I were you etc.) see the entry be.Other functionsExpressing sensations and feelingsIn expressing physical and mental sensations, the verb used in French is avoir:to be cold= avoir froidto be hot= avoir chaudI’m cold= j’ai froidto be thirsty= avoir soifto be hungry= avoir faimto be ashamed= avoir hontemy hands are cold= j’ai froid aux mainsIf, however, you are in doubt as to which verb to use in such expressions, you should consult the entry for the appropriate adjective.Discussing health and how people areIn expressions of health and polite enquiries about how people are, aller is used:how are you?= comment allez-vous?( more informally) comment vas-tu?( very informally as a greeting) ça va?are you well?= vous allez bien?how is your daughter?= comment va votre fille?my father is better today= mon père va mieux aujourd’huiDiscussing weather and temperatureIn expressions of weather and temperature faire is generally used:it’s cold= il fait froidit’s windy= il fait du ventIf in doubt, consult the appropriate adjective entry.Visiting somewhereWhen to be is used in the present perfect tense to mean go, visit etc., French will generally use the verbs venir, aller etc. rather than être:I’ve never been to Sweden= je ne suis jamais allé en Suèdehave you been to the Louvre?= est-ce que tu es déjà allé au Louvre?or est-ce que tu as déjà visité le Louvre?Paul has been to see us three times= Paul est venu nous voir trois foisNote too:has the postman been?= est-ce que le facteur est passé?The translation for an expression or idiom containing the verb to be will be found in the dictionary at the entry for another word in the expression: for to be in danger see danger, for it would be best to … see best etc.This dictionary contains usage notes on topics such as the clock, time units, age, weight measurement, days of the week, and shops, trades and professions, many of which include translations of particular uses of to be. -
9 Usage note : since
In time expressionssince is used in English after a verb in the present perfect or progressive present perfect tense to indicate when something that is still going on started. To express this French uses a verb in the present tense + depuis:I’ve been waiting since Saturday= j’attends depuis samediI’ve lived in Rome since 1988= j’habite à Rome depuis 1988I had been waiting since nine o’clock= j’attendais depuis neuf heuresIn negative time expressionsAgain since is translated by depuis, but in negative sentences the verb tenses used in French are the same as those used in English:I haven’t seen him since Saturday= je ne l’ai pas vu depuis samediI hadn’t seen him since 1978= je ne l’avais pas vu depuis 1978As a conjunctionIn time expressionsWhen since is used as a conjunction, it is translated by depuis que and the tenses used in French parallel exactly those used with the preposition depuis (see above):since she’s been living in Oxford= depuis qu’elle habite à Oxfordsince he’d been in Paris= depuis qu’il était à ParisNote that in time expressions with since French native speakers will generally prefer to use a noun where possible when English uses a verb:I haven’t seen him since he left= je ne l’ai pas vu depuis son départshe’s been living in Nice since she got married= elle habite à Nice depuis son mariageFor particular usages see the entry since.Meaning becausesince she was ill, she couldn’t go= comme elle était malade or étant donné qu’elle était malade, elle ne pouvait pas y allerAs an adverbhe hasn’t been seen since= on ne l’a pas vu depuisFor particular usages see C in the entry since. -
10 BE
be [bi:]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verb3. modal verb6. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verba. être• who is that? -- it's me! qui est-ce ? -- c'est moi !• if I were you I would refuse si j'étais vous, je refuserais━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The following translations use ce + être because they contain an article or possessive in French.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► No article is used in French, unless the noun is qualified by an adjective.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• how are you? comment allez-vous ?d. ( = cost) coûter• how much is it? combien ça coûte ?e. ( = equal) fairef.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• to be cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/ashamed/right/wrong avoir froid/chaud/faim/soif/honte/raison/tort━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note how French makes the person, not the part of the body, the subject of the sentence in the following.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━g. (with age) avoir• how old is he? quel âge a-t-il ?► to be + -ing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French does not distinguish between simple and continuous actions as much as English does.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'm coming! j'arrive !• what have you been doing this week? qu'est-ce que tu as fait cette semaine ?• will you be seeing her tomorrow? est-ce que vous allez la voir demain ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► être en train de + infinitive emphasizes that one is in the middle of the action.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I haven't got time, I'm cooking the dinner je n'ai pas le temps, je suis en train de préparer le repas━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The imperfect tense is used for continuous action in the past.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► have/had been +... for/since━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French uses the present and imperfect where English uses the perfect and past perfect.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'd been at university for six weeks when my father got ill j'étais à l'université depuis six semaines quand mon père est tombé malade• he's a friend of yours, isn't he? c'est un ami à toi, n'est-ce pas ?• she wasn't happy, was she? elle n'était pas heureuse, n'est-ce pas ?• so it's all done, is it? tout est fait, alors ?• you're not ill, are you? tu n'es pas malade j'espère ?c. (in tag responses) they're getting married -- oh are they? ils vont se marier -- ah bon ?• he's going to complain about you -- oh is he? il va porter plainte contre toi -- ah vraiment ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• he's always late, isn't he? -- yes, he is il est toujours en retard, n'est-ce pas ? -- oui• is it what you expected? -- no it isn't est-ce que tu t'attendais à ça ? -- non━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The past participle in French passive constructions agrees with the subject.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The passive is used less in French than in English. It is often expressed by on + active verb.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• it is said that... on dit que...━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The reflexive can be used to describe how something is usually done.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━3. modal verb► am/are/is to + infinitivea. ( = will)• now the old lady has died, her house is to be sold maintenant que la vieille dame est décédée, sa maison va être mise en venteb. ( = must) you are to follow these instructions exactly tu dois suivre ces instructions scrupuleusementc. ( = should) he is to be pitied il est à plaindre• not to be confused with... à ne pas confondre avec...d. ( = be destined to) this was to have serious repercussions cela devait avoir de graves répercussionse. ( = can) these birds are to be found all over the world on trouve ces oiseaux dans le monde entiera. être ; ( = take place) avoir lieu• he is there at the moment, but he won't be there much longer il est là en ce moment mais il ne va pas rester très longtemps► there is/are ( = there exist(s)) il y a• here you are at last! te voilà enfin !• here you are! ( = take this) tiens (or tenez) !b. ► to have been (to a place)• where have you been? où étais-tu passé ?a. (weather, temperature) faire• it's fine/cold/dark il fait beau/froid/nuit• it's windy/foggy il y a du vent/du brouillard• it was then we realized that... c'est alors que nous nous sommes rendu compte que...• it was they who suggested that... ce sont eux qui ont suggéré que...• why is it that she is so popular? pourquoi a-t-elle tant de succès ?6. compounds* * *noun: abrév bill of exchange -
11 be
be [bi:]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verb3. modal verb6. compounds━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━1. link verba. être• who is that? -- it's me! qui est-ce ? -- c'est moi !• if I were you I would refuse si j'étais vous, je refuserais━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The following translations use ce + être because they contain an article or possessive in French.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► No article is used in French, unless the noun is qualified by an adjective.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• how are you? comment allez-vous ?d. ( = cost) coûter• how much is it? combien ça coûte ?e. ( = equal) fairef.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• to be cold/hot/hungry/thirsty/ashamed/right/wrong avoir froid/chaud/faim/soif/honte/raison/tort━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note how French makes the person, not the part of the body, the subject of the sentence in the following.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━g. (with age) avoir• how old is he? quel âge a-t-il ?► to be + -ing━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French does not distinguish between simple and continuous actions as much as English does.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'm coming! j'arrive !• what have you been doing this week? qu'est-ce que tu as fait cette semaine ?• will you be seeing her tomorrow? est-ce que vous allez la voir demain ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► être en train de + infinitive emphasizes that one is in the middle of the action.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I haven't got time, I'm cooking the dinner je n'ai pas le temps, je suis en train de préparer le repas━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The imperfect tense is used for continuous action in the past.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► have/had been +... for/since━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► French uses the present and imperfect where English uses the perfect and past perfect.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I'd been at university for six weeks when my father got ill j'étais à l'université depuis six semaines quand mon père est tombé malade• he's a friend of yours, isn't he? c'est un ami à toi, n'est-ce pas ?• she wasn't happy, was she? elle n'était pas heureuse, n'est-ce pas ?• so it's all done, is it? tout est fait, alors ?• you're not ill, are you? tu n'es pas malade j'espère ?c. (in tag responses) they're getting married -- oh are they? ils vont se marier -- ah bon ?• he's going to complain about you -- oh is he? il va porter plainte contre toi -- ah vraiment ?━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• he's always late, isn't he? -- yes, he is il est toujours en retard, n'est-ce pas ? -- oui• is it what you expected? -- no it isn't est-ce que tu t'attendais à ça ? -- non━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The past participle in French passive constructions agrees with the subject.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The passive is used less in French than in English. It is often expressed by on + active verb.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• it is said that... on dit que...━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► The reflexive can be used to describe how something is usually done.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━3. modal verb► am/are/is to + infinitivea. ( = will)• now the old lady has died, her house is to be sold maintenant que la vieille dame est décédée, sa maison va être mise en venteb. ( = must) you are to follow these instructions exactly tu dois suivre ces instructions scrupuleusementc. ( = should) he is to be pitied il est à plaindre• not to be confused with... à ne pas confondre avec...d. ( = be destined to) this was to have serious repercussions cela devait avoir de graves répercussionse. ( = can) these birds are to be found all over the world on trouve ces oiseaux dans le monde entiera. être ; ( = take place) avoir lieu• he is there at the moment, but he won't be there much longer il est là en ce moment mais il ne va pas rester très longtemps► there is/are ( = there exist(s)) il y a• here you are at last! te voilà enfin !• here you are! ( = take this) tiens (or tenez) !b. ► to have been (to a place)• where have you been? où étais-tu passé ?a. (weather, temperature) faire• it's fine/cold/dark il fait beau/froid/nuit• it's windy/foggy il y a du vent/du brouillard• it was then we realized that... c'est alors que nous nous sommes rendu compte que...• it was they who suggested that... ce sont eux qui ont suggéré que...• why is it that she is so popular? pourquoi a-t-elle tant de succès ?6. compounds* * *[biː, bɪ]1) gen êtreit's me —
2) ( in probability)were it not that... — si ce n'était que...
had it not been for Frank, I'd have missed the train — sans Frank j'aurais raté le train
3) ( phrases)let ou leave him be — laisse-le tranquille
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12 have
have [hæv]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━2. modal verb4. noun━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━a. avoir━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► avoir is the auxiliary used with most verbs to form past tenses. For important exceptions see below.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• haven't you grown! comme tu as grandi !━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► Note the agreement of the past participle with the preceding direct object.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• if I had seen her I would have spoken to her si je l'avais vue, je lui aurais parlé━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► When describing uncompleted states or actions, French generally uses the present and imperfect where English uses the perfect and past perfect.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I have lived or have been living here for 10 years/since January j'habite ici depuis 10 ans/depuis janvier• I had lived or had been living there for 10 years j'habitais là depuis 10 ans► to have just... venir de...b. être━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► être is the auxiliary used with all reflexives, and the following verbs when used intransitively: aller, arriver, descendre, devenir, entrer, monter, mourir, naître, partir, passer, rentrer, rester, retourner, revenir, sortir, tomber, venir.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• you've seen her, haven't you? vous l'avez vue, n'est-ce pas ?• he hasn't told anyone, has he? il n'en a parlé à personne, n'est-ce pas ?d. (in tag responses) he's got a new job -- oh has he? il a un nouveau travail -- ah bon ?• you've dropped your book -- so I have! vous avez laissé tomber votre livre -- en effet !━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► (mais) si or (mais) non are used to contradict.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• you haven't seen her -- yes I have! vous ne l'avez pas vue -- (mais) si !• you've made a mistake -- no I haven't! vous vous êtes trompé -- mais non !━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• have you met him? -- yes I have est-ce que tu l'as rencontré ? -- oui• has he arrived? -- no he hasn't est-ce qu'il est arrivé ? -- none. (avoiding repetition of verb) have you ever been there? if you have... y êtes-vous déjà allé ? si oui,...• have you tried it? if you haven't... est-ce que vous avez goûté ça ? si vous ne l'avez pas fait,...2. modal verb━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► falloir is always used in the third person singular, in an impersonal construction. Note that falloir que is always followed by the subjunctive.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• you're going to have to work hard! tu vas devoir travailler dur ! il va falloir que tu travailles dur !• I'll have to leave now or I'll miss the train il faut que je parte, sinon je vais rater mon train• don't you have to get permission? est-ce qu'on ne doit pas demander la permission ?• do you have to go now? est-ce que vous devez partir tout de suite ?• we've had to work late twice this week nous avons dû rester travailler tard deux fois cette semaine• what kind of equipment would you have to have? quel type de matériel vous faudrait-il ?• it has to be the biggest scandal this year c'est sans aucun doute le plus gros scandale de l'année• do you have to make such a noise? tu ne pourrais pas faire un peu moins de bruit ?► don't/doesn't have to + infinitive━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• you didn't have to tell her! tu n'avais pas besoin de le lui dire !• I don't have to do it je ne suis pas obligé or forcé de le fairea. avoir• I have or I've got three books j'ai trois livres• have you got a suitcase? avez-vous une valise ?• have you got this jumper in black? est-ce que vous avez ce pull en noir ?b. ( = eat, drink, take) he had an egg for breakfast il a mangé un œuf au petit déjeuner• shall we have a coffee? on prend un café ?► will you have...? (in offers)will you have tea or coffee? vous prendrez du thé ou du café ?c. ( = spend) passer• what sort of day have you had? est-ce que tu as passé une bonne journée ?d. ( = smoke) fumere. ( = catch) tenir• I've got him where I want him! (inf) je le tiens !► to let sb have ( = give) donner à qn• I'll let you have it for $100 je vous le cède pour 100 dollars► must have or have to have• I must have £50 at once il me faut 50 livres immédiatement• I must or have to have them by this afternoon il me les faut pour cet après-midi► won't have ( = refuse to accept)I won't have this nonsense! je ne tolérerai pas ces enfantillages !• I won't have it! je ne tolérerai pas ça !• I won't have him risking his neck on that motorbike je ne veux pas qu'il risque sa vie sur cette moto► would have ( = wish)what would you have me do? que voulez-vous que je fasse ?• he had his worst fears confirmed ses pires craintes se sont réalisées► to have sb do sth faire faire qch à qn• she soon had them all reading and writing elle a réussi très rapidement à leur apprendre à lire et à écrire► had better ( = should)4. nouna. faire venira. [+ clothes] porterb. (British = have planned) I've got so much on this week that... j'ai tant de choses à faire cette semaine que...d. Richard has nothing on him! (inf) Richard ne lui arrive pas à la cheville !• the police have nothing on me (inf) la police n'a pas de preuve contre moi► have out separable transitive verb[+ friends, neighbours] inviter* * *[hæv, həv] 1.transitive verb ( uses not covered in NOTE)1) ( possess) avoir2) ( consume) prendre3) ( want) vouloir, prendrewhat will you have? — qu'est-ce que vous prendrez or voulez?
I wouldn't have him/her any other way — c'est comme ça que je l'aime
4) (receive, get) recevoir [letter, information]5) ( hold) faire [party, celebration]; tenir [meeting]; organiser [competition, ballot, exhibition]; avoir [conversation]; mener [enquiry]6) (exert, exhibit) avoir [effect, influence]; avoir [courage, courtesy] ( to do de faire)7) ( spend) passerto have a nice day/evening — passer une journée/soirée agréable
to have a hard ou bad time — traverser une période difficile
8) ( be provided with) (also have got)I have ou I've got letters to write — j'ai du courrier à faire
9) (undergo, suffer) avoirto have (the) flu/a heart attack — avoir la grippe/une crise cardiaque
to have an interview — avoir or passer un entretien
10) ( cause to be done)they would have us believe that... — ils voudraient nous faire croire que...
I would have you know that... — je voudrais que vous sachiez que...
11) ( cause to become)we'll soon have everything ready/clean — nous aurons bientôt fini de tout préparer/nettoyer
if you're not careful you'll have that glass over — si tu ne fais pas attention tu vas renverser le verre
12) ( allow) tolérer13) ( physically hold) tenirshe had him by the throat/by the arm — elle le tenait à la gorge/par le bras
14) ( give birth to) [woman] avoir [child]; [animal] mettre bas, avoir [young]15) ( as impersonal verb)over here, we have a painting by Picasso — ici vous avez un tableau de Picasso
what we have here is a small group of extremists — ce à quoi nous avons affaire ici, est un petit groupe d'extrémistes
16) ( puzzle)you have ou you've got me there! — là tu me poses une colle! (colloq)
17) ( have at one's mercy) (also have got)2.I've got you/him now! — maintenant je te/le tiens!
modal auxiliary1) ( must)I have (got) to leave now — je dois partir maintenant, il faut que je parte maintenant
2) ( need to)you don't have to ou you haven't got to leave so early — tu n'as pas besoin de or tu n'es pas obligé de partir si tôt
3) ( for emphasis)3.this has (got) to be the most difficult decision I've ever made — c'est sans doute la décision la plus difficile que j'aie jamais eu à prendre
1) gen avoir; ( with movement and reflexive verbs) être2) ( in tag questions etc)you've seen the film, haven't you? — tu as vu le film, n'est-ce pas?
you haven't seen the film, have you? — tu n'as pas vu le film?
you haven't seen my bag, have you? — tu n'as pas vu mon sac, par hasard?
‘he's already left’ - ‘has he indeed!’ — ‘il est déjà parti’ - ‘vraiment!’
4.‘you've never met him’ - ‘yes I have!’ — ‘tu ne l'as jamais rencontré’ - ‘mais si!’
having auxiliary verb1) ( in time clauses)having finished his breakfast, he went out — après avoir fini son petit déjeuner, il est sorti
2) (because, since)•Phrasal Verbs:- have in- have on- have up••this car/TV has had it — (colloq) cette voiture/télé est foutue (colloq)
when your father finds out, you've had it! — (colloq) ( in trouble) quand ton père l'apprendra, ça va être ta fête! (colloq)
I can't do any more, I've had it! — (colloq) ( tired) je n'en peux plus, je suis crevé! (colloq)
I've had it (up to here) with... — (colloq) j'en ai marre de... (colloq)
to have it in for somebody — (colloq) avoir quelqu'un dans le collimateur (colloq)
she has/doesn't have it in her to do — elle est capable/incapable de faire
and the ayes/noes have it — les oui/non l'emportent
...and what have you —...etc
there is no milk/there are no houses to be had — on ne trouve pas de lait/de maisons
-
13 Usage note : you
In English you is used to address everybody, whereas French has two forms: tu and vous. The usual word to use when you are speaking to anyone you do not know very well is vous. This is sometimes called the polite form and is used for the subject, object, indirect object and emphatic pronoun:would you like some coffee?= voulez-vous du café?can I help you?= est-ce que je peux vous aider?what can I do for you?= qu’est-ce que je peux faire pour vous?The more informal pronoun tu is used between close friends and family members, within groups of children and young people, by adults when talking to children and always when talking to animals ; tu is the subject form, the direct and indirect object form is te (t’ before a vowel) and the form for emphatic use or use after a preposition is toi:would you like some coffee?= veux-tu du café?can I help you?= est-ce que je peux t’aider?there’s a letter for you= il y a une lettre pour toiAs a general rule, when talking to a French person use vous, wait to see how they address you and follow suit. It is safer to wait for the French person to suggest using tu. The suggestion will usually be phrased as on se tutoie? or on peut se tutoyer?Note that tu is only a singular pronoun and vous is the plural form of tu.Remember that in French the object and indirect object pronouns are always placed before the verb:she knows you= elle vous connaît or elle te connaîtIn compound tenses like the present perfect and the past perfect, the past participle agrees in number and gender with the direct object:I saw you on Saturday(to one male: polite form)= je vous ai vu samedi(to one female: polite form)= je vous ai vue samedi(to one male: informal form)= je t’ai vu samedi(to one female: informal form)= je t’ai vue samedi(to two or more people, male or mixed)= je vous ai vus samedi(to two or more females)= je vous ai vues samediWhen you is used impersonally as the more informal form of one, it is translated by on for the subject form and by vous or te for the object form, depending on whether the comment is being made amongst friends or in a more formal context:you can do as you like here= on peut faire ce qu’on veut icithese mushrooms can make you ill= ces champignons peuvent vous rendre malade or ces champignons peuvent te rendre maladeyou could easily lose your bag here= on pourrait facilement perdre son sac iciNote that your used with on is translated by son/sa/ses according to the gender and number of the noun that follows.For verb forms with vous, tu and on see the French verb tables.For particular usages see the entry you. -
14 Usage note : it
When it is used as a subject pronoun to refer to a specific object (or animal) il or elle is used in French according to the gender of the object referred to:‘where is the book/chair?’ ‘it’s in the kitchen’= ‘où est le livre/la chaise?’ ‘il/elle est dans la cuisine’‘do you like my skirt?’ ‘it’s lovely’= ‘est-ce que tu aimes ma jupe?’ ‘elle est très jolie’However, if the object referred to is named in the same sentence, it is translated by ce (c’ before a vowel):it’s a good film= c’est un bon filmWhen it is used as an object pronoun it is translated by le or la (l’ before a vowel) according to the gender of the object referred to:it’s my book/my chair and I want it= c’est mon livre/ma chaise et je le/la veuxNote that the object pronoun normally comes before the verb in French and that in compound tenses like the perfect and the past perfect, the past participle agrees with it:I liked his shirt - did you notice it?= j’ai aimé sa chemise - est-ce que tu l’as remarquée? or l’as-tu remarquée?In imperatives only, the pronoun comes after the verb:it’s my book - give it to me= c’est mon livre - donne-le-moi (note the hyphens)When it is used vaguely or impersonally followed by an adjective the translation is ce (c’ before a vowel):it’s difficult= c’est difficileit’s sad= c’est tristeBut when it is used impersonally followed by an adjective + verb the translation is il:it’s difficult to understand how…= il est difficile de comprendre comment …If in doubt consult the entry for the adjective in question.For translations for impersonal verb uses (it’s raining, it’s snowing) consult the entry for the verb in question.it is used in expressions of days of the week (it’s Friday) and clock time (it’s 5 o’clock). This dictionary contains usage notes on these and many other topics. For other impersonal and idiomatic uses see the entry it.When it is used after a preposition in English the two words (prep + it) are often translated by one word in French. If the preposition would normally be translated by de in French (e.g. of, about, from etc.) the prep + it = en:I’ve heard about it= j’en ai entendu parlerIf the preposition would normally be translated by à in French (e.g. to, in, at etc.) the prep + it = y:they went to it= ils y sont allésFor translations of it following prepositions not normally translated by de or à (e.g. above, under, over etc.) consult the entry for the preposition. -
15 be *****
[biː] am, is, are pres was, were pt been pp1. vi1) (exist) essere, esistereleave it as it is — lascialo così
the best singer that ever was — il miglior cantante mai esistito
was it? — quanto è costato?, quant'era?me be! — lasciami in pace!so
be it — sia pure, e siahis wife to be — la sua futura moglie
2) (in place) essere, trovarsishe won't be here tomorrow — non ci sarà domani
we've been here for ages — sono secoli che siamo qui
Edinburgh is in Scotland — Edimburgo è or si trova in Scozia
it's on the table — è or sta sul tavolo
3)there were 3 of us — eravamo in 3
there was once a house here — qua una volta c'era una casa
4)(presenting, pointing out)
here is or here are — eccothere is or there are — (over there) ecco
you are (take it) — ecco qua (prendi)5)(come, go: esp in perfect tense)
I've been to China — sono stato in Cinahave you been? — dove sei stato?2. copulative vb1) esserehe's a pianist — è (un) pianista
the book is in French — il libro è in francese
2) (health) stareare you? — come stai (or sta)?3)3. impers vb1)2) (time) essere3)it's 5 km to the village — da qui al paese sono 5 km4) (weather) fare5)it's only me — sono solo io4. aux vb1)(with present participle: forming continuous tenses)
they're coming tomorrow — vengono domaniwhat are you doing? — che fai?, che stai facendo?
he's always grumbling — brontola sempre, non fa che brontolare
2) (with past participle: forming passives) esserewhat's to be done? — che fare?
3)he's back again, is he? — così è tornato, eh?he's handsome, isn't he? — è un bell'uomo, vero?
it was fun, wasn't it? — è stato bello, no?
4)(+ to + infinitive)
he's to be congratulated on his work — dobbiamo fargli i complimenti per il suo lavoroyou're to do as I tell you — devi fare come ti dico
he's not to open it — non deve aprirlo
the car is to be sold — abbiamo (or hanno etc) intenzione di vendere la macchina
am I to understand that...? — devo dedurre che...?
5)(
modal: supposition) if it was or were to snow... — (se) dovesse nevicare...if
I were you... — se fossi in te...•- be on to -
16 would
would [wʊd]1. modal verba.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━► When would is used to form the conditional, the French conditional is used.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• I wouldn't worry, if I were you à ta place, je ne m'inquiéterais pas• to my surprise, he agreed -- I never thought he would à ma grande surprise, il a accepté -- je ne l'aurais jamais pensé• who would have thought it? qui l'aurait pensé ?• I said I'd go, so I'm going j'ai dit que j'irais, alors j'y vais• I said I'd go, so I went j'avais dit que j'irais, alors j'y suis allé━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━• if you would come with me, I'd go to see him si vous vouliez bien m'accompagner, j'irais le voir━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━would you wait here please! attendez ici s'il vous plaît !• would you close the window please voulez-vous fermer la fenêtre, s'il vous plaît► would you like ( = do you want)would you like some tea? voulez-vous du thé ?• would you like to go for a walk? est-ce que vous aimeriez faire une promenade ?• 50 years ago the streets would be empty on Sundays il y a 50 ans, les rues étaient vides le dimanche• I saw him come out of the shop -- when would this be? je l'ai vu sortir du magasin -- quand ?d. (inevitability) you would go and tell her! évidemment tu es allé le lui dire !• it would have to rain! évidemment il fallait qu'il pleuve !e. (conjecture) it would have been about 8 o'clock when he came il devait être 8 heures à peu près quand il est venu2. modifier* * *[wʊd, wəd]Note: When would is used with a verb in English to form the conditional tense, would + verb is translated by the present conditional of the appropriate verb in French and would have + verb by the past conditional of the appropriate verb: I would do it if I had time = je le ferais si j'avais le temps; I would have done it if I had had time = je l'aurais fait si j'avais eu le temps; he said he would fetch the car = il a dit qu'il irait chercher la voitureFor more examples, particular usages and all other uses of would see the entry below1) (in sequence of past tenses, in reported speech)if we'd left later we would have missed the train — si nous étions partis plus tard nous aurions raté le train
wouldn't it be nice if... — ce serait bien si...
they couldn't find anyone who would take the job — ils n'arrivaient pas à trouver quelqu'un qui accepte le poste
5) (expressing desire, preference)switch off the radio, would you? — éteins la radio, tu veux bien?
8) ( when giving advice)9) ( expressing exasperation)‘he denies it’ - ‘well he would, wouldn't he?’ — ‘il le nie’ - ‘évidemment!’
‘she put her foot in it (colloq)’ - ‘she would!’ — ‘elle a mis les pieds dans le plat (colloq)’ - ‘tu m'étonnes!’
10) ( expressing an assumption)let's see, that would be his youngest son — voyons, ça doit être son plus jeune fils
11) (indicating habitual event or behaviour in past: used to)
См. также в других словарях:
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