Why is "Comí hace tres horas." correct?

"Who dares to teach must never cease to learn". John Cotton Dana

As a teacher, I think continuing to learn is just as important as teaching. I try to learn something new everyday, either from my students, from my family, from my colleagues, or from myself.

Yesterday in my Spanish 2 class we were going over the Hace + time + que construction.

Briefly:
1. To express how long something has been going on, in Spanish we use the following expression:
HACE + length of time + QUE + verb in the present tense
Hace dos años que vivo aquí. I have been living here for 2 years.

2. When using the preterit and maybe the imperfect, the "Hace + length of time + que" construction translates into ..."ago."
HACE + length of time + QUE + verb in the past tense
Hace dos años que viví aquí. I lived here 2 years ago.

You can read my actual notes here: Hace que... Hace meaning ago.

Anyway, we were going over examples in class from the www.studyspanish.com website. A site that I highly recommend. It's excellent for grammar review, verb conjugation practice, and pronunciation assistance.

We came across this sentence: I ate three hours ago. The site gave this answer: Comí hace tres horas.
as the correct answer. The answer bothered me. I've always been taught that you can not have two conjugated verbs side by side. Something needs to separate these two verbs, whether it was a word or punctuation. Needless to say, since I couldn't explain to my students why the answer was correct, I told them to ignore it and we'll go over it in the next class. I knew that I had to some research to do, I hate saying... "I don't know why it's right, it just is." UGH, that drives me nuts! I looked on the site, in the textbook for the class, in my supplemental grammar books and I couldn't find an explanation on WHY that sentence structure was OK. Just a bunch of "here it is, learn it."

So, I swallowed my pride and asked the experts on http://www.spanishdict.com/  EXCELLENT resource! I'm pretty sure I'll be back on that site again.

Here's what I learned: (Honestly, something I've never knew and I'm BEYOND excited to share this info!!)

IMPERSONAL HACER (never heard of it, did I tell y'all that?)
The impersonal use of the verb "hacer" allows for two distinct possibilities in regards to syntactic function; namely, it can function either as part of an independent clause or as an adverbial expression:

INDEPENTDENT CLAUSE: Hace tres horas que comí. (this is the format we are used to using)
ADVERBIAL EXPRESSION: Comí hace tres horas. (this is the NEW format, that caused me drama)

SN: An independent clause is a clause that can stand by itself, it's also known as a simple sentence. It contains a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE. An adverbial expression (or in our case) phrase is a term for a group of two or more words that perform the same function as an adverb (modifies the verb).

In the sentence: Comí hace tres horas. the verb hacer combines with tres horas to form an adverbial expression. Look at the examples given to me:

1). Comí anoche. → I ate last night.
2). Comí esta tarde. → I ate this afternoon.
3). Comí hace tres horas. → I ate three hours ago.

Notice how anoche, esta tarde, AND hace tres horas answer the same question and performs the same purpose... to tell us when I ate... for this reason "hace" isn't performing as a verb, it's serving in the role as part of an adverb... therefore we don't have 2 verbs side by side!

Doesn't that make sense!!! It did for me and when we go over it in class, I'll have more examples!


Special thanks to Izanoni from http://www.spanishdict.com/ for that extremely helpful answer!

As always if you need me: email me, facebook me, tweet me, or text me.

Ciao,
MLMoore

la semana del 31 de octubre

Happy Halloween Y'all

I hope your weekend was awesome, mine was relaxing and short. Here are the things I need you to pay attention to during the week.

SPA111 Elementary Spanish 1 (both classes)
Review conjugation of present tense verbs
Review Demonstrative Adjectives
Introduce Demonstrative Pronouns
Tener and Tener Expressions

SPA112 Elementary Spanish 2 (both classes)
Working on Artist Projects
Review Preterit -ar verbs: yo forms of -gar, -car, -zar
Introduce Preterit -er and -ir verbs
Introduce Hace + que...

SPA212 Intermediate Spanish 2
Diarios de motocicleta

Verbos y preposicionesEl Futuro

Verbos como gustar
Pronombres usados como complemento directo e indirecto
La a personal
El subjuntivo para expresar duda, negación e incredulidad
El subjuntivo con ciertas conjunciones
El imperfecto de subjuntivo
Condicional



SPA231 Reading and Composition
Por favor, sigue leyendo la muerte de Artemio Cruz. Lee los capítulos 2 y 3. Hay preguntas en Moodle.

El subjuntivo para expresar duda, negación e incredulidadAs always, if you have questions or need me, you can email me, text me, facebook me, or tweet me.
El subjuntivo con ciertas conjuncionesEl imperfecto de subjuntivo
Condicional
El Futuro


Ciao,
MLMoore

la semana de 24 de octubre 2011

Hola clases,

Registration week = CHAOS + FUN :)

SPA111 Elementary Spanish 1 (both classes)
Review conjugation of present tense verbs
Tener and Expressions
Demonstrative Adjectives

SPA112 Elementary Spanish 2 (both classes)
Introduction of the Preterit: -ar verbs
Work on Artist Projects

SPA212 Intermediate Spanish 2
Continue with Hombres armados

SPA231 Reading and Composition
Book Selection
1. Nada por Carmen Laforet
From Bookmarks Magazine


Nada is a novel of Spain—and of the difficult transition to adulthood. Critics agree that it is a remarkable achievement for so young a voice at the time and one of the best novels written during the Franco regime. Mario Vargas Llosa notes in his introduction that Nada never overtly refers to the Fascist victory, yet "politics weighs on the entire story like an ominous silence." Still, Andrea's grim experiences—from navigating the bizarre terrain of her relatives to brokering friendships and sexual relationships—are far from humorless. Brilliant characterizations, poetic prose, and a clear and sophisticated voice ring true in Edith Grossman's excellent translation. The Los Angeles Times sums up general sentiment: "Nada a coming-of-age novel, but it's also a work of genius, small but indelible."

2. La Colmena por Camilo José Cela
Review


Publicada en Buenos Aires a causa de la censura, LA COLMENA irrumpio en 1951 en la anodina escena literaria espanola de la epoca, introduciendo en ella una decidida corriente de critica y renovacion. Como el propio CAMILO JOSe CELA afirma en una nota a la primera edicion, esta novela ""no es otra cosa que [] un trozo de vida narrado paso a paso, sin reticencias, sin extranas tragedias, sin caridad, como la vida discurre"". Ambientada en Madrid en unos pocos dias del mes de diciembre de 1943, la obra refleja la realidad intrahistorica de aquellos dias de incertidumbre de la posguerra a traves de unos personajes inmersos en una insignificancia que ­como afirma GONZALO SOBEJANO en el prologo al volumen­, llevada al extremo de la revelacion, da lugar a uno de los efectos de extranamiento mas poderosos de la novela. Otras obras de C. J. Cela en esta coleccion: ""San Camilo 1936"" (L 5064). --Los editores
 
3. La Muerte de Artemio Cruz por Carlos Fuentes
From Publishers Weekly


First translated into English more than a quarter-century ago, Fuentes's acclaimed novel about modern Mexico has since gone through nearly 30 printings. Despite its popularity, the original English version often was unclear, obscuring Fuentes's language and intent. MacAdam's meticulous new rendering gives the English-reading public a fresh slant on the fictional Cruz, a newspaper owner and land baron. The novel opens with Cruz on his deathbed, and plunges us into his thoughts as he segues from the past to his increasingly disoriented present. Drawn as a tragic figure, Cruz fights bravely during the Mexican Revolution but in the process loses his idealism--and the only woman who ever loved him. He marries the daughter of a hacienda owner and, in the opportunistic, postwar climate, he uses her family connections and money to amass an ever-larger fortune. Cocky, audacious, corrupt, Cruz, on another level, represents the paradoxes of recent Mexican history. Written before Fuentes's masterpieces A Change of Skin and Terra Nostra, this novel, with its freewheeling experimental prose and psychological exploration, anticipates many of the author's later themes.

4. Los rios profundos por Jose Maria Argueda
Review


Jose Maria Arguedas ha sido el punto de partida para las principales teorizaciones sobre una cuestion capital en las letras de la America Latina: la ""transculturacion"". El autor inserta con intensidad y complejidad elementos de la cultura andina dentro de formas culturales occidentales. El propio titulo de ""Los rios profundos"" (de cauce profundo y caudal generoso son los rios de la Sierra peruana) connota la profundidad de las solidas raices ancestrales de la identidad peruana, cabalmente asumida, en contraposicion al caracter sobreimpuesto de una cultura occidental y cosmopolita a espaldas del legado historico milenario del Peru. Ejemplo de vida plena entre el individuo, la sociedad y el cosmos, provechoso de conocer para la humanidad entera. --Los editores
 
As always, if you need me you can ask me a question here, text me, facebook me, tweet me, or email me...
 
Ciao,
MLMoore