Elementary - Let´s have a snack

Según mi diccionario 'parece' es un verbo intransitivo. Encontramos en la 'expansión' la oración siguiente: ME PARECE UNA BUENA IDEA. ('una buena idea' es el complemento directo del verbo 'parece') ¿Porque no 'ME PARECE SER UNA BUENA IDEA' o 'ME PARECE COMO UNA BUENA IDEA' o 'ME PARECE QUE SEA BUENA IDEA'? Of course in English we say "it seems a mistake to me" or "it seems a good idea to me" but these are verbal shortcuts and the missing "like" is understood. Is something similar going on with 'parece' or has it morphed into a transitive verb in recent years?

strelnikov: It's just another case when trying to translate word-for-word will get you into trouble. Though the dictionary will indeed tell you parecer means "to seem, appear, look, etc," for all intents and purposes you can think of the English "like" as being built into the verb when necessary. Of course there are times in English when the "like" is not necessary at all, such as in "[It] looks good to me," just say "me parece bien." But no need to compensate for the like when comparing to a noun, "me parece una buena idea = Seems like a good idea to me." By the way, buena idea no es el complemento directo sino el sujeto en este caso.

My bad, I agree buena idea is el complemento directo.

jrepp: Thanks for the input. My concern is based on the fact that none of my three dictionaries (which are rather good as to indications of idiom) do not support this usage in any of their entries. Of course there are endless variations on "normative" usage in common speech; the difficulty arises for the student because he has no ear to distinguish colloquial usage from mere incorrectness, as he does in his own language. I am prepared to agree that 'buena idea' is not really an object of 'parece', but at the cost of disagreeing that it is the subject. I would argue that it functions as an adjective, and that the suppressed but implied "Lo" is the subject. Still, I agree with your main point and I in no way endorse word for word translations. And, as a recovering mathematician, I enjoy petty distinctions!

strelnikov1960, I think of "parecer" as what we call a 'copula' or "stative verb." That would make "buena idea" a predicate noun (predicate nominative phrase), just as if the verb was "ser;" e.g., "es una buena idea." :)

Como se escribe: " ten ten pié"?

un tentempie me parece una buena idea n'importa qual momental del dia. aora despues escuchar JP y Liliana penso qu'era muy bueno un tentempie mexicana, pero no tengo nula ahy. Ayayaya.

paulohenriques, you can see the word "tentempie" under the "Dialogue" tab above, or if you click your iPod center button three times, the dialog will appear on your iPod screen. Neat trick, huh! djesse, un tentempie mexicano sería excelente. Me apetecen unos tacos al pastor.... Los chips and salsa de la foto también me apatecen, pero hay que decir que no es mexicano el fenómeno "chips and salsa", sino estadounidense. strelnikof1960 and jrepp1178, upon further reflection, my final verdict (for what it's worth) is that "un buena idea" is a predicate nominative, because "parecer" along with other verbs of perception are not transitive, but rather behave like copulas: i.e., just like "ser." The word "me" is an indirect object (for proof, check the third person: it would be indirect "le" rather than direct "lo/la"). Finally the subject of the sentence is null, though pragmatically it's referring to the idea of having a snack right now.

El año passado , en el Reino Unido, me parece que Chorizo (de Español) era "de moda". Era El ingrediente magico de casi todos productos nuevos comidas. Tentempiés , chips, los casseroles, la pizza, las sopas, las galletas, el helado, y las pastas de dientes! (quizas Yo exagere un poquito). Personalmente, me gustan los huevos en vinagre.¡qué rico!

Hola a todos. Estoy nueva a Spanishpod. ¡Creo que está maravilloso! Aprendí un poco español en la escuela superior, pero fue muy básico. Necesito aprender más tiempos de los verbos para empezar. Gracias a Liliana y JP, I look forward to more lessons. Thanks also to Liliana, I saw on another discussion board, your instructions to configure the keyboard for the diacritical marks. It saves me a lot of time now that I don't have to enter an "ALT+numeric code" for each mark. Saludos, Jodi

Hola Spanishpod Team, Have just gone to the Exercise section and the headings appear for "Multiple Choice" and "Listen and Choose" but both have no content. Incidentally, when the teething problems are sorted, I think these new exercises will be a great improvement on the old type of exercise.

To JP: I had a feeling you'd rule in this direction on parecer. So: in view of the fact that we say "Jorge es médico" would it sound natural in Spanish to say "Jorge parece médico", that is, "Jorge seems to be a doctor"? Or should I play it safe and say "Jorge parece ser médico"? Not that I imagine having any reason to say such a thing anytime soon... Una amiga que vive en Bogotá me escribió que 'bocadillo' quiere decir allí un tentempié que se hacen con guava y queso: "Here, bocadillos are guava and cheese snacks individually wrapped, sort of like cheese sticks in the States, and guava and dulce de leche candies, individually wrapped. I think they are basicallly guava jelly combined with other things in little snack sizes. But I have also heard of people referring to sausage rolls as bocadillos de chorizo, too. So, don't get too confused!"

Hay muchas maneras de decir tentempié, en México decimos "botana", "botanita", a veces decimos "picar algo". Pero el termino tentempié es usado en muchas partes de América Latina.

What is the difference between the two podcasts, one that is 5.94 Mb and the one that is 11.61 Mb. Thanks Steve and Amy

How long does the average user here spend with each lesson. I feel like such a dummy. It takes me almost a week sometimes more to work through each lesson. STeve and Amy

Steve and Amy, The 11.51 Mb podcast (we refer to it as the 128kbps feed) is the high quality audio feed. It's CD quality, and is available to paid subscribers. The 64kbps feed is the same show, but with lower quality audio (faster to download). This is the one that is available free to the public; it's also the one that gets the "teasers" at the beginning of each lesson when we're having a promotion. pussycat, Thanks for pointing out that error, I'll try to have that fixed! strelnikof1960, I personally would say "Jorge parece ser médico," but "Jorge parece médico" is not wrong. (and that's a great substitution test!) However, I should let you know that the line between adjectives and nouns in Spanish is fuzzier than many students are prepared for, and that Spanish (and other Romance language) tend to prefer predicate adjectives where English would use a predicate nominative, The point is that there is more going here than meets the eye. The fact is that parecer can definitely take a predicate adjective, e.g., "me parece ridiculo," which is something transitive verbs cannot do. You know this is an adjective, because it's possible to inflect it for gender and number e.g., "me parecen ridículas." Additionally, a direct object can be pronominalized, but you can't say "***me las parecen." In this case, if you wanted to pronominalize "ridículas" you would have to use the neuter "lo," which is another sign that it is an adjective. So it parecer can take a predicate adjective, it is not transitive. Finally, WordReference.com lists parecer" as an intransitive verb, as does the RAE. So in conclusion, although it may not be safe to swap "parecer" for "ser" in all cases, it is widely accepted that parecer is not a transitive verb. Hoo, is it just me, or does doing grammar make everyone around you more attractive! ; )

la gramática me parece muy aburrida! me gustan los diálogos y 'pa que sepas' mucho más. Pero grácias a JP para las explicaciones mi tentempié favorito es leche y graham crackers ... es verdad, no mentiro.

Mi botanita preferida cuando estoy en Mexico es guacamole con totopos, Me encantan los aguacates. Son muy ricos.

Encuentro solo el primer ejercicio. Donde son los dos otros?

Me encanta la gramática y por eso tengo mucho respeto por JP y por SpanishPod. No entiendo cómo se aprende un idioma sin referirse frecuentemente a las reglas de gramática. No tengo miedo de preguntar a JP u otra gente del equipo de SpanishPod en ese aspecto. La gramática era entre los más honrados de sujetos académicos en el mundo antiguo y es nuestra pérdida que lo no es verdad en el día de hoy.

Luisita, ya están los ejercicios.

Ay JP, eres mi heroe, el hombre gramático -- ?de qué color es tu capa?

I deleted the last lesson (4/17) by mistake. The elementary is easy, understandable and just have to reaffirm. The intermediate I have not experienced. So if possible would like to extend to see where I am at, since the advanced is well more difficult. Am trying to find basic home vocabulary in a lesson.

mi tentenpie favorito es chile con queso, pero los chiles tiene que ser muy picante .... ¿es un tentenpie la misma cosa como un antojito?

dear ferdberfel, un tentempié es un snack, un antojito es algo que se te antoja, que te apetece, que deseas... They can be the same but they do not mean exactly the same thing, I hope that clears it up.

¡gracias!

Hola amigos

Vamos a comer JP & Liliana

Que tal un tentempie

U see it's working... I'm learning and remembering very important!!!

Thanks to you guys

Angie

Esto fue el primero podcast que yo eschuché. He sido enviciado desde.

Gracias a Spanishpod!

Uyyyy Rusito! eso fué hace mucho mucho tiempo!

Saludos

LIL

terrall

Glad you liked it. So you tasted chorizo with what?

¿Chorizo con qué?