Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Ben asks,
"How do you say 'book' in Spanish?"
¿Cómo se dice "book" en español?
The standard way to ask for the meaning of a word in Spanish follows a simple pattern.
First, is cómo, translating as "how," in this context. Cómo (enunciated). Cómo.
Next is se dice. "One says." Se dice.
Se, roughly translating as "one," as in "one says." Se (enunciated). Se.
Next is the word dice, "says" as in "one says." Dice.
Dice is from the verb, decir, meaning "to say." Decir.
Together, Cómo se dice, "How one says," but translates as, "how [does] one say." Cómo se dice.
After this is the English word, "book."
Last is the phrase en español, meaning "in Spanish." En español.
First is, en, "in." En (enunciated). En.
After this is, español. "Spanish," as in "the Spanish language." Español (enunciated). Español.
Note, when the context is clear, you may omit en español.
All together, it's ¿Cómo se dice "book" en español? means something like, "How one says 'book' in Spanish?" but translates as "How [does] one say 'book' in Spanish?" and in more natural English, "How do you say 'book' in Spanish?"
Note the rising intonation of the sentence to mark that it's a question.
¿Cómo se dice "book" en español?
Let's take a closer look at the response:
Do you remember how Silvia says,
"You say ‘book'."
Se dice "libro."
First is se dice, literally, "one says," but translates here as "you say." Se dice.
Then comes the answer to the question: libro, "book," in Spanish. Libro (enunciated). Libro.
All together, it's Se dice "libro." This means "One says, 'libro'," but translates as "You say 'book'.
Se dice "libro".
The pattern is
¿Cómo se dice "ENGLISH WORD" en español?
How do you say 'ENGLISH WORD' in Spanish?
¿Cómo se dice "ENGLISH WORD" en español?
To use this pattern, simply replace the {ENGLISH WORD} placeholder with the word you want to know.
Imagine you want to know the Spanish word for "pen."
Ask
"How do you say 'pen' in Spanish?"
Ready?
¿Cómo se dice "pen" en español?
"How do you say ’pen' in Spanish?"
¿Cómo se dice "pen" en español?
This lesson introduces a grammatically complex, but commonly used, pattern: the impersonal form with se. The se-construction is used to express what people do in general, rather than point to a specific person.
The pattern is se plus a verb in the third person. The example used in the lesson was se dice, "one says." Let’s quickly look at a few more examples.
Se llama, "one calls," as in "one calls it ‘a book'."
Se come, "one eats," as in "one eats a lot at Christmas."
Se duerme, "one sleeps," as in "one sleeps late on Saturday."

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