| Let's look at a sentence pattern. |
| This pattern will be used in several of our examples. |
| Vamos a + place + time. |
| "Let's/we are going to + place + time." |
| Normally, [vamos a] expresses a plan — something you and others are going to do. |
| However, with the right intonation — like speaking with excitement or urgency — you can make the same structure sound like an invitation, just like saying "Let's go" in English. |
| Vamos is the 'we' form of ir, meaning "to go." |
| After vamos a, you add a place, and then you can add a time expression. |
| We don't repeat the verb ir unless we're talking about a future plan. |
| When inviting someone to go somewhere now, you just use vamos plus the place, like Vamos al cine. "Let's go to the movies." |
| But if you're talking about a plan to go later, you repeat the verb and say vamos a ir — like Vamos a ir al cine. "We are going to go to the movies." |
| So remember: |
| Vamos a + place = an invitation happening now |
| Vamos a ir a + place = a future plan |
| Let's see how a line from our dialogue follows this pattern. |
| Vamos a la playa ahora mismo. |
| "Let's go to the beach right now." |
| Vamos a in this dialogue means "Let's go to." |
| La playa, meaning "the beach," is the place. |
| Ahora mismo, meaning "right now," tells us the time. |
| So, Vamos a la playa ahora mismo translates to "Let's go to the beach right now." The fact that ir isn't repeated is another hint that this is an invitation. |
| Now, you can use this structure to suggest activities to do with others in Spanish! |
| Let's look at another similar sentence pattern. |
| Vamos a + Infinitive Verb Phrase + time. |
| "We are going to + [Infinitive Verb Phrase] + [time]." |
| Vamos a means "we are going to" or sometimes "let's," depending on the tone, as we learned earlier. |
| After vamos a, we use an infinitive verb — a verb that hasn't been conjugated yet, like comer, "to eat," or preparar, "to prepare." |
| Then, we add a time expression, like a las doce, "at 12," or mañana, "tomorrow," to say when the action will happen. |
| Both patterns, |
| Vamos a + place + time and |
| Vamos a + infinitive verb phrase + time, |
| begin with Vamos a, "We are going to" or "Let's," and both include a time expression. |
| The difference is what comes after a. |
| If a place follows, it talks about physically going somewhere, like Vamos a la playa mañana, "Let's go to the beach tomorrow." |
| If an infinitive verb follows, it talks about doing an action, like Vamos a comer a las 12, "We are going to eat at 12." |
| In both cases, the time tells when the action or movement will happen. |
| Now let's look at some spoken examples. |
| Vamos a la biblioteca esta tarde. |
| "Let's go to the library this afternoon." |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| Here, vamos a follows the pattern used to express "Let's go" or "We're going to." |
| It's followed by the place, la biblioteca, meaning "the library." |
| Esta tarde is the time, "this afternoon." |
| So, that is how Vamos a la biblioteca esta tarde fits the pattern Vamos a + place + time. |
| Let's look at another example using the same pattern. |
| Vamos al cine esta noche. |
| "Let's go to the movie theater tonight." |
| Vamos al cine esta noche. |
| "Let's go to the movie theater tonight." |
| Now let's try an example with the second pattern. |
| Vamos a comer a las 12. |
| "We're going to eat at 12." |
| Vamos a comer a las 12. |
| "We're going to eat at 12." |
| Here's one more using the first pattern. |
| Vamos a la universidad hoy. |
| "Let's go to the university today." |
| Vamos a la universidad hoy. |
| "Let's go to the university today." |
| And finally, one last example with pattern two. |
| Vamos a limpiar la habitación. |
| "We're going to clean the room." |
| Vamos a limpiar la habitación. |
| "We're going to clean the room." |
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