Today’s Vine is by Daniel El Travieso, from Puerto Rico.

The Vine

Transcript

• Te lo voy a decir sólo una vez…
• Recoge tu cuarto.
• Recoge tu cuarto!

Explanation

• I’m going to tell you only once…
  • [literally: I go to say it to you only one time]
• Clean your room.
  • [literally: pick up / tidy up your room]
• Clean your room!

It was perhaps a simplistic idea for a Vine, but I love their execution: the timing, the tone, and the physical motions they added.

Slow-Mo Version

Useful Phrases

• Te voy a decir = I’m going to tell you
• Te lo voy a decir = I’m going to tell you it / I’m going to say it to you
• Una vez = One time
• Muchas veces = Many times / often
• A veces = Sometimes

Going Deeper

 SENTENCE BREAKDOWN

• “te lo voy a decir” = “I’m going to say it to you”
  • Pronunciation: “teh lo voy ah deh-SEER”
• “sólo” = “only”
  • Pronunciation: “SO-loh”
  • Without an accent, “solo” = alone.  e.g. estoy solo (I’m alone).  With an accent, “sólo” = only, e.g. sólo una vez (only one time).
• “una vez” = “one time”
  • Pronunciation: “OOH-nah vehs”
• “recoge” = “pick up” (or, tidy up) as a command
  • Pronunciation: “rrreh-COH-heh”
  • “r” at the beginning of a word makes a rolled r-sound.
  • “ge” makes an English “heh” sound, with a raspier-sounding “h”

VERBS

See if you can identify the number of verbs in this Vine.  GO!

Ok, you’re right, there are three verbs. 🙂

ir = to go

Pronunciation: “EER”

• ir = to go, in the infinitive
  • e.g. Tengo que ir al mercado = I have to go to the market.
  • e.g. Quiero ir! = I want to go!
• voy = I go, present tense
  • e.g. voy a gritar!!! = I’m going to scream!!!
    • [literally: I go to scream]
  • e.g. No voy a hacer nada. = I’m not going to do anything.
    • [lierally: I don’t go to do nothing]
    • Note: In Spanish, a double-negative (e.g. I don’t do nothing) is not only acceptable and grammatically correct, but required.

decir = to say / to tell

Pronunciation: “deh-SEER”

Today, decir was used in its infinitive (unconjugated form).  You can also find decir in this Vine lesson.

recoger = to pick up / to collect / to gather / to tidy up 

Pronunciation: “rrreh-coh-HEHR”

• recoger = to pick up (in the infinitive)
  • e.g. te voy a recoger a las ocho = I’m going to pick you up at 8.
• recoger = to collect / to gather (in the infinitive)
  • e.g. A mí me gusta recoger datos = I like to collect data.
• recoger = to tidy up / clean up (in the infinitive)
  • e.g. Los estudiantes tienen que recoger todas las mesas = The students have to clear all the tables.
• recoge = pick up (as a command to a friend or family member)
  • e.g. recoge tu hermano a las ocho = pick up your brother at 8.
  • e.g. recoge la mesa por favor = clear the table please.

OBJECTS

In this Vine we get our first taste of DOs (direct objects) and IOs (indirect objects) acting together.

Consider the sentence: te lo voy a decir = I’m going to say it to you

• te is an indirect object.  lo is a direct object.
  • lo is the thing you’re saying.
  • te is the person who receives the thing you’re saying.
• As usual, both objects come right before the conjugated verb, voy.
• Another option is to glue objects to the end of an infinitive – in this case, decir.
• Thus, another way of saying te lo voy a decir is: voy a decírtelo.
  • The accent goes on top of the “i” to make sure we pronounce it “deCIRtelo” instead of “decirTElo.”
• When they occur together, IOs must come before DOs.
  • that’s why it’s te lo voy… NOT lo te voy…
  • Here’s a trick I use for remembering it: 
    • In the end, the person you’re giving the gift to is way more important than the gift itself.  So put the person first.
• For more info about objects, visit the OBJECTS page.

BREAKING DOWN THE CAPTION OF THE VINE

Las madres nunca lo dicen solamente una vez ☝ = Mothers never say it only one time.

(solamente is an adverb synonomous with sólo)

#PuertoRicanMamaBeLike

#SoloUnaVez = #JustOneTime

#Embuste = #Lie

(el embuste is a synonym of la mentira, a word for lie, tall-tale, fib)

VOCABULARY

See if you can identify these words/phrases in English.

• una vez
• muchas veces
• voy a decir
• te voy a decir
• te lo voy a decir
• recoger
• recoge
• el cuarto
• el embuste
• la mentira
• ir a recoger el cuarto
• voy a recoger mi cuarto
• voy a mi cuarto
• solo
• sólo

If you’re still reading this, watch the Vine again!  Then try to speak the words of the Vine out loud again, as slowly as you need to.