Today’s Vine is by SefChol from Mexico.

He has a series called,

si las expresiones fueran reales = if expressions were real

He used the hashtag, #SiLasExpresionesFueranReales, and other Viners have been using that hashtag to make similar videos.

It’s a great way to learn common expressions in Spanish.

The Vine

Transcript

• Intro: Si las expresiones fueran reales:
• Guy #1: …y no me preguntes cómo, pero acabamos en su casa!
• Guy #2: ah, ¿en serio? ¿có–?
• Guy #1: shhhhh. [while holding up index finger and shaking head]

Explanation

• Intro: If expressions were real:
• Guy #1: …and don’t ask me how, but we ended up in her house!
• Guy #2: ah, seriously?  how–?
• Guy #1: shhhhh. [while holding up index finger and shaking head]

A note on “her house”:  the Spanish phrase was, en su casa.  The word su is gender-neutral.  In this situation, it could mean her house, or his house, or their house.  I assumed it was referring to her house but we would need more context to know for sure.

Speaking of expressions, have you ever heard this one?

Mi casa es su casa = My house is your house.

So can’t su also mean “your”?   In a formal context, yes.  In mi casa es su casa, we are using the formal usted tense, which is where we talk to someone and conjugate in the third person.  (e.g. ¿cómo estás?  = how are you? while ¿como está? = how is he/she? OR how are you (formal)?)

If we were talking to an informal friend, we would say,

Mi casa es tu casa = My house is your house.

Slow-Mo Version

Useful Phrases

• No me preguntes cómo. – Don’t ask me how.
  • featured “expresión” from this Vine

• No me preguntes cuándo. – Don’t ask me when.
• No me preguntes quién. – Don’t ask me who.
• No me preguntes cuál. – Don’t ask me which one.

• Acabamos… – We ended up… 
  • the verb here is acabar (to end/to finish), and it’s conjugated to the past preterite for nosotros.
  • acabamos bailando en la mesa = we ended up dancing on the table.
  • acabamos en su casa = we ended up in his/her/their house.

• ¿Cómo? – How?
  • Note: this also used for asking “excuse me?” as in, “I didn’t hear you, what was that?”

• ¿en serio? – seriously? / really?
  • Note: super useful!!! for responding to someone as they’re telling you something interesting or surprising.

Verb Tenses in this Vine

We have some interesting tenses.  I’ll just point them out, and link to places where you can read more about each tense.

• no me preguntes = don’t ask me
  • This is a negative command – a command where you tell someone not do something.
  • The verb is preguntar (to ask)
  • To make a negative command, put the verb in the present subjunctive form for tú.
  • To make a positive command, review this lesson from October 2nd.

• si las expresiones fueran reales = if expressions were real
  • This is the past subjunctive of ser (to be).
  • It’s like the English expressions involving dreams, wishes, and hypothetical situations.
    • e.g. If I were a boy = Si yo fuera un chico (Beyonce)

• acabamos en su casa = we ended up in her/his/their house.
  • This is the past preterite of acabar (to finish/to end)
  • For nosotros, the past preterite often looks exactly the same as the present, and we need context to understand it.

VOCABULARY

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

Most importantly, the featured phrase of this Vine:

• no me preguntes cómo.
• acabar
• preguntar
• ser
• si fuera real
• si fueron reales
• ¿cómo?
• no me preguntes.
• mi casa es su casa.
• en su casa
• en mi casa
• acabamos en su casa.

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.