Today’s Vine is by SefChol from Mexico. We saw him last Monday, too. He has a series called #SiLasExpresionesFueranReales = if expressions were real/literal.
This week the expression is: me avisas cualquier cosa.
It literally means, “you let me know anything.”
Interpret it as, “Let me know if anything comes up” / “Let me know if you need anything.”
The Vine
Transcript
- Intro: Si las expresiones fueran reales:
- Guy #1: Ya voy.
- Guy #1: Me avisas cualquier cosa.
- Guy #2: Va.
- Guy #2: Como que me dio hambre, pero se me quitó.
Explanation
- Intro: If expressions were real:
- Guy #1: I’m going now.
- Guy #1: You let me know anything / “let me know if you need anything”
- Guy #2: Ok.
- Guy #2: Like, I got hungry, but then, I wasn’t anymore.
Since the expression in Spanish means “inform me of anything,” SefChol made fun of it by having the second guy literally inform the first guy of anything – in this case, the fact that he randomly got hungry and now he’s not anymore. It’s as though he called and said, “hey, I just went to the bathroom!”
Slow-Mo Version
Breaking down the expression
Check out this verb, avisar (to inform / to notify). It sounds like “to advise” but it’s not. That’s a false cognate – a word that looks like an appropriate translation, but isn’t. (aconsejar = to advise or to give advice)
Also, check out its conjugation:
Me avisas = You let me know (statement of fact)
Avísame = Let me know (command)
So why didn’t SefChol use the command form? –He could have if he wanted to. By not using it, he communicated the same idea with a softer tone. It’s like he’s confirming, “hey, we both know that you will let me know if you need anything.” There are several correct ways to say this expression:
- Me avisas cualquier cosa (you let me know anything) (soft tone)
- Avísame cualquier cosa (let me know anything) (more direct tone)
- Cualquier cosa, me avisas (anything, you let me know) (soft tone)
- Cualquier cosa, avísame (anything, let me know) (more direct tone)
(if you’re wondering why avísame (ah-VEE-sah-meh) has an accent, review this lesson)
Useful Phrases
- Me avisas cualquier cosa. – You let me know if anything comes up.
- featured “expresión” from this Vine
- Avísame cualquier cosa. – Let me know if anything comes up.
- alternate way to say it, using the command form of avisar
- Ya voy – I’m going now / I’m leaving now.
- ya means now/already. in this context it means now.
- Ya me voy – I’m leaving now.
- more emphatic way to say “I’m leaving” / “I’m going away.”
- uses the reflexive version: irse – to go away (literally, “to go oneself”)
- Va. – OK.
- a distinctly Mexican way of saying “ok”
- Como que… – like/as though…
- can sometimes be used a filler word, similar to “like” in English
- es como que… que ella quiere decirme algo = it’s like…like she wants to tell me something
- ¡es como que no te conozco! = it’s like I don’t know you!
- es como que ya nos conociéramos. = it’s as though we already knew each other.
- Me dio hambre – I got hungry. (literally: It gave me hunger)
- Me da hambre – I get hungry. (present tense of dar – to give)
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.
- 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)
- ya voy = I’m leaving now.
- This the present tense, yo form of ir (to go).
- me avisas = you inform me / you let me know
- This is the present tense, tú form of avisar (to inform/notify).
- me dio hambre = I got hungry
- This is the past (preterite) tense, 3rd person form of dar (to give).
- This is an expression: dar + feeling.
- dar hambre = to give hunger, i.e. to make someone hungry
- dar asco = to give disgust, i.e. to gross someone out
- se me quitó – it went away
- this is the past (preterite) tense, 3rd person form of quitarse (reflexive verb meaning “to remove oneself”)
- Why is there a “me”? It’s literally saying “it removed itself from me.”
VOCABULARY
See if you can identify these words/phrases in English.
Most importantly, the featured phrase of this Vine:
- me avisas cualquier cosa.
- la cosa
- dar
- avisar
- me dio hambre
- me da hambre
- voy.
- ya voy.
- como que fuera real
- el hambre
- avísame.