llamo/llama
In lesson 1.1 we are taught "¿Como se llama?" and "Me llamo...".
Do these change according to gender?
Is it "¿Como se llama?" if you are talking to a woman and "¿Como se llamo?" when talking to a man and then "Me llamo..." if a male is answering and "Me llama..." when a girl is answering?
If not, what are the specifics of each for use?
4 Answers
Ok, first of all, do not assume that all -a endings are feminine, because there are thousands of masculine nouns with this ending that are masculine. The -o / -a pattern for nouns is obviously very useful, but it cannot be taken as a rule given the huge number of exceptions.
Second, Spanish verbs do not have gender. Take the verb "to be" in English. You don't say "I be tired", "you be tired", "he be tired"... right? This verb, unlike all other English verbs, changes depending on the person and the number used, so you have "I am", "you are", "he is", "we are..."; "to be" is the exception in English, but in Spanish, these changes are the norm, not the exception. Typically, the unstressed -o ending in Spanish is associated with "I" in present, and -a and -e are likely to be for "he/she/it" in present (both indicative and subjunctive).
Spanish verbs are morphologically much more complex than the English ones. There are numerous endings containing information about number, person, tense, aspect and mood, and this has to be learnt.
Verbs are not gender based. ¿Como se llama? and Me llamo never change.
Llamo = I call
Llamas = you call
Llama = he/she/it calls, "you formal" call
me = myself
tu/se = yourself
Me llamo Rabbit. Myself I call Rabbit. (I call myself Rabbit)
Hope it helps!
Thank you all for your responses the combinations of answers has given me a much better understanding.
