Verb or No?
Do you take dance? Lets dance! How was the dance?
Ok, in these sentences, is "dance" a verb or direct object (or something else)? Would the word for dance still be "bailar", or would it have a different ending because its not "to dance", or would it be a completely different word? Por favor y gracias!
12 Answers
Sara Beth said:
Ok, I'm confused. So is it a whole new word or can you get away with what Gus said, "a bailar" (but wouldnt that mean "to to dance"')
The "to" used in English for infinitives does not exist in Spanish:
to see = ver
to drink = beber
The construction "going to talk" in Spanish is "Ir a hablar", and that "a" just links both verbs. The first verb is called auxiliary, and in colloquial Spanish it can be omitted, given the right context: "¡(Vamos) A bailar!".
Here is the correct tranlation, as far as I know
Do you take dance? First of all this is incorrect, because one does not take a dance.
One dances or one watches someone dance. So, do you mean, do you want to dance? or in Spanish ¿deseas bailar?
Lets dance! here, my translation is BAILEMOS meaning to do something right now- dancing- If I where to say vamos a bailar it would mean, that we will do something (dance )sometime in the future.
How was the dance? ¿Cómo estubo el baile?
a bailar this would mean lets dance right know but is commanding people to dance, it is an order- not a request.
I hope that I did not confuse you
Would the word for dance still be "bailar", the word for dance would be baille
Unfortunately it's not that simple. There are many ways to make a noun out of a verb.
Example:
Jugar - jugador, juego.
Cantar - cantante
Ok, I'm confused. So is it a whole new word or can you get away with what Gus said, "a bailar" (but wouldnt that mean "to to dance"')
Thank you Lazarus 1907, I can't believe that I completely blanked out the verb estuvo.
lazarus1907 said:
Gus said:
Am not sure about the following because , my diccionary says that como is an adverb but to me como here is working as a verb. What do you all think?
"Como" can be several things, and one of them is a modal adverb. "Cómo" is an interrogative modal adverb.
Gus said:
¿Como estubo el baile'Subject is baile or dance Como is the verb
Gus, "cómo" is not a verb!!!"Cómo" (it should have an accent) is an adverbial complement (complemento circunstancial de modo). The verb is "estuvo" (con uve).
>
Gus said:
Vamos a bailar? Lets dance!
The subject is implied 'You and me
vamos is the verb
bailar is the complement or adverb ? what are we going to do? We are going to dance.
There are two verbs, not one. Bailar is not a complement or an adverb, but the main verb of the sentence, and "vamos" is an auxiliary verb here.
Gus said:
Am not sure about the following because , my diccionary says that como is an adverb but to me como here is working as a verb. What do you all think?
"Como" can be several things, and one of them is a modal adverb. "Cómo" is an interrogative modal adverb.
Gus said:
¿Como estubo el baile? Subject is baile or dance Como is the verb
Gus, "cómo" is not a verb!!!
"Cómo" (it should have an accent) is an adverbial complement (complemento circunstancial de modo). The verb is "estuvo" (con uve).
Ok, thank you very much!
Lets dance
Vamos a bailar? Lets dance!
The subject is implied 'You and me
vamos is the verb
bailar is the complement or adverb ? what are we going to do? We are going to dance.
Am not sure about the following because , my diccionary says that como is an adverb but to me como here is working as a verb. What do you all think?
How was the dance?
¿Como estubo el baile?
Subject is baile or dance
Como is the verb
El is an article ? is mansculine 'cause baile (dance) is consider masculine
Sara Beth said:
Ok, so dance is a noun...does that mean you just put a different ending on the root, or is it a whole new word? I mean, I am aware that in this case it simply has an -e on the end, but is that how it always works? Thank you!
No, it is not that simple. As a matter of fact, it is not that simple even in English: what you drink is a drink, and what you dance is a dance, but what you think is not a think, but a thought, and what you see is not a see, but a sight. In "dance" you don't change anything, in "think", you change the vowel from -i- to -o-, and in "see" you change the whole thing, so there are several patterns according to the word, and no simple rules to determine which one to use - you just need to memorize them.
In Spanish, unfortunately, there are no words like "see - see" and "dance - dance" (that I can remember right now), so you have to memorize the noun for each verb.
Ok, so dance is a noun...does that mean you just put a different ending on the root, or is it a whole new word? I mean, I am aware that in this case it simply has an -e on the end, but is that how it always works? Thank you!
In the three English sentences, dance is a noun, verb, and noun, respectively.
Do you take dance? (assuming you mean a dance class)
¿Asiste a las clases de baile?
¿Tienes clases de baile?
etc.
Lets dance!
¡Bailamos! (as in the title of the famous Enrique Iglesias song)
How was the dance?
¿Qué tal fue el baile'
