Dance the Tango in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to dance the tango in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use impersonal expressions in the subjunctive

• talk about a dance class

• make observations about an event in the past

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjectives

Spanish	English
estupendo	great, stupendous
extraño	strange
inseguro	insecure

examples
Fue estupendo que te divirtieras tanto. It was great that you had so much fun.
Fue extraño que te marcharas temprano. It was strange that you left early.
Fue extraño que te sintieras inseguro. It was strange that you felt insecure.

Adverb

Spanish	English
apasionadamente	passionately

examples
Fue estupendo que bailaras tan apasionadamente. It was great that you danced so passionately.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el hombro	shoulder
el instructor, la instructora	instructor
el movimiento	movement
el tango	tango

examples
Era recomendable que relajaras los hombros. It was advisable that you relax your shoulders.
Era recomendable que escucharas al instructor. It was advisable that you listen to the instructor.
Era recomendable que repitieras los movimientos. It was advisable that you repeat the movements.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Spanish	English
emocionarse	to get excited
finalizar	to finish

Emocionarse

Emocionarse(to get excited) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me emocionara	I got excited
tú	te emocionaras	you got excited	informal singular you
vos	te emocionaras	you got excited	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se emocionara	he, she got excited
usted	se emocionara	you got excited	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos emocionármos	we got excited
vosotros, vosotras	os emocionarais	you got excited	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se emocionaran	they got excited
ustedes	se emocionaran	you got excited	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Which Emocionarse?

Note that emocionarse can mean both to get excited and to be moved/touched.

The Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) follows many of the same rules as the present subjunctive. Introduced with a preterite, imperfect, conditional, or past perfect WEIRDO verb in the independent clause, the imperfect subjunctive often refers to a previous experience, but it can also refer to unlikely events or possibilities.

Finding the Imperfect Subjunctive Stem

The imperfect subjunctive uses the third person plural of the preterite (minus the -ron). The third person preterite form of a verb, whether regular or irregular, becomes the base for the imperfect subjunctive stem.

Imperfect Subjunctive Endings

When conjugating the imperfect subjunctive, you can choose from two different sets of endings. Both are correct, though the first set, whose yo ending is -ra, is more widespread. For this reason, we use the -ra endings in these lessons.

Subject	Subjunctive 1 Endings	Subjunctive 2 Endings
yo	-ra	-se
tú	-ras	-ses
él, ella, usted	-ra	-se
nosotros, nosotras	-ramos	-semos
vosotros, vosotras	-rais	-seis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-ran	-sen

Imperfect Subjunctive Uses

The imperfect subjunctive can be used to talk about past occurrences, current opinions of past events, doubts and wishes, as well as in if clauses and polite requests.

The following phrases, which are impersonal expressions, indicate that we need to use the imperfect subjunctive: