Debate the Latest News in Spanish

Quick Answer

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

• use the conditional tense

• discuss current events

• use vocabulary related to news and current events

Vocabulary

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

Adjectives

Spanish	English
honesto	honest
informado	informed

examples
Si supiera más, ofrecería mi opinión honesta. If I knew more, I'd offer my honest opinion.
Si estuviera informado, haría preguntas críticas. If I were informed, I'd ask critical questions.

Adverb

Spanish	English
constructivamente	constructively

examples
Si criticara esa opinión, lo haría constructivamente. If I criticized that opinion, I'd do it constructively.

Nouns

Spanish	English
la alternativa	alternative
el análisis	analysis
el contexto	context
la evidencia	evidence
el hecho	fact
la televisión	TV, television
la tensión	tension
el tratado	treaty
la visión	view, point of view

examples
Si analizara esa política, sugeriría alternativas. If I analyzed that policy, I'd suggest alternatives.
Si conociera los detalles, daría un análisis. If I knew the details, I'd give an analysis.
Si entendiera el contexto, explicaría mejor la noticia. If I understood the context, I'd explain the news better.

When visión is used in the phrase visión completait can mean full picture, as in complete view of the situation.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Spanish	English
aclarar	to clarify
analizar	to analyze
comparar	to compare
cuestionar	to question
debatir	to debate
examinar	to examine
formular	to formulate
profundizar	to study in depth

Analizar

Analizar(to analyze) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	analizara	I analyzed
tú	analizaras	you analyzed	informal singular you
vos	analizaras	you analyzed	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	analizara	he, she analyzed
usted	analizara	you analyzed	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	analizáramos	we analyzed
vosotros, vosotras	analizarais	you analyzed	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	analizaran	they analyzed
ustedes	analizaran	you analyzed	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Comparar

Comparar(to compare) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	comparara	I compared
tú	compararas	you compared	informal singular you
vos	compararas	you compared	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	comparara	he, she compared
usted	comparara	you compared	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	comparáramos	we compared
vosotros, vosotras	compararais	you compared	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	compararan	they compared
ustedes	compararan	you compared	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Cuestionar

Cuestionar(to question) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	cuestionara	I questioned
tú	cuestionaras	you questioned	informal singular you
vos	cuestionaras	you questioned	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	cuestionara	he, she questioned
usted	cuestionara	you questioned	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	cuestionáramos	we questioned
vosotros, vosotras	cuestionarais	you questioned	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	cuestionaran	they questioned
ustedes	cuestionaran	you questioned	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Debatir

Debatir(to debate) is an -ir verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	debatiera	I debated
tú	debatieras	you debated	informal singular you
vos	debatieras	you debated	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	debatiera	he, she debated
usted	debatiera	you debated	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	debatiéramos	we debated
vosotros, vosotras	debatierais	you debated	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	debatieran	they debated
ustedes	debatieran	you debated	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Examinar

Examinar(to examine) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	examinara	I examined
tú	examinaras	you examined	informal singular you
vos	examinaras	you examined	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	examinara	he, she examined
usted	examinara	you examined	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	examináramos	we examined
vosotros, vosotras	examinarais	you examined	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	examinaran	they examined
ustedes	examinaran	you examined	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Verb Phrase

In this skill, you learn the following verb phrase!

Spanish	English
enfocarse en	to focus on

Enfocarse en

Enfocarse(to focus on) is an -ar pronominal verb phrase that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me enfocara en	I focused on
tú	te enfocaras en	you focused on	informal singular you
vos	te enfocaras en	you focused on	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se enfocara en	he, she focused on
usted	se enfocara en	you focused on	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos enfocáramos en	we focused on
vosotros, vosotras	os enfocarais en	you focused on	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se enfocaran en	they focused on
ustedes	se enfocaran en	you focused on	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

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.

Review: The Conditional

The conditional tense in Spanish el condicionalo el pospretéritois used to talk about hypothetical situations and probabilities and to make polite requests. In this skill, you reviewed the conditional tense in Spanish.

The Spanish conditional tense is formed much like the Spanish simple future tense. Both regular and irregular verbs use the same set of endings, and any stems that are irregular in the simple future are also irregular in the conditional.

examples
Si revisara esos datos, aclararía la confusión. If I reviewed those facts, I'd clarify the confusion.
Si debatiera ese punto, sería muy interesante. If I debated that point, it'd be really interesting.

You can learn more about the conditional in this article.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Anjana:

¿Qué opinas sobre las últimas noticias?

What do you think about the latest news?

Laro:

Si supiera más, ofrecería mi opinión honesta. Es muy complicado ahora.

If I knew more, I'd offer my honest opinion. It’s really complicated now.

Anjana:

¿Qué opinas del tratado?

What do you think about the treaty?

Laro:

Si se firmara el tratado, mejoraría la relación. Pero, si se rompiera el acuerdo, habría tensiones.

If the treaty were signed, the relationship would improve. But, if the agreement were broken, there'd be tension.

Anjana:

Sí. Si estallara una protesta, saldría en la tele.

Yeah. If a protest broke out, it'd be on TV.

Laro:

No creo. Sin embargo, si se aprobara esa ley, cambiaría la sociedad.

I don’t think so. However, if that law were passed, it'd change society.

Want to learn more about how to debate the latest news in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Spanish Resources for Independent Learners

• Spanish Words to Use in an Essay

• Using Transition Words in Spanish