Did you ever see that Abbott and Costello skit? It’s pretty famous and very funny. I’ll give you a link to it in a moment.
My wife and I used to communicate in a mixture of Spanish and English, which at times channeled those two comedians.
Like when she said, El martes tenemos una junta con la contadora. (On Tuesday we have a meeting with the accountant.)
I replied in English, “When?”
She said, el martes. (On Tuesday)
I said, “Yes, but when is it?”
She said, “ya te dije, es el martes.” (I already told you it’s
on Tuesday)
I reply, “yes, you said that but when is it?”
Cuantas veces quieres que te lo diga? Es el martes.
How many times do you want that I might tell you it? It’s on Tuesday.
Por fin, (finally) it dawns on me why she isn’t understanding me, she was hearing “when” in English but thinking, cuando, in Spanish.
In English, when, and, what time, are often interchangeable but that’s not the case in Spanish. I switched to Spanish and asked,
¿A qué hora es la cita?
What time is the appointment?
She replied, a las tres y media. (At half past three.)
In Spanish cuándo in a question refers to a general time and it’s typically answered with the day or date for example you
could ask these question with cuándo,
¿Cuándo es el Día de la Madre?
When is Mother’s Day?
“Cuándo va a nacer el bebé?”
When is the baby going to be born?
¿Cuándo es Semana Santa este año?
When is Easter this year?
En cambio, (on the other hand) if you want to know a specific time you need to ask, ¿a qué hora es? (At what time/hour is it?)
¿A qué hora empieza la fiesta?
What time does the party start?
¿A qué hora llega el avión?
What time does the plane arrive?
¿A qué hora es la junta?
What time is the meeting?
I can’t promise you’ll never have your own Abbott and Costello skit like we did, but if you use Bola de Nieve you’ll be well armed to get you point across and be understood every time.
The subtle but important distinctions like, cuándo vs a qué hora, are built into the program. Soon using the correct one is second nature to you and you don’t need to think about it, you just know what to say.
Here’s details of Bola de Nieve
And here’s Abbott and Costello’s who’s on first:
I agree!!
VERY GOOD
Thanks Marcus, I hope you are enjoying Australia. I am still struggling with my learning but I only want it to learn gradually, its not as if I am doing an exam which is what I like at my age. It’s wonderful.
Carol.
I can´t believe it…That skit still makes me laugh out loud after all those years…Thank you so much for giving me a laugh, which from now on I will always associate with the difference between cuando and a que hora!
i love that abbott and costello bit, it is so precious, thanks Marcus
that happened to me i asked what por que and my daughter in law in guatemala said why and i said because i want to know the reason i dont learn from her is she talks too fast and we havent time
who, what, idunno, tomorrow and today and naturally and because and idontcare
a Spanish translation might be more topical if it exists
at what time? is more specific in English than when? as well
so your comparison of the two languages is not quite correct
Thanks Marcus, your courses have proved very advantageous for me in communicating with my Cost Rican friends and I really appreciate your emails which arrive from time to time.
Thanks for the video and the previous lessons that I’ve learned from.
Easy when you know how ! Good example
Hi Marcus
Hola Marcus,
soy Susan, soy Inglesa. Mi esposo es de Bolivia.
Me gusta mucho su Bola de Nieve y Shortcut to Spanish.
I am hoping that you have more classes so that I might improve mi espanol mas y mas. I lived in Bolivia for 3 years before I met my husband. He hablado espanol mucho cuando estaba viviendo alla pero yo se como mi espanol no estaba muy bien! Ahora estoy disfrutando sus clases.
Espero que usted puede pensar por un momento y que va a escribirme un email con sus ideas por mi espanol. Gracias, Marcus.
Marcus:
Thank you for the e-mails. It is so nice to feel that one has contact with a person after buying a course. How many of us have sent money to an unknown vender, received the product (which may or may not be useful), and never heard from them again (except to try to sell additional courses)?
Your emails are short, informative and personable.
Hi Marcus, that was very funny, I bet it took a lot of rehearsing!
PS Bola de Nieve is GREAT!! Since starting this course my confidence has had a real boost and I´m speaking with my Spanish neighbours on a daily basis now, thankyou.
Sally
Hi Marcus – Very funny and I like your connection to it through learning Spanish. Many thanks.
Hi Marcus, I really love your emails, they are really helpful and interesting. Gerry
Sooooooo funny and Sooooooo CLEVER !I am still laughing. Another lesson learned ! Thank you.
Victoria
Thanks for this “heads-up.” I hope to begin Skpeing with a native Spanish speaker who wants to practice her English. I am not yet fluent in Spanish. Great tip. I am going to try to share it with her.
Muchas gracias
Gracias por el ejemplo de Abbot y Costello .
Chico
Great idea to teach verbs horizontally – you can start speaking immediately using a whole bunch of verbs in the first person, with consummate ease! It’s exciting and motivating. It also liberates you from the effort of constant verb memorisation – Spanish verbs just seem to come naturally and easily. You know ahead of time they’re always going to end with o! You also know what you’re saying, and you can therefore focus on saying it correctly and clearly. Simple, but inspired!
Thank you so much.