A Visa Interview (continued)

26.1 Basic Sentences — A Visa Interview (continued)

The visa interview between John White and the gentleman continues.

Vocabulary

English	Spanish
that (he) answer, vouch (to answer, to vouch)	que responda (responder)
the business	el negocio
the business man	el hombre de negocios
to sign	firmar
the document	el documento
(I) will explain (to explain)	explicaré (explicar)
for the moment, time being	por lo pronto
the following	lo siguiente
the passport	el pasaporte
the certificate	el certificado
the vaccination	la vacuna
the health	la salud
the conduct	la conducta
the doctor	el médico
to accept	aceptar
the application	la solicitud
(you) carry yourself it (to carry, take)	llévesela (llevar)
(you) fill (to fill)	llene (llenar)
the fingerprint	la huella digital
at the end	a lo último

Dialog

English	Spanish
Mister Moreno, do you have anyone who will vouch for you in the United States?	Señor Moreno, ¿tiene alguna persona que responda por usted en los Estados Unidos?
Yes. I know someone who can do it.	Sí. Conozco a alguien que puede hacerlo.
North American?	¿Norteamericano?
Yes. He’s a business man.	Sí. Es un hombre de negocios.
Does he have to sign some type document?	¿Tiene él que firmar algún documento?
Of course. I’ll explain that to you later.	Por supuesto. Eso se lo explicaré después.
For the moment you need the following:	Por lo pronto necesita lo siguiente:
Passport, vaccination certificate, health certificate, and good conduct certificate.	El pasaporte; certificado de vacuna, de salud y de buena conducta.
The health certificate, can just any doctor give it to me?	El de salud, ¿puede dármelo cualquier médico?
No. It should be from a doctor approved by the Embassy.	No. Debe ser de un médico aceptado por la Embajada.
Take this application. Take it with you, fill it out, and bring it to me tomorrow.	Tome esta solicitud. Llévesela, llénela y me la trae mañana.
Anything else?	¿Algo más?
Yes, your fingerprints, but that comes last.	Sí, las huellas digitales, pero eso es a lo último.

---

26.10 Notes on the Basic Sentences

(1) It has been necessary here to use a subjunctive form in the interest of realism and naturalness: responda from responder. A more literal but less accurate English translation would be “…who may vouch for you…” Full explanation in Units 36 and 40.

(2) A rather important difference between English and Spanish structure: in Spanish, nearly any word can be nominalized (used like a noun). On the other hand, a great diversity of words in English can be caused to function like modifiers — a much rarer thing in Spanish. Thus “business” appears with “man” in a modifier-plus-head-word construction in English, equivalent in Spanish to a head-word-plus-phrase construction: hombre de negocios.

(3) In English, “some” is functionally the plural of “a, an.” Hence algún places a slight strain on the English translator, and “some type” is the result. The other alternative would be pluralization: “…sign some documents.”

(4) The emphasis indicated by underlining “that” in the English translation (extra loudness and higher pitch) is obtained in Spanish by word order: eso appears first, out of its normal (unemphatic) position.

(5) It is interesting to note that the first three verbs of this sentence are commands in imperative form: tome, llévesela, and llénela; but the fourth, trae, is straight present indicative. The imperative would be tráigamela. This happens when the person giving the orders wishes to soften the air of authority: “…and you’ll bring it to me tomorrow.”

---

26.2 Drills and Grammar

26.21.1 Reflexive and Direct Clitic Pronouns in the Same Construction

In this construction, the reflexive clitics function as indirect objects and indicate the concern of the subject of the verb as regards the action. All reflexive clitics, but only 3rd person direct clitics, occur in this construction.

	Reflexive	Direct
1 sg	me	—
1 pl	nos	—
2 fam	te	—
2-3 sg	se	lo, la
2-3 pl	se	los, las

Illustrations

English	Spanish
The milk? I drank it.	¿La leche? Me la tomé.
These shoes? I’ll take them.	¿Estos zapatos? Me los llevo.
The coffee? We drank it.	¿El café? Nos lo tomamos.
The fruit? We ate it.	¿La fruta? Nos la comimos.
This overcoat, will you take it?	Este abrigo, ¿te lo llevas?
The dessert, did you eat it?	El postre, ¿usted se lo comió?
The hats? You already took them.	¿Los sombreros? Ustedes ya se los llevaron.
The salad? They ate it.	¿La ensalada? Se la comieron ellas.

Construction Substitution Drill

Full Form	Pronominalized
Se tomó la leche.	Se la tomó.
Se tomaron los tragos.	Se los tomaron.
Me comí la carne.	Me la comí.
Nos comimos cuatro huevos.	Nos los comimos.
Se comieron la ensalada.	Se la comieron.
Se limpiaron los dientes.	Se los limpiaron.
Me lavé la cabeza.	Me la lavé.
Se compró el traje.	Se lo compró.
Nos bebimos el café.	Nos lo bebimos.

Translation Drill

English	Spanish
He ate the whole meal up.	Él se comió toda la comida.
She didn’t eat it all up.	Ella no se la comió toda.
I bought myself a car.	Me compré un carro.
I bought it cheap.	Me lo compré barato.
They drink two cups of coffee every day.	Ellos se beben dos tazas de café todos los días.
I drink them too.	Yo también me las bebo.
She always eats her green vegetables.	Ella siempre se come las verduras.
He never eats them.	Él nunca se las come.
I ate all the eggs.	Me comí todos los huevos.
He ate them too.	Él también se los comió.

Discussion

With some verbs, like tomar and comer, the reflexive clitic appears only when a direct object (noun or clitic pronoun) appears. These verbs do not usually appear with any indirect clitics except reflexive clitics which have this indirect function. Thus me lo como (“I’ll eat it”) is a normal expression, but se lo como (“I’ll eat it for you”), while possible, is unusual.

Other verbs, like llevar, comprar, and tomar (not meaning “drink”), can appear in this construction, but they also occur regularly with any indirect clitic, not just reflexives with indirect function. Thus me lo llevo (“I’ll take it for myself”) and se lo llevo (“I’ll take it for you”) are both common expressions.

Only third person forms (those which begin with l-) occur as the direct clitics in this construction.

---

26.21.2 Reflexives with No Designated Agents

This construction is used to state the doing of an action when there is no particular interest in specifying who does it. The grammatical subject appears after the verb.

Reflexive Clitic	Verb	Subject
se	3 sg verb	sg noun or clause
se	3 pl verb	pl noun

Illustrations

English	Spanish
Spanish is spoken here.	Aquí se habla español.
Chauffeur needed.	Se necesita chofer.
Old newspapers bought here.	Aquí se compran periódicos viejos.
You can see she’s very good.	Se ve que es muy buena.
They say everything is expensive in that city.	Se dice que todo es caro en esa ciudad.
It is believed that some bombers are going to arrive.	Se cree que van a llegar aviones de bombardeo.

Construction Substitution Drill

Active Form	Reflexive (no agent)
Aquí no bailan.	Aquí no se baila.
Ahí hablan inglés.	Ahí se habla inglés.
Ahí hacen vestidos.	Ahí se hacen vestidos.
Ahí compran muebles viejos.	Ahí se compran muebles viejos.
Aquí no beben mucha leche.	Aquí no se bebe mucha leche.
Aquí escriben en español.	Aquí se escribe en español.
Aquí no comen carne.	Aquí no se come carne.

Translation Drill

English	Spanish
Nothing is sold there.	Ahí no se vende nada.
Little is written here.	Aquí se escribe poco.
English lessons are given here.	Aquí se dan lecciones de inglés.
Gentlemen’s articles are sold here.	Aquí se venden artículos para caballeros.
Children’s clothing is sewed here.	Aquí se cose ropa de niño.
You don’t work on Sundays here.	Aquí no se trabaja los domingos.
Nothing is drunk there.	Ahí no se toma nada.
Chauffeur wanted.	Se busca chofer.
Rooms for rent.	Se alquilan cuartos.
Maid needed.	Se necesita una muchacha.
Hats cleaned.	Se limpian sombreros.
Dancing lessons (dancing taught).	Se enseña a bailar.
Apartment for rent.	Se alquila un apartamento.

Discussion

This construction in Spanish is usually associated with a passive construction in English, especially when no agent appears. Thus a sentence like “The stores are closed at 6 o’clock” would translate as Las tiendas se cierran a las seis, since in Spanish the statement literally says “the stores close themselves.”

Another common English equivalent of this Spanish construction is the impersonal use of pronouns like “you,” “we,” “they”: “They say he’s rich; You go that way a mile, then you come to a hill…; We should all have an opportunity to go to college.”

Short, laconic signs, especially displayed in store windows, often make use of this reflexive construction: Se habla inglés, Se necesita muchacha, Se hacen vestidos, etc.

Note: The full drills and practice exercises — including replacement drills, variation drills, review drills, and conversation stimulus sections — are designed for oral work with the audio recordings. Open the Student Text PDF for the complete drill sets.

---

26.4 Reading — Día de Mercado

It was Friday and Marta was making her shopping list when the phone rang. It was Virginia Robinson, calling early in the morning to ask for help with a food problem. Virginia’s husband was complaining that she never made anything he liked — American food — and she couldn’t find anything good at the local markets. Marta first insists that they address each other by first names as friends and neighbors, then offers to take Virginia to a special market in the old part of the city where everything is fresh, plentiful, and cheap — if you know how to bargain. The two women set off by taxi to the market in the parte antigua of the city.