Page 42 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - 15-minute Spanish

40 WE E K 4
IR Y COGER
Warm up (1minute)
To go and to take
What is “train” in
Spanish? (pp.38–9) The verbs ir ( ir ( ir to go (to go ( ) and coger (coger (coger to take (to take ( ) allow you to
What does “¿De qué create many useful sentences. Note that coger can coger can coger
andén sale el tren?” also mean to catch: coger una pelota (to catch a ball(to catch a ball( ),
mean? (pp.38–9) coger un resfriado (to catch a cold(to catch a cold( ); to grab: coger
Ask “When are you a alguien (to (to ( grab someone); and to hold: coger a un
free?” (pp.32–3) bebé (to(to( hold a baby). hold a baby). hold a baby

Ir: to go (6 minutes)
Spanish uses the same form of ir for both ir for both ir I go and
I am going: voy a Madrid (I am going to Madrid/I go to
Madrid). The same is true of other verbs—for example,
cojo el metro (I am taking the metro/I take the metro).
yo voy I go
yoh boy
tú vas/usted va you go (informal/
too bas/oosted bah formal singular)
él/ella va he/she goes
e e el/ehl/ehl/ -yah bah
nosotros(-as) vamos we go
nosotros(-as) bamos
vosotros(-as) vais/ you go (informal/
ustedes van formal plural)
bosotros/-as baees/
oostedes ban
ellos/ellas van they go
eh-yos/-yos/eh-yos/eh-yos/ -yas ban

¿A dónde vas? Where are you going? Voy a la Plaza de España.
ah donday bas boy ah lah plaplathah
day espapanyah
Voy a Madrid. I am going to Madrid. I am going to the Plaza
boy ah madreed de España.

Conversational tip You may have noticed that
de (of) combines with of) combines with of el to produce del as in Museo del
Prado (literally, museum of the Prado); el menú del día
(menu of the day). In the same way, menu of the day). In the same way, menu of the day a (to) combines with
el to produce al: Voy al museo (I’m going to the museum).
With feminine and plural words, de remains separate
from la, los, and las.