Today's Spanish-English Cognate-la memoria

English-Spanish Helpful Handouts – For English Speakers Who Want To Learn Spanish Page 1 of 4 Free Handout – http://sites.google.com/site/englishspanishhelpfulhandouts Photos: www.flickr.com (Creative Commons License) philip.bitnar, Ethan Hein Today’s Spanish-English Cognate Spanish and English have many similar words known as cognates. These words are constructed with the same base, or root word, which may come from Latin, Greek, or another language. You can expand you Spanish vocabulary quickly by using cognates. By studying cognates, you can use your knowledge of English to help you learn Spanish. Today we will focus on this Spanish-English cognate: la memoria – memory As you can see, both words share the root word mem (to remember). Take a look at the sample sentences and proverbs below. They la memoria in different ways. Please don’t be overwhelmed by the complexity of the Spanish sentences. The English translation is provided. Focus on the different forms of la memoria in each sentence. Él está padeciendo de pérdida de memoria. (He’s suffering from a loss of memory.) Los mentirosos deben tener buena memoria. (Liars must have a good memory.) Mi ordenador tiene 4 giga de memoria. (My computer has 4 gigabytes of memory.) Has aprendido el poema de memoria. (You have learned the poem by heart.) Alicia le gusta hacer crucigramas para mejorar la memoria. (Alicia likes to do crossword puzzles to improve her memory.) Tenía tan mala memoria que se olvidó de que tenía mala memoria y se acordó de todo. (He had such a bad memory that he forgot he had a bad memory and he remembered everything.) Ramón Gómez de la Serna (1891-1963) Spanish author La memoria es el único paraíso del que no podemos ser expulsados. (Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be expelled.) Jean Paul (1763-1825) German author and humorist Now, take a few minutes to practice using the different forms of la memoria. Use the Spanish and English sentences above to complete this exercise. Match the Spanish word with the English word. _____ de memoria 1. to improve memory _____ la memoria 2. bad memory _____ tener buena memoria 3. loss of memory _____ pérdida de memoria 4. by heart _____ giga de memoria 5. to have a good memory _____ mala memoria 6. gigabytes of memory _____ mejorar la memoria 7. memory English-Spanish Helpful Handouts – For English Speakers Who Want To Learn Spanish Page 2 of 4 Free Handout – http://sites.google.com/site/englishspanishhelpfulhandouts Photos: www.flickr.com (Creative Commons License) philip.bitnar, Ethan Hein Here are some other Spanish words that are related to la memoria. Although these words are similar, there are some spelling differences between the Spanish and English words. Go to page 3 to practice spelling these words. la memoria Verbs memorizar (to memorize) conmemorar (to commemorate) Adjectives conmemorativo/conmemorativa (commemorative) desmemoriado/desmeoriada (forgetful) inmemorial (immemorial) memorable (memorable) Nouns el memorándum (memorandum) el memorial (memorial) la conmemoración (commemoration) la memorización (memorization) la remembranza (remembrance) English-Spanish Helpful Handouts – For English Speakers Who Want To Learn Spanish Page 3 of 4 Free Handout – http://sites.google.com/site/englishspanishhelpfulhandouts Photos: www.flickr.com (Creative Commons License) philip.bitnar, Ethan Hein Use the words on page 2 to complete the crossword puzzle in Spanish. The clues are in English. Two of the Spanish adjectives on the preceding page are shown in both their masculine and feminine forms. The English clue will indicate whether to use the masculine or feminine form of the Spanish word in the puzzle. When placing a Spanish noun in the puzzle, be sure to include the definite article el or la. 7 4 3 2 1 e l m e m o r i a l 6 5 Across Down 1. memorial 2. commemorate 5. remembrance 3. commemorative (feminine) 7. inmemorial 4. memoriize 6. forgetful (masculine) Unscramble these words and write them on the line provided. 1. al rinómimcoeza _________________________ 2. al nanoióccezimorm _________________________ 3. le mráudmnmoe __________________________ The answers to the above puzzles are on page 4. La memoria es la facultad de recordar. (Memory is the ability to remember.) English-Spanish Helpful Handouts – For English Speakers Who Want To Learn Spanish Page 4 of 4 Free Handout – http://sites.google.com/site/englishspanishhelpfulhandouts Photos: www.flickr.com (Creative Commons License) philip.bitnar, Ethan Hein The Answers 7 i n 4 m e m o r i a l e 3 c m o o n 2 c r 1 e l m e m o r i a l 6 d e n z e o m a s m e r m r m e a o m t r o i 5 l a r e m e m b r a n z a v r i a a d 1. al rinómimcoeza __la memoraizción___ 2. al nanoióccezimorm __la conmemorización__ 3. le mráudmnmoe __el memorándum__