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The Official "Ask Dave" Section -----
Question
Hola Dave
Could you clarify the use of «yo» as opposed to «mí»? I know that you use «mí» with pronouns such as «para mí, conmigo..» However, for an expression like «It`s me = Soy yo». There are a lot of expressions in English / French that use «me» but «yo» en español instead of «mí».
Gracias,
***a
Answer
Hola ***a,
Anytime in Spanish that you use "yo" or "tú" after a preposition in Spanish, they turn to "mí" and "ti" respectively. Here are just a few of the prepositions in Spanish: en (in, at, on), para (for), por (for, because of), sobre (on), de (of, from, about), con (with), sin (without), a (to).
Examples:
| Es para mí | | It is for me | | Dependo de ti | | I depend on you (In Spanish, they say "I depend of you" instead of "I depend on you") | | Ella va sin mi | | She is going without me | | Es por ti | | It's because of
you |
Exceptions: When you say "with me" or "with you", you add "go" at the end: "conmigo" and "contigo"
For the last question, in Spanish, instead of saying "It is me", they say "It is I" or "Soy yo". It is simply an exception you have to memorize.
Hopefully that answers your question.
Hasta luego,
Dave
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Culture -- Provecho / Servido - Manners While Someone is Eating
In the United States as well as in Latin America, it is impolite to eat in front of someone else. But, what should you do if you if you stop by someone's house while they are eating? If this happens to me personally, I usually say something like, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner", or "Sorry to bother you during dinner time."
This type of interruption doesn't seem to happen as much in the U.S. as in Latin America. This seems to be because just about everyone in the U.S. has a telephone and people frequently call each other before stopping by. In many Latin American regions, especially the lower-income pueblos, a very small percent of the population owns a telephone because of the cost involved. Phone calls are charged by the length of each call whether local or long distance. In the U.S., a set monthly phone bill gets you all the local calls you want, regardless of the length, for free. However, extra fees are incurred for long-distance calls. Because of the scarcity of people with telephones in Latin America, people frequently stop by acquaintances homes unannounced and sometimes during mealtime. I assume that because of this practice, and because of the Latin American emphasis on food, there has been a Spanish word invented for this exact situation.
If you stop by someone's home while they are eating but you aren't, you should say either "¡Provecho!" or "¡Buen provecho!" which means "Enjoy your meal!" The word "provecho" literally means "profit" or "benefit", and "Buen provecho" literally means "Good benefit" or "Good profit".
People usually say this phrase with a light-hearted attitude almost as if to say, "Go ahead and keep eating and don't worry about me". To continue the scenario a little farther, if you are eating and someone says "¡Buen provecho" to you, you can answer them by saying "Servido" which means "Served". By saying "Servido", you are basically saying, "Feel free to take a seat and have some if you'd like." Although that is the real meaning, I don't think I ever saw anyone in this situation ever take someone up on the offer and sit down to eat with the family after they had already started a meal.
Remember, the next time you see Latin-American people eating and you are not, be sure to say "¡Provecho!" or "¡Buen provecho!" to them. Also, if you are eating, and someone says "¡Provecho!" to you, be sure and say "Servido" to them, and be ready to offer them food; just in-case they take you up on your offer.
Moral of the Story: A large part of Latin American culture is based on food. Without a lot of instant food available to the people in the lower-income pueblos, they spend a lot of time in food preparation. Because food is such a big part of their lives, it's important to learn proper mealtime etiquette. Just remember, "¡Provecho!" or "¡Buen provecho!" and "Servido".
Sneak peek at next week: "Share your food - especially Jell-O Pudding®"
¡Que tengan un buen día! (I hope you all have a good day!)
¡Hasta luego! ("Until later")
David S. Clark -- President / Director
Visual Link Spanish™
Fun, Interactive Spanish Courses
http://www.spanishprograms.com
dave_c@spanishprograms.com
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