Unit 4

Celebrations
 Nothing Nada

Vocabulary
Something nice Algo agradable
Something special Algo especial

Months of the year

Celebrations January Enero
Birth of a baby Nacimiento de un bebe February Febrero
Birthday Cumpleaños March Marzo
Engagement Compromiso April Abril
Graduation Graduación May Mayo
Mother's day Día de la Madre June Junio
Retirement Jubilación July Julio
Wedding Boda August Agosto
Wedding anniversary Aniversario de bodas
September Septiembre
Graduation / graduation day Graduación / día
de graduación October Octubre
Wedding / wedding day Boda / día de la boda November Noviembre
Halloween Víspera de Todos los Santos December Diciembre
New Year's Eve Vispera de Año Nuevo
Valentine's Day día de San Valentín Days of the month
Blow out (candles) Apagar (las velas) 1st       first
Exchange rings Intercambiar anillos 2nd     second
Get married Casarse 3rd       third
Go out for a romantic dinner Salir para una 4th    
cena romántica
fourth
Go to see fireworks Ir a ver fuegos artificiales
Go trick-or-treating Hacer truco o trato 5th       fifth
Sing "Happy Birthday" Canta el feliz 6th       sixth
cumpleaños" 7th       seventh
Wear a cap and gown Use una toga y birrete 8th       eighth
Wear a costume Llevar un disfraz 9th       ninth
Festival Festival 10th     tenth
Fiesta Fiesta 11th     eleventh
Parade Desfile 12th     twelfth
Get dressed up Vestirse
13th     thirteenth
Wedding ceremony Ceremonia de la boda
Wedding reception Recepción de la boda 14th     fourteenth
Send a card Enviar una tarjeta 15th     fifteenth
16th     sixteenth
220.2Indefinite pronouns 17th     seventeenth
18th     eighteenth
19th     nineteenth Telephone language
20th     twentieth Call someone back Llamar a alguien de regreso
21st      twenty-first
22nd    twenty-second Free time
23rd     twenty-third Cultural event Evento cultural
24th     twenty-fourth Dancing Bailando
25th     twenty-fifth
26th     twenty-sixth Spring break
27th     twenty-seventh Traditional music Musica tardicional
28th     twenty-eighth
29th     twenty-ninth People at a wedding
30th     thirtieth Bride Novia
Groom Novio
31st     thirty-first
Relative Relativo
Time expressions
Then . . . Entonces . . . Other words
In (May) En (Mayo) Expensive Costoso
On (May 10th) El (10 de Mayo) Give Dar
On (the 10th of May) El (10 de Mayo) Probably Probablemente
Lawyer Abogado
Be careful Ten cuidado
Celebrate Celebrar
Cute Linda
Silver Plata
School and learning Makeup Maquillaje
Graduate from (law school) Graduado de (escuela de Old friend Viejo amigo
derecho) Outfit Equipar
Get a degree / diploma Obtener un título / diploma Promise Promesa
Gramar
future with be going to
Statements
To talk about your future plans, you can use be going to + verb.
In affirmative statements, use subject + be + going to + verb:
I'm going to buy something special.
She's going to be 50.

In negative statements, use subject + be + not + going to + verb:

You're not going to get a present.
She's not going to be 50.

Remember, you can also use isn't (= is not) and aren't (= are not), especially after names and nouns:
Marcos isn't going to have a party.
My parents aren't going to have a party.
 
Questions
To ask questions about someone's future plans, you can use be going to.
To ask Yes-No questions, use be + subject + going to + verb . . . ?:
A   Are you going to have a party?
B   Yes, we are. / No, we're not.

To ask information questions, use question word + be  + subject + going to + verb . . . ?:
A   What are you going to (do tonight)?
B   I'm not going to do anything special.

To ask information questions with the question word as subject, use question word + be going to  + verb:
Who's going to go?
What's going to happen?
Indirect objects and indirect object pronouns
In the sentence below, my brother is an indirect object and a present is a direct object:
I'm going to buy my brother a present.
 
You can use an indirect object to answer the question Who?:
I'm going to buy my mother something special.
Let's send Mom and Dad some flowers.

A direct object answers the question What? It comes after any indirect object:
I'm going to buy my mother something special.
Let's send Mom and Dad some flowers.
 
An indirect object can also be a pronoun. There is an indirect object pronoun for every subject pronoun:

Indirect object
Subject pronouns
pronouns
I me
you you
he him
she her
we us
they them
 
I'm going to buy my mother something special.
I'm going to buy her something special.
 
Let's send Mom and Dad some flowers.
Let's send them some flowers.

Present continuous for the future; be going to

You can use the present continuous or be going to to talk about plans.

Present continuous for the future

The present continuous is often used to talk about plans with specific times or places:
 A   What are you doing for New Year's Eve?
B   We're going to The Sea Grill for dinner. We're meeting Friends  there at 8:30.
  (We know where and when to meet.)
 
be going to
You can use be going to to talk about plans:
A   What are you going to do for New Year's Eve?
B   We're going to go somewhere for dinner. We're going to meet some friends at a restaurant.

You can also use be going to to talk about predictions for the future:
It's going to be fun.
It's going to snow tomorrow.

Conversation
strategies
"Vague" expressions
You can use "vague" expressions in conversations when you don't need to give a long list of things because the other person
understands what you mean:
and stuff (like that)
It's a festival. It's lots of parades and stuff (like that).
(= everything we understand about a festival)

and things (like that)

You can get all kinds of tacos and things (like that).

and everything
The kids wear outfits and makeup and everything.

"Vague" responses
You can use a vague response if you are not sure about your answer to a question:
I don't know.     I'm not sure.     Maybe.    It depends.

A   Are you going to the festival this weekend?

B   I don't know. It depends. What is it exactly?

Writing
Writing personal notes and emails
The start and end of a note or email needs to match the person you are writing to.

Less formal
You can start notes / emails to your friends or other people you know well like this:
Dear (name), Dear Roberto,
Hi (name), Hi Roberto,
You can end less formal notes / emails like this:
Take care, See you, Love,
 
More formal
You can start notes / emails to your teacher, your boss, or other people you don't know well like this:
Dear (name), Dear Ms. Benson,

You can end more formal notes / emails like this:

Best wishes, Best regards, All the best,