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[Li Jiao]

Hmm..I have a feeling I would stink at this "al" y "del".

por ejemplo?

Let's go to the ice cream store of the mayor.
Vamos a la tienda de helado del alcalde.

Hmm..I'm thinking this is perhaps when
speaking about a person or thing but no particulars?

Would it be al o del
if I said
I sent a telegram to the President of the Cuban Smoke Shop?

[Li Jiao]

My other question is this:

When Latin Americans want to schedule a time to meet someone for semi professional like reasons how do they phrase it in their language?

Do they use the word meet, get together, or?.....
I'm certain they use the word appointments (cita) for professional appointments
ie: doctors, mechanics, hair salon etc.

For example I want to ask my student what time they would like to meet today.

Would I say:  "A qué hora quiere encontrarse hoy?"

Heh...I feel like I'm not making sense today...

Thanks in advance for your help amigo.

Cheers

[yaotecatl]

You're right LI. " cita" is used just like we use 'appointment' , usually, ahah. But for meetings or gatherings often times the word is 'reunion'. A meeting is a reunion. (threee syllables in reunion  )

Conjugating the word reunion;

yo me reuno
tu te reunes
el/ella se reunen
usted se reune
ellos se reunen
nosotros nos reunemos
ustedes se reunen

So for you student's question;  and if the next meeting includes you also the question would be:
¿A que hora nos reunemos mañana?
YOu made perfect sense to me btw 
yao

[yaotecatl]

whew! OK back to answer this one now;

Would it be al o del
if I said
I sent a telegram to the President of the Cuban Smoke Shop?

Le mande un telegrama al presidente....de la ...  tienda cigarillera Cubana ( guessing at how one would say smoke shop. I'm sure there is another way to say it but haven't heard it.) Works for me though heh  note...as you can see in this context the contraction reverts back to 'de la'...

Le di el dinero al bankero...I gave the money to the banker....del pueblo...of the city.
                                'to the'                                                                                           ' of the'

Not so bad is it? Does this help any?  This contraction is just a tool to simplify the structure of a sentence as all contractions may be.
Del universo but one can still say de el universo It just flows better to the tongue if the ocntraction is used.  That is the poetry of the language which English is devoid of hehehe:-) or ist it?
yao

[Li Jiao]

OH!

I think your example with "of the universe" helped shed some light for me.

Thank you! 

Thank you also for the notes re: meeting.

I dare say English is hardly devoid of poetic language.  Hehe..We (including English speakers) just haven't discovered all the poetic sounding tricks yet.

Cheers n thanks again.

[Li Jiao]

ah yes, yes..a mental note..these contractions (al y del) are
something like the contractions of was not/wasn't, have not/haven't,
were not/weren't, etc.  Okay, okay..**boing** think I got it now.

[yaotecatl]

Tremendo! Glad I helped clear that up. Yep...haven't, wasn't...like those ahah...contractions also. 

Dale leche al baby...like that...or dale  un abrazo al primo.... ahah...like that.
Give milk to the baby...                    give a hug to the cousin...

el sombrero del hombre es negro...(literal) the hat of the man is black
la calor del sol es rojo...(literal) the heat of the sun is red

I rest my case on the poetics of the English language hehehehe
yao

[yaotecatl]

Entender- - to understand


I don’t understand….how many times did you want to say that to someone in Spanish? Heh 

Say it like this;  
No entiendo = I don’t understand.
       No lo entiendo…….I don’t understand it

Of course that is the negative of or when you ‘don’t’ understand. If you do understand say yes or si…

Entiendo = Understand (I is assumed by conjugation)
Si entiendo =  I do understand or yes I understand

Querio entender = I want to understand
El no entiende = he doesn’t understand
Ella no entiende = she does not understand
Nosotros entendemos = we understand
Ellos entienden = they understand

Entiendo el Español = I understand Spanish
No entiendo el Ingles = I don’t understand English

No entiendo su agenda ( sounds like ah-hen-dah)…I don’t understand his agenda.

Have any questions? Join up and join me here and let’s work on it. It’s free anyway.  
yao

[yaotecatl]

Boy oh boy! Yep...where have I been eh? heh  He sido desaparecido pero nunca muy lejos de aqui.

For TODAY! New phrase;

Permiso = Permission Now this looks and sounds like a cognate word no? YOU tell me heh   
Con permiso is the same as saying, "by your leave" in English, or "Excuse me".
 Like at the movies when you sat in the middle of the row and in the middle of th eshow you wanted more popcorn and your stepping onpeople's feet and tripping on them and balancing yourself on faces...ha! like that!

Me permite besar su hija?...Have I your permission to kiss your daughter? or...is it OK to kiss your daughter?
 
May I come in? ¿Puedo pasar? Permission in both languages is assumed here.

Questions? ASk in this thread.  Preguntas? Pregunten aqui. Gracias...

[yaotecatl]

Regreso...I'm back. I  know I know...too long tween visits but I'm seemingly talking to myself heh 

New word for those who are interested:  crepusculo=twilight

Era el crepusculo de la iguana ---it was the twilight of the iguana. (era is the what makes it past tense)
Es el crepusculo de mi madurez---it is the twilight of my maturity. (Es makes the word present tense)

Cool word once you master it. It's not just for poetry. Try using it as often as you can 

[shywo]

Me gusta la musica de santana.

thank you yao for this great section!

[yaotecatl]

  I like him too...
Gracias shy 

[yaotecatl]

Referring to the latest word I posted.." crepusculo"...is anyone having trouble  pronouncing it? Bueno, just in case you are here is what it sounds like;

cre-pus-cu-lo...
cre(as in crepe)pus(as in poohs) cu (as in coo) lo (as in load) 

Con confianza amigos. 

[Li Jiao]

Mmm
I like saying that word

MUCHO!

jeje

More, please?