¿Lo Invito o lo evito? Do I invite or avoid him? 5 minutes of Spanish + Podcast- English version

 

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Thank you very much for being here participating in this podcast about Spanish, a language that we love and that today summons us. I am Eduardo Satorno, Spanish teacher at SpanishUp2U and manager of Unique Trips, your travel agency.

 

I am Malena Algorta, Spanish teacher at Spanish in Cabo and at SpanishUp2U. If you want to know more about your Spanish practice site click here and you will see all the podcasts, videos and lessons we have for you to master Spanish. We are in 5 minutes of Spanish and this is episode number 163.

 

Welcome! Thank you for being with us week after week. And for today we are going to talk about ....

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About two regular verbs that can be confused because of their similar pronunciation, but their meanings are very different. The verbs are “evitar” and “invitar”.

 

They are indeed similar: “evitar” means to avoid and “inviter” is a cognate with English and French. Two verbs widely used in different contexts.

 

That's right, the verb evitar comes from the Latin evitare. It means: Impedir que ocurra una cosa desagradable o molesta, especialmente una desgracia. / To prevent an unpleasant or annoying thing from happening, especially a misfortune.

 

In many Latin American countries we want to avoid discussions and that is why we do not talk about politics, religion or soccer.

 

To avoid contagions, we have to clean everything very well.

 

On the Internet you can read: ¿Cómo se puede evitar el uso indebido de las medicinas? / How can the misuse of medicines be prevented?

 

Or, "how to avoid addiction to social networks".

 

Redes sociales- Social media

 

A suggestion or command could be: avoid the use of sugar, it is bad for your health.

Evita is the imperative of “evitar”, in the second person- Evita (tú).

 

Evita is the diminutive of Eva, as for example the famous Evita Perón.

 

Do you remember the movie: Evita? With the famous song Don't cry for me Argentina

Don't worry we won't sing!

 

And our second verb “inviter” which is similar to “evitar”?

 

Invitar also comes from Latin - invitare. It is a very old Latin verb that implies to encourage, stimulate and welcome someone.

 

Despite the resemblance to avoid, there is no relationship between the two verbs.

 

What is “invitar”?

 

To pay a person's bill, out of kindness to him or her.

 

Shall I buy you a cup of coffee and we'll chat?

 

Another use is to encourage someone to do something. For example, last month we invited you to a challenge called: Ageless Spanish, do you remember it, did you participate or did you avoid it?

 

Let's apply these verbs in an everyday situation. Let's imagine a couple having a conversation....

 

My love, you know that yesterday I went to that conference I was invited to, the one for women entrepreneurs... at the Hotel: "Long Shadows", very elegant.

 

Ahh...

 

I went there for networking, to invite more members to our Club,

you have to relate, talk to people and so on.

 

Ahh...

 

I avoided sitting with Betty, she talks a lot, uff.... There were many guests, it was very good, I didn't even remember that invitation.

 

Ahh Ahh

 

But... I have to tell you something...

 

What?

 

When I was coming back, of course it was very dark, it didn't look good and ...... I couldn't avoid a big pit in the road..... nothing happened, just a little tap on......

 

Ahhhhhh!

 

How about you? Would you like to have lots of invitations to practice Spanish? Click here and you will see all the podcasts, workshops, materials and videos we prepared for you, so you can speak like a Latin American and don't avoid conversations with locals, just for fear of not expressing yourself well.

 

Too good to be true?  Come to the conversation workshop on Friday and listen to how the participants speak, as simple as that, as clear as that.

 

We invite you to a Spanish break, to practice and get to know SpanishUp2U: schedule your appointment here

We could tell you that with SpanishUp2U you are going to improve your Spanish a lot, but we are not going to, find out for yourself.

 

Thank you very much for making it this far in the podcast. And thank you for listening, participating, commenting. Spanish in Cabo and SpanishUp2U would not be the same without you. We want you to speak and think in Spanish, that's our mission.

 

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Don't avoid speaking Spanish! Practice with the club! Come here!

 

See you in the classes or workshops, in the cooking and language experience or 24/7 at SpanishUp2U.

 

See you soon.

 

Bye-bye.

Malena y Eduardo

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