Free Spanish Lesson 58. “Con permiso.”

Vocabulary For the Newsletter – Vocabulario para el boletín

cultura hispana – Spanish (Latin) culture

formal – formal (same spelling in both languages)

cultura – culture

el cual – which

casual – casual (same spelling in both languages)

amigos latinos – Latin friends

o – or

parientes – relatives

se abrazan – they hug each other

otra vez – again

una situación social – a social situation

Me acostumbré tanto a – I got so used to

gente – people

todavía lo hago – I still do it (todavía=sometimes, hago=I do, lo=it)

aquí – here

de hábito – out of habit

a veces – sometimes

cuando – when

mano – hand

mucho más – much more

frase del día – phrase of the day

muchas regiones – many regions

conversación – conversation

persona – person

significa – means

casi siempre – almost always

algo – something

conmigo – with me

grupo de gente – group of people

pasar – to pass by

manera – way

útil – useful

tal vez – maybe

hoy – today

otros – others

amable – friendly

padres – parents

adultos – adults

cultura latina entre – Latin culture among

The cultura hispana is generally very polite and more formal than the cultura in the U.S. — el cual has a tendency to be a little more casual. As I have mentioned in the past, when amigos latinos o parientes greet each other (women greet women or women greet men), they usually kiss each other on the cheek.

When men greet men, if they are amigos o parientes, they will often shake hands and/or se abrazan. They usually shake hands when greeting each other and otra vez before leaving una situación social.

Me acostumbré tanto a shaking hands when both greeting and leaving gente that todavía lo hago sometimes aquí in the U.S. de hábito. I get some pretty strange looks a veces from gente cuando I extend my mano to shake theirs mucho más than they’re used to.

Now on to our frase del día. In muchas regiones of Latin America, when a group of gente are in a conversación and one persona needs to leave, they say “con permiso” [con pear-mee-so] which significa “excuse me”.

Gente do the same thing aquí in the U.S. but it is not as common in casual situations. In Latin America however, gente casi siempre say “con permiso” when leaving a group in both formal and casual situations. It adds a nice touch to social situations and is algo that grew on me enough that I decided to bring it back conmigo.

I todavía say “excuse me” — the English version of “con permiso” — now that I am back in the U.S. when I need to leave a grupo de gente.

The words “con permiso” are also used if there are gente blocking your pathway and you need to pasar. It is a nice and short manera to say “I need to get by, would you mind moving?” As you can see, the phrase “con permiso” is very útil and good to know. Tal vez you can even memorize it and start using it hoy!

Because of frases like “con permiso” and otros, I found the gente in Latin America to be very amable, respectful, and polite. Children are usually very polite to their padres and other adultos, and gente in general were usually very polite with each other. In some ways, I wish I was still living in the cultura latina entre native Spanish speakers! It is a great cultura.

Moral of the Historia: Learning about different cultures is fun, expands our vision, and helps improve our outlook of the world. The next time you need to leave a group of gente latina, be sure to say “con permiso”.

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Written by David S. Clark President/Director, U.S. Institute of Languages. Copyright © 1999-2011 US Institute of Languages All rights reserved.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.