Spanish Proficiency Exercises
Describe the purpose and function of an organization.


Simplified and native speakers:

• Simplified example
• Leonardo G.
• Fernando C.
• Natacha P.
• Teresa C.
• Diana P.

.m4v (iPod) downloads
Click red links to download .m4v files for use in iPod:

• Simplified example
• Leonardo G.
• Fernando C.
• Natacha P.
• Teresa C.
• Diana P.

Subscribe to iTunes podcast: adv18
Subscribe to podcast: adv18


Key vocabulary for this task


Example phrases for this task


Grammar points for this task

Simplified Example
"Quiero hablar de un grupo de gente que trabaja aquí en la Alajuela..."
Leonardo G.
México, D.F.
"Quiero hablar de un grupo de gente que conozco..."
Fernando C.
Paraguay, Asunción
"El Don Bosco Horoga es una organización religiosa..."
Natacha P.
Argentina, Buenos Aires
"Una organización por la cual a mí me parece..."
Teresa C.
Chile, Santiago
"A ver. Yo trabajo hace como nueve años en una ONG-Centro de Estudios..."
Diana P.
Colombia, Manizales
"Estudio y he trabajado con la Universidad de los Andes..."
administración (f)   administration
apoyar   ot support
ayudar   to help
bien estar (m)   well being
caridad (f)   charity
comunidad (f)   community
cuidar   to take care of
donativo (m)   donation
echar la mano   to give a hand to someone
fondos (m)   funds
gobierno (m)   government
grupo (m)   group
organiación (f)   organization
perro callejero (m)   homeless dog
presupuesto (m)   budget
reducir   to reduce
servicio (m)   service
SIDA (f)   AIDS
vacunar   to vaccinate
Toman perros callejeros y los vacunan. They take homeless dogs and vaccinate them.
Este grupo mejora el bien estar de la comunidad. This group improves the well being of the community.
Conozco una organización que se dedica a quitar la basura al lado de las carrateras. I know an organization that is devoted to removing garbage from the side of the highways.
¿Nos pueden echar la mano con un donativo? Can you give us a hand and give us a donation?
Desafortunadamente el gobierno no nos apoya con muchos fondos. Unfortunately, the government doesn't support us with our funding.
La caridad es una virtud principal. Charity is a major virtue.
Nuestro presupuesto proviene de los donativos de la gente de la comunidad. Our budget comes from the donations of the people of the community.
Participles and Adjectives

As we have seen before (Advanced 17, Related Grammar), past participles can be used as adjectives. Thus, they must follow the rules of all adjectives:

1. Spanish adjectives often have four distinct forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural and feminine plural.

2. Adjectives that end in -o in the masculine singular form have a feminine form which ends in -a. The plural is formed by adding an s to each singular form(e.g. pequeño, pequeña, pequeños, pequeñas).

3. Adjectives whose masculine singular form does not end in -o tend to have the same form for both genders. The plural is formed by adding an -s to the singular if it ends in a vowel and -es if it ends in a consonant. If it ends in a -z, the plural form will change to a -ces. In the following list the first row is for singular, the second is for plural forms of the adjective.

Masculine Feminine
  interesante interesante
  interesantes interesantes
  útil útil
  útiles útiles
  feliz feliz
  felices felices

4. Adjectives must agree with their noun in gender and number.

Estas velas blancas son muy caras. These white candles are expensive.
  Los bancos están abiertos. The banks are open.

As we can see in the last example, the rules for adjectives apply to past participles when they are used in the estar + past participle formation. They also apply when a past participle is used as an adjective without estar (e.g. el estudiante preocupado). However, when a past participle is used as a verb in one of the perfect tenses, with the construction haber + past participle, it does not follow the rules of adjectives. Compare, for example, the following sentences:

Se ha cerrado la puerta. The door has been closed.
  La puerta está cerrada. The door is closed.
 
  He prendido las luces. I have turned the lights on.
  Las luces están prendidas. The lights are turned on.
 
  Hemos congelado la carne. We have frozen the meat.
  La carne está congelada. The meat is frozen.