Spanish Proficiency Exercises
Make an appropriate social introduction.


Simplified and native speakers:

• Simplified example
• Irma C.
• Fernando R.
• Silvia M.
• Tomás S.
• Teresa C.

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

• Simplified example
• Irma C.
• Fernando R.
• Silvia M.
• Tomás S.
• Teresa C.

Subscribe to iTunes podcast: int01
Subscribe to podcast: int01


Key vocabulary for this task


Example phrases for this task


Grammar points for this task

Simplified Example
"Para presentar una persona a otra en los países hispanos es común decir..."
Irma C.
México, Monterrey
"En América latina para presentar una persona a otra..."
Fernando R.
Argentina, Buenos Aires
"Para saludar a alguien en la Argentina..."
Silvia M.
Colombia, Popayán
"Bueno, en Colombia nosotros nos saludamos muy efusivamente..."
Tomás S.
Perú, Lima
"Depende de la circunstancia, si es una circunstancia informal..."
Teresa C.
Chile, Santiago
"Diana, te presento a Alejandra Z...."
abrazar   to hug, to hold
apretón de mano (m)   handshake
beso (m)   kiss
¿Cómo te va?   How's it going?
con permiso   excuse me
conocer   1. to meet 2. to know 3. to be familiar with
despedirse   to say goodbye
encantado (m)   pleased to meet you
hasta luego   see you later
mucho gusto   it's nice to meet you
presentarse   to introduce oneself
¿Qué pasa? ¿Qué pasó?   What's up?
Que te vaya bien   Have a good one.
¿Qué tal?   How are you?
saludar   to greet/ to say hello/ to wave
Oye, Juan, te quiero presentar a una amiga. Hey, Juan, I want to introduce you to a friend.
Juan, te presento a Sasha. Juan, this is Sasha.
Hola Juan, ¿Qué tal? Hi Juan, how are you?
Ya me despido, es que tengo que trabajar en la mañana. I've got to say goodbye, I have to work tomorrow morning.
Bueno, hasta luego, que te cuides. OK, see you later, take care.
¿En un ambiente de negocios se saluda de beso o un apretón de mano? In a business situation do you greet people with a kiss on the cheek or a handshake?
A muchos extranjeros les parece raro saludar de beso. To many foreigners it seems strange to greet with a kiss.
¿Qué pasó Víctor? ¿Qué cuentas? What's up Victor? What's new?
¿Ya conociste a mi hermano, Roberto? Did you already meet my brother, Robert?
Me dio mucho gusto conocerlos. It was nice to meet you all.
Indirect Object Pronouns

A basic sentence is made up of a subject, a verb and an object. The subject is the person or thing that acts, the verb is the action, and the object is that which receives the action. For example, in the sentence 'John eats an apple," John is the subject, eats is the verb, and apple is the object.

Objects are further divided into those that are direct and those that are indirect. Direct objects receive the action of the verb. They answer the question, what? Or who? (e.g. what does John eat? An apple).

Indirect objects are the secondary objects affected by the action and they answer the questions: to whom? Or from whom?

Juan siempre da una manzana a su maestra Juan always gives an apple to his teacher.

In this example the apple is still the direct object. What's been added is the indirect object, his teacher. We can check this by asking, "To whom does he give an apple?"

Indirect object pronouns are used to speak in a more concise manner. Their forms are identical to the direct object pronouns except for in the third person:

me me, to me
  te you, to you
  le him, to him/her, to her/you, to you
  nos us, to us
  os you all, to you all
  les them, to them, you all, to you all

Me dijeron las noticias. They told me the news.
  El guía les da información a los turistas. The guide gives information to the tourists.

As in the second example, it is common to use both an indirect object pronoun (les) and an indirect object noun (los turistas) in the same sentence. Once the meaning of the indirect object pronoun is clear the indirect object noun can be dropped.

There are some general rules for using indirect object pronouns:

1. They precede conjugated verbs and negative commands:

Siempre me llamas en esta hora. You always call me at this time.
  No me llames en esta hora. Don't call me at this time (of day).

2. They can precede or follow infinitives and present participles.

No tienes que decirle la verdad. You don't have to tell him/her the truth.
  No le tienes que decir la verdad. You don't have to tell him/her the truth.

3. They follow and are attached to affirmative commands.

Dile que el partido empieza a las siete. Tell him/her that the game starts at seven.