34 Asking and giving personal information
In this chapter you will learn different ways of asking and giving personal information
such as name, nationality, place of origin, occupation, marital and professional status,
religion and political affiliation. You will also learn how to say your age and when and
where you were born, and to ask similar information from others.To give personal information you will need proper names such as Carmen, José, or
noun phrases such as mi padre... , ‘my father’, el hermano de Ana... , ‘Ana’s
brother.. .’; you may also need the Spanish equivalent of words like ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘they’,
instead of the actual names. These words are called subject pronouns and in Spanish
they are not always necessary, as the ending of the verb usually indicates the person
referred to. Subject pronouns are normally used for emphasis, for contrast (e.g. Soy
inglés, pero él es escocés, ‘I’m English but he is Scottish’), to add politeness in the
case of usted or ustedes (Usted no es español, ¿verdad?, ‘You aren’t Spanish, are
you?’), or to avoid ambiguity (e.g.Él es de Madrid, ‘He is from Madrid’, instead of
Es de Madrid, which can mean ‘He is/she is/you are from Madrid’).8.1 (p. 34)
34.1 Name
34.1.1 Me Ilamo.. ., ‘my name is.. .’
Llamarse, literally ‘to be called’, is the verb most frequently used when saying one’s
name or asking someone’s name. It is a reflexive verb, that is a verb which requires an
accompanying pronoun: me, te, se, for the first, second and third person singular, and
nos, os, se, for the first, second and third person plural.^23 (p. 108)
¿Cómo te llamas?
What’s your name? (fam.)¿Cómo se llama usted?
What’s your name? (pol.)Me llamo Rodrigo.
My name is Rodrigo.