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Un segmento de una hora u hora y media.
A period of one hour or one hour and a half.
Caption 40, Rafael T. - La Cultura Maya
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Sooner or later we all notice cases where 'u' replaces 'o' ("or") or where 'e' replaces 'y' ("and"). These conjunctions change when the word following them starts with the same letter sound. Therefore in the example above, 'o' changes to 'u' because the beginning sound of the next word, hora, is [o] (note that the h is silent).
The rule of thumb is pretty simple: With the conjunctions o ("or") and y ("and"), the vowels change if they are followed by the same vowel sounds.
Here are some examples of the vowel change in action:
¿Vas a comprar siete cervezas u ocho?
Are you going to buy seven beers or eight?
¿Quieres cervezas o gaseosas?
Do you want beers or sodas?
and...
Julieta e Ignacio estudian la medicina.
Julieta and Ignacio study medicine.
Yasmil y Javier tocan a la guitarra.
Yasmil and Javier play the guitar.
Try speaking the sentence without changing the vowel and you should hear that it sounds funny to say the same vowel sound twice. That should help you remember this simple rule.
When learning how to talk about the future in Spanish, you don’t always need the traditional future tense. Instead, Spanish speakers frequently use the "ir + a + Infinitive" construction, which is known as the near future tense or "futuro próximo". This structure is one of the easiest and most common ways to express future actions in everyday conversation. In this lesson, we’ll explain how it works and give you plenty of examples to start using it naturally.
In Spanish, the verb ir (to go) can be combined with the preposition a and the infinitive form of another verb to indicate future actions. Here’s the formula:
This structure is similar to saying "going to" in English. For example:
así que seguramente voy a aprender muchas cosas,
so I'm surely going to learn a lot of things,
Caption 14, Amaya Cata de vinos
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los alumnos van a visitar una exposición de f'... sobre feminismos
the students are going to visit an exhibit about f'... about feminism
Caption 104, Escuela BCNLIP Presentación de la directora - Part 2
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While Spanish has a dedicated future tense, the "ir + a + infinitive" construction is often used in everyday speech because it’s simpler and more conversational. In fact, it’s one of the most common ways to talk about the future.
Somos dos, nunca sola vas a ir Y ahora voy, sonriendo junto a ti Somos dos, juntos vamos a vivir
We are two, you will never go alone And now I go, smiling along with you We are two, together we will live
Captions 17-19, Liquits Desde Que
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Instead of using the future tense forms irás or viviremos, the Mexican band Liquits uses "ir + a + infinitive," which gives the song a more immediate, conversational tone.
Here are more examples to help you get comfortable with this construction:
¡Ay, buena idea! Yo voy a buscar a ver si tengo el teléfono en la base de datos.
Oh, good idea! I'm going to look and see if I have the phone number in the database.
Captions 70-71, Confidencial: Broma pesada Capítulo 4 - Part 8
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ella va a hacer la ensalada y yo voy a hacer la carne.
she is going to make the salad, and I am going to make the meat.
Caption 12, Misión Chef 2 - Pruebas - Part 7
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Vamos a ver algunas preguntas para que puedan ver las diferentes opciones que se pueden utilizar en diversos contextos.
We're going to look at some questions so that you can see the different options that can be used in various contexts.
Captions 12-14, Carlos explica 20 formas de decir sí sin decir sí
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El próximo año, ellos van a vivir en otro país.
Next year, they are going to live in another country.
Caption 42, Clase Aula Azul Planes para el futuro - Part 2
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To use this structure correctly, you need to know how to conjugate the verb ir for each person:
Yo voy a (I am going to)
Tú/Vos vas a (You are going to)
Él/Ella | Usted va a (He/She is going to | You [formal] are going to)
Nosotros/Nosotras vamos a (We are going to)
Vosotros/Vosotras vais a (You all are going to)
Ellos/Ellas | Ustedes van a (They | You all are going to)
While both forms are correct, "ir + a + infinitive" is more commonly used in spoken Spanish. It’s simpler and feels more natural in everyday conversation. So, next time you want to talk about your future plans, try using this structure!
That’s it for today. Ready to start using the "ir + a + infinitive" structure in your Spanish conversations? Leave us a comment with your own example sentences, and don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
...y que trae algo a la mesa de lo que es hoy en día es la música en general, ... trae algo diferente, algo novedoso, algo fresco.
...and brings something to the table that nowadays, the music generally, ... it brings something different, something new, something fresh.
Captions 43-46, Javier García - EPK - Part 2
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More generalizations. This time, we're hearing about music "nowadays" from Javier García's producer Gustavo Santaolalla -who won an Oscar for best original score for "Brokeback Mountain" (marketed as Secreto en la Montaña in Spanish). Yes, hoy en día is how you say "nowadays" in Spanish, which you will make note of if you ever want to be as fluent in both languages as Santaolalla is. In his Oscar acceptance speech LA-resident Santaolalla dedicated his Oscar to "todos los latinos." He said both "gracias" and "thank you," which played very well in Latin American newspapers. (To save you time, the article linked describes some Latino papers' reactions--from Miami to Mexico, Brazil to Chile.)
En un principio esta fuente cumplió su función de abastecimiento de agua a los ciudadanos de Madrid.
At first this fountain acomplished its function of supplying water to the citizens of Madrid.
Pero hoy en día su función es totalmente decorativa.
But nowadays its function is totally decorative.
Captions 15-18, Marisa en Madrid - Monumentos de Madrid
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In this example of the use of the phrase, Marisa shows us a beautiful, neoclassical fountain in Madrid called Fuente de Cibeles (The Fountain of Cybele).
Cuando las minas te piden tiempo en realidad lo que quieren decir es que no seas más ganso... y que vayas directamente a los bifes.
When chicks ask you for time what they really mean is that you should stop being a fool... and go straight into action.
Captions 4-6, Verano Eterno - Fiesta Grande - Part 7
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¿Que quieren decir? Ok, here's a generalization about men: Whenever you hear men make generalizations about women, be very skeptical! In this installment of Verano Eterno, unemployed Juan offers his unsolicited advice about minas (that is, "women" in Argentine slang) to his lovestruck buddy Mani. According to the wisdom of Juan (captions 4-6, as quoted above): "When chicks ask you for [more] time, what they really mean is stop being a fool and go for it."
Of course, Juan is young and speaks casually to his friend, so there's some slang to decipher to get his precise meaning. Ganso, which literally means "goose," is easy enough to understand in context. But it may help to know that hacer el ganso generally means "to play the fool," and so, naturally, ser un ganso, is "to be a fool." But what about the end of the statement? ir a los bifes In a way, it too follows its literal meaning: "To go to the meat" -er, more or less. Checking in with native speakers, the phrase vayas a los bifes more commonly means "go for it".
While there are many words that are identical in Spanish and English (e.g. original, horror, etc.), other words play different tricks on us. This short lesson is about one of those "false friends," or words that are written the same as or similar to words in another language but have very different meanings.
An age-old mistake among English speakers is to use the verb realizar as a means of conveying "to come to know" or "realize." Of course, most of you know by now that this is a false cognate as realizar usually means "to achieve," "bring to fruition," etc.
In fact, the correct way to say "to realize" is darse cuenta. Let's take a look at a couple of clips in order to see that verb in action:
Eh, darse cuenta que... que hay mucha gente, muchos chavales, que han podido perder una familia en'... a sus padres, se pueden quedar huérfanos.
Um, realizing that... that there many people, many young people, who have managed to lose an [entire] family... their parents; they can end up orphans.
Captions 12-13, Iker Casillas - apoya el trabajo de Plan
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Y de pronto te das cuenta de que... de que no quieres estar con nadie más.
And suddenly you realize that... that you don't want to be with anyone else.
Captions 29-30, Cortometraje - Flechazos
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And now, let's see how the Spanish verb realizar is used throughout this El Aula Azul video:
Entonces voy a coger los datos para realizar la inscripción.
Then I'm going to take down the information to carry out the registration.
Caption 1, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Los cursos de español
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Y ahí tendrá toda la información para realizar el pago.
And there he'll have all of the information to make the payment.
Caption 31, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Los cursos de español
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Y toda la información que pueda necesitar para... para realizar su curso.
And all the information that he might need to... to take his course.
Caption 32, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Los cursos de español
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As you can see, the verb realizar can be used in many different ways, just not in the way in which a native English speaker might initially expect!
That's all for today. We hope this lesson helps you to avoid making this common mistake. And don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.
Dice que tenían... mucha capacidad o mucha voluntad, mucha fuerza.
Say that they had... a lot of capacity or a lot of will, lots of strength.
Captions 39-40, Rafael T. - Guatemala Hermosa
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Rafael T. obviously enjoys telling tales of his beautiful (hermosa) country, Guatemala. In this video, he tells us the tale of a mountain called Cerro de Oro that, back in the day -a hundred or so years ago- his ancestors managed to move inland from the coast. How did they manage to accomplish that? "They say they had a lot of capacity or a lot of will, lots of strength..." Rafael explains in captions 39-40. But despite their remarkable fuerza de voluntad ("willpower"), it turns out they were unable to move the mountain as far as they were aiming for. So, as you can see, in legends and reality, voluntad is a word to describe an intention, wish or will, but not necessarily an accomplishment.
On a related note, por mi propia voluntad -meaning "of my own free will"--is a common Spanish phrase that makes voluntad's tie to the English word "voluntary" easy to see.
Reventar
transitive verb
1. (a un caballo) "to ride to death"
2. (una propuesta, huelga) "to break"
3. (molestar mucho, enfadar) "to annoy, bother": Le revienta que le lleven la contraria, "he hates it when people cross him"
4. (un globo, las costuras) "to burst"
Courtesy of WordReference.com
As you see in the definitions above, reventar is quite a loaded verb. Depending on the context, it can mean "to ride a horse [or some other beast of burden] to death." It can also mean "to break a strike" or "to burst a seam." But the definition we're interested in here is #3, when Muñeca Brava's housebound matriarch gives her poor son the third degree. Her son responds:
Me revienta que me digas "te lo dije."
I hate it when you say "I told you so."
Caption 35, Muñeca Brava - 1 Piloto
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You see, he hates it when his mother says, "I told you so." Really, who doesn't? And guess what mother says right after that? Te lo dije. Them's fighting words.
(As an aside: Did you notice that the same actress plays another cranky and bossy matriarch in Provócame? Yes, in our new clip this week she has choice words for just about everyone who enters her sight.)
Tratá siempre a desbordar y mandar centro, desbordar y mandar centro ¿eh?
Try to always overtake and kick it to the center, overtake and send it to the center, eh?
Captions 2-3, Muñeca Brava - 1 Piloto
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If you clicked on the word desbordar in caption 2 while watching the 10th installment of Muñeca Brava, you saw the most common definition -"to flood"- pop up first from our Spanish-English dictionary. But desbordar doesn't only mean to flood. Not on the soccer field, for example. It also means "to surpass; to overwhelm" -or, even more sports-specifically, "to outplay." Looking at Latin American papers' sports pages (always filled with fútbol), you'll see desbordar is a favorite verb among sportswriters. For example: Desbordar a sus rivales means "to outplay their rivals."
Back to our first scene in Muñeca Brava, the good Father/coach is directing a young player to "always try to overtake your opponent and send the ball to the center, overtake him and send it center, eh?" Sounds easier said than done.
Note: Even our native speakers aren't 100% in agreement if the priest is talking about overtaking the ball, overtaking the player, or simply "outplaying" the opposing player. One native thought he was talking about "faking" a move, but we can't come to an agreement on that -- the distinction probably wasn't important to the tv writers, who perhaps just were aiming for some "coach talk."
At the estancia in Provócame, there's an obvious and deep class divide between the wealthy landowners and the support staff that takes care of all their horses and messes. Toti, the goofy stablehand sporting a gaucho cap, is definitely of the lower class. He speaks in a way they don't teach you in school. When Toti gossips with a fellow staffer and her daughter, some knowledge of local slang is needed.
¿Lo dejó plantado a Mariano? -Sí, se tomó el olivo.
She stood Mariano up? -Yes, she took off.
Caption 22, Provócame - Piloto
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No sabés el despiole que hay en esa casa... ¡Impresionante!
You have no idea what a mess there's in that house... impressive!
Caption 23, Provócame - Piloto
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So, what did he say? Se tomó el olivo literally means "She took the olive," but the slangy significance, which is made clear to all in the context, is that the would-be bride "took off--skedaddled".
Toti calls the resulting scene a despiole, which is a slangy way of saying "mess" (lío or desorden). [Note Toti also uses this distinctly Argentine word in Part 6, so it might be a favorite of his.]
Buah, era esa pavadita que venía a contar... Chau.
Well, it was that little silliness I came to tell... Bye.
Caption 24, Provócame - Piloto
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Pavo, you may have discovered one Thursday in late November (if you're a Yank), is "turkey," a pavero is a "turkey farmer" and a pavada is a "flock of turkeys," but figuratively una pavada is "a silly thing." So when Toti says "era esa pavadita venia a contar..." he is telling Marisol and Julieta "that was the silly little thing I came to tell." [Che, there's contar again!]
Are you familiar with the verb contar and its meanings in Spanish? Beyond its most common translations, which we'll be sure to reveal, this extremely useful verb is used in many additional ways. Let's take a look at some of them.
One of the most common meanings of contar is "to tell." Let's see this in action:
Abuelo, te voy a contar un secreto.
Grandpa, I'm going to tell you a secret.
Caption 9, Guillermina y Candelario Mi Primer Tesoro
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Soy Rosa Chaparro y os voy a contar la historia de Mika.
I'm Rosa Chaparro, and I'm going to tell you the story of Mika.
Caption 2, Rosa La perrita Mika
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We also use the verb contar when we want to quantify, or "count," things:
Y vamos contando cuántas hierbas tenemos, ¿sí?
And we're counting how many herbs we have, right?
Caption 47, Otavalo Proyecto familiar Kawsaymi - Part 7
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That said, we hope it is now clear that it's one thing contar los números (to count numbers) and another, very different thing contar historias (to tell stories). Context, however, should make it perfectly clear which meaning is meant, which we can see in these two clips from our friend Luis Guitarra:
Para contar los números, podemos usar los dedos de nuestras manos.
To count the numbers, we can use the fingers on our hands.
Captions 5-6, Luis Guitarra Aprendiendo a contar
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Con él, yo aprendí a contar historias.
With him, I learned to tell stories.
Caption 71, Luis Guitarra Influencias musicales - Part 1
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Rafael, the speaker in the following clips, consistently uses the verb contar coupled with the preposition con where we might have expected to hear tener (to have). Let's take a look:
Cuando uno ya cuenta con familia...
When you already have a family...
Caption 11, Rafael T. - Viaje al norte
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Yo cuento con una... con una farmacia, con una mini-farmacia.
I own a... a pharmacy, one mini-pharmacy.
Caption 18, Rafael T. - Viaje al norte
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Although its literal meaning is "to count with," when Rafael uses contar con to talk about a family, he means when one "has" a family, while this same verb has been translated as "own" in the example regarding the pharmacy. Let's check out another clip from our friend Fermín:
Por supuesto, tenemos la suerte de contar con una señora británica que se encarga de controlar que los gatos callejeros que viven aquí
Of course, we are lucky enough to have a British lady who's in charge of making sure that the alley cats who live here
Captions 20-21, Fermín y los gatos Mis gatas vecinas
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So, we see that "to have" or "to own" are both acceptable translations for contar con.
On the other hand, if someone asks "¿Puedo contar contigo?" they don't want to know if they can "have" you, but rather whether they can "count on" you. Let's look at a couple of examples of contar con with this meaning.
cuente con mi apoyo y con la embajada para lo que se le ofrezca.
count on my support and on the embassy for whatever you need.
Caption 42, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 4 - Part 4
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sabes que puedes contar conmigo, ¿sí? -Bueno.
you know that you can count on me, OK? -OK.
Caption 71, Muñeca Brava 36 La pesquisa - Part 6
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And finally, sin contar or sin contar con, which literally mean "without counting (with)," can be utilized to express the idea of "not to mention" or "without taking into account." Let's look at a couple of clips from our series Confidencial: El rey de la estafa:
Eso sin contar los lujos que te debes dar
That's not to mention the luxuries you must give yourself
Caption 21, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 3 - Part 8
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Eso, sin contar con la publicidad que vais a recibir
That, without taking into account the publicity that you're going to get
Captions 52-53, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 5 - Part 5
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That's all for today. We hope you've enjoyed this lesson on some of the many uses of the Spanish verb contar, and don't forget to send us your suggestions and comments.
Nena, nena, nena, nena, nena, yo me voy
Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, I'm leaving
No te puedo mentir, no me puedo callar
I can't lie to you, I can't shut up
Captions 10-11, Bloque - Nena
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Anyone who sees the video Nena by the Colombian band Bloque, even once, will be quite certain that the word nena means "baby." It can also be translated "babe," as in, "hey babe, get me a beer." Nena is the feminine form of nene, which has the same meaning but is used when referring to a male. Try these out next time you encounter an actual bebé (or when you need un trago.)
Remember, amigos, we present you with authentic Spanish here at Yabla, and Taimur is a second grader auténtico, which means our young friend is entitled to make a grammatical mistake or two himself, ¿verdad? (Not to mention that Spanish is also his second language.)
No y... soy muy estudiantil.
No and... I study a lot. ["estudioso" (studious) would be more correct.]
Caption 18, Taimur - Taimur canta
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In caption 18 of the video "Taimur canta" he says Soy muy estudiantil, and, similarly, you may have noted that in "Taimur habla" he states yo soy muy estudiante. It's clear that Taimur enjoys school and studies hard, and no doubt his teachers and parents notice that él es un estudiante muy estudioso ("He is very studious student").
The word estudiante is the noun for "student," so Taimur probably should have said Soy un buen estudiante, "I'm a good student." Or he might have chosen to tell us Yo soy muy estudioso, "I am very studious."
The word estudiantil is the adjective for "student," so a student run organization is an organización estudiantil, students who travel are engaging in turismo estudiantil, between classes young scholars might relax in a sálon estudiantil, and students who protest, if they have an effective leader, might create a full-fledged movimiento estudiantil.
Se te acabó el tiempo, Milagros.
You've run out of time, Milagros.
Caption 37, Muñeca Brava - 1 Piloto
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Is there anything scarier than finding an angry nun in your room late at night? In this installment of Muñeca Brava, our heroine Milagros encounters a stern Mother Superior back in her room at the orphanage after sneaking out for some night-clubbing. The nun disregards the girl’s flimsy excuses and says ominously: "Se te acabó el tiempo, Milagros."
-The declaration means: "You’ve run out of time, Milagros." But if you look at the construction "se te acabó" -from the reflexive verb acabársele (to run out of)- it more literally means "Time has run out on you."
We find something similar going on in caption 19 of Taimur habla.
Pero esos se me echaron a perder y se los llevaron pa' llá.
But they got destroyed and they took them over there.
Caption 19, Taimur - Taimur habla
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Our friend-for-life Taimur is tellling us "they got destroyed (on me)" or "they got wrecked (on me)." Like the good monja above, he might have put the subject last, had he wanted to: Se me echaron a perder mis cosas ("My things got wrecked").
These are examples of a special se construction used to describe unplanned or accidental occurences in Spanish. As a rule, the se + me, te, le, les or nos (indirect object) + verb construction describes occurrences that happen "to someone" (a alguien). The verb agrees with what in English is the thing acted upon (the direct object) because in Spanish that thing becomes the subject, that which is doing the action. No need to get mired in grammar, just have a look at these other examples and it should start to soak in.
Se nos está acabando el pan. (acabársele)
We’re running out of bread. / The bread is running out on us.
Se me rompieron los anteojos. (rompérsele)
I (accidently) broke my glasses. / My glasses broke on me.
De repente, a Pablo se le ocurrió una idea. (ocurrírsele)
Suddenly, an idea ocurred to Pablo.
Se tiró todo el ropero encima....
She threw everything in the closet on her...
Caption 37, Provócame - Piloto
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The scene is a high society wedding. Two women are talking conspiratorially. A third woman walks by, they say "Hi" but then quickly comment and giggle to each other. You know they just said something catty, but what was it? Here's the replay: "¿Está Loca? Se tiró todo el ropero encima." ("Is she crazy? She threw on her whole wardrobe.") In all likelihood the victim of this verbal assault was not wearing everything she owned. However, with her estola ("stole"), joyas de oro ("gold jewelry") and vestido sin tirantes ("strapless dress"), the gossips want to say that she is overdressed.
Outside a Spanish classroom, say, on the streets or on the radio, it's very common to hear pa in place of para (for, towards, to a destination, etc.), as we hear in the captions below:
pa todas las funciones, pa todos los públicos.
for every show, for every audience.
Caption 40, Circo Berlín Fran - Part 1
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Él va pa Chicago.
He goes to Chicago.
Caption 32, Cerro de Ancón Entrenamiento
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Interviewing young Taimur in a middle class neighborhood in Coro, Venezuela, a whole series of the word pa is heard to drive home this point, but this time in the form of contractions with other Spanish words as well. In the captions below, we see that Vine p'acá is the shortened form of Vine para acá and means "I came here," whereas Voy p'allá (Voy para allá) means "I'll go there." In both cases, pa indicates the destination.
y como yo no soy de este país, me vine p'acá.
and since I'm not from this country, I came here.
Caption 11, Taimur Taimur habla
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Ya yo voy p'allá y me voy pa mi país otra vez.
I'm going there soon, and I'm going to my country again.
Caption 23, Taimur Taimur habla
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Looking for more examples? In the intro to Shakira's ubiquitous song La Tortura (Torture), one can hear that pa ti is the fast way to say "for you," and if you search for p'acá, p'allá or pa'l on the internet, you'll be inundated with letras (lyrics) from the Spanish-speaking parts of the Caribbean down to the tip of Chile and even Spain! Let's hear a couple of song excerpts:
Todo este dinero que yo tengo es pa' ti
All this money that I have is for you
Caption 9, Karamelo Santo Vivo en una isla
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Echa pa' un lado que traigo dinamita
Move aside 'cause I'm bringing dynamite
Caption 2, Javier García EPK - Part 2
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Note that, while you might run across pa written as pa' (with an apostrophe) as it was penned in the official versions of the song lyrics above, this is incorrect since pa on its own is an apocope, or shortened word form, unlike the previous contractions that combine two or more words. You might also find it written with an accent as pá, but this is also incorrect since, according to the Spanish accent rules, with the exception of the diacritical accent, monosyllabic words should never have a written accent.
In conclusion, keep in mind that the Spanish word pa and its related contractions are used in informal or artistic writing and speech and should generally not be employed in formal situations. With this in mind, we hope you have enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to write us with your questions and comments.
Entonces siempre hacía de alguna manera castings, lo que hoy llamamos castings.
So somehow he always used to do castings, what we call today castings.
Captions 25-26, Biografía - Natalia Oreiro
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In this chapter of the life of actress Natalie Oreiro, the English word "casting" or plural "castings" is heard not once, but four times. (Note that casting's "i" follows its Spanish pronunciation rules and is pronounced like a long "e" in English, kind of like "casteeng.") In our Spanish-to-Spanish dictionary, casting (noun) is defined as "selección de personas para actuar en una película, un anuncio publicitario, etc." In other words, it's similar to its Hollywood meaning.
"Casting" is but one of the many English words creeping into Spanish dictionaries these days. In Natalie's native Uruguay, one may go to el shopping (the shopping center, or, mall) to buy un smoking (a smoking jacket) to wear for el casting (the casting call). In each of these cases, the "-ing" word is considered a masculine noun in Spanish, even if it's English equivalent started as an adjective modifying another noun.
Porque esos terrenos los vamos a conseguir, y vamos a hacer el shopping ahí.
Because those plots of land, we're going to get them and we're going to build the mall there.
Captions 8-9, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza
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Además, si estás enamorado y no te dan bolilla...
Besides, if you're in love and the other one doesn't give you a second thought...
es como un piedrazo en la cabeza.
it's like getting hit on the head with a rock.
Captions 29-30, Verano Eterno - Fiesta Grande
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That's gotta hurt. In Spanish, the suffix azo can signify a blow by the object at the root of the word. So, piedrazo means a blow by a piedra, or stone. By this logic:
Bala -> "bullet"
Balazo -> "blow by a bullet; a gunshot wound."
Codo -> "elbow"
Codazo -> "blow by an elbow; nudge."
One way to make a TV theme song irresistibly catchy is through repetition. In Chayanne's theme song for Provócame, it works. Take these two lines:
Por amor. Por amar.
For love. For loving.
Captions 9-10, Provócame - Piloto
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The straightforward translation is: "For love / For loving." Amor is a noun meaning "love." Meanwhile, change one letter and amar is the infinitive "to love." In Spanish, the infinitive is often used the way we in English use the gerund (with the -ing ending). For example, "I like singing" is translated as Me gusta cantar in proper Spanish.
Ok. You probably figured out quickly that the repeated por here means "for" in English. But it's a little more complicated than that. You see, there are two words that both mean "for" in Spanish: Por and para. Por can mean "for the sake of, in the cause of, or, by means of," while para can mean "with the destination of, or, in order to." In Chayenne's lyrics, por amor can be translated as "for love" in the sense of "for the sake of love" [like we saw in last week's newsletter, with por amor, usa forro ("for the sake of love, use a condom")]. That's straightforward. But some might argue Chayenne is taking a little bit of poetic license when he says por amar ("for the sake of loving") in instead of para amar, ("in order to love"), which is a more common construction with the infinitive of a verb. But, really, it works both ways - and it certainly sounds catchier with the repeated por.
Hablar por hablar.
To talk for the sake of talking.
Aprender español para hablarlo.
To learn Spanish in order to speak it.
You want more? See Por y Para at https://www.thoughtco.com/taking-confusion-out-of-por-para-3078140
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