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Published: Wednesday, 08 November 2023 05:32
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Prepositions and Adverbs:

Prepositions are words that show the relationship between elements in a sentence. Simply put, prepositions are connector words. These connectors customarily tie a noun to an idea.  An example of this is in the sentence, “I went to the store.” “To” connects the location of “store” to where the person went. So,"to" is a preposition. A preposition takes an object. If there’s a noun following the term, it usually indicates the term is a preposition

Adverbs are similar to Prepositions, but slightly different. An adverb doesn’t take an object. Adverbs such as these usually appear at the end of the clause or sentence. 

ex: "He ran down the stairs", then down is a preposition, since the noun "stairs" appears after the term "down". If it's "He ran down", then "down" is an adverb since there's no object.

ex: Maria looked out the window. => Here out is a preposition, since object "window" is present. If it's "We’re going out at 7:00 pm tonight", then out is an adverb, as there's no object, It's just the time that's mentioned.

Spanish language has same word for different prepositions, so it's very hard to learn how to use them properly. They are the ones that are mastered the last, but are used the most. Many words are both adverbs and prepositions, and their usage with or without an object determines what they classify as. We'll go over basic prepositions and adverbs (they are not strictly one or the other but general guidance).

Prepositions:

Often a preposition is a short word such as but, for, and, etc.

  • pero => but (i.e I want to go, but I can't => quiero ir, pero no puedo). Also used as "yet", which is similar to "but". ex: yet I failed => but still I failed.
  • por vs para => both of these words are used as replacement of English word "for". However, "for" in English is used in so many diff ways, that it's not a good translation.
    • Very good video on "por vs para" usage (Real Fast Spanish channel by Andrew) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBY2HEWyOEQ
    • por => means "because of". Remember "por" is more like "of", even though it sounds like "for" (por and for look similar, but por is NOT for). Remember "por que" means "because of what" or "why?", so "por" means "of".
      • ex: I'm writing a song for my friend => Here friend is dead, so we can think of it as "I am writing a song because of memory of my friend. So it's por => estoy escribiendo una canción por mi amigo
      • ex: I'm studying medicines for my parents => reworded as " I'm studying medicine because of the desire of my parents" => estoy estudio medicina por mis padres
      • ex: Thanks for the gift / sorry for .... => reworded as "Thanks because of the act of giving me the gift" => gracias por el regalo. For sorry, it's "Lo siento por ...".
    • para => means "in order to". This is more like English "for". It's used when someone is directly benefiting from someone's action.
      • ex: I'm writing a song for my friend => Here friend is alive, so we can think of it as "I am writing a song in order to cheer/surprise/.../ my friend (friend is benefiting here). So it's para => estoy escribiendo una canción para mi amigo
      • ex:  I'm studying medicines for my parents => reworded as " I'm studying medicine in order to find cure for my parents" => estoy estudio medicina para mis padres
  • y (pronounced spanish "e" or English "a") => and. i.e Balls and balloons.
  • o => OR. Do you like tennis or Football? => ¿te/le gusta el tenis o el fútbol? =>  gustar is explained under -ar verb separately.

 

Adverbs:

Often adverbs are words like If, then, with, to, etc.

  • Si => If. This is w/o an accent. If we put an accent on i, then Sí (with an accent on i) => yes.
  • con => with.
  • a => To (we saw this in verb section and personal "a" section).
    • al => To the. If "a" is followed by el (masculine noun), we combine them to form short cut +el = al. See in "ir verb" section.
  • en => in/on. It can mean either "in", "on","at", "inside", etc and meaning is clear from context. estar form is used as it's location.
    • in: estoy en casa => I'm in the house
    • on: el libro está en la mesa => the book is on the table. If we used "la caja", then en will mean "in" as most likely "it's in the box".
  • de => of or from. Most commonly used meaning of "de" is of, but sometimes it means "from" too. There are many other meanings too depending on context.
    • of:
      • el presidente de Francia => the president of France
      • to the right/left of => a la derecha de / a la izquierda de
    • from:
      • Soy de Londres. I’m from London.
    • del => of the / from the. If de is followed by el (i.e masculine noun), we combine the 2 words to form "de+el=del". el is used as "the" for masculine nouns, so del only appears with masculine nouns (of + the + masculine noun). If we have feminine nouns that require la, then de + la remain separate.
      • Es la casa del padre de mi amigo => It is the house of my friend’s father (the father of my friend). Since it's "de el padre", it becomes "del padre"
      • Es la casa de la madre de mi amigo. Here, because madre is feminine, you use la, (don't combine de and la)
      • He is from the market => él es del mercado. If it was "from the class", then it's "de la clase"
  • sobre => about. ex: I want a book about cars => quiero un libro sobre autos
  • alguien / nadie => somebody / nobody
  • adentro / afuera => inside / outside
    • ex: ¿Dónde están las llaves? => Where are the Keys? Response would be "The keys are inside / outside" => las llaves están adentro / afuera (we can drop "las llaves" as is generally donw with I, you in spanish). So simply "están adentro / afuera"
  • luego / pronto  => later / soon. ex: hasta luego / hasta pronto 
  • detrás de / frente de => behind of / infront of (of someone)
    • ex: Ella está detrás de mí.  
  • cada/todo/todos=> each/all (see in "numbers" section)
    • everyday => todos los días
  • tambíén => Also. as well, too
    • ex: él también tienes mucho talento => He too has a lot of talent.
  • entonces => then or so. As we use in common sentences. ex: Then what? => ¿entonces qué?
  • otra vez => Again. otra means "another", vez means "time", so whole phrase means "another time" or "again". 
  • Ya vs Todavía vs Aún => Ya and todavia (with an accent on i)  refer to similar thing as already, still, yet, etc. However, there's a difference. Ya is a separation of past and present event (remember Ya as having having a big line in Y separating past and present, while todavia is just continuation with no such line). 
    • Ya => means "already". Events changed here, i.e something in past has changed now in present.
      • ex: Ya terminé la tarea. => I already finished the homework. (homework wasn't finished in past, but is finished now)
    • Ya no => means “not anymore” or “no longer.” You’re talking about something that used to happen or be true, but has now stopped. Think of ya no as highlighting a transition or interruption in a previous pattern. Note: events have changed here too, as expected in Ya above.
      • ex: Ya no vivo en México. => I don’t live in Mexico anymore. (used to live in Mexico in past, not it's changed now where he doesn't live anymore)
    • Todavía (accent on i) => means "still" or "yet". You use todavía to talk about something ongoing, which hasn’t changed, or continues to be true. Note: Events are continuing here, no change in events.
      • ex: Todavía vivo con mis padres.=> I still live with my parents. (used to live with parents in past, and still live with them in preset)
    • Todavía no (accent on i) => means “not yet.” It implies that something hasn’t happened, but the speaker expects it to happen in the future.
      • ex: Todavía no he comido. => I haven’t eaten yet. (I didn't eat in past, and still haven't eaten in present)
    • Aún => is a synonym of Todavia and can be used interchangeably. 
      • ex: Aún estoy haciendo la tarea. => I'm still doing my homework.
    • Link (text) => https://blog.worldsacross.com/index/whats-the-difference-between-ya-and-todav%C3%ADa-in-spanish
    • Link (Real Fast Spanish) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA9uaIqCD-Q

 

 

Prepositional Pronouns (PP):

When Pronouns are used after a preposition, they are known as prepositional pronouns (PP). Ex: This is for him. Here "him" has preposition "for", so it's a PP, and has to follow the table below. The transformation table for PP remains same as that for pronouns, for all entries of 3x2 table, except for 1st and 2nd person singular. There is one other rule with "con" => 1st and 2nd table entries change to combine con with PP. It becomes con+PP+go all in 1 word. See below.

 NOTE: him, her, them, us, etc should have followed DOP/IOP tables shown in Pronouns section. But instead since they have prepositions, they follow the below table.

 Pronouns singular (only 1st/2nd person change) plural ( all same as pronoun table)
Me /us => First person

mí => with accent. It also means "my" (see in pronoun section). Regular pronoun table has "yo" here.

with me => conmigo (we don't use "con mí" => special rule)

ex: Do you want to go with me? => ¿Quieres ir conmigo?

nosotros / nosotras => us (No nos  as in DOP/IOP)

ex: This is for us => esto es para nosotros (us should have been "nos" as per DOP/IOP table, but instead we use pronoun for "we" => us and we have same transform)
You / You all  => Second person

ti => Regular pronoun table has "tú" here.

with you => contigo (we don't use "con ti" => special rule)

ex: Yes, I do want to go with you => Sí, quiero ir contigo.

vosotros / vosotras => You all (No vos  as in DOP/IOP)

 
Him, her, it / them=> Third person

él /ella => him, her, it (No lo/la/le as in DOP/IOP)

ex: life is easy for her => la vida es fácil para ella.

ex: This gift is from him => este regalo es de él. (No del as it's él and NOT el)

ellos / ellas => Them (No los/las/les as in DOP/IOP)

ex: They go with them => ellos van con ellos (them should have been los/las based on IOP/DOP table, but instead we use pronoun for "they".

 

 

 

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Published: Tuesday, 07 November 2023 02:35
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Bones and Muscles:

Very imp part of our body are bones and muscles.

Bones:

Childhood and adolescence is the period of greatest bone density. All through your life, your body is continually removing old bone and replacing it with fresh bone. This process is called remodeling. Until 30, we tend to gain more bone mass than we lose. After 30, reverse happens. Up until about age 40, all the bone removed is replaced. After age 40, however, less bone is replaced and we start losing bone mass. Once bones start getting brittle and weak, it can lead to disease like rickets and osteoporosis. it's very difficult to make them stronger again, so try to keep bones healthy in your young age. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), 50 percent of Americans over age 50 have weak bones. 80% of them are women, as their bones are smaller and thinner. Additionally, levels of the female hormone estrogen, which helps protect bones, declines sharply after menopause. No wonder, for women, we see so many more bone issues. So for women, protecting bones is even more important.

Bone mass vs Bone density: Bone weight is about 15% of body weight, but that is not a useful metric. Bone density is more important metric for bone health. The DXA (central dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) test measures your bone density compared to the bone density of a healthy young adult. Your score on the test is called your T-score. The normal healthy adult gets a T-Score of 0. If your T-score is more than one point (called a standard deviation) below 0, you may have weak bones, explains NIH. If your T score is between -1 and -2.5, you have low bone mass. If your score is -2.5 or lower, you have osteoporosis. Women are more prone to osteoporosis because of smaller bones.

Article from John Hopkins about bone maintenance => https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/osteoporosis/osteoporosis-what-you-need-to-know-as-you-age

Few tips to keep bones healthy:

  • Calcium + Vitamin D: Your bones store roughly 98 percent of the calcium in your body. Because calcium is important for many body functions, if you don't have enough, your body will take calcium out of your bone bank, thus weakening them. Take 1g of Calcium everyday (For people over 50, 1.2g is recommended). Foods like cheese, yougurt, milk, salmon, etc contain calcium. While calcium is the biggest bone-health player, your body also relies on Vitamin D, Vitamin K, Potassium and Magnesium to build strong bones. Vitamin D is needed to help calcium get absorbed into body. There are 2 sources of getting Vit D - one thru exposure to UV rays from sun, and other thru food. Very few foods (eggs, Orange Juice, cereals, salmon, etc) contain enough Vit D, so Vit D supplements are needed. Recommended amount is 1000 IU of Vit D every day. Upper safe limit is 4000 IU per day. 1000 IU is 25 microgram (0.025 mg or 25 mcg) of Vit D, so very small amount of Vit D is enough. Vit D helps with many other functions of our body too (helps build your immune system), so make sure you get enough. Indians have very low levels of Vit D, so make sure you take supplements with 2000-5000 IU. I've myself taken 50,000 IU Vit D supplements (once a week, prescribed by Doctor), as Vit D levels have been too low. That barely got me into the acceptable range. Recommended range for Vit D is b/w 30-100 in your blood test.
    • For vegetarians, 1 glass of milk (250ml) has 25% calcium and 25% Vit D requirement of an adult. Here milk is fortified with Vit D (sold in USA). Even Orange Juice come with fortified Calcium and Vit D, so take those.
    • Vit D: Vit D exists in 2 forms - Vit D2 and Vit D3. Vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol, is found in fungi (mushrooms) and yeasts. Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol (koli-kal-ciferol) is produced by the body via sunlight (Thru sunlight, the skin converts 7-Dehydrocholesterol into Vit D3) or ingested via food. Liver converts this cholecalciferol into 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol, which the kidneys then convert into 1, 25-DiHydroxycholecalciferol. This is also called calcitriol, which is the active form of Vit D. This moves into the small intestine, which then increases the number of calcium binding proteins. That helps with calcium absorption. Vit D3 is more important. When we say Vit D, we always mean Vit D3. Video on Vit D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLDYbSX5MLA
  • Exercise: Higher bone density is needed for stronger bones, and exercise helps with that. Lifting weights, running, biking all make your bones stronger.

 

Cartilage: This is a covering over the bone, seen in the thigh bone, where it meets the shin bone.

 

Muscles:

Few terms for diff kinds of muscles:

  • Ligaments => Soft tissue structures that connect bone to bone.
  • Tendons => These are much like Ligaments except that they connect bones to muscles. Muscles move the bones by pulling on the Tendons

 

Knee Basics:

Knees are the most important part of the bone structure and the most fragile. They are the first ones to give up due to old age, or plain wear and tear. It's important to consider knees in it's own section.

Knee bone basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q-Jxj5sT0g

Meniscus tear: This is one the common tears that you can get very easily. Once you get it, it's very difficult to fix by itself. Doctors will want to do surgery, but don't fall for it.

Good advice on this link: https://kingbrand.com/Meniscus-Information.php?msclkid=fb0a365fb9521e7e41d353ed1bb57eaa

 Parts of Knee:

  • Meniscus: These are C shaped shock absorbers between the thigh bone and shin bone, and help with the impact when the 2 bones aremoving aginst each other. It's made of cartilage, and hence has a poor blood supply. A tear in meniscus can cause lockup, giving out, pain when squatting, lifting weight, etc. Lock up or giving out is when you cannot straigten your knee completely while running. The torn parts of meniscus get in between the 2 bones, and cause pain. A Surgery is done to shave off these lose parts, and get them out of your body, which relives the pain. But then you have less of miniscus left, which may increase your chances of getting  arthritis down the line.

 

Knee Surgery: This is one of the most violent surgeries that is done in a human body. IHA has good video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mqZnJJNU5s

 

ACL Repair: Good animation on repair of ACL => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsq0sQp6DwU

 

 

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Published: Tuesday, 17 October 2023 01:30
Hits: 434

Kidneys:

Kidneys filter the blood of harmful elements along with water in the blood, and gets all of them out of the body by storing them in the bladder.

There are 2 kidneys on 2 sides below all other parts in abdomen, just at the last ribs of abdomen. One kidney is slightly lower than the other.

Link (short general video) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrU5g19Om0k

 

 

 

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Published: Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:41
Hits: 589

Human Anatomy

Here we'll learn about all major parts of human body, and how they work in tandem.There are different sections dedicated to different parts of human body as digestion, respiration,brain, muscles, etc.

There's this book on human anatomy that's very good book to get started. => https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Human-Body-Alice-Roberts/dp/0744073677

It's on sale and can be had for a dollar or two. Few deals:

You can also find it for free here: https://archive.org/details/AliceRobertsTheCompleteHumanBodyDKPublishing2016/page/n62/mode/2up

You can download each page individually as jpeg image, so no need to pay anyone anything. Enjoy free education !! (It has since been taken down, so need to move to other free resources)

Bunch of Free Resources on Human Body:

 Good vid on Lungs, Trachea and Heart (with a human body model) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzmvG3pgRVo

 

 In following sub sections, you will find devoted material on body parts as:

  • Brain
  • Heart
  • Lungs
  • Kidneys
  • Liver
  • Human cells
  • Blood
  • Hormones
  • Bones/Muscles
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Published: Saturday, 07 October 2023 18:12
Hits: 1152

Success Recipe to be Maaldaar:

This is a sample recipe to be Successful in life. Success may mean "to be rich" or "to be knowledgeable" or just "to be happy". Info below has been collected from multiple sources.

  • Prioritize your health: This is the number one advise given by Warren Buffett. Health is the most important asset you have, so devote time to it. Make sure that you do things that keep you healthy.
  • Be a lifelong Learner: This is one skill that separates winners from losers. Successful always keep learning. Just a few mins a day learning new words, new language, new game, new topic, etc can do wonders to your brain. On "CNBC Make It", it was reported that 71% of self made millionaires often read "self help" books, i.e instead of hiring someone to do something, learn it yourself so that you'll be more knowledgeable in it.
  • Listen more, talk less: This is another skill that's very hard to gain. Why? Because we all like talking. Self Made milliorares have 5:1 rule => For every minute they talk, they listen for 5 minutes. You should constantly seek feedback from people around you in order to improve yourself.
  • Build a team: Focus on your strength and outsource your weakness. Basically, always surround yourself with people smarter than you.
  • Hard Work and Luck go together: A lot of people work hard, but aren't as successful. Luck is a needed ingredient for you to be successful. Realize that and keep working.
  • Jealousy and Grudge: These are 2 skills you don't want to have, because they fail the homo sapiens species. "Never hold a grudge against somebody, because it poisons you and the other person won’t even remember,” says Katalin Karikó, a biochemist and researcher, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 2023.

 

 

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