New CEO at Isdefe: Learn Spanish Corporate Moves

Key vocabulary

• empresaf.

  company, firm

  “Isdefe es una empresa pública.”— Isdefe is a public company.

  Pattern empresa pública state-owned enterprise; empresa privada private enterprise

  Compare compañía (company)

  plural empresas

  💡 From Latin 'prehendere' (to grasp), extended to mean 'undertaking, enterprise'.

• públicaadj.

  public, state-owned

  “Esta es una universidad pública.”— This is a public university.

  Pattern empresa pública state-owned enterprise; opinión pública public opinion

  Compare público (public); estatal (state-owned)

  masculine singular público, masculine plural públicos, feminine plural públicas

  💡 From Latin publicus, cognate with English public; note the feminine form ends in -a.

• director generalm.

  general manager, CEO

  “El director general habla con los empleados.”— The general manager speaks with the employees.

  Pattern director general de empresa company general manager

  Compare gerente general (general manager)

  plural directores generales

  💡 director comes from Latin dirigere (to guide), general means 'overall', together referring to the person in overall charge.

• dimisiónf.

  resignation

  “La dimisión del jefe fue una sorpresa.”— The boss's resignation was a surprise.

  Pattern presentar la dimisión to submit one's resignation

  Compare renuncia (resignation)

  plural dimisiones

  💡 From Latin dimissio, prefix di- meaning apart, miss- meaning send, i.e. 'sending away' one's position.

• responsabilidadf.

  responsibility

  “Tiene mucha responsabilidad en su trabajo.”— He has a lot of responsibility in his job.

  Pattern tener la responsabilidad de to have the responsibility of

  Compare obligación (obligation), deber (duty)

  plural responsabilidades

  💡 From Latin respondere (to answer), extended to mean 'taking responsibility'.

• dirigirv.

  to lead, to direct

  “Ella dirige un equipo de diez personas.”— She leads a team of ten people.

  Pattern dirigir una empresa to lead a company

  Compare liderar (to lead), gestionar (to manage)

  Present: dirijo, diriges, dirige, dirigimos, dirigís, dirigen

  💡 From Latin dirigere, related to direct, meaning 'to make straight', extended to 'to guide'

• cambiom.

  change, swap

  “El cambio de horario es bueno para mí.”— The schedule change is good for me.

  Pattern cambio de líder change of leader

  Compare modificación (modification), alteración (alteration)

  plural: cambios

  💡 From Latin cambiare, cognate with English change; note the stress is on the a.

• trabajadorm.

  worker, employee

  “Los trabajadores de la fábrica están contentos.”— The factory workers are happy.

  Pattern trabajador temporal temporary worker

  Compare empleado (employee)

  plural: trabajadores

  💡 From the verb trabajar (to work), -dor indicates the agent, i.e. one who works.

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• Isdefe, una empresa pública de España, tiene un nuevo director general.

  Isdefe, a public company from Spain, has a new general director.

  Proper nouns, una + description, tiene + objectReplaceable: company name, descriptive phrase, object possessed.

• Él empieza su trabajo después de la dimisión de Manuel Cutrín.

  He starts his work after Manuel Cutrín's resignation.

  Subject + empieza + su trabajo después de + nounReplaceable: subject, type of work, time noun.

• Ahora Daniel Acuña tiene la responsabilidad de dirigir la compañía.

  Now Daniel Acuña has the responsibility of leading the company.

  Ahora + subject + tiene la responsabilidad de + infinitiveReplaceable: time word, subject, infinitive verb.

• Un cambio de líder es importante para una empresa.

  A change of leader is important for a company.

  Un cambio de + noun + es importante para + nounReplaceable: object of change, object of importance.

• El nuevo CEO puede traer nuevas ideas y proyectos.

  The new CEO can bring new ideas and projects.

  Subject + puede + verb + objectReplaceable: subject, verb, object.