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2. P n l< l l( l l)Au y
' r lt . t : r , lr ' , t lr l, r r k r r l llr r r r , r r l t r l , r \ l o l
\lt l(l\'tllll \lt,tttrrlt I ) or r ' l ll|t lr r , lr r r r t l lt ' r , r lr r r , ) \ l t t n l ) { ) \ \ t l ) l ( ,
to catclt trl) l)c(iLt s ( y or r t r t . t , t l llll) c t ( ) . t lr s t r r lr t l r e r r r , r t r , l l r l
and tt-rde ve lop tlr t ' s k ills .
3. LtnnuNEWvocABULARy
- Mentorizationplaysirn irnpor_
tant role in languagelearning.For instance,you will liavc
to memorizethe new vocabularyitems in order to produce them as you speakor write. One way to learn the
new vocabularyis by making flashcards.Write each new
vocabularyitem on a separateindex card with Spanishon
one sideand Englishon the other. To review,lôok at the
Englishword. Saythe corresponding
Spanishwor<Jaloud
or write it down; then flip the card over to check your
answer. You can also use the vocabularv lists in vour
Spanishtextbook to learn new words. Fiist, look at the
Spanishwords and try to saythe correspondingEnglish
words. Then look at the Englishwords and try to sày or
write the correspondingSpanishwords.
4. LEARru
NEWCRAMMAR
FORMS
- In addition to memorizing
vocabulary,you will needto memorizeverb conjugationsl
noun and ad jective endings, and other grammatical
forms. I{owever,simply memorizing new grammatical
forms is not enough. you will need to undeistandwhen
and how to use the grammaticalforms so that you can
produce them as you speakor write. By using English
Grammarfor Studentsof Spanishto compare the grammar
structuresin English and Spanish,you will learn how
thesestructuresfunction. Onceyou understandhow the
grammaticalstructuresfunction, it will be easierfor you
to learn to producethe forms by completing the exercises
and activitiesin your Spanishtextbook.
5. LrnnN To coMMUNtcArE
- The principle goal of your
Spanishinstructionis for you to be able to communicate
with Spanish speakersand to function in a Spanish_
speakingcountry. Learningvocabularyand grammar is
not the end goal; it is a meansto developyour ability to
communicate.Keepingthe goal in mind will help you see
the purposebehincl the exercisesyou do and *iil ulti_
matelyhelp makeyou a successful
languagelearner.
Buenasuerte,
Emily Spinelli
INTRODUCTION
Whe n you learn a foreign language,in this caseSpanish,
you must look at each word in three ways:
and ruNcttoN.
PART
oF sPEEcH,
MEANING,
An English word may be matched with a Spanish word
that has a similarmeaning.
House,a building in which people live, has the samemeaning as
the Spanishword casa.
Words with equivalentmeaningsare learnedby memorizing vocabulary.Sometimestwo words are the same or
very similar in both Englishand Spanish.Thesewords are
and are,of course,easyto learn.
calledcocNATES
Spltttsx
inteligente
problema
visitar
Elct-tstt
intelligent
Problem
visit
Occasionallyknowing one Spanishword will help you
learn another.
Knowing that nifro means Doyshould help you learn that nifla is
girl,'or knowing that hermano is brothershould help you remember that hermana is sisfer.
Usually, however, there is little similarity between words
and knowing one Spanishword will not help you learn
another. As a general rule, you must memorize each
vocabulary item separatelY.
Knowing that hombre is man will not help you learn that muier
is woman.
In addition, every language has its own phrasesor way
ExPREssloNs,
of expressingideas;theseare called lDloMATlc
a walk"
take
asleep"
ot
"to
or fDtôMs.For example,'to fall
the
down
in
as
"to fall
do not have their usual meaning
to
be
have
You
will
school."
stairs." or "to take a book to
be
cannot
they
because
on the alert for these idioms
Spanish.
translatedword-for-wordin
2
3
'l tte Spattisht'tlttivllcrttol tlre Lnglislritliorrr"to llll
asfeep" is "dormirsr."lliterally,"to put orrt'.scll
to slctlt"l
and "to takea walk" is equivalentto the Spanishidi<lm
"dar un paseo"fliterally,"to givea walk"].
PARTOF SPEECH
In English and Spanisha word can be classifiedas
belonging to one of eight categoriescalled pARTs
or
l .et us l ook;t t t lt t 'lult t liot t of llt e wt >r t l / t it t l ir t t lt e lollt lwi rrg scr.rtcrrc cs
ar r clscr :t lt e var iclusf unct i<lns it can lt ave it t
a sentence.
'l'heydon't seehim.
directobiect-+ lo
I wrote him a letter.
indirectoblect-+ le
SPEECH:
adiective
article
noun
Pronoun
adverb
coniunction
preposition
verb
Someparts of speechare further broken down according to type. Adjectives,for instance, can be descriptive,
interrogative,demonstrative,or possessive.
Eachpart of
speechhas its own rules for spelling, pronunciation
and use.
In order to choosethe correct Spanishequivalentof
an English word, you will have to identify its part of
speech.For example,look at the word what in the folIowing sentences.
Whatdo you want?
pronoun+ qué
interrogative
What movie did you see?
adjective
inteirogative
-+ cuâl
l'll do what you want.
relativepronoun-+ lo que
The English word is the same in all three sentences.
I n S panis h, h o w e v e r, th re e d i ffe re n t words are used
because each what belongs to a different part of speech.
FUNCTION
In Englishand Spanishthe role a word plays in a sentenceis calledits tuNcroN.Dependingon the sentence,
the sameword can havea variety of functions:
subiect
directobiect
indirectobiect
obiectof a preposition
Are you going with ftin?
-+'él
obiectof a preposition
The English word is the same in all three sentences, but
in Spanish three different words will be used becauseeach
himhas a different function.
In order to choose the correct Spanish equivalent of an
English word, you will have to identify its function.
SUMMARY
As a student of Spanish you must learn to recognizeboth
the part of speechand the function of eachword in a sentence. This is essentialbecausewords in a Spanish sentence have a greatdeal of influence on one another.
My olderbrother worksin that largemodemoffice.
y moderna'
en esaoficinagrande
Mi hermanomayortrabaia
rr-
In English,the only word that affectsanother word in the
sentence is brother,which forces us to say works.If the
word were brothers,we would have to saywork.
In Spanish, the word for brother(hermano) not only
affects the word for works,(trabaia), but also the spelling
and pronunciation of the Spanishwords for my (mi) and
older (mayor). The word for office (oficina) affects the
spelling and pronunciation of the Spanishwords for that
(esa),Iarge(grande), and modem(moderna)'
Sinceparts of speechand function are usuallydetermined
in the sameway in Englishand in Spanish,this handbook
will show you how to identify them in English' You will
then learn to compareEnglishand spanish constructions,
focusingon similaritiesand differences.This will give you
a better understanding of the explanations in your
Spanishtextbook.
5
IN E N GLIS H
WHAT 15A NOUN?
A ruouru
is a word that can be the name of
a person,animal, place,thing, event,or idea.
r a person
. an animal
I a place
r a thing
r an event
or activity
r an idea
or concept
professor,clown, student, girl, baby
ProfessorSmith, Dr. AnderIon, Bill, Mary
elephant,horse,snake,eagle
Lassie,Bambi,Garfield,Teàdv
stadium,restaurant,city, state,countrv
Madrid, Michigan, Mexico, South América
apple,lamp, dress,airplane
Coca-Cola,
the White-House,a Cadillac
g,raduation,marriage,birth, Thanksgiving
the Olympics,shopping,rest,growt"h
democracy,humor, hatred, honor
time, love, justice,iealousy,poverty
As you can see,a noun is not only a word that
names
something that is tangible (i.e., iomething you
can
touch), such as lamp, ltorse,or White House,it Can
also be
the name of things that are abstract(i.e.,that you
cannot
touch), such asiustice,jealousy,and,honor.
A noun that doesnot statethe name of specificperson,
place,or thing, etc. is calleda coMMoNNouN.A
common
noun does not begin with a capital letter, unlessit
is the
first word of a sentence.All the nouns above that are
not
capitalizedarecommon nouns.
A noun that is the name of a specificperson, place,
thing, etc. is called a pRopER
Nouru.À proper ,,ou., ai*ays
begins with a capital letter.All the nàuni above that
aie
capitalizedareproper nouns.
Bill is my friend.
tl
proper
noun
common
noun
A noun that is made up of two or more words is called
a
coMpouNDNOUN.
A compound noun can be comDosedof
two common nouns such as icecreamor comicstrrp,or
two
proper nouns, such as SouthAmericaor MexicoCity.
'ltr help you learn to recognizenouns, look at the paragraph below where the nouns are in italics.
The countriesthat make up the Spanish-speaking
world export products that we use every day. Spain
produces many of the shoes,purses,and gloves that
are sold in storesthroughout the United States.Spain
also sells us much wine, sherry, and brandy. The
islands of the Caribbeanand the nations of Central
Americasupply us with tropical ftuifs such as bananas
and melons; sugar is another important export of
these rcgions.While oil is a maior sourceof.income for
Mexico and Venezuela,the economiesof several other
countriesof Latin America depend upon the production
and exportationof coffee.
IN SPANISH
Nouns are identified in the same way ttiey are in
English.
Trnus usEDTo rAtKABourNouNs
GENDER
- A noun can have a gender; that is, it can be
classifiedaccording to whether it is masculine, feminine, or neuter (seeWhotis Meont by Gender?,p. 6).
NUMBÊR
- A noun has number; that is, it can be identified according to whether it is singular or plural (see
Whot is Meont by Number?,p. 10).
t FUNcnoN-A noun can have a variety of functions in a
sentence;that is, it can be the subject of the sentence
(see Whot is o Subject?,p. 23) or an object (see Whot ore
Objects?,p. n$.
REVTEW Circlethe nounsin the followingsentences.
1. Studentscameinto the classroomand spoketo the teacher.
Z.The Wilsonswent on a tour of Mexico.
3. Figureskatingis an excitingeventin the Winter Olympics.
4. BuenosAires,the capitalof Argentina,is a cosmopolitancity.
5. Truth is strangerthan fiction.
6. They want a bosswith intelligenceand a senseof humor.
( , | ?r t l
7
WHAT IS MEANTBY GENDER?
cENDER
in the grammaticalsensemeans that a
word can be classifiedas masculine,feminine, or neuter.
Did PaulgiveMary the book?
Yes,he gaveitto her.
masc. neuter fem.
GReuuarrcAl cENDER
is not very important in English;
however, it is at the very heart of the Spanish language
where the gender of a word is often reflected not oÀlv in
the way the word itself is spelledand pronounced, but
also in the way all the words connectedto it are spelled
and pronounced.
More parts of speechhave a gender in Spanishthan in
English.
Excr-rsx
pronouns
possessive
adjectives
SplNrsx
nouns
pronouns
articles
adlectives
r fioufis referringto males indicate the ulscur_rrue
gender
Paulcamehome;ftewastired;I wasgladto seehim.
masculine
masculine
r nounS referring to femalesindicate the reurNrr.rr
gender
Thegirl camehome;shewastired;I wasgladto seelrer.
noun (female)
feminine
neuf er
noun
IN SPANISH
All nouns - common nouns and proper nouns - have a
gender; they are either masculine or feminine. Do not
confusethe grammaticalterms "masculine" and "feminine" with the terms "male" and "female." Only a few
Spanishnouns have a grammaticalgendertied to whether
they refer to someone of the male or female sex; most
nouns have a genderthat must be memorized.
The gender of common and proper nouns basedon gtois easy to determine. These are nouns
GENDER
LOGICAL
can
only refer to one or the other of the
whose meaning
male
or female.
sexes,
biological
Mltts
-+ MAscuLtNE Feun"es J
Paul
boy
brother
stepfather
Since each part of speechfollows its own rules to indi_
cate gender,you will find gender discussedin the sections
dealing with articlesand the various types of pronouns
and adjectives.In this section we shall only lobk at the
genderof nouns.
IN ENGTISH
Nouns themselvesdo not have a gender, but sometimes
their meaningwill indicatea genderbasedon the biological sex of the person or animal the noun stands for. For
example, when we replacea proper or common noun
which refers to a man or a woman, we use he fot males
and shefor females.
noun (male)
 l l the l )rol )e r or c( ) ll) r lt ( ) r )r ) ouns t hat do not lt ave a biokrgi cal gcnder ar e consider edr ur ur r nand ar e r eplacedby lt .
'l'he city of Washingtonis lovely.I enioyedvisiting if.
feminine
FEMININE
Mary
girl
sister
niece
The gender of all other nouns, common and proper,
cannot be explained or figured out. These nouns have a
that is unrelated to biological gender
GENDER
GRAMMATICAL
and which must be memorized. Here are some examples
of English nouns classifiedunder the gender of their
Spanishequivalent.
Mnscut-tNr
money
book
country
Peru
dress
Wednesday
sorrow
FeutNrr.tg
coin
library
nation
Argentina
shirt
peace
health
As you learn a new noun, you should always learn its
gender becauseit will affect the spelling of the words
related to it. Textbooksand dictionariesusually indicate
the genderof a noun with an m. for masculineor an f for
feminine. Sometimesthe definite articlesare used: el for
masculine or la for feminine (see Whot ore Articles?,
p.r 2) .
9
EtrotNcsrNDtcATtNc
cENDtR---
Gender can sometimesbe determined by looking at the
end of the Spanishnoun. In the lists that follow there are
endings that often indicate feminine nouns and others
that indicate masculinenouns. Since you will encounter
many nouns with theseendingsin basicSpanish,it is certainly worthwhile to familiarizeyourselfwith them.l
F g t t l t N t N t ENDINGS
-a
-dad, -tad
-z
-iôn, -ciôn
-umbre
-ie
la casa,la biblioteca
la ciudad, la libertad
la nariz
la reuni6n, la naciôn
la costumbre
la especie
house,Iibrary
city,liberty
nose
meeting,nation
custom
species
ENDTNGS
Mnscur.rNe
Any endingexceptthoseprovidedin the "Femininc
endings"list above.In particular:
papel
-l
el papel
-o
ei libro
book
garden
el iardin
-n
park
el parque
-e
pain
el dolor
-r
interest
el interés
-s
To help you remember these endings note that for the
masculineendingsthe lettersspell "loners."
There are, of course, exceptions to the above rules. For
instance,mano (hand)is a feminine word even though it
ends with the letter -o and dia (day) is a masculine word
even though it ends with the letter -a. Your textbook and
instructorwill point out the exceptionsthat you will need
to learn.
CAREFUL
- Do not rely on biological genderto indicate
the grammaticalgender of Spanishequivalentsof nouns
that can refer to a man or a woman. For instance.the
grammaticalgender of the noun "persona" (person)is
always feminine, even though the person being referred
to could be a man or a woman.
lThis tableof endingshas been adaptedfrom John J. Bergen."A SimplifiedApproach
for Teachin8the Genderof SpanishNouns."Hispania,LXI (December,1978),875.
(v)l t*t'"i^:iti"^t
mascutine
Circre
whose
to tn" nouns
genderyou can identify,and (?)nextto the nounswhosegenderyou wouldhaveto lookup in a dictionary.
GrNoentN SPlNtsn
1. boys
M F?
2. chair
M T?
3. Cathy
M F?
4. classroom
M F?
5. visitor
M F?
6. sisters
M F?
7. dresses
MI?
lo
CHAP TTR
tl
IN
WHAT 15MEANTBY NUMBER?
NuMsrRin the grammaticalsensemeansthat a word can be
classifiedas singularor plural. When a word refers
to one personor thing, it is saidto be SINGULAR;
when it refersto more than one, it is prunnt..
one book
I
singular
two books
I
plural
More parts of speechindicate number in Spanishthan
in Englishand there are alsomore spellingand pronunciation changesin Spanishthan in English.
Er,rcttsx
nouns
verbs
pronouns
SplNrsn
nouns
verbs
pronouns
demonstrativeadiectives
adiectives
articles
Sinceeach part of speechfollows its own rules to indicate number, you will find number discussedin the sections dealingwith articles,the various types of adiectives
and pronouns,as well as in all the sectionson verbs.In
this sectionwe shall only look at the number of nouns.
IN ENGTISH
A singularnoun is made plural in one of two ways:
L a singularnoun can add an ,,-s,,or ,'-es,,
book
books
church
churches
2. other singularnouns changetheir spelling
man
mouse
leaf
child
men
mice
leaves
children
Somenouns,calledcotLEcnvE
NouNs,referto a group of personsor things,but the noun itself is consideredsingular.
A footballteamhaselevenplayers.
My familyis well.
' P Ain
N IS
H
As
English,
the plural form of a noun is usuallyspelled
differently from the singular.
1. The most common changeis the sameas the one made
in English; that is, an "-s" is added to singular masculine or feminine nouns that end in a vowel.
SrNcuurn Pluml
libro
libros
mesa
mesas
MlscurtNr
FrurxrNr
book
table
books
tables
2. N ouns that end in a consonant add "-es" to form a
plural.
SrNcuun
papel
ciudad
Mlscuttwt
FrurNrNr
Plunal
papeles
ciudades
paper
Çity
papers
cities
A few nouns will have internal spelling changeswhen
they become plural. Your instructor and textbook will
point out the exceptions to the two basic rules listed
above.
REV'EW wordsbelow.Indicateif the
Lookat the Englishand Spanish
word is singular(S)or plural(P).
1. teeth
5
P
2. family
5
P
3. dress
5
P
4. mice
s
s
s
P
5. coches
6. muier
P
P
2
l3
N l c g r r r t l r r t l o s g a to s 1 l t'r oo tl i o l <l sp e r r o s.
I I i L t c , l t t l i tr .g n tt'r r tl l l n tl I l u tl t'd o 1 g s!i n g e n e r o l l .
WHAT AREARTICTES?
An ARTICLE
is a word placedbeforea noun to show whether
the noun refersto a specificperson,animal, place,thing,
event,or idea,or whether it refersto an unspecified
person,thing, or idea.
I sawtheboy you spokeabout.
a specificboy
I saw a boy in the street.
an unspecified
boy
In English and in Spanish there are two types of articles,
DEFINTTE
ARTIcLES
and tNoerrrutrE
ARTtcLEs.
DEFINITEARTICTES
IN ENG[ISH
A orrlrutrrARTTcLE
is used before a noun when we are
speakingabout a specificperson,place,animal, thing, or
idea.Thereis one definite article,trre.
I readthebookyou recommended.
a specific
book
I atetheapple you gaveme.
a specific
apple
The definite article remains the even when the noun
that follows becomes plural.
I read the booksyou recommended.
I ate the applesjou gave me.
IN SPANI S H
As i n E nglis h, a d e fi n i te a rti c l e i s u s e d b e fo re a noun
when referring to a specific person, place, animal, thing,
or idea.
Comi la manzanaque me diste.
I ate the appleyou gaveme.
In Spanish, the definite article is also used when speaking
in general terms.
l . o s J r c r r o s so r t r tti s fi cl e s q u e l o s g a to s.
I)o.tSstrc trntrt'lttithftrl tlmn cats.
In Spanish,the articleworks hand-in-hand with the noun
to which it belongsin that it matchesthe noun's gender
One
and number. This "matching" is called AcREEMENT.
says that "the article agreeswith the noun." (See f/hot is
Meont by Gender?,p.6 and What is Meont by Number?,
p. 10.)
A different article is used, therefore, depending on
whether the noun is masculineor feminine (gender)and
depending on whether the noun is singular or plural
(number).
There are four forms of the definite article: two singular
forms and two plural forms.
. el indicatesthat the noun is masculine singular
el libro
el muchacho
the book
the boy
r la indicatesthat the noun is feminine singular
la casa
la muchacha
the house
the girl
. los indicatesthat the noun is masculine plural
los libros
the books
los muchachos the boys
. las indicatesthat the noun is feminine plural
the houses
las casas
las muchachas the girls
Memorizenouns with the singulardefinite article;in most
casesthe article will tell vou if the noun is masculineor
feminine.l
lThere areonly a few exceptionsto this statement.The primary exceptionsare those
feminine nouns that b!gin with a stresseda- and which for pronunciation purposestake
el as the alticle: el agua, el âguila. The noun is nonetheless still feminine: el agua fria.
t5
4
INDEFINITE
ARTICLES
IN ENGTISH
ARTIcLE
is used before a noun when we are
An rruoErtNttE
speaking about an unspecified person, animal, place,
thing, event, or idea. There are two indefinite articles, a
and an.
r a is usedbefore a word beginning with a consonantl
I sawa boy in the street.
not a srpecificboy
t an is usedbefore a word beginning with a vowel
I atean apple.
not a specificapple
The indefinite article is used only with a singular noun; it
is dropped when the noun becomesplural. At times the
word someis used to replaceit, but it is usually omitted.
I sawbovsin the street.
I saw(some)boysin the street.
I ateapples.
I ate(some)apples.
IN SPANISH
As in English,an indefinite article is used beforea noun
when we are not speakingabout a specificperson,animal,
place,thing, event, or idea.
Just as with definite articles,indefinite articlesmust
agreewith the noun's genderand number.
There are four forms of the indefinite article: two singular
forms and two plural forms.
. un indicatesthat the noun is masculinesingular
s book
un libro
a boy
un muchacho
I una indicatesthat the noun is feminine singular
a house
una casa
una muchacha a girl
r unos indicatesthat the noun is masculine plural
(some)books
unos libros
unos muchachos (some)boys
lvowels are the sounds associatedwith the letters d, e, i, o, u and sometimes/; consonants are the soundsassociatedwith the other lettersof the alphabet.
r ullas itltlicatestltat tlte tloun is feminine plural
(some)houses
unascasas
unas muchachas (some)girls
Your textbook will instruct you on additional usesof the
definite and indefinite articlesin Spanish'
CAREFUL
- Unlike English where a noun can be usedwithoutanarticle(.Truthisstrangerthanfiction;Mexicoisabeau.
tiful country),S'panishcommôn and proper nouns are usually
precededby an article:definite or indefinite'
REVIEW
_
Be|owisa|istofËnglishnounsprecededbyadefiniteorindefinitearticle.
rWritetheSpanisharticleforeachnounontheIineprovided.
dictionaryentryshowsyou if the noun(n') is
TheSpanish
(m.)
masculine or feminine(f.).
DICNONARY
ENTRY
1. the books
2. a table
3. someclasses
4. the telephone
5. a car
6. the sisters
7. somemen
8. an apple
9. the ball
libro (n. m.)
mesa(n. f.)
clase(n. f.)
teléfono (n. m.)
coche(n.m.)
hermana (n. f.)
hombre (n.m.)
manzana (n. f.)
pelota (n. f.)
SplNtsx
ARTICLE
t6
17
IN S P A N IS H
WHAT IS THEPOSSESSIVE?
The term possEsslvE
meansthat one noun
owns orpo.çsesses
another noun.
Mary'sSpanishbookis on the table.
possessor
posJessed
IN ENGTISH
There are two constructionsto show possession.
1. An apostrophecan be used.In this construction,the
possessor
comesbeforethe possessed.
r singularpossessor
addsan apostrophe+ "s"
MarySdress
a treeSbranches
singularpossessor
. plural possessor
ending with "s" adds an apostrophe
afterthe "s"
'l here is otrly one way to expresspossession
and that is by
usingthe "of" construction(No. 2). The apostrophestructure (No. 1) doesnot exist.
The Spanishstructureparallelsthe Englishstructure:the
+ de ("of") + definite or indefinite article+
noun possessed
the noun possessor.
el vestidode Maria
Mary'sdress
tl
possessor possessed
the professor'sbook
the children3 playground
the men3 department
de+ el
the lady's purse
la bolsa de la seftora
the purseof the lady
e tree'sbranches
las ramasde un ârbol
the branchesof a tree
thegirls' father
el padrede las muchachas
the father of the girls
the boys' tearn
el equipo de los muchachos
the team of the boys
write the alternate
Betowareporr.rriu"rlt [iÏ"ïi,r.pr,.
of the
equivalent
whichisthe word-for-word
English
structure
structure.
Spanish
1. somechildren'sparents
pluralpossessor
2. The word ofcan be used.In this structure,the possessed
comesbeforethe possessor.
r a singular or plural possessoris precededby of the or
ofa
2. the doctor's office
3. a car'sspeed
the book of tfieprofessor
the branchesofa tree
I
singularpossessor
4. the girls' soccercoach
the teacherof fhestudents
5. GloriaSmith'smother
I
plural possessor
el libro del profesor
the book of the professor
the students'teacher
the girls'club
plural'possessor
plural possessornot ending with "s" addsan apostrophe
+ us '
tl
possessed possessot
the dress of Mary
( XAPII T
t8
19
lrrkc,stime . 'l'hey alc pastry for dessert and finished
the meal with coffee.
WHAT IS A VERB?
A vrns is a word that indicatesthe action of the sentence.
The word "action" is usedin the broadestsense,
not necessarilyphysical action.
Let us look at different typesof words that are verbs:
r a physicalactivity
to run, to hit, to talk,to walk
r a mentalactivity
to hope,to believe,to imagine,
to dream, to think
r a condition
to be, to have, to seem
Many verbs, however, do not fall neatly into one of the
above three categories.They are verbs nevertheless
becausethey representthe "action" of the sentence.
Thebookcosfsonly $5.00.
to cost
The students seem lired.
to seem
The verb is the most important word in a sentence.You
cannot write a coMpLETE
SENTENCE,
that is, expressa complete thought, without a verb.
It is important to identify verbs becausethe function of
words in a sentenceoften dependson the word's relationship to the verb. For instance,the subiectof a sentenceis
the word doing the action of the verb, and the obiect is
the word receiving the action of the verb (see Whot is o
Subject?,
p.23, and Whotare Objects?,
p. 724).
IN ENGLISH
To help you learn to recognizeverbs, look at the paragraph below where the verbsare in italics.
The three students enteredthe restaurant, selecteda
table, hung up their coatsand saf down. They looked
at the menu and askedthe waitresswhat she recommended.She advisedthe daily special,beef stew. It
was not expensive.They chosea bottle of red wine
and ordereda salad.The servicewas slow, but the
food tastedvery good. Good cooking, they decided,
IN SPANISH
Verbsare identified the sameway that they are in English.
Trnus ro rArKABourvERBs
r rNFlNtÏvEoR DrciloNARY
FORM
- The verb form that is the
name of the verb is called an infinitive: to eat, to sleep,to
drtnk $ee Whotis the lnfinitive?,p.2O).In the dictionary a
verb is listed without the "to"i e*t, sleep,drink.
r coNfucATloN- A verb is conjugated or changesin form
to agreewith its subject:I do, he does(seeWhot is o Verb
p. 35).
Conjugotion?,
r TENSE-Averb indicates tense, that is, the time (present,
past, or future) of the action: I am, I was, I will be (see
p. 56).
Whotis Meont by Tense?,
r MooD - A verb shows mood, that is the speaker'sattitude toward what he or she is saying (seeWhot is Meant
by Mood?,p. 69).
r vorcE - A verb shows voice, that is, the relation
between the subiect and the action of the verb (see
Whot is Meant by Activeand PossiveVoice?,p. 91).
r pARTrcrpLE-A
verb may be used to form a participle: writing, written, singing, sung (see What is o Porticiple?,
p. 63).
. TRANSITIVE
oR lNTRANSlTlvE
- A verb can be classifiedas
transitive or intransitive depending on whether or not
the verb can take a direct object (see Whot are Objects?,
p. r24).
-
n fvl Ew -
Circlethe verbsin the followingsentences.
1. The studentspurchasetheir lunch at school.
2. Pauland Mary werehappy.
3. They enioyedthe movie,but they preferredthe book.
4. Paulate dinner, finished his novel, and then went to bed.
5. It wassadto seethe little dog struggleto get out of the lake.
6. I attendeda concertto celebratethe New Year.
o
cilAPt I R
21
WHAT I5 THEINFINITIVE?
Therrurrrurrvr
form is the nameof the verb.
TheSpanishequivalentof the verbto studl is estudiar.
infinitive
IN ENGLISH
The infinitive is composedof two words: fo + the DtcnoNARYFoRMof the verb (to speak,to dance).By infinitive we
mean the form of the verb that is listedas the entry in the
dictionary (speak,dance).
Although the infinitive is the most basic form of the
verb, it can never be used in a sentencewithout another
verb_which is conjugated (seeWhot is a VerbConjugotion?,
p.3s).
is excitins.
y!:f
'l'lreinlinitive lorrn is irnportantnot only because
it is the
fornr under which a verb is listed in the dictionary,but
the ending indicatesthe pattern the verb will folLrecause
low to createits variousforms.
I " cott;UGATtoN
- verbsendingin -ar follow one pattern
2'" coN;ucnïoN - verbsendingin -er follow anotherpattern
3'" coNlucATloN- verbsendingin -ir follow anotherpattern
In a sentencethe infinitive form is alwaysusedfor a verb
that follows any verb other than ser (fo be), estat (to be), or
haber (to have).
lohn andMary want to dancetogether.
Juany Mariaquierenbailar iuntos.
infinitive
I can leave tomonow.
Puedosalir mafrana.
I
infinitive
Yottshould study more.
Usteddebeestudiar mâs.
infinitive coniugated
verb
infinitive
It is important to be on time.
l 'rl
coniugated
verb iniinitive
Paul and Mary want t?_!:":,
together.
conjugated
verb infinitive
The dictionary form of the verb, rather than the infini_
tive, is used after such verbs as let, must, should, and,can.
Mr. Smith /ef his daughterdive his new car.
dictionaryform
Paulmustbe home by noon.
dictionaryform
IN SPANISH
The infinitive form is composedof only one word. The
word fo that is part of the English infinitive has no
Spanishequivalent.The Spanishinfinitive is identifiedby
the lasttwo lettersof the verb calledrHEENDtNc.
hablar
comer
vivir
to speak
to eat
to live
Notice that in the last two examples there is no "to" in
the English sentence to alert you that an infinitive must
be used in Spanish.
CAREFUT- You cannot depend upon the English sentence
to alert you to the use of the infinitive in Spanish. Often the
word "to" will not be used in the English sentence but the
infinitive must be used in Spanish.
CoHsulrtrucrHE DtcloNARY
In English it is possibleto change the meaning of a verb
by placing short words (prepositionsor adverbs)after it.
For example, the verb /ook in Column A below changes
meaning depending on the word that follows it (to, afrer,
for, into).In Spanishit is not generallypossibleto change
the meaning of a verb by adding a preposition or an
adverbas in Column A. An entirely different Spanishverb
correspondsto each meaning.
MenrutNc
SplNtsn
Cor-uuNA
to look
-)
to look at
I lookedaf the photo.
mirar
to look for
-)
to searchfor
I am lookingpr my book.
buscar
c i l A P rI n
22
to look after -+
to look into -J
cul dar
I am lookingafterlhe children.
t o t ak e c ar e of
to study
estudiar
We'lllookintothe problem.
When consulting an English-Spanishdictionary, all the
examplesabove under Column A can be found under the
dictionary entry look (mirar); however, you will have to
searchunder that entry for the specificexpressionlook for
@uscar)or look after (cuidar) to find the correct Spanish
equivalent.
Don't selectthe first entry under look and then add on
the Spanish equivalent lor afrer, for, into, etc.; the result
will be meaninglessin Spanish.
REVTEW Circlethe wordsthat you would replacewith an infinitivein
Spanish.
1. Mary hasnothing moreto do today.
2. Youmust study your lesson.
3. Jeffwantsto learnSpanish.
4. They cannot leaveon Tuesday.
5. We hope to travelthrough Spainthis summer.
WHAT lS A SUB|ECT?
lrr ,r st'ntencethe personor thing that performsthe action of
the verb is calledthe suslrcr.
l, r tirrd the subiectof a sentence,alwayslook for the verb
tlr\t; tl)en ask,who?or what?beforethe verb (seeWhatis a
vt'rb?,1't.18).
The answerwill be the subject.l
'leresaspeaksSpanish.
Vene:speaks
Who speaksSpanish?Auswrn:Teresa.
Teresais the subiect.
The subiectis singular (seep. l0). It refersto one person.
Teresa'sbooks cost a lot of money.
VERB:
cost
What costsa lot of money? ANswsn:books.
Booksis the subiect.
The subiectis plural. It refersto more than one thing.
lf a sentencehas more than one verb, you have to find the
srrbjectof eachverb.
The boyswerecookingwhile Mary setthe table.
Bols is the subiect of were.
(Note that the subjectis Plural.)
Mary is the subiectof set.
(Note that the subiectis singular.)
Always askwho? or what? before the verb to find the subiect. Never assumethat the first word in the sentenceis
the subiect. Subjectscan be located in severaldifferent
places,as you can seein the following examples(the subject is in boldface and verb italicized):
Did the gamestarton time?
exhausted.
Afterplayingfor two hours,Paul became
Mary'sbrothers anivedyesterday.
lThe subiect performs the action in an active sentence,but is acted upon in a passive
Voice?,p.9l).
sentence(see tyhot is Meont by Adiveond Possive
2t