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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) Â 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