Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ

Transcripción

Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
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Lección 1  Alphabet /Alfabeto
Lección 2  Introduction to stresses/ Los acentos
Lección 3  Phonetics basic definitions / Fonética definiciones básicas
Lección 4 – Introduction to genders / Introducción a los géneros
1) Endings / las marcas del género
2) Articles / los artículos
Lección 5  Grammar: the two verbs TO BE: el verbo ser
Leccion 6  Syntax/Síntaxis : The four types of sentences : affirmative, negative, interrogative and
exclamative/ Los cuatro típos de frases: afirmativa, negativa, interrogativa y exclamativa
Leccion 7  Ajectives/ Los adjectivos
Leccion 8  The Plural/ El plural
Lección 9 Grammar: the two verbs TO BE : el verbo estar
Lección 10 - Interrogative pronouns/ Pronombres Interrrogativos
1
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
UNIDAD 1 Lesson 1, lección 1 :
Alfabeto
Aa
Bb
Cc
Ch ch
Dd
Ee
Ff
Gg
Hh
Nn
Ññ
Oo
Pp
Q q
Rr
S s
Tt
Uu Vv
Aa
Bb
Cc
Ch ch D d
Ee
Ff
Gg
Hh
Nn
Ññ
Oo
Pp
Rr
S s
Tt
Uu
Q q
Ii
Jj
Kk
Ll
Ll ll
Ww
Xx
Yy
Zz
Ii
Jj
Kk
Ll
Ll ll
Vv
Ww
Xx
Yy
Zz
Mm
Mm
Alfabeto: observación
Unlike in Tamil, there are capital letters in Spanish. They are used to start sentences and for names of
places, of people…
Until 2011 there are 29 letters. Now both -ch- and –ll- are no longer considered as one letter. So the
Spanish alphabet now has 27 letters. However when learning Spanish it is easier to consider at lest –ll- as
one letter, producing a sound similar to the one produced by letter – y- in the word “yoga” in English.
Until 2011–ch- was and - ll- were considered as one letter: leche
A Simplified Spelling
Spanish has simplified most of the spellings coming from Greek :

No ph for sound f, unlike in English/Fr, morfológico morphologic , photo > foto, pharmacy >
farmácia
 No letter y for sound [i]: physics > física
 The letter H is a mute letter. It is never pronounced in Spanish.
 No useless double letters. Three letters can be doubled
1) C >acción, lección,
2) N > in-novación> innovación
3) R > perro, correo, cerrar
 Ll is not a double letter, it is one single letter. Please note that in spite of this, the capital letter is Ll
not LL
 Letter Y is called a “semi-consonant”. Spanish can not have a combination of three vowels in a row
such as VVV : this would happen in some conjugations with a vocalic stem including the letter –i-. In
2
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
this case, semi-consonnant –y- is used to replace letter -i-. leeiendo becomes leyendo; caió becomes
cayó
Specific letters
Specific letters belonging only to this alphabet (Letras específicas): these are both soft
consonants:


ñ : España, extremeño, pequeño
ll producing sound [j] just like –y- in “yoga”: llamar, llama, llanto, cabello,
Phonetic Confusions
When it comes to writing, one can get confused between the following “couples” for they are sometimes
pronounced the same way:




B/V : beber, eva, vaso, vino
C/Z : cerveza, circulo, centro, ceniza, cerezo.
G/J : gitano, gerundio, girasol, gigante, general, Jerónimo, Jerez ( city of Southern Spain, Andalucia)
Ll/Y : llamar, llanto, caballo, yegua, yema
Mini diálogo: presentarse
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
3
¡Hola! ¿Cómo te llamas ?
Me llamo Omar.
Mucho gusto.
¿Y tú?
Yo soy Shanti.
Encantado, Shanti.
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
Hola:
¿Cómo te llamas?:
Mucho gusto:
Y:
Hello
What’s your name?
Nice to meet you
and
Tú:
Yo:
Soy:
encantado/a:adj
you
I
1st pers. vb to be
Happy to meet you
Watch out! If the word following –y- starts by –i-, then y becomes –e-. Otherwise it would be too difficult to
pronounce
Eg; Es maja y independiente > Es maja e independiente
Saludar y despedirse
Saludar:
!Hola !:
Buenos días:
Buenas tardes :
Buenas Noches :
Saludos :
To say hello
Hello
Good moring
Good afternoon
Good night
Greetings
Despedirse:
Ciao:
Hasta luego :
Hasta mañana :
Hasta la vista :
Adiós :
To say goodbye
Bye
See you later
See you tomorrow
Until next time
Goodbye
Vocabulario : Months and weekdays Los meses los días de la semana
January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
enero
febrero
marzo
abril
mayo
junio
julio
agosto
septiembre
octubre
noviembre
diciembre
Los Días

Like in Tamil, the days of the week match the names of the planets (except for Sunday which
comes from the romance word meaning home. In English, the word domestic has the same
etymology.

Unlike in English, they do not require to be written with an initial capital letter
4
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
Luna (moon) > lunes
Marte (Mars) > martes
Mercurio (Mercury) > miércoles
Jupiter > jueves
Venus > viernes
sábado
domingo
How do we ask what day it is? => ¿Qué día es?
5
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
UNIDAD 1 Lesson 2 Introduction to stresses/ Los acentos
Definition :
a stress in Spanish is an emphasis on a syllable. In some cases it can be written
with a sign placed on a vowel é, í, ú, ó.
In Spanish, there are two types of stresses:

grammatical stresses: distinguishes the grammatical function of a word in a sentence.
When two words have the same spelling, but have a different grammatical role to play, a
stress is added to mark the difference.
E.g. : Tú (pronoun “you”) and tu (possessive pronoun “your”)
Mí (pronoun “me”) and mi (possesive pronoun “my”)
Ésta (pronoun “this”) and está (verb “is”)
Sí (“yes”) and si (adverb of condition “if”)

emphatic or tonic stresses: this indicates what syllable to stress when pronouncing a
word. There are general rules regarding this but there are also some exceptions, and for
those exceptions, an actual “stress sign” is used to facilitate the reading of the word.
GRAMMATICAL STRESSES: always written

Interrogative pronouns in questions
and in exclamative sentences
TONIC STRESS: will or will not be written
according to the following rules:

Word ends with a vowel, or with an N,
or with an S: then we orally stress the
NEXT TO LAST syllable
¡Qué calor!
¡Qué suerte!
¡Cuántos hermanos tienes
 Hierarchy: in order to differatiate two
grammatical functions
=>profesOra, profesOras
“Sí” (yes) and “si” (if)
“Él” (pronoun “him”) and “el” (article “the”)
“Ésta” (pronoun “this” - subject), and “esta”
(demonstrative article “this”)
“Mí” (pronoun “me”) and “mi” (possesive article
“my”)
“Cómo” (interrogative pronoun “how”) and “como”
(“like”, “as”)
 Ascensor
6


Word ends with a Y or with a consonant
– except N or S –: then we orally stress
the LAST syllable
In every other case, we WRITE a stress
to indicate which syllable has to be
stressed orally

Árbol, acción, está, estás,
están, jabalí
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
Vocabulario : places - Los lugares
la casa :
the house
el estadio:
the stadium
la
la
la
el
el
el
la
el
la
the school
the university
the office
the park
the hospital
the restaurant
the cafeteria
the bar
the sportsroom
la
el
el
la
el
la
el
la
la
the train/bus station
the airport
the hotel
the lecture hall
the workshop
the shop
the market
the police station
the town hall
escuela :
universidad :
oficina :
parque :
hospital :
restaurante :
cafetería :
bar :
sala de deportes :
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estación de trenes/autobuses:
aeropuerto :
hotel :
sala de conferencias :
taller :
tienda :
mercado :
policía :
alcaldía :
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
UNIDAD 1 Lesson 3 , lección 3 – tres
Phonetics: basic definitions / Fonética: definiciones básicas
Vowel: one emission of air without any obstruction : a /e / i / o/ u
Consonant: a consonant is produced when the air is obstructed (by the tongue, by the lips).
Different consonants are obtained by using different areas (nose>nasals, teeth> dentals, lips
>labials, throat > gutturals, etc…)
With the vowels “e” and ” the pronounciation of certain consonants may vary:
In front of E and I, the letter C is pronounced like a Z: círculo, centro
In front of E and I, the letter G is pronounced like a J: gitano, general
NB: This is also the case in English, where the G is also often pronounced like a J when in front of
an E: e.g. Joy, Gender. In order to guess the Spanish spelling, checking the English spelling may
often help.
Reading activity:
Giralda, Jerónimo, garaje, ceniza, corazón, cerveza, cesta, cerca, carpintero, Ceuta, gente,
gato, gusta, garro, cartera, garganta, carretera, Cuba, guapo, coraje, serpiente, casa, carril,
sensación, caja, girafa
With the letter G, when placed in front of an E or an I, in order to keep the sound of a hard G, we add a U in
between the two letters: Guerra, guitarra, guiño, guión.
Here are some hard [χ] sounds written with the letter J: juego, juguete, junta, jeringuilla
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Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
Los colores
blanco
naranja
(orange)
9
……
…….
…….
…….
…….
…….
amarillo
(yellow)
verde
(green)
azul
turquesa
rosa (pink)
azul ( blue)
rojo (red)
…….
…….
…….
……
……
…….
malva
(purple)
kaki (kaki)
Gris (grey)
negro
(black)
marrón
(brown)
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
azul marino (
navy)
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
UNIDAD 1 Lesson 4 - Lección 4 – cuatro
Introduction to genders and articles/ géneros y artículos
Here is another specificity of the Spanish language when compared to either English or Tamil. In Castellan,
there are two genders: masculine and feminine.




The gender in a common noun is indicated by an article.
Names do not have articles but they still have a gender.
The adjective is in accord with gender and quantity with the name (if the noun is feminine, the
adjective that apllies to it will also be feminine. If it is singular, the adjective will also be singular,
etc…).
Masculine is indicated generally but not always by the letter O and feminine by the letter A. Some
nouns, though, are spelled the same way whether they are masculine or feminine: “Estudiante”
(=”student”) for example is feminine and masculine, and only the article and adjective can give
evidence of the gender.
Los artículos

Either definite just like “the” in English : el / la.
el is masculine, la is feminine

Either indefinite just like “a” in English: un / una
un is masculine, una is feminine
Unfortunately, there are no rules to guess the gender of a noun and genders need to be learnt by heart.
E.g.: el plato, la maleta, el papel, el año, la llave, la calle, la chica, el vino, nuevo, nueva.
Soy nuevo (Raju). Soy nueva (Shanti).
Application / aplicación (please note the simplified spelling of the word application).
El plato nuevo.
(nuevo/a = new)
La maleta nueva.
El papel nuevo.
El año nuevo
La calle nueva.
La llave nueva.
10
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
El vino de Málaga.
El chico de Bengal.
La chica de Cuba.
La chica de Andhra Pradesh
Syntax: Observation > Where is the adjective placed in Castellan?
Activity / Actividad: write the appropriate article
….. chico , …….. planta, …………….cuadro…………libro………… taza…………. año..............llave…….
gato………….vaso, ……… papel………….. hora……….
Activity / Actividad: What is the gender of the nouns in the reading activity?
Vocabulario : nacionalidades
Nacionalidad
indio/a
español/a
noruego
sueco/a
chino/a
autraliano/a
afgano/a
americano/a
italiano/a
nepalés
País
La India
España
Noruega
Suecia
China
Australia
Afganistan
América
Italia
Nepal
Nacionalidad
Danés
Islandés
Neozelandés
esrilankés/a
inglés/a
francés/a
japonés/a
Pakistaní
Irakí
Iraní
País
Dinamarca
Islandia
Nueva-Zelanda
Esrilanka
El Reino-Unido
Francia
Japón
Pakistán
Irak
Iran
Actividad: Write the feminine form. Poner al femenino
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11
El día es hermoso > la noche es ……………………………………………………
El vestido es blanco > est………….. falda es ………………………………….
El actor es guapo >……………………………………………………………………………
Este poeta es superior>…………………………………………………………………..
El papel es azul > est…. carta es ……………………………………………………
El mapa es interesante > ………… conferencia es …………………………
El problema es difícil > …………….pregunta es …………………………….....
Este tema es genial > est…. asignatura es ……………………………………
El estudiante es tranquilo > …………………………………………………………….
El cante es alegre > …………… canción es ……………………………………….
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
Diálogo 1: presentación – « ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿De dónde eres? »
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
Shanti:
Omar:
Lakshmi:
Omar:
Lakshmi:
Omar:
12
Hola ¿Cómo te llamas?
Me llamo Omar.
Encantada.
¿Y tú?
Me llamo Shanti.
Encantado, Shanti. ¿De dónde eres?
Soy india.
¡Qué bien!
¿Y tú?
Soy español.
iQué suerte!
¿Quién es?
Es Lakshmi. Es mi amiga. Es estudiante.
¡Buenos días, Lakshmi!
¡Buenos días, Omar! ¡Mucho gusto!
¡Mucho gusto, Lakshmi!
¿Eres español?
Sí, soy español. Soy estudiante en ecología, pero también soy
hídrologo.
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
UNIDAD 1 Lesson 5 - Lección 5 - Cinco: Nouns /
Nombres
The names of countries, geographical areas or people are called nombres propios.
The others are called nombres comúnes.
The gender of the noun can be either feminine or masculine.
The nouns ending with the letter o or or are masculine
The nouns ending with the letter a, or ión are feminine
Nouns with different endings can either be feminine or masculine, and therefore they have to be learnt by
heart.
So what about the feminine? How do we form the feminine with a given noun?
If the masculine ends with an O > just switch the O into an A..
E.g.; el niño > la niña, ingeniero > ingeniera, médico > médica
If the noun ends with OR > just add the letter A at the end.
E.g.: el profesor > la profesora
Nouns referring to an occupation ending with an E can be both masculine and feminine:
E.g.: estudiante, cantante
Exceptions:
Masculines ending with the letter A :
el día, el problema, el poeta, el idioma, el tema, el mapa, el planeta, el mapa
Names of professions ending by ISTA can be both masculine and feminine :
El dentista, el tenista, el futbolista, el artista
Feminines ending with an O or with OR :
la mano, la flor, la coliflor
To assimilate the genders of nouns, it is easier to do it by learning whole sentences because articles and
adjectives will help you:

Rafael Nadal es un tenista estupendo.

David Villa es un futbolista muy famoso.

Federico García Lorca es un poeta conocido español.
13
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
1) Definite articles / Artículos determinados
Masculine
El
Los
SINGULAR
PLURAL
Feminine
la
las
Exceptions/ Excepciones:
El
El
agua limpia / las aguas limpias (the clean water(s))
ama de casa ocupada /las amas de casa ocupadas(the housewife)
El
águila blanca / las águilas blancas (the white eagle)
El h

ambre tremenda (the tremendous hunger)
The adjective here is giving evidence of the gender:
La alumna aplicada (the pupil), la amiga buena (the friend), la alta montaña (the high mountain)
Just like in English, no article is used before the name of a country, a continent, a district or a province:
España, Europa, Castilla, Francia.
Exceptions / excepciones:
la India, el Perú, el Japón, el País Vasco, el Reino-Unido, la Mancha, el Laos, el Vietnam, los Estados-Unidos
de América

However, the definite article brings more precision, therefore when the name is followed by a
complement or an adjective, there has to be an article:
La España del norte (Northern Spain)
La América montañosa (Mountainous America)

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In the cases below we do not use articles
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
Voy a casa, voy a clase1

Just like in English, to convey the meaning of “some”, we omit the article. There is no such partitive
article in Castellano:
E.g.;
Como carne - I eat (some) meat
Bebo café - I drink (some) coffee
Compro harina - I buy (some) flour
Vocabulario : the Jobs -Las profesiones
el
el
el
el
el
el
el
el
el
el
1
maestro :
médico :
arquitecto :
ingeniero :
poeta* :
artista :
actor-la actriz :
cantante :
obrero :
carpintero :
the school teacher
the doctor
the architect
the engineer
the poet
the artist
the actor
the singer
the worker
the carpenter
el
el
el
el
el
mecánico :
camarero :
secretario :
policía* :
bombero :
el vendedor/dependiente :
el
el
el
el
sastre-la modista :
peluquero :
barbero :
jefe :
the mechanic
the waiter
the secretary
the policeman
the fireman
the salesman
the tailor
the hairdresser
the barber
the boss
Just like in English: I go to the Chennai, I go to the class
15
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
UNIDAD 1 Lesson 6 - Lección 6 - seis
Grammar : Pronouns/ Pronombres
person
st
1 person singular
nd
2 person singular
pronoun
yo
tú
remarks
rd
él/ella
with a grammatical stress because it can
be confused with the article (“the” – “el
coche, es de él”)
st
nosotros/as
nd
vosotros/as
rd
ellos/ellas
When in a group there both men and
women, masculine prevails.
When in a group there both men and
women, masculine prevails.
When in a group there both men and
women, masculine prevails.
3 person singular
1 person plural
2 person plural
3 person plural
with a grammatical stress because it can
be confused with the possessive adjective
(“your”)
NB:
These pronouns are usually omitted with the use of a verb. Indeed, since the endings of the verbs all differ
according to the subject, no confusion is possible. The same thing happens in Tamil, it is not necessary to
say ningal or ni all the time.

In Castellan, there is a second person singular and plural, just like in Tamil you distinguish ni and
ninge. It is not the case in English.
Honorific pronoun
In Spanish, just like in Tamil ninge, there is an honorific pronoun. However, this pronoun is hardly used in
today’s Spanish except for elderly people or for people with an important title such as directors, doctors,
ministers, professors, members of the nobility, etc…
nd
Honorific 2 person Singular
Honorific second person plural
Usted + verb conjugated at the third person
singular
Ustedes + verb conjugated at the third person
plural
“¿Cómo está usted?”
“Qué tal están ustedes?”
NB: This pronoun is usually abbreviated in the written language as follows Ud. or Udes.
Vos: vos is used as tú in the South American countries
16
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
Vocabulario the musical instruments- los instrumentos musicales
El piano :
La guitarra :
El violín :
El tambor :
La flauta :
17
the piano
the guitar
the violin
the drum
the flute
La harmónica :
El violonchelo :
El órgano :
La cítara :
El arpa* :
the harmonica
the cello
the organ
the zither
the harp
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
18
Spanish Here and Now, Complete course A1-A2 Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India
UNIDAD 1 Lesson 7 - Lección 7 – siete: the verb TO BE
To translate the verb to BE, there are two options in Spanish:
Distinction Verbo Ser (the essence of a thing) / Estar (the state of a thing).
Ser malo (to be a bad person) ≠ estar malo (to be temporarily sick)
Ser guapo (to be born handsome) ≠ estar guapo (to be particularly pretty at some point)
NB: This is the main problem you’ll encounter as you learn Spanish, since this concept does not exist in most
languages. Knowing that many philosophers since Socrates distinguish the temporary state from the
permanent essence might encourage you! It is the beauty of Spanish to have such a concept within the
language itself.


SER: indicates the essence of something, regardless of its state. It is water > Es agua
ESTAR: indicates the temporary state> Es agua, Está helada (the water is now frozen = the state)
Verbo SER: conjugation and uses
Verbs in Castilian are only in accord with the quantity, not with the gender, unlike what happens in Tamil.
person
(the
pronoun is
usually
omitted)
verb
ser
(yo)
soy
(tú)
eres
nationality
st
1 pers.
singular
nd
2 pers.
singular
rd
3 pers.
singular
él/ella
es
st
1 pers.
plural
nosotros/as
somos
vosotros/as
sois
ellos/ellas
son
nature
moral
characteristic
physical
characteristic
job
una
chica,
alumna
español/ a,
Tamil,
bengalí,
majos,
simpáticos,
listos, buenos
altos,
delgados,
nd
2 pers.
plural
rd
3 pers.
plural
NB:
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ingenieros
Spanish Here and Now, Course by Eva GUERDA RODRIGUEZ, 2010-2011 Pondicherry University, India

In Tamil, the feminine and masculine have different endings in their conjugated verbs. It is not the
case in Spanish, therefore only context can indicate whether we are speaking about men or
women.

Like in Tamil, in a group where there are both men and women, the masculine will always prevail.
Used for:
The nature of something, its essence: es una niña.
The profession/job: es ingeniero, es médico, es profesora, es estudiante.
Nationality, la nacionalidad: es española, es india, es bengalí, es tamil, es andra pradeshi.
A constant physical characteristic with an adjective : es alta, eres guapa, soy lista.
A trait of character, moral characteristic : eres generosa, ellos son buenos.
In front of :
an adverb of quantity : Sois muchos
a pronoun : Somos nosotros, soy yo
a number: Son cuatro, somos seis
Other uses : SER + de
Soy de Andra Pradesh, Somos de la India del Norte. Es de Madrid.
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UNIDAD 1 – Lesson 7, Lección 7- siete
Sentences in Castilian: syntax/ Frases en Castellano : síntaxis
Now that you have all the tools, you will now learn how to build a sentence in Castilian.

The affirmative sentence :
Subject + verb+ complement
E.g.; El niño come pan.
NB: quite often, the subject is given by the verb’s ending and it is therefore omitted.
E.g.; (Ellas) compran un cuaderno.

The negative sentence is formed by putting the negation mark no just before the verb
Subject + no + verb+ complement
E.g.; El niño no come pan, no compran un cuaderno.
Here are some words expressing negation or restriction
No:
no
Ningún(o), ninguna:
Not one, none
Ni… ni :
Neither … nor
Nunca:
never

The interrogative sentence can be constructed in two different ways:
1) Either by inverting the verb and the subject for questions which can be answered by yes/no:
Eg; ¿Come pan el niño?
2) Either with the help of an interrogative pronoun
E.g.; ¿Cómo come el niño? – Bién
¿Cuánto come el niño? – Poco
¿Quién es el niño? – Es Omar
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¿De dónde es el niño ?- Es de Madrid

The exclamative sentence: there are three ways to build it. It is used to convey enthusiasm,
astonishment or indignation, and it suits the Spanish rather extraverted temper! You will learn the
structure of these sentences as the year goes on. For the time being, you already know the
exclamation starting by “qué” and followed by an adjective:
E.g.: ¡Qué bonito! , ¡Qué bien!, ¡ Qué caro!
There are three types of exclamative sentences:
1.
An adjective preceeded by “qué”. You have encountered this model many times:
E.g.; ¡Qué majo! ¡qué bonito!
2. A noun and an adjective preceeded by “qué” . E.g.; ¡Qué día tan majo!
3. An adjective and a verb preceeded by “qué”: Eg: ¡Qué majos son!
A specificity of Spanish:
NB: Both the interrogative and the exclamative sentences require an inverted mark at the beginning of the
sentence and a traditional question or exclamation mark at the end.
Opened at the beginning ¡ - ¿
Closed at the end ? - !
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roto:
enfermo:
barato:
limpio:
largo:
pequeño
ancho:
fuerte:
cansado:
broken participio pasado verbo romper
ill, sick
cheap
clean
long
smal
broad
strong
tired participio pasado del verbo cansar.
impecable:
sano:
caro:
sucio:
corto:
grande:
estrecho:
flojo:
reposado:
expensive
dirty
short
big
narrow
weak
relaxed participio pasado del
verbo, reposar to rest
Reminder :
Interrogative pronouns all have a stress indicating their grammatical function: qué, quién,
cómo, por qué, cuándo, cuánto etc…
Actividad: 1) make an affirmative sentence with the words you know
Actividad: 2) turn into a yes/no question
Actividad: 3) answer by yes or no. (Sí,no)
Vocabulary: jobs and adjectives
Actividad 1: take 5-10 minutes to memorise the vocabulary.
Here is some more vocabulary: arquitecto/a, alumno/a, secretario/a, enfermero/a, peluquero/a,
ingeniero/a, hombre de negocios, escritor/a, el jefe/ la jefa (THE boss)

Exceptions : actor, actriz, cantante (both masculine and feminine) , artista ( both masculine
and feminine.
More vocabulary for nationalities: alemán, francés, inglés, australiano, americano, butanés, nepalí,
ruso, afgano, tibetano, chino, italiano.
More adjectives: guapo/a (handsome/pretty) , encantador/a (charming) atento/a (aware, attentive),
concentrada/o (focused), rico/a (rich or delicious if speaking of a meal, cute if speaking of a child),
caro/a (expensive), barato/a (cheap)
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Revisión: alto/a, bajo/a, viejo/a, nuevo/a, antiguo/a,
Actividad 2: create sentences using this new vocabulary
Bárbara > Bárbara es estudiante
Shanti >………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Carlos > …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Shanti >…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Raju>……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Antonio >…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Yo >…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
El >…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Actividad 3: make sentences using the new vocabulary and the plural of the verb
SER
Grammática: El verbo ESTAR

Used for location in space:
Estás en Madrid, estoy en el colegio

A temporary state:
Estoy sentada, está contenta

Before a complement of time, and adverb, or a preposition:
Estás en Barcelona, Estamos a lunes, El libro está encima de la mesa

A past participle to express the result of an action:
La puerta está cerrada.
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
With the gerund of some verbs to convey the significance of “to be doing something”
Estoy hablando, estamos comiendo, estamos aprendiendo castellano
Pronombre
Verbo
Yo
tú
él/ella
nosotros
vosotros
Ellos/ellas
estoy
estás
está
estamos
estáis
están
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Participio
adjetival
sentado/ sentada
adverbio
adjetivo
complemento
de pie
guapo/ bronceada
casados
a lunes
en Madrid
contentos/contentas
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To tell the date, it is required to use estar:
Estamos a lunes 5 de septiembre del 2012.
To talk about the day you can use ser:
¿Qué día es? Hoy es martes.
Mini-Diálogo SER / ESTAR
Omar
Shanti
Omar
Lakshmi
-
¿Estás contenta ? Pareces feliz.
Sí estoy muy contenta. ¿Y tú ? ¿ Cómo estás?
Yo estoy cansado. ¿Eres india tú también, Lakshmi?
No yo soy esrilanquesa. Sri Lanka es una isla. La India es una península, como
España.
> Observation: observe and analyse the difference between cómo and
como, and ser and estar
Ejercicio : follow the model and learn the vocabulary :
Eg : La Escuela Francesa de Pondicherry > ¿Dónde está la escuela Francesa de Pondicherry ?
La piscina de Pondi > ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
La casa de Deepak >…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
La estación de autobuses >……………………………………………………………………………………………….
La sala de deportes >…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
El hospital >………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
La playa > ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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UNIDAD 1 Lesson 9, Lección 9 - nueve
Qualifying adjectives/ los adjetivos cualificativos
Adjectives qualify a noun. Adjectives can be either masculine or feminine, singular or plural, and they are
in accord with the noun.
To form the feminine of a masculine adjective terminated by letter O we change the O into an A:
E.g.: nuevo > nueva, antiguo > antigua, corto> corta, largo > larga, alto > alta, bueno>
buena, malo > mala, bonito > bonita, caro > cara
The feminine of masculine nationality adjectives ending with a consonant is formed by adding the letter A
at the end of the adjective:
E.g.: alemán > alemana, español > española, esrilanqués > esrilanquesa
Other adjectives that do not end with the letter O are invariable: whether they end by OR, L, or E
E.g.: imposible, fácil, marrón, azul, verde, bengalí, mejor, superior
E.g.: el vestido azul, la bolsa azul
The adjectives are in accord with the nouns they qualify: both in terms of gender and quantity
E.g.: el niño bueno> los niños buenos; la niña buena > las niñas buenas
Ejercicios SER y ESTAR: Seguir el modelo del ejemplo :

Ejemplo: ventana: ancha/cerrada. 1) La ventana es ancha. 2) La ventana está
cerrada.
1.
Enfermera: simpático / cansado
2. Bar: agradable / abierto (opened)
3. Estudiante: alto / enfermo
4. mesa: largo/ bajo/ limpio/ blanco
5. médico: bueno/ amable
6. libro: barato/ roto
7. jardin: grande/ abierto
8. puerta: pequeño/ rojo
9. arquitecto: nervioso/listo
10. peluquero: malo/amable
11. cantante: guapo/ elegante
12. actriz: enfermo/ atractivo
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Ejercicio 2: convertir las frases de la actividad previa a la forma negativa.
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UNIDAD 1 Lesson 10, Lección 10- diez
Gramática: el plural
Nouns can be either singular or plural.
Just like in English, in Castilian, the plural is formed with the letter S.
By virtue of the law of least effort which prevails in all languages, the pronounciation of this S must be as
easy as possible. Therefore there are some adjustments in order to make things easier.All the endings obey
the law of least effort.
Nouns ending by a vowel
Un libro / el libro
Una casa / la casa
Nouns ending by a consonant
Un papel / el papel
S
Unos libros / los libros
Unas casas/las casas
ES
Unos papeles/los papeles
Nouns ending by a stressed í
ES
Un jabalí / el jabalí
Unos jabaliés/los jabalíes
Nouns ending by ión
Drop their stress and follow rule for nouns ending by a consonant >
ES
una lección/ la leccion
Unas lecciones/ las lecciones
Nouns Ending by S or X
No change. The plural is indicated by the article and the context.
El martes
Un fénix, el fénix
Los martes,
Unos fénix dorados, los fénix dorados
Exception : el autobús > la estación de autobuses
Nouns ending by Z
Un pez, el pez
Drop the Z , replace it with a C, and follow the rule for names ending
by a consonant: ES
Unos peces, los peces
Exception : El autobús, los autobuses > la estación de autobuses
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Vocabulario The numbers, los números:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
uno
dos
tres
cuatro
cinco
seis
siete
ocho
nueve
diez
once
doce
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UNIDAD 1 Lesson 11, Lección 11 – once
Asking questions: Interrogative pronouns
The syntax is as follows:
Interrogative pronoun + verb + complement (+ only if necessary the subject of the verb)
Interrogative pronoun
¿Adónde? (where to)
 ¿Adónde vamos?
¿Cómo ? (how )
 ¿Cómo te llamas ?
¿Cúal ? (which)
 ¿Cúal quieres?
¿Cuándo ? (when)
 ¿Cuándo vienes ?
¿Cuánto? (how many)
 ¿Cuántos años tienes?
¿Dónde? (where)
 ¿Dónde está tu casa?
¿Por qué ? (why)
 ¿Por qué estás tan contenta?
¿Qué? (what)
 ¿Qué dices?
¿Quién? (who)
 ¿Quién es esa chica?
Actividad: practica
Los datos : presentarse
¿Cómo te llamas? Me llamo María
¿Quién son tus amigos? Mis amigos son Shanti y Lakshmi
¿De dónde eres? Soy de Barcelona
¿Cuál es tu color preferido? Mi color preferido es el azul
¿Dónde vives? Vivo en Pondy
¿Qué te gusta? Me gusta el mar, la música
¿Cuántos años tienes? Tengo treinta años
¿Cuándo terminas tus estudios? Termino este año.
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¿Por qué estudias en Pondicherry? Porque me gusta estar aquí.
If the interrogative pronoun has no stress it becomes a relative pronoun.
Eg: Ésta es la casa donde vivo > this is the house where I live.
Vocabulary: numbers
1 uno
11 once
21 veintiuno
30 treinta
2 dos
12 doce
22 veintidós
31 treinta y uno
3 tres
13 trece
23 veintitrés
32 treinta y dos
4 cuatro
14 catorce
24 veinticuatro
33 treinta y tres
5 cinco
15 quince
25 veinticinco
6 seis
16 dieciséis
26 veintiséis
7 siete
17 diecisiete
27 veintisiete
8 ocho
18 dieciocho
28 veintiocho
9 nueve
19 diecinueve
29 veintinueve
10 diez
20 veinte
40 cuarenta
100 cien
2.000 dos mil
41 cuarenta y uno
101 ciento uno
2.222 dos mil doscientos
110 ciento diez
veintidós
50 cincuenta
200 doscientos
10.000 diez mil
52 cincuenta y dos
300 trescientos
1.000.000 millón
400 cuatrocientos
60 sesenta
500 quinientos
63 sesenta y tres
600 seiscientos
700 setecientos
70 setenta
800 ochocientos
74 setenta y cuatro
900 novecientos
999 novecientos noventa y
80 ochenta
nueve
85 ochenta y cinco
1.000 mil
90 noventa
96 noventa y seis
Please note these minor differences:
Instead of 1,000 in Spanish we must write 1.000
Also, instead of 1.5 in Spanish we must write 1,5
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