Systemic organization of language.

1. Subject of theoretical grammar.
Grammar may be practical and theoretical. The aim of practical grammar is the description of grammar rules that are necessary to understand and formulate sentences. The aim of theoretical grammar is to offer explanation for these rules. Generally speaking, theoretical grammar deals with the language as a functional system.

2, 4 Grammatical stucture of the english language.
According to their grammatical structure languages can be synthetic (1 ) and analytical ( 2 ).
In 1 – the grammatical relations between words are expressed by means of the –i-, -n-, -f-, -t-.
In 2 - the grammatical relations between words are expressed by means of the form words and word order. 2 forms are mostly proper to verbs. Its form word has no lexical meaning and expresses different grammatical categories: mood, person, tense, voice, and a notional word ( infinitive or a participle). The 2 forms are:
tense and aspect of the verb forms ( continuous, perfect, all future forms ).
The passive voice.
Subjunctive mood.
However there are some synthetic features in English:
endings -s- in 3rd person sing. In the Present Simple.
endings –s in plural of nouns.
endings –‘s in genitive case.
endings – ed in the Past Simple.
Inner flexions – woman – women, man – men, speak – spoke.
The synthetic form of the subjunctive mood

3. Morphology and syntax as two main parts of grammar.
Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning "co-" or "together") and τάξις (táxis, meaning "sequence, order, arrangement"), can in linguistics be described as the study of the rules, or "patterned relations" that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. Syntax attempts to systematize descriptive grammar, and is unconcerned with prescriptive grammar (see Prescription and description).
There exist innumerable theories of formal syntax — theories that have in time risen or fallen in influence. Most theories of syntax at least share two commonalities: First, they hierarchically group subunits into constituent units (phrases). Second, they provide some system of rules to explain patterns of acceptability/grammaticality and unacceptability/ungrammaticality. Most formal theories of syntax offer explanations of the systematic relationships between syntactic form and semantic meaning.
Syntactic category: is either a phrasal category, such as noun phrase or verb phrase, which can be decomposed into smaller syntactic categories, or a lexical category, such as noun or verb, which cannot be further decomposed. In terms of phrase structure rules, phrasal categories can occur to the left side of the arrow while lexical categories cannot. The lexical categories are traditionally called the parts of speech. They include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on. Morphology is a sub discipline of linguistics that studies word structure. While words are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in most (if not all) languages, words can be related to other words by rules. Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies such rules across and within languages

5. Dichtonomy of language and speech
A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts. In other words, it is a mutually exclusive bipartition of elements. i.e. nothing can belong simultaneously to both parts, and everything must belong to one part or the other. They are often contrasting and spoken of as "opposites." The term comes from dichotomos (divided): dich- ([in] two) temnein (to cut). The above applies directly when the term is used in mathematics, linguistics. For example, if there is a concept A, and it is split into parts B and not-B, then the parts form a dichotomy: they are mutually exclusive, since no part of B is contained in not-B and vice-versa, and they are jointly exhaustive, since they cover all of A, and together again give A.





6. Systemic relations in language. Syntagmatic relations.
A linguistic unit enters into syntagmatic relations with other units of the same level it occurs with. SR exist at every language level. They can be of three different types: coordinate, subordinate and predicative.
a) Coordinate SR exist between the homogeneous linguistic units that ax
that is, they are the relations of independence: you and me; They were tired but happy.
Suhordinated SR are the relations of dependence when one linguistic unit depends on the othex- teach + er - morphological level; a smart student - word-group level; predicative and subordinate clauses - sentence level. Predicative SR are the relations of interdependence: primary and secondary

7. Systemic relations in language. Paradigmatic relations
A linguistic unit can enter into relations of two different kinds. It enters into paradigmatic relations with all the units -that can also occur in the same environment. are relations based on the principles of similarity. They exist between the units that can substitute one another. According to different principles of similarity PR can be of three types: semantic, formal and functional.
Semantic PR are based on the similarity of meaning: a book to read = a book for reading.
Formal PR are based on the similarity of forms. Such relations exist between the
members of a paradigm: man - men; play - played'- will play ~ is playing.
Functional PR are based on the similarity of function. They are established between
the elements that can occur in the same position.

8. Linguistic units.
In fact, the word is considered to be the central (but not the only) linguistic unit of language' Linguistic units (or in other words - signs) can go into three types of relations:
a) The relation between a unit and an object in the world around us (objective reality). - refers to a definite piece of furniture. It may be not only an object but a process, state, quality, etc. .
This type of meaning is called referential meaning of a unit. It is semantics that studies the referential meaning of units. b) The relation between a unit and other units (inner relations between units). No unit can be used independently; it serves as an element in the system of other units. This kind of meaning is called syntactic. Formal relation of units to one another is studied by syntactics (or syntax). c) The relation between a unit and a person who uses it. As we know too well, when we are saying something, we usually have some purpose in mind. We use the language as an instrument for our purpose (e.g.). One and the same word or sentence may acquire different meanings in communication. This type of meaning is called pragmatic. The study of the relationship between linguistic units and the users of those units is done by pragmatics.

Morphology.

1, 2 The morpheme, classification of morphemes, types of morpheme.
Morpheme. is the smallest language unit that carries a semantic interpretation. Morphemes are, generally, a distinctive collocation of phonemes (as the free form pin or the bound form -s of pins) having no smaller meaningful members. Types of morphemes. Free morphemes like town, dog can appear with other lexemes (as in town hall or dog house) or they can stand alone, or "free". Allomorphs are variants of a morpheme, e.g. the plural marker in Bound morphemes like "un-" appear only together with other morphemes to form a lexeme. Bound morphemes in general tend to be prefixes and suffixes. Morphemes existing in only one bound form are known as "cranberry" morphemes, from the "cran" in that very word. Inflectional morphemes modify a word's tense, number, aspect, and so on. (as in the dog morpheme if written with the plural marker morpheme s becomes dogs). Derivational morphemes can be added to a word to create (derive) another word: the addition of "-ness" to "happy," for example, to give "happiness."






3. The word as the smallest naming unit.
A word is a unit of language that carries meaning and consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together. Typically a word will consist of a root or stem and zero or more affixes. Words can be combined to create phrases, clauses and sentences. A word consisting of two or more stems joined together is called a compound. As the word is the main unit of traditional grammatical theory, it serves the basis of the distinction which is frequently "drawn between morpfiology and syntax. Morphology deals with the internal structure of words, peculiarities of their grammatical categories and their semantics while traditional syntax deals with the rules governing combination of words in sentences (and texts in modern linguistics). We can therefore say that the word is the main unit of morphology. It is difficult to arrive at a one-sentence definition of such a complex linguistic unit as the word. It is also the basic nominative unit of language with the help of which the naming function of language is realized. One of the most characteristic features of the word is its indivisibility. As any other linguistic unit the word is a bilateral entity. It unites a concept and a sound image and thus has two sides - the content and expression sides: concept and sound form.

8. Grammatical categories of communication.
Grammatical categories are made up by the unity of that have the meanings have the same form (e.g. singular::plural). Due to dialectal unity of language and thought, grammatical categories correlate, on the one hand, with the conceptual categories and, on the other hand, with the objective reality. It follows that we may define grammatical categories as references of the corresponding. obiective categories. For example, the objective category of time finds its representation in the grammatical category of tense, the objective category of quantity finds its representation in the grammatical category of number. Those grammatical categories that have references in the objective reality are called referential grammatical categories. They are called significational categories. To this type belong the categories of mood and degree. Speaking about the grammatical category of mood we can say that it has modality as its conceptual correlate. It can be explained by the fact that it does not refer to anything in the objective reality - it expresses the speaker's attitude to what he says. The relation between two grammatical forms differing in meaning and external signs is called opposition -book::books (unmarked member/marked member). All grammatical categories find their realization through oppositions, e.g. the grammatical category of number is realized through the opposition singular::plural.


9, 10. Parts of speech. Different approaches.
The parts of speech are classes of words, all' the members of these classes having certain characteristics in common which distinguish them from the members of other problem of word classification into parts of speech still remains one of the most controversial problems in modern linguistics. The artitude of grammarians with regard to parts of speech and the basis of their classification varied a good deal at different times. Only in English grammarians have been vacillating between 3 and. 13 parts of speech. There are four approaches to the problem:
Classical (logical-inflectional)
Functional
Distributional
Complex,
The classical of speech theory is.based on Latin grammar. According, to the Latin classification of the parts of speech all words were divided dichotomically into declinable and indeclinable parts of speech. declinable words, included nouns, pronouns, verbs and participles, indeclinable words - adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections. Based on the the principle of declinability/indeclmability is not relevant for analytical languages. Functional - To/nominative parts of speech belonged noun-words (noun, noun-pronoun, noun-numeral, infinitive, gerund), adjective-words (adjective, adjective-pronoun, adjective-numeral, participles), verb (finite verb, verbals - gerund, infinitive, participles), while adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection belonged to the group of articles. A Distributional approach to the parts to the parts of speech classification can be illustrated bythe classification introduced by Charles Fries. He wanted to avoid the traditional terminology and establish a classification of words based on the ability of words to combine with other words of different types. At the same time, the lexical meaning of words was not taken into account. In modern linguistics, parts of speech are discriminated according to three, criteria: semantic, formal and functional. This approach may be defined as complex. The semantic criterion presupposes the grammatical meaning of the whole class of words (general grammatical meaning). The formal criterion reveals paradigmatic properties: relevant grammatical categories, the form of the words, their specific inflectional and derivational features. Thus, when characterizing any part of speech we
are to describe: a) its semantics; b) its morphological features; c) its syntactic peculiarities. The linguistic evidence drawn from our grammatical study makes it possible to divide all the words of the language into: those denoting things, objects, notiona, qualities, etc. - words with the corresponding references the objective reality. – notional words those having no references of their own in the objective reality; most of them are used only as grammatical means to form up and frame utterances - function

11. Noun as a part of speech
A noun, or noun substantive, is a part of speech (a word or phrase) which can co-occur with (in) definite articles and attributive adjectives, and function as the head of a noun phrase.
The word "noun" derives from the Latin nomen meaning "name", and a traditional definition of nouns is that they are all and only those expressions that refer to a person, place, thing, event, substance, quality or idea. They serve as the subject or object of a verb, and the object of a preposition. That definition has been criticized by contemporary linguists as being quite uninformative. For example, it appears that verbs like kill or die refer to events, and so they fall under the definition. Similarly, adjectives like yellow or difficult might be thought to refer to qualities, and adverbs like outside or upstairs seem to refer to places. But verbs, adjectives and adverbs are not nouns, so the definition is not particularly helpful in distinguishing nouns from other parts of speech.
Case, number, and gender
In sentences, noun phrases may function in a variety of different ways, the most obvious being as subjects or objects. For example, in the sentence "John wrote me a letter", "John" is the subject, and "me" and "letter" are objects (of which "letter" is a noun and "me" a pronoun). These different roles are known as noun cases. Variant forms of the same noun—such as "he" (subject) and "him" (object)—are called declensions.
The number of a noun indicates how many objects the noun refers to. In the simplest case, number distinguishes between singular ("man") and plural ("men"). Some languages, like Arabic (and also Saami and Aleut ) also distinguish dual from plural.
Many languages (though not English) have a concept of noun gender, also known as noun class, whereby every noun is designated as, for example, masculine or feminine.


12. Category of number.
English countable nouns have 2 categories of number:
singular
plural
І. The plural form is formed be adding the ending -s, -es, pronounced as /z/, /s/, /iz/.
2. if the noun ends in –y presided by a consonant. –y is changed into –i + -es-

13. Category of case.
Case indicates the relations of the noun ( or pronoun ) to the other words in the sentence. Nouns denoting living beings and some nouns denoting lifeless things have two cases:
the common case.
the genitive case.
The genitive case is formed by:
‘s – is used with the singular and plural nouns not ending in –s:
a man’s job, men’s job, a child’s voice, a children’s voice.
b) a simple apostrophe (‘)is used with plural nouns ending in –s:
the students’ hostel, the Smiths’ car.
other names ending I –s can take “ ’s ” or the “ ’ ” alone:

14. The problem of gender.
In linguistics, the term gender refers to various forms of expressing biological or sociological gender by inflecting words. For example, in the words actor and actress the suffix -or denotes "male person" (masculine), and the suffix -ress denotes "female person" (feminine). This type of inflection, called lexical gender, is very rare in English, but quite common in other languages, including most languages in the Indo-European family. Normally, Modern English does not mark nouns for gender, but it expresses gender in the third person singular personal pronouns he (male person), she (female person), and it (object, abstraction, or animal), and their other inflected forms. When gender is expressed on other parts of speech, besides nouns and pronouns, the language is said to have grammatical gender. Grammatical gender may be partly assigned by convention, so it doesn't always coincide with natural gender. Furthermore, the gender assigned to animals, inanimate objects and abstractions is often arbitrary. Gender can refer to the (biological) condition of being male or female, or less commonly hermaphrodite or neuter, as applied to humans, animals, and plants. In this sense, the term is a synonym for sex, a word that has undergone a usage shift itself, having become a synonym for sexual intercourse.

15. Noun determiners. The article.
An article is a word that is put next to a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles can have various functions:
a definite article (English the) is used before singular and plural nouns that refer to a particular member of a group. (The cat on the mat is black.)
an indefinite article (English a, an) is used before singular nouns that refer to any member of a group. (A cat is a mammal).
a partitive article indicates an indefinite quantity of a mass noun; there is no partitive article in English, though the words some or any often have that function.
a zero article is the absence of an article (e.g. English indefinite plural), used in some languages in contrast with the presence of one. Linguists hypothesize the absence as a zero article based on the X-bar theory.










16, 17, 18, 19. General characteristics of a verb.
Verb is a part of speech that denotes an action,
It has the following grammatical categories:
- person - aspect
- number - voice
- tense - mood
These categories may be expressed by means of affixes, innaflexions (change of the route vowel) and by form words.
According to the functional verbs perform in the sentence; they can form finite(особові) and non-finite forms.
The finite form can be used as the predicate of the sentence.
The non-finite can’t be used as the predicate of the sentence, they are called “verbals” (Participle I, II, Infinitive, Gerund).
According to the morphological structure verbs can be divided into:
- simple
- derivative (rewrite, undo)
- compound (day-dream, brain-beat)
- composite (give up, sit down).
3. The basic forms of the verb are:
- the infinitive
- the past indefinite
- the participle II
speak – spoke – spoken.
According to the syntactical function verbs are divided into:
notional verbs – always have a lexical meaning of their own and have an independent syntactical function in the sentence (may be used as a simple predicate).
auxiliary verbs – have only grammatical function used in analytical form.link verbs – which have lost their lexical meaning to some extend and are used in compound nominal predicate.
6.A verb can be
- transitive which can take:
a) a direct object
They express an action which passes on to a thing or object directly.
b)direct and indirect object.
c) prepositional object
intransitive verbs can’t take a direct object.
7. Semantically all verbs can be divided into:
- terminative
- non-terminative
a) Terminative verbs amply a limit beyond which an action can’t continue. (to break).
b) Non-terminative denote an action which don’t amply any limit. (to love, to live, to posses).
c) Verbs of double lexical character/aspect. These verbs in certain context have a terminative meaning, and in other – a derivative.

21. The category of tence.
Grammatical tense is a way languages express the time at which an event described by a sentence occurs. In English, this is a property of a verb form, and expresses only time-related information. Tense, along with mood, voice and person, are three ways in which verb forms are frequently characterized, in languages where those categories apply. There are languages (mostly isolating languages, like Chinese) where tense is not expressed anywhere in the verb or any auxiliaries, but only as adverbs of time, when needed for comprehension; and there are also languages (such as Russian) where tense is not deemed very important and emphasis is instead placed on aspect. The exact number of tenses in a language is often a matter of some debate, since many languages include the state of certainty of the information, the frequency of the event, whether it is ongoing or finished, and even whether the information was directly experienced or gleaned from hearsay, as moods or tenses of a verb. Some grammarians consider these to be separate tenses, and some do not.


22. Perfect.
The perfect aspect is a grammatical aspect, which refers to a state resulting from a previous action (also described as a previous action with relevance to a particular time, or a previous action viewed from the perspective of a later time).
For example, "I have gone to the cinema" implies both that a previous action happened ("I went to the cinema") and that a current state resulted ("I am now in the cinema"). This differs from the simple "I went to the cinema", which implies only that an action happened, with no relevance to the present. The form "I have gone" is referred to as a present perfect, meaning present tense, perfect aspect. (It is considered present tense, not past tense, since the resulting state is in the present.)

23. Aspect.
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof) in the described event or state. For example, in English the difference between I swim and I am swimming is a difference of aspect.
Aspect, as discussed here, is a formal property of a language. Some languages distinguish a large number of formal aspects (see the list below), while others distinguish none at all. Even languages that do not mark aspect formally, however, can convey such distinctions, if important, by the use of adverbs, phrases, serial verb constructions or other means.
Present Simple (not progressive/continuous, not perfect; simple): "I eat"
Present Progressive (progressive, not perfect): "I am eating"
Present Perfect (not progressive, perfect): "I have eaten"
Present Perfect Progressive (progressive, perfect): "I have been eating"
...and for the past tense:
Past Simple (not progressive/continuous, not perfect; simple): "I ate"
Past Progressive (progressive, not perfect): "I was eating"
Past Perfect (not progressive, perfect): "I had eaten"
Past Perfect Progressive (progressive, perfect): "I had been eating"
Another aspect that does survive in English, but that is no longer productive, is the frequentative, which conveys the sense of continuously repeated action; while prominent in Latin, it is omitted from most discussions of English grammar, as it suggests itself only by Scandinavian suffixes no longer heard independently from the words to which they're affixed (e.g., "blabber" for "blab", "chatter" for chat", "dribble" for "drip", "crackle" for "crack", etc.).

24. Voice.
In grammar, voice is the relationship between the action or state expressed by a verb, and its arguments (subject, object, etc.). When the subject is the agent or actor of the verb, the verb is said to be in the active voice. When the subject is the patient, target or undergoer of the action, it is said to be in the passive voice.
For example,
The cat ate the mouse
is active, but
The mouse was eaten by the cat
is passive.
In a transformation from an active voice sentence to an equivalent passive voice construction, the subject and the direct object switch places. The direct object is promoted to subject, and the subject is demoted to an optional complement. In the above examples, the mouse is the direct object in the active voice version, the subject in the passive version. The subject of the active voice version, the cat, becomes part of a prepositional phrase in the passive version of the sentence, and could be left out entirely. In the English language, the passive voice is periphrastic; that is, it is not a single word form, but rather a construction making use of other word forms. Specifically, it is made up of a form of the auxiliary verb to be and a past participle of the main verb. In other languages, such as Latin, the passive voice is simply marked on the verb by inflection: the passive voice uses different verb endings than the active voice.




25. Mood.
In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. Many languages express distinctions of mood through morphology, by changing (inflecting) the form of the verb.
Grammatical mood is not the same thing as grammatical tense or grammatical aspect, although these concepts are conflated to some degree in many languages, including English and most other modern Indo-European languages, insofar as the same word patterns are used to express more than one of these concepts at the same time.1 Admirative mood 2 Cohortative mood 3 Conditional mood 4 Dubitative mood 5 Energetic mood 6 Eventive mood 7 Generic mood 8 Hypothetical mood 9 Imperative mood 10 Indicative mood 11 Declarative mood 12 Interrogative mood 13 Jussive mood 14 Negative mood 15 Optative mood 16 Potential mood 17 Presumptive mood 18 Subjunctive mood

26. Adjectives and adverbs.
The adjective is a part of speech denoting quality of substance:
size ( big, enormous )
color ( yellow, white )
age ( young, old )
material ( wooden, metal )
physiological state ( angry, happy).
The main syntactical functions of an adjective are those of an attribute and a predicative:
Morphological characteristics of an adjective are divided into:
- simple
- derivative→ productive → unproductive.
- compound

3. Classification of adjective.
By meaning and grammatical characteristics they are divided into two groups:
qualitative
realative.
Qualitative adjectives denote qualities of a substance directly not threw it’s relation to another substance as: size, shape, color, physical and mental quality.
Realative adjectives denote qualities of a substance directly threw it’s relation to:
material ( woolen, silk)
place ( Italian, ancient)
time ( monthly, weekly)
the number of them is limited in English.


Syntax.
1. Syntax as a part of grammar.
Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning "co-" or "together") and τάξις (táxis, meaning "sequence, order, arrangement"), can in linguistics be described as the study of the rules, or "patterned relations" that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. It concerns how different words (which, going back to Dionysios Thrax, are categorized as nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.) are combined into clauses, which, in turn, are combined into sentences. Syntax attempts to systematize descriptive grammar, and is unconcerned with prescriptive grammar (see Prescription and description).
There exist innumerable theories of formal syntax — theories that have in time risen or fallen in influence. Most theories of syntax at least share two commonalities: First, they hierarchically group subunits into constituent units (phrases). Second, they provide some system of rules to explain patterns of acceptability/grammaticality and unacceptability/ungrammaticality. Most formal theories of syntax offer explanations of the systematic relationships between syntactic form and semantic meaning.
There are various theories as to how best to make grammars such that by systematic application of the rules, one can arrive at every phrase marker in a language (and hence every sentence in the language).
A modern approach to combining accurate descriptions of the grammatical patterns of language with their function in context is that of systemic functional grammar, an approach originally developed by Michael A.K. Halliday in the 1960s and now pursued actively in all continents. Systemic-functional grammar is related both to feature-based approaches such as Head-driven phrase structure grammar and to the older functional traditions of European schools of linguistics such as British Contextualism and the Prague School.
A syntactic category is either a phrasal category, such as noun phrase or verb phrase, which can be decomposed into smaller syntactic categories, or a lexical category, such as noun or verb, which cannot be further decomposed.
In terms of phrase structure rules, phrasal categories can occur to the left side of the arrow while lexical categories cannot.
The lexical categories are traditionally called the parts of speech. They include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on.

2. Syntactic notions.
The relation between a unit and other units (inner relations between units). No unit can be used independently; it serves as an element in the system of other units. This kind of meaning is called syntactic. Formal relation of units to one another is studied by syntactics (or syntax). Only inner (syntactic) relations between linguistic units served the basis for linguistic analysis while the reference of words to the objective reality and language users were actually not considered

3. Coordinations, Parataxis.
In grammar, coordination refers to the linking of syntactically equal elements. Coordinating conjunctions are often, though not always, used in coordination. Coordinations can generally be classified as syndetic, asyndetic, or polysyndetic. Coordination may be compared with subordination
Parataxis (from Greek for 'act of placing side by side'; fr. para, beside + tassein, to arrange; contrasted to syntaxis) is a literary technique, in writing or speaking, that favors short, simple sentences, often without the use of conjunctions. It is a style much favoured by historians and writers of crime fiction.

4. Hypotaxis.
Hypotaxis [fr. Gk. subjection, fr. hypotassein to arrange under] : syntactic subordination (as by a conjunction). So in grammar, the syntactic subordination of one clause or construction to another. Antonym: parataxis

11. Simple sentence.
A simple sentence contains one subject and one verb. The subject (sometimes called the object) comes before the verb. The verb comes after the subject to describe what the subject is doing or has done.
The singer bowed. Noun phrase / Subject = The singer Verb phrase / Verb = bowed
The baby cried. Noun phrase / Subject = The baby Verb phrase / Verb = cried
The girl ran. Noun phrase / Subject = The girl Verb phrase / Verb = ran
In traditional grammar the noun phrase is called the subject.

16. The utterance
Speech can be described as an act of producing voice through the use of the vocal cords and vocal apparatus or other means, such as sign language, to create linguistic acts in the form of language that communicate information from an initiator to a recipient. In more colloquial terms, speech can be described in several different ways:
• A linguistic act designed to convey information.
• Various types of linguistic acts where the audience consists of more than one individual, including public speaking, oration, and quotation.
• The physical act of speaking, primarily through the use of vocal cords to produce voice. See phonology and linguistics for more detailed information on the physical act of speaking.
However, speech can also take place inside one's head, known as intrapersonal communication, for example, when one thinks or utters sounds of approval or disapproval. At a deeper level, one could even consider subconscious processes, including dreams where aspects of oneself communicate with each other (see Sigmund Freud), as part of intrapersonal communication, even though most human beings do not seem to have direct access to such communication.

17. Complex sentence.
In syntax, a sentence with an independent clause and at least one dependent clause (subordinating clause) is referred to as a complex sentence. The dependent clause is often introduced by a subordinate conjunction such as "which", "while" or "because".Similar to a compound sentence, Two dependent clauses and one independent, a complex sentence with a sub-clause functioning as a subject. A clefted complex sentence with a sub-clause indicating what the dummy pronoun "It" refers to. A complex sentence with a sub-clause functioning as subject complement. "Be" is a copula verb; it links the sub-clause to the subject. I ate the meal is an independent clause and which you cooked is relative clause. A sentence with a relative clause, a clause that has no function but describes its noun phrase, does not fufill the dependent clause requirement of a complex sentence. A sentence is complex only when it contains a subordinate clause which fulfills a syntactic function within the sentence. This is a complex-compound sentence with two independent clauses.
18. Clause.
In grammar, a clause is a group of words consisting of a subject and a predicate, although, in non-finite clauses, the subject is often not explicitly given. In null subject languages there may not be a subject, either explicit or implicit. A clause is either a whole sentence or in effect a sentence-within-a-sentence. Clauses are often contrasted with phrases, which do not express complete thoughts through combinations of subjects and predicates. Phrases generally do not contain verbs except as verbals (gerunds, participles, and infinitives).

22. Discourse and text. Coherence and cohesion.
Discourse is a term used in semantics as in discourse analysis. Even though each thinker had personal and incompatible conceptions of discourse, they remain two important figures in this field; Habermas trying to find the transcendent rules upon which speakers could agree on a groundworks consensus, while Foucault was developing a battle-type of discourse which opposed the classic marxist definition of ideology as part of the superstructure). In language, text is a broad term for something that contains words to express something. In linguistics a text is a communicative act, fulfilling the seven constitutive and the three regulative principles of textuality. Both speech and written language, or language in other media can be seen as a text within linguistics. In literary theory a text is the object being studied, whether it be a novel, a poem, a film, an advertisement, or anything else with a semiotic component. The broad use of the term derives from the rise of semiotics in the 1960s and was solidified by the later cultural studies of the 1980s, which brought a corresponding broadening of what it was one could talk about when talking about literature; see also discourse.Coherence in linguistics is what makes a text semantically meaningful.Cohesion is the network of lexical, grammatical, and other relations which link various parts of a text. These relations or ties organize and, to some extent, create a text, for instance, by requiring the reader to interpret words and expressions by reference to other words and expressions in the surrounding sentences and paragraphs. Cohesion is a surface relation and it connects together the actual words and expressions that we can see or hear.


24, 25 Discourse analisys.
In semantics, discourses are linguistic units composed of several sentences — in other words, conversations, arguments or speeches. The study of discourses, or of language used by members of a speech community, is known as discourse analysis. It looks at both language form and function, and includes the study of both spoken interaction and written texts. It is a cross-disciplinary field, originally developing from sociolinguistics, anthropology, sociology and social psychology.

PERFECTING YOUR PRONUNCIATION

Although your level of competence in pronouncing Spanish properly has very little bearing on your ability to be understood, you can follow some simple steps that should enable you to express yourself in a more acceptable manner. Some suggestions and tips for better pronunciation include the following:
• Relax and speak slowly. No one expects you to sound like a native.
• Slip and slide sounds together to get a more natural flow.
• Lose your inhibitions by reading aloud Spanish newspapers, magazines, and literature.
• Set aside the necessary time to practice different sounds.
• Don’t be afraid to “ham up” your accent.
• Remember to pronounce letters with accents properly.

STRESS

The rules for stress in Spanish are straightforward, but they do require your concentration at first. In general, Spanish words are pronounced exactly as they are written. Follow these simple guidelines:
• If a word ends in a vowel, an n, or an s, place the stress on the next to the last syllable, for example: escuela, inteligente, centro, joven, insectos.
• If the word ends in any letter besides those mentioned above, the stress is on the last syllable, for example: papel, comunicar, salud.
• All exceptions to the above two rules have an accent over the vowel of the stressed syllable, for example: café, lámpara, inglés, según.
The only exceptions to these rules are words of foreign origin, usually words taken from English, which keep their original spelling and pronounciation, for example: sandwich, Internet.

ACCENTS

Accent marks are small pronunciation guides that help you speak more like a native. Spanish has three different accent marks that may change the sound or stress of the letter.
The most common accent in Spanish is the acute accent (´), which is used only on a vowel and indicates that you must put additional stress on the syllable containing it:
mama ma-MAH
cafe ka-FEH
egoista eh-goh-EES-tah
opinion oh-peen-YOHN
musica MOO-see-kah

The tilde (˜) is used only on the letter n (ñ), producing the sound ny as in the nio of union:
cabaña kah-bah-NYAH
manaña mah-NYAH-nah

The least common accent is known as a diéresis (¨) and is placed on a u when it is followed by another vowel. A diéresis indicates that each vowel sound is pronounced separately:
nicaraguense nee-kah-rah-goo-WEHN-seh
linguistico leen-goo-WEES-tee-koh









VOWELS

Each vowel in Spanish is represented by one phonetic sound, and accent marks are used only to determine the amount of stress needed. After each of the following vowel explanations you will have the opportunity to practice repeating sentences that reinforce the sounds presented. Take
advantage and practice your accent until you feel comfortable that you have mastered the material.

a

There is only one sound for a. Just open your mouth and say ahhh.
VOWEL SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
a, a ah a as in ma
Mariana is going home now with Susana’s mother.
Mariana / va / a / su / casa / ahora / con / la / mama / de / Susana.
mah-ree-yah-nah / bah / ah / soo / kah-sah / ah-oh-rah / kohn / lah / mah-MAH / deh / soo-sah-nah.

e

There is one sound for the vowel e:
VOWEL SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
e, e eh e as in gate
Enrique Estevez is the man from Chile.
Enrique / Estevez / es / el / hombre / de / Chile.
ehn-ree-keh / ehs-teh-behs /ehs / ehl / ohm-breh / deh / chee-leh

i

The i is pretty straightforward and easy to pronounce as an ee sound:
VOWEL SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
i,iee i as in magazine
Isidro is an Italian individual.
Isidro es un individuo italiano.
ee-see-droh / ehs / oon / een-dee-bee-doo-woh / ee-tahl-ee-yah-noh

o

Round your lips to get the o sound:
VOWEL SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
o, o oh o as in go
I don’t understand it.
Yo no lo comprendo.
yoh / noh / loh / kohm-prehn-doh

u

Say the sound oo as in moo when pronouncing u:
VOWEL SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
u, u oo oo as in too
You use a pen in a university.
Tu usas una pluma en una universidad.
too / oo-sahs / oo-nah / ploo-mah / ehn / oo-nah / oo-nee-behr-see-dad.







DIPHTHONGS

A diphthong is the combination of a vowel sound and the consonant sound of y or w into a single syllable. The sound of y is represented in Spanish by i or y, and the sound of w is represented by u.
Diphthongs with Vowel Sounds First

DIPHTHONG SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
ai, ay ah-yee i as in light
ei, ey eh-yee e as in they
oi, oy oy o as in boy
au ow ow as in cow
eu eh-yoo eu as in reuse

I hear that there are six kings and an author in Europe.
Oigo que hay seis reyes y un autor en Europa.
oy-goh keh ah-yee seh-yees rreh-yehs ee oon ow-tohr ehn eh-yoo-roh-pah

Diphthongs with Consonant Sounds First
DIPHTHONG SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
ia, ya ee-yah ya as is yarn
ie, ye ee-yeh ye as in yet
ua oo-wah wa as in watch
ue oo-weh we as in wet
io, yo ee-yoh yo as in yoke
uo oo-woh (w)uo as in quote
iu, yu ee-yoo you as in you
ui, uy oo-wee wee as in week

I am serious and I study in the city when there is no noise.
Soy serio y estudio en la ciudad cuando no hay ruido.
soy seh-ree-yoh ee ehs-too-dee-yoh ehn lah see-yoo-dahd kwahn-doh noh ah-yee rroo-wee-doh

CONSONANTS
The Spanish alphabet consists of twenty-eight letters, five of which are vowels. Three of the remaining twenty-three letters, ch, ll, and ñ, do not exist in the English alphabet. (Ch and ll are no longer commonly treated as separate letters, but they do have unique pronunciations.) The letter
w is used only in words of foreign origin and is not considered part of the Spanish alphabet. The following Spanish consonants should pose no problem in pronunciation because they are the same in both Spanish and English: b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, y.

c

The letter c may have a soft or hard sound depending on the letter that
comes after it:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
c before a, o, u (hard sound) k c as in car
c before i, e, y (soft sound) s s as in sent
ch ch ch as in much
Carlos Cepeda drives his car downtown with the check.
Carlos Cepeda conduce su coche al centro con el cheque.
kahr-lohs seh-peh-dah kohn-doo-seh soo koh-cheh ahl sehn-troh
kohn ehl cheh-keh







g

The letter g may have a soft or hard sound depending on the vowel(s)
that comes after it:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
g before a, o, u, or consonant g g as in good
(hard sound)
g before e, i (soft sound) h h as in he
Geraldo and Gabriela Gomez win in the gym.
Geraldo y Gabriela Gomez ganan en el gimnasio.
heh-rahl-doh ee gah-bree-yeh-lah goh-mehs gah-nahn ehn ehl
heem-nah-see-yoh.

h

An h is always silent in Spanish:
Hector has a Hispanic ice cream.
Hector tiene un helado hispano.
ehk-tohr tee-yeh-neh oon eh-lah-doh ees-pah-noh

j

The letter j is pronounced like an English h:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
j h h as in he
The big young boy plays with Julio and Gerald in the garden.
El joven grande juega con Julio y Geraldo en el jardin.
ehl hoh-behn grahn-deh hoo-weh-gah kohn hoo-lee-yoh ee heh-rahl-doh
ehn ehl har-deen

ll

The Spanish ll has the sound of an English y:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
ll y y as in you
The llama cries slowly.
La llama llora lentamente.
lah yah-mah yoh-rah lehn-tah-mehn-teh

ñ

The ñ has almost the equivalent sound of ni in union:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
n ny ni as in union
The young girl doesn’t add anything.
La nina no anade nada.
lah nee-nyah noh ah-nyah-deh nah-dah

q

The Spanish q has the sound of an English k:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
q k k as in key
Perhaps you want fifteen cheeses.
Quizas quieras quince quesos.
kee-sahs kee-yeh-rahs keen-seh keh-sohs




r

The Spanish r is rolled or trilled. A single r receives a single tap of the tongue whereas the double r (rr), an r at the beginning of a word, and an r preceded by l, n, or s are strongly trilled (two or three tongue rolls).
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
r r r as in ray
rr rr r as in rrray
Mr. Robert wants the honor of seeing Ramon and Carlota Ruiz.
El senor Roberto quiere la honra de ver a Ramon y Carlota Ruiz.
ehl seh-nyohr rroh-behr-toh kee-yeh-reh lah ohn-rrah deh behr ah
rrah-mohn ee kahr-loh-tah rroo-ees

v

The Spanish v sounds like the English b.
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
v b b as in boy
It is true that Violet had a glass of wine.
Es verdad que Violeta tuvo un vaso de vino.
ehs behr-dahd keh bee-yoh-leh-tah too-boh oon bah-soh deh bee-noh

x

The letter x is pronounced one way before a consonant and a different
way between two vowels. In some words, it has the sound of the
English s:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
x (before a consonant) s s as in see
x (between two vowels) gs gs as in eggs
Mrs. Maxima explains the sixth test.
La senora Maxima explica el sexto examen.
lah seh-nyoh-rah mag-see-mah ehs-plee-kah ehl sehs-toh ehg-sah-mehn

z

The Spanish z has a soft sound:
LETTER SYMBOL PRONUNCIATION
z s s as in see
The blue fox is in the zoo.
El zorro azul esta en el zoologico.
ehl soh-roh ah-sool ehs-tah ehn ehl soh-oh-loh-hee-koh

HAVING THE RIGHT TOOLS

A tape recorder can be an indispensable tool for language study, but also
make sure that you have on hand an up-to-date, modern, clear, easy-touse
bilingual dictionary. Don’t make a hasty purchase. Ensure that you
understand the abbreviations in the front of the book and that grammatical
explanations are clear. Verify that modern, everyday technical
and business terms are included. Check the date of publication—the
world is changing so rapidly that you want to have a book that has been
updated quite recently.





A FINAL SUGGESTION

Now that you are well on your way to excellent pronunciation habits,
try singing along to your favorite Latin tunes. Whether you prefer oldies
or something more contemporary, you will find that you can learn a lot
of vocabulary and easily become accustomed to the rhythms used by
native speakers.

TIME’S UP!

Now that you’ve had the opportunity to thoroughly acquaint yourself with and practice the sounds of Spanish, try reading these potentially useful phrases without the aid of any pronunciation clues. Try to avoid looking
back for help.

1. Buenos días. Me llamo José Silva. ¿Cómo se llama?
Hello. My name is Jose Silva. What’s your name?

2. Hablo español (un poco).
I speak (a little) Spanish.

3. Perdóneme. Yo no comprendo. Hable más despacio por favor.
Excuse me. I don’t understand. Please speak more slowly.

4. ¿Qué dijo? Repítalo por favor.
What did you say? Please repeat it.

5. Quisiera cambiar mis dólares en euros por favor.
I would like to change my American dollars to euros please.

6. Perdóneme. ¿Dónde está la embajada americana?
Excuse me. Where’s the American Embassy?

7. No me siento bien. ¿Dónde está la oficina del médico más cercana?
I don’t feel well. Where is the office of the nearest doctor?

8. ¿Podrías ayudarme, por favor? Perdí un documento importante.
Could you please help me? I’ve lost an important document.

9. ¿Cúanto cuestan estos pantalones negros y estas camisas rojas?
How much do these black pants and red shirts cost?

10. Necesito una cuchara, un tenedor y un cuchillo. Gracias.
I need a spoon, a fork, and a knife. Thank you.

Recognizing and Using Nouns: MASTER THESE SKILLS

• Recognizing and using noun markers
• Using nouns properly
• Making nouns plural
• Recognizing and using cognates

You’ll learn how to differentiate between masculine and feminine nouns and how to form the plural
of nouns. Cognates will be explained, and a useful, working list will be presented to allow for immediate communication.






GENDER

Like English, all Spanish nouns have a number: singular (one), as in la familia, or plural (more than one), as in las familias. Unlike English, however, all Spanish nouns also have a gender: masculine or feminine. In some instances, the gender of the noun is blatantly obvious: un hombre (a man) is masculine, whereas una mujer (a woman) is feminine. In other cases, the gender of a noun is not in the least bit apparent and defies all rules of common sense or logic: una corbata (a tie) is feminine, while un vestido (a dress) is masculine.
Spanish syntax and grammar require that all words in a sentence agree in number and gender with the noun or pronoun they modify. For this reason, you must learn the gender of each noun you need or deem important. Special noun endings and markers, either articles or adjectives, indicate the gender and number of Spanish nouns.

NOUN MARKERS

Noun markers are articles or adjectives that tell you whether a noun is singular (sing.) or plural (pl.), masculine (m.) or feminine (f.). Three of the most common markers, as shown in the following table, are definite articles expressing “the,” indefinite articles expressing “a,” “an,” “one,” or “some,” and demonstrative adjectives expressing “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.”

Singular Noun Markers: MEANING MASCULINE FEMININE

definite article the el la
indefinite article a, an un(o) una
demonstrative adjectives this este esta
that ese esa
that aquel aquella

Plural Noun Markers: MEANING MASCULINE FEMININE

definite article the los las
indefinite article some unos unas
demonstrative adjectives these estos estas
those esos esas
those aquellos aquellas

Definite Articles

The definite article the indicates a specific person or thing: the teacher, the house. The definite article precedes the noun that it modifies and, in Spanish, agrees with that noun in gender and number. The masculine or feminine gender of the noun is usually, but not always, easily recognizable by the noun ending: -o for masculine and -a for feminine. Plural nouns end in -s:

el muchacho the boy la muchacha the girl
los muchachos the boys las muchachas the girls

Use the definite article in the following instances:

• With nouns in a general or abstract sense: El chocolate es delicioso.
(Chocolate is delicious.)

• With time of day:
Es la una. It’s one o’clock.
Son las siete. It’s seven o’clock.

• With names of languages, except immediately after hablar, en,
and de:
El espanol es facil. Spanish is easy.
But:
Hablo espanol. I speak Spanish.
El libro esta escrito en espanol. The book is written in Spanish.
Es un libro de espanol. It’s a Spanish book.

• With parts of the body when the possessor is clear: Cierra los ojos.
(Close your eyes.)

• With titles of rank or profession except when addressing the person:
El doctor Rueda llega. Dr. Rueda arrives.
But:
Buenos dias, Doctor Rueda. Good morning, Dr. Rueda.

• With days of the week in a plural sense to express something that takes place regularly, except after the verb ser (to be) when expressing dates:
Los domingos descanso. On Sundays I rest.
But:
Hoy es lunes. Today is Monday.

• With seasons, except that it may be omitted after en:
Me gusta la primavera I like spring (summer, fall, winter).
(el verano, el otono, el invierno).
But:
Voy a Espana en (el) otono. I am going to Spain in the fall.

• With most geographical names (rivers, mountains, oceans, countries, states, and cities):
Vivo en los Estados Unidos. I live in the United States.
El Amazonas es un rio. The Amazon is a river.

• Before verb infinitives used as nouns (although when the infinitive is the subject of the sentence, the definite article may be omitted): (El) llegar temprano es bueno. (Arriving early is good.)

• Before nouns of weight or measure: dos dólares la docena (two dollars a dozen)
The definite article is omitted:

• Before nouns in apposition, except where there is a family or business relationship:
Madrid, capital de Espana, es una ciudad maravillosa.
Madrid, the capital of Spain, is a marvelous city.
But:
Susana, la hermana de Susan, Juan’s sister, is very intelligent.
Juan,es muy inteligente.

• Before numerals expressing the numerical order of rulers: Carlos Segundo (Charles the Second).
The neuter definite article lo is used as follows:

• The neuter lo (used for masculine or feminine, singular or plural) precedes a masculine adjective used as a noun to express an abstract idea or a quality:
Pienso lo mismo que ellos. I think the same as they do.
Lo caro no es siempre mejor que lo barato.
Expensive is not always better than inexpensive.

• Lo + adjective (or adverb) + que = how
Ya veo lo peligroso que es. I see how dangerous it is.
.Escuchas lo rapidamente que el habla?. Do you hear how fast he speaks?









Indefinite Articles

The indefinite article refers to persons and objects not specifically identified:
a dog, some cats. The indefinite article also precedes the noun that it modifies and must agree with that noun in gender and number:
un muchacho a boy una muchacha a girl
unos muchachos some boys unas muchachas some girls

Omit the indefinite article in these situations:

• Before nouns showing a class or group (occupation, nationality, religion, etc.) unless the noun is modified:
Soy profesora. I’m a teacher.
Es americana. She’s (an) American.
But:
Soy una buena profesora. I’m a good teacher.
Es una americana importante. She’s an important American.

• Before or after certain words that generally have the article in English:
otro dia another day
cierto hombre a certain man
cien libros a hundred books
mil dolares a thousand dollars
tal mujer such a woman
!Que lastima! What a pity!

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives indicate or point out the person, place, or thing referred to: this girl, that country, these people, those pens. A demonstrative adjective precedes the noun that it modifies and agrees with that noun in gender and number. In Spanish, the demonstrative adjective is selected according to how near or directly concerned the noun is to the speaker and the person
addressed in the conversation. Este/esta (this) and estos/estas (these) refer to nouns that are close to and directly concern the speaker:
este muchacho this boy esta muchacha this girl
estos muchachos these boys estas muchachas these girls

Ese/esa (that) and esos/esas (those) refer to nouns that are not near or directly concerned with the speaker or the person being addressed:
ese muchacho that boy esa muchacha that girl
esos muchachos those boys esas muchachas those girls

Aquel/aquella (that) and aquellos/aquellas (those) refer to things that are quite far from or do not directly concern either the speaker or the person being addressed:
aquel muchacho that boy aquella muchacha that girl
aquellos muchachos those boys aquellas muchachas those girls

Demonstrative adjectives may be reinforced by using corresponding adverbs that show location:
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE ADVERB MEANING
este, esta, estos, estas aquí here
ese, esa, esos, esas ahí there (but not too far)
aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas alla over there (rather far)
este libro aqui this book here
esa pluma ahi that pen there
aquellos lapices alla those pencils over there




NOUNS

A noun is a word used to name a person, place, thing, idea, or quality. All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine and the gender of most of them can be determined by their meaning or ending. Most masculine nouns end in -o, while most feminine nouns end in -a. A few nouns
must be learned on an individual basis. Gender-Obvious Nouns Nouns that refer to males are obviously masculine. Refer to this list for common nouns you’ll see:

NOUN PRONUNCIATION MEANING
abuelo ah-boo-weh-loh grandfather
hijo ee-hoh son
hombre ohm-breh man
muchacho moo-chah-choh boy
nino nee-nyoh boy
padre pah-dreh father
sobrino soh-bree-noh nephew
tio tee-yoh uncle

Nouns that refer to females are obviously feminine. Refer to the table below for the female counterparts of the males listed above:

NOUN PRONUNCIATION MEANING
abuela ah-boo-weh-lah grandmother
chica chee-kah girl
hija ee-hah daughter
madre mah-dreh mother
muchacha moo-chah-chah girl
mujer moo-hehr woman
sobrina soh-bree-nah niece
tia tee-yah aunt

Some nouns can be either masculine or feminine depending upon whom you are speaking about. Make sure to use the gender marker that identifies the person correctly. The following list of words may be used to refer to both males and females.

NOUN PRONUNCIATION MEANING

artista ahr-tees-tah artist
dentista dehn-tees-tah dentist
estudiante ehs-too-dee-yahn-teh student
joven hoh-behn youth
turista too-rees-tah tourist
El artista es talentoso. The (male) artist is gifted.
La artista es talentosa. The (female) artist is gifted.

Some high-frequency words are always masculine or feminine despite the gender of the person referred to:

NOUN PRONUNCIATION MEANING

un bebe oon beh-beh an infant
una persona oo-nah pehr-soh-nah a person
una victima oo-nah beek-tee-mah a victim







Gender-Changing Singular Nouns

Changing the gender of a noun can be as easy as removing the o ending for the masculine form and substituting an a to get the feminine form as shown here:

MASCULINE FEMININE MEANING

amigo (ah-mee-goh) amiga (ah-mee-gah) friend
maestro (mah-yehs-troh) maestra (mah-yehs-trah) teacher
nieto (nee-yeh-toh) nieta (nee-yeh-tah) grandchild
nino (nee-nyoh) nina (nee-nyah) child
primo (pree-moh) prima (pree-mah) cousin
vecino (beh-see-noh) vecina (beh-see-nah) neighbor

Some nouns may be masculine or feminine depending upon their meaning as shown below:

MASCULINE FEMININE PRONUNCIATION

el capital (money) la capital (of a city) kah-pee-tahl
el cura (priest) la cura (cure) koo-rah
el guia (male guide) la guia (guidebook/ gee-yah female guide)
el policia (policeman) la policia (police force/ poh-lee-see-yah woman)

Gender Endings Some nouns that end in -o are feminine:

NOUN PRONUNCIATION MEANING

la mano lah mah-noh hand
la radio lah rrah-dee-yo radio

Some nouns that end in -a are masculine:

NOUN PRONUNCIATION MEANING

el clima ehl klee-mah climate
el dia ehl dee-yah day
el drama ehl drah-mah drama
el idioma ehl ee-dee-yoh-mah language
el mapa ehl mah-pah map
el planeta ehl plah-neh-tah planet
el problema ehl proh-bleh-mah problem
el programa ehl proh-grah-mah program
el tema ehl teh-mah theme
el telegrama ehl teh-leh-grah-mah telegram

Some noun endings are normally feminine:

• -dad: la ciudad, city
• -tad: la dificultad, difficulty
• -tud: la juventud, youth
• -umbre: la costumbre, custom
• -ie: la serie, series
• -ión: la canción, song








Two exceptions to -ión are avión (ah-bee-yohn) airplane, and camion (kah-mee-yohn) truck.
For masculine nouns referring to people and ending in -or, -és, or -n, add an a for the feminine equivalents:

MASCULINE FEMININE MEANING

el profesor la profesora teacher
(ehl proh-feh-sohr) (lah proh-feh-soh-rah)
el frances la francesa French person
(ehl frahn-sehs) (lah frahn-seh-sah)
el aleman la alemana German person
(ehl ah-leh-mahn) (lah ah-leh-mah-nah)

Note that if the masculine noun is accented on the last syllable, the accent is dropped for the feminine form. Two exceptions to this rule are:

el emperador la emperatriz emperor, empress
(ehl ehm-peh-rah-dohr) (lah ehm-peh-rah-trees)
el actor (ehl ahk-tohr) la actriz (lah ahk-trees) actor, actress

Making Nouns Plural

Just as in English, when a Spanish noun refers to more than one person, place, thing, idea, or quality, the noun must be made plural. Unlike English, however, it is not enough to simply change the noun; the marker must be made plural as well. Spanish nouns ending in a vowel add a pronounced -s to form the plural:

el muchacho (the boy) los muchachos lohs moo-chah-chos (the boys)
una amiga (a friend) unas amigas oo-nahs ah-mee-gahs (some friends)
este hombre (this man) estos hombres ehs-tohs ohm-brehs (these men)
esa nina (that girl) esas ninas (those girls) eh-sahs nee-nyahs
aquel libro (that book) aquellos libros ah-keh-yos lee-brohs (those books)

Spanish nouns ending in a consonant (including y) add pronounced –es (ehs) to form the plural:

el papel (paper) los papeles lohs pah-peh-lehs
el mes (month) los meses lohs meh-sehs
el actor (actor) los actores lohs ahk-toh-rehs
la ley (law) las leyes lahs leh-yehs

Spanish nouns undergo the following changes in the plural:

• Nouns ending in -z change -z to -ce before adding -es:

el lapiz (pencil) los lapices lohs lah-pee-sehs
la actriz (actress) las actrices lahs ahk-tree-sehs
el pez (fish) los peces lohs peh-sehs

• In order to preserve the original stress of the noun, you may need to add or delete an accent mark:

el joven (youth) los jovenes lohs hoh-beh-nehs
el examen (test) los examenes lohs ehg-sah-meh-nehs
el frances (Frenchman) los franceses lohs frahn-seh-sehs
la cancion (song) las canciones lahs kahn-see-yoh-nehs

• Nouns ending in -s, except for those ending in és, do not change in the plural:

el (los) jueves ehl (lohs) hoo-weh-behs Thursday(s)
la (las) dosis lah (lahs) doh-sees dose(s)
• In cases where there is a group of nouns from both genders, the masculine plural form of the noun is used:

el padre y la madre = los padres (the parents)
el nino y la nina = los ninos (the children)
el senor y la senora Ruiz = los senores Ruiz (the Ruizes)

Some nouns in Spanish are always plural:

ENGLISH SPANISH PRONUNCIATION

eyeglasses las gafas lahs gah-fahs
los espejuelos lohs ehs-peh-hooweh-lohs
mathematics las matematicas lahs mah-tehmah-tee-kahs
vacation las vacaciones lahs bah-kahsee-yoh-nehs

Some nouns are singular but refer to a group of people. Make sure to use a singular verb that agrees with these subjects:

SPANISH PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH

el equipo ehl eh-kee-poh team
la familia lah fah-meel-yah family
la gente lah hehn-teh people
el grupo ehl groo-poh group
la pareja lah pah-reh-hah couple
el publico ehl poo-blee-koh audience
todo el mundo toh-doh ehl moon-doh everybody

A note about regionalisms: Do not be surprised when traveling in certain regions or countries that the final -s of a plural word is not pronounced. You can still tell that the noun is plural by paying careful attention to the marker that accompanies it. This marker will also tell you whether the
noun is masculine or feminine.

COGNATES
A cognate is a Spanish word that is spelled exactly the same, or almost the same, as a word in English and that has the same meaning. Sometimes the English word may have been appropriated from Spanish, letter for letter, and have been incorporated into our own vocabulary.
The only real difference between the two words is in the pronunciation. The meanings of the Spanish cognates should be quite obvious to anyone who speaks English.
Perfect Cognates. Following is a list of some cognates that are the same in Spanish and
English. Take time to compare the different pronunciations.

Adjectives

ADJECTIVE PRONUNCIATION ADJECTIVE PRONUNCIATION

artificial ahr-tee-fee-see-yahl sociable soh-see-yah-bleh
cruel kroo-ehl tropical troh-pee-kahl
popular poh-poo-lahr usual oo-soo-wahl

Masculine Nouns

NOUN PRONUNCIATION NOUN PRONUNCIATION

actor ahk-tohr chocolate choh-koh-lah-teh
animal ah-nee-mahl mosquito mohs-kee-toh
cereal seh-reh-yahl taxi tahk-see



Feminine Nouns

NOUN PRONUNCIATION NOUN PRONUNCIATION

alpaca ahl-pah-kah plaza plah-sah
banana bah-nah-nah radio rrah-dee-yoh
llama yah-mah soda soh-dah

Near Perfect Cognates

The following table lists the cognates that are nearly the same in both Spanish and English.
Adjectives

ADJECTIVE PRONUNCIATION ADJECTIVE PRONUNCIATION

americano ah-meh-ree-kah-noh imposible eem-poh-see-bleh
delicioso deh-lee-see-yoh-soh inteligente een-teh-lee-hehn-teh
diferente dee-feh-rehn-teh interesante een-teh-reh-sahn-teh
excelente eh-seh-lehn-teh moderno moh-der-noh
famoso fah-moh-soh necesario neh-seh-sah-ree-yoh
grande grahn-deh posible poh-see-bleh
importante eem-pohr-tahn-teh

Masculine Nouns

NOUN PRONUNCIATION NOUN PRONUNCIATION

apartamento ah-pahr-tah-mehn-toh diccionario deek-see-yoh-nahree-yoh
automovil ow-toh-moh-beel garaje gah-rah-heh
cafe kah-feh grupo groo-poh
calendario kah-lehn-dah-ree-yoh insecto een-sehk-toh
plato plah-toh restaurante rrehs-tow-rahn-teh
profesor proh-feh-sohr tigre tee-greh

Feminine Nouns

NOUN PRONUNCIATION NOUN PRONUNCIATION

aspirina ahs-pee-ree-nah gasolina gah-soh-lee-nah
bicicleta bee-see-kleh-tah hamburguesa ahm-boor-geh-sah
blusa bloo-sah medicina meh-dee-see-nah
computadora kohm-poo-tah-doh-rah musica moo-see-kah
dieta dee-yeh-tah persona pehr-soh-nah
familia fah-mee-lee-yah rosa rroh-sah

False Friends

False friends are words that are spelled exactly or almost the same in both languages but have very different meanings in Spanish and English.
These words might even be different parts of speech. Do not allow yourself to become overconfident and think that every Spanish word that resembles an English one is automatically a cognate. The following table will give you some common false friends.

SPANISH PRONUNCIATION MEANING
asistir ah-sees-teer to attend
caro kah-roh expensive
comer koh-mehr to eat
fabrica fah-bree-kah factory
flor flohr flower
hay ah-yee there is, are
libreria lee-breh-ree-yah bookstore
joya hoh-yah jewel
mano mah-noh hand
pan pahn bread
sopa soh-pah soup
vaso bah-soh glass

When in doubt about the meaning of a word, always verify by using a bilingual dictionary. Make sure to look at the part of speech so that you don’t confuse a noun with a verb, adjective, or adverb. Cross-check by looking up the word on both the Spanish and English sides of the dictionary.

You can easily guess the meaning of many Spanish words that begin with -e by simply dropping the initial e:

SPANISH PRONUNCIATION MEANING

escena eh-seh-nah scene
España ehs-pah-nyah Spain
especial ehs-peh-see-yahl special
espectaculo ehs-pehk-tah-koo-loh spectacle, show
espia ehs-pee-yah spy
esqui ehs-k ee ski
estupendo ehs-too-pehn-doh stupendous

TIME’S UP!

Here is a two-part exercise to find out how you have assimilated what you’ve learned about nouns during the last hour. Try your best not to look back at the chapter to arrive at your answers.

Part I

Change the markers and plural nouns to their singular forms.

1. los bancos
2. esos platos
3. estas catedrales
4. las flores
5. aquellos hombres

Part II

Change the feminine markers and nouns to their masculine counterparts.

6. una amiga
7. esa francesa
8. la actriz
9. esta policía
10. aquella profesora










Working with Present-Tense
Verbs
MASTER THESE SKILLS

• Subject nouns and pronouns
• Conjugating -ar verbs
• Conjugating -er and -ir verbs
• Using shoe verbs properly
• Conjugating spelling-change and irregular yo verbs
• Conjugating other irregular verbs
• Speaking in the present

In this chapter you will learn how to conjugate verbs in the present tense so that they agree with their subject noun or pronoun. By the end of the lesson you will be able to speak, read, and write entire sentences in Spanish.

SUBJECT NOUNS AND PRONOUNS

A pronoun is a word that is used to replace a noun (that is, a person, place, thing, idea, or quality). A subject pronoun replaces a subject noun (the noun performing the action of the verb). Pronouns are extremely useful because they allow for fluidity by eliminating the need to constantly
repeat the noun when speaking or writing. Just as in English, the Spanish subject pronouns in the following table are given a person and a number (singular or plural).

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

first yo (yoh) I nosotros(as) (noh-soh-trohs[ahs]) we
second tu (too) you vosotros(as) (boh-soh-trohs[ahs]) you
third el (ehl) he ellos (eh-yohs) they
ella (eh-yah) she ellas (eh-yahs) they
Ud. (oo-stehd) you Uds. (oo-steh-dehs) you

Note the following about Spanish subject pronouns:

• In Spanish, subject pronouns are used far less frequently than in English because the verb ending usually indicates the speaker. Spanish speakers, however, generally use the pronouns usted
(abbreviated as Ud.; formal you, singular) and ustedes (abbreviated as Uds.; formal you, plural) to clarify that the subject is not él or ella. All other subject pronouns in Spanish are used mainly for
clarity, emphasis, and politeness.

• Unlike the English pronoun I, the pronoun yo is capitalized only when it begins a sentence. In all other instances, it remains in lower case.

• The pronouns nosotras, vosotras, and ellas are used when the subjects are all females. When the subject consists of a mixed group, the masculine plural pronoun is always used.

Elena y Roberto salen. Elena and Roberto are going out.
Ellos salen. They are going out.

• The English pronoun it has no Spanish equivalent and is not expressed as a subject: ¿Dónde está? (Where is it?)

• The subject pronoun tú is used to address one friend, relative, child, or pet. For this reason, it is referred to as the familiar or informal form of you. The subject pronoun vosotros(as) is used in Spain and a few countries in Latin America. It is used in the plural to show familiarity, and as such, is the plural of the tú, singular familiar (informal) form.


REGULAR VERBS

A verb expresses an action or state of being and is generally shown in its infinitive, the basic “to” form: to live, to laugh, to love. An infinitive is the form of the verb before it has been conjugated. Conjugation refers to changing the ending of the verb so that it agrees with the subject noun
or pronoun. Although we do this automatically in English, it will take some thought and practice in Spanish until verb endings and patterns become second nature.

Here is an example of a verb conjugated in English:

to speak

SINGULAR PLURAL

First Person: I speak We speak
Second Person You speak You speak
Third Person He speaks They speak
She speaks They speak

Notice that the verb is rather simple and is written in only two ways. In Spanish, you need to know more ways to write the verb and you need to memorize more verb endings.
Keep in mind that, as in English, you cannot mix and match subjects and verb forms; each subject has its own personalized matching verb form that never changes.
Conjugating Regular Verbs Spanish has regular verbs that are grouped into three main families: -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. The families are so named because the verb infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir. Each verb within its respective family follows the same rules of conjugation. After you’ve learned the pattern for one family, you know all the verbs within that family. This rule applies regardless of
the tense being used. Tense refers to the time period when the action is taking place. This
chapter concentrates on the present tense, that is, what happens here and now.
Conjugating -ar Verbs. The -ar family is, by far, the largest and most widely used of regular verb families. To form the present tense of –ar verbs, drop the -ar from the infinitive and add the following endings, indicated in bold, for the subject pronouns listed. The following table gives the conjugation for the verb hablar (to speak).

VERB PRONUNCIATION MEANING

yo hablo yoh ah-bloh I speak
tu hablas too ah-blahs you speak
el habla ehl ah-blah he speaks
ella habla eh-yah ah-blah she speaks
Ud. habla oo-stehd ah-blah you speak
nosotros hablamos noh-soh-trohs ah-blah-mohs we speak
vosotros habláis boh-soh-trohs ah-blah-yees you speak
ellos hablan eh-yohs ah-blahn they speak
ellas hablan eh-yahs ah-blahn they speak
Uds. hablan oo-steh-dehs ah-blahn you speak

Another possible meaning for all present tense verbs uses a form of the word do plus the verb: I do speak. She does speak. You should now be able to conjugate the common -ar verbs given in
the list below. Take note of all the cognates, marked with an asterisk (*), which will make communication in Spanish a much easier task.

VERB PRONUNCIATION MEANING

*acompanar ah-kohm-pah-nyahr to accompany
*adorar ah-doh-rahr to adore
alimentar ah-lee-mehn-tahr to feed
alquilar ahl-kee-lahr to rent
*anunciar ah-noon-see-yahr to announce
apagar ah-pah-gahr to turn off
arreglar ah-rreh-glahr to fix, adjust
aterrizar ah-teh-rree-sahr to land
avisar ah-bee-sahr to warn
ayudar ah-yoo-dahr to help
bailar bah-yee-lahr to dance
bajar bah-hahr to go down, get off
buscar boos-kahr to look for
cambiar kahm-bee-yahr to change
caminar kah-mee-nahr to walk
cantar kahn-tahr to sing
cobrar koh-brahr to cash, charge
comprar kohm-prahr to buy
contestar kohn-tehs-tahr to answer
cortar kohr-tahr to cut
cruzar kroo-sahr to cross
dejar deh-hahr to let, allow, leave
desear deh-seh-yahr to desire
durar doo-rahr to last
ensenar ehn-seh-nyahr to teach, show
*entrar ehn-trahr to enter
escuchar ehs-koo-chahr to listen (to)
esperar ehs-peh-rahr to hope, wait for
*estudiar ehs-too-dee-yahr to study
evitar eh-bee-tahr to avoid
*explicar eh-splee-kahr to explain
*expresar eh-spreh-sahr to express
firmar feer-mahr to sign
ganar gah-nahr to win, earn
gastar gahs-tahr to spend
guardar gwahr-dahr to watch, keep
hablar ah-blahr to speak, talk
hallar ah-yahr to find
*invitar een-bee-tahr to invite
lavar lah-bahr to wash
llegar yeh-gahr to arrive
llenar yeh-nahr to fill
llevar yeh-bahr to wear, carry
mandar mahn-dahr to order
mirar mee-rahr to look at
montar mohn-tahr to go up, ride
nadar nah-dahr to swim
necesitar neh-seh-see-tahr to need
olvidar ohl-bee-dahr to forget
pagar pah-gahr to pay
pasar pah-sahr to spend (time)
*practicar prahk-tee-kahr to practice
preguntar preh-goon-tahr to ask
*preparar preh-pah-rahr to prepare
*presentar preh-sehn-tahr to introduce
prestar prehs-tahr to lend
regresar rreh-greh-sahr to return
*reparar rreh-pah-rahr to repair
*reservar rreh-sehr-bahr to reserve
saludar sah-loo-dahr to greet
*telefonear teh-leh-foh-neh-yahr to phone
*terminar tehr-mee-nahr to end
tirar tee-rahr to throw
tocar toh-kahr to touch, play
(an instrument)
tomar toh-mahr to drink, take
*usar oo-sahr to use, wear
viajar bee-yah-hahr to travel
*visitar bee-see-tahr to visit

Conjugating -er Verbs. The -er verb family is much smaller than the –ar verb family. To form the present tense of -er verbs, drop the -er from the infinitive and add the following endings, indicated in bold, for the subject pronouns listed. The following table shows you how the verb comer (to eat) looks when it is conjugated.

VERB PRONUNCIATION MEANING

yo como yoh koh-moh I eat
tu comes too koh-mehs you eat
el come ehl koh-meh he eats
ella come eh-yah koh-meh she eats
Ud. come oo-stehd koh-meh you eat
nosotros comemos noh-soh-trohs koh-meh-mohs we eat
vosotros coméis boh-soh-trohs koh-meh-yees you eat
ellos comen eh-yohs koh-mehn they eat
ellas comen eh-yahs koh-mehn they eat
Uds. comen oo-steh-dehs koh-mehn you eat

The following is a list of common -er verbs that you should know. Notice that this list is much smaller than the one for -ar verbs. The asterisk (*) indicates easily recognizable cognates.

VERB PRONUNCIATION MEANING

aprender ah-prehn-dehr to learn
beber beh-behr to drink
comer koh-mehr to eat
*comprender kohm-prehn-dehr to comprehend, understand
correr koh-rrehr to run
creer kreh-yehr to believe
deber deh-behr to have to, owe
leer leh-yehr to read
*prometer proh-meh-tehr to promise
*responder rrehs-pohn-dehr to respond
*vender behn-dehr to sell

Conjugating -ir Verbs. The -ir verb family is also quite small. To form the present tense of -ir verbs, drop the -ir from the infinitive and add the endings, indicated in bold, for the subject pronouns listed. The following table shows how the verb abrir (to open) looks when it is conjugated.

VERB PRONUNCIATION MEANING

yo abro yoh ah-broh I open
tu abres too ah-brehs you open
el abre ehl ah-breh he opens
ella abre eh-yah ah-breh she opens
Ud. abre oo-stehd ah-breh you open
nosotros abrimos noh-soh-trohs ah-bree-mohs we open
vosotros abrís boh-soh-trohs ah-brees you open
ellos abren eh-yohs ah-brehn they open
ellas abren eh-yahs ah-brehn they open
Uds. abren oo-steh-dehs ah-brehn you open





See the list below for common -ir verbs.

VERB PRONUNCIATION MEANING

abrir ah-breer to open
asistir ah-sees-teer to attend
*aplaudir ah-plow-deer to applaud
cubrir koo-breer to cover
*decidir deh-see-deer to decide
*describir dehs-kree-beer to describe
escribir ehs-kree-beer to write
*omitir oh-mee-teer to omit
partir pahr-teer to divide, share
recibir rreh-see-beer to receive
subir soo-beer to go up, climb
sufrir soo-freer to suffer
vivir bee-beer to live

Notice that -er and -ir verbs have the same endings except for the nosotros and vosotros forms, where -er verbs use an e and -ir verbs use an i.

SHOE VERBS

Verbs with certain spelling changes and irregularities are referred to as shoe verbs because the subject pronouns that follow one set of rules can be placed inside the shoe, and the other subject pronouns remain outside the shoe. To make this clearer, look at the pronouns that go inside and
outside of the shoe: The infinitives of shoe verbs are often written with the type of change
necessary in parentheses, as in pensar (ie).

Verbs Ending in -ar and -er. The vowel within the stem of the verb changes as follows:

e to ie in all forms except for nosotros and vosotros
o to ue in all forms except for nosotros and vosotros
pensar (pehn-sahr)—to think
yo pienso nosotros pensamos
tu piensas vosotros pensais
el, ella, Ud. piensa ellos, ellas, Uds. piensan

Other verbs like pensar are atravesar (ah-trah-beh-sahr) to cross, cerrar(seh-rrahr) to close, *comenzar (koh-mehn-sahr), *confesar (kohn-fehsahr), empezar (ehm-peh-sahr) to begin, and recordar (rreh-kohr-dahr) to remember.
querer (keh-rehr)—to wish, want

yo quiero nosotros queremos
tu quieres vosotros quereis
el, ella, Ud. quiere ellos, ellas, Uds. quieren
nosotros
vosotros
ellos, ellas, Uds.
yo
tu
el, ella, Ud.






Other verbs like querer are *ascender (ah-sehn-dehr), *defender (deh-fehndehr),
*descender (deh-sehn-dehr), entender (ehn-tehn-dehr) to understand, and perder (pehr-dehr) to lose.
encontrar (ehn-kohn-trahr)—to meet, find

yo encuentro nosotros encontramos
tu encuentras vosotros encontrais
el, ella, Ud. encuentra ellos, ellas, Uds. encuentran

Other verbs like encontrar are almorzar (ahl-mohr-sahr) to eat lunch, contar (kohn-tahr) to tell or count, and mostrar (mohs-trahr) to show.
volver (bohl-behr)—to return, go back

yo vuelvo nosotros volvemos
tu vuelves vosotros volveis
el, ella, Ud. vuelve ellos, ellas, Uds. vuelven

Other verbs like volver are devolver (deh-bohl-behr) to return or give back, poder (poh-dehr) to be able to, and *resolver (rreh-sohl-behr). While we have studied verbs where o changes to ue within the shoe, there is one slightly irregular verb, the verb jugar (hoo-gahr) to play, where u changes to ue in all forms except nosotros and vosotros:

jugar (hoo-gahr)—to play

yo juego nosotros jugamos
tu juegas vosotros jugais
el, ella, Ud. juega ellos, ellas, Uds. juegan

Verbs Ending in -ir. The vowel within the stem of the verb changes as follows in all forms except nosotros and vosotros:

e to ie
o to ue
e to i

preferir (preh-feh-reer)—to prefer

yo prefiero nosotros preferimos
tu prefieres vosotros preferis
el, ella, Ud. prefiere ellos, ellas, Uds. prefieren

Other verbs like preferir are advertir (ahd-behr-teer) to notify, *consenter (kohn-sehn-teer), mentir (mehn-teer) to lie, *referir (rreh-feh-reer), and sentir (sehn-teer) to feel, regret, or feel sorry.
dormir (dohr-meer)—to sleep

yo duermo nosotros dormimos
tu duermes vosotros dormis
el, ella, Ud. duerme ellos, ellas, Uds. duermen

Another verb like dormir is morir (moh-reer) to die.
servir (sehr-beer)—to serve

yo sirvo nosotros servimos
tu sirves vosotros servis
el, ella, Ud. sirve ellos, ellas, Uds. sirven




Other verbs like servir are gemir (heh-meer) to moan, *impedir (eempeh-deer), medir (meh-deer) to measure, pedir (peh-deer) to ask, and *repetir (rreh-peh-teer).
Verbs Ending in -uir. For verbs ending in -uir, except those ending in -guir, insert a y after the u in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
contribuir (kohn-tree-boo-weer)—to contribute

yo contribuyo nosotros contribuimos
tu contribuyes vosotros contribuis
el, ella, Ud. contribuye ellos, ellas, Uds. contribuyen

Other verbs like contribuir include concluir (kohn-kloo-weer) to conclude, construir (kohn-stroo-weer) to construct, destruir (deh-stroo-weer) to destroy, incluir (een-kloo-weer) to include, and sustituir (soo-stee-tooweer) to substitute.
Verbs Ending in -iar and -uar. Some verbs ending in -iar and -uar require an accent on the i or u respectively, in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.

enviar (ehn-bee-yahr)—to send

yo envío nosotros enviamos
tu envías vosotros enviais
el, ella, Ud. envía ellos, ellas, Uds. envían

Other verbs like enviar are confiar en (kohn-fee-yahr ehn) to trust, espiar (ehs-pee-yahr) to spy, guiar (gee-yahr) to guide, and *variar (bah-ree-yahr).
actuar (ahk-too-wahr)—to act

yo actúo nosotros actuamos
tu actúas vosotros actuais
el, ella, Ud. actúa ellos, ellas, Uds. actúan

Another verb like actuar is *continuar (kohn-tee-noo-wahr).
Conjugating Spelling-Change and Irregular Yo Verbs Some verbs in Spanish require a spelling change in order to preserve correct pronunciation according to the rules of the language. Note the
changes that occur in verbs with these endings:

• Verbs ending in consonant + -cer or -cir change c to z before o or a:

convencer (kohn-behn-sehr) to convince: yo convenzo
esparcir (eh-spahr-seer) to spread: yo esparzo

• Verbs ending in vowel + -cer or -cir change c to zc before o or a:

conocer (koh-noh-sehr) to know: yo conozco
conducir (kohn-doo-seer) to drive: yo conduzco

• Verbs ending in -ger or -gir change g to j before o or a:

coger (koh-hehr) to seize: yo cojo
dirigir (dee-ree-heer) to direct: yo dirijo
escoger (ehs-koh-hehr) to choose: yo escojo
exigir (ehg-see-heer) to demand: yo exijo
fingir (feen-heer) to pretend: yo finjo
proteger (proh-teh-heer) to protect: yo protejo
recoger (rreh-koh-hehr) to pick up: yo recojo

• Verbs ending in -guir change gu to g before o or a:

distinguir (dees-teen-geer) to distinguish: yo distingo

The verb seguir (seh-geer) to follow or continue, is a common verb that has a stem change and a spelling change:

yo sigo nosotros seguimos
tu sigues vosotros seguis
el, ella, Ud. sigue ellos, ellas, Uds. siguen

Other verbs like seguir are conseguir (kohn-seh-geer) to obtain, perseguir (pehr-seh-geer) to pursue, and proseguir (proh-seh-geer) to continue.

IRREGULAR VERBS

A good number of high-frequency Spanish verbs are irregular. Irregular means that they follow no specific rules of conjugation, and you must memorize them. Some of these verbs are used in idiomatic expressions that can help you speak the language more colloquially.
An idiom is a particular word or expression whose meaning cannot be readily understood by either its grammar or the words used. Idiomatic expressions cannot be translated word for word without causing confusion. Imagine trying to grammatically explain to a non-native English speaker the meaning of:

It’s raining cats and dogs.
They fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

Verbs Only Irregular for Yo

The following high-frequency verbs have irregular yo forms only in the present tense. You should commit them to memory because you will use them often:

• conocer (koh-noh-sehr) to know: yo conozco. Other verbs like conocer are agradecer (ah-grah-deh-sehr) to thank, crecer (kreh-sehr) to grow, merecer (meh-reh-sehr) to deserve, ofrecer (oh-freh-sehr) to offer, reconocer (rreh-koh-noh-sehr) to recognize.

• caer (kah-yehr) to fall: yo caigo

• dar (dahr) to give: yo doy. The following list gives the most common
idiomatic expressions that use the verb dar.

EXPRESSION MEANING EXAMPLE

dar a to face Mi casa da al mar. (My house faces the sea.)
dar las gracias (a) to thank Me dan las gracias. (They thank me.)
dar un paseo to take a walk .Quieres dar un paseo? (Do you want to take a walk?)
dar una vuelta to take a stroll Vamos a dar una vuelta. (We are going to take a stroll.)
darse cuenta de to realize Me doy cuenta de mi error. (I realize my mistake.)
darse prisa to hurry Tengo que darme prisa. (I have to hurry.)

• hacer (ah-sehr) to make, do: yo hago. Below is a list of common idiomatic expressions that use the verb hacer.

EXPRESSION MEANING EXAMPLE

hacer buen (mal) to be nice (bad) Hace buen tiempo.
tiempo weather (It’s nice weather.)
hacer frio (calor) to be cold (hot) Hace calor. (It’s hot.) weather
hacer una pregunta to ask a question Hagame una pregunta. (Ask me a question.)
hacer un viaje to take a trip Hago un viaje a Roma. (I’m taking a trip to Rome.)
hacerse + noun to become Nos hacemos amigos. (We’re becoming friends.)

• poner (poh-nehr) to put: yo pongo

• saber (sah-behr) to know a fact, to know how to: yo sé

• salir (sah-leer) to go out: yo salgo

• traducir (trah-doo-seer) to translate: yo traduzco. Other verbs like traducir are conducir (kohn-doo-seer) to drive, conduct, or lead,

*producir (proh-doo-seer), *reducir (rreh-doo-seer).

• traer (trah-yehr) to bring: yo traigo

• ver (behr) to see: yo veo

Other Irregular Verbs

The following verbs are irregular in all forms, and you should memorize them:
decir (deh-seer)—to say, tell

yo digo (dee-goh) nosotros decimos (deh-see-mohs)
tu dices (dee-sehs) vosotros decis (deh-sees)
el, ella, Ud. dice (dee-seh) ellos, ellas, Uds. dicen (dee-sehn)

estar (eh-stahr)—to be

yo estoy (eh-stoy) nosotros estamos (eh-stah-mohs)
tu estas (eh-stahs) vosotros estais (eh-stah-yees)
el, ella, Ud. esta (eh-stah) ellos, ellas, Uds. estan (eh-stahn)

The following are the very common idiomatic expressions that use the verb estar:

EXPRESSION MEANING EXAMPLE

estar a punto de to be just about to Estoy a punto de salir.
(+ infinitive) (I’m just about to leave.)
estar por to be inclined to Estoy por cocinar.
(+ infinitive) (I’m inclined to cook.)
estar de acuerdo to be in agreement Estoy de acuerdo con Ud. (I agree with you.)

ir (eer)—to go

yo voy (boy) nosotros vamos (bah-mohs)
tu vas (bahs) vosotros vais (bah-yees)
el, ella, Ud. va (bah) ellos, ellas, Uds. van (bahn)

oír (oh-eer)—to hear

yo oigo (oy-goh) nosotros oimos (oh-ee-mohs)
tu oyes (oy-ehs) vosotros ois (oh-ees)
el, ella, Ud. oye (oy-eh) ellos, ellas, Uds. oyen (oy-ehn)

ser (sehr)—to be

yo soy (soy) nosotros somos (soh-mohs)
tu eres (eh-rehs) vosotros sois (soh-yees)
el, ella, Ud. es (ehs) ellos, ellas, Uds. son (sohn)

tener (tehn-ehr)—to have

yo tengo (tehn-goh) nosotros tenemos (teh-neh-mohs)
tu tienes (tee-yeh-nehs) vosotros teneis (teh-neh-yees)
el, ella, Ud. tiene ellos, ellas, Uds. tienen (tee-yeh-nehn) (tee-yeh-neh)
In most instances, if a larger verb form contains an irregular verb you recognize, the chances are great that you may use the conjugation endings of the smaller verb. Tener is contained in contener (cohn-teh-nehr) to contain, detener (deh-teh-nehr) to detain, entretener (ehn-treh-teh-nehr) to entertain, mantener (mahn-teh-nehr) to maintain, obtener (ohb-tehnehr) to obtain and sostener (soh-steh-nehr) to sustain. You conjugate these verbs as you would tener.
Although English speakers use the verb “to be” when speaking about certain physical conditions, Spanish speakers use the verb “to have” (tener) plus a noun to express the same thought.

The following list gives the very common idiomatic expressions that use the verb tener:

EXPRESSION MEANING EXAMPLE

tener . . . anos to be . . . years old Yo tengo veinte anos. (I’m twenty years old.)
tener calor (frio) to be hot (cold) Yo tengo calor. (I’m hot.)
tener cuidado to be careful Tenga cuidado. (Be careful.)
tener ganas de to feel like Tengo ganas de salir. (I feel like going out.)
tener hambre to be hungry Tenemos hambre. (We’re hungry.)
tener sed to be thirsty Tienen sed. (They are thirsty.)
tener miedo de to be afraid of Tengo miedo de eso. (I’m afraid of that.)
tener prisa to be in a hurry Ella tiene prisa. (She’s in a hurry.)
tener que to have to Tengo que estudiar. (I have to study.)
tener razon to be right Ud. tiene razon. (You’re right.)
tener suerte to be lucky Tengo suerte. (I’m lucky.)

venir (beh-neer)—to come

yo vengo (behn-goh) nosotros venimos (beh-nee-mohs)
tu vienes (bee-yeh-nehs) vosotros venis (beh-nees)
el, ella, Ud. viene ellos, ellas, Uds. vienen (bee-yeh-nehn) (bee-yeh-neh)

USES OF THE PRESENT TENSE

The present tense is customarily used instead of the future tense to ask for instructions or to discuss an action that will take place in the immediate future:

Yo preparo la cena? Shall I prepare dinner?
Yo te veo pronto. I’ll see you soon.

To express an event that began in the past and is continuing in the present, use the following formulas for questions and answers. Questions containing hace + que must be answered with hace + que. Those questions containing desde must be answered with desde.
.Cuánto tiempo hace + que + present tense?
.Cuanto tiempo hace que vives aqui?
How long have you been living here?
hace + an expression of time + que + present tense
Hace un ano que vivo aqui.
I’ve been living here for a year.
.Desde cuándo + present tense?
.Desde cuando vives aqui?
How long have you been living here?
present tense + desde
Vivo aqui desde hace un ano.
I’ve been living here a year.

NOTE

When it is necessary to use two verbs in succession, the first verb is conjugated and the second verb remains in the infinitive:
Yo quiero salir. I want to go out.
Ellos pueden bailar. They can dance.
THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

Whereas the present tense expresses what the subject generally does at any given time, the present progressive expresses what the subject is doing now. The present progressive is formed as follows: estar (conjugated) + present participle (gerund—the -ing form).
Gerunds are formed as follows:

• From -ar verb infinitives, drop -ar and add -ando: Yo estoy cantando. (I’m singing.)

• From -er and -ir verb infinitives, drop -er or -ir and add -iendo:

El no esta comiendo. He’s not eating.
Estamos escribiendo We’re writing a poem. un poema.

For -er and -ir verbs whose stems end in a vowel, add -yendo:

creer (to believe) creyendo
leer (to read) leyendo
oir (to hear) oyendo
traer (to bring) trayendo

• Stem-changing -ir verbs change the stem vowel from e to i and from o to u:
decir (to say, tell) diciendo
dormir (to sleep) durmiendo
morir (to die) muriendo
pedir (to ask) pidiendo
sentir (to feel) sintiendo
venir (to come) viniendo

TIME’S UP!

Without looking back, try to correctly complete this short story about a boy
and his friend. Conjugate the verbs carefully.

Yo (1. estar) en casa.
Yo (2. ser) un muchacho muy aplicado.
Yo (3. tener) hambre.
Yo (4. querer) comer.
Yo (5. poder) preparar una comida deliciosa.
Yo (6. buscar) los ingredientes.
Yo (7. medir) todo con cuidado.
Yo no (8. sustituir) nada.
Mi madre (9. venir) a la cocina.
Nosotros (10. ir) a comer mi excelente arroz con pollo.