La lengua castellana

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Clio
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La lengua castellana

Post by Clio »

The following thread is meant to serve as a relatively simple introduction to Spanish, with a strong emphasis on practice exclusively in the target language. Do not expect a lot of translation exercises, except when introducing new vocabulary.

We will begin with the alphabet and pronunciation of Spanish, then simple phrases such as introductions, then the infinitive and present tense.

El alfabeto y la pronunciación
(The Alphabet and Pronunciation)

Code: Select all

Letra Nombre    Pronunciación
A      a             /a/
B      be           /b/
C      ce           Hard:  /k/
                    Soft:  /θ/
D      de           /d̪/
E      e            /e/
F      efe          /f/
G      ge           Hard:  /ɡ/
                    Soft:  /x/
H      hache        Silent
I       i           /i/
J       jota        /x/
K       ka          /k/
L       ele         /l/
M      eme          /m/
N      ene          /n/
Ñ      eñe          /ɲ/
O      o            /o/
P       pe          /p/
Q       cu          /k/
R       ere         /ɾ/, /r/
S       ese         /s/
T       te          /t̪/
U       u           /u/
V       ve          /b/
         uve
W      doble u       /w/, /gw/, /b/
         doble ve
X       equis       /ks/, /s/, /x/
Y       i griega    As a vowel: /i/, /j/
         ye         As a consonant:  /ʝ/
Z       zeta	     /θ/
There are also five digraphs in the Spanish language.

Code: Select all

Dígrafo Nombre Pronunciación
GU       ge u    /ɡ/
QU       cu u    /k/
CH       che     /tʃ/
LL       elle    /ʎ/
RR       erre    /r/
(At the beginning of a sentence, only capitalize the first letter of a digraph.)

K and W are almost only used in loanwords.

N assimilates in pronunciation to a following consonant.

Multiple rules govern the pronunciation of G, J, C, Q, and Z:
G and C are, much like English, pronounced soft before the front vowels I and E and hard elsewhere.
Z represents the “soft” C sound before the vowels A, O, and U.
Z cannot appear before I and E; only C can.
J represents the “soft” G before the vowels A, O, and U.
Either J or G may appear before I and E; both will be pronounced the same.
GU and QU represent (respectively) the “hard” pronunciations of G and C before the front vowels I and E. GU and QU only appear before the front vowels I and E. (Q only appears in the digraph QU.)

RR and R contrast between vowels to give minimal pairs such as pero /ˈpeɾo/ “but” (with R) and perro /ˈpero/ “dog” (with RR). At the beginning of words and after /l/, /n/, and /s/, R is pronounced /r/; before consonants it can be pronounced as either /r/ or /ɾ/. Elsewhere, R must be pronounced as /ɾ/. /r/ is only spelled RR between vowels.

The pronunciation of L is never “dark.”

Do not aspirate /p t k/. Fully voice /b d ɡ/. Between vowels, /b d ɡ/ are pronounced [β ð ɣ̞].

As a general rule, do not reduce unstressed vowels. However, unstressed I and U become glides [j] and [w] before or after another vowel (e.g., vais [bajs] and hacia [ˈaθja]).

Spanish pronunciation is actually more complicated, as allophony has a large impact on the pronunciation of phonemes. Short of memorizing allophonic rules, one can learn mostly by listening and repeating the pronunciation of words.

El acento prosódico
(Prosodic Stress)


Three rules govern the placement of stress in any Spanish word.

First, if the word ends in a consonant other than /n/ or /s/, the stress falls on the final syllable.
If the word ends in /n/, /s/, or any vowel,
Finally, if the word has any vowel marked with the acute accent mark (á, é, í, ó, ú), the stress falls on the syllable in which that vowel occurs.

El acento ortográfico
(The accent mark)


Other than marking the position of stress in a word, the accent mark can distinguish between two words with otherwise identical pronunciation. For example, el (the masculine singular article) and él (“he”) are distinguished only by the accent mark: both are pronounced /el/.

One also occasionally encounters the dieresis on the U in the digraph GU. This indicates that the U is pronounced [w] rather than silent (e.g., pingüino [piŋˈɡwino] “penguin”)

Los dialectos
(Dialects)


The dialects of Spanish—even within Spain itself—do not all have the exact same pronunciations for several of the above letters.

Many dialects of Spanish do not have this contrast between S and C/Z so both are pronounced /s/. This is known as seseo (from ceceo, “lisp”). In those dialects that do distinguish between S and C/Z, S often is pronounced closer to /s̺/, which gives it a slight “slurred” sound. All words are spelt the same regardless.

In addition, LL has mostly merged with Y so both are pronounced /ʝ/. This is known as yeísmo.

¡Ojo!
(Watch out!)


My personal accent has both seseo and yeísmo, so look out for that.

It also appears that the pronunciation of word-final M varies by dialects. In my own dialect, word-final M is always [n]. (This is not too much of a problem, as most words ending in M are loanwords.)

¡Practiquemos!
(Let’s practice!)


Pronounce the following words:
1. zorro “fox”
2. dar “to give”
3. gato “cat”
4. yo “I”

Transcribe the following words:
15. http://vocaroo.com/i/s1VMyT7agUm1
16. http://vocaroo.com/i/s02Qyy8BgX5X
17. http://vocaroo.com/i/s10StFwcOuoB
Spoiler:
Solutions

1. http://vocaroo.com/i/s1h965Zea6AC
2. http://vocaroo.com/i/s0a4mfPUcWU3
3. http://vocaroo.com/i/s0jcqpM3zjCE
4. http://vocaroo.com/i/s0IpAzvurKOc
5. empezar “to begin”
6. beber “to drink”
7. niño “child”
------------------------------------

Well, that was a lot of information to take in. Feel free to digest this all over a few days. The next lesson will cover basic phrases and simple conversations.[/color]
Last edited by Clio on 31 Dec 2013 20:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by ol bofosh »

M is always pronounced /n/ at the end of a word.
I've never noticed that one, and never seen any reference to it (just noticed it on Wikipedia that it can be [ɱ] or [n]).

Is that meant to be common to all Spanish dialects?
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Plusquamperfekt »

Yo ni siquiera sabía que hay alguna palabra en castellano cuya última letra es un eme... :mrgreen:
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Clio »

ol bofosh wrote:
M is always pronounced /n/ at the end of a word.
I've never noticed that one, and never seen any reference to it (just noticed it on Wikipedia that it can be [ɱ] or [n]).

Is that meant to be common to all Spanish dialects?
It is in my dialect (e.g., I say "álbum" as though it were "álbun"), and I wasn't actually aware that it varied between dialects. Also, as Plusquamperfekt pointed out, this is mostly encountered in loanwords anyways. (Like him, I can't think of a native word ending in M, but that could just be poor memory.) I'll add a note to the lesson to clarify. Thanks for spotting this!

EDIT: Here's an additional source (with audio examples for the learner).
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Ghoster »

I suggest moving straight to grammar, since there will always be differences in pronunciation in dialects (especially if we're talking about a language as common as Spanish).

I'm waiting for the next lessons, just to be able to say something more than "Estoy embarazada y quiero comprar vodka frío, señor".
Native: :pol:; Advanced: :usa: :chn: :nld:; Intermediate: :esp:; Lower intermediate: :deu: :rus: :fra: :nor:; Beginner: :jpn: :kor: :hkg:
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Ambrisio »

vodka frío
El vodka? Really?
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Click »

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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Clio »

A bit of information on nouns and their genders seems appropriate at this point; nothing too complex yet, but good review nonetheless.

Lección dos
(Lesson Two)


Substantivos
(Nouns)


All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine. They must agree in number and gender with articles and other adjectives.

The definite article agrees as such:

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    el         los
Feminine     la         las
The indefinite article agrees as such:

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    un         unos
Feminine     una        unas
Most nouns ending in -o are masculine, and most nouns ending in -a are feminine. In addition, nouns that refer to males are masculine, and nouns that refer to women are feminine.

Some nouns that follow the above rules:

Code: Select all

Spanish          English
el libro         book
el banco         bank
el hombre        man
el padre         father
el profesor      professor
el señor         sir, lord
la manzana       apple
la biblioteca    library
la mujer         woman
la madre         mother
la profesora     (female) professor
la señora        ma’am, lady
However, these rules are not absolute, and exceptions occur. For example

Code: Select all

Spanish          English
el día           day
el mapa          map
el idioma        language
la mano          hand
la radio         radio
The gender of most nouns ending in -e or any consonant must be memorized.

Code: Select all

Spanish          English
el lápiz         pencil
el cobre         copper
el papel         paper, role
la clase         class
la llave         key
la luz           light
Some words referring to humans can be made feminine by adding a final -a.
el doctor -> la doctora (doctor)
el francés -> la francesa (Frenchman, Frenchwoman)
el bailarín -> la bailarina (dancer)

Other words change only their article, not their form. This is particularly common with nouns ending in -e, -a, -ista, -nte, and consonants.
el artista -> la artista (artist)
el estudiante -> la estudiante (student)
el joven -> la joven (young man, young woman)
el mártir -> la mártir (martyr)

Since gender is not entirely predictable, learn every noun along with the article in order to be sure of its gender. This ensures that the right form of any following adjectives will be used.

A very few nouns (those which begin in a stressed a- or ha-) will take the masculine singular article while being otherwise feminine. For example, el arte (art) becomes las artes (arts) in the plural.

Adjetivos
(Adjectives)

Adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify.

Adjectives whose masculine singular forms end in -o agree with nouns in the following way:

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    -o         -os
Feminine     -a         -as
For example (bonito, “pretty”):

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    bonito     bonitos
Feminine     bonita     bonitas
Adjectives whose masculine singular forms end in -e agree with nouns in the following way:

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    -0         -s
Feminine     -0         -s
For example (triste, “sad”):

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    triste     tristes
Feminine     triste     tristes
Adjectives whose masculine singular forms end in a consonant agree with nouns in the following way:

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    -0         -es
Feminine     -0         -es
For example (difícil, “difficult”):

Code: Select all

             Singular   Plural
Masculine    difícil    difíciles
Feminine     difícil    difíciles
Adjectives typically follow the nouns they modify. (The exceptions to this rule will be covered later.)

Vocabulario
(Vocabulary)

Code: Select all

Spanish          English
el agua (f.)     water
el arte (f.)     art
el zorro         fox
el libro         book
el banco         bank
el hombre        man
el padre         father
el profesor      professor
el señor         sir, lord
la manzana       apple
la biblioteca    library
la mujer         woman
la madre         mother
la profesora     (female) professor
la señora        ma’am, lady
el día           day
el mapa          map
el idioma        language
la mano          hand
la radio         radio
el lapis         pencil
el papel         paper
la clase         class
la llave         key
la luz           light
el doctor        doctor
la doctora       doctor
el francés       Frenchman
la francesa      Frenchwoman
el español       male Spaniard
la española      female Spaniard
el bailarín      dancer
la bailarina     dancer
el/la artista    artist
el/la estudiante student
el/la joven      young man, young woman
el/la mártir     martyr
bonito           nice, pretty
triste           sad
difícil          difficult
hermoso          beautiful
gracioso         funny
atrevido         brave
curioso          curious
perezoso         lazy
viejo            old
delgado          thin
gordo            fat
rojo             red
anaranjado       orange
amarillo         yellow
negro            black
blanco           white
azúl             blue
gris             gray
marrón           brown
verde            green
¡Practiquemos!
(Let’s practice!)


Change the adjective so that it agrees with the noun.
1. la estudiante; curioso
2. el doctor; gordo
3. la madre; triste
4. el lápiz; amarillo
5. la luz; rojo
6. el francés; atrevido
7. la española; delgado
8. el agua; azúl

Provide the appropriate article for the noun.
9. doctor
10. profesor
11. mártir
12. llaves
13. zorro
14. libro
15. clase
16. día
17. aguas
18. arte
Spoiler:
Solutions
1. la estudiante curiosa
2. el doctor gordo
3. la madre triste
4. el lápiz amarillo
5. la luz roja
6. el francés atrevida
7. la española delgada
8. el agua azúl
9. el doctor
10. el profesor
11. el/la mártir
12. las llaves
13. el zorro
14. el libro
15. la clase
16. el día
17. las aguas
18. el arte
The next three lessons will deal with verb conjugation in the present, preterite, and future tenses respectively.[/color]
Last edited by Clio on 13 Jan 2014 01:21, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Ambrisio »

Spoiler:
la estudiante curiosa
el doctor gordo
la madre triste
el lápiz amarilla
la luz roja
el francés atrevido
la española delgada (I thought it was 'la española flaca'. Am I wrong, or is that Latin American?)
el agua azúl

el doctor
el profesor
la mártir (XX), el mártir (XY)
las llaves
el zorro
el libro
la clase
el día
las aguas
el arte
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Clio »

Ambrisio wrote:(I thought it was 'la española flaca'. Am I wrong, or is that Latin American?)
Good question. I've never noticed much of a difference between "flaco" and "delgado" (in meaning or in geography). To me, they are about a similar in meaning as, say, "thin" and "skinny"; you'll see both to mean the same thing.

I did a bit of poking around the internet, and it seems like for some people "flaco" is a bit less formal (in Argentina, it's even a form of slang address), so to say "delgado" is a bit more of a compliment. Still, it seems like even native speakers can't agree on what the difference is exactly, and it's mostly a distinction that one feels. (In this respect, it's a lot like "thin" and "skinny"; I know that there's a difference, but I can't quite pinpoint it.)

I'll try asking a few of my Spanish-speaking friends tomorrow, if I remember to.
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Ambrisio »

So:
delgado=slim, flaco=thin? Also, 'delgado' has a cognate in English (namely,delicate) that could shed some light on its connotation in Spanish.
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Bagliun Edar »

Clio wrote:
Ambrisio wrote:(I thought it was 'la española flaca'. Am I wrong, or is that Latin American?)
Good question. I've never noticed much of a difference between "flaco" and "delgado" (in meaning or in geography). To me, they are about a similar in meaning as, say, "thin" and "skinny"; you'll see both to mean the same thing.

I did a bit of poking around the internet, and it seems like for some people "flaco" is a bit less formal (in Argentina, it's even a form of slang address), so to say "delgado" is a bit more of a compliment. Still, it seems like even native speakers can't agree on what the difference is exactly, and it's mostly a distinction that one feels. (In this respect, it's a lot like "thin" and "skinny"; I know that there's a difference, but I can't quite pinpoint it.)

I'll try asking a few of my Spanish-speaking friends tomorrow, if I remember to.
As a Spanish native from Puerto Rico, I say you are right.
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by ol bofosh »

Good lessons. I'm happy to read the vocab words and find only one or two I didn't recognise.

Re: delgado vs. flaco
I think the slim-skinny is about correct. That's how my girlfriend uses them. She's losing weight and often describes herself as (más) delgada. If she sees a really skinny person on TV she'll say "qué flaco/a".
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Clio »

Sorry this lesson took so long--all these code boxes for conjugations were a pain.

Lección tres
(Lesson Three)


Los pronombres
(Pronouns)


Before we begin talking about the verb, it helpful for the learner to grasp the pronouns, as they indicate person and number and help to clarify the meaning of many verbs. All conjugation activities will also rely upon a working knowledge of the pronouns, so study the following tables and notes carefully.

Code: Select all

            Singular Plural
1st person  yo       nosotros
2nd person  tú       vosotros
            usted    ustedes
3rd person  él       ellos
            ella     ellas
The above pronouns translate to the following:

Code: Select all

            Singular Plural
1st person  I        we
2nd person  you      you (you guys, you all)
            you      you (you guys, you all)
3rd person  he       they (masculine)
            she      they (feminine)
A few important notes:

The difference between “tú / vosotros” and “usted / ustedes” is one of politeness and formality. One uses “tú / vosotros” when talking to a friend or family member (i.e., a person that one does not need to be particularly formal with). One uses “usted / ustedes” when talking to a stranger, superior, or elder.

It is generally considered most polite to use the “usted / ustedes” form (and some families still use this form when speaking to, e.g., one’s grandparents), but it would certainly seem strange and very rude to use the “usted” form when talking to a close friend.

However, the “vosotros” pronoun has fallen out of use in much of Latin America, and speakers use the “ustedes” pronoun instead, in all cases regardless of formality.

The words “usted / ustedes” are typically abbreviated as “Ud. / Uds.” in writing. Note that the abbreviations are capitalized, but the full words are not.

When conjugating a verb, the “usted / ustedes” forms are identical to the third person forms, despite being second person pronouns. (This will make more sense in a moment.)

Spanish has two words that translate to English “they”: “ellos” and “ellas.” One uses the masculine form “ellos” when talking about a group including at least one male (or masculine noun). The feminine form “ellas” is only used to refer to an exclusively female (or feminine) group.

El presente de indicativo
(The Present Indicative)


The present tense in Spanish generally corresponds to the simple or progressive present tense in English. While there is also a present progressive in Spanish, it is used far less than in English.

Spanish verbs have an infinitive form ending in one of -ar, -er, or -ir. The form of the infinitive places the verb into its particular conjugation paradigm.

To conjugate a verb, one first removes the infinitive ending (viz., -ar, -er, or -ir) and then adds endings depending on the conjugation paradigm.

For -ar verbs, the following endings are added:

Code: Select all

           Singular Plural
1st person -o       -amos
2nd person -as      -áis
3rd person -a       -an
For -er verbs, the following endings are added:

Code: Select all

           Singular Plural
1st person -o       -emos
2nd person -es      -éis
3rd person -e       -en
For -ir verbs, the following endings are added:

Code: Select all

           Singular Plural
1st person -o       -imos
2nd person -es      -ís
3rd person -e       -en
The following regular conjugations can be used as a quick reference for each of the three paradigms.

Code: Select all

Infinitive: amar (to love)
yo amo            nosotros amamos
tú amas           vosotros amáis
él/ella/Ud. ama   ellos/ellas/Uds. aman

Code: Select all

Infinitive: beber (to drink)
yo bebo            nosotros bebemos
tú bebes           vosotros bebéis
él/ella/Ud. bebe   ellos/ellas/Uds. beben

Code: Select all

Infinitive: vivir (to live)
yo vivo            nosotros vivimos
tú vives           vosotros vivís
él/ella/Ud. vive   ellos/ellas/Uds. viven
Los verbos irregulares
(Irregular verbs)


Irregular verbs in the Spanish present tense fall into three categories: the stem-changing verbs, the spell-changing verbs, and the truly irregular. One must simply memorize which verbs are irregular and which are regular.

Stem-changing verbs (also called “boot verbs”) actually follow their own pattern and are relatively predictable. In stem-changing verbs, the vowel in the stem of the verb changes in the “yo,” “tú,” “él,” and “ellos” forms. For the -ar and -er verbs, an “e” in the infinitive becomes an “ie,” and an “o” becomes “ue.” For the -ir verbs, the stem vowel can have any of these three changes: “e” to “ie,” “o” to “ue,” or “e” to “i”

Take the following examples:

Code: Select all

Infinitive: pensar (to think)
yo pienso            nosotros pensamos
tú piensas           vosotros pensáis
él/ella/Ud. piensa   ellos/ellas/Uds. piensan

Code: Select all

Infinitive: poder (to be able to)
yo puedo            nosotros podemos
tú puedes           vosotros podéis
él/ella/Ud. puede   ellos/ellas/Uds. pueden

Code: Select all

Infinitive: jugar (to play, u > ue)
yo juego            nosotros jugamos
tú juegas           vosotros jugáis
él/ella/Ud. juega   ellos/ellas/Uds. juegan

Code: Select all

Infinitive: sentir (to feel)
yo siento            nosotros sentimos
tú sientes           vosotros sentís
él/ella/Ud. siente   ellos/ellas/Uds. sienten

Code: Select all

Infinitive: dormir (to sleep)
yo duermo            nosotros dormimos
tú duermes           vosotros dormís
él/ella/Ud. duerme   ellos/ellas/Uds. duermen

Code: Select all

Infinitive: pedir (to request)
yo pido            nosotros pedimos
tú pides           vosotros pedís
él/ella/Ud. pide   ellos/ellas/Uds. piden
There are also the spell-changing verbs, which are regular except for certain considerations in spelling, which must be taken into account to preserve Spanish orthographic rules.

Verbs ending in -uir (except for those ending in -guir) add “y” after the “u” in the “yo,” “tú,” “él,” and “ellos” forms.

Code: Select all

Infinitive: construir (to construct)
yo construyo            nosotros construimos
tú construyes           vosotros construís
él/ella/Ud. construye   ellos/ellas/Uds. construyen
Some verbs ending in -iar or -uar change the “i, u” to “í, ú” in the “yo,” “tú,” “él,” and “ellos” forms.

Code: Select all

Infinitive: guiar (to guide)
yo guío            nosotros guiamos
tú guías           vosotros guiáis
él/ella/Ud. guía   ellos/ellas/Uds. guían

Code: Select all

Infinitive: continuar (to continue)
yo continúo            nosotros continuamos
tú continúas           vosotros continuáis
él/ella/Ud. continúa   ellos/ellas/Uds. continúan
Verbs ending in -ger and -gir change the “g” to “j” before an “o.” Verbs ending in -cer and -cir change the “c” to “z” before an “o.” Conversely, verbs ending in -guir change the “gu” to “g” before an “o.”

Code: Select all

Infinitive: escoger (to choose)
yo escojo            nosotros escogemos
tú escoges           vosotros escogéis
él/ella/Ud. escoge   ellos/ellas/Uds. escogen

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Infinitive: convencer (to convince)
yo convenzo            nosotros convencemos
tú convences           vosotros convencéis
él/ella/Ud. convence   ellos/ellas/Uds. convencen

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Infinitive: distinguir (to distinguish)
yo distingo             nosotros distinguemos
tú distingues           vosotros distinguéis
él/ella/Ud. distingue   ellos/ellas/Uds. distinguen
Spell-changing verbs may also have a stem change. Take the following examples:

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Infinitive: seguir (to follow)
yo sigo             nosotros seguimos
tú sigues           vosotros seguís
él/ella/Ud. sigue   ellos/ellas/Uds. siguen

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Infinitive: torcer (to twist)
yo tuerzo            nosotros torcemos
tú tuerces           vosotros torcéis
él/ella/Ud. tuerce   ellos/ellas/Uds. tuercen
There are also the other irregular verbs, whose conjugations follow more complex patterns (or none at all). Their conjugations must simply be memorized.

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Infinitive: ir (to go)
yo voy           nosotros vamos
tú vas           vosotros vais
él/ella/Ud. va   ellos/ellas/Uds. van

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Infinitive: ser (to be)
yo soy           nosotros somos
tú eres          vosotros sois
él/ella/Ud. es   ellos/ellas/Uds. son

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Infinitive: estar (to be)
yo estoy           nosotros estamos
tú estás           vosotros estáis
él/ella/Ud. está   ellos/ellas/Uds. están

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Infinitive: decir (to say)
yo digo            nosotros decimos
tú dices           vosotros decís
él/ella/Ud. dice   ellos/ellas/Uds. dicen

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Infinitive: oír (to hear)
yo oigo           nosotros oímos
tú oyes           vosotros oís
él/ella/Ud. oye   ellos/ellas/Uds. oyen

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Infinitive: ver (to hear)
yo veo           nosotros vemos
tú ves           vosotros veis
él/ella/Ud. ve   ellos/ellas/Uds. ven

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Infinitive: tener (to have)
yo tengo            nosotros tenemos
tú tienes           vosotros tenéis
él/ella/Ud. tiene   ellos/ellas/Uds. tienen

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Infinitive: venir (to come)
yo vengo            nosotros venimos
tú vienes           vosotros venís
él/ella/Ud. viene   ellos/ellas/Uds. vienen
Verbs consisting of a prefix followed by an irregular verb (e.g., prever, predecir, contener, mantener) conjugate like that irregular verb.

Vocabulario
(Vocabulary)


Your vocabulary list for this lesson will include all present tense forms of many verbs. It is accessible on conjuguemos.com. (See below for more details.)

¡Practiquemos!
(Let’s practice!)


Your assignment for this lesson is to make an account on Conjuguemos and use it to practice the conjugation of regular, stem-changing, spell-changing, and irregular verbs. Try to do at least one five-minute drill every day. Carry verb charts around with you, and study them while you are waiting in line. This is a lot to memorize, so the more work you put in, the more you will get out, until eventually conjugation seems like second nature.

Your vocabulary for this lesson will be found by following the links to the verb charts in each exercise.

Again, this lesson is meant to be consumed over the following week or so, so do not worry if you can’t cram in every word and conjugation. These same words will also be used in the following several lessons on the basic verb tenses.

If you need any assistance, do not hesitate to message me or post below.[/color]
Niûro nCora
Getic: longum Getico murmur in ore fuit
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Ambrisio
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Ambrisio »

Just how did those -ie-'s develop in the forms of 'tener' and 'venir'?
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Egerius
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Egerius »

Ambrisio wrote:Just how did those -ie-'s develop in the forms of 'tener' and 'venir'?
Just as the -ue-'s in dormir (duermo, I sleep) and doler (duele, it hurts) did. [:P]

Becsuse Spanish/Castilian developed out of spoken/Vulgar Latin, similar developments occurred in other Romance Languages, which mainly result in the diphthongisation/vowel breaking of short, stressed /e o/. In Castilian, in open and closed syllables the single vowels become diphthongs (open syllable: TĔNIT > tiene, closed syllable: DŎRMIT > duerme).

The first and second persons plural were not stressed on the root vowel (but on the next syllable), so these short /e o/'s developed into Castilian /e o/, not into /je we/ <ie ue>.
Last edited by Egerius on 28 May 2015 22:59, edited 2 times in total.
Languages of Rodentèrra: Buonavallese, Saselvan Argemontese; Wīlandisċ Taulkeisch; More on the road.
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Clio
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Re: La lengua castellana

Post by Clio »

Egerius: Exactly. Just like why Spanish fuego is a cognate for Latin FOCUS and Italian fuoco (with vowel breaking in the open syllable), while Spanish puerta is a cognate for Latin PORTA but Italian porta (with vowel breaking in the Spanish closed syllable but not in the Italian closed syllable).

Lección cuatro
(Lesson Four)


El pretérito
(The Preterit)


The preterit tense is used in Spanish for events in the past that were completed. Such events are viewed as having occurred in a particular moment in time, as a simple whole.

Just like the present tense, it is necessary to first remove the infinitive marker from the verb before adding the personal preterit-tense endings.

For -ar verbs, the following endings are added:

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           Singular Plural
1st person -é       -amos
2nd person -aste    -asteis
3rd person -ó       -aron
For -er and -ir verbs, the following endings are added:

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           Singular Plural
1st person -í       -imos
2nd person -iste    -isteis
3rd person -ió      -ieron
The following regular conjugations can be used as a quick reference for both paradigms.

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Infinitive: amar (to love)
yo amé            nosotros amamos
tú amaste         vosotros amasteis
él/ella/Ud. amó   ellos/ellas/Uds. amaron

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Infinitive: beber (to drink)
yo bebí            nosotros bebimos
tú bebiste         vosotros bebisteis
él/ella/Ud. bebió  ellos/ellas/Uds. bebieron

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Infinitive: vivir (to live)
yo viví            nosotros vivimos
tú viviste         vosotros vivisteis
él/ella/Ud. vivió  ellos/ellas/Uds. vivieron
----------------

Much like the verbs in the present tense, not every verb conjugates regularly in the preterit tense. For the preterit tense, there are four categories of irregular verbs.

The first are the completely irregular verbs: ser (to be), ir (to go), dar (to give), and ver (to see). They conjugate as follows:

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Infinitive: ser (to be)
yo fui            nosotros fuimos
tú fuiste         vosotros fuisteis
él/ella/Ud. fue   ellos/ellas/Uds. fueron

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Infinitive: ir (to go)
yo fui            nosotros fuimos
tú fuiste         vosotros fuisteis
él/ella/Ud. fue   ellos/ellas/Uds. fueron
(That’s not a mistake; ser and ir conjugate exactly the same in the preterit.)

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Infinitive: dar (to be)
yo di             nosotros dimos
tú diste          vosotros disteis
él/ella/Ud. dio   ellos/ellas/Uds. dieron

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Infinitive: ver (to be)
yo vi             nosotros vimos
tú viste          vosotros visteis
él/ella/Ud. vio   ellos/ellas/Uds. vieron
----------------

Next are the spell-changing verbs. These verbs change the spelling of their stems in order to preserve their pronunciations in the first-person form. Verbs ending in -car change their “c” to a “qu” before an “é”; verbs ending in -gar change their “g” to a “gu” before an “é”; verbs ending in -zar change their “z” to a “c” before an “é.”

For example:

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Infinitive: sacar (to take out)
yo saqué          nosotros sacamos
tú sacaste        vosotros sacasteis
él/ella/Ud. sacó  ellos/ellas/Uds. sacaron

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Infinitive: llegar (to arrive)
yo llegué          nosotros llegamos
tú llegaste        vosotros llegasteis
él/ella/Ud. llegó  ellos/ellas/Uds. llegaron

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Infinitive: comenzar (to begin out)
yo comencé           nosotros comenzamos
tú comenzaste        vosotros comenzasteis
él/ella/Ud. comenzó  ellos/ellas/Uds. comenzaron
There are also a group of spell-changing -er and -ir verbs in which the vowel “i” becomes a “y” between to vowels and receives an accent mark after a vowel and before a consonant. For example:

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Infinitive: leer (to read)
yo leí            nosotros leímos
tú leíste         vosotros leísteis
él/ella/Ud. leyó  ellos/ellas/Uds. leyeron

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Infinitive: oír (to hear)
yo oí            nosotros oímos
tú oíste         vosotros oísteis
él/ella/Ud. oyó  ellos/ellas/Uds. oyeron
Verbs that end in -uir (except for those ending in -guir) follow the same pattern in the third person, but not in the tú, nosotros, and vosotros forms.

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Infinitive: construir (to build)
yo construí            nosotros construimos
tú construiste         vosotros construisteis
él/ella/Ud. construyó  ellos/ellas/Uds. construyeron
----------------

Then we have a group of -ir verbs which are irregular only in the third person forms.

In some of these verbs, an “o” in the stem becomes a “u” in the third person forms. For example:

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Infinitive: dormir (to sleep)
yo dormí            nosotros dormimos
tú dormiste         vosotros dormisteis
él/ella/Ud. durmió  ellos/ellas/Uds. durmieron
In others, an “e” in the stem becomes an “i” in the third person forms. For example:

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Infinitive: servir (to serve)
yo serví            nosotros servimos
tú serviste         vosotros servisteis
él/ella/Ud. sirvió  ellos/ellas/Uds. sirvieron
Verbs like dormir include morir (to die), and verbs like server include pedir (to ask for), repetir (to repeat), medir (to measure), mentir (to lie), and convertir (to convert).

----------------

Finally, there is a fifth group of verbs whose stems change in the preterit and who take different endings.

All verbs in this group take the following personal endings:

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           Singular Plural
1st person -e       -imos
2nd person -iste    -isteis
3rd person -o       -ieron
The stems of verbs change in the following manners:

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Infinitive     English      Normal stem   Preterit stem
andar          to walk      and-          anduv-
caber          to fit       cab-          cup-
decir          to say       dec-          dij-
estar          to be        est-          estuv-
hacer          to do, make  hac-          hic-
poder          to be able   pod-          pud-
poner          to put       pon-          pus-
producir       to produce   produc-       produj-
querer         to want      quer-         quis-
saber          to know      sab-          sup-
tener          to have      ten-          tuv-
traer          to bring     tra-          traj-
venir          to come      ven-          vin-
Put these together and we get, for example:

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Infinitive: poner (to put)
yo puse            nosotros pusimos
tú pusiste         vosotros pusisteis
él/ella/Ud. puso   ellos/ellas/Uds. pusieron
Vocabulario
(Vocabulary)

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English           Spanish
office building   el edificio de oficinas
traffic light     el semáforo
apartments        los apartamentos
house             la casa
building          el edificio
bakery            la panadería
intersection      el cruce
cinema            el cine
yesterday         ayer
last              pasado
week              la semana
last week         la semana pasada
to buy            comprar
ticket            la entrada
to do, to make    hacer
to bring          traer
to leave          salir
popcorn           las palomitas
food              la comida
film              la película
and               y
but               pero
in order to       para
later             luego
after             después
then              entonces
in, on            en
from (a place)    desde
¡Practiquemos!
(Let’s practice!)


First, you should continue doing the drills on Conjuguemos in order to memorize the conjugations. These should eventually become second nature, but first you need to repeatedly emphasize them.

Then, use some of the above vocabulary to write a short story. (Feel free to look up other words online if you need them.) Be sure to use both the present and preterit tenses in your story.[/color]
Niûro nCora
Getic: longum Getico murmur in ore fuit
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