Tuesday, February 28, 2012

All About Nouns

What is a noun?
The noun is a part of grammar that defines a person, place, thing, or abstract idea.  In English, we have all kinds of nouns (dog, spider, loneliness, Benito Juárez, Oklahoma City, etc.). 
The Spanish language divides its nouns into gender, either masculine or feminine.  Whereas English nouns are gender-neutral, Spanish nouns either are male or female, having nothing to do of course with whether or not the noun itself has masculine or feminine qualities. 
But how do we know the gender of a noun?  Of course the answer to this is memorization and constant practice, but a better situation would have been to grow up in a Spanish-speaking environment.  Since that wasn’t the case and you’re right now learning Spanish from a book, let’s follow a couple of rules to help you determine the gender of nouns! 

Nouns ending in –o, -a
Most nouns that end in –o are masculine: el libro (the book), el gato (the cat), el zorro (the fox).  Also, if the noun is a person who is male, an –o is usually the terminus.  Other examples: 
el banco
bank
el padrastro
step-father
el amigo
friend (male)
el saco
rain coat
el cuchillo
knife

Nouns that end in –a, including people who are of the female sex, are feminine:  la cuchara (the spoon), la amiga (friend, female), la madrastra (step-mother), la computadora (the computer).  Other examples: 
la pluma
pen
la cereza
cherry
la manzana
apple
el saco
rain coat
el cuchillo
knife

Note that in Spanish we express nouns as part of a phrase that includes the article, which you’ll learn about in the next section.  It is important when learning new vocabulary that you also learn the article that goes along with the noun.  Note that in English, it is sufficient to say “book” without saying “the book” or “a book, but in Spanish it customary when referring to a noun in a general sense to pair it up with its singular definite article “el” or “la”.

Irregular Noun Endings
Some nouns ending in –o are feminine: 
la mano
hand
la radio
radio
la foto
photo (short for fotografía)
la moto
motorcycle (short for motocicleta)

There are also several nouns that are masculine that end in –a:
el águila
eagle
el día
day
el mapa
map
el tranvía
the highway, expressway
el idioma
language
el planeta
planet
el clima
climate
el problema
problem
el programa
program
el sistema
system
el poema
poem

Unfortunately, there are a great many Spanish nouns (the vast majority, perhaps), whose genders cannot readily be predicted and must be studied. 
Nouns that end in an –e are very frequent yet the only way to know for sure what the gender is of one of these specific words is by learning and studying the noun.  This is done usually at a much earlier age, much the same way we started to acquire knowledge of English when we were in kindergarten.  The nouns el cine (movie theater) and el jarabe (syrup) end in –e and are masculine; however, la llave (key) is feminine, as is la gente (people) and la clase (class). 
Nouns ending in –z can either be masculine or feminine.  The nouns el lápiz (pencil), el arroz (rice), el maíz (corn), and el disfráz (costume) are masculine nouns, yet la luz (light) and la paz (peace) are feminine. 
Most nouns that end in –n, like el andén (path, walkway) and el buzón (mailbox), el examen (exam), el desván (attic), el claxón (car horn), and el jabón (soap) are masculine, and are usually accented in order to distinguish them from a third person plural verb conjugation. 
Nouns Ending –dad, -tad, -tud, and –umbre
Nouns ending in –dad, -tad, -tud, or –umbre are usually feminine.  Here is a list of some common examples of this ending:
la verdad
truth
la ciudad
city
la felicidad
happiness
la libertad
liberty
la multitud
multitude
la cumbre
peak (mountain), summit
la certidumbre
certainty
la Universidad
University
la amistad
friendship, amnesty
la propiedad
property
la unidad
unity, unit
la condad
county
la caridad
charity
la oportunidad
opportunity
la pluralidad
plurality


Ambiguous Nouns Describing People and Careers
A lot of nouns that depict people in their professions or in another position can be feminized by adding an –a to the end of the masculine noun: 
Masculine Form
Feminine Form
el patrón (the boss, male)
la patrona (the boss, female)
el doctor (doctor, male)
la doctora (doctor, female)
el profesor (professor, male)
la profesora (professor, female)
el anfitrión (host)
la anfitriona (hostess)
el campeón (champion, male)
la campeona (champion, female)
el bailarín (dancer, male)
la bailarina (dancer, female)

Some nouns do not add an –a to the ending of the masculine form.  Instead the noun stays the same but the feminine article is used when referring to a female.  This is especially true when describing athletes of a specific sport:
·         el/la presidente (the president)
·         el/la estudiante (student)
·         el/la líder (the leader)
·         el/la dentista (dentist)
·         el/la dependiente (store clerk)
·         el/la artista (artist)
·         el/la atleta (athlete)
·         el/la basquetbolista (basketball player)
·         el/la beisbolista (baseball player)
·         el/la turista (tourist)
·         el/la agente (agent)
·         el/la cantante (singer)
·         el/la futbolista (football/soccer player)
With much practice and listening to Spanish language conversations, you’ll get the hang of these endings in no time!  

Compound Nouns
All compound nouns (that is, nouns that are juxtaposed or attached to a verb to form a word that describes the function of the noun) are masculine:
el sacacorchos
corkscrew
el sacapuntos
pencil sharpener
el parachoques
bumper (auto.)
el limpiaparabrisas
windshield washer (auto.)
el parabrisas
windshield (auto.)
el paraguas
umbrella
el limpiacristales
window cleaner
el lavaplatos
dishwasher
el salvavidas
life preserver
el paracaigas
parachute

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Using the Phrase "Tener que"



One of the most useful phrases you’ll ever know in Spanish is the grammatical clause tener que, which when coupled with a verb in the infinitive means “to have to” + verb.  

Tengo que estudiar.  I have to study.
¿Tienes que escribir un ensayo?  Do you have to write an essay?
Ella tiene que cantar.  She has to sing. 
Tenemos que ir.  We have to go. 
Tienen que leer un libro.  They have to read a book. 

Using "¿qué? and ¿cuál? in interrogative sentences; You know them better as "questions".

Both ¿qué? and ¿cuál? mean "what?" in English, but the verbs in Spanish change depending on where they are used.  " cuál &q...