The Complete Ultimate Spanish: Comprehensive First- and Second-Year Course

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For Alex and Mimi, our wondrous children, whose brilliance, talents, and love illuminate and inspire every word we write

RLG and DMS

Preface

Almost seventy years later, I remember clearly how the magic of translating the words in books into images enriched my life, breaking the barriers of time and space.

—Mario Vargas Llosa, 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature

Knowledge of languages is the doorway to wisdom.

—Roger Bacon

The Complete Ultimate Spanish is a uniquely comprehensive, user-friendly, and engaging first- and second-year program designed for beginning through advanced learners of Spanish who want to develop the proficiency to communicate effectively with native speakers of Spanish on a wide variety of topics. Learners using the program will master the fundamental structures of Spanish sentences and acquire a broad, authentic, and current vocabulary. Complete with textbook and app, the program provides abundant practice in all language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

The Complete Ultimate Spanish includes the very successful The Ultimate Spanish 101 and continues its signature conceptual features of varied practice and modularity in The Ultimate Spanish 201. The Ultimate Spanish 201, the second-year course, presents Spanish compound and complex sentences, thereby preparing you to use the language for personal and professional purposes. The more than 200 Diálogos and more than 400 oral and written exercises in The Complete Ultimate Spanish reflect authentic language usage and touch on all areas of modern life. A wealth of practice exercises will enable you to read all types of Spanish prose and write short pieces on familiar topics.

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice!" How do you get to fluency in Spanish? Practice, practice, practice! The Complete Ultimate Spanish audio component on the Language Lab app includes more than 200 Diálogos and their Variantes, all recorded by native speakers of Spanish, with pauses for repetition. The Ultimate Spanish 101 chapters also contain an audio component for the Prácticas (oral exercises), as well as flashcards for building vocabulary. The modular organization enables you to adapt your practice time to your schedule, making it ideal for people working on their own. The Complete Ultimate Spanish is also an excellent ancillary for students using a textbook in a classroom setting. The easy-to-use, innovative Language Lab app makes it possible for you to progress at your own pace using a computer, tablet, or cell phone.

Structure and Components of The Complete Ultimate Spanish

The Complete Ultimate Spanish includes a preliminary chapter, Pronunciation and Spelling, that describes the sounds of Spanish. Using the app, you will be able to listen to and repeat, in the pauses provided, the sounds of Spanish. Mastering the sound system of Spanish will enable you to pronounce and understand better, an achievement that will result in enhanced communication skills.

The Complete Ultimate Spanish is comprised of 21 chapters, all but the final one structured in the same way. Chapters 1 through 20 open with Communication Goals, a statement of the chapter’s objectives for learner achievement, and Grammar Topics, an outline of grammar points to be presented and practiced.

The Diálogo is the nucleus of Chapters 1 through 20. Each chapter has a series of Diálogos that present grammatical structures and vocabulary targeted in the chapter. These Diálogos, some appearing in two parts, present engaging conversations on a variety of topics. Some topics presented in The Ultimate Spanish 101 are revisited in The Ultimate Spanish 201 with greater depth and sophistication. For example, on the subject of health, Chapter 11 deals with a medical check-up and a pediatrician treating a child’s earache, while Chapter 18 treats the pros and cons of vaccination and life in the time of Covid-19. Environmental pollution is dealt with as a cause for itchy eyes in Chapter 12; in Chapter 20, it is responsible for the erosion of the granite stones in the Roman aqueduct of Segovia (Spain). Each Diálogo has an audio icon, indicating that it is available for listening on the app. You will study the Diálogo, listen to the recording, and repeat each speech after the speaker. Listening to and repeating the Diálogo should be rehearsed until you are satisfied with your progress; memorization of the Diálogo is beneficial.

The Análisis section, immediately following the Diálogo, provides a linguistic breakdown, that is, an analysis of the sentence structures and vocabulary presented in the Diálogo. Each element is presented with a translation in English.

The Variantes section following the Análisis expands on the grammatical structures presented in the Diálogo and presents new structures and vocabulary based on the Spanish language material of the Diálogo. Each Variantes section has an audio icon, indicating that the material is also available on the app.

The Complete Ultimate Spanish presents all Spanish tenses and all the necessary grammatical structures of Spanish for optimum use of the language. The Estructura y Práctica section presents clear, concise explanations of the grammatical topics deriving from the Diálogo, followed by exercises for practice. The grammatical explanations are based on a contrastive approach, comparing Spanish to English usage. In the Práctica that follows each grammatical point, structural, writing, translation, and free expression exercises, some contextual or thematic, reinforce the grammar and review the vocabulary presented in the lesson.

Un paso más (A Step Further), the culminating section of each chapter, encourages you to use what you have learned through activities designed to enhance your knowledge of the Spanish language and the Spanish-speaking world. You are encouraged to express yourself freely in Spanish by answering Preguntas personales (personal questions) and writing compositions on topics related to the content of each chapter—all in Spanish. For example, you will write about family relationships, the university and freedom of speech, teleworking, shopping online, the pyramids of Mexico, a political demonstration, outer space, the aqueduct of Segovia, charter schools, a sweet fifteen party (una quinceañera), and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic; you will also read quotations by eminent men and women from all walks of life, translate them from Spanish to English, and explain their meaning in Spanish.

Language boxes, placed judiciously throughout the chapters, include current idiomatic usage that will increase your mastery of authentic Spanish exponentially.

Chapter 21, Building Spanish Vocabulary, is the culminating chapter of The Complete Ultimate Spanish. It deals with Word Formation, and ends with La higuera ("The Fig Tree"), a beautiful and inspiring poem by Juana de Ibarbourou, one of the most important and innovative women poets of Uruguayan and Spanish American literature of the 20th century. You will be guided in your reading of this poem in Spanish by a vocabulary list, a translation in English, and a series of Preguntas that will help you analyze the poem to find its meaning. You will also be able to listen to a recitation of the poem on the app.

The Complete Ultimate Spanish provides Verb Charts you can consult when in doubt about a verb form or tense; an Answer Key so that you can check your answers to the exercises; and a Glossary of the words and expressions used throughout the book, each entry indicating in which chapter it appears for the first time.

The Complete Ultimate Spanish is a powerful tool that will lead you to mastery of the Spanish language, empowering you to communicate with accuracy, confidence, and enjoyment. As language is the verbal expression of culture, you will, at the same time, increase your understanding and appreciation of the culture of Spanish-speaking peoples.

We wish to thank the following people for their part in bringing this book to fruition.

Christopher Brown, our peerless publisher at McGraw-Hill, esteemed colleague, and dear friend—our heartfelt gratitude for his complete ultimate vision, wisdom, and guidance through our latest (and longest) publication.

Terry Yokota and Daniel Franklin, principals of Village Bookworks—our deepest appreciation for their impressive expertise, knowledge, and consistently valuable assistance in all aspects of the production of this book.

Ignacio Martínez, Presidente del Consejo de Derechos de Autor, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional de Uruguay—nuestro más sincero agradecimiento por el apoyo que nos brindó en facilitar el permiso de publicar La higuera de Juana de Ibarbourou en The Complete Ultimate Spanish.

Ronni L. Gordon, PhD

David M. Stillman, PhD

About the Authors

Ronni L. Gordon, PhD, is a prominent author of foreign language textbooks and materials for multimedia, including more than 30 titles in Spanish and other languages. She has taught and coordinated Spanish language programs and taught Spanish American literature at Harvard University, Boston University, Cornell University, and Drexel University. A foreign language consultant, she has read for the National Endowment for the Humanities, presented at the United States Department of Education, and consulted on states’ K–12 academic standards for world languages. She has presented at conferences on foreign language pedagogy and Spanish American literature as one of the first scholars to give a college course on Spanish American women writers.

David M. Stillman, PhD, is a well-known author of foreign language textbooks and materials for multimedia, with a bibliography that includes titles in four languages. He taught languages and linguistics at The College of New Jersey, where he also coordinated an innovative program of student-led oral proficiency classes. He has taught and coordinated foreign language programs at Boston University, Harvard University, and Cornell University. He has consulted on states’ K–12 academic standards for world languages and presented at national and regional conventions of language educators, being appointed to national committees devoted to the improvement of teacher training.

Contents

THE ULTIMATE SPANISH

Pronunciation and Spelling

1 Getting Around Town—Where Is It?

2 Describing Places and Things

3 Nationalities, Professions, Food, and Films

4 Describing People, Emotions, and Health

5 Work and Leisure

6 The Weather, Foreign Languages, and Sports

7 Entertaining at Home

8 The Daily Routine

9 Travel, Likes and Dislikes

10 Childhood, Family History, University

11 Health and Accidents

12 People: Character and Personality, Societal Problems

13 Business and the Growth of Cities

14 Directions, Air Travel, Recipes

15 Holidays and Celebrations, Planning for the Future

THE ULTIMATE SPANISH

16 Family Relations and Careers

17 Family and Friends

18 Education and Health

19 Theater, Teleworking, and Shopping Online

20 The Economy and Politics

21 Building Spanish Vocabulary

Verb Charts

Answer Key

Glossary

Index

The

Ultimate Spanish

101

Pronunciation and Spelling

PRONUNCIATION

Learning to speak a foreign language requires changing many of the pronunciation habits formed in learning your own language. Because these habits are so ingrained, acquiring acceptable pronunciation of a foreign language requires not only intensive practice, but also analysis of the individual sounds—how they are produced and how they compare to those of your own language. This introduction serves to aid your perception and production of the sounds of Spanish. The use of technical terms has been limited to allow you to concentrate on producing the sounds accurately.

To present Spanish sounds and their representation in Spanish spelling, certain symbols are used: Basic sounds of the language are written between slashes; variants of a sound in certain positions are written between square brackets; and letters used in spelling are in bold. Note that the symbol chosen to transcribe a sound may or may not be the letter that represents it in the Spanish spelling system.

This initial presentation will limit itself to Standard Spanish as spoken in Hispanic America, a set of pronunciation features devoid of regional peculiarities. Important dialect variations will be mentioned in individual chapters.

Vowels

Spanish has five vowel sounds, represented by the letters a, e, i, o, u. Listen to the speaker pronounce the following syllables. Notice that the Spanish vowels are shorter and tenser than their stressed counterparts in English.

Now repeat each of the above syllables after the speaker. If you compare English see and Spanish si you will observe that the vowel sound in see really consists of two vowels pronounced as one syllable—the vowel of sit plus a glide similar to the y in you: /iy/. Diphthong is the technical term for two vowels pronounced together as a single syllable. The English vowels of the words bay, bow, boo are also diphthongs: /ey/, /ow/, /uw/, respectively. The similarity between Spanish and English diphthongs is limited, however. Diphthongs are far less frequent in Spanish than in English, where they are the norm in stressed syllables.

Repeat the following words and syllables after the speaker, taking care to produce a short, tense vowel and not a diphthong.

English speakers should avoid pronouncing the letter a in Spanish like the English sound represented by the letter a in class, cab, bag.

In English, most unstressed vowels are reduced to a neutral vowel called schwa that is transcribed as //. This is not reflected in English spelling, and many pairs of words that are pronounced alike, such as affect/effect and accept/except, are spelled differently. Any of the five written vowels may represent // in an unstressed syllable in English spelling. For example, the vowel of the first syllable of each of the following words is pronounced //:

machine semantic mirage corrode supply

In Spanish, the sound // does not exist. All unstressed syllables have one of the five vowels a, e, i, o, u. Differences in unstressed vowels in Spanish not only distinguish countless pairs of words, but also signal some of the most fundamental grammatical functions of the language.

Correlated with the reduction of unstressed vowels to // in English is the shortening of unstressed syllables. In other words, stressed syllables in English take longer to say than unstressed syllables. In Spanish, however, stressed and unstressed syllables are the same length.

The following Spanish two-syllable words are all stressed on the first syllable. They have the vowel /a/ in both syllables. Repeat each one after the speaker, making sure to pronounce /a/ the same way in both syllables and to make the two syllables of equal length.

mala sala saca sana fama mapa matas

latas lana vana chata sacan sanan laman

The following Spanish two-syllable words have /e/ in both syllables and are stressed on the first syllable. To pronounce them correctly, concentrate on the following points:

1 · Avoid the diphthong /ey/, as in English pay.

2 · Pronounce the /e/ the same way in both syllables.

3 · Make the two syllables of equal length.

Repeat the following words after the speaker:

nene mece queme pele seque cheque

meten temen quemen peles seques meces

The following Spanish two-syllable words have /o/ in both syllables and are stressed on the first syllable. To pronounce them correctly, concentrate on the following points:

1 · Avoid the diphthong /ow/, as in English toe.

2 · Pronounce the /o/ the same way in both syllables.

3 · Make the two syllables of equal length.

Repeat the following words after the speaker:

como loco polo foso coso soso

cocos pocos somos lomos monos bonos

The following words are three syllables long, and they are all stressed on the middle syllable. Each word has the same vowel in all three syllables. Repeat each word after the speaker, concentrating on pronouncing the vowels of all three syllables in the same way and making all syllables of equal length.

The following pairs of words are distinguished solely by differences in the unstressed vowels. Repeat each pair of words after the speaker:

Consonants

b/v, d, g The Spanish letters b and v (which represent the same sound in Spanish), d , and g have more than one sound, depending on the letter’s position in a word or sentence. After a pause and after m or n , Spanish b/v , d , and g represent sounds similar to those corresponding to English b, d, and g in boy, does, and go. Spanish /d/ is produced with the tip of the tongue touching the back of the upper front teeth rather than the gum ridge above them as in English. Spanish /g/ is spelled gu before e and i.

Repeat the following words after the speaker:

base donde goza vaso conde goma betún

dote hongo bomba dime tango invita demás

gasto bote anda gala voy lindo gusano

ambos dones ganga envase doy manga vino

These versions of Spanish /b/, /d/, and /g/ are called the hard variants of the sounds; they are transcribed in square brackets as [b], [d], and [g].

In all other positions, b/v, d, and g represent the soft variants of [b], [d], and [g], transcribed as [b], [d], and [g].

[b] is produced by forcing air through slightly parted lips, drawn back and not puckered.

coba cavamos tubo sabes lavas levantar

[d] is pronounced similarly to the th in rather, father, and other, but with much less friction.

lodo desde podemos comida pierde guardan

Note that [d], not [d], is used after /l/:

falda molde balde caldo peldaño celda

[g] is produced similarly to [g], except that air is forced through a very narrow opening between the back of the tongue and the soft palate (back of the roof of the mouth).

pago digo agosto sigamos sagrado algo

The soft variants [b], [d], and [g] are used between vowels, even when the vowels are in two different words.

yo bato yo doy yo gasto

tú vas tú dices tú gozas

la boca la danza la gota

r The sound represented by r in Spanish spelling is completely different from the one represented by r in English spelling. It consists of a single flap made by a rapid tap of the tongue against the gum ridge above the upper teeth. A similar sound exists in American English and is represented in English spelling by t, d, tt, dd between vowels (where the first vowel is stressed).

later spider batter ladder

Repeat the following words after the speaker, being careful to use a flap similar to the one appearing in the English words above.

cara cero poro toro cura lira

The flap occurring after an unstressed vowel is harder for English speakers to produce.

pirata parece morimos directo

The single flap /r/ is also used after consonants (written r).

preso traste cromo grande bravo drama frota

Spanish also has a trilled consonant /rr/ represented at the beginning of words by r and between vowels as rr. This sound consists of two or more flaps of the tongue against the upper gum ridge; it does not exist in American English. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

carro forro perro burrito ferrocarril amarramos

rato ropa reto rico ruso raqueta

Before another consonant or at the end of a word, the letter r may be pronounced either /r/ or /rr/, depending on the speaker and the degree of emphasis. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

puerta corto carpa tomar meter ser

j In Spanish spelling, the letter j and the letter g before e and i (but not before a , o , u or a consonant) represent a sound that does not exist in English and that we transcribe as /x/. The sound /x/ differs from /k/ in the same way that [ g ] differs from [g]: It is produced by forcing air through a narrow opening between the arched back of the tongue and the soft palate. For many Spanish speakers, especially those from the Caribbean, /x/ is usually replaced by /h/, as in English hope . Repeat the following words after the speaker:

jota jefe gente gime jale

lijo moja ajo teje caja

lijar mojar ají tejer cajera

ll/y Both ll and y represent the sound /y/. This sound is considerably tenser than the initial sound in English yes. English speakers must pay special attention to /y/, especially when it occurs between vowels. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

llamo hallo arroyo bello rayo yerno yodo

l Spanish l is pronounced very much like the /l/ sound in English leak and less. The tip of the tongue touches the gum ridge above the upper teeth, and air is forced out on the sides of the tongue. For final /l/ in English (as in sell, tall, cool, full ), the tip of the tongue is lowered and the tongue is arched. In Spanish, final /l/ is pronounced exactly like initial /l/. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

lata lema liso losa luna

cal hiel gila col tul

p, t, k The sounds /p/, /t/, and /k/ before stressed vowels differ from their closest English counterparts by being unaspirated. The term unaspirated refers to the absence of the puff of air that follows these sounds in English. If you say English pale, tale, or kale while holding a lighted match at your mouth, the puff of air following /p/, /t/, or /k/ will extinguish the flame, because /p/, /t/, and /k/ are aspirated in English. However, when a Spanish speaker holds a lighted match at his mouth and says pon , ten , or con , the match does not go out, because /p/, /t/, and /k/ are unaspirated in Spanish.

While English /t/ is made by touching the gum ridge above the upper teeth, for Spanish /t/, the tip of the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth.

In Spanish, /k/ is spelled qu before e and i, but c is used elsewhere. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

panes pozo plano pica prado rompió toparon

tapa teme tripas tiza tope quitó votamos

cama queso quise clase creo coloqué cubre

s For all Spanish Americans and many Spaniards in southern Spain, the letters s , z , and c (when it appears before e and i ) represent a sound similar to the one represented by s in English sale, so, and see. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

sala posa rosas comes cinco cacería

mozo luz luces haces zapato zurdo

f, m, n, ch These letters and combination of letters in Spanish represent sounds similar to their English counterparts. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

feo rifa mono lima nariz zona chato techo

h In Spanish spelling, h represents no sound—it is a silent letter, as in English honor. Repeat the following words after the speaker:

hablo haber han historia hombre humano

ñ The mark above the n is called a tilde . This letter represents a sound similar to the one written as ni in English onion. However, in English, the /n/ and the /y/ are pronounced in different syllables; in Spanish, the /ny/ goes with the following vowel. This sound is rare at the beginning of a word.

año piña uña mañas riñen ñame

c/z A major geographical variation in Spanish revolves around the pronunciation of the letter c before e and i , and the letter z . In Spanish America, these letters represent the sound /s/. However, in central and northern Spain, and in the speech of many speakers in southern Spain as well, these letters represent a sound similar to English th in think, thank, cloth . The phonetic symbol for this sound is the Greek letter theta, /θ/.

Dialects that distinguish the two sounds are described as having distinción. Dialects that do not have distinción pronounce casa and caza the same. Thus, in Spain, these pairs of words are pronounced differently, whereas in Spanish America, they are pronounced alike.

SPELLING

The Spanish Alphabet

The Real Academia Española is Spain’s official institution for overseeing the Spanish language. In 2010, it instituted a series of spelling reforms designed to standardize orthography. The Spanish alphabet was reduced to 27 letters, omitting the digraphs ch (che or ce hache) and ll (doble ele), which had been officially recognized letters. Today, the Spanish alphabet has the same letters as the English alphabet, plus ñ. In speech, many Spanish speakers disambiguate certain pairs of letters as follows: b = be de burro, be grande, be larga and v = ve de vaca, ve chica, ve corta; i = i latina and y = i griega. The digraph rr (doble erre) is not a letter of the alphabet.

Syllabification

A syllable in Spanish may consist of a single vowel, a diphthong, or a vowel or diphthong together with its preceding and following consonants. The following rules guide syllabification in Spanish.

1 · A single consonant between vowels goes with the following vowel.

rei-na a-mo ma-tan cau-sas te-mi-do

2 · Groups of two consonants that can begin a word (p, t, c, b, d, g, f + l or r) go with the following vowel.

co-pla ha-blo sue-gra pa-dre co-fre

3 · Other groups of two consonants are divided as follows:

him-no es-ta mun-do fal-ta sor-do

4 · Groups of three consonants are divided according to Rules 2 and 3. When the last two consonants of the three form one of the groups mentioned in Rule 2, they both go with the following vowel.

ram-bla ham-bre con-tra san-gre as-tro

If the last two consonants of a three-consonant cluster do not form one of the groups in Rule 2, only the third consonant goes with the following vowel.

ist-mo trans-ferir trans-porte

5 · Groups of four consonants are divided after the second consonant.

mons-truo ins-trumento ins-crito trans-plante

Accentuation

1 · Spanish words ending in a vowel or the letters -n or -s are stressed on the next-to-last syllable.

triste hablan escriben señoritas provincias

2 · Spanish words ending in a consonant other than -n or -s (usually -d, -l, -z, -r) are stressed on the last syllable.

azul hotel Brasil vejez terminar señor usted

3 · When i or u precedes or follows a, e, or o, the two vowels are pronounced as one syllable.

estudio siete ciencia limpio seis cuando escuela restaurante

Combinations of a, e, and o form two syllables, not one.

tarea museo maestro preocupado desea

4 · A written accent mark is required in Spanish when the stress of a word does not occur as presented above.

alemán inglés Canadá está cafés también

sábado jóvenes miércoles exámenes médico química

lápiz fácil Pérez rápido tránsito pantalón

In the following words, the combination of i or u + vowel forms two syllables, not one as in Rule 3, because here the /i/ and the /u/ are stressed. A written accent is therefore placed over the i or the u.

día tío economía biología reúne baúl actúa

5 · Words that are spelled the same but have different meanings are distinguished in writing by a written accent mark.

Punctuation and Capitalization

1 · Spanish questions are written with an inverted question mark (¿) at the beginning and a regular question mark (?) at the end.

2 · Exclamations in Spanish begin with an inverted exclamation point (¡) and end with a regular exclamation point (!).

3 · Interrogative words in Spanish are written with an accent mark.

4 · Languages, nationalities, days of the week, and months of the year are written with an initial lowercase letter in Spanish, rather than with a capital letter as in English.

5 · Subject pronouns in Spanish follow a different capitalization pattern than subject pronouns in English. Yo (I) is written with an initial lowercase letter when it is not the first word in a sentence. Likewise, usted (you, formal singular) and ustedes (you, formal plural; also informal plural in Spanish America) are written with an initial lowercase letter when they are not the first word in a sentence. However, they are often abbreviated in writing as Ud. and Uds.; when abbreviated, they begin with a capital U.

1

Getting Around Town—Where Is It?

Communication Goals

■ Talking about gift-giving

■ Asking for directions in a Spanish-speaking city

■ Talking about shopping

■ Getting attention to ask for information

■ Vocabulary: everyday items, numbers 1 to 20

Grammar Topics

■ Hay there is, there are

■ Ser to be (third person singular)

■ Articles and Gender of Nouns

■ Question Formation

■ Negative Sentences

■ Plural Nouns

■ Compound Nouns

■ Numbers 1 to 20

■ Noun Phrases

DIÁLOGO 1 · ¿Qué hay en la caja?

Study the dialogue, then listen to the recording and repeat each line.

Análisis

Check that you understand the linguistic breakdown of each speech from Diálogo 1.

Variantes

Listen, and repeat the same structures from Diálogo 1, now with new vocabulary.

Estructura y Práctica

Hay there is, there are

The word hay is an irregular verb form meaning there is, there are. It can be followed by either a singular or a plural noun.

The noun that follows hay is considered to be the direct object of the verb. The direct object is a noun or pronoun that completes the thought of a verb by serving as the goal of the action.

Ser to be (third person singular)

The verb form es means you are (formal singular), as well as he/she/it is. It is a form of the irregular verb ser (to be). (See also Chapters 2, 3, and 4.)

A ¿Qué hay? Express each dialogue exchange in Spanish.

1. What’s in the briefcase?

There’s a cell phone in the briefcase.

2. Are there folders in the drawer?

Yes, there are.

3. What’s on the shelf?

There are books on the shelf.

4. Are there CDs in the package?

Yes, there are.

5. Is there a computer in the backpack?

No, there’s a camera.

B ¿Qué hay en la caja? Write a sentence to tell what gift is in each box, using es and the noun provided. Include the corresponding indefinite article ( un , una ). Follow the modelo .

1. billetero

2. cartera

3. reloj

4. agenda electrónica

5. bolso

6. cámara

7. iPod

8. cartapacio

C ¿Para quién es el regalo? (Whom is the gift for?) Write sentences stating that the gift mentioned is not for the person named in the first cue, but rather for the person named in the second cue. Follow the modelo.

1. billetero: José / Juan

2. cartera: Matilde / Julia

3. reloj: Jorge / Alberto

4. agenda electrónica: Lorenzo / Nora

5. bolso: Rosa / Margarita

6. cámara: Luz / Daniel

7. iPod: Susana / Guillermo

8. cartapacio: Carlos / Roberto

After g and q and before the vowels e and i, the letter u does not represent a vowel, but is merely a spelling convention. The combinations of letters gue and gui represent the spoken syllables /ge/ and /gi/ (with the g pronounced as in English go), respectively: juguete, guitarra. The combinations of letters que and qui represent the spoken syllables /ke/ and /ki/, respectively: paquete, embarque, aquí.

Articles and Gender of Nouns

Articles

Like English, Spanish has a definite article equivalent to the and an indefinite article equivalent to a, an. The Spanish articles agree in gender and number with the noun they are associated with.

Here are the forms of the definite article in Spanish.

Here are the forms of the indefinite article in Spanish.

The plural forms of the indefinite article in Spanish are sometimes not translated, and sometimes they are the equivalent of English some. They are also used before nouns that usually come in pairs, such as eyes, ears, or nouns that have no singular, such as scissors.

Gender of Nouns

Spanish nouns are divided into two broad classes, traditionally called masculine and feminine. Most (but not all) nouns referring to males are masculine, and most (but not all) nouns referring to females are feminine. Inanimate nouns such as regalo and caja are assigned to one of the two classes, usually (but not always) on the basis of their endings.

1 · Most nouns ending in -o are masculine, while most nouns ending in -a are feminine.

2 · Nouns ending in -e or a consonant typically give no clue as to gender (unless they refer to people), so their gender must be learned as you learn the noun.

The following nouns are all masculine.

The following nouns are all feminine.

3 · The following suffixes indicate feminine nouns.

4 · Some nouns have anomalous genders.

5 · Many nouns ending in -ma (usually international words borrowed from Greek) are masculine.

D Nouns and articles. Write the correct definite and indefinite articles for each noun. Follow the modelo .

1. maleta

2. coche

3. reloj

4. clase

5. hotel

6. oficina

7. cosa (thing)

8. mano

9. cámara

10. paquete

11. teléfono

12. flor

13. problema

14. ciudad

15. maletín

16. tema

E Unscramble the letters in each item to form a Spanish noun. Write the noun and the definite article for each noun.

1. e m s

2. n e e g t

3. h o a m i l c

4. r a c o r

5. g e a o r l

6. t a m a l e

7. s l a e c

8. a o p r c a d m u t o

9. b o l r i

10. j e o l r

F Sentence completion. Select the correct word or phrase that completes each sentence. Write the word or phrase that you have selected.

1. Es un ________________ celular.

a. teléfono

b. computadora

2. ¿Qué hay en la ________________?

a. paquete

b. cartera

3. No hay gente en ________________ .

a. la gaveta

b. el cibercafé

4. ¿Qué libros ________________ en el estante?

a. hay

b. es

5. —¿Hay documentos? —Sí, ________________ la carpeta.

a. para

b. en

6. Hay una ________________ en la caja.

a. pulsera

b. juguete

7. —¿Hay maletas en el armario? —Sí, ________________ hay.

a. las

b. los

8. Es un ________________ .

a. clase

b. cartapacio

Question Formation: Information Questions, Yes/No Questions

There are two types of questions in Spanish: yes/no questions and information questions. In Spanish, all questions are written with an inverted question mark at the beginning of the sentence and a regular question mark at the end. Information questions begin with a question word. They expect a piece of information as an answer. (See also Chapters 2 and 3.)

Questions