Pitman's Commercial Spanish Grammar (2nd ed.)
Chapter 2
=alemán=[19], German =beber=, to drink =bien=, well =café=, coffee =cerveza=, beer =clavel=, carnation =cliente=, client, customer =comer=, to eat =escribir=[20], to write =estudiar=, to study =exportar=, to export =extranjero=, foreigner =ferretería=, ironware =grande= (_pl._ =grandes=), large =hijo=, son =hija=, daughter =italiano=, Italian =jardinero=, gardener =leer=, to read =mañana=, morning, to-morrow =manzana=, apple =máquina=, machine =mesa=, table =mi=, my =mucho= (_m._), much =mucha= (_f._), much =muy=, very =pera=, pear =pero=, but =pobre=, poor =¿qué?= what? =que=, that, who, which =rosa=, rose =su=, his, her, their =su ... de V=., your =té=, tea =el ... de V=., your =vino=, wine =violeta=, violet
[Footnote 19: Adjectives of nationality are written with small letters.]
[Footnote 20: Past Participle is "Escrito," otherwise regular.]
EXERCISE 1 (3).
Translate into English--
1. Mi hermano habla español (_or_ castellano).
2. V. no habla francés.
3. ¿Habla bien el alemán el primo de su amigo de V. (your friend)?
4. No, Señor, el primo de mi amigo no habla bien el alemán pero habla muy bien el inglés.
5. ¿Cómo está (how is) su hermana de V.?
6. Está muy bien, gracias (thank you).
7. ¿Compra V. papel y tinta?
8. Sí, Señor, y compro lápices y plumas.
9. ¿Quién (who) compra zarazas (prints) y géneros blancos (whites)?
10. El comerciante (merchant) que vino (came) de la Habana.
11. ¿Quién vende máquinas y ferretería?
12. Nosotros exportamos máquinas muy buenas al extranjero (abroad).
13. Estos géneros son para los clientes de V. que parten mañana.
14. ¿Ha hablado V. con Don Francisco?
15. Sí, Señor, le hablé en la ciudad (in town).
16. Las rosas, los claveles y las violetas del jardinero.
17. El amor y respeto de mi hijo y de mi hija.
18. Juan es francés y yo soy inglés.
19. Le han elegido miembro de esta (this) sociedad.
20. Las hermosas rosas sobre la mesa.
21. V. tiene mil libras (£1,000) y yo tengo ciento.
EXERCISE 2 (4).
Translate into Spanish--
1. Do you speak Spanish?
2. No, but I speak Italian well.
3. Do your customers buy (any) goods?
4. They buy machines and ironware, but my correspondent in Havana buys prints in very large quantities (cantidades).
5. Who sells paper and ink?
6. The old man sells them (los vende).
7. Who writes a letter?
8. I write letters.
9. Who drinks wine?
10. I do not drink wine.
11. Do you drink beer?
12. I do not drink beer but I like (me gustan) coffee and tea.
13. Poor John is my friend.
14. What a beautiful (hermosa) rose!
15. Do your brothers study French?
16. Yes, and they study German.
17. Who studies Italian?
18. My sister-in-law studies Italian and French.
19. The merchant (comerciante) was elected a member of your society.
20. Mr. Brown is a captain.
21. John set out for America.
22. I like (me gusta) to study foreign languages (lenguas extranjeras).
LESSON III. (Lección tercera.)
THE NOUN.
The noun in Spanish has only two genders.
=Nouns= denoting =male= beings are =Masculine=. " " =female= " " =Feminine=.
When there is no real gender, nouns are called masculine or feminine according to their terminations.
GENERAL RULE.--All nouns that terminate in _a, ión, d_, also abstract nouns ending in _ez_, are feminine, as--
La villa: The town. La nación[21]: The nation. La ciudad: The city or large town. La honradez: Honesty. The other terminations are masculine.
There are many exceptions to the above rule, principally in nouns ending in _E_.[22]
[Footnote 21: English words ending in "tion" end in _ción_ in Spanish. (Note the accent.)]
[Footnote 22: Appendix I--for reference only at this stage.]
=Formation of the Plural of Nouns=.
Nouns ending in a vowel which is not _stressed_ and also nouns ending in _E_ bearing the stress, add =S= to form the plural.
All others add =Es=.
EXCEPTIONS--
1. Nouns ending in _Z_ in the _sing._ change it into =Ces=. 2. Nouns ending in _S_ do not change _unless the last syllable_ is stressed.
EXAMPLES--
El amo: The master. Los amos: The masters. El cuñado: The brother-in-law. Los cuñados: The brothers-in-law. La cuñada: The sister-in-law. Las cuñadas: The sisters-in-law. El yerno: The son-in-law. Los yernos: The sons-in-law. La nuera: The daughter-in-law. Las nueras: The daughters-in-law. El árbol: The tree. Los árboles: The trees. El examen: The examination. Los exámenes: The examinations. El lápiz: The pencil. Los lápices: The pencils. El ómnibus: The omnibus. Los ómnibus: The omnibuses. El jabalí: The boar. Los jabalíes: The boars.
3. Nouns ending in _Y_ add =Es=, as--
El rey: The king. Los reyes: The kings. La ley: The law. Las leyes: The laws.
4. The following add only =S= to form the plural--
Papá, Mamá, Bajá (a pasha), Sofá (sofa).[23]
[Footnote 23: Words ending in accented vowels are very few and the rule for those ending in _á, ó, ú_ is not very strict.]
=Compound Nouns= form their plural according to sense, as--
Hijodalgo (a gentleman by birth), literally, "son of something"; _Plu._, Hijosdalgo (literally, "sons of something "). Ferrocarril (railway), literally, "iron railroad"; _Plu._, Ferrocarriles (literally, "iron railroads").
Such nouns are rare.[24]
[Footnote 24: A verb as a component part does not change, as El portabandera (the standard-bearer), Los portabanderas (the standard-bearers).]
=Haber= (to have), auxiliary.[25] =Tener= (to have, to possess).
[Footnote 25: Viz. used only before the past participle of another verb, as (Yo) he hablado (I have spoken).]
_Pres. Part._, Habiendo. _Pres. Part._, Teniendo. _Past Part._, Habido. _Past Part._, Tenido.
_Pres. Tense, Indic. Mood._ _Pres. Tense, Indic. Mood._
He (I have), etc. Tengo (I have, I possess), etc. Has Tienes Ha Tiene Hemos Tenemos Habéis Tenéis Han Tienen
_Imperf. Tense, Indic. Mood._ _Imperf. Tense, Indic. Mood._
Había (I had), etc. Tenía (I had, I possessed, etc.) Habías Tenías Había Tenía Habíamos Teníamos Habíais Teníais Habían Tenían
_Past Def. Tense, Indic. Mood._ _Past Def. Tense, Indic. Mood._
Hube (I had), etc. Tuve (I had, I possessed), etc. Hubiste Tuviste Hubo Tuvo Hubimos Tuvimos Hubisteis Tuvisteis Hubieron Tuvieron
VOCABULARY.
=allí=, there =aquí=, here =buscar=[26], to look for =caballo=, horse =caja=, box, case =el capital=, the capital, money =la capital=, the capital, town =comprender=, to understand =copiador=, copybook =creer=, to believe, to think =dependiente=, clerk =factura=, invoice =fardo=, bale =Francés=, Frenchman =girar=, to draw, (a bill of exchange) =el idioma=, the language =Inglés=, Englishman =inteligencia=, intelligence =mal=, badly =muselina=, muslin =nunca=, never =país=, country =pequeño=, little (_adj._) =poco=, little (_adv._ and _subs._) =el porta-ramillete= _or_ =florero=, the flower-stand =¿quién?= who? whom? =seda=, silk =socio=, partner =solamente=, only =sólo=, (_adv._) only =el tema=, the exercise
[Footnote 26: Changes _c_ into _qu_ before _e_; otherwise regular.]
EXERCISE 1 (5).
Translate into English--
1. ¿Comprende V. el español?
2. No, Señor, estudio el portugués y mi hermano comprende el español perfectamente (perfectly).
3. ¿Quien escribe cartas?
4. Los comerciantes escriben cartas y sus dependientes escriben las facturas y algunas cosas más.
5. Mi socio ha girado una letra (bill) desde (from) Viena (Vienna.)
6. París, Berlín, Roma, y Petrograd son las capitales de Francia, Alemania, Italia y Rusia.
7. ¿Cómo se llaman (what are the names of) las capitales de España y Portugal? Madrid y Lisboa.
8. ¿Ha estado (been) V. en Holanda?
9. No Señor, nunca he estado en aquel país.
10. En este tema hay palabras que no se dan (are not given) en el vocabulario.
11. ¿Cuáles (which) son? Holanda, Portugal etcétera.
12. Estas se dejan (are left) á la inteligencia de Vs.
13. ¿No creen Vs. que son muy fáciles de comprender? (to understand).
14. Sí, Señor, V. tiene razón[27] (you are right).
15. Entonces, debemos (we must) continuar la lección.
16. Muy bien.
17. Debemos leer buenos libros y hablar en el idioma que estudiamos.
[27] Lit. "you have reason."
EXERCISE 2 (6).
Translate into Spanish--
1. Do you study German?
2. We study French and Italian, but my cousin studies English.
3. Does he understand English?
4. He understands English perfectly (perfectamente), but he speaks Spanish badly.
5. Does your sister speak Italian?
6. No, she speaks only English.
7. What does the Englishman buy?
8. He buys a horse from the (al)[28] Frenchman.
9. My cousin sold (past. def.) his horse to Peter (Pedro).
10. John looks for his book and his paper.
11. The copy book is (está) on the table.
12. Henry (Enrique) must (debe) copy some letters.
13. Who copies the letters here?
14. Peter copies them (las copia).[29]
15. Has Henry much paper?
16. Yes, he has much paper but little ink.
17. The roses and violets are in the flower-stand.
18. The merchant has received (recibido) four bales of silk handkerchiefs (pañuelo) and three cases of prints and muslins.
[Footnote 28: "To buy from" is translated by "Comprar á."]
[Footnote 29: The object pronoun precedes the verb in the indicative mood.]
LESSON IV. (Lección cuarta.)
THE ADJECTIVE.
The Adjective in Spanish agrees with the noun it qualifies, in gender and number, as--
El periódico italiano: The Italian newspaper. La prensa americana: The American press.
It generally _follows the nouns_ as in the above examples, although exceptions will be found, _e.g._, when the adjective recalls to our mind a quality which _is already known to belong to it_, it generally precedes the noun, as--
He visto sus hermosas flores: I have seen his beautiful flowers.[30] Adjectives form their plural in the same way as nouns.
[Footnote 30: His flowers are known (or supposed) to be beautiful, before we say it.]
=Formation of the Feminine of Adjectives=.
Adjectives ending in _O_ change _O_ into =A=, as--
El sombrero blanco: The white hat. La casaca blanca: The white coat.
Adjectives of NATIONALITY which end in a consonant add =A= to form the feminine, as--
El sastre francés: The French tailor. La modista francesa: The French milliner.
Adjectives ending in _N_ add =A= for the feminine, as--
Un hombre socarrón: A sly or cunning man. Una sonrisa socarrona: A cunning smile.
EXCEPT Joven (young), Común (common), and Ruin (base, sordid), which do not change for the feminine.
Adjectives ending in _or_ add =A= to form the feminine, as--
Un comerciante emprendedor: An enterprising merchant. Una casa emprendedora: An enterprising firm.
EXCEPT =Comparative= adjectives ending in _or_, as Mejor (better), Peor (worse), which do not change for the feminine.
There are a very few adjectives ending in _ete_ and _ote_. These change into =eta= and =ota= for the feminine.
Other adjectives do not change.
+------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+ | Ser[31] (to be). | Estar[32] (to be). | +------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+ |_Pres. Part._, Siendo (being) | _Pres. Part._, | Estando (being) | |_Past Part._, Sido (been) | _Past Part._, | Estado (been) | +------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+ |_Pres. Tense, Indic. Mood_. | _Pres. Tense, Indic. Mood_. | |Soy (I am), etc. Somos | Estoy (I am), etc. | Estamos | |Eres Sois | Estás | Estáis | |Es Son | Está | Están | +------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+ |_Imperf. Tense, Indic. Mood_ | _Imperf. Tense, Indic. Mood_. | |Era (I was), etc. Éramos | Estaba (I was) etc.| Estábamos | |Eras Erais | Estabas | Estabais | |Era Eran | Estaba | Estaban | +------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+ |_Past Def. Tense, Indic. Mood.| _Past Def. Tense, Indic. Mood._ | |Fuí (I was), etc. Fuimos | Estuve (I was), etc.| Estuvimos | |Fuiste Fuisteis | Estuviste | Estuvisteis | |Fué Fueron | Estuvo | Estuvieron | +------------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+
[Footnote 31: =Ser= is used--
(1) To form the Passive voice as, Le amo (I love him), Soy amado de él (I am loved by him).
(2) To denote an inherent quality, viz., forming part and parcel with the subject, as Este hombre es hábil (this man is clever).]
[Footnote 32: Estar is used--
(1) To denote state in locality, viz., _to be in a place_, as Estoy aquí (I am here), Manchester está en Inglaterra (Manchester is in England)
(2) To denote condition (as opposed to an inherent quality), as Este hombre está cansado (this man is tired).]
VOCABULARY.
=activo=, active =ahora=, now =un año=, a year =aquel, ese= (_m._), that =aquella, esa= (_f._), that =bayeta=, baize =célebre=, celebrated =cima=, top =criados=, men-servants =criadas=, maid-servants =el día=, the day =ejército=, army =encuadernado=, bound, (of books) =escritorio=, writing-desk =los fósforos=, the matches =Gales=, Wales =juventud=, youth, young age. =el lacre=, the sealing-wax =lectura=, reading =limpiar=, to clean =limpio=, clean =mayormente=, especially =médico=, doctor =el monte=, the mountain =la nieve=, the snow =por tanto=, therefore =puerta=, door =siempre=, always =sincero=, sincere =soldado=, soldier =terciopelo=, velvet =vela=, candle =ventana=, window
EXERCISE 1 (7).
Translate into English--
1. Pedro es médico.[33] Él es buen médico.
2. Era un célebre médico de la ciudad de París.
3. Juan está[34] cansado y yo estoy enfermo.
4. La lectura es útil[33] siempre y mayormente en la juventud.
5. Aquel tintero es[33] de V.
6. Este es un libro famoso[33] y está muy bien encuadernado.[34]
7. Mi hermano es soldado.[35]
8. Se ha alistado (he has enlisted) en el ejército inglés por cinco (five) años.
9. El Monte Snowdon está[36] en Gales.
10. La ciudad del Cairo está[36] en Egipto.
11. Las cimas de algunos montes están[37] cubiertas (covered) siempre de nieve.
12. ¿Siempre?
13. Sí, siempre.
14. Estos tinteros son limpiados todos los días (every day) por los dependientes ó por las criadas.
15. Estos tinteros están limpios ahora y siempre.
16. Aquella ventana está rota (broken).
17. Mi hermano está escribiendo.
18. Es necesario.
[Footnote 33: Quality.]
[Footnote 34: A condition.]
[Footnote 35: A quality (for the time being).]
[Footnote 36: State in locality.]
[Footnote 37: A condition.]
EXERCISE 2 (8).
Translate into Spanish--
1. Who is a good clerk?
2. My brother-in-law is a good clerk but he is tired of working (de trabajar).[38]
3. The windows and doors are clean.
4. Yes, they are cleaned every (cada) morning by the servants.
5. He is speaking to his French friend.
6. He is writing a letter to his mother.
7. They are looking for some handkerchiefs.
8. Have the merchants sold the velvet and the baize?
9. Yes, they sold them (los vendieron) yesterday (ayer); also the muslin and prints.
10. Who bought them? (las compró).
11. The Germans are a very active and hard-working (trabajador) nation, and they deserve (merecen) therefore our sincere admiration.
12. Where are the sealing-wax, the candle and the matches?
13. Here they are on the writing-desk.
14. Does the clerk understand German?
15. Yes, very well.
16. My partner and I will dine at (en) the Royal Hotel (Fonda Real).
[Footnote 38: After a preposition the verb is in the infinitive mood.]
LESSON V. (Lección quinta.)
THE ADJECTIVE (_Contd._).
=COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES=.
The =positive degree= expresses the quality without any further idea of comparison, as Feliz (happy), Rico (rich).
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+ | _Comparative_. | _Superlative Relative_. | +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+ |Más feliz que (happier than). | El más feliz (the happiest). | |Menos feliz que (less happy than).| El menos feliz (the least happy).| |Tan rico como (as or so rich as). | | +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
EXAMPLES--
Mi tío es más pobre que su hermano: My uncle is poorer than his brother. Su mujer es menos rica que él: His wife is less rich than he. Soy tan feliz como V.: I am as happy as you. No es tan amable como su primo: He is not so amiable as his cousin.
_Superlative Absolute_.
EXAMPLES--
Muy largo: Very long. Muy corto: Very short.
Another way to form the Superlative Absolute[39] is by adding =ísimo= instead of using _muy_. If the adjective ends in a vowel, this is elided before adding _ísimo_.
[Footnote 39: More rarely used and much more emphatic.]
EXAMPLES--
Estas frutas son muy maduras: These fruits are very ripe. Estas frutas son madurísimas: These fruits are very ripe indeed. Estos tenderos son muy ricos: These shopkeepers are very rich. Aquellos son riquísimos: Those (others) are very rich indeed.
Before adding _ísimo_, adjectives ending in
_ble_ change it into =bil=, as Amable, amabilísimo. _co_ " " =qu=, as Rico, riquísimo. _go_ " " =gu=, as Largo, larguísimo.
Adjectives of more than three syllables ending in _ble_, adjectives ending in two vowels, or in one vowel accented, should always take =muy= and not add _ísimo_ for the Superlative Absolute.
Besides the regular forms of the Comparative and Superlative degrees, there are the following irregular forms--
Mejor (better). Óptimo (very good or best). Peor (worse). Pésimo (very bad or worst). Mayor (larger). Máximo (very large or largest). Menor (smaller). Mínimo (very small or smallest). Superior (higher). Supremo (very high or highest). Inferior (lower). Ínfimo (very low or lowest).
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | _Future Tense,[40] Indic. Mood._ | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Hablar. | Temer. | Partir | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Hablaré | Temeré | Partiré | | (I shall speak) | (I shall fear) | (I shall depart) | | Hablarás | Temerás | Partirás | | (thou wilt speak) | (thou wilt fear) | (thou wilt depart) | | Hablará | Temerá | Partirá | | (he/she will speak) | (he/she will fear) | (he/she will depart)| | Hablaremos | Temeremos | Partiremos | | (we shall speak) | (we shall fear) | (we shall depart) | | Hablaréis | Temeréis | Partiréis | | (you will speak) | (you will fear) | (you will depart) | | Hablarán | Temerán | Partirán | | (they will speak) | (they will fear) | (they will depart) | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | _Conditional Mood_.[40] | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Hablar. | Temer. | Partir | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Hablaría | Temería | Partiría | | (I should speak) | (I should fear) | (I should depart) | | Hablarías | Temerías | Partirías | | (thou wouldst speak) | (thou wouldst fear) | (thou wouldst...) | | Hablaría | Temería | Partiría | | (he/she would speak) | (he/she would fear) | (he/she would...) | | Hablaríamos | Temeríamos | Partiríamos | | (we should speak) | (we should fear) | (we should depart) | | Hablaríais | Temeríais | Partiríais | | (you would speak) | (you would fear) | (you would depart) | | Hablarían | Temerían | Partirían | | (they would speak) | (they would fear) | (they would depart)| +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[Footnote 40: The Future Tense Indicative Mood and the Conditional Mood are formed from the Infinitive Mood by adding to the Infinitive the terminations: _é, ás, á, emos, éis, án_ for the future; and _ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían_ for the conditional mood.]
VOCABULARY.
=alguno,-a=,[41] some or any (_s._) =algunos,-as=,[42] some or any (_pl._) =amarillo=, yellow =barba, barbas=, beard =barbilla, barba=, chin =blanco=, white =boca=, mouth =cabello=, hair =cabeza=, head =café, castaño=, brown, (dyed) =cepillo=, brush =cualquiera= (_s._),[43] any (affirmative) =cualesquiera= (_pl._) any (affirmative) =dientes=, teeth =dinero=, money =encarnado=, red =escoba=, broom =estampar=, to print (calico) =la frente=, the forehead =lengua=, tongue =malo=,[44] bad, wicked =manteca=, butter =moreno=, brown, (natural colour) =(la) nariz=, nose =necesitar=, to want, to need, to be in want of. =ninguno,-a= (_s._) any (after a negative) =ningunos,-as= (_pl._) any (after a negative) =el ojo=, the eye. =padres=,[45] parents =percal=, calico =queremos=, we want *=querer=, to want, to wish to have =ellos quieren=, they want =yo quiero=, I want =V. quiere=, you want =regla=, ruler =si=, if =la tez=, complexion =un poco de=,[46] a little, some, or any =verde=, green
[Footnote 41: Before a masculine noun "Alguno" and "Ninguno" drop the _o_, as Algún dinero (some money). The feminine "Alguna" and "Ninguna" never changes.]
[Footnote 42: Also _unos, unas_.]
[Footnote 43: "Cualquiera" generally drops the _a_ before a noun, as Cualquier libro (any book).]
[Footnote 44: Before a masculine noun it drops the _o_, as Un mal muchacho (a bad boy). The feminine is always "mala."]
[Footnote 45: The masculine plural includes the plural of both genders, as Los padres (the parents, father and mother), Los hermanos (the brothers or the brother(s) and sister(s).)]
[Footnote 46: Used for both genders, as Un poco de vino (a little wine), Un poco de cerveza (a little beer).]
EXERCISE 1 (9).
Translate into English--
1. Los percales estampados y los blancos están todos prontos para el vapor (steamer) que partirá mañana.
2. Necesitamos bayeta verde, amarilla y encarnada.
3. Aquí tenemos una buena partida (lot) de zarazas café.
4. Hemos hablado á una Señora de tez morena, cabeza hermosa y ojos inteligentes.
5. La frente, la boca, y la nariz forman parte de la cara (face).
6. La barba ó barbilla es el remate (end) de la cara.
7. También se llama barba ó barbas el pelo (hair) que crece (grows) en ella (on it) á los hombres.
8. Tengo un poco de dinero y algunos libros.
9. Tenemos algunas cajas de pañuelos.
10. El mal muchacho no tiene ninguna gana (inclination, desire) de estudiar.
11. Ningunos padres quieren comprar malos libros para sus hijos (children).