Circumlocution: Description also allows
us to deal with vocabulary we do not know. This is called
circumlocution (talking around). For instance, if you
don't know the word for doorknob, you can describe it:
"That round thing on a door that you turn in order to open
it."
Adjectives
Adjectives: Remember that adjectives ALWAYS agree in
gender and number with the noun they are modifying. Some
adjectives do not show gender, but all adjectives show number.
Direct modifiers: Generally, direct modifiers
occur after the noun they modify. Some common adjectives
are generally placed in front of the noun.
e.g.: coche rojo, muchos pájaros, etc.
adjectives that usually go in front of the noun:
buen/buena, mucho, poco, un/una, dos, tres, etc., mal/mala,
primero, tercero, segundo
adjectives that usually go after the noun: most other
adjectives. Occasionally, even these will be placed in
front of the noun in order to put special stress on the adjective.
Adjectives with Ser/Estar (predicates): The verbs
ser and estar allow you to equate a noun with a predicate such
as an adjective. Except for the problems of distinguishing
ser & estar, the syntax is identical to English structures
that include the verb "to be" followed by an adjective.
e.g. José es alto. Mis libros son nuevos.
Estoy cansado. El profe está loco.
See the Ser vs Estar page for more
information on this.
Complex adjectives: adjectival phrases,
compound adjectives
Many adjectives in English that describe the substance of which
something is made or which it consists are stated in the form
of a combination of the preposition "de" followed
by a noun. These adjectival phrases never change form
to reflect gender or number.
e.g. I have a gold watch = Tengo un reloj de
oro.
I have to work on weekends = Tengo que trabajar los fines de
semana.
You can also add the adjective "hecho" (made) in
front of a noun:
Mi padre me dio este reloj hecho de oro.
The remainder of this section
is not really intended for beginning students,
but it might be helpful to you. Second year students should
definitely study this section carefully. Click here to
go to the section on Adverbs
Relative pronouns--restrictive and non-restrictive
clauses
The pronouns que and quien (that and who) are used to construct
even more complex descriptive phrases. For example:
Where is the book that I lent you? ¿Dónde está el libro
que te presté. (Restrictive
clause--"que te presté" is a complex adjective that
modifies "libro.")
My car, which doesn't work well,
inspires me to ride the bus. Mi coche,
que no funciona muy bien, me inspira
a tomar el autobús. (non-restrictive clause beetween
commas that can be removed from the sentence without damaging
the syntax.)
If the pronoun is preceded by a preposition,
the informal structure is to use the preposition with que, and
the former structure is to follow the preposition with the appropriate
article, then with either que or cual:
Mi coche, de que ya te hablé,
es muy malo.
OR
Mi coche, del que ya te hablé,
es muy malo. (formal)
OR
Mi coche, del cual ya te hablé,
es muy malo. (formal)
ALSO
Mi coche, que no funciona muy bien,
es muy malo.
OR
Mi coche, el que no funciona muy
bien, es muy malo. (formal)
OR
Mi coche, el cual no funciona muy
bien, es muy malo. (formal)
These sentences all include non-restrictive clauses.
It is possible to use the same structures in restrictive clauses:
Yo no he visto a la mujer para quien
compraste el regalo.
OR
Yo no he visto a la mujer para la
que compraste el regalo. (formal)
OR
Yo no he visto a la mujer para la cual
compraste el regalo. (formal)
Notice that the most important difference between the sentences
about the car, and those about the woman is the usage of que
vs quien.
When these clauses are used to describe people, it is standard
in English to use the relative pronouns who and whom, rather
than "that." This is only true in Spanish in
the case of non-restrictive clauses, and with
"whom" (when there is a preposition in front of it).
I know a man who can read Babylonian
cuneiform. -- Conozco a un hombre que
puede leer la cuneiforma babyloniana.
This is the man about whom I told
you. (This is the man I told you about) -- Este
es el hombre de quien te hablé.
Notice that the more common structure in English-- this is the
man I told you about -- is missing important elements for translating
it to Spanish, and the preposition is improperly placed at the
end of the sentence.
My students, who always get nervous
before a test, speak Spanish very well. -- Mis estudiantes,
quienes siempre se ponen nerviosos
antes de un examen, hablan muy bien el español. (This
is a non-restrictive clause, which generally calls for the use
of quien for people, and quienes in this case because the students
are plural. It is acceptable, but not as good to use "que"
in the previous sentence.)
Also, notice that the restrictive clause is extremely useful
for talking around unknown vocabulary.
Refer to section 15 pp. 104-107 and section 20 pp. 146-149
of Pasajes Lengua for more information.
Subjunctive vs Indicative
Contrast the following structures:
Complex sentence with restrictive clause: I have
a car that annoys me. Tengo un coche que me fastidia. (indicative
mood)
Same as above, but non-specific or denied: I don't
have a car that I like. No tengo un coche que me guste.
(subjunctive is needed)
I need a car that doesn't make
me angry. Necesito un coche que no me enoje.
(subjunctive is needed here also)
Complex sentence with a subordinating conjunction:
I know that you can buy books in the bookstore.
Yo sé que puedes comprar los libros en la librería. (indicative
mood. The subordinate clause functions as the direct object
of the verb saber. QUE in this case does not have the
same linguistic function as the QUE in the previous examples,
where it was used as a relative pronoun.)
same as above, but with a subjunctive structure:
I hope that you can come. Espero que puedas venir.
(subjunctive is needed because the independent clause sets up
a relationship of will over the dependent clause. As above,
the dependent clause acts as a direct object of the verb esperar,
but the function of esperar is very different from the function
of saber, hence the need for the subjunctive in the latter example.)
Finally, notice that these complex sentences with subordinating
conjunctions do not really fit the model for what we were discussing
above with adjectival phrases. In other words, they really
do not belong on this page, except to show the difference between
the usage of QUE as a relative pronoun and as a subordinating
conjunction. Refer to the Subjunctive
vs Indicative page for more information.
Adverbs
Adverbs are used to modify verbs or adjectives (and even other
adverbs).
In both English and Spanish there are two kinds of adverbs:
irregular and regular. Obviously, the irregular ones are
the most common. In English, we form the regular adverbs
by adding "ly" to the adjective. In Spanish,
you add "mente" to the feminine form of the adjective.
Adjectives NEVER change form to reflect gender, number or anything.
rápido--> rápida + mente = rápidamente
feliz --> feliz + mente = felizmente
alegre --> alegre + mente = alegremente
The irregular ones are:
muy, bastante, poco, mal, mucho (meaning "a lot"),
siempre, nunca, a veces, a menudo
also, like English, some of the regular ones tend to be shortened:
solamente = sólo rápidamente
= rápido
when they are used together, only the last one has the "mente"
attached to it.
Mi clase es muy aburrida. ("muy" is an adverb
that modifies the adjective "aburrido")
Me duermo mucho en la clase. ("mucho" is an
adverb that modifies the verb "me duermo.")
Posiblemente te duermes tanto porque duermes muy poco cuando
debes. ("muy" is an adverb that modifies the
adverb "poco" that modifies the verb "duermes.")
