The Spanish Adjective
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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.]
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