Agreement, Spanish Style

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Agreement, Spanish Style

• Parte Uno
• Nouns have gender!
• Number, too!

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Just like people, Spanish nouns have gender,
either masculine or feminine.

• Most Spanish nouns which end in an o are
  masculine. Here are some which you already know!
• Muchacho-boy
• Libro-book
• Sombrero-hat
• Carro-car
• Gato-cat
• Boligrafo-pen

• Dont let this gender thing confuse you! It is
  a characteristic of the word, not the person,
  place, or thing it represents!
• In other words, all cats are not males, but
  gato is a masculine noun.

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Now for the feminine side of things

• Most Spanish nouns which end in an a are
  feminine. Here are some which you already know!
• mesa-table
• muchacha-girl
• silla-chair
• pluma-pen
• vida-life
• camisa-shirt
• hermana-sister

• Nouns which end in dad, -tad, and ion are also
  feminine. Here are some examples
• ciudad-city
• universidad-university
• facultad-faculty
• solucion-solution
• revolucion-revolution
• nacion-nation

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You know that nouns have gendernow for number!
(Just like in English-singular/plural

• Making nouns plural is easy! If they end in a
  vowel, just add an s.
• mesa-mesas
• muchacho-muchachos
• vida-vidas
• gato-gatos
• camisa-camisas
• carro-carros
• pluma-plumas
• libro-libros

• If the noun ends in a consonant, add es.
• Ciudad-ciudades
• Universidad-universidades
• Facultad-facultades
• Solucion-soluciones
• Revolucion-revoluciones
• Nacion-naciones
• Competicion-competiciones

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Adjectives describe nouns. In Spanish, the
adjectives must agree (match)with the nouns they
describe in two waysnumber and gender.

• Here are some masculine, singular nouns with
  adjectives describing them
• El muchacho alto-the tall boy
• El carro nuevo-the new car
• El gato gordo-the fat cat
• El libro viejo-the old book
• El alumno serio-the serious student
• El amigo bueno-the good friend

• Now, were going to make these noun phrases
  plural
• Los muchachos altos-the tall boys
• Los carros nuevos-the new cars
• Los gatos gordos-the fat cats
• Los libros viejos-the old book
• Los alumnos buenos-the good friends

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In the previous slide, you saw how masculine
nouns and adjectives were made plural. Lets do
the same for some feminine nouns.

• Here are some feminine nouns and adjectives in
  their singular form
• La muchacha alta-the tall girl
• La alumna seria-the serious student
• La pluma nueva-the new pen
• La nacion unida-the united nation
• La vida loca-the crazy life

• Now well make these noun phrases plural
• Las muchachas altas-the tall girls
• Las alumnas serias-the serious students
• Las plumas nuevas-the new pens
• Las naciones unidas-the united nations
• Las vidas locas-the crazy lives

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How noun/adjective agreement works

• By watching the previous slides, you have
  probably figured out what this agreement thing
  is all about.
• If you havent, check out the following two
  examples
• el muchacho alto the tall boy
• los muchachos altos the tall boys
• la muchacha alta the tall girl
• las muchachas altas the tall girls
• THE NOUNS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING ADJECTIVES MUST
  AGREE IN NUMBER AND GENDER!! WHEN THE GENDER OR
  NUMBER OF A NOUN CHANGES, THE ADJECTIVE MUST
  CHANGE, ALSO!

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Agreement, Spanish Style, Parte 2

• Noun/adjective placement
• la vida locathe life crazy??

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Noun/adjective word orderquantitative adjectives

• In English, we place adjectives before the nouns
  that they modify when writing and speaking. In
  Spanish, adjectives of quantity are USUALLY
  placed before the nouns that they describe.
  Heres an example
• Los tres hermanos son estudiantes.
• The three brothers are students.
• The word for three, tres, is an adjective which
  tells quantity. Notice that in the sentence it
  comes before hermanos.

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Noun/adjective word orderqualitative adjectives

• In Spanish, qualitative adjectives GENERALLY
  follow the nouns which they modify. This can
  cause confusion for us, because its so very
  different from the way in which we do things in
  English. Consider the following examples
• La muchacha alta-the tall girl
• Las alumnas serias-the serious students
• Las manzanas rojas-the red apples
• El muchacho bajo-the short boy
• El hermano delgado-the thin brother
• El coche nuevo-the new car
• Las amigas simpaticas-the nice friends

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Un Poco Repaso

• In this lesson, you have learned that
• Nouns have gender masculine and feminine
• Nouns have number singular and plural
• Adjectives must have two-way agreement with the
  nouns that they modifyboth in number and gender.
• Quantitative adjectives come before the nouns
  they modifyqualitative adjectives come after.
• In the words of un cantante popular, by
  learning all of this, youll truly be living la
  vida loca.