Work Unit Thirteen: El consultorio sentimental
It is easily possible to write or speak coherent sentences without using adjectives. But it wouldn't be much fun, would it? For more than any other part of speech, adjectives give the language its color as well as provide nuances of meaning.| Read, listen and learn in the About
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As you will learn in this lesson, one of the biggest differences between adjectives in Spanish and those in English is that in Spanish they must "match" their nouns in both number and gender. Spanish adjectives also are frequently placed after the nouns they modify..
Assignment
Complete the lesson on pages 141-9 of the textbook. As you read through the story, note especially how the endings of adjectives vary with the noun being described. For further background, please listen to the audio lesson, then follow the links on this lesson to gain a more complete perspective.Be sure to complete the exercises. Although copyright rules and fairness to other students using this book prevent me from publishing all the answers, you can check the answer page to see an answer to the first question in each section to help get you started. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on the bulletin board.
Background
One of the first things you may have noticed about Spanish adjectives is that they don't always have the same form. He is tall, es alto; she is tall, es alta; they (male) are tall, son altos; they (female) are tall, son altas. That is because, just like the definite and indefinite articles, they must match the corresponding noun in both number and gender.As outlined in the text, making the adjectives match is usually straightforward. You can make an adjective plural by following the same rules you would for making nouns plural. And masculine adjectives are made feminine by changing the final -o or -os to -a or -as. And that's about it, although the textbook lists an exception for adjectives of nationality. Note that adjectives of nationality aren't capitalized as they are in English.
A question that frequently asked by Spanish students — and in this area the textbook is somewhat misleading in that it ignores the numerous exceptions — is why descriptive adjectives are often used before nouns, even thought the "rule" says they are used afterward. The answer is a bit complex for this stage of learning, partly because there is no easy answer. So you don't need to learn any of the following for now; just keep them in the back of your mind so that when you come across these usages you aren't surprised.
Here are some cases where the adjective is placed before the noun it modifies:
- To place additional emphasis on the adjective. A phrase such as una casa hermosa might be rendered in English as "a beautiful house," while una hermosa casa could possibly be understood be "a be-YOU-tiful house." Obviously, use of this rule can be quite subjective.
- In phrases where the adjective and noun "go together" to reinforce each other's meaning. For example, "a dark night" could be translated as una oscura noche and "the bright sun" as el brillante sol.
- To indicate a difference of meaning. In some cases, placement of the adjective can indicate a different but still related meaning. For example, una amiga vieja usually would be understood as "a friend who is old," while una vieja amiga would be "a longtime friend." Un gran doctor is "a great doctor," but un doctor grande is merely "a big doctor."
Coming up:
In the next lesson, we will study the numbers 30 through 1,000.
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