Modern Spanish Grammar

473 Pages·2006·1.81 MB·English

Modern
S
PANISH
Grammar
Second Edition
Routledge Modern Grammars
Series concept and development – Sarah Butler
Other books in the series:
Modern Spanish Grammar Workbook by Juan Kattán-Ibarra and Irene Wilkie
ISBN 0–415–12099–3
Modern French Grammar
Modern French Grammar Workbook
Modern German Grammar
Modern German Grammar Workbook
Modern Italian Grammar
Modern Italian Grammar Workbook
Modern
S
PANISH
Grammar
A practical guide
Second Edition
Juan Kattán-Ibarra
and Christopher J. Pountain
First published 1997
by Routledge
Reprinted 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Second edition published 2003
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 1997, 2003 Juan Kattán-Ibarra and Christopher J. Pountain
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
The authors assert their moral right to be identified as the authors of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 0-203-42831-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-44036-6 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–27303–X (hbk)
0–415–27304–8 (pbk)
Contents
Introduction xvii
Glossary xix
Part A Structures
1 Pronunciation and spelling 3
1.1 The Spanish alphabet 3
1.2 Diphthongs 6
1.3 Syllabification 6
1.4 Sinalefa 7
1.5 The written stress accent 7
1.6 Punctuation 9
1.7 Capital letters 10
2 Gender and gender agreements 11
2.1 Masculine and feminine 11
2.2 Plural 11
2.3 General rules for gender 12
2.4 Words which are both masculine and feminine 12
2.5 Nouns which vary in gender 12
2.6 Agreement classes of adjectives 13
2.7 The neuter 14
2.8 Lo 15
3 Plurals and number agreement 16
3.1 Plural forms 16
3.2 Number agreement 17
4 The articles 19
4.1 Definite article 19
4.2 Principal differences between the use of the definite article
in Spanish and English 20
4.3 Definite article +que and de 21
4.4 The indefinite article 22
v
CONTENTS
4.5 Principal differences between the use of the indefinite
article inSpanish and English 22
4.6 Use of the plural unos, unas 23
5 Adjectives 24
5.1 Shortening of adjectives 24
5.2 Adjective position 25
5.3 Adjectives used as nouns 27
5.4 Adjectives used as adverbs 27
6 Comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs 28
6.1 Lack of distinction between ‘more ...’ and ‘most ...’ 28
6.2 Syntax of comparative constructions 29
7 Numbers 30
7.1 Cardinal numbers 30
7.2 Ordinal numbers 31
7.3 Expressions involving numbers 32
8 Personal pronouns 34
8.1 Subject pronouns 34
8.2 Object pronouns 36
8.3 Reduplicated pronoun structures 39
9 Demonstratives 40
9.1 Forms 40
9.2 Order 40
9.3 Usage 41
10 Possessives 42
10.1 Forms 42
10.2 Usage 43
11 Relative pronouns 45
11.1 Que 45
11.2 El que/el cual, etc. 45
11.3 Quien(es) 46
11.4 Cuyo (adj.) 47
12 Interrogative and exclamatory forms 48
12.1 ¿Cómo?/¡Cómo! 48
12.2 ¿Cuál? and ¿Qué?/¡Qué! 49
12.3 ¿Cuándo? 50
12.4 ¿Cuánto?/¡Cuánto! 50
vi
Contents
12.5 ¿Dónde?/¿Adónde? 50
12.6 ¿Para qué?/¿Por qué? 50
12.7 ¿Qué tal? 51
12.8 ¿Quién(es)? 51
12.9 ¿Verdad?,¿no? 51
13 Indefinite and negative pronouns and adjectives 52
13.1 Alguno and ninguno 52
13.2 Alguien and nadie 52
13.3 Uno 53
13.4 Algo and nada 53
13.5 Cualquiera 53
13.6 Quienquiera 54
13.7 Todo 54
14 Adverbs 55
14.1 Formation of adverbs in -mente 55
14.2 Other adverbs 56
15 Negation 57
15.1 No 57
15.2 Negative element following the verb 57
15.3 Expressions requiring a negative 58
15.4 No ... sino ... 58
15.5 Negation of adjectives 58
15.6 Negative questions 58
16 Verb forms 59
16.1 The overall pattern 59
17 Use of the verb forms 72
17.1 Present 72
17.2 Perfect 73
17.3 Imperfect 74
17.4 Preterite 75
17.5 Future 76
17.6 Future perfect 77
17.7 Conditional 77
17.8 Conditional perfect 78
17.9 Pluperfect 78
17.10 Past anterior 79
17.11 Infinitive 79
17.12 Gerund 80
17.13 Imperative 81
vii
CONTENTS
18 Use of the subjunctive 83
18.1 The subjunctive in complements of verbs and
verbalexpressions 83
18.2 The subjunctive after conjunctions 86
18.3 The subjunctive in main clauses 91
19 Sequence of tense 93
19.1 In reported (indirect) speech 93
19.2 Constructions involving the subjunctive 95
20 Other forms of the verb and their uses 96
20.1 Estar+ gerund 96
20.2 Ir a+ infinitive 97
20.3 Llevar+ gerund 97
20.4 Acabar de+ infinitive 98
20.5 Ir+ gerund 98
20.6 Venir+ gerund 98
20.7 Tener+ past participle 98
21 Modal auxiliary verbs and expressions 99
21.1 Poder 99
21.2 Deber (de) 100
21.3 Saber 101
21.4 Querer 101
21.5 Tener que 102
21.6 Haber de 102
21.7 Haber que 102
22 Ser and estar 103
22.1 Ser 103
22.2 Estar 105
23 The reflexive 108
23.1 Literal reflexive 108
23.2 Reflexives with a conventionalized meaning 108
23.3 Reciprocal reflexives 108
23.4 Inherently reflexive verbs 109
23.5 The reflexive corresponding to an English intransitive 109
23.6 Reflexive verbs with prepositional objects 109
23.7 The intensifying reflexive 110
23.8 The impersonal reflexive 111
23.9 The passive reflexive 111
24 The passive 112
24.1 Ser+ past participle 112
viii
Contents
24.2 Estar+ past participle 113
24.3 The passive reflexive 113
24.4 Use of indefinite subjects 114
24.5 Bringing the object to the front of the sentence 115
25 Prepositions 116
25.1 Basic use of prepositions 116
25.2 Groups of prepositions 129
26 Complementation 131
26.1 Sentence complementation 131
26.2 Infinitive complementation 132
26.3 Gerund complementation 140
27 Conjunctions 141
27.1 Coordinating conjunctions 141
27.2 Subordinating conjunctions 142
28 Word order 145
28.1 Statements 145
28.2 Questions 146
PART B Functions
I Social contacts and communication strategies
29 Making social contacts 153
29.1 Greeting someone 153
29.2 Conveying greetings 154
29.3 Asking people how they are 155
29.4 Introducing yourself and others 156
29.5 Taking leave 157
29.6 Expressing wishes 159
29.7 Congratulating someone 160
29.8 Using the phone 161
29.9 Writing letters 165
30 Basic strategies for communication 170
30.1 Attracting someone’s attention and responding to a
callforattention 170
30.2 Starting up a conversation 171
30.3 Requesting repetition and responding 172
30.4 Making sure you understand and are understood 173
30.5 Signalling that one understands the speaker 175
30.6 Asking how to pronounce or spell a word 175
ix