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A Student Grammar of: Spanish PDF

354 Pages·2005·2.31 MB·English
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This page intentionally left blank AStudentGrammarofSpanish AStudentGrammarofSpanishisaconciseintroductiontoSpanishgrammar,designedfor English-speakingundergraduates.Assumingnopriorknowledgeofgrammaticaltermi- nology,itexplainseachaspectofSpanishgrammarinclearandsimpleterms,provides awealthofglossedexamplestoillustratethem,andhelpsstudentstoputtheirlearning intopracticethrougharangeoffunandengagingexercises. Clearlyorganizedintothirtyunits,eachcoveringadifferentaspectofthegrammar,the bookfunctionsbothasanessentialreferenceguideandasacomprehensiveworkbook. Individual topics can be looked up via a user-friendly cross-referencing system, and concisedefinitionsareprovidedinausefulglossaryofgrammaticalterms.Theexercises, whichincludepairedandgroupactivities,aresuitableforbothclassroomuseandself- study.Eachunitissplitintotwolevels,basicandintermediate,makingthisgrammarthe perfectaccompanimenttoanyfirst-orsecond-yearundergraduatecourse. RonaldE.BatchelorhasnowretiredfromtheUniversityofNottingham,wherehetaught French and Spanish for forty years. He has also held teaching posts at the universities ofBesanc¸on,France,andValencia,Spain.Hehaspublishedtenbooks,includingUsing Spanish:AGuidetoContemporaryUsage(withChrisPountain),UsingSpanishSynonyms,Using Spanish Vocabulary, Using French and Using French Synonyms (all published by Cambridge UniversityPress). A Student Grammar of Spanish RONALD E. BATCHELOR camʙʀɪdɢe uɴɪveʀsɪtʏ pʀess Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cʙ2 2ʀu, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521670777 © Ronald E. Batchelor 2006 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2006 ɪsʙɴ-13 978-0-511-13964-2 eBook (EBL) ɪsʙɴ-10 0-511-13964-0 eBook (EBL) ɪsʙɴ-13 978-0-521-67077-7 paperback ɪsʙɴ-10 0-521-67077-2 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of uʀʟs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. ´ Contents (Indice de materias) Preface page vii Acknowledgments x Glossaryofgrammaticalterms xi Noteonthetext xix Shortbibliography xx 1 Alphabet,spellingandpronunciation (Alfabeto,ortografı´aypronunciacio´n) 1 2 Definite and indefinite articles and gender ofnouns(Artı´culosdefinidoseindefinidosyge´nerode sustantivos) 10 3 Number(Elplural) 32 4 Verbs(Losverbos) 40 5 Perfecttenseandpluperfecttense(El[prete´rito] perfecto y el pluscuamperfecto / antecoprete´rito [M]) 46 6 Futuretenseandfutureperfecttense(Eltiempofuturoyel futuroperfecto) 53 7 Imperfecttense(Eltiempoimperfecto/coprete´rito[M]) 58 8 Preterittenseorpastdefinite(Elprete´rito indefinido/prete´ritoperfectosimple) 63 9 Conditionaltense(Eltiempocondicional) 71 10 Progressivetenseorgerund(Eltiempoprogresivo oelgerundio) 75 11 Theimperativemood(Elmodoimperativo) 81 12 Irregularverbs(Losverbosirregulares) 89 13 Serandestar(Seryestar) 97 v Contents 14 Transitiveandintransitiveverbs,and reflexiveverbs(Losverbostransitivoseintransitivos,ylosverbos reflexivos) 107 15 Impersonalverbs(Losverbosimpersonales) 119 16 Subjunctive(Elsubjuntivo) 129 17 Personalpronouns(Lospronombrespersonales) 154 18 Possessiveadjectivesandpronouns,relative andinterrogativepronouns(Losadjetivosypronombres posesivos,lospronombresrelativoseinterrogativos) 166 19 Indefinitepronouns(Lospronombresindefinidos) 176 20 Demonstrativeadjectivesandpronouns(Los adjetivosypronombresdemostrativos) 183 21 Adjectives(Losadjetivos) 189 22 Personalordistinctivea(Lapreposicio´nacon elcomplementodirecto) 198 23 Prepositions(Laspreposiciones) 205 24 Prepositionsporandpara(Laspreposicionespory para) 220 25 Adverbs(Losadverbios) 227 26 Interrogativeandnegativesentences(Lasfrases interrogativasynegativas) 238 27 Numbersandmeasurements.Timeand dimensions(Losnu´merosylasmedidas.Eltiempo[duracio´n=la hora]ylasdimensiones) 246 28 Comparativesandsuperlatives(Loscomparativosy superlativos) 261 29 Wordorder(Elordendelaspalabras) 269 30 Augmentativesanddiminutives(Losaumentativos ydiminutivos) 278 Modelanswers/Solucionesymodelos 285 Indexofgrammarandvocabulary 319 Subjunctiveindex 329 vi Preface Accordingtotheverylatestestimates(2004),Spanishisthenativetongueofwellover 350millionpeople,100millionofwhomliveinMexicoand24millionintheUSA.It is therefore a major world language, the fourth largest in terms of speakers. Its study thusoffersallstudentsameaningfulandattractiveprospectofestablishingcontactwith a very wide range of Spanish speakers coming from numerous countries. Any student ofSpanishwillbenefit,bothpersonallyandculturally,fromcommunicationwithsucha vastarrayofpeopleboundtogetherbyacommonlanguage.Spanishasamothertongue unitescountriesasfarapartasNewYorkorLondonarefromPekin,butdistancedoesnot necessarilyentailintractabledifference.Surprisingasitmayseem,itisoftenaseasyfor anEnglish-speakingstudentofSpanishtounderstandtheSpanishofMexico,Argentina, Colombia,PeruorEcuadorasitisforanEnglishorAmericanpersontounderstandthe languageofsomepartsofScotland,forinstance,orforaSpanishspeakertounderstand thelanguageofsomeregionsofAndaluc´ıa. AnylearnerofSpanishwillneed,certainlyintheearlystagesofcontactwiththelan- guage,agrammarbookwhichassistsher/himthroughtheinitialmaze.Suchavolume needs to appeal both to the beginner and to the student who has acquired some basic knowledge. The present book is designed precisely to cater for these differing needs, whilebearinginmindtheNorthAmericanreaderandhis/herBritishcounterpart.Fur- thermore,itmustaimtoincludebothIberianSpanishandtheSpanishoftheAmericas. Thisbalancingactisnotasdelicateasitmayfirstappear.Longexperiencehastaught thepresentauthorthatthereismuchmoreinthefieldofSpanishgrammarthatbrings Spanishspeakerstogetherthanseparatesthem,whilethedifferencesbetweentheEnglish oftheUnitedKingdomandoftheUnitedStatesneednotbeexaggerated. This book on Spanish grammar has therefore a general appeal which deals with mostaspectsofthegrammarinastraightforwardanduncomplicatedway.Ittreatsthe grammaticalstructuresofSpanishasexpressedinSpainandMexico.Mexicoistakenas amodelforthewholeofSpanishAmerica,sincetoattemptacomprehensivecoverage ofallSpanishAmericawouldservelittlepurpose,especiallysincethegrammar,asapart fromvocabulary,ofSpanishdifferslittlefromonecountrytoanother.MexicanSpanish isoneofthestandardvariants,partlyduetotheexportationofmoviesandtelenovelas(soap operas),whileitisunquestionablythemostprevalentvarietyfoundintheSouthWestof theUnitedStates.MindicatesthatthewordorstructureisspecificallyMexicanwhileit maybeconfidentlyassumedthat,whereMdoesnotappear,usageisIberianbutwillbe understoodandevenusedinMexico,aswellasinmostoftheotherSpanish-speaking countriesintheAmericas.AsimpleillustrationofaMexicanalternativemaybeseenin vii Preface someoftheheadingstoexerciseswheretofillinblankspacesistranslatedasrellenarlos blancosforIberianSpanishandllenarlosespaciosforMexicanSpanish. This volume covers all major grammatical points of Spanish in a user-friendly and directway,andrecognizesthathumorispartofthelearningprocess.You’lllearnmuch moreifyoustudywithasmile,whileMexicansleadthewayinthefieldofhumor.The presentauthorlearntalotfromCantinflas,theMexicancomedian. All the points are presented in an easily accessible way, and are reinforced, at every phaseandaftereachlevel,byexercises,whilesuggestedsolutionstotheseexercisescan befoundattheendofthebook.Someexercisesareshort,somemuchlonger,andsome involvethestudentinroleplay,awell-triedmethodfordevelopinglinguisticskills,andin gamessuchaspuzzles.Afunelementiscentraltotheconceptandgenesisofthebook. Therearepairedorgroupexercisesinbothlevelsofnearlyeveryunit.Theyencourage you to use and speak Spanish. You’ll be surprised how much progress you make by insistingonspeakingthelanguage.Itisdifficulttosuggesttheamountoftimeneededfor theseparticularexercisessincetheauthordoesnotwanttobeprescriptive.Often,atime offiveminutesissuggestedforpreparingyourselffortheexercisebutteachers/instructors havetheirconstraints. Alltheexercisesinlevel1haveinstructionsinEnglish.Toreflectthemoreadvanced workinlevel2,theinstructionsareinSpanish. Naturallyenough,theexercisesaremoredemandingandchallenginginthesecond levelthaninthefirst.Butthekeyistheretohelpyouout.Ofcourse,usethekeywisely. Don’ttakeapeekattheanswersuntilyouhavereallytriedtodealwiththeexercisein question. Examples are often presented in the feminine form. The text avoids sexist bias and reachesouttofemalesandmalesalike.Thetreatmentofeachgrammaticalareafollowsa veryclearpattern.Basicpointsarecovered,logically,atthebeginning,andareseparated offfromthemoreadvancedgrammaticalfeatures.Thebookisthusdividedintotwolevels byanimagewheretheclimbingofstairsrepresentingletterssuggestsmoreprogressive work. It should be emphasized that the present work is a self-help book, and does not requiretheconstantpresenceof,orreferenceto,ateacher.Furthermore,constantcross- referencingshouldhelpthestudenttogainaclearandmoreroundedpictureofallthe grammaticalpoints. AmericanEnglishtakesprecedenceoverBritishEnglish.Americanspellingispreferred to its English counterpart but this should present no problem whatever to the non- Americanlearner.Wheretherecouldbelexicalmisinterpretation,bothAmericanand Britishtermsappearsidebyside. Thebookcontainsa“Glossaryofgrammaticalterms”whichwillhelpyouunderstand anysemi-technicalgrammaticalexpressionsyoumayhavedifficultywith.Usethisglos- saryregularlytofamiliarizeyourselfwiththetermsusedinthetext.Itissomucheasier tocometogripswiththegrammarofaforeignlanguageifyougainsomeinsightinto thewaythateventheEnglishlanguagefunctions. Thetextalsohasacomprehensiveindexdesignedtodirectyoutoanyparticularpoint ofgrammarorvocabularyyouwishtoconsult. Thebookisup-to-date.Forinstance,youwillcomeacrossasectionontheproblems ofgendernowthatfemalesareworkinginfieldsonceinaccessibletothem.Compound nouns,onceunusualinSpanish,exceptforjustafew,arespringinguplikemushrooms, andthetextpaysseriousattentiontothem. viii

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