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.]