THE ADJECTIVE (Contd.).


COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.


The positive degree expresses the quality without any further idea of
comparison, as Feliz (happy), Rico (rich).

+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
|     Comparative.               |      Superlative Relative.     |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
|Más feliz que (happier than).     | El más feliz (the happiest).     |
|Menos feliz que (less happy than).| El menos feliz (the least happy).|
|Tan rico como (as or so rich as). |                                  |
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+


EXAMPLES--

Mi tío es más pobre que su hermano: My uncle is poorer than his brother.
Su mujer es menos rica que él: His wife is less rich than he.
Soy tan feliz como V.: I am as happy as you.
No es tan amable como su primo: He is not so amiable as his cousin.


Superlative Absolute.

EXAMPLES--

Muy largo: Very long. Muy corto: Very short.

Another way to form the Superlative Absolute[39] is by adding ísimo
instead of using muy. If the adjective ends in a vowel, this is elided
before adding ísimo.

[Footnote 39: More rarely used and much more emphatic.]

EXAMPLES--

Estas frutas son muy maduras: These fruits are very ripe.
Estas frutas son madurísimas: These fruits are very ripe indeed.
Estos tenderos son muy ricos: These shopkeepers are very rich.
Aquellos son riquísimos: Those (others) are very rich indeed.

Before adding ísimo, adjectives ending in

ble change it into bil as Amable, amabilísimo.
co " " qu as Rico, riquísimo.
go " " gu as Largo, larguísimo.

Adjectives of more than three syllables ending in ble, adjectives
ending in two vowels, or in one vowel accented, should always take muy
and not add ísimo for the Superlative Absolute.

Besides the regular forms of the Comparative and Superlative degrees,
there are the following irregular forms--

Mejor (better). Óptimo (very
good or best). Peor (worse). Pésimo (very bad or worst). Mayor (larger).
Máximo (very large or largest). Menor (smaller). Mínimo (very small or
smallest). Superior (higher). Supremo (very high or highest). Inferior
(lower). Ínfimo (very low or lowest).

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                    Future Tense,[40] Indic. Mood.                |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      Hablar.          |      Temer.          |       Partir        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Hablaré               | Temeré               | Partiré             |
|  (I shall speak)      |  (I shall fear)      |  (I shall depart)   |
| Hablarás              |  Temerás             | Partirás            |
|  (thou wilt speak)    |  (thou wilt fear)    |  (thou wilt depart) |
| Hablará               | Temerá               | Partirá             |
| (he/she will speak)   |  (he/she will fear)  | (he/she will depart)|
| Hablaremos            | Temeremos            | Partiremos          |
|  (we shall speak)     |  (we shall fear)     |  (we shall depart)  |
| Hablaréis             | Temeréis             | Partiréis           |
|  (you will speak)     |  (you will fear)     |  (you will depart)  |
| Hablarán              | Temerán              | Partirán            |
|  (they will speak)    |  (they will fear)    |  (they will depart) |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                       Conditional Mood.[40]                      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      Hablar.          |      Temer.          |       Partir        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Hablaría              | Temería              | Partiría            |
|  (I should speak)     |  (I should fear)     |  (I should depart)  |
| Hablarías             | Temerías             | Partirías           |
|  (thou wouldst speak) |  (thou wouldst fear) |  (thou wouldst...)  |
| Hablaría              | Temería              | Partiría            |
| (he/she would speak)  |  (he/she would fear) |  (he/she would...)  |
| Hablaríamos           | Temeríamos           | Partiríamos         |
|  (we should speak)    |  (we should fear)    |  (we should depart) |
| Hablaríais            | Temeríais            | Partiríais          |
|  (you would speak)    |  (you would fear)    |  (you would depart) |
| Hablarían             | Temerían             | Partirían           |
|  (they would speak)   |  (they would fear)   |  (they would depart)|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

[Footnote 40: The Future Tense Indicative Mood and the Conditional
Mood are formed from the Infinitive Mood by adding to the Infinitive
the terminations: é, ás, á, emos, éis, án for the future; and ía,
ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían for the conditional mood.]


     VOCABULARY.

alguno,-a[41] some or any (s.)
algunos,-as[42] some or any (pl.)
amarillo yellow
barba, barbas beard
barbilla, barba chin
blanco white
boca mouth
cabello hair
cabeza head
café, castaño brown, (dyed)
cepillo brush
cualquiera (s.),[43] any (affirmative)
cualesquiera (pl.)  any (affirmative)
dientes teeth
dinero money
encarnado red
escoba broom
estampar to print (calico)
la frente the forehead
lengua tongue
malo[44] bad, wicked
manteca butter
moreno brown, (natural colour)
(la) nariz nose
necesitar to want, to need, to be in want of.
ninguno,-a (s.) any (after a negative)
ningunos,-as (pl.) any (after a negative)
el ojo the eye.
padres[45] parents
percal calico
queremos we want
*querer to want, to wish to have
ellos quieren they want
yo quiero I want
V. quiere you want
regla ruler
si if
la tez complexion
un poco de[46] a little, some, or any
verde green

[Footnote 41: Before a masculine noun "Alguno" and "Ninguno" drop the
o, as Algún dinero (some money). The feminine "Alguna" and "Ninguna"
never changes.]

[Footnote 42: Also unos, unas.]

[Footnote 43: "Cualquiera" generally drops the a before a noun, as
Cualquier libro (any book).]

[Footnote 44: Before a masculine noun it drops the o, as Un mal
muchacho (a bad boy). The feminine is always "mala."]

[Footnote 45: The masculine plural includes the plural of both genders,
as Los padres (the parents, father and mother), Los hermanos (the
brothers or the brother(s) and sister(s).)]

[Footnote 46: Used for both genders, as Un poco de vino (a little wine),
Un poco de cerveza (a little beer).]

                            EXERCISE 1 (9).

Translate into English--

1. Los percales estampados y los blancos están todos prontos para el
vapor (steamer) que partirá mañana.

2. Necesitamos bayeta verde, amarilla y encarnada.

3. Aquí tenemos una buena partida (lot) de zarazas café.

4. Hemos hablado á una Señora de tez morena, cabeza hermosa y ojos
inteligentes.

5. La frente, la boca, y la nariz forman parte de la cara (face).

6. La barba ó barbilla es el remate (end) de la cara.

7. También se llama barba ó barbas el pelo (hair) que crece (grows) en
ella (on it) á los hombres.

8. Tengo un poco de dinero y algunos libros.

9. Tenemos algunas cajas de pañuelos.

10. El mal muchacho no tiene ninguna gana (inclination, desire) de
estudiar.

11. Ningunos padres quieren comprar malos libros para sus hijos
(children).

12. Si tiene V. algún azúcar (sugar) yo lo compraré.

13. ¿Quiere su hermano (de V.) vender algunos libros?

14. No, no quiere vender ningunos de sus libros.

15. Mi cuñado no necesita comprar libros; tiene muchísimos, algunos
viejos (old), otros nuevos (new), y tres ó cuatro (three or four)
novísimos,[47] uno de ellos (of them) es bonísimo.[47]

16. Cualquier libro es útil.

[Footnote 47: Adjectives containing ie or ue change them into e
and o before adding ísimo, as Nuevo, novísimo; cierto, certísimo.]


                            EXERCISE 2 (10).

Translate into Spanish--

1. I have some money.

2. What goods do you want (wish to have)?

3. I want some brown prints and some red calico.

4. I have no (not any) red calico, but I must buy some (debo
comprar).[48]

5. Do you want to sell me any? (venderme).

6. There are (hay) many inkstands in this shop (tienda); do you want
any? (quiere V. alguno? or algunos?).

7. Yes, I want some (alguno or algunos).

8. Have you any[49] bread (pan)?

9. Yes, I have some bread and cheese (tengo pan y queso).

10. Any book will be useful.

11. The teeth and the tongue are inside (dentro de) the mouth.

12. The teeth want great attention.

13. Yes, they must always be clean.

14. We want to study Spanish because it is (es) very necessary in
commerce (en el comercio).

15. If you study with attention you will soon (pronto) speak and write
Spanish very well.

16. John speaks French very badly but he is studying it (lo está
estudiando) with much attention.

17. Do you understand this lesson?

18. Yes, I understand this lesson well; it is not very difficult.

19. No lesson is difficult if we study with care (con cuidado).


[Footnote 48: "Some" and "any," following a verb and referring to a
singular noun previously mentioned, are not to be translated.]

[Footnote 49: "Some" and "any" are generally not translated when they
are not used in a partitive sense, i.e., with an idea of a limited
quantity.]