IMPERSONAL VERBS.


Impersonal verbs are those which are only conjugated in the 3rd pers.
sing, of all the tenses.[129]

[Footnote 129: They are so called because they have no person or thing
as their subject.]

The principal Impersonal Verbs are--

Llover-llueve (to rain, it rains)
Granizar (to hail)
Helar-hiela (to freeze, it freezes)
Lloviznar (to drizzle)
Nevar-nieva (to snow, it snows)
Relampaguear (to lighten)
Tronar-truena (to thunder, it thunders)
Alborear (to dawn)
Amanecer (to dawn)
Anochecer (to grow dark)

The subject (generally understood) of Impersonal verbs is ello.
Sometimes we find the words Dios or el día expressed as subjects,
as--

Amanecerá Dios y veremos: Let us wait for the morning and then we shall
see.

Amaneció el día: The day dawned.

Amanecer and anochecer may be used as personal verbs, as--

Amanecimos en Madrid y anochecimos en Guadalajara: We were in Madrid at
daybreak and at nightfall in Guadalajara.

Tú anocheciste bueno y amaneciste malo: You passed the night well, but
you had a bad morning.

Many ordinary verbs are used sometimes impersonally, as--


Bastar (to suffice).
Convenir (to suit).
Parecer (to appear).
Faltar[130] (to be wanting).
Hacer falta (to be wanted).
Suceder[131] (to happen).

[Footnote 130: As a personal verb, it means also "to fail."]

[Footnote 131: As a personal verb, it means also "to succeed."]


EXAMPLES--

Basta ganar la vida: It is enough to earn a living.

No conviene explotar esta mina: It does not pay to exploit this mine.

No parece justo que se aprovechen de este modo: It does not seem right
that they should take advantage in this way.

Falta hacer algunos arreglos: Some arrangements are still wanting.

Sucedió que se declaró en quiebra: It happened that he filed his
petition in bankruptcy.


In the sentences:

Me bastan diez libras: £10 are enough for me.
Me parecen justas sus razones: His reasons seem to me to be right.
Le sucedieron muchas desgracias: Many misfortunes happened to him.

the verb is personal and this accounts for its being in the plural.
In "me bastan diez libras," "diez libras" is the subject.

The verb is impersonal when referring to a whole statement, as--

(Ello) es necesario: It is necessary.

Of Haber and Hacer as impersonal verbs, we have treated in Lesson
VIII and Lesson XVI.

We add here that Hacer is used impersonally before certain nouns to
denote the state of the weather or of the temperature, as--

Hace calor, frío, lluvia, viento, sol, etc.: It is warm, cold, rainy,
windy, sunny, etc.

Valer used impersonally  "to be better," as--

Más vale así: It is better so.

Expressions like "¿Qué se dirá?" or "¿qué dirán?" (What will people
say?) may also be called impersonal uses of the verb.


+--------------------+----------------------------------------+
|             Irregular Verbs (contd.).                   |
+--------------------+----------------------------------------+
|              Andar (to walk, to go).                      |
|Past Def.,   |  Anduve,-iste,-uvo,-uvimos-uvisteis-uvieron.|
+--------------------+----------------------------------------+
|              Dar (to give).                               |
|Pres. Indic.,|  Doy,[132] das, da, damos, dais, dan.       |
|Pres. Subj., |  Dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den.             |
|Past Def.,   |  Dí, diste, dió, dimos, disteis, dieron.    |
+--------------------+----------------------------------------+

[Footnote 132: Only 6 verbs in Spanish do not end in o in the 1st pers.
sing., pres. indic., viz., Doy (I give), Soy (I am), Estoy (I am), Voy
(I see), He (I have), Sé (I know).]


     VOCABULARY.

algo somewhat
asunto matter
calor heat
carranclanes, guingas ginghams
cerrar el trato to conclude the bargain
cheques cheques
circular to circulate, to go round
cobrar to collect (money)
comprometer to compromise
costa coast
cuesta slope
cuidar to take care
cuidarse to take care of oneself
decididamente decidedly
decidir to decide
después afterwards
drogas drysalteries
durante during
faltar, hacer falta to be wanting, to be wanted
el fin the end
fustanes fustians
gasa gauze
gastos expenditure
ingresos netos net revenue
jamón ham
letras bills of exchange
maíz maize
malbaratar to undersell
mantas con franjas fringed blankets
mercería haberdashery
paseo promenade, walk, stroll
puerto port, harbour
recursos means
*reducir to reduce
reduje etc., I reduced, etc.
reduzco, reduces etc., I reduce, etc.
*seguir to follow, to continue
sigo, sigues etc., I follow, etc.
el temporal the storm
*valer más to be preferable
vencer to fall due
vidriado glassware


                            EXERCISE 1 (39).

Translate into English--

1. Amaneció el día hermoso pero algo frío.

2. Hizo más calor después y por la tarde hizo or sopló (blew) viento
fuerte.

3. Anocheció cuando aun no habíamos llegado, pero como hacía luna el
paseo siguió siendo (continued to be) agradable.

4. Ayer llovió, granizó, nevó y lloviznó sucesivamente todo el santo día
(the livelong day).

5. Me parece que no le conviene de cerrar el trato con el banco bajo
estas condiciones.

6. Me hace falta dinero pues es menester (it is necessary)
proporcionarme (to get) el importe que me falta para completar las
£1,000 que vencen el 15 del corriente.

7. Más vale aceptar las condiciones del banco que tener que malbaratar
los géneros.

8. Ande V. con cuidado (be careful) no sea (lest) que vaya V. á
comprometer su crédito.

9. Reina por estas costas muy violento temporal á cuya consecuencia ha
resultado el vapor "Juan" con el árbol de la hélice (shaft of the screw)
roto, por lo cual hubo de ser traído á remolque á (to be towed into)
este puerto.

10. El "Juan" navegaba con rumbo á (was bound for) Cádiz.

11. Los modernos medios de fabricación de que disponemos, el
abaratamiento (cheapening) de la mano de obra (labour) y las
facilitaciones de que disfrutamos (we enjoy) merced á (thanks to)
nuestros cuantiosos (abundant) recursos, nos permiten, ahora más que
nunca, realizar nuestras ventas en condiciones que no cabe competencia
posible (which preclude ...).

12. Hemos asegurado buenas partidas de fustanes, mantas con franjas,
gasas, y carranclanes.


                            EXERCISE 2 (40).

Translate into Spanish--

1. San Paulo (Brazilian) Railway.--The net revenue for the half-year
from the main line (línea principal) amounted to £607,297 as against
(contra) £743,077 in 1909.

2. The expenditure in England and the Interest on Stores (sobre los
depósitos) reduce the amount to £594,714.

3. The Stock Exchange (la Bolsa) will be closed from this evening (esta
tarde) until next Monday morning.

4. The turnover (giro) of the day's transactions has been small.

5. Sentiment turned somewhat bearish (hubo disposición á la baja)
during the forenoon (la mañana), but became (se volvió) decidedly
bullish (á la alza) towards the end of the day.

6. The following figures show the amount of bills and cheques which
passed through the banker's clearing-house (por el banco de liquidación)
during the week ended April 12th (que acabó el 12 de abril).

7. We must not attach (atribuir) too much importance to the rumours (los
rumores, las especies) which are circulating in the market.

8. You should take care that the bales are properly (bien) packed.

9. I was ignorant of the fact that (no sabía que) he had been declared a
bankrupt.

10. I shall do all that depends on me (de mí dependa) to collect the
money in full (por entero).

11. As far as we are concerned (en cuanto á nosotros), we have decided
not to take (dar) any steps in the matter.

12. We do not wish to throw good money after bad (echar la soga tras el
caldero).[133]

13. We shall invoice by next mail your glassware and haberdashery.

14. Ham is a drug in the market (no tiene salida).

15. A good business is done at present in drysalteries.

16. A good crop of maize is announced from Cape Town (desde el Cabo).

[Footnote 133: Lit.: to throw the rope after the pail.]