Page:Dictionary of spoken Spanish (1945).djvu/24

 placed next to each other, either not connected at all or connected by conjunctions.

1.No conjunction is present in some phrases which serve to enumerate things, actions, etc:

2.A conjunction is used in other phrases:

a)Before the last head: el hambre, el frío, la fatiga, y demás dolores "hunger, cold, fatigue, and other sorrows".

b)Before each head: ni esto ni aquello "neither this nor that".

2.1Noun phrases normally contain a noun as their head, and an adjective or other element as modifier. This modifier may occur either before or after the head of the phrase, giving two main types of noun phrases:

2.11This order occurs primarily when the modifier is:

1.One of the adjectives mentioned in §1.13: buen(o) "good", gran(de) "great", cien(to) "100", mal(o) "bad", postrer(o) "last", primer(o) "first", San(to) "Saint", tercer(o) "third", and un(o) "one"; or one of certain others: pequeño "little", viejo "old", bonito "pretty".

2.A numeral: diez hombres "ten men".

3.An interrogative or indefinite adjective: ¿cuáles libros? "which books?"; otras personas "other persons"; los demás libros "the other books".

2.12This order is the normal one when the modifier is:

1.An adjective other than the types mentioned in §2.11: un hombre fuerte "a strong man"; una puerta abierta "an open door".

2.An adjective phrase or a phrase consisting of  pronoun, or verb: un hombre may fuerte "a very strong man"; un vaso de agua "a glass of water"; su libro de él "his book"; la casualidad de haberse encontrado con ella "the chance of having met her".

3.A clause, normally introduced by a relative pronoun or adjective: 'un caballero que desea hablarle "a gentleman who wants to talk to you".

2.13Reversal of normal order of adjective and head in a noun phrase (placing the adjective before the noun when it would normally follow, or vice versa) gives to the adjective an added meaning of emphasis, rhetorical ornament, or figurative speech: la blanca nieve "the white, white snow"; cierta ciudad "a certain city"; un hombre malo "a very bad man".

2.14Phrase markers are certain types of words which may precede any noun or noun phrase and mark it as such. They are:

1.The definite article (§1.22): la infeliz madre "the unhappy mother"; los libros escritos en español "the books written in Spanish".

2.The indefinite article un, una, which in the singular has the meaning "a, an" and in the plural "some": un libro interesante "an interesting book"; unos libros interesantes "some interesting books".