Page:Dictionary of spoken Spanish (1945).djvu/9



0.3Syllables.A single consonant sound (and, in writing, two letters representing a single sound), or a consonant followed by l or r, belongs to the same syllable as the vowel following it:   Other groups of two consonants are broken up, the first consonant belonging with the preceding vowel and the second with the following vowel:    "rector".

0.4Stress.Words ending in a vowel or in -n or -s are normally stressed on the next to the last syllable; words ending in any other consonant are stressed on the last syllable. Words having this type of stress bear no written accent mark: cosa "thing"; cantan cantas  cantar  If a word does not conform to this pattern, an accent mark is written over the vowel letter of the syllable which is stressed: vámonos  jardín "garden". In a few cases, a written accent serves only to mark the difference between one word and another written like it but having a different meaning: ¿cuándo? but cuando

1.1Nouns and adjectives are inflected alike, and will be discussed together. A noun is an inflected form that may follow and precede a verb; an adjective is a form that may follow  and precede a noun. (For the definite article,

1.11The plural of nouns and adjectives is formed in one of three ways:

1.By leaving the singular unchanged (words ending in -s, family names, and a few others): jueves López  déficit

2.By adding -s to nouns ending in an unstressed vowel or stressed -é: libro "book", libros "books"; cara "face", caras "faces"; café "coffee", cafés "coffees".

3.By adding -es to most other nouns: rubí "ruby", pl rubíes; buey "ox", pl bueyes; papel "paper", pl papeles. The letter c is replaced by qu, and z by c, before -es: frac pl fraques; lápiz "pencil", pl lápices.

1.12Gender.Nouns belong either to the masculine or the feminine gender; adjectives to both. The feminine of an adjective is formed on the masculine in one of the following three ways:

1.By substituting -a for -o of the masculine: bueno m, buena f "good".

2.By adding -a to the masculine: inglés m, inglesa f "English".

3.By leaving the masculine unchanged: interesante m, f "interesting"; fácil m, f "easy".

1.13Reduced forms of adjectives.Certain adjectives are used in shortened or reduced forms when they stand before a noun they modify, e.g. "a good book". The following adjectives have reduced forms in the masculine singular only: "good":  "bad" ;  "first";  "third";