ii Notice that Spanish speakers have the clever idea of warning you of a question in the making by requiring an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the sentence, as well as at
Trang 1Unit 26 (Unidad 26)
Interrogative and negative sentences
(Las frases interrogativas y negativas)
Level 1
1.1 Interrogative sentences (Frases interrogativas)
1.2 Use of ¿Verdad? (Uso de ¿Verdad?)
1.3 Negation (Negaci ´on)
i A question is regularly formed in Spanish by placing the verb before its subject:
¿Hablo yo? Do I speak? ¿Hablamos nosotros/as? Do we speak?
¿Hablas t´u? Do you speak? ¿Habl´ais vosotros/as? Do you speak?
¿Habla ´el/ella/Ud. Does (s)he / do you
speak?
¿Hablan ellos/ellas/Uds.? Do they/you
speak?
Examples
¿Habla Ud espa˜nol? Do you speak Spanish?
ii Notice that Spanish speakers have the clever idea of warning you of a question in the
making by requiring an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the
sentence, as well as at the end This also holds for exclamation points/marks: ¡H´ıjole! (M) / ¡Jol´ın! / ¡Jolines! (only in Spain) = Jees! / Heavens above!, ¡Dios m´ıo! = Jees / Heavens above! (My God! is stronger in English than ¡Dios m´ıo! The same goes for the English Jesus! which is much stronger than ¡Jes ´us!, commonly used when
someone sneezes = Bless you!)
iii As a point of interest, this practice of having a question mark at the beginning of a
question corresponds to the English of a few centuries ago, while the introduction of
do as part of a question, a veritable headache for foreign learners of English, is comparatively modern No construction like do exists in Spanish The same goes for
the other Romance languages.
When an interrogative word is used, it begins the sentence, just as in English:
¿Qui´en quiere cenar ahora? Who wants to eat now?
¿Por qu´e canta ahora? Why’s she singing now?
Trang 226 Interrogative and negative sentences
iv In the absence of an interrogative word, the verb may come first, although in speech
the subject could very easily precede the verb When the subject comes before the verb, there is a rise in the intonation at the end of the sentence:
¿Viene la chica ahora? Is the girl coming now?
¿La chica viene ahora? Is the girl coming now?
¿Arregla el carro el mec´anico? Does the mechanic repair the car?
¿El mec´anico arregla el carro? Does the mechanic repair the car?
¿Corrige los deberes la profesora? Does the teacher correct the homework?
¿La profesora corrige los deberes? Does the teacher correct the homework?
Notice the word order in the second and third examples In ¿Arregla el carro el
mec ´anico?, it is very unlikely that mec ´anico would precede carro, any more than profesora would precede deberes However, if carro or deberes is qualified in any
way, and that part of the sentence lengthened, these two words could come after thesubject (see unit29on word order)
Fortunately for English speakers, and unfortunately for Spanish speakers learning
English, the all-purpose ¿verdad? covers approximately 200 English possibilities So
have sympathy with Spanish speakers of English Or any foreigner tackling English forthat matter
Examples
Vas al teatro ¿verdad? You’re going to the theater, aren’t you?
Es tarde ¿verdad? It’s late, isn’t it?
Son colombianos ¿verdad? They’re Colombians, aren’t they?
i The Spanish verb is negated by placing no in front of it:
No va al partido He’s not going to the game
No entienden el italiano They don’t understand Italian
ii Other words which form a negative sentence are nadie (no one), nada (nothing), ninguno (none), nunca (never) and jam ´as (never).
When these words follow the verb no precedes the verb:
No encontramos a nadie We don’t meet anyone
No esperan nada de ti They don’t expect anything from you
No veo nada aqu´ı I can’t see anything here
No muestra ning´un inter´es She shows no interest
No voy nunca a Argentina I never go to Argentina
No nos visita jam´as She never visits us
Trang 3A S T U D E N T G R A M M A R O F S P A N I S H
iii However, if nadie, nada, ninguno, nunca and jam ´as precede the verb, no is not
used:
Nadie sale a encontrarnos No one comes out to meet us
Nada le satisface Nothing satisfies him
Nada me falta I need nothing (i.e nothing is lacking to me)
Ninguna persona quiere ayudarnos No one wants to help us
Jam´as trabajo de noche I never work at night
Exercises Level 1
i Find a question that fits the following replies
Example
Tengo veinte a ˜nos> ¿Cu´antos a˜nos tienes / tiene Ud.?
a Voy a M´exico este verano
b Vamos al cine a las siete
c Comen m´as tarde
d Van a jugar (al) f´utbol esta ma ˜nana (al in Spain, not in M)
e Escribo con la computadora
f Prefieren estas flores
g Este libro cuesta cien pesos
h Porque estoy cansado
i Este chico es el alumno m´as listo
b Trabajan toda la semana
c Estoy leyendo un libro
d Entienden todo lo que digo
e Vamos siempre a la alberca (M) / piscina el viernes
f Todo el mundo cena aqu´ı esta noche
iii Change the position of the second negative word so that all the negative
expressions precede the verb.
Trang 426 Interrogative and negative sentences
c No hemos estudiado nunca el japon´es
d No me interesa nada
e No me ha escrito ning´un banco
iv Create questions with ¿verdad? to precede the following sentences.
Example
S´ı, es tarde> Es tarde, ¿verdad?
a S´ı, vamos al teatro esta noche
b S´ı, sale con toda la familia
c No, no compramos verduras hoy
d S´ı, me duele la espalda
e S´ı, fuimos a Albuquerque / Nuevo M´exico el a ˜no pasado
f No, mi mam´a vive en San Francisco
v Paired activity (a and b)
(a) Objective – To practice use of the negative in sentences
Method – A makes a statement and B puts it in the negative
B: No tengo ning´un libro
(b) Objective – To practice the use of the interrogative (In fact, we have been practicing
this all along with these paired activities, so it will be easy.)
Method – A makes ten statements and B converts them into questions
2.1 Uses of no ni (ni) (Usos de no ni [ni] )
2.2 Uses of sino, no s ´olo , and tampoco (Usos de )
2.3 Uses of ni siquiera (Usos de )
2.4 Order with no (Orden con no)
2.5 No with negation and repetition (No con negaci ´on y repetici ´on)
2.6 Miscellaneous features (Varios detalles)
2.7 Negative prefixes (Prefijos negativos)
2.8 Order with no and compound verbal forms (Posici ´on / Ubicaci ´on [M] de no con
formas verbales compuestas)
Trang 5A S T U D E N T G R A M M A R O F S P A N I S H
2.1 Uses of no ni (ni)
i Ni ni is the equivalent of neither nor (or not either or):
No tengo ni pasteles ni caramelos I haven’t got cakes or candies
No lo encontr´e ni en el departamento (M) / piso
ni en el jard´ın
I couldn’t find it either in the apartment
or in the yard/garden
Nunca ri˜nes ni protestas You never quarrel or protest
No lo saben ni Celia ni Pablo Neither Celia nor Pablo know it
ii No is also followed by ni in the following way when used with tener:
No tengo ni idea I have no idea / I haven’t a clue
It also occurs in the idiomatic ¡ni hablar! used to reject a suggestion:
“¿Vienes al cine?” “Ni hablar” “Are you coming to the movies?” “Nothing
doing”
iii Ni takes the place of o = or, after all negatives or clauses embodying a negative or
restrictive idea:
Apenas pod´ıa respirar ni moverse He could hardly breathe or move
Sali´o sin decirme nada ni cerrar la puerta She went out without saying anything to me
or closing the door
2.2 Uses of sino, no s ´olo and tampoco
i Notice how sino combines with no = not but, and no s ´olo = not only but also:
Hoy no es mi cumplea˜nos sino mi santo Today is not my birthday but my saint’s day
No s´olo era buen cocinero sino tambi´en un fant´astico
anfitri´on
He wasn’t only a good cook but also afantastic host
ii Use of tampoco which is often the equivalent of either Tampoco negates something
in addition to a previous negation:
Pepa no ha comido, Juan tampoco Pepa hasn’t eaten, Juan hasn’t either
“No he visto ninguna pel´ıcula.” “Y la ´ultima de
Cantinflas?” “Tampoco”
“I haven’t seen a single movie.” “And the lastone of Cantinflas?” “Not that one either”
Uses of ni siquiera = not even It strengthens the negation of ni:
No lo/le conozco (ni) siquiera de vista I don’t know him, not even by sight
Se lo entregu´e y (ni) siquiera me dio las gracias I gave it to him and he didn’t even thank me
La ni˜na no sabe (ni) siquiera sumar The child doesn’t even know how to add up
Trang 626 Interrogative and negative sentences
With the exception of object personal pronouns, no word intervenes between the verband the negative:
Su proyecto no me parece rentable Her plan doesn’t seem viable to me
No se lo he conseguido todav´ıa I haven’t obtained it for him/her yet
Parecen distintos pero no lo son They look different but they aren’t
i No neutralizes any adjectives, adverbs or proposition of negative value, and is itself
neutralized by repetition:
detalles no importantes (see lower down) unimportant details
No le fue permitido no asistir He was not allowed not to go
No podemos no admitir su razonamiento We cannot but admit his reasoning
ii There can be more than one set of negatives in a Spanish sentence In the second
example below there are four, and three in the first:
Ella no me ha dicho nunca nada She has never told me anything
No toleraba nunca ninguna
intervenci´on de nadie
He never tolerated any intervention fromanyone
The positive forms anything (algo) and anyone (alguien) in English are not possible in
these Spanish sentences
iii Note also the use of alguno which, when it occurs after the noun, has a negative
connotation:
No he visto a persona alguna en la calle I haven’t seen anyone in the street
No tengo idea alguna sobre el asunto I have no idea on the affair
No le interesa sugerencia alguna He’s not interested in any suggestion
In verbal expressions at least, no does not give an exactly opposite meaning:
Acabo de entender por qu´e lo hizo I have just understood why he did it
No acabo de entender por qu´e lo hizo I fail to understand why he did it
No dej´e de seguir estudiando I didn’t fail to go on studying
i Often an adjective or noun can be negated by using a negative prefix in- or des-:
c´omodo–inc´omodo suitable–unsuitable conocido–desconocido known–unknown
Trang 7A S T U D E N T G R A M M A R O F S P A N I S H
If such a ready-made word does not exist, a variety of negatives, no, nada and poco can be used Sometimes, in the case of no, this can have a euphemistic effect:
los no creyentes (los infieles) the unbelievers (non-believers)
los no violentos (partidarios de la paz) those who are non-violent (peace
supporters)
fuerzas no identificadas unidentified forces
ciudadanos no votantes non-voting citizens
una costumbre nada frecuente a rare custom
un empleo nada lucrativo a poorly paid job
una idea nada convincente an unconvincing idea
un profesor poco divertido a dull teacher
ii Note also the use of sin+ infinitive:
una cuesti´on sin resolver an unresolved question
misterios sin aclarar unclarified mysteries
La cena est´a sin hacer The evening meal remains to be prepared
iii Spanish has a number of other expressions which have the value of a negative and
sometimes, but not always, require no before the verb:
sin decir nada a nadie without saying anything to anyone
antes de hacer ning´un gesto before making a single gesture
Es imposible contestar nada It’s impossible to answer anything
En mi vida he visto tantas ara˜nas I haven’t seen so many spiders in my life
En toda la noche he podido dormir I haven’t slept all night
En todo el a˜no ha hecho tanto fr´ıo como hoy In the whole year it has not been so cold
as today
No entiende ni gota de ingl´es He doesn’t understand any English at all
In the case of compound verbal forms with ser, estar and haber, no precedes the
auxiliary:
No est´an dispuestos a aceptar la oferta They aren’t ready to accept the offer
El regalo no fue aceptado The present was not accepted
Finally, for any philosophers among you, the indefinite negative pronoun nada may
also be construed as a noun= nothing(ness) Carmen Laforet’s novel Nada and Sartre’s monumental treatise (if you can face it) called in Spanish El ser y la nada (L’ ˆ Etre et le n´eant / Being and Nothingness) illustrate this point.
Exercises Level 2
i Pon las palabras de las siguientes frases en un orden adecuado Dichas frases siguen una secuencia l ´ogica y conducen naturalmente al segundo ejercicio
Trang 826 Interrogative and negative sentences
Ejemplo
siquiera de lavarse sin sali´o casa> Sali´o de casa sin siquiera lavarse
a toalla playa a*playeras/playera sin ni lleg´o la
b aletas gafas / visor (M) a ni sin nadar empez´o
c tabla la guantes sin ni subi´o windsurf a de se arn´es
d del sin ba ˜no zapatillas de traje agua ni sali´o
e padre / pap´a (M) madre / mam´a (M) ni no su su protest´o ni
f ponerse quiso ba ˜no de no traje pantal´on ni corto ni
g convencer dif´ıcil mal sino s´olo educado tambi´en era no de
*Playeras= sneakers/trainers in Spain Playera = T-shirt in M.
ii Dadas las circunstancias referidas en las frases de arriba, y a la luz de ellas, llena los espacios (M) / rellena los blancos con una expresi ´on negativa.
Ejemplo
( ) he visto tal espect´aculo> En mi vida / Nunca he visto tal espect´aculo
a ( ) entiendo ( ) el comportamiento del ni ˜no ( ) su modo de hablar
b Este chaval / jovencito (M) ( ) tiene ( ) para cubrirse
c ( ) he visto ( ) igual en la vida
d ( ) yo tampoco
e ¿( ) le puedes prestar ( ) de ropa?
f Pero ( ) acepta ( ) ayuda ( ) sugerencia
g ( ) acabo de entender por que se comporta as´ı
h ( ) dejes de decirle que es un mal educado por ( ) cubrirse
i ( ) he podido ( ) hacerle entrar en raz´on bajo ( ) motivo
j ¿( ) ser´ıa posible llamar a un polic´ıa?
k S´ı, pero el polic´ıa dir´ıa que “( ) es nada, y el chaval / jovencito (M) ( ) sabe ( )
de ( )”
l Entonces en una democracia, ¿Las autoridades admiten tal conducta como si ( )?
m Pero, hay que decirle al ni ˜no “¡( ) de tonter´ıas!”
n Yo que t´u, dir´ıa que ( ) ( ) permitir´ıa eso
iii Actividad en parejas
Objetivo – Usar la estructura ni ni
M ´etodo – A le ofrece a B un verbo y dos nombres (diez frases en total) B usa un verbo
al que siguen dos nombres separados por ni ni
Ejemplos
A: Comer carne queso
B: No como ni carne ni queso
A: Ver ´arboles flores
B: No veo ni ´arboles ni flores
Despu´es se re´une toda la clase, y el profesor recaba todos los ejemplos
Trang 9Unit 27 (Unidad 27)
Numbers and measurements Time
and dimensions (Los n ´umeros y las
hora] y las dimensiones)
Level 1
1.1 Cardinal numbers (N ´umeros cardinales)
1.2 Telephone numbers (N ´umeros de tel ´efono)
1.3 Ordinal numbers (N ´umeros ordinales)
1.4 Days, weeks, months and seasons (D´ıas, semanas, meses y estaciones del a ˜no)
1.5 Time and the clock (La hora y el reloj)
Trang 1027 Numbers, measurements, time, dimensions
ciento un/uno/una 101 ochenta mil 80.000
ciento dos 102 ciento sesenta mil 160.000
mil quinientos veinte 1520
*This figure may be recorded as mil millones
Notes Thousands are separated by periods / full stops Decimals are separated by a
comma: Corre los cien metros en nueve coma nueve= 9,9 (He runs ) Millions are written in
letters: 50 millones / 500 millones / 500.000 millones, to avoid a confusing series of zeros
ii Mexico uses the Anglo-American system of commas for thousands: 10,000= diez mil.
Furthermore, and still consistent with the Anglo-American practice, a Mexican would
use periods / full stops for decimals: Corre los doscientos metros en veintitr ´es punto tres= She runs the two hundred meters in
Once, from diecis´eis to veintinueve, the numbers were frequently written thus: diez
y seis > veinte y nueve but this practice has recently faded.
iii The cardinal numbers are all invariable except for uno (see above) and ciento. Ciento drops the final to when it comes before a masculine or feminine noun:
Examples
Veo treinta y tres ´arboles I can see thirty-three trees
Acuden cien mujeres/hombres One hundred women/men come
Tengo quinientos euros I have five hundred euros
Llegan seiscientos espectadores Six hundred spectators arrive
Hay mil soldados There are a thousand soldiers
Veo a dos mil soldados I see two thousand soldiers
Hay cien mil en el estadio There’s one hundred thousand in the
stadium
iv Note also the way of rendering percentages:
Sube la inflaci´on en un diez por ciento Inflation goes up by ten percent
v When uno follows a noun it retains its full form:
“¿Cu´antos libros tienes?” “S´olo uno” “How many books have you got?” “Only
one”
En cuanto a chicas, hay cuarenta y una As far as girls are concerned, there are
forty-one
Trang 11A S T U D E N T G R A M M A R O F S P A N I S H
vi Mill ´on and bill ´on are considered as nouns:
Hay un mill´on de kil´ometros desde aqu´ı hasta There are a million kilometers from here
to
Hay millones de mosquitos There are millions of mosquitos
Nuestro d´eficit es de dos billones de d´olares (Note
from abroad: (00 34) 91 754 92 81 There are various ways of reading these figures out
aloud, but by far the simplest, and certainly one of the most common ways, is merely
to treat each digit individually The figure above would therefore read: cero cero tres
cuatro nueve uno siete cinco cuatro nueve dos ocho uno An alternative could
be to read off the first three local numbers 754 as setecientos cincuenta y cuatro and the rest as noventa y dos ochenta y uno A number for Mexico City from outside
the country would read: (00 52) 55 57 68 53, and the likelihood in Mexico would be to
read the figures off in twos, apart from the initial cero cero.
Considerable uncertainty exists over ordinal numbers, since once you go over ten, andreach, say, twelve, these become unmanageable and end up in quiz shows For all normalpurposes, cardinal numbers are used instead of the ordinal numbers when you reachtwelve Ordinal numbers are:
segundo/a second decimotercero thirteenth
cuarto (etc.) fourth decimoquinto fifteenth
s´e(p)timo seventh decimoctavo eighteenth