LESSONS IN SPANISH. II. 



THE ARTICLE. 



THE definite article, which in English is always the, is rendered 

 In Spanish by different words, according to the gender and 

 number of the nouns before which it is used. 



Before a noun masculine of the singular number, el is used ; 

 as, 



El hombre, the man. El hijo, the son. 



El rey, the king. El plato, the plate. 



Before a noun feminine of the singular number, la is used ; 



as, 



La muger, tlie woman. 

 La reina, the queen. 



La Mja, (Tie daughter. 

 La cuchara, the spoon. 



Lo rojo, the red, or that which is 

 red. 



Before a noun masculine of the plural number, los is used ; 

 as, 



Los reyes, the kings. \ Los platos, the plates. 



Before a noun feminine of the plural number, las is used ; 

 as, 



Las reinas, the queens. Las cucharas, the spoons. 



Before an adjective used as a noun of the singular number, Zo 

 is employed when it has the meaning of that which is ; as, 

 Lo bueno, (Tie good, or that which \ Lo justo, that which is just. 



is good. [is past. 



Lo pasudo, the past, or that which 



I/o has no plural. It is called the neuter article. 



The Spanish indefinite article, corresponding to a or on in 

 English, is uno (always contracted into uri), before a noun 

 masculine ; as, 



Un medico, a physician. | Un sombrero, a hat. 



Before a noun feminine, una is used ; as, 

 Una hermaua, a sister. Una silla, a chair. 



When the plural form of uno and una is used, these words 

 are indefinite pronouns ; as, unos hombres, some men, or unas 

 mngeres, some women. 



The masculine articles el and un are always used before 

 feminine singular nouns when they begin with a or ha, accented 

 on the first syllable* (whether the accent is marked or not) ; as, 

 El ama, the mistress. I El hambre, the hunger. 



Un area, a chest. | El agua, the water. 



In the plural, such nouns take the regular feminine article ; 

 as, 



Las areas, the chests. | Los aguas, the waters. 



If an adjective intervene between the article and feminine 

 noun (even though the adjective begin with a or ha accented), 

 the feminine article is always used ; as, 



La ancha area, the broad chest. | Una buena ama, a good mistress. 



When the preposition a (to) or de (of) comes immediately 

 before the masculine article el, a contraction takes place, and 

 both words are united. Thus, instead of a el and de el (to the 

 and of the), al and del are used ; as, 



Al padre, to the father. 

 Al ama, to the mistress. 



Del muchacho, of the boy. 

 Del hambre, of the hunger. 



Before the other articles, la, los, las, lo, un, and una, the 

 prepositions d and de, as well as the articles, remain unchanged; 

 as, 



A' la muger, to the woman. 

 A' las hermanas, to the sisters. 

 A' un dia, (o a day. 



De los hombres, of the men. 

 De lo future, of the future. 

 De una noche, of a night. 



De el is sometimes used before the surnames of persons ; as, 

 De el Cesar, of the Caesar. 



VOCABULARY. 



Alma, soul. 



Ama, mistress, house- 

 keeper. 



Americano, American. 

 Criada, female servant. 

 Criado, male servant. 

 Future, future. 



Francesa, French- 



worn an. 

 Hambre, hunger, fa- 



mine. 



Hermana, sister. 

 Hermano, brother. 

 Hija, daughter. 



Hijo, sow. 

 Hombre, man. 

 Juez, judge. 

 Marido, husband. 

 Mddico, physician. 

 Muger, woman, wife. 

 Pasado, post. 



The plural of such words in the above vocabulary as end with 

 a vowel, is formed by adding s to the singular ; as, hombre, 

 man ; hombres, men. 



* Before feminine nouns singular beginning with a or ha, not 

 accented on the first syllable, this rule does not apply ; and, of course, 

 la or una is used. 



EXERCISE 1. SPANISH-ENGLISH. 



1. El juez. 2. El medico. 3. La criada. 4. La hermana del 

 Americano. 5. Un criado del juez. 6. Una hija del medico. 7. Lo 

 utoro. 8. Al alma dal ama. 9. El bambre del criado. 10. El la jo 

 del hermano del medico. 11. El criado de la muger. 12. Al hormano 

 del juez. 13. A una liija del Americano. 14. Lo pasado. 15. Los 

 loinbres. 16. Las hermanas de la Francesa. 17. A las hijas de la 

 muger. 18. Los hermanos de las criadas. 



EXERCISE 2. ENGLISH-SPANISH. 



1. The man. 2. The woman. 3. The soul. 4. The daughters. 

 5. The brother of the physician. 6. The husband of the woman. 7. 

 The sister of the judge. 8. The sons of the American. 9. To the 

 brothers of the physician. 10. To the souls of the female servants. 

 11. The daughters of the Frenchwoman. 12. The male servants of the 

 sons of the physician. 13. The husbands of the daughters of the 

 judge. 14. The brothers of the female servants. 



THE NOUN. 



Nouns are divided into proper and common, as in English ; 

 and to them belong gender, number, person, and case. 



GENDER. 



In Spanish grammar, every noun is considered as either mas- 

 culine or feminine, whether it really has any gender or not. 



The following are the rules for distinguishing the gender : 



Nouns which are the names of males, as well as those which 

 denote the ranks, offices, professions, or employments of males, 

 are masculine ; as, hombre, man ; perro, dog ; rey, king ; pintor, 

 painter; zapatero, shoemaker. 



Nouns which are the names of females, as well as those which 

 denote the ranks, offices, professions, or employments of females, 

 are feminine; as, muger, woman; vaca, cow; reina, queen; 

 costurera, seamstress ; zapatera, shoemaker's wife. 



And of those which are not comprehended in the above 

 rules : 



Nouns which end in a, d, ion, is, and ez, are feminine ; as, 

 marca, mark ; locura, folly ; soledad, solitude ; religion, religion ; 

 hipotesis, hypothesis ; timidez, timidity. 



Nouns which do not end in a, d, ion, is, and ez, are masculine ; 

 as, zapato, shoe ; honor, honour ; te, tea ; jabon, soap. 



Nouns used only in the plural are of the gender to which they 

 would belong, from their termination, if they had a singular 

 form. Thus, calzones, breeches, is masculine, and grevas, 

 greaves, is feminine, because calzon and greva would be of these 

 respective genders, from their termination. Lldres, fasces, and 

 fauces, are exceptions to this rule, they being feminine. 



Remark. There are some few masculine nouns having femi- 

 nine endings ; and some few feminine nouns which end otherwise 

 than in a, d, ion, is, and ez. 



The gender of the noun can always be distinguished by the 

 article used before it, except in the case of feminine nouns 

 singular, beginning with a or ha, accented on the first syllable. 

 These, however, are very few in number. 

 NUMBER. 



The plural number is formed from the singular by adding es 

 to all nouns ending with a consonant, with the letter y, or with 

 any accented vowel ; as, 



Muger, woman. 

 Eey, king. 

 Aleli, gilly/louier. 



Mugeres, women. 

 Reyes, fcings. 

 Alelies, gilly/towers. 



Nouns ending with a vowel not accented, form their plural by 

 adding s to the singular ; as, 



Villa, town. I Villas, towns. 



Amigo, friend. Ainigos, friends. 



There are a few exceptions to the above general rules for the 

 formation of the plural nouns ; they are as follow : 



If the noun end with z, this letter is changed into ces to form 

 the plural ; as, 



Juez, judge. | Jueces, judges. 



If the noun end with e accented, the plural is formed by 

 adding s ; as, 



Puntapie', 7;icfc. | Puntapie"s, HcJcs. 



If the noun end with s immediately preceded by a vowel not 

 accented, no change take place to form the plural ; as, 

 Hipotesis, hypothesis. | Hipotesis, hypotheses. 



The following nouns are irregular in the formation of the 

 plural: Sofa, sofa; papa, pope, father; mama, mamma; due, 

 duke : their plurals being sofas, papdf, mamas, duces. 



