LESSONS IN SPANISH. 



67 



the examples just given, it will bo seen that adjectives 

 ending with o, change o into a to form the feminine ; and that 

 those ending with an or on, as well as those derived from the 

 names of nations, form their feminine by adding a to the man- 

 online. 



In forming tho plural of adjectives which are modified by 

 the jfi'iul. token into consideration first, and 



then tho plural oiuliiiK' added; as, 



La timida vaca, the timid oow. Las timidas vacas, the timid cotM. 



o caballo, tint tame hone. Los munsoe cabaUos, the tame 



hortet. 



les, the English (man). Los Ingleses, the Englith (men). 



La Ingloso, the Englith (woman). Las Inglesas, the .English (iromtn). 



Lives in Spanish are generally placed after tho nouns 

 which they qualify, though some generally come before the 

 and some con precede or follow the noun, according to 

 tho taste of tho writer or speaker. Thus, 



Un hombre respetable, a respectable man. 

 Una folicidad aparonto, an apparent felicity. 

 Malas obras, or obras malas, bad \corkt. 



Some adjectives and adjective pronouns drop the final o in tho 

 masculine singular (but not in tho plural), when they are placed 

 before the noun, but never when they are placed after it. These 

 are : nno, a (or one) ; alguno, some ; ninguno, non ; primero, 

 first ; postrero, last ; torcero, third ; bueno, good ; malo, bad ; 

 as, 



Algun fruto, some fruit. 



Un buen hombre, or un hoinbre bueno, a good man. 



Santo, sn i lit, when prefixed to the name of a male person, 



drops its last syllable ; as, San Pedro, St. Peter. Ciento, 



d, when it immediately precedes a noun, masculine or 



foiuinino, drops its final syllable ; as, cien arboles, hundred 



I iut, ciento y dos arboles, hundred and two trees. Grande, 



great, large, generally loses its final syllable when the noun to 



which it is prefixed begins with a consonant ; as, gran poder, 



great power. When grande does not mean size or magnitude, 



but good qualities, gran is used if tho noun follow it. Thus, 



gran hombre means a great man ; and grande hombre, a tall 



man. 



Adjectives are often used without tho noun (the latter being 

 understood) ; as, 



El pobre, the poor (man) . \ Un ignorante, on ignorant (man) . 

 Tho gender can be known by the article which precedes the 

 adjective. 



If tho adjective refer to something to which we do not apply 

 a gender, tho neuter article lo is used ; as, lo poco, lo mucho, 

 the little, the much, or that which is little, that which is much. 

 In cases in which the position of adjectives would present 

 any difficulty to the learner, tho order of the words will bo 

 numbered, thus : los hombres 2 magnanimos 1 son bienhechores 

 del genero 2 hnmano 1 , magnanimous men are benefactors of the 

 human race. The order in which English words must be placed 

 In Spanish will be indicated in the same manner when deemed 

 necessary. 



A sentence is rendered negative in Spanish by placing the 

 adverb no (not) before the verb ; as, Juan no es sabio, John is 

 not wise ; Pedro no tiene dinero, Peter has no money ; Maria no 

 tione sed, Mary is not thirsty. 



VOCABTTLABY. 



Amigo, friend. Frances, French. Malo, bad, evil. 



Bueno, good. Fuerte, strong. Nuevo, new. 



Camiuo, road, way. General, general. Pobre, poor. 



Dos, tico. Grande, great. Rico, rich. 



E, and (before i). Hermosa, beautiful, Robusto, robust. 



Ejercito, army. handsome. Sabio, wise. 



El Espaiiol ama, the Ignorante, ignorant. Soberbio, proud. 



Spaniard loves. Impio, impious, tcicked. Son, are. 



Es, is. Ingles, English. Tenebroso, dark, 



Espacioso, spacious, Lengua, tongue, Ian- gloomy. 



wide. | guage. Tres, three. 



Espaiiol, Spanish. Iiindo, pretty. Verdad, truth. 



Estrecho, narroir.cloM. Los Espauoles aman, Viejo, old. 



Faluz, deceitful, false. the Spaniards love. Y, and. 



Y is used for the conjunction and, except before words begin- 

 ning with i or hi, when d ie used. 



EXERCISE 5. SPANISH-ENGLISH. 



1. El camiuo es estrecho. 2. La casa es espaciosa. 3. Las mugeres 

 sou soborbios. 4. Los Ingleses no tieuen diuero. 5. Las Inglesas no 



tienen hambre. 6. Los Espauoles no tienen sed. 7. Las Americans* 

 son bermosas. 8. Los librae son nnevos. 9. Un buen general es el 

 aluia do no ejlrcito. 10. El Frances es pobre 7 soWrbio. 11. El 

 amigo del mldico es ignorant*. 13. El JIMS es aibio y rico. 13. La 

 lingua 1 falaz 1 no ama la vcrdad. U. Los Am^^n^ aman dinero. 

 15. Los Hjos del pintor SOD I uertes y robustos. 16. Los pcbres tienea 

 hambre. 



EXKBCIBB 6. EtrOLIHU'SPAHISH. 



1. The Frenchman wrote letters to the Spanish woman. 2. The 

 Americans are friends of the English (Inylttt*). 3. The my of the 

 wicked is dark. 4. The daughters of the Spaniard (Btpanol) an 

 pretty, B. The books are new. 6. The bouse of the physician to 

 spacious. 7. The horses of the Englishman are strong. 8. The sons 

 of the judge are poor and proud. 9. The daughter of the French 

 woman is proud and ignorant. 10. The sisters of the painter an rich 

 and handsome. 11. A good man lores the truth. 12. A false* tongue 1 

 loves not the truth. 13. The Spaniards and the Americans love 

 money. 14. The silver spoons (eucharat d ploia) are new. 15. The 

 road is narrow. 16. The judge's son is bad and ignorant. 17. The 

 printers are rich. 18. The physician's male servant U robust. 



In Spanish proper names employed an adjectives are not 

 generally written with a capital initial letter ; thus we write, 

 libros espauoles, Spanish books ; and not libros Espanolet. 



DEGREES OF COMPARISON. 



When two things are compared, the one is equal, inferior, or 

 superior to the other. Hence there are three sorts of com- 

 parison ; that of equality, inferiority, and superiority. Thru we 

 may say, John is as happy as James ; John is less happy than 

 James ; or, John is more happy than James. These adjectives 

 are all properly in the comparative degree. 



The comparative of equality is formed by placing tan (as, so) 

 before the adjective, and como (as) after it ; as, 

 El Judio es tan rico como el The Jew it as rich as the French- 



Frances, man. 



Sometimes tan is omitted, and como only used ; as, 

 Juan es fuerte como un leon, John is strong as a lion. 



Cual (qual) is sometimes found instead of como. Tan used 

 before an adjective, without como, means so; as, ton grande, to 

 great. 



The comparative of inferiority is formed by placing rn^not 

 (less) before, and que (than) after the adjective ; as, 

 El Judio es mcnos rico que el The Jew it less rich than (Ju 



Frances, Frenchman. 



Tho comparative of superiority is formed by placing mat 

 (more) before, and que (than) after the adjective ; as, 



Mi inadre es mas rica quo la reina, My mother is more rich (richer) 



than th queen. 



Mayor, greater ; mejor, better ; and menor, Zess, are already 

 in the comparative degree, and do not require mas before them ; 

 as, 

 Los reyes son mayores que los The kings are greater than the 



lores, lords. 



The superlative degree of the adjective expresses the quality 

 in a very high or very low, or in the highest or lowest state. 

 Hence there are two sorts of superlatives, the absolute and the 

 relative. Thus we may say, London is a very large city ; or, 

 London is the largest city in England. 



The superlative absolute is formed either by placing muy 

 (very) before the adjective, or by affixing the letters isimo to 

 the simple form of the adjective ; as, 



U'til, useful ; muy util, or utilisimo, very useful, or most useful. 



If the adjective ends with a vowel, this vowel is dropped when 

 isimo is affixed ; as, grande, great ; grandisimo, or muy grande, 

 very great ; alto, high ; altisimo, or muy a.to. 



Adjectives that end with ble, co t go, and z, change these 

 letters respectively into oil, qu, gu, and c, before the suffix 

 {sinio ; as, noble, noble ; nobilisimo, very noble ; seco, dry ; 

 sequisimo, very dry ; largo, large ; larguisimo, very large; 

 f eraz, fruitful ; foracisimo, very fruitful ; or. inuy noble, muy 

 seco, muy largo, muy foraz. 



KEY TO EXERCISES IN LESSON IN SPANISH. U. 



EXERCISE 1. 



1. The judge. 2. The physician. 3. The (female) servant. 4. The 

 American's sister. 5. A man-servant of the judge. 6. A daughter of 

 the physician. 7. The future. 8. To tho soul of the mistress. f>. The 



