2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 50 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
The Puzzle
The purpose of this activity is to make you prove your ability to tackle the language on your own, figuring out by yourself some fundamental things about the
language. Working the puzzle will help you see that learning Spanish is a fascinating and delightful experience. In the process of working through these word
strings, you will learn quite a bit about how Spanish works, and you will discover
how to form many new sentences.
In this activity you
will:
➜ Identify word breaks in
Spanish.
Puzzle Part 1
Word Breaks 1
Below, you will find sentences in normal Spanish, but with no
spaces in between the words. Your first task is to figure out where the word breaks
are. Do this by comparing the Spanish phrases and their English translation.
Don’t worry about pronunciation. Mark with pencil or pen the word breaks that
you guess. Then do the following:
INSTRUCTIONS
• Compare the right vs. wrong columns.
La Quinceañera
In the United States, turning 16 has traditionally been a special time in a girl’s
life. We refer to this time as “Sweet 16,”
when a girl becomes a young lady and
is able to get her driver’s license. In Hispanic countries this occasion is know as
quinceañera (note the root word
quince) and takes place on a girl’s 15th
birthday with a special Mass and party
that signifies that the girl is becoming a
young lady. Traditionally, when a girl
turned 15, she would be called Señorita
(Miss) and was able to marry. The quinceañera party includes gifts and a new
dress for the young lady. Parents often
spend a great deal of money on these
special occasions and invite all the family
and friends to attend.
• Study the examples and explanations in the help section.
• Fill in the blanks.
INSTRUCTIONS
Listen to a reading of the puzzle sentences.
Spanish
English
1.
PabloyMaría
Pablo and Maria
2.
Pabloesunmuchacho.
Pablo is a boy.
3.
Maríaesunamuchacha.
Maria is a girl.
4.
Pablotienedoshermanas.
Pablo has two sisters.
5.
Maríatienetreshermanos.
Maria has three brothers.
6.
PabloeselhermanodeMaría.
Pablo is Maria’s brother.
7.
MaríaeslahermanadePablo.
Maria is Pablo’s sister.
8.
EllaesunadelashermanasdePablo.
She is one of Pablo’s sisters.
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 51 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
Spanish (cont.)
English
9.
LamadreyelpadredePabloyMaría.
The mother and the father of Pablo
and Maria.
10.
LashermanasyloshermanosdePablo.
The sisters and the brothers of
Pablo.
Compare Right with Wrong
Compare the Spanish translations with their English equivalent.
Notice some common mistakes. Circle and correct all the mistakes in the Spanish phrases in the “wrong” column.
INSTRUCTIONS
English
Right
Wrong
one sister / one brother
una hermana / un hermano
un hermana / una hermano
the brothers / the sisters
los hermanos / las hermanas
las hermanos / los hermanas
Pablo is the brother.
Pablo es el hermano.
Pablo es la hermano.
Maria is the sister.
María es la hermana.
María es el hermana.
one of the sisters
una de las hermanas
una de los hermanas
Puzzle 1 Help Section
1.
In English, we use the word “the” in all cases. In Spanish, however, there are
different ways of saying “the”:
English
Spanish
the brother
el hermano
the sister
la hermana
the brothers
los hermanos
the sisters
las hermanas
INSTRUCTIONS
Similarly, “a brother,” “a sister,” is un hermano, una hermana in
Spanish.
2.
English has several ways to show possession: the father of the girl = the girl’s
father. Spanish lacks the ’s option, having only the one way: el padre de la
muchacha.
Personal Space in Hispanic Cultures
The personal space is much smaller in a
Hispanic country, and often you will
have someone talk to you nose to nose.
They may even touch your lapel or
sleeve as they talk to you.
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 52 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
Translation 1
INSTRUCTIONS
Fill in the translation equivalents. Write one word per line.
English
Spanish Translation
1.
a father
_____ _________________
2.
the father
_____ _________________
3.
a mother
_____ _________________
4.
the mother
_____ _________________
5.
a brother
_____ _________________
6.
the brother
_____ _________________
7.
the brothers
_____ _________________
8.
a boy
_____ _________________
9.
the boy
_____ _________________
10.
a girl
_____ _________________
11.
the girl
_____ _________________
12.
he has
_____ _________________
13.
she has
_____ _________________
14.
one of (the sisters)
_____ _____ _____ _________________
15.
a sister
_____ _________________
16.
the sister
_____ _________________
17.
the sisters
_____ _________________
18.
Pablo’s / of Pablo
_____ _________________
19.
Maria’s / of Maria
_____ _________________
Puzzle Part 2
Word Breaks 2
INSTRUCTIONS
Continue as before, marking the word breaks and figuring out the
patterns.
Spanish
English
1.
Estemuchachoesalto…muyalto.
This boy is tall…very tall.
2.
Elotronoestanalto.
The other is not so tall.
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 53 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
Spanish (cont.)
English
3.
Esteesrico;eltienemuchodinero.
This one is rich; he has much
money.
4.
Elotronoesrico;elnotienedinero.
The other one is not rich; he has no
money.
5.
Estahermananoesrica.
This sister is not rich.
6.
Peroellaesmuybonita.
But she is very pretty.
7.
Esa (laotrahermana) noestanbonita.
That one (the other sister) is not so
pretty.
8.
Peroellatienemásencanto.
But she has more charm.
Puzzle 2 Help Section
1.
Many adjectives have four forms:
• rich = rico, rica, ricos, ricas
• tall = alto, alta, altos, altas
Many adjectives (like “tall,” “rich”) have four forms in Spanish to match a single
form in English: the vowel “o,” as in rico and alto, indicates masculine; “a,” as in
rica and alta, indicates feminine. Adjectives are pluralized just like the nouns they
describe.
The ending of an adjective depends on the gender (masculine or feminine) and
number (singular or plural) of the noun that the adjective goes with. Spanish
adjectives agree with or reflect the gender and number of the noun they go with.
For example, if the noun is masculine and singular, like hermano, the adjective
will be masculine and singular. This also applies to masculine plural and feminine
singular and plural.
English
Spanish
The tall boy.
El muchacho alto.
The tall girl.
La muchacha alta.
The tall boys.
Los muchachos altos
The tall girls.
Las muchachas altas.
Which of the forms is selected depends on the gender (masculine or feminine)
and number (singular or plural) of the noun that the adjective goes with. Stated
in traditional terms, Spanish adjectives agree with or reflect the gender and number of the noun they modify.
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 54 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
2.
Negative words always precede the verb; they never follow as in English.
English
Spanish
Pablo is not rich.
Pablo no es rico.
Compare Right with Wrong
Compare the Spanish translations with their English equivalent.
Circle and correct all the mistakes in the Spanish phrases in the “wrong” column.
INSTRUCTIONS
English
Right
Wrong
this boy
este muchacho
esta muchacho
this girl
esta muchacha
este muchacha
this tall girl
esta muchacha alta
esta muchacha alto
The brother is rich.
El hermano es rico.
El hermano es rica.
The sister is not so rich.
La hermana no es tan rica. La hermana no es tan rico.
The boy is not tall.
El muchacho no es alto.
La hermana es no alto.
Translation 2
INSTRUCTIONS
Translate the following. Leave space between words you have
identified.
English
Spanish Translation
1.
this girl
_____ _________________
2.
She is tall and rich
_____ _________________
3.
He is tall and rich.
_____ _________________
4.
Pablo’s money
_____ _________________
5.
that boy
_____ _________________
6.
He is not very rich.
_____ _________________
7.
She is not so tall.
_____ _________________
8.
He has much money.
_____ _________________
Puzzle Part 3
Word Breaks 3
INSTRUCTIONS
patterns.
Continue as before, marking the word breaks and figuring out the
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 55 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
Spanish
English
1.
Estaserpiente. Esapaloma.
This snake. That dove.
2.
Estasserpientesyesaspalomas.
These snakes and those doves.
3.
Unaserpiente. Laserpiente. Laotraserpiente.
A snake. The snake. The other
snake.
4.
Unasserpientes. Lasotrasserpientes.
Some snakes. The other snakes.
5.
Laspalomas. Unasotraspalomas.
The doves. Some other doves.
6.
Unasserpientesduermenmucho.
Some snakes sleep a lot.
7.
Unasserpientesnoduermen.
Some snakes don’t sleep.
8.
Estapalomaduerme;esaserpientecome.
This dove sleeps; that snake eats.
9.
Estaspalomasduermen;esasserpientesco These doves sleep; those snakes eat.
men.
10.
Cuandolasotraspalomasduermen…
When the other doves sleep…
11.
Unaserpientelasataca.
A snake attacks them.
12.
Silaserpienteduerme,laspalomaslaataca
n.
If the snake sleeps, the doves attack
it.
13.
Perosilapalomamuerelaserpientevive.
But if the dove dies the snake lives.
14.
Laserpientecomelapaloma.
The snake eats the dove.
15.
Perolaspalomasnocomenlaserpiente.
But the doves don’t eat the snake.
16.
Laspalomaslaatacanperonolacomen.
The doves attack it but they don’t
eat it.
17.
Laspalomaslasatacanperonolascomen.
The doves attack them but they
don’t eat them.
Compare Right with Wrong
Compare the Spanish translations with their English equivalent.
Circle and correct all the mistakes in the Spanish phrases in the “wrong” column.
INSTRUCTIONS
English
Right
Wrong
these snakes
estas serpientes
esta serpientes
the snakes
las serpientes
la serpientes
some snakes
unas serpientes
una serpientes
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 56 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
English (cont.)
Right
Wrong
The dove eats.
La paloma come.
La paloma comen.
The doves eat.
Las palomas comen.
Las palomas come.
The snake hears the
dove.
La serpiente oye la
paloma.
La serpiente la paloma
oye.
The snake hears it.
La serpiente la oye.
La serpiente oye la.
Puzzle 3 Help Section
1.
Ordering of subject, verb, and object.
The normal order of sentence parts in Spanish is the same as in English:
Subject
Verb
Object
The snake
hears
the doves.
La serpiente
oye
las palomas.
However, to say “the snake hears them” (where the object is a pronoun), the
Spanish sentence order changes to:
Subject
Object
Verb
The snake
them
hears.
La serpiente
las
oye.
2.
Verb forms change with singular and with plural subject.
Singular
Plural
The snake eats.
The snakes eat.
La serpiente come.
Las serpientes comen.
3.
Negative words go before the verb and before the object.
Singular
Plural
This snake attacks doves.
Esta serpiente ataca palomas.
That snake doesn’t attack doves.
Esa serpiente no ataca palomas.
This snake attacks them.
Esta serpiente las ataca.
That snake doesn’t attack them.
Esa serpiente no las ataca.
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 57 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
Verb Practice
INSTRUCTIONS
Give the Spanish verb form that goes with the subject.
English Subject
Spanish Verb
ex.
It sleeps
duerme
............................................................................
1.
It eats
2.
It hears
3.
It attacks
ex.
It doesn’t sleep
4.
It doesn’t eat
5.
It doesn’t hear
6.
It doesn’t attack
ex.
They sleep
7.
They eat
8.
They hear
9.
They attack
ex.
They don’t sleep
10.
They don’t eat
11.
They don’t hear
12.
They don’t attack
ex.
It eats it
13.
It hears it
14.
It attacks it
ex.
It doesn’t eat it
15.
It doesn’t hear it
16.
It doesn’t attack it
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
no
duerme
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
duermen
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
no
duermen
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
la
come
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
no
la come
............................................................................
............................................................................
............................................................................
2005 Sp Ult Year 1.book Page 58 Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:25 PM
Are you getting a feel for Spanish word divisions? Challenge yourself by
listening to some Spanish television or radio. Don’t try to understand the
words. Just see if you can tell where the word breaks are.