Dic_06

(fish, fish or fishes); cruz , cruces (cross, crosses). If they end in y preceded by a vowel, add es : ley , leyes (law, laws). 5. Words of more than one syllable ending in s or x do not change in their plural form: el lunes , los lunes (Monday, Mondays); la crisis , las crisis (crisis, crises); el tórax , los tórax (thorax, thoraces). However, remember that if the last syllable is stressed, es must be added: el autobús , los autobuses (bus, buses). Diminutives and augmentatives Diminutives are formed from nouns and adjectives —sometimes from adverbs— by adding certain suffixes that convey the ideas of smallness, niceness, affection, etc. Among the many suffixes used in Spanish (all having their corresponding feminine and plural forms) the following are some of the most commonly used: -ito, -cito, -ecito, -ececito niñito (little child); avecita (little bird); viejecito (little old man); pececito (little fish) -illo, -cillo, -ecillo jardinillo , jardincillo (little garden); geniecillo (little genius) -ico, -cico, -ecico gatico (kitten); puentecico (little bridge) -uelo, -zuelo, -ezuelo ladronzuelo (petty thief); escritorzuelo (bad writer); vejezuelo (little old man) -ajo, -ejo, -ijo latinajo (pig Latin); lagartija (small lizard); animalejo (worthless animal) -aco libraco (worthless book) -azo cabezazo (headbutt); portazo (door bang, door slam) II. THE ADJECTIVE The gender of adjectives 1. Adjectives ending in o have a form ending in a for the feminine: bueno , buena (good); divertido , divertida (fun). 2. Adjectives ending in -ón , -án , -or usually have a feminine form ending in a : holgazán , holgazana (idle); juguetón , juguetona (playful); traidor , traidora (traitor). 3. Nationalities ending in a consonant add a to form the feminine: francés , francesa (French); español , española (Spanish). Note: Nationalities are not capitalized in Spanish. 4. All other adjectives have but one form for both genders. They may end in a , e , i or in any of the consonants n , l , r , s , z : belga (Belgian); dulce (sweet); baladí (trifling); común (common); popular (popular). III. THE VERB Regular verbs 1. There are three types of regular verbs: First conjugation verbs. They end in -ar : cantar , amar , contestar , bailar Second conjugation verbs. They end in -er : comer , correr , temer , aprender Third conjugation verbs. They end in -ir : vivir , recibir , partir 2. To indicate number, tense and person, special endings are used. These are shown below in the model conjugations of cantar , comer and vivir . 3. The gerund (present participle) is formed by adding -ando to the stem of the first conjugation verbs ( cantando ) and -iendo to those of the second and third conjugation verbs ( comiendo , viviendo ). Uses of the indicative 1. The present indicative expresses present time, just as it does in English. It may also express future: SPANISH GRAMMAR