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Spanish GrammarSpanish is a relatively inflected language, with a two-gender system and about fifty conjugated forms per verb, but no noun declension and limited pronominal declension. The Real Academia Espaola traditionally dictated the rules of the Spanish language, but since the 1960s its prestige has declined. Its decisions are taken as suggestions by the educated and ignored by the uneducated. This article first describes the most formal and standard rules that modern Spanish works by, and then goes on to detail deviations from these that one might encounter in local or colloquial varieties of the language, such as pienso de que... or la dije que.... Verbs Spanish verbs are covered in a specific article: Spanish verbs. Nouns Gender All Spanish nouns have one of two grammatical genders: masculine or feminine (mostly conventional, that is, arbitrarily assigned). Most adjectives and pronouns, and all articles and participles, indicate the gender of the noun they reference or modify. In a sentence like "Large tables are nicer", the Spanish equivalent, Las mesas grandes son ms bonitas, must use words according to the gender of the noun. The noun, mesa ("table"), is feminine in Spanish. Therefore, the article (i. e. the word for "the") must be feminine too, and so la instead of el, is required. However, mesas is plural here, so we need las rather than la. The two adjectives, whether next to the noun or after the verb, have to "agree" with the noun as well. Grande is a word which is invariable for gender, so it just takes a plural marker: grandes. Bonito is a word that can agree for both gender and number, so we say bonitas to go with mesas. A student of Spanish must keep in mind all these features when making sentences. Types of noun (masculine, vacillant, etc) Nouns can be grouped in the following categories: - Applied to persons and most domesticated animals:
- Declinable nouns. The feminine form adds a or replaces the final vowel by a. Examples: el profesor/la profesora, el presidente/la presidenta, el perro/la perra.
- Invariant nouns (in Spanish, sustantivos de gnero comn). The feminine form and the masculine form are identical: el artista/la artista, el testigo/la testigo, el estudiante/la estudiante.
- Nouns with a unique gramatical gender. The noun has a fixed gender, regardless of the sex of the person it describes: el personaje, la visita. A recent politically correct usage substitutes the plural inclusive masculine (amigos, "friends, male or of any gender") with the character @ (amig@s) in writing, or with the longer form (amigos y amigas, or amigas y amigos). @ appears as a blend of o and a. This usage is unpronounceable, and mostly restricted to informal internet-speak. In leftist graffiti and posters, @ can be substituted by the anarchist symbol (), that also seems to blend O and A.
- Applied to wild and some domesticated animals:
- Nouns where the two sexes of animals have different words to describe them: el toro/la vaca, el caballo/la yegua.
- Epicene nouns. The gender of the noun is fixed and sex is indicated by macho (male) or hembra (female). Examples: la jirafa macho, la jirafa hembra, el rinoceronte macho, el rinoceronte hembra.
- Applied to things:
- Masculine or inclusive: el pan.
- Feminine or exclusive: la leche.
- Vacillant (called sustantivos ambiguos in Spanish). Either gender is acceptable: Internet is an example of this. Speakers hesitate between making it masculine like other loanwords from English, or making it feminine to agree with red, "net". Linde ("boundary") and testuz ("animal's forehead") can be either gender. Azcar is probably the quirkiest example of such nouns. It can be masculine with el, feminine with el (bizarrely) or feminine with la. The determiner seems to go in the masculine in standard use: el, este, ese, tanto. Any adjectives agreeing with it are usually masculine in Spain and feminine in Latin America: el azcar moreno o blanco / el azcar negra o rubia. Mar is a special case. It is normally masculine, but in poetry and sailors' speech it is feminine. Arte is masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural, though it can be feminine in the singular when it means "art-form" and masculine in the plural in the expression los artes de pesca, "fishing gear".
- In some cases the same word can take two genders with a different meaning for each. In that case it is better to say that there are two discrete words. El capital = "funds"; la capital = "capital city".
(Note: Some nouns ending in -e that refer to persons are declinable, e.g., presidente/a, whereas others are invariant, e. g., estudiante. More often than not, nouns that refer to positions that are traditionally held by men are declinable.) Determining gender from endings Nouns ending in -o are masculine, with the only notable exception of the word mano ("hand"); -a is typically feminine; other vowels and consonants are more often than not masculine, but many are feminine, particularly those referring to women (la madre) or ending in -cin, -dad, -ez (la nacin, la soledad, la vejez). A small set of words of Greek origin and ending in -ma are masculine: problema "problem", lema "lemma, motto", tema "theme, topic", sistema "system", telegrama "telegram", etc. Words taken from foreign languages may: - Take the gender they have in that language, with neuter taken to be the same as masculine (so English nouns are made masculine)
- Take the gender it seems to be (e.g. la Coca-Cola because it ends in -a)
- Take the gender of the closest-related Spanish word (e.g. la Guinness because of la cerveza)
Gender of proper nouns (names) Names of people People's names agree with the sex of the person, even if they appear to be the opposite: - Chema es guapo
- Amparo es guapa
Names of settlements Usage for places varies. You can choose between making them: - Feminine if they end in -a, otherwise masculine:
- ''la Barcelona de Gaud''
- ''el Londres de Dickens''
- Agree with the underlying noun el pueblo or la ciudad
- Nuev'a' York (city)
- ''la antigua Cartago'' (city)
- Fraga es peque'o' (village/small town)
- Always masculine: (this usage may seem wrong to some speakers)
- Barcelona no es peque'o'
- Londres no es peque'o'
With examples like New York, the Nueva is a fixed part of the name and so cannot be made masculine, but New Mexico is translated as Nuevo Mxico and considered masculine, since Mxico is a masculine noun. Rivers Rivers are masculine because of the underlying masculine noun ro. The ancient Roman belief that rivers (amnes) were male gods may also influence this. Locally, a few rivers may be feminine, but the masculine is always safe and correct. - el de la Plata = "The River Plate" (literally "the River of Silver")
- el ro Tmesis = "The River Thames"
- el ro Tajo = "The River Tagus"
- el ro Colorado = "The Colorado River" (literally "the Red River")
- el ro Cinca / la Cinca = "The River Cinca" (in the Aragonese Pyrenees)
Diminutives and suffixes Spanish nouns can be made by adding a very productive set of suffixes to existing nouns and adjectives. This usually just slightly modifies the meaning, but sometimes it creates something new entirely. The most common subset of such suffixes are the diminutives, which convey the idea of smallness, delicateness, etc. (also for endearing terms). The most common diminutive in Spanish is -it-. It is added to the root of the noun, and in actual usage it takes the proper agreement for gender and number. - planta → plantita ("plant" → "little plant")
- vaso → vasito ("glass" → "little glass")
- nio → niito ("small boy" → "little tiny boy")
When the word does not end in a vowel, -it- becomes -cit- if the word ends in -n. Agreement marks are added to it according to the gender and number: - botn → botoncito
- Carmen → Carmencita
When the base word ends in z, an epenthetic e is inserted (notice the orthographic change): pez → pececito. There is no fixed when the base ends in other consonants: azcar → azuqutar or azuquita. Local flavour The choice of diminutive is often a mark of regional dialects and influence of coexistent Romance languages. Educated speakers who would use -ito or no diminutive at all in more formal speech may use local forms when they want a friendlier or more colourful way of expressing themselves, sometimes borrowing another region's diminutive. So, instead of the standard -ito, you could find: In fossilised forms, these can be found in standard words, such as burro → borrico, Venecia → Venezuela, etc. Sometimes different suffixes are used for variety when more than one is used at once: - chico → chiquito → chiquitn
- Other suffixes
-
As well as being an Andalusian (especially Seville) alternative to -ito, the suffix -illo is also a special diminutive with a nuance of "a funny sort of...". It is also used to create new nouns: - palo "stick" → palillo "toothpick"
- bolso "handbag" → bolsillo "pocket"
- guerra "war" → guerrilla "hit-and-run warfare"
An example of the same phenomenon, but using an augmentative, is -n: - soltero "bachelor" → soltern "confirmed bachelor"
- soltera "single woman" → solterona "spinster"
Number There are two grammatical numbers: singular and plural. Plural is indicated adding "s" or "es". - The inclusive (or masculine) gender includes both sexes in the plural: los nios = the children or the boys.
- The feminine gender is exclusive in the plural: las nias = the little girls.
Masculine gender is indicated in the plural with phrases such as los nios varones. Feminists (and their satirists) try to reverse the pattern with phrases such as las personas humanas jvenes varones = the young male human people. Adjectives The feminine gender for most adjectives is formed in the same way as it is for declinable nouns, although most adjectives ending in a consonant or "e" remain unchanged: hombre superior, mujer superior (compare with el superior/la superiora); hombre importante, mujer importante (compare with el jefe, la jefa). The superlative Instead of putting muy, "very" before an adjective, one can use a special form called the superlative to intensify an idea. This consists of the suffix -simo. - Regular forms:
-
- muy rpido → rapidsimo
- muy guapas → guapsimas
- muy rica → riqusima
- muy lento → lentsimo
- muy duro → dursimo
- Irregular forms:
-
- muy antiguo → antiqusimo
- muy cursi → cursilsimo
- muy inferior → nfimo
- muy joven → jovencsimo
- muy superior → supremo
- muy bueno → ptimo
- muy malo → psimo
- muy grande → mximo *
- muy pequeo → mnimo *
(*) These two forms keep the original meaning of the superlative: not "very" but "the most". - Forms that are irregular in high literary style, and regular normally:
-
- muy amigo → amicsimo / amigusimo
- muy spero → asprrimo / aspersimo
- muy benvolo → benevolentsimo / not used
- muy clebre → celebrrimo / not used
- muy cruel → crudelsimo / cruelsimo
- muy difcil → dificlimo / dificilsimo
- muy fcil → faclimo / facilsimo
- muy fiel → fidelsimo / fielsimo
- muy fro → frigidsimo / frisimo
- muy ntegro → integrrimo / integrsimo
- muy libre → librrimo / librsimo (familiar)
- muy magnfico → magnificentsimo / not used
- muy msero → misrrimo / not used
- muy munfico → munificentsimo / not used
- muy pobre → pauprrimo / pobrsimo
- muy sabio → sapientsimo / not used
- muy sagrado → sacratsimo / not used
- Forms that are not felt a superlative anymore
-
- muy agrio ("very bitter") → acrrimo ("strong, zealous, fanatic")
Applying -simo to nouns is not frequent, but there is the famous case of Generalsimo. As in English and other languages influenced by it, a teenspeak superlative can be formed by the prefix super-, or sometimes hiper-, ultra-, re- or requete-. They can also be written as adverbs separate from the word. - Superlargo or sper largo = "super-long", "way long"
- Requeteguay = "totally cool"
Determiners Demonstrative determiners Spanish has three levels of demonstrative pronouns (see deixis): - Closest to the speaker (proximal): este, esta, estos, estas
- Closest to the hearer (distal): ese, esa, esos, esas
- Far from both (distal): aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas
English also used to have a three-way system like this: this hill (here), that hill (there) or yon hill (yonder) — in Spanish, esta colina, esa colina, aquella colina. English lost the third level, so that the that, there series covers the ground of yon, yonder. Este refers to something near the speaker (the first person). Ese refers to something nearer the hearer (the second person). Aquel refers to something away from both the speaker and the hearer. A similar system is found in other Romance languages, as well as in Japanese. Articles Definite articles The definite article in Spanish, corresponding to "the", is el. It agrees for gender and number as follows: - ''el hombre'' = "the man"
- ''los hombres'' = "the men"
- ''la mujer'' = "the woman"
- ''las mujeres'' = "the women"
The usually masculine form el is used instead of la before feminine nouns beginning with a stressed a sound: - ''el guila (pequea)''
- ''el agua (fresca)''
- ''el hacha (afilada)''
Exceptions: la is used despite this when use of el would imply a man: - ''la crata (because el crata'' would be a male anarchist)
- ''la rabe (because el rabe'' would be a male Arab, or the Arabic language)
Azcar is a very special case. Its a is unstressed, and yet it usually takes el even when feminine: - el azcar refinada (el azcar refinado and la azcar refinada are also possible)
N.B.: this feminine el does not have the same origin as the masculine el. The latter is from the Old Castilian ele, whereas the former is from ela, just as la is. This historic finesse is lost to those who use unstandard forms like los guilas. There is also a "neuter article", used before adjectives: - ''lo bueno'' = "what is good, the good stuff"
- ''lo importante'' = "the important thing"
- ''lo indefinible'' = "the indefinable"
- ''lo desconocido'' = "the unknown"
Indefinite articles - ''un hombre'' = "a man"
- ''una mujer'' = "a woman"
- ''unos hombres'' = "some men"
- ''unas mujeres'' = "some women"
Near synonyms of unos include: unos cuantos, algunos and unos pocos. As in English, the plural indefinite article is not always required. - Hay unas cosas en la mesa = "There are some things on the table"
Possessive determiners These are often known as possessive or genitive determiners. They are used before the noun they possess (and before the rest of the whole noun phrase, for example when an adjective precedes the noun). They agree in number with the noun, and sometimes in gender too. - 1st person singular (yo): mi(s)
- 2nd person singular (t, vos): tu(s)
- 3rd person singular (l, ella): su(s)
- 1st person plural (nosotros/as): nuestro/a(s)
- 2nd person plural, in Spain (vosotros/as): vuestro/a(s)
- 3rd person plural (ellos/as): su(s)
Note the following: - There is no distinction in number for the third person possessives.
- The second person singular possessive is the same (tu) regardless of whether the dialect in question uses t or vos.
- The possessive vuestro corresponds to vosotros, and as such it is only used in Spain. Elsewhere the second person pronoun is ustedes and there is no simple possessive — instead the phrase de ustedes is used (treating ustedes the same as a common noun).
Pronouns Personal pronouns - Subject ("Nominative case")
-
- yo, t, l/ella, nosotros/nosotras, vosotros/vosotras, ellos/ellas
- Direct object ("Accusative case")
-
- me, te, lo/le/la/se, nos, os, los/las/se
- Indirect object ("Dative case")
-
- me, te, le/se, nos, os, les/se
- Object of a preposition
-
- m, ti, l/ella/s, nosotros/nosotras, vosotros/vosotras, ellos/ellas/s
- Possessive ("Genitive case")
-
- el mo / la ma / los mos / las mas
- el tuyo / la tuya / los tuyos / las tuyas,
- el suyo / la suya / los suyos / las suyas
- el nuestro / la nuestra / los nuestros / las nuestras
- el vuestro / la vuestra / los vuestros / las vuestras
- el suyo / la suya / los suyos / las suyas
Direct-object le/les The pronouns le (singular) and les (plural) are used to replace the indirect object of a sentence. As an exception, when the direct object is also replaced by a pronoun (lo/los, la/las) the indirect object is replaced by the pronoun se. - Le di el libro. = "I gave the book to her/him."
- Se lo di. = "I gave it to her/him."
As a rule, the direct object must be replaced by the pronouns lo/los (masculine) or la/las (feminine). However, the use of le for replacing the direct object is allowed when the direct object is an animate of the masculine gender (i. e. usually a male person). This usage is typical of Spain, not of most other Spanish-speaking countries. Many speakers will use le also with a woman, but this is considered to be incorrect (see lesmo). Demonstrative pronouns - ste, sta, esto, stos, stas
- se, sa, eso, sos, sas
- aqul, aqulla, aquello, aqullos, aqullas
N.B.: According to a decision of the Real Academia from the 1960s, the accents on these forms are only to be used when necessary to avoid ambiguity with the demonstrative determiners. However, the normal educated standard is still as above. Note also that there is never an accent on the neuter forms esto, eso and aquello. Relative pronouns The main relative pronoun in Spanish que, from the Latin quid. Others include el cual, quien and donde. Que Que covers "that", "which", "who", "whom" and the null pronoun in their functions of subject and direct-object relative pronouns. - La carta que te envi era larga = "The letter that I sent you was long" (defining direct object)
- La carta, que te envi, era larga = "The letter, which I did send you, was long" (non-defining direct object)
- La gente que no sabe leer ni escribir se llama analfabeta = "People who can't read or write are called illiterate" (defining subject)
- Esa persona, que conozco yo muy bien, no es de fiar = "That person, whom I know very well, is not to be trusted"
El que When the relative pronoun is the object of a preposition, the definite article is added to que, and this agrees for number and gender, giving us el que, la que, los que, las que and the neuter lo que. Note that in English we have two options: the preposition can go to the end of the sentence, or we can put it right before the relative pronoun "which" or "whom". - Ella es la persona a la que le di el dinero = "She's the person that/who/whom I gave the money to" / "She's the person to whom I gave the money"
- Es el camino por el que caminabais = "It's the path that you were all walking along" / "It's the path along which you were all walking"
In some people's style of speaking, this definite article may be omitted after a, con and de, particularly when the antecedent is abstract or neuter: - La aspereza con la que la trataba = "The harshness with which he treated her"
- No tengo nada en lo que creer = "I haven't got anything to believe in" / "I have nothing in which to believe"
After en, the article tends to be omitted if precise spatial location is not intended. - Lo hiciste de la misma forma en que lo hizo l = "You did it in the same way which he did it" (note also how "in" with the word forma is translated as de when used directly, but then changes to en when used with the relative pronoun)
- La casa en que vivo = "The house I live in" (as opposed to the following:)
- La casa en la que estoy encerrado = "The house inside which I am trapped"
El cual The pronoun el cual can replace el que. It is generally more emphatic and formal than el que. Note than it always includes the article. It derives from the Latin qualis. It has the following forms: el cual, la cual, los cuales, las cuales and the neuter lo cual. For subjects & direct objects It can be used as a formal, emphatic replacement for que in non-defining clauses, for either subjects or direct objects. The fact that it agrees for gender and number can make it clearer what it refers to. The fact that it cannot be used for defining clauses also makes it clear that a defining clause is not intended. - Los nios y sus madres, las cuales eran de Valencia, me impresionaron = "The children and their mothers, who were from Valencia, impressed me" (los cuales would have referred to the children too, and not just their mothers)
When used for direct objects, "personal a" is required if the antecedent is human. - Esa persona, a la cual conozco yo muy bien, no es de fiar = "That person, whom I know very well, is not to be trusted"
As the object of a preposition It can be used as a formal, emphatic replacement for el que, usually in non-defining clauses, as the object of a preposition (including a representing the indirect object). There are three main situations in which this happens. Firstly, it can be purely a matter of high style. This is used sparingly in Spanish, and so foreigners should avoid over-using it. - Es el asunto al cual se refera Vd. = "It is the matter to which you were referring"
In more everyday style, this might be phrased as: - Es el asunto al que te referas = "It's the matter you were referring to"
Secondly, el cual is often preferred after propositions of more than syllable (para, contra, entre, mediante...) and after prepositional phrases (a pesar de, debajo de, a causa de, frente a, en virtud de, gracias a, por consecuencia de...). - Un rgimen bajo el cual es imposible vivir = "A rgime under which it is impossible to live"
- Estas clusulas, sin perjuicio de las cuales... = "These clauses, notwithstanding which..."
Thirdly, el cual is preferred when it is separated from its antecedent by intervening words. The more words that intervene, the more the use of el cual is practically obligatory. - Es un billete con el que se puede viajar ... pero por el cual se paga slo 2 = "It is a ticket that you can travel with ... but for which you pay just 2"
Quien The pronoun quien comes from the Latin quem, "whom", i.e. the accusative of qui, "who". It too can replace el que in certain circumstances. Like the English pronouns "who" and "whom", it can only be used to refer to people. It is invariable for gender, and was originally invariable for number. However, by analogy with other words, the form quienes was invented. Quien as a plural form survives as an archaism which is now considered non-standard. For subjects It can represent a subject. In this case it is rather formal and is largely restricted to non-defining clauses. Unlike el cual, it does not indicate gender, but it does indicate number, and also specifies that a person is referred to. - Los nios con sus mochilas, quienes eran de Valencia, me impresionaron = "The children with their rucksacks, who were from Valencia, impressed me" (The use of quienes makes it clear that los nios is referred to. Que could refer to the rucksacks, the children, or both. Los cuales would refer to either the children or both. Las cuales would refer only to the rucksacks.
For direct objects "Personal a" is required for direct objects because quien always refers to people. - Esa persona, a quien conozco yo muy bien, no es de fiar = "That person, whom I know very well, is not to be trusted" (formal; que would be more usual)
As the object of a preposition Quien is particularly common as the object of a proposition when the clause is non-defining, but is also possible in defining clauses. - Ella es la persona a quien le di el dinero = "She's the person to whom I gave the money"
- Jos, gracias a quien tengo el dinero, es muy generoso = "Jos, thanks to whom I have the money, is very generous"
Donde, adonde, como & cuando Location & movement Donde can be used instead of other relative pronouns when location is referred to. Adonde is a variant that can be used when motion to the location is intended. - El lugar en que / en el que / en el cual / donde estoy = "The place where I am" / "The place that I'm in"
- Voy alugar donde est l = Voy al lugar en el que est l = "I'm going the place where he is"
- Ir lugar adonde me lleven = Ir al lugar al que me lleven = "I'll go wherever they take me" / "I'll go to whatever place they take me to"
Manner Como can be used instead of other relative pronouns when manner is referred to. - La forma/manera en que / en la que / como reaccionasteis = "The way that / in which / how you all reacted" (En que is the most common and natural, like "that" or the null pronoun in English; but como is possible, as "how" is in English.)
Note that for some reason mismo tends to require que: - Lo dijo del mismo modo que lo dije yo = "She said it the same way that I did"
Time Cuando tends to replace the use of other relative pronouns when time is referred to, almost always in non-defining clauses. - Non-defining:
-
- En agosto, cuando la gente tiene vacaciones, la ciudad estar vaca = "In August, when people have their holidays, the town will be empty"
- Defining:
-
- Slo salgo los das en que no trabajo = "I only go out the days I'm not working"
Note that just que, or at the most en que, is normal with defining clauses referring to time. En el que and cuando are rarer. Cuyo Note on personal a in relative clauses Note on relative and interrogative pronouns Reflexive pronouns and impersonal se Reflexive meaning Reciprocal meaning Intransitive/passive/impersonal meaning Prepositions List of common prepositions The full list of Spanish prepositions is traditionally recited as follows: a, ante, bajo, cabe, con, contra, de, desde, durante, en, entre, hacia, hasta, mediante, para, por, segn, sin, so, sobre, tras. Two of the above prepositions (cabe and so) are arcaic and never heard in the spoken language. Durante ("during") and mediante ("by means of") are more or less restricted to formal use, and hacia ("towards") is often replaced by shorter a (with the meaning of "to"). Bajo, sobre, tras may be found in written language but are rare in speaking. Usually they are replaced with phrases (compound prepositions): abajo de or debajo de, arriba de or encima de, detrs de or atrs de. Like English, Spanish has an assortment of such replacements for most prepositions (por medio de instead of mediante, de acuerdo con for segn, en direccin a for hacia, etc.). Personal a Like in English, in Spanish the direct object of a sentence usually gets no preposition. The only exception to this is when the direct object is a person, in wich case it gets the preposition a. - Veo el rbol. = I see the tree.
- Veo a Mara. = I see Mara.
As an extension of this rule, when something is perceived to share some human qualities it may also get the preposition a. Pets are very likely to get it, while other animals won't. Organizations made out of people such as political parties or associations will also get it. - Veo al perro. = I see the dog.
- Demand a la empresa. = He sued the company.
Contrasting por and para The prepositions por and para cause much confusion for English speakers, as they both translate for in English. According to Cassell's Contemporary Spanish, in general, por indicates cause or reason (looks backwards), while para indicates purpose or destination (looks forwards). Common instances of para and por are indicated below. para - Purpose (intended for)
- Destination (towards)
- Until, by (a certain time)
por - Refers to time or place in a general sense
- In exchange for, in place of
- Per (day, hour, mile, etc.)
- By means of
- Cause (on account of)
- For the sake or benefit of
- In favor of
Miscellaneous Cleft sentences Dialectal variations Forms of address The use of usted and ustedes as a polite form of address is fairly universal. However, there are variations in informal address. Ustedes replaces vosotros in much of Andalusia, the Canary Islands and Latin America, except in the most liturgical or poetic of styles. In some parts of Andalusia, the pronoun ustedes is used with the standard vosotros endings. Depending on the region, Latin Americans may also replace the singular t with usted or vos. The choice of pronoun is a tricky issue and can even vary from village to village. Travellers are often advised to play it safe and call everyone usted. A feature of the speech of the Dominican Republic and other areas where syllable-final /s/ is completely silent is that there is no audible difference between the second and third person singular form of the verb. This leads to redundant pronoun use, for example, the tagging on of t ves? (pronounced tuve) to the ends of sentences, where other speakers would say ves?. Voseo Vos was used in medieval Castilian as a polite form, like the French vous and the Italian voi, and it used the same forms as vosotros. This gave three levels of formality: - T quieres
- Vos queris (originally queredes)
- Vuestra merced quiere (today usted)
Whereas vos was lost in standard Spanish, some dialects lost t, and began using vos as the informal pronoun. The exact connotations of the use of vos depend on the exact dialect. In most places it is associated with low socio-economic levels. In Argentina, however, it is used by everyone and is fully accepted. Argentinian voseo uses the pronoun vos for t, but maintains te as an object pronoun and tu and tuyo as possessives. Verb forms are half-way between t and vosotros forms, as exemplified by vos habls, vos tems and vos parts. Other combinations are possible. Chileans may use standard vosotros endings for vos. Vosotros imperative: -ar for -ad Colloquially, the infinitive is used instead of the true imperative for vosotros. Not to be imitated by learners. - Venir! for Venid!
- Callaros! for Callaos!
- Iros! for Idos!
Superfluous -s on t form A centuries-old tendency in uneducated speech throughout the Spanish-speaking world is the addition of an -s to the second person singular of the preterite or simple past. For example, lo hicistes for lo hiciste; hablastes t for hablaste t. This is due to the fact that this is the only tense in which the t form does not end in an -s. This solecism removes this irregularity. Ladino has gone further with hablates. The imperfect subjunctive The two forms of the imperfect subjunctive are largely interchangeable. The use of one or the other is largely a matter of personal taste and dialect. Many speakers only use the -ra forms. Many only use the -ra forms in speech, but vary between the two in writing. Many, especially in Castile, may spontaneously use either, or even prefer the rarer -se forms. The gender of nouns Some nouns in Spanish can be either masculine or feminine, for example, Internet or azcar. Some dialects have their own gender quirks, giving apparently incorrect forms such as la esperma, el ndole, la aceite, la calor, la color, etc. References - A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish — ISBN 0-340-58390-8
- Diccionario esencial Santillana de la lengua espaola — ISBN 84-294-3415-1
- Manual de dialectologa hispnica — ISBN 84-344-8218-5
- Cassell's Contemporary Spanish — ISBN 0-02-595915-8
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