Unit 26 (Unidad 26) Interrogative and negative sentences (Las frases interrogativas y negativas) Level 1 1.1 Interrogative sentences (Frases interrogativas) 1.2 Use of ¿Verdad? (Uso de ¿Verdad?) 1.3 Negation (Negaci ´ on) 1.1 Interrogative sentences i A question is regularly formed in Spanish by placing the verb before its subject: singular plural ¿Hablo yo? Do I speak? ¿Hablamos nosotros/as? Do we speak? ¿Hablas t´u? Do you speak? ¿Habl´ais vosotros/as? Do you speak? ¿Habla ´el/ella/Ud. Does (s)he / do you speak? ¿Hablan ellos/ellas/Uds.? Do they/you speak? Examples ¿Habla Ud. espa˜nol? Do you speak Spanish? ¿Vas al cine? Do you go to the movies? ii Notice that Spanish speakers have the clever idea of warning you of a question in the making by requiring an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the sentence, as well as at the end. This also holds for exclamation points/marks: ¡H´ıjole! (M)/¡Jol´ın! / ¡Jolines! (only in Spain) = Jees! / Heavens above!, ¡Dios m´ıo! = Jees / Heavens above! (My God! is stronger in English than ¡Dios m´ıo! The same goes for the English Jesus! which is much stronger than ¡Jes ´us!, commonly used when someone sneezes = Bless you!) iii As a point of interest, this practice of having a question mark at the beginning of a question corresponds to the English of a few centuries ago, while the introduction of do as part of a question, a veritable headache for foreign learners of English, is comparatively modern. No construction like do exists in Spanish. The same goes for the other Romance languages. When an interrogative word is used, it begins the sentence, just as in English: ¿Qui´en quiere cenar ahora? Who wants to eat now? ¿Qu´e dices? What do you say? ¿Por qu´e canta ahora? Why’s she singing now? 238 26 Interrogative and negative sentences iv In the absence of an interrogative word, the verb may come first, although in speech the subject could very easily precede the verb. When the subject comes before the verb, there is a rise in the intonation at the end of the sentence: ¿Viene la chica ahora? Is the girl coming now? ¿La chica viene ahora? Is the girl coming now? ¿Arregla el carro el mec´anico? Does the mechanic repair the car? ¿El mec´anico arregla el carro? Does the mechanic repair the car? ¿Corrige los deberes la profesora? Does the teacher correct the homework? ¿La profesora corrige los deberes? Does the teacher correct the homework? Notice the word order in the second and third examples. In ¿Arregla el carro el mec ´ anico?,itisvery unlikely that mec ´ anico would precede carro,any more than profesora would precede deberes.However, if carro or deberes is qualified in any way, and that part of the sentence lengthened, these two words could come after the subject (see unit 29 on word order). 1.2 Use of ¿Verdad? Fortunately for English speakers, and unfortunately for Spanish speakers learning English, the all-purpose ¿verdad? covers approximately 200 English possibilities. So have sympathy with Spanish speakers of English. Or any foreigner tackling English for that matter. Examples Vasalteatro ¿verdad? You’re going to the theater, aren’t you? Es tarde ¿verdad? It’s late, isn’t it? Son colombianos ¿verdad? They’re Colombians, aren’t they? 1.3 Negation i The Spanish verb is negated by placing no in front of it: No veo la luna I can’t see the moon No va al partido He’s not going to the game No entienden el italiano They don’t understand Italian ii Other words which form a negative sentence are nadie (no one), nada (nothing), ninguno (none), nunca (never) and jam ´as (never). When these words follow the verb no precedes the verb: No ve a nadie She doesn’t see anyone No encontramos a nadie We don’t meet anyone No esperan nada de ti They don’t expect anything from you No veo nada aqu´ı I can’t see anything here No pasa nada It’s O.K., Don’t worry No muestra ning´un inter´es She shows no interest No voy nunca a Argentina Inever go to Argentina No nos visita jam´as She never visits us 239 ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH iii However, if nadie, nada, ninguno, nunca and jam ´as precede the verb, no is not used: Nadie lo sabe Nobody knows it Nadie sale a encontrarnos No one comes out to meet us Nada le satisface Nothing satisfies him Nada me falta I need nothing (i.e. nothing is lacking to me) Ninguna persona quiere ayudarnos No one wants to help us Nunca viene He never comes Nunca me llama He never calls me Jam´as trabajo de noche Inever work at night Exercises Level 1 i Find a question that fits the following replies Example Tengo veinte a˜nos > ¿Cu´antos a˜nos tienes / tiene Ud.? a VoyaM´exico este verano b Vamos al cine a las siete c Comen m´as tarde d Vanajugar (al) f´utbol esta ma˜nana (al in Spain, not in M) e Escribo con la computadora f Prefieren estas flores g Este libro cuesta cien pesos h Porque estoy cansado i Este chico es el alumno m´as listo j Estoy leyendo ii Change the following sentences into the negative. There may be more than one possibility. Example Anda por la calle > No/nunca anda por la calle a Ve oaalguien b Trabajan toda la semana c Estoy leyendo un libro d Entienden todo lo que digo e Vamos siempre a la alberca (M)/piscina el viernes f Todo el mundo cena aqu´ı esta noche iii Change the position of the second negative word so that all the negative expressions precede the verb. Example No he querido nunca visitar aquel museo > Nunca he querido visitar aquel museo a No ha venido nadie b No he visto nunca Las Barrancas del Cobre 240 26 Interrogative and negative sentences c No hemos estudiado nunca el japon´es d No me interesa nada e No me ha escrito ning´un banco iv Create questions with ¿verdad? to precede the following sentences. Example S´ı, es tarde > Es tarde, ¿verdad? a S´ı, vamos al teatro esta noche b S´ı, sale con toda la familia c No, no compramos verduras hoy d S´ı, me duele la espalda e S´ı, fuimos a Albuquerque / Nuevo M´exico el a ˜no pasado f No, mi mam´a vive en San Francisco v Paired activity (a and b) (a) Objective –Topractice use of the negative in sentences Method –Amakes a statement and B puts it in the negative Examples A: Voy al parque B: No voy al parque A: Veo a alguien B: No veo a nadie A: Tengo un libro B: No tengo ning´un libro (b) Objective –Topractice the use of the interrogative. (In fact, we have been practicing this all along with these paired activities, so it will be easy.) Method –Amakes ten statements and B converts them into questions Example A: Preparo la comida B: ¿Preparas la comida? A: Voy al estadio B: ¿Ad´onde vas? Level 2 2.1 Uses of no .ni .(ni)(Usos de no .ni .[ni]) 2.2 Uses of sino, no s ´olo ., and tampoco (Usos de .) 2.3 Uses of ni siquiera (Usos de .) 2.4 Order with no (Orden con no) 2.5 No with negation and repetition (No con negaci ´ on y repetici ´ on) 2.6 Miscellaneous features (Varios detalles) 2.7 Negative prefixes (Prefijos negativos) 2.8 Order with no and compound verbal forms (Posici ´ on / Ubicaci ´ on [M] de no con formas verbales compuestas) 241 ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH 2.1 Uses of no .ni .(ni) iNi .ni .istheequivalent of neither .nor .(ornot .either .or): No tengo ni pasteles ni caramelos Ihaven’t got cakes or candies No lo encontr´enieneldepartamento (M)/piso ni en el jard´ın I couldn’t find it either in the apartment or in the yard/garden No bebo ni fumo I neither drink nor smoke Nunca ri˜nes ni protestas Yo unever quarrel or protest No lo saben ni Celia ni Pablo Neither Celia nor Pablo know it ii No is also followed by ni in the following way when used with tener: No tengo ni idea Ihavenoidea / I haven’t a clue It also occurs in the idiomatic ¡ni hablar! used to reject a suggestion: “¿Vienes al cine?” “Ni hablar” “A re you coming to the movies?” “Nothing doing” iii Ni takes the place of o = or, after all negatives or clauses embodying a negative or restrictive idea: Apenas pod´ıa respirar ni moverse He could hardly breathe or move Sali´o sin decirme nada ni cerrar la puerta She went out without saying anything to me or closing the door 2.2 Uses of sino, no s ´ olo .andtampoco i Notice how sino combines with no = not .but, and no s ´olo = not only .but also: Hoy no es mi cumplea˜nos sino mi santo Today is not my birthday but my saint’s day No s´olo era buen cocinero sino tambi´en un fant´astico anfitri´on He wasn’t only a good cook but also a fantastic host ii Use of tampoco which is often the equivalent of either. Tampoco negates something in addition to a previous negation: Pepa no ha comido, Juan tampoco Pepa hasn’t eaten, Juan hasn’t either “No he visto ninguna pel´ıcula.” “Y la ´ultima de Cantinflas?” “Tampoco” “I haven’t seen a single movie.” “And the last one of Cantinflas?” “Not that one either” 2.3 Uses of ni siquiera Uses of ni siquiera = not even. It strengthens the negation of ni: No lo/le conozco (ni) siquiera de vista I don’t know him, not even by sight Se lo entregu´ey(ni) siquiera me dio las gracias Igaveittohim and he didn’t even thank me La ni˜na no sabe (ni) siquiera sumar Thechild doesn’t even know how to add up 242 26 Interrogative and negative sentences 2.4 Order with no With the exception of object personal pronouns, no word intervenes between the verb and the negative: Su proyecto no me parece rentable Her plan doesn’t seem viable to me No se lo he conseguido todav´ıa Ihaven’t obtained it for him/her yet Parecen distintos pero no lo son They look different but they aren’t 2.5 No with negation and repetition i No neutralizes any adjectives, adverbs or proposition of negative value, and is itself neutralized by repetition: detalles no importantes (see lower down) unimportant details No le fue permitido no asistir He was not allowed not to go No podemos no admitir su razonamiento We cannot but admit his reasoning ii There can be more than one set of negatives in a Spanish sentence. In the second example below there are four, and three in the first: Ella no me ha dicho nunca nada She has never told me anything No toleraba nunca ninguna intervenci´on de nadie He never tolerated any intervention from anyone The positive forms anything (algo) and anyone (alguien)inEnglish are not possible in these Spanish sentences. iii Note also the use of alguno which, when it occurs after the noun, has a negative connotation: No he visto a persona alguna en la calle Ihaven’t seen anyone in the street No tengo idea alguna sobre el asunto Ihavenoidea on the affair No le interesa sugerencia alguna He’s not interested in any suggestion 2.6 Miscellaneous features In verbal expressions at least, no does not give an exactly opposite meaning: Acabo de entender por qu´elohizo Ihave just understood why he did it No acabo de entender por qu´elohizo I fail to understand why he did it Dej´edefumar I stopped smoking No dej´edeseguir estudiando I didn’t fail to go on studying 2.7 Negative prefixes i Often an adjective or noun can be negated by using a negative prefix in- or des-: c´omodo–inc´omodo suitable–unsuitable conocido–desconocido known–unknown 243 ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH If such a ready-made word does not exist, a variety of negatives, no, nada and poco can be used. Sometimes, in the case of no, this can have a euphemistic effect: los no creyentes (los infieles) the unbelievers (non-believers) los no violentos (partidarios de la paz) those who are non-violent (peace supporters) fuerzas no identificadas unidentified forces ciudadanos no votantes non-voting citizens una costumbre nada frecuente a rare custom un empleo nada lucrativo a poorly paid job una idea nada convincente an unconvincing idea un profesor poco divertido a dull teacher un coche poco r´apido a slow car ii Note also the use of sin + infinitive: una cuesti´on sin resolver an unresolved question misterios sin aclarar unclarified mysteries La cena est´a sin hacer Theevening meal remains to be prepared iii Spanish has a number of other expressions which have the value of a negative and sometimes, but not always, require no before the verb: No dijo palabra She didn’t say a word sin decir nada a nadie without saying anything to anyone antes de hacer ning´un gesto before making a single gesture Es imposible contestar nada It’s impossible to answer anything En mi vida he visto tantas ara˜nas Ihaven’t seen so many spiders in my life En toda la noche he podido dormir Ihaven’t slept all night En todo el a˜no ha hecho tanto fr´ıo como hoy In the whole year it has not been so cold as today No veo ni gota I can’t see a thing No entiende ni gota de ingl´es He doesn’t understand any English at all 2.8 Order with no and compound verbal forms In the case of compound verbal forms with ser, estar and haber, no precedes the auxiliary: No he querido ir Ihaven’t wanted to go No est´an dispuestos a aceptar la oferta They aren’t ready to accept the offer El regalo no fue aceptado Thepresent was not accepted Finally, for any philosophers among you, the indefinite negative pronoun nada may also be construed as a noun = nothing(ness). Carmen Laforet’s novel Nada and Sartre’s monumental treatise (if you can face it) called in Spanish El ser y la nada (L’ ˆ Etre et len´eant / Being and Nothingness) illustrate this point. Exercises Level 2 i Pon las palabras de las siguientes frases en un orden adecuado. Dichas frases siguen una secuencia l ´ogica y conducen naturalmente al segundo ejercicio 244 26 Interrogative and negative sentences Ejemplo siquiera de lavarse sin sali´o casa > Sali´odecasa sin siquiera lavarse a toalla playa a * playeras/playera sin ni lleg´ola b aletas gafas / visor (M)anisin nadar empez´o c tabla la guantes sin ni subi´o windsurf a de se arn´es d del sin ba˜no zapatillas de traje agua ni sali´o e padre / pap´a(M) madre / mam´a(M)ninosusuprotest´oni f ponerse quiso ba˜no de no traje pantal´on ni corto ni g convencer dif´ıcil mal sino s´olo educado tambi´en era no de * Playeras = sneakers/trainers in Spain. Playera = T-shirt in M. ii Dadas las circunstancias referidas en las frases de arriba, y a la luz de ellas, llena los espacios (M) / rellena los blancos con una expresi ´on negativa. Ejemplo ( )hevisto tal espect´aculo > En mi vida / Nunca he visto tal espect´aculo a ( ) entiendo ( )elcomportamiento del ni ˜no ( )sumodo de hablar b Este chaval / jovencito (M)( ) tiene ( ) para cubrirse c ( )hevisto ( ) igual en la vida d ( )yotampoco e ¿( )lepuedes prestar ( )deropa? f Pero ( ) acepta ( )ayuda ( ) sugerencia g ( ) acabo de entender por que se comporta as´ı h ( ) dejes de decirle que es un mal educado por ( ) cubrirse i ( )hepodido ( ) hacerle entrar en raz´on bajo ( ) motivo j ¿( ) ser´ıa posible llamar a un polic´ıa? k S´ı, pero el polic´ıa dir´ıa que “( )esnada, y el chaval / jovencito (M)( ) sabe ( ) de ( )” l Entonces en una democracia, ¿Las autoridades admiten tal conducta como si ( )? m Pero, hay que decirle al ni ˜no “¡( )detonter´ıas!” n Yo que t´u, dir´ıa que ( )( ) permitir´ıa eso iii Actividad en parejas Objetivo – Usar la estructura ni .ni M ´ etodo – Aleofrece a B un verbo y dos nombres (diez frases en total). B usa un verbo al que siguen dos nombres separados por ni .ni Ejemplos A: Comer carne queso B: No como ni carne ni queso A: Ver ´arboles flores B: No veo ni ´arboles ni flores Despu´es se re´une toda la clase, y el profesor recaba todos los ejemplos 245 Unit 27 (Unidad 27) Numbers and measurements. Time and dimensions (Los n ´ umeros y las medidas. El tiempo [duraci ´ on = la hora] y las dimensiones) Level 1 1.1 Cardinal numbers (N ´ umeros cardinales) 1.2 Telephone numbers (N ´ umeros de tel ´ efono) 1.3 Ordinal numbers (N ´ umeros ordinales) 1.4 Days, weeks, months and seasons (D ´ ıas, semanas, meses y estaciones del a ˜ no) 1.5 Time and the clock (La hora y el reloj) 1.1 Cardinal numbers (Note the figures/letters in bold.) i Un(o), una 1 veinte 20 dos 2 veinti´un/uno/una 21 tres 3 veintid ´ os 22 cuatro 4 veintitr ´ es 23 cinco 5 veinticuatro 24 seis 6 veinticinco 25 siete 7 veintis ´ eis 26 ocho 8 veintisiete 27 nueve 9 veintiocho 28 diez 10 veintinueve 29 once 11 treinta 30 doce 12 treinta y un/uno/una 31 trece 13 cuarenta 40 catorce 14 cuarenta y un/uno/una 41 quince 15 cincuenta 50 diecis ´ eis 16 sesenta 60 diecisiete 17 setenta 70 dieciocho 18 ochenta 80 diecinueve 19 noventa 90 246 27 Numbers, measurements, time, dimensions cien/ciento 100 dos mil 2.000 ciento un/uno/una 101 ochenta mil 80.000 ciento dos 102 ciento sesenta mil 160.000 doscientos/as 200 un mill´on 1.000.000 trescientos/as 300 *un bill´on (americano) 1.000.000.000 cuatrocientos/as 400 un bill´on 1.000.000.000.000 quinientos/as 500 seiscientos/as 600 setecientos/as 700 ochocientos/as 800 novecientos/as 900 mil 1000 mil cincuenta 1050 mil quinientos veinte 1520 *This figure may be recorded as mil millones Notes. Thousands are separated by periods / full stops. Decimals are separated by a comma: Corre los cien metros en nueve coma nueve = 9,9 (He runs . . .). Millions are written in letters: 50 millones / 500 millones / 500.000 millones,toavoid a confusing series of zeros ii Mexico uses the Anglo-American system of commas for thousands: 10,000 = diez mil. Furthermore, and still consistent with the Anglo-American practice, a Mexican would use periods / full stops for decimals: Corre los doscientos metros en veintitr ´ es punto tres = She runs the two hundred meters in . Once, from diecis ´ eis to veintinueve, the numbers were frequently written thus: diez y seis > veinte y nueve but this practice has recently faded. Uno becomes un before a masculine noun Tengo un coche = Ihaveacar Uno becomes una before a feminine noun Tengo una casa = Ihaveahouse iii The cardinal numbers are all invariable except for uno (see above) and ciento. Ciento drops the final to when it comes before a masculine or feminine noun: Examples Veotreinta y tres ´arboles I can see thirty-three trees Acuden cien mujeres/hombres One hundred women/men come Tengo quinientos euros Ihavefive hundred euros Llegan seiscientos espectadores Six hundred spectators arrive Hay mil soldados There are a thousand soldiers Veoados mil soldados I see two thousand soldiers Hay cien mil en el estadio There’s one hundred thousand in the stadium iv Note also the way of rendering percentages: Sube la inflaci´on en un diez por ciento Inflation goes up by ten percent v When uno follows a noun it retains its full form: “¿Cu´antos libros tienes?” “S´olo uno” “How many books have you got?” “Only one” En cuanto a chicas, hay cuarenta y una As far as girls are concerned, there are forty-one 247 [...]... twentieth hundredth thousandth Note that all the above are really adjectives and all the ordinal numbers agree in number and gender They therefore all have four forms, in principle, although it would be exceedingly rare for segundo, tercero, cuarto, etc., to be put in the plural Primero ´ and ultimo are logically the only ordinal numbers to be used regularly in the four forms Primero and tercero lose the... y cuatro and the rest as noventa y dos ochenta y uno A number for Mexico City from outside the country would read: (00 52) 55 57 68 53, and the likelihood in Mexico would be to read the figures off in twos, apart from the initial cero cero 1.3 Ordinal numbers Considerable uncertainty exists over ordinal numbers, since once you go over ten, and reach, say, twelve, these become unmanageable and end up... tarde 253 A STUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH Level 2 2.1 Dar and the clock (Dar y el reloj) ´ 2.2 Division of time (Division del tiempo) 2.3 Expressing dimensions (Expresando dimensiones) 2.4 Age (Edad) ´ 2.5 Collective numbers (Numeros colectivos) 2.6 Fractions (Fracciones) ´ 2.7 Mathematical expressions and signs (Expresiones matematicas y signos) 2.1 Dar and the clock The verb dar is used when speaking of... thousandths) e ii The same uncertainty as above (level 2.5.ii) exists with la mitad, etc., with respect to plural and singular verbs Ejemplos Un tercio de los hombres dijeron / dijo que no La mitad de los habitantes se opusieron/opuso al proyecto A third of the men said no Half the inhabitants opposed the plan 2.7 Mathematical expressions and signs Here are the basic mathematical expressions and signs:... year Seasons are all masculine, save the first, and are written in lower case: primavera f verano m oto˜ o m n invierno m Spring Summer Fall/Autumn Winter En is used for in with reference to months and seasons: En enero cae mucha lluvia Las cig¨ e˜ as vuelven a Espa˜ a en primavera un n It rains a lot in January The storks come back to Spain in Spring 1.5 Time and the clock a las diez de la noche Acaban... a fixed time NB Note the difference between M and Spain with respect to times to the hour Spanish speakers do not have am and pm for official times They use the twenty-four-hour timetable for traveling purposes, for instance El tren sale a las quince horas The train leaves at three o’clock/pm Spanish speakers differentiate between early morning (madrugada) and later morning ˜ (manana): Volvemos a las... the morning Conversely, Spanish speakers cannot differentiate, as English speakers can, between afternoon and evening Tarde covers them both It stretches from about afternoon meal time (two/three/four o’clock) to dusk But, of course, dusk can vary considerably in Spain between winter and summer, and Spaniards have the reputation of not keeping time when it comes to the midday meal, a misnomer in Spain... tercero lose the o before a masculine noun 248 27 Numbers, measurements, time, dimensions Note that s´ ptimo and decimos´ ptimo may be written and pronounced without the e e p, but this is not the case in Mexico In the “decimos,” the teens, there are two spoken tonic accents, one on the e in decimo and one on the penultimate syllable, except for decimos´ ptimo which has a written accent on the antepenultimate... Expressions for the beginning, middle and end of any indefinite period of time are the following: a primeros / mediados / finales/´ ltimos de mes/ u a˜ o n at the beginning/middle/end of the month/year v Nouns expressing time in its various aspects Tiempo is time in its widest and most general sense, but not with specific reference to the clock It is used in philosophy and science: Este trabajo me llevar´... girl the hundredth boy the thousandth woman the thousandth spectator the last place the last knife the last girls the last boys/kids for the last time for the nth time It is not uncommon to see certain ordinal numbers come after the noun This is especially so in literary writings cap´tulo primero ı cap´tulo tercero ı first chapter third chapter 1.4 Days, weeks, months and seasons i Days of the week In . Unit 26 (Unidad 26) Interrogative and negative sentences (Las frases interrogativas y negativas) Level 1 1.1 Interrogative sentences (Frases interrogativas). qu´e canta ahora? Why’s she singing now? 238 26 Interrogative and negative sentences iv In the absence of an interrogative word, the verb may come first, although