Book #1, Chapter #1, Grammar, Set #1

Question 1

Give the list of endings that typically signify a masculine noun.

Answer 1

-o, -or, -ma, -s

Question 2

Give the list of endings that typically signify a feminine noun.

Answer 2

-a, -ora, -ción, -dad

Question 3

How do you form the plural form of a singular noun whose last syllable has an accent mark?

Answer 3

You remove the accent mark before making the noun plural.

Question 4

How do you form the Spanish plural of a noun that ends in a consonant?

Answer 4

You add -es to the end of the word.

Question 5

How do you form the plural of a Spanish singular noun that ends in a “z”?

Answer 5

You replace the “z” with “c” before adding “-es”.

Question 6

Give all the Spanish definite articles by gender and number.

Answer 6

Masculine: Singular: el; Plural: los
Feminine: Singular: la; Plural: las

Question 7

Give all the Spanish indefinite articles by gender and number.

Answer 7

Masculine: Singular: un; Plural: unos
Feminine: singular: una; Plural: unas

Question 8

Give the Spanish translation for the numbers from zero through ten.

Answer 8

0: cero, 1: uno, 2: dos: 3: tres, 4: quatro, 5: cinco, 6: seis, 7: siete, 8: ocho, 9: nueve, 10: diez

Question 9

Give the Spanish translation for the numbers from eleven through fifteen.

Answer 9

11: once, 12: doce, 13: trece, 14: catorce, 15: quince

Question 10

Give the Spanish translation for the numbers from sixteen to twenty.

Answer 10

16: dieciséis, 17: diecisiete, 18: dieciocho, 19: diecinueve, 20: veinte

Question 11

Give the Spanish translation for the numbers from twenty-one to thirty.

Answer 11

21: veintiuno, 22: veintidós, 23: veintitrés, 24: veinticuatro, 25: veinticinco, 26: veintiséis, 27: veintisiete, 28: veintiocho, 29: veintinueve, 30: treinta

Question 12

What happens to words expressing a number ending in “-uno”?

Answer 12

Before masculine words, they instead end in “-un”, while before feminine words, they instead end in “-una”:

For example:
veintiún hombres
veintiuna mujeres

Question 13

What is the special rule about uno and veintiuno when they follow a noun?

Answer 13

They are also used in unmodified form after a noun as well as when counting.

Question 14

What word is used to ask how many things there are and how does it change regarding gender?

Answer 14

“Cuántos” is used to ask how many before masculine nouns, while “cuántas” is used to ask how many before feminine nouns.

Question 15

Give the subject pronouns by number and person.

Answer 15

First person: singular: yo, plural: nosotros/as
Second person: singular: tú (familiar), usted (Ud.) (formal); plural: vosotros/as (familiar), ustedes (formal)
Third person: singular: él/ella, plural: ellos/ellas

Question 16

What pronoun is used for “it” in Spanish?

Answer 16

Trick question. There is no word for “it” and the word is usually omitted and assumed by conjugation of verbs.

Question 17

Conjugate the verb “ser”.

Answer 17

yo soy, nosotros/as somos
tu eres, vosotros/as sois
usted/el/ella es, ustedes/ellos/ellas son

Question 18

How do you use the word “de” to indicate possession?

Answer 18

You use the noun possessed followed by “de”, then the noun of the person or thing possessing the object. You always express possession with the verb “ser”.

For example:
“Es el diario de Maru”: It’s Maru’s diary.
“Son las lapices de la chica”: They are the girl’s pencils.

Question 19

What happens when the word “de” is followed by the article “el”?

Answer 19

The two words are contracted into “del”.

For example:
“Es la computadora del conductor”: It’s the driver’s computer.

[“de” never contracts with “la”, “las”, or “los”]

Question 20

How do you use “ser” to express origin?

Answer 20

You always use “ser” to express origin by using “de”.

For example:
“¿De dónde es Juan Carlos?”: Where is Juan Carlos from?
“Es de Argentina”: He is from Argentina.

Question 21

How do you express occupation with “ser”?

Answer 21

“Ser” is always used to express occupation, but an indefinite article is usually omitted before the profession, unless there is an adjective modifying the profession.

For example:
“Don Francisco es conductor”: Don Francisco is a driver.
“Marta es una profesora excelente.”: Marta is an excellent teacher.

Question 22

What phrase is commonly used to ask what time it is?

Answer 22

¿Qué hora es?

Question 23

What expressions do you use to express the hour when telling the time? When do you use these expressions?

Answer 23

Use “Es la una” for one o’clock and “Son las” + [hour] for all the other hours.

For example:
“Es la una”: It’s one o’clock.
“Son las once.”: It’s eleven.

Question 24

How do express time from one hour on the dot to one half hour later?

Answer 24

Add time to the recently passed hour to express time up to one half hour beyond a particular hour o’clock.

For example:
“Son las cuatro y cinco.”: It’s 4:05.
“Son las once y veinte”: It’s 11:20.

Question 25

How do you express time from one half hour beyond the current hour?

Answer 25

Subtract time from the coming hour up to half an hour.

For example:
“Es la una menos cuarto.”: It’s a quarter to one.
“Son las ocho menos veinte.”: It’s twenty ‘till eight.

Question 26

What are some expressions you can use when telling time for half hours and quarter hours?

Answer 26

You can add or subtract “cuarto” or “quince” to the current hour or from the coming hour, respectively, to express time in quarter hour segments.

For example:
“Son las nueve y quince.”: It’s 9:15.
“Es la una y cuarto.”: It’s 1:15.
“Es la una menos cuarto.”: It’s fifteen ‘till 1.

To express that it’s half past a given hour, add “media” or “treinta” to the given hour.

For example:
“Es la una y media.”: It’s half past 1.
“Son las siete y treinta.”: It’s 7:30.

Question 27

What phrase is used to ask at what time something is?

Answer 27

¿A que hora (…)?

For example:
“¿A qué hora es la clase de biología?”: When is the biology class?

Question 28

How do you say at what time something is?

Answer 28

Use “a la(s)” + [time].

For example:
“A las ocho.”: At eight.
“La clase es a las dos.”: The class is at two.

Question 29

How do you say that something is at a particular hour on the dot? How do you say something is at noon or midnight?

Answer 29

Use “en punto” to say “on the dot”. Use “el mediodia” to say at noon, and use “la medianoche” to say at midnight.

For example:
“Son las ocho en punto”: It’s eight on the dot.
“Es el mediodía”.: It’s noon.
“Es la medianoche.”: It’s midnight.

Question 30

How do you express that it is a particular time in the morning? In the afternoon? At night?

Answer 30

Use “de la mañana”, “de la tarde”, and “de la noche”, respectively.

For example:
“Son las nueve de la mañana.”: It’s nine in the morning.
“Son las diez y media de la noche.”: It’s 10:30 at night.