Unit 03 - Las características (Characteristics) Grammar

Question 1

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(the) mochila

Answer 1

la mochila

Question 2

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(the) mochilas

Answer 2

las mochilas

Question 3

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(a) mochila

Answer 3

una mochila

Question 4

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(some) mochilas

Answer 4

unas mochilas

Question 5

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(the) escritorio

Answer 5

el escritorio

Question 6

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(the) escritorios

Answer 6

los escritorios

Question 7

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(an) escritorio

Answer 7

un escritorio

Question 8

replace the english word in parentheses with the correct Spanish definite or indefinite article.

(some) escritorios

Answer 8

unos escritorios

Question 9

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

___ chic-_ es alt-_.

(The boy is tall)

Answer 9

El chico es alto.

*Adjectives need to agree ingenderandnumber with the noun they modify.

Question 10

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

___ chic-_ es alt-_.

(The girl is tall)

Answer 10

La chica es alta.

*Adjectives need to agree ingenderandnumber with the noun they modify.

Question 11

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

___ chic-_ son alt-_.

(The boys are tall)

Answer 11

Los chicos son altos.

*Adjectives need to agree ingenderandnumber with the noun they modify.

Question 12

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

___ chic-_ son alt-_.

(The girls are tall)

Answer 12

Las chicas son altas.

*Adjectives need to agree ingenderandnumber with the noun they modify.

Question 13

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

__ chic-_ es inteligent-_.

(The boy is smart.)

__ chic-_ es inteligent-_.

(The girl is smart.)

Answer 13

El chico es inteligente.

La chica es intelegente.

*Note that adjectives sometimes have the same ending for different genders, mostly when the adjectives end in an -e or a consonant.

Question 14

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

__ chic-_ son inteligent-_.

(The boys are smart.)

__ chic-_ son inteligent-_.

(The girls are smart.)

Answer 14

Los chicos son inteligentes.

Las chicas son intelegentes.

*Note that adjectives sometimes have the same ending for different genders, mostly when the adjectives end in an -e or a consonant.

Question 15

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

__ chic-_ feli-_

(The happy boy) ((Things are going my way, hey hey!))

__ chic-_ feli-_.

(The happy girl )

Answer 15

El chico feliz.

La chica feliz.

*Note that adjectives sometimes have the same ending for different genders, mostly when the adjectives end in an -e or a consonant.

Question 16

Fill the blanks with the correct article and noun/adjective endings.

__ chic-_ feli-_

(The happy boys) ((cause I’m a happy boy! - Happy boy!))

__ chic-_ feli-_.

(The happy girls)

Answer 16

Los chicos felices.

Las chicas felices.

*Note that adjectives sometimes have the same ending for different genders, mostly when the adjectives end in an -e or a consonant.

**Adjectives that end in-zchange to-ces in plural form.

Question 17

In English, adjectives come before nouns: blue paper, red ball.

In Spanish, how is this different?

Answer 17

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after nouns:

papel azul (blue paper),

balón rojo (red ball)

Question 18

When can we put the adjective before the noun in Spanish?

Answer 18

When an adjective describes a quality that is inherent and taken for granted as a fact about that person, place or thing, then we put the adjective before the noun.

Sometimes the meaning of the adjective will change a little bit and have a shorter written form. For example:

El hombre grande = the big man (noun + adjective is the normal order)

El gran hombre = the great man (adjective + noun is reverse order, so the adjective is shortened from grande to gran, and the meaning changes from big to great.)

Question 19

Where is the accent placed in Spanish words ending in -sion or -cion?

Answer 19

Over the ‘o’

-sión -ción

Examples:

televisión (television)

canción (song)

Question 20

What is the difference between el and él?

Answer 20

Words formed with no accent are different words entirely when they have an accent on them.

él (he) vs el (the)

tú (you) vs tu (your)

más (more) vs mas (but)

mí (me) vs mi (my)

sí (yes) vs si (if)

aún (yet, still) vs aun (even)

papá (father) vs Papa (Pope), and papa (potato)

Question 21

What is the pattern regarding accents in the phrases below?

¿Qué quieres? (What do you want?)

¿Quién está allí? (Who is there?)

¡Qué suerte! (What luck!)

Answer 21

Interrogative (questions) and exclamation words are always accentuated (have an accent).

Question 22

What is the difference between:

¿Cómo eres?

and

¿Cómo estás?

Answer 22

¿Cómo eres? means What are you like?, as in What do you physically look like?

Reply with something like: Soy alto y guapo. (I am tall and handsome.)

¿Cómo estás? means How are you doing? as in emotional or physical wellness.

Reply with soemthing like: Estoy cansado. (I am tired.)

*Note: Ser and Estar both mean “to be” Ser is used for permanent things (like how you look) and Estar is used for temporary things (like how you are feeling).