LECCION

PARENTESCOS.
8
Family relationships.

A. DIALOGO
Una boda limeña tradicional

DON JOSÉ: Tu prima favorite, Carmen, acepta nuestra invitación a

la boda de Isabelita.

DOÑA MARTA: Vamos a ver, José. Con nuestros dos hijos y sus
esposas y los nietos encantadores somos diez hombres y ocho
mujeres en la iglesia.

DON JOSÉ: Sí, y con tus hermanos y sobrinos somos veintiocho

personas.

DOÑA MARTA: Invitamos también a los cuatro abuelos queridos de

Arequipa y a los buenos amigos de la familia.

DON JOSÉ: ¡Y tu tía antipática!

DOÑA MARTA: Toda nuestra familia va a estar reunida para la

boda.

DON JOSÉ: ¡Qué maravilla! ¡Hace mucho tiempo que no estamos

todos juntos!

A traditional wedding ceremony in Lima, Perú.

DON JOSÉ: Carmen, your favorite cousin, is accepting our invitation to

Isabelita’s wedding.

DOÑA MARTA: Let’s see, José. With our two sons and their wives and the
charming grandchildren, we’ll be ten men and eight women at the
church.

DON JOSÉ: And with your brothers and sisters and nephews and nieces,
we’ll be twenty-eight people.

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DOÑA MARTA: And we’re also invitíng the four dear grandparents from
Arequipa and good family friends.

DON JOSÉ: And your unpleasant aunt!

DOÑA MARTA: All our family will be together at the ceremony.
DON JOSÉ: How wonderful! It’s been a long time since weVe been
together (that we haven’t been together)

B. PRONUNCIACION,
AND THE LAST CONSONANTS

Y (in the middle of a word: like the “r” in “throw”): pero, caro,
hermano
r (at the beginning of a word) and rr (a trilled sound made by tapping
the tip of the tongue against the gum ridge of the upper back teeth):
río, rosa, carro
X (like the “cks” in “rocks”): taxi, sexto, extra
The letters k and w appear in Spanish in foreign words (for example,
kilowatt, kilometer). In some countries, the k is replaced with the
Spanish equivalent, qu: quilómetro.
w Gike the “v” in “venture”): kilowatt

C. GRAMATICA Y USOS

1. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

We have seen that to indicate possession you use the word de (of):

el paraguas de Juan = John’s umbrella (literally, the umbrella of John).

Possessive adjectives tell who has something. As adjectives, they must
agree in number and gender with the thing possessed, not with the
possessor.

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 SINGULAR PLURAI.

my mi mis
your (familiar) tu tus

his, her, your su sus

our nuestro, -a nuestros, -as
your vuestro, -a vuestros, -as

their, your su sus

En nuestro país hace mucho calor durante todo el año.

In our country it’s hot all year.

Tus sobrinos son muy simpáticos.

Your nephews (nieces and nephews) are very nice.

The possessive su, sus can mean “his,” “her,” “your,” or “their.” In order
to claiify the meaning, very often the descriptives de él (of him), de ella
(of her), de Ud., de ellos, de ellas, and de Uds. follow the definite árdeles
and the noun.

Sus primos aceptan.

His/her/your/their cousins accept.

Los primos de él aceptan.

His cousins accept.

Los primos de ella aceptan.

Her cousins accept.

Los primos de Ud. aceptan.

Your cousins accept.

Los primos de ellos aceptan.

Their (mase, pl.) cousins accept.

Los primos de ellas aceptan.

Their (fem. pl.) cousins accept.

Los primos de Uds. aceptan.

Your (pl.) cousins accept.

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2. THE POSITION OF ADJECTIVES

In Spanish there are two classes of adjectives: limiting and descriptive.

Limiting adjectives always precede the noun. These inelude numbers,
demonstratives, possessives, and very common adjectives such as
mucho, poco, huen(o), nuevo, mal (o) gran (de). ,

Tus hermanos están en México.

Your brothers are in México.

Soy el nuevo ahogado.

Fm the new lawyer.

La buena salud es importante.

Good health is important.

All other adjectives are descriptive and follow the noun. If two or more

descriptive adjectives are used, they follow the noun and are joined by
the Word y (and)

Carmen es tu prima favorita.

Carmen is your favorito cousin.

Invitamos a nuestros nietos queridos y encantadores.

We are inviting our dear, charming grandehildren.

3. SHORTENED FORMS OF ADJECTIVES

Certain adjectives have abbreviated forms before a noun: Before any

singular noun, (“greatin importance”) hecomes gran.

una gran mujer a great woman

un gran actor a great, grand actor

Before masculine singular nouns, uno becomes un, bueno becomes

buen, and malo (bad) becomes mal.

un buen amigo a good friend

un mal film a bad movie

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4. HACE + TIME + QUE + PRESENT TENSE

To express an actíon begun in the past and continuing into the present,
use the structure 'Hace + time + que + present tense”:

Hace mucho tiempo que no estamos juntas.

It’s been a long time since weVe been together.

Hace dos años que deseo estudiar español

IVe been wanting to study Spanish for two years.

An alternative construction for the same concept is present tense + hace

+ time:

Deseo estudiar español hace dos años.

IVe been wanting to study Spanish for two years.

To ask how long an event has been going on, you say: ¿Cuánto tiempo
hace que . . ?:

¿Cuánto tiempo hace que está en Colombia?

How long have you been in Colombia?

5. THE PERSONAL A

When the direct object of a verb—the noun that receives the verb’s
action directly — is a person, you must use the personal a.

Invitamos a los abuelos de Arequipa.

We are inviting the grandparents from Arequipa.

But it is not used after tener.

Tenemos veinte amigos en España.

We have twenty friends in Spain.

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6. COLLECTIVE NOUNS

Collective nouns refer to a group but are used with a singular verb
form. In Spanish, the words la familia (family) and la gente (people) fall

into this category.

La familia va a estar reunida.

The family is going to be together.

La gente tiene que trabajar mucho en este país.

People have to work a lot in this country.

VOCABULARIO
parentescos family relationships^
familia family
esposo/esposa husband/wife
abuelo/abuela grandfather/grandmother
hermano/hermana brother/ sister
padre/madre father/mother
hijo/hija son/daughter
nieto/nieta grand son/granddaughter
padrino/madrina godfather/ godmother
tío/tía uncle/aunt
primo/prima cousin (mase., fem.)
hombre/mujer man/woman
novio/novia boyfriend, groom/girlfriend, bride
sobríno/sobrina nephew/niece
persona person
amigo/amiga friend

joven/jóvenes young person/young people

boda wedding
bueno/malo good bad
grande “great” (before noun); big (after

^ Keep in
mind that the masculine plural form oí the noun can refer to groups: los hijos =
“children” (sons and daughters); los tíos = “aunt(s) and únele (s)”

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pequeño small
querido beloved, dear
favorito favorite

encantador charming
contento^ happy
reunido reunited, together

junto together
invitar to invite

aceptar to accept

Vamos a ver. Let’s see.

cuidar a los niños to take care of the children.

EXAMEN

A Dé el adjectivo posesivo más claro. (Give the clearest possessive

adjective.)

modelo: los tíos de José

los tíos de él

1. los hermanos de Juana

2. la amiga de José
3. mi tío y tu tía
4. la abuela de Pedro y el abuelo de Andrés

B. Añada los adjetivos a la oración. (Add the adjectives to the sentences.)

modelo: Bebe leche todos los días, (fresca)

Bebe leche fresca todos los días.

1. Tengo cinco primos, (favorito)

2. Vive con sus hermanas, (tres, querido)

3. Nuestra lección es larga, (difícil)

4. Invito a los jovenes, (veinte, bueno)

5. Tenemos seis amigas, (cansado, contento)

^
Remember that the adjective contento, -a is only used with verb estar. The adjective feliz (pl.

felices) can be used with estar or ser

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C. Traducca al español.

1. The family is big, happy and beloved.

2. Are you inviting your cousins from México?
3. Wbo is the groom’s sister? She is a good friend.
4. IVe been working here for three years.
5. What are your favorite aunts like?
6. I need to take care of the children.

NOTAS CULTURALES
The polite forms of address Don/Doña are used before the first ñames of
men and women wbo merit respect owing to their age and/or status in soci-
ety. The tendency to use these forms of address is slowly dying out.
In the Spanish-speaking world, “family,” la familia, means parents, sib-
lings, children, aunts, úneles, cousins, grandparents, and godparents, too.
Everyone helps to take care of the children, including older siblings. More
often than in the U.S., daughters and sons live at home until they marry.
Family celebrations are henee often large —and fun!

RESPUESTAS
A. 1. los hermanos de ella/sus hermanos 2. la amiga de él/su amigo
3. nuestros tíos 4. los abuelos de ellos/sus abuelos
B. 1. Tengo cinco primos favoritos. 2. Vive con sus tres queridas hermanas.
3. Nuestra lección es larga y difícil. 4. Invito a los veinte buenos jóvenes.
5. Tenemos seis amigas cansadas y contentas.
C. 1. La familia es grande, feliz y querida. 2. ¿Invitas a tus primos de
México?/¿Estás invitando a tus primos de México? 3. ¿Quién es la

hermana del novio? Ella es una buena amigo. 4. Hace tres años que
trabajo aquí./Trabajo aquí hace tres años. 5. ¿Cómo son tus tías favoritas?
6. Necesito (Tengo que) cuidar a los niños.

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