Viven en una casa destartalada,

They live in a ramshackle, rundown, very old

descuidada y viejísima. house.
Cati, Rosa, María Luisa y Nina son Cati, Rosa, María Luisa, and Nina are sisters.
hermanas.
Remember, the spelling of y (and) changes to e when preceded by a word that starts with i-
or hi-:
Ana e Irene salieron. Ana and Irene left.
En la cesta hay naranjas e higos. In the basket there are oranges and figs.
Use the spelling u instead of o (or) when the word that follows the conjunction starts with
o- or ho-:
Tiene siete u ocho millones de habitantes. It has seven or eight million people.
Puedes freírlos u hornearlos. You can fry them or bake them.

EJERCICIO

1·3
Las oraciones.  Reword the sentences with the appropriate spelling and punctuation.

1. Alicia Luisa y Irene son disciplinadas trabajadoras pacientes y eficientes


2. Hacen ejercicios montan en bicicleta levantan pesas y corren siete ó ocho millas

3. Estas chicas también hacen yoga trabajos comunitarios sirven a la comunidad

4. Hacen campañas en EEUU para recoger (raise) fondos para niños y indigentes

5. Han recibido premios certificados y innumerables homenajes de varias organizaciones

6. Ellas demuestran que la rutina es esencial para ser disciplinado cumplir metas y triunfar


Comma after vocatives, phrases, and transition words

A vocative is the person addressed in a message. A comma follows the vocative in English and
Spanish:
Juan, abre la puerta para que tu hermano Juan, open the door so that your brother may
entre. come in.

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 A comma must be used to separate elements that introduce a sentence, such as infinitive
phrases or phrases that express contrasts or similarities:
Al entrar en la tienda, encontré lo que Upon entering the store, I found what I was
buscaba. looking for.
Por otro lado, Alba es amable y generosa. On the other hand, Alba is pleasant and
generous.
Del mismo modo, Felipe coopera con Likewise, Felipe works well with all his
todos sus colegas. colleagues.
Commas are also used after transition words or phrases. Most transition words are adverbs.
They add a point or idea, illustrate examples, arrive at a conclusion, etc.
consecuentemente consequently
de hecho in fact
no obstante nevertheless
por consiguiente therefore
por eso therefore
sin embargo however
Llovió muchísimo esa tarde. Conse- It rained a lot that afternoon. Conse-
cuentemente, las carreteras se quently, the roads were flooded.
inundaron.
La policía cerró varias carreteras. Por The police closed a few roads. Therefore, the
consiguiente, el tráfico estaba muy traffic was very congested.
congestionado.
A comma separates parenthetical phrases such as relative clauses or adverbial clauses that
include added information that may not be essential to the sentence:
Estudiaron el artículo de la profesora, They studied the professor’s article, whose work
cuya obra se extiende por tres stretches over three decades, in order to
décadas, para comprender sus teorías understand her pedagogical theories.
pedagógicas.
Commas separate geographical names in Spanish, as they do in English:
La Habana, Cuba Havana, Cuba
San Diego, California San Diego, California

EJERCICIO

1·4
Oraciones en español. Create sentences with the appropriate word order, spelling,
and punctuation.

1. a / las ocho / regresa / esta / Carmen / noche


2. los / decidimos / al / escuchar / llegar / a casa / mensajes

3. de hecho / paciencia / mucho / no tienes / enojas / porque / mucho / te

4. una / recibieron / carta / San Antonio / de / Texas

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 5. tu / necesitaba / ayuda / amistad / tu / y / compañía / tu

6. dice / documento / eres / Lima / este / que / de / Perú


Colons and semicolons

Colons (:) indicate a pause to call attention to what follows in a sentence. The colon may also
introduce a list of elements:
Subastaron tres piezas: un cuadro de They auctioned three pieces: a painting by
Picasso, una estatua italiana y un Picasso, an Italian statue, and a fifteenth-
manuscrito del siglo XV. century manuscript.
In Spanish, colons may bring a conclusion to an enumeration, which seems to reverse the
order suggested in the previous examples:
Sanos, frescos y orgánicos: así deben ser Healthy, fresh, and organic: that is how all the
todos los ingredientes. ingredients should be.
Claro, conciso, al grano: has listado las Clear, concise, to the point: you have listed the
cualidades de un buen discurso. qualities of a good speech.
Another function of a colon is to introduce textual quotes. Remember to include quotation
marks. A capital letter usually starts the quote:
Lo decía el letrero: “No fumar”. The sign said: “No smoking.”
Colons are used after a salutation in both formal and informal letters in Spanish:
Querida Anita: Dear Anita,
Estimado Sr. Martínez: Dear Mr. Martínez:
A semicolon (;) indicates a pause longer than one that uses a comma, but not as long as one
indicated by a period. Usually, a semicolon separates elements of complex enumerations. Ele-
ments separated by semicolons sometimes have their own internal punctuation; each may have a
subject-verb combination of its own.
Las rosas necesitan el abono; los claveles, The roses need plant food; the carnations,
agua; las otras plantas, luz. water; the other plants, light.

Parentheses and quotation marks

Parentheses and quotation marks have similar uses in both English and Spanish. Parentheses
enclose incidental information or a clarification. Remember that elements inside parentheses are
independent from the sentence; always follow appropriate spelling rules.
Salieron de Cuba (diciembre, 1957) antes They left Cuba (December 1957) before the
de la Revolución. Revolution.
Debido a la lluvia (copiosa y persistente) Due to the rainfall (abundant and persistent)
cancelaron el concierto. they canceled the concert.
Los delegados negaron (¿acaso no lo The delegates denied (perhaps they didn’t
sabían?) la inocencia del acusado. know it?) the innocence of the accused.

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 At times, quotations get complicated. For sentences at this level, let’s consider the most com-
mon uses of quotation marks. Quotation marks are used to show spoken language, to quote from
a written or spoken source, and sometimes to refer to titles of poems, newspaper articles, etc.:
El vendedor dijo: “Vaya a la caja, por The salesman said: “Go to the register, please.”
favor”.
El artículo dice: “El calentamiento global The article states: “Global warming is
hace daño a todas las ballenas”. harming all the whales.”
El poema “Sólo el amor” está en esta The poem “Love Alone” is in this collection.
colección.
Note the use of the periods in the following Spanish examples. After quotation marks, a
period ends the sentence; a complete sentence within parentheses ends with a period inside the
end parenthesis:
Y dijimos lo siguiente: “No vamos”. And we said the following: “We will not go.”
No respondía. (Era obvio que estaba He wasn’t answering. (It was obvious he had
acompañado.) company.)
Words or phrases used ironically, as well as words and phrases from another language, are
usually set in quotations:
Él dijo que estaban muy “ocupados”. He said that they were very “busy.”
Es como un “déjà vu”. It’s like having a “déjà vu.”

EJERCICIO

1·5
¿Coma (,)? ¿Punto y coma (;)? ¿Dos puntos (:)?  Add the appropriate punctuation.

1. Vamos a mudarnos a una casa más grande no tenemos suficiente espacio.

2. Los muebles de la sala los cuadros los platos de la cocina todo está listo.
3. Compramos cuatro aparatos nuevos una computadora un televisor HD un teléfono móvil y
una aspiradora.
4. Cómoda amplia fresca y acogedora así es la casa nueva.
5. Una cocina debe ser lo mejor de una casa espaciosa bien equipada y llena de luz.
6. Ahora podemos quitar el letrero que dice Se vende casa.

Exclamation points and question marks

Question marks (¿?) and exclamation points (¡!) are needed both before and after questions and
exclamatory sentences. Remember that with the appropriate punctuation, you can use declarative
sentences, negative sentences, and questions to express an emphatic idea or extreme emotion.
Don’t forget that emphatic commands need exclamation points.
¡Las joyas desaparecieron! The jewels disappeared!
¡No tenemos seguro! We do not have insurance!
¡Pero dónde estás! But where are you!
¡Levántate! Stand up!

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 EJERCICIO

1·6
Correcciones. Add parentheses, colons, semicolons, or quotation marks as needed.

1. El primer día del verano 21 de junio en el hemisferio norte nos trae alegría.
2. Mi madre mujer muy sabia siempre me hablaba de sus experiencias cuando era niña.
3. Uno de sus consejos era El tiempo es oro.
4. Pensaba que mi madre era invencible ¡qué ilusión! cuando yo era niño.
5. Todas las mañanas cantábamos una canción La cucaracha.
6. ¡Qué risa me da ahora han pasado tantos años porque mi madre era divertida!
7. Y le gustaba en especial un poema La rosa blanca.
8. Raras veces era dura, pero su amenaza siempre era ¡A la cama!
9. Cuando no estaba de buen humor, yo sabía que estaba ocupada.
10. Y puedo repetir las palabras que decía mi padre para recordarla Corazón de oro.

Some considerations about spelling

Spelling, the sequence of letters that compose a word, is a system of written conventions of a spe-
cific language. For example, the English spelling rule “i before e except . . . ” does not apply to
correct spelling in Spanish. In this unit, we will review some of the uses of capital letters in Span-
ish and their role in building sentences.
Capital letters (las mayúsculas) are needed in the following situations: the first letter of a
sentence, the first letter of a proper noun, the first letter after a period or other end punctuation,
and all letters of an acronym:
¿Alida es tu hermana? No sabíamos eso. Is Alida your sister? We did not know that.
La UNICEF ayuda a los niños de muchos UNICEF helps children in many countries.
países.

Proper nouns
A proper noun designates a specific person, place, institution, or thing and is usually capitalized
in both Spanish and English. Common nouns are not capitalized.
Veo a María. I see María.
Estuvimos en Guadalajara. We were in Guadalajara.
Trabajo en el Instituto Miguel I work at the Miguel de Cervantes Institute.
de Cervantes.
Los chicos irán con nosotras. The boys will go with us.
Son los Gómez de siempre. They are the same Gomez family (the same
Gomezes).
Note above that in the plural, Spanish surnames referring to a family or a couple are preceded by
the definite article los; do not add an -s or -es ending to the name itself.

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