SPN 101: Spring 2012 Week 3 Actividades

SPN 101: Spring 2012 3 Weekly Activities

PLEASE DO ALL THE WEEKLY ACTIVITIES IN THIS BLOG BEFORE COMING TO CLASE. WE WILL CLARIFY SOME GRAMMAR NOTES, CORRECT AND PERFORM THE ANSWERS FOR THE WEEKLY ACTIVITIES IN CLASE. WEEKLY HOMEWORK WILL BE ASSIGNED IN CLASE, AND WILL BE DUE THE FOLLOWING CLASE.

Notes for your COUNTRY report: Please include these six areas in your COUNTRY Power Point Report: Demographics (Capital City, Area, Inhabitants, Official Languages), Politics (Government); US politics), Economy, Education, History, and Society/Culture.
Highlight two important facts about the country that got your academic/personal interest. Please bring a one-page summary with your PP presentation. The second page needs to have at least three references from which you obtained your information. See syllabus for guidelines for library report.

2. Verb SER and 3. Descriptive Adjectives

VER “SER”

ACTIVIDAD 1. Read Gramática Section (BOOK) U11: p. 116-118; U13: 135-137

ACTIVIDAD 2. Read these grammar notes and make your own notes.
SER Indicates a fixed nature of TO BE in Spanish. Irregular verb conjugations in the PRESENT TENSE: Yo soy (I am), Tú eres (You –informal- are), Usted (You-formal-are), él es (he is), ella es (she is); Nosotros/Nosotras somos (We –masc. fem.-are), Vosotros/Vosotras sois (You –masc. fem plural in Spain- are), Ustedes (You –plural in the Americas-are), ellos/ellas son (they –masc. fem.- are).

USES
A. SER is used to mention specific and non-specific objects, describe identifications, relationships, professions, occupations, nationalities/places of origin.
Esto es un libro. This is a book. Esta es la puerta. This is the door. Estas son unas carpetas. These are some desks. Estos son unos animales. These are some animals.
¿Qué es esto? What is this ) ¿Qué son estos?. What are these?. Es una manzana. It is an apple. Esta es una manzana. This is an apple. Estos son unos lapiceros. These are some pens. Son unos lapiceros. They are some pens.
Yo soy Carlos. I am Carlos.
Alex es mi hijo. Alex is my son.
Ellos son mis padres. They are my parents.
¿En qué trabajas? Soy mecánico. What do you work in? I am a mechanic.
Yo deseo ser artista. I want to be an artist.
Martha es puertorriqueña. Martha is Puerto Rican.
Nosotros somos de Estados Unidos. We are from the US.

B. SER is used to describe personality and physical characteristics.
¿Cómo eres tú? (en tu personalidad). What are you like? (in your personality)
Soy alegre, positivo y amable. I am cheerful, positive, and kind.
Mi mamá es muy comunicativa y honesta. My mom is very communicative and honest.
¿Cómo es tu papá? (en su físico) What is your father like? (in his physical appearance)
Nuestro papá es alto, moreno y guapo. Our father is tall, dark, and handsome.
Sus ojos son negros. His eyes are black.

C. SER is used to describe possession, material, date, time, events (where they take place, or occur)
Es de Natalia. No es de Rubí. It’s Natalia’s. It is not Rubi’s.
El reloj no es de oro. The watch is not made of gold.
¿Qué día es hoy? Hoy es domingo. What day is today? Today is Sunday.
¿Qué hora es? Son las 2. What time is it? It’s 2.
¿Dónde es la fiesta? La fiesta es en la casa de Delia. Where is the party? The party is at Delia’s house.
¿Cuándo es la reunión? La reunión es mañana. When is the meeting? The meeting is tomorrow.
¿A qué hora es la clase? La clase es a las 9. What time is the class? The class is at 9.

ACTIVIDAD 3. Provide the conjugation of SER in the sentences.
1. Yo ___________ peruano, de Lima, Perú.
2. Esta (this) ___________________ la cocina.
3. Ellos _______________ mis amigos.
4. ________________ una silla.
5. Nosotras _________________ de Lewisport, Kentucky.
6. ¿De dónde ___________ ustedes?
7. Juana ______________ de Guatemala.
8. Estos (these) __________________ las mesas.
9. Este (this)______________ un león.
10. ¿De dónde ________________ tú?

ACTIVIDAD 4. Describing specific objects at your home or in class.
A. Read and translate these ways to describe specific objects.
José mentions specific parts of his house:
Esta es mi casa. Esta es la sala. Este es el comedor. Esta es la cocina. Este es el baño.
Selena mentions specific objects in the classroom asking herself what the object is first: ¿Qué es esto? La puerta, la pizarra, el mapa, el escritorio, la carpeta de Juan, la computadora, el proyector.
B. Draw a picture of your house or apartment. Describe it to your partner as Juan did.
C. Describe some specific objects in class as Selena did. Ask yourself (various times) what is this? as Selena did.
D. Be ready to perform your descriptions with creativity to your classmates.

ACTIVIDAD 5. Write ten sentences in Spanish (with their English translation) using SER as in the previous actividades.

DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES

ACTIVIDAD 1. Read these grammar notes and make your own notes.
Descriptive Adjectives (DAs) are words that describe people, places, and things. In Spanish, these adjectives are used with the verb SER to point out characteristics as nationality, size, color, shape, personality, and appearance.
1. In English, the forms of DAs do not change to reflect the gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun or pronoun they describe.
Olga is nice Ivan is nice They are nice
In Spanish, the forms of descriptive adjectives agree with gender and/or number with the nouns or pronouns they describe.
Olga es simpática Iván es simpático Ellos son simpáticos

2. Adjectives that end in –O have four different forms: (a) the feminine singular is formed by changing the –O to –A. The plural is formed by adding –S to the singular form.
El chico alto (the tall boy); Los chicos altos (the tall boys). La chica alta (the tall girl) Las chicas altas (the tall girl).

3. Adjectives that end in –e or a consonant have the same masculine and feminine forms.
El estudiante inteligente; Los estudiantes inteligentes
La estudiante inteligente; Las estudiantes inteligentes
El director agradable (easy going); Los directores agradables
La directora agradable; Las directoras agradables

4. Adjectives that end in –or are variable in both gender and number
El empleado (employee) trabajador; los empleados trabajadores
La mujer trabajadora; las mujeres trabajadoras

5. Adjectives that refer to nouns of different genders use the masculine plural form.
Julio es alto. Selena es alta. Julio y Selena son altos.

Position of adjectives
1. Descriptive adjectives and adjectives of nationality generally follow the nouns they modify.
El hombre bajo es de Honduras. The short man is from Honduras. La mujer salvadoreña es simpática. The Salvadorean woman is likeble.

2. Unlike descriptive adjectives, adjectives of quantity are placed before the modified noun.
Hay muchos libros en la biblioteca. There are many books in the library. Hay dos turistas peruanas. There are two Peruvian tourists.

3. Bueno/a and malo/a can be placed before and after a noun. When placed before a masculine singular noun, the forms are shortened: bueno → buen; malo → mal.
Víctor es un buen amigo = Víctor es un amigo bueno.
Hoy es un mal día = Hoy es un día malo.

4. When grande appears before a singular noun, it is shortened to gran, and the meaning of the word changes: gran = great and grande = big, large.
Doña Gladys es una gran mujer ≠ Doña Gladys es una mujer grande.

ADJETIVOS DESCRIPTIVOS COMUNES
Aburrido Boring Difícil Hard; difficult Moreno/a Brunette, negro
Alegre Cheerful Fácil Easy Ocioso Lazy
Alto/a Tall Feliz Happy Pelirrojo Red-haired
Amable Kind Gordo Fat Pequeño Small
Antipático/a Unpleasant Grande Big, large Rubio/a Blond(e)
Bajo Short (in height) Guapo/a Handsome Serio Serious
Bonito Pretty Importante Important Simpático Nice, likeable
Bueno/a Good Inteligente Inteligente Tonto Silly, foolish
Delgado/a Thin/Slender Interesante Interesting Trabajador/a Hardworking
Divertido Fun Joven Young Triste Sad

SOME ADJECTIVES OF NATIONALITY
Alemania alemán
Argentina argentino
Bolivia boliviano
Brasil brasileño
Chile chileno
China chino
Canadá canadiense
Colombia colombiano
Costa Rica costarricense
Cuba cubano
Ecuador ecuatoriano
El Salvador salvadoreño
Estados Unidos estadounidense
España español
Francia francés Guatemala guatemalteco
Haití haitiano
Honduras hondureño
Italia italiano
India hindú
Inglaterra inglés
Japón japonés
Nicaragua nicaragüense
Panamá panameño
Paraguay paraguayo
Perú peruano
Puerto Rico portorriqueño
Republica Dominicana dominicano
Rusia ruso
Venezuela venezolano

ACTIVIDAD 2. Complete the blank with the descriptive adjective in parenthesis in Spanish.
1. La clase es ____________________. (interesting)
2. Mi mamá es muy (very) ______________________. (fun)
3. Nora es una persona _____________________. (likeable, nice)
4. Las clases de química son ____________________ (difficult)
5. El profesor Torres y la profesora Escudero son _____________________. (cheerful)
6. Los elefantes son ______________________. (big)
7. Juan es alto y _______________________ (slim/slender)
8. Juana es de Guatemala. Ella es __________________________ (Guatemalan-feminine).
9. ¿Eres (tú) ___________________? (Mexican –male)
10. Nosotros somos ______________________ (Peruvian).
11. Ellas son _______________________ .(Brazilian)
12. Yo soy ________________________ . (Salvadorean-female)

ACTIVIDAD 3. A family member/A friend description
A. Write a small description of a member of your familia or un amigo o una amiga physically and in terms of their personalities. Imagine you are describing a picture to your partner.
Vocabulario: amigo (male friend), amiga (female friend), hermana (sister), hermano (brother), padre (father), madre (mother), papá (padre-informal); mamá (madre-informal)
Modelo:
Mi hermana se llama Nora. Nora es rubia. Ella es muy inteligente. Mi otra hermana es Lilian. Ella es morena. Ella es muy divertida.
B. Be ready to read this to your partner y a la clase.

ACTIVIDAD 4. Write SEIS sentences in Spanish (with their English translation) using seis different descriptive adjectives. Write SEIS sentences in Spanish (with their English translation) using seis different nationalities as in the previous actividades.