jueves, el veinte de octubre

Spanish I:

2nd hour, 4th hour and 5th hour only: (6th and 7th hour students, just read the grammar notes below. You do NOT have to do the exercises. You will do them another day.)

We began chapter 1.2 today.

Using ser and tener for descriptions:

• We learned about using the verb "ser" to describe your personality and your looks, and using the verb "tener" to talk about the color of your eyes and your hair.

Ella es alta y divertida. Ella tiene los ojos verdes y el pelo rubio. = She is tall and funny. She has green eyes and blond hair.

IMPORTANT:

• When you are describing the color of your eyes, you must make the adjective plural: verdes, not verde.
• Also the adjective goes AFTER the noun, not before: ojos verdes, not verdes ojos.

Definite articles:

• We talked about the use of definite articles (the) in Spanish, and how there are four forms, depending if the noun is masculine, femenine, singular, or plural.

el = the, for masculine, singular: el chico = the boy
la = the, for femenine, singular: la chica = the girl
los = the, for masculine plural: los chicos = the boys
las = femenine, plural: las chicas = the girls

Indefinite articles:

• We talked about indefinite articles (a, some) in Spanish, and how there are four forms, depending if the noun is masculine, femenine, singular, or plural.

un = a, for masculine, singular: un chico : a boy
una = a, for femenine, singular: una chica = a girl
unos = some, for masculine, plural: unos chicos = some boys
unas = some, for femenine, plural: unas chicas = some girls

IMPORTANT:

• Remember that most nouns ending in "o" asre masculine and most nouns ending in "a" are femenine, although there are some exceptions (el día, la mano).
• Whether you are using definite or indefinite articles, they must "agree" with the noun. This means you must use the masculine, femenine, singular, and/or plural forms when necessary: la chica, not el chica; unos chicos, not un chicos.

Using adjectives to describe gender:

• Adjectives describe nouns. Like articles they match the gender of the noun (masculine or femenine and the number (singular, plural).

el chico alto = the tall boy
la chica alta = the tall girl
los chicos altos = the tall boys
las chicas altas = the tall girls

IMPORTANT:

• Adjectives come after the noun, not before like in English: chico alto, not alto chico.

Class work (to be finished for homework): Due tomorrow.
Only 2nd hour, 4th hour and 5th hour have to do these exercises. 6th and 7th hour DO NOT have to do these exercises. You will do them another day.

• Exs #4 and 5 pg 55
• Exs #6 and 7 pg 57