Pitmans Commercial Spanish Grammar

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Grammar (2nd ed.), by C. A. Toledano
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Title: Pitman's Commercial Spanish Grammar (2nd ed.)
Author: C. A. Toledano
Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15127]
Language: English and Spanish
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GRAMMAR ***
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PITMAN'S COMMERCIAL SPANISH GRAMMAR
BY
C. A. TOLEDANO
1917

PREFACE
With the best intention of justifying Messrs. PITMAN'S confidence in
entrusting me with the compilation of a Spanish Grammar to form part
of the series of "Commercial Grammars," I set to work to produce a
book which, while avoiding pedantry and the agglomeration of
superfluous and intricate rules which puzzle the student, should equally
avoid falling into the extreme of coarseness which debases the subject
under study, or the scrappiness resulting in gaps that perplex and
discourage him. I have tried to be brief and clear in the rules given.
The vocabulary has been chosen carefully, avoiding the artificiality of
too much commercial technology, but keeping constantly in view the
object of the Series, viz., to produce grammars specially suitable for
students preparing for a commercial career.
Whether I have succeeded in my efforts it is for the public to judge. I
can only say that, after more than twenty-five years' teaching of
Spanish in all its stages, privately, at the Manchester University and in
the large classes of our public Institutions, I have tried my best to give
the fruits of my experience to any interested young people who may be
eager to learn a language beautiful, noble, and most useful.
I do not claim to have reached perfection. I only trust the book, such as
it presents itself, will be of real help to the student.
C.A. TOLEDANO.
MANCHESTER, 1911.
COMMERCIAL SPANISH GRAMMAR
ALPHABET.
A (_a_) G (ge) M (eme) Rr (erre)
B (be) H (hache) N (ene) S (ese)

C (ce) I (_i_) N (ene) T (te)
Ch (che) J (jota) O (_o_) U (_u_)
D (de)
K (ka) P (pe) V (ve)
E (_e_) L (ele) Q (cu) X (equis)
F (efe) Ll (elle)
R (ere) Y (y griega_ or _ye) Z (zeta)

K (ka) and W (doble ve) are only found in foreign words used in
Spanish.
PRONUNCIATION OF VOWELS.
a_ as English a in f_ather
_e_[1] " a " f_a_te[2]
i_ " i " magaz_ine

_o_[1] " o " n_o_te[2]
u_ " u " r_ule
These five sounds never vary, except that they are a little longer when
they are stressed and shorter when they are not, as Yo amo (I love),[3]
Amigo (friend), El cielo (heaven), Celeste (heavenly), Un recibo (a
receipt), Interes (interest), Yo como (I eat), Contar (to count), Un buque
(a ship), Una butaca (an armchair).
Y_ is considered a vowel in the conjunction _y (and), and at the end of
a word, as Rey (king), Hoy (to-day).
[Footnote 1: E_ and _o are sounded a little more open when they form
a diphthong with i_ and when they precede _r followed by a consonant
or r_ or _l final, as Fernando (Ferdinand), Un tercio (a third), El tercer
ano (the third year), Porfiar (to insist), Amor (love), Espanol
(Spanish).]
[Footnote 2: The a_ and _o_ of "fate" and "note" are not pure vowel
sounds_. In English the a is distinctly pronounced a-ee and o is
pronounced o-oo.
In Spanish the first part only of the two sounds is permissible.]
[Footnote 3: The examples given with their English equivalents should
be learnt.
DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS.
There are no Diphthongs or Triphthongs in the English sense of two or
three vowels meeting in one syllable and blending into a different
sound, as "pause," "plough."

Every vowel is pronounced separately and each with its alphabetical
sound, only the two or three vowels occurring in one syllable are
pronounced rapidly, as Pausa (pause), Reino (kingdom), Cuenta
(account), Buey (ox).
A, E_ and _O never form diphthongs together. They may form
diphthongs and triphthongs only in combination with I_ and _U.
CONSONANTS.
The Consonants are pronounced as in English with the following
exceptions:
B is pronounced much more lightly than in English, with no pressure of
the lips, as Libro (book), Brevedad (brevity).
C before E_ and _I_--_th in "theatre," as La Cena (the supper), La
Cerveza (the beer). Otherwise pronounced _K_ as