Pitmans Commercial Spanish Grammar | Page 8

(al)[28] Frenchman.
9. My cousin sold (past. def.) his horse to Peter (Pedro).
10. John looks for his book and his paper.
11. The copy book is (esta) on the table.
12. Henry (Enrique) must (debe) copy some letters.
13. Who copies the letters here?
14. Peter copies them (las copia).[29]
15. Has Henry much paper?
16. Yes, he has much paper but little ink.
17. The roses and violets are in the flower-stand.
18. The merchant has received (recibido) four bales of silk handkerchiefs (panuelo) and three cases of prints and muslins.
[Footnote 28: "To buy from" is translated by "Comprar a."]
[Footnote 29: The object pronoun precedes the verb in the indicative mood.]
LESSON IV.
(Leccion cuarta.)

THE ADJECTIVE.

The Adjective in Spanish agrees with the noun it qualifies, in gender and number, as--
El periodico italiano: The Italian newspaper.?La prensa americana: The American press.
It generally follows the nouns as in the above examples, although exceptions will be found, e.g., when the adjective recalls to our mind a quality which is already known to belong to it, it generally precedes the noun, as--
He visto sus hermosas flores: I have seen his beautiful flowers.[30] Adjectives form their plural in the same way as nouns.
[Footnote 30: His flowers are known (or supposed) to be beautiful, before we say it.]
=Formation of the Feminine of Adjectives=.
Adjectives ending in O_ change _O into =A=, as--
El sombrero blanco: The white hat.?La casaca blanca: The white coat.
Adjectives of NATIONALITY which end in a consonant add =A= to form the feminine, as--
El sastre frances: The French tailor.?La modista francesa: The French milliner.
Adjectives ending in _N_ add =A= for the feminine, as--
Un hombre socarron: A sly or cunning man.?Una sonrisa socarrona: A cunning smile.
EXCEPT Joven (young), Comun (common), and Ruin (base, sordid), which do not change for the feminine.
Adjectives ending in or add =A= to form the feminine, as--
Un comerciante emprendedor: An enterprising merchant.?Una casa emprendedora: An enterprising firm.
EXCEPT =Comparative= adjectives ending in or, as Mejor (better), Peor (worse), which do not change for the feminine.
There are a very few adjectives ending in ete_ and _ote. These change into =eta= and =ota= for the feminine.
Other adjectives do not change.
+------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+
| Ser[31] (to be). | Estar[32] (to be). |
|Pres. Part., Siendo (being) | Pres. Part., | Estando (being) |
|_Past Part._, Sido (been) | _Past Part._, | Estado (been) |
|Pres. Tense, Indic. Mood. | Pres. Tense, Indic. Mood. | |Soy (I am), etc. Somos | Estoy (I am), etc. | Estamos |
|Eres Sois | Estas | Estais |
|Es Son | Esta | Estan |

+------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+ |Imperf. Tense, Indic. Mood | Imperf. Tense, Indic. Mood. | |Era (I was), etc. Eramos | Estaba (I was) etc.| Estabamos |
|Eras Erais | Estabas | Estabais |
|Era Eran | Estaba | Estaban |

+------------------------------+--------------------+------------------+ |_Past Def. Tense, Indic. Mood.| Past Def. Tense, Indic. Mood. | |Fui (I was), etc. Fuimos | Estuve (I was), etc.| Estuvimos |
|Fuiste Fuisteis | Estuviste | Estuvisteis |
|Fue Fueron | Estuvo | Estuvieron |

+------------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+
[Footnote 31: =Ser= is used--
(1) To form the Passive voice as,