Lecture Notes on Spanish Colors, Nouns, and Adjectives

Overview

• Main Topics: Names of colors in Spanish, grammar focusing on nouns and adjectives, and their differences from English.
• Focus: Understanding Spanish grammar, noun gender and number, and basic vocabulary.

Colors in Spanish

• Key Vocabulary:

  • Negro (black)
  • Blanco (white)
  • Rojo (red)
  • Amarillo (yellow)
  • Azul (blue)
  • Verde (green)
  • Morado (purple)
  • Café/Marrón (brown)
  • Naranja (orange, also means the fruit "orange")

• Activity: Match colors with food cognates (e.g., café with coffee, tomate with tomato).

Grammar: Nouns and Adjectives

• Nouns (Sustantivos):

  • Definition: People, places, things, or ideas.
  • Gender: Masculine or feminine.
    • Examples:
      • El profesor (male teacher)
      • La profesora (female teacher)
  • Arbitrary Gender: Some objects have arbitrary grammatical gender (e.g., el escritorio - desk, la pantalla - screen).
  • Number:
    • Singular and plural forms.
    • Pluralize by adding -s if the word ends in a vowel (e.g., gato - gatos).

• Articles:

  • Definite Articles: El, La, Los, Las (The)
  • Indefinite Articles: Un, Una, Unos, Unas (A, Some)
  • Articles must agree with the noun in both gender and number.

Patterns in Noun Endings

• Masculine Patterns:

  • Ending in "o": el chico, el niño
  • Ending in "or": el conductor, el profesor
  • Ending in "ista": el turista

• Feminine Patterns:

  • Ending in "a": la chica, la niña
  • Ending in "ora": la conductora, la profesora
  • Ending in "ista": la turista

• Other Clues:

  • Ending in "ma": usually masculine (e.g., el problema, el programa)
  • Ending in "s" (singular): usually masculine (e.g., el autobús, el país)
  • Ending in "ción/sión": always feminine (e.g., la lección, la educación)
  • Ending in "tad/dad": always feminine, representing big ideas (e.g., la libertad, la felicidad)

Practice Exercises

• Determine the Correct Article: Given endings and exceptions (e.g., mapa, universidad, exámenes).
• Use of Definite and Indefinite Articles: Practice with nouns like chica, estudiante, mujer, libro, mochila.

Conclusion

• Summary: Introduction to gender and number of nouns in Spanish.
• Resources: Online textbook lesson, office hours for further clarification.

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Additional Notes:

• Remember: Gender agreement in Spanish is crucial, unlike English where "the" does not change.
• Exceptions: Some nouns like "mapa" are exceptions to general rules.
• Office Hours: Available for further discussion and clarification.