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AGUEST SAID
Buenas dias, pollos! (Good morning, chikkens!). I have a bit of time on my hands this morning (LOLOLOLOL!), so thought perhaps I'd post another lesson. Nouns and articles. Two things, before we begin:
First, a HUGE thank you to all of you who've kept this thread and topic going, particular our dear Zoe (the greatest of love and peace to you, dear one!). Her great interest is helping to keep all of us motivated and I, for one, am grateful for that.
Second, thank you ALL... for your patience with ME regarding this topic AND for sincerely welcoming dear Jochy (paz a usted, querido hermano!) to help. I also truly hope I did not offend dear GLT (where ARE you... and peace to YOU!) in asking that we figure out we want to do this. I can be a bit anal... particularly when I have an "idea", so I TRULY apologize if I ran you off! Please... come back... and if I did offend, please forgive me!
And third, I want to ask dear Jochy for some clarificaition as to the use of "llama" (prounounced "yah-mah", I think, dear Zoe).. or, "llame" for first person (pronounced "yah-may"): when I say "Me llamo (yah-mo) Shelby," is that because I am saying, literally, "I am called 'Shelby'" (which means the same thing as "My name is Shelby")? From "Como te llamas (yah-mas)" meaning, "How (como) are you called (te llamas)? Of course, I am being pendantic (okay, anal - LOLOL!), but maybe that will help folks know why the words are so different, why a word meaning "called" can also mean "name"? Your input is MOST welcome so, please, clarify if I'm off base here!
Okay, now, for a lesson (lección) on nouns and articles:
Unlike nouns in English, Spanish nouns have gender connotations: they are either masculine or feminine. (Side note: that's what various names/words in the Bible are sometimes presented as women/females. For example, Satan is a female because the Latin word, from which comes the Spanish word... "Satana"... is feminine. And "wisdom". From the Greek word, "sophia", which is a feminine word because wisdom was thought to be a feminine trait... because the Oracles were female... so the translation BACK to Hebrew (for Proverbs 8 - the Hebrew scriptures are not the original Hebrew Aramaic, but translations to modern Hebrew from Greek)... was feminized. I digress.)
The gender of a noun determines the article it takes. The SINGULAR articles are:
el - the (masculine) - pronounced "ehl"
la - the (feminine) - pronounced "lah"
un - a (masculine) - pronounced "oon"
una - a (feminine) - pronounced "oo-nah"
Masculine nouns usually end with an "o." Feminine nouns usually end with an "a." So, again, since "Satan" ends with an "a" in Latin languages ("Satana"), many Latin renderings, including Da Vinci's "Last Supper" show the Adversary as a woman (that was NOT Mary the Magdalene depicted, but Judas Escariot, once Satan had entered into him!). Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" also depicted Satan as a woman (well, I hear tell - I haven't seen it).
There are exceptions to the above articles, but in the spirit of keeping it simple... and FUN... we'll focus on those, for now.
As with English, a Spanish noun is made plural by adding an "s" or "es". In Spanish, though, the articles are also pluralized:
los - the (masculine) - pronounced "los"
las - the (feminine) - pronounced "lahs"
unos - a (masculine) - pronounced "oo-nos"
unas - a (feminine) - pronounced "oo-nahs"
So, for example, a writing pen which, in Spanish, is masculine noun. While in English we would simply say "pen", in Spanish we would say "the pen." Thus:
pen = el boligrafo (sing.) or los boligrafos (pl.) - pronounced "boh-lee-gra-fo(s)"
Or "house", a feminine word in Spanish, stated just as "house" in English, but "the house" in Spanish:
house = la casa (sing.) or las casa (pl.)
A couple/few more:
Masculine Nouns with Articles -
shoe = la zapato or las zapatos
egg = el hueve or los huevos
juice = el jugo or los jugos
bathroom = el baño or los baños
arm = el brazo or los brazos
chicken = el pollo or los pollos
Feminine Nouns with Articles -
table = la mesa or las mesas
potato = la papa or las papas
salad = la ensalada or las ensaladas
spoon = la cuchara or las cucharas
bed = la camara or las camaras
face = la cara or las caras
Also, in English we drop the indefinite articles "a" and "an" when pluralizing a noun. In Spanish, where the nouns are pluralized, the articles mean "some." So, where we might say, in English, "tables", we would say in Spanish, "some tables," or "unas mesas." Or "some shoes"... or "unos zapatos."
Por lo tanto, esa es la lección de hoy (So, that is the lesson for today). Espero que ayude (I hope it helps). Por supuesto, tenemos Jochy querido aclarar o llenar los espacios en blanco si es necesario (Of course, we have dear Jochy - paz a usted! - to help clarify or fill in the blanks if needed).
Peace... and thank you for behaving with your new instructor!
_________________
Paz a todos!
Su sirviente, compañera de estudios, y un esclava de Cristo,
SA
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