| ENGLISH GRAMMAR for Spanish Speakers |
1. Possessive adjectives
* English Possessive Adjectives agree
with the possessor and not with the thing possessed
* The use of English possessives broadly
corresponds with their use in Spanish
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
1st person 2nd person 3rd person |
my (mi, mis) your (tu, tus) his (su, sus) her ( " , " ) its ( " , " ) |
our (nuestro/a/s) your (tu, tus) their (su, sus) |
2. Demonstrative adjectives
* Demonstratives adjectives are used,
both in English and in Spanish to indicate the position of something, but unlike Spanish which has three degrees of proximity (esto, eso, aquello), there are only two in English.
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
this (este/a/o) that (ese/aquel) |
these (estos/as) those (esos, aquellos) |
* Special uses:
1. That can be used instead of so, with the meaning of tan, and a certain emphatic sense à
Is it that expensive?
2. This and that, in colloquial language, can be used to illustrate the size of something graphically à
A snake this long
3. This is often used to begin anecdote, jokes, etc, to highlight the character à This man is on a bus and ...
3. Numerals
1. Notes on the cardinal numbers
ê The units follow the tens, joined by a hyphen à
twenty-five
ê In compound number, one hundred is always followed by and à
one hundred and twenty-five
ê The thousands are not followed by a hyphen or and à
one thousand three hundred and fifty
ê But if 1000 is followed by a number lower than 100, then and à
one thousand and fifty
ê The numbers in three-figure dates are read in two parts à
711 seven eleven
ê The numbers in four-figure dates are read in groups of two à
1975 nineteen seventy-five
ê Four figure numbers ending in two zeroes can be read with the first two figures being followed by hundred à
1500 fifteen hundred
ê In everyday spoken language, hundred, thousand and million are usually preceded by a instead of one
à a hundred
2. The number “0”
ê
Nought to indicate the figure and in mathematical uses à
One million ends in six noughts
ê Zero
in mathematics and to measure temperature à
It was ten degrees below zero
ê
0 for telephone number à
My number is 620 (six, two, 0)
ê
Nil when announcing football results à
Arsenal 0 (nil) Liverpool 0 (nil)
ê
Love when calling out tennis, squash or badmintos scores à
Fifteen love ...
3. Notes on Ordinal Numbers
ê Ordinal numbers, except for the first three which are completely irregular, are formed from the cardinal numbers by adding the ending –th
ê Spelling changes
|
five ê |
fifth |
ve ê f |
|
eight ê |
eighth |
+ h |
|
nine ê |
ninth |
- e |
|
twelve ê |
twelfth |
ve ê f |
|
twenty ê |
twentieth, thirtieth ... |
y ê i + eth |
ê
When a compound ordinal is formed, only the last number change à twenty-fith
ê Ordinal numbers are abbreviated by writing the corresponding figure followed the 1st two letters of the ordinal ending à
1st, 3rd, 4th.
4. The use of ordinals
ê The use of ordinal numbers broadly coincides with Spanish usage, except in the following cases:
* In English, ordinals are used in dates for the days of the month à 1st April
* Ordinals are also used in the titles of Kings an Queens à
Elizabeth II (the Second)
5. Multipliers
ê once
ê twice
ê three times
ê four times etc
6.
Multiples
ê single
ê double, twofold
ê treble, triple, threefold
ê quadruple, fourfold
ê quintuple, fivefold
ê sixfold
ê sevenfold
4. Interrogative adjectives
1. The following can be used as
adjectives: what, which, whose, how much, how many à
Whose umbrella is that?
2. The difference between what
and which
ê
What: has a general sense à What plays by Green do you like?
ê
Which: is selective or restrictive à Which play did you like best?