Page 500 - diccionario

498 SPANISH GRAMMAR / GRAMÁTICA ESPAÑOLA
PLURALS
In general, you can simply add an –s to nouns from the plural:
bed cama
beds camas
If the nouns ends in a consonant, the plural is made by adding -es:
flower flor
flowers flores
DIMINUTIVES
The use of diminutive suffixes is common in Spanish. These are additions to nouns and adjectives to express smallness or affection; for example,
when expressing the smallness and cuteness of a puppy. The most common of these suffixes are –ita/o, -cita/o, and, to less extent, -illa/o and –cill/o.
café coffee cafecito
amor love amorcillo
animal animal animalito
perro dog perrito
Note: When looking up a word in the dictionary, be aware of such things as diminutives, which are not listed. cita/o; illa/o, try looking for the base word. For instance, to find perito, try perro.
If the word you´ve heard ends in –ita/o;
DID YOU KNOW
A common colloquial saying you hear in Spain is la España caní. There is no direct translation but it means ´The real Spain´ - probably
the type of thing you, as the traveler, are keen to come across.
MISTAKES TO WATCH FOR – ENGLISH SPEAKERS
It’s useful to know what the most common mistakes are for English and Spanish speakers as each attempts to speak and understand the other
language. By checking this list from time to time, you can remind yourself of possible mistakes to avoid.
* Unlike English, Spanish nouns can be either masculine or feminine. So…say el coche not la coche
la gente not el gente
English-speakers often have difficulty remembering the gender of a particular word.
* Although there are basic rules governing the use of genders, the inevitable exceptions can be a real source of confusion. Check the dictionary
for the correct article.
So…say la mano not el mano
el mapa not la mapa
* In English, adjectives are placed before the noun (eg the big dog), so it´s easy to forget that Spanish generally places them after the noun.
el perro grande not el grande perro
la casa blanca not la blanca casa
* The existence of two verbs in Spanish for the English ´to be´ is a real headache for English speakers, who frequently confuse them.
Ella es joven not ella está joven
Isabel está contenta not Isabel es contenta
* In Spanish, to say you like something, you say ´something is pleasing to you´, using the verb gustar 8´to please/taste´) and the pronouns me, te,
le, os, nos, les to indicate who it is pleasing to.
Me gusta Bilbao not Me gusto Bilbao
Nos gustan las patatas not Nos gustamos las patatas
* The subjunctive is frequently used in Spanish, unlike English, and is therefore often ignored or misused. You won´t be misunderstood if you
don’t use the subjunctive, but it does help to get it right.
Quiero que vengas conmigo al cine not Quiero que vienes conmigo al cine