Carbón Homework Class 1
Lesson 1: Gender of nouns
Unlike in English, nouns in Spanish are almost always classified as masculine or feminine.

Masculine nouns:
-Usually end in "-o"
-Can end in "-ma" if Greek in origin
(problema, dilema, poema, and sistema are all fall in this category)

Feminine nouns:
-Often end in "a"
-Words with the following endings are feminine: -ción, -sión, -dad, -tud

Lesson 2: Definite and Indefinite Articles
Definite articles mean "the." In Spanish, the form they take corresponds to their respective noun.

This is also true of indefinite articles, but they mean "a" or "some."

Examples:
                                        Definite
                    Masculine                      Feminine
singular         el libro (the book)            la mesa (the table)
plural             los libros (the books)      las mesas (the tables)

                                        Indefinite
                    Masculine                       Feminine
singular         un libro (the book)          una mesa (the table)
plural             unos libros (the books)   unas mesas (the tables)

Assignment 1
Write down a list of 12 nouns in Spanish.
Of these 12 words: 3 should be masculine singular
3 should be masculine plural
3 should be feminine singular
3 should be feminine plural

Use simple, concrete words the meaning of which you should be able to convey to a partner without using English. Put them in alphabetical order.

To the left of each noun, write the noun's corresponding DEFINITE article (el, la, los, las).

Assignment 2
Write another similar list with 12 new, different nouns with the same male/female/singular plural parameters. List these, also, in alphabetical order. To the left of each noun on the second list, write the noun's corresonding INDEFINITE article (un, una, unos, unas).

Assignment 3
Read a children's book in Spanish and bring it to class to share.

 

Carbón Homework Class 2

Lesson: Demonstrative Adjectives
These are words used to distinguish one things from another,
differentiate, or merely indicate what one is talking about.

   THIS        THESE
M  este        estos
F  esta        estas

Example: Estos libros, en mi mano, son rojos. (These books, in my hand, are red.)

THAT     THOSE
ese        esos
esa        esas

Example: Esa mesa, en la cocina, es redonda. (That table, in the kitchen, is round.)

THAT one over there     THOSE ones over there
aquel                               aquellos
aquella                            aquellas

Example: Aquella casa, en Jalisco, es la del alcalde. (That house over there, in Jalisco, is the
mayor's.)

NOTE: Unlike in English, in Spanish there are two THATs. If you find the notion of AQUEL (and its forms) confusing,
rest assured that, at this stage in your Spanish acquistion, it's more important that you understand it than know when
to use it: you can get by with out using it, but you WILL hear it.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Write 12 sentences: one for each form listed above. Group your sentences by gender/number (masculine/singular, masculine/plural, feminine/singular, feminine/plural)
Example (masculine/singular group):
Este libro, en mi mano, es rojo.
Ese libro, en la cocina, es interesante.
Aquel libro, en Jalisco, es viejo.

Not that the examples include context/justification for why you are using este vs. ese vs. aquel (such as "en mi mano"), and the examples you write should as well. That is to say:
ESTE/ESTOS/ESTA/ESTAS: Show that the object is in your personal space ("en mi mano," for example)
ESE/ESOS/ESA/ESAS: Show that the object is NOT in your personal space ("en la cocina," for example)
AQUEL/AQUELLOS/AQUELLA/AQUELLAS: Show that the object is distant ("en Jalisco," for example)

As always, choose vocabulary for your homework that is new to you.



 

 
Carbón Homework Class 3

Lesson 1: SER

SER is used to express something's IDENTITY.

(SER means "to be" in the sense of EXISTING and being identified as

something.)

USES of SER

1. Identifying something as a noun. (Esto es un libro.)

2. Characteristics (El gato es negro.)

3. Profession (Ramón es doctor.)

4. Religion (Nosotros somos budistas.)

5. Ideology (Ellos son socialistas.)

6. Nationality (Tú eres italiano.)

7. Geographic origin (Soy de Wenatchee.)

8. Material origin (La silla es de metal.)

9. When telling time. (¿Qué hora es? Son las ocho.)
Lesson 2: ESTAR
ESTAR is used to express something's CONDITION or LOCATION.
(ESTAR means "to be" in the sense of being in a particular STATE.)

1. Physical condition (Estoy enfermo.)

2. Mental condition (Ramón está aburrido.)

3. Emotional condition (Nosotros estamos tristes.)

4. Location (¿Dónde está Waldo? Waldo está en Puyallup.)

5. Temperature of things (La sopa está fría.)
Some comparisons of SER & ESTAR

ESTAR    
SER
¿Cómo está Roberto?
(This means "How is Roberto?" How is his mental/emotional/physical condition.)
¿Cómo es Roberto?
(This means "What is Roberto like?" It requests a description of his identity and characteristics.)






La casa está bonita.
(This means "The house looks pretty." It has been dolled up, adorned with Christmas lights or something. a condition)



La casa es bonita.
(This means "The house is pretty." a characteristic)


Simón está aburrido.
("Simón is bored." a condition)





Simón es aburrido.
("Simón is boring." a charactersitic)


ASSIGNMENT
Write one original example of your own for each use of each verb for
a total of 14 sentences.

 

 
Carbón Homework Class 4

Lesson: The Present Progressive Tense


The Present Progressivie is yet another use of ESTAR and is used to express an action that is actually in 

process. It a compound tense in which ESTAR serves as an auxiliary verb to another verb in its present 

participle (or gerund) form.

Examples:

El profesor está explicando. (The professor is explaining.)

Los estudiantes están escribiendo. (The students are writing.)


Note that ESTAR is conjugated as you'd expected based on the subject.


Also note the endings of the present participles:

-ANDO (as in "explicando") is used with -AR verbs.

-IENDO (as in "escribiendo") is used with -ER and -IR verbs.


 (There are some verbs with irregular present participles: the verb IR itself—its present participle is 

YENDO—and those that end in -AER, -EER and -UIR. Their present participles end in -YENDO, as in

TRAYENDO, LEYENDO and CONSTRUYENDO)


Assignment

Write a one-page, double-spaced narrative about a room in your house. Choose a few objects there and 

answer these questions:

-Where are things in relation to each other?

-Where are they from?

-What do they look like?

-In what condition are they?

-AND What is happening in the moment that you write?


Use SER and ESTAR based on the assignment from class 3. In addition, endeavor to use the PRESENT 

PROGRESSIVE.


Example:

En la cocina, la lavadora de platos está a la derecha del horno. Es de Tacoma y es blanca. Es usada pero 

está como nueva. El gato está comiendo su comida a la izquierda de la refrigeradora.

 (In the kitchen, the dishwasher is to the right of the oven. It's from Tacoma and it's white. It's used but it's 

like new. The cat is eating its food to the left of the refrigerator.)

 

 
Carbón Homework Class 5
Irregular verbs SABER, CONOCER, HACER

These are three very important and useful irregular verbs.

They are irregular because the first person singular form (yo) does not follow the regular pattern of just dropping
the infinitive ending and adding "o."

SABER - to know (information)
yo sé (I know)				nosotros sabemos (we know)
tú sabes  (you know, familiar)
él sabe  (he knows)			ellos saben (they know, masculine, mixed)
ella sabe (she knows)			ellas saben (they know, feminine)
usted sabe (you knows, formal)	ustedes saben (you know, plural)

Example:
Yo sé cuál es la capital de California. (I know what the capital of California is.)

CONOCER - to know (be familiar with people, places and things)
yo conozco (I know)			nosotros conocemos (we know)
tú conoces  (you know, familiar)
él conoce  (he knows)			ellos conocen (they know, masculine, mixed)
ella conoce (she knows)		ellas conocen (they know, feminine)
usted conoce (you knows, formal)	ustedes conocen (you know, plural)

Example:
Ella no conoce a Alberto. (She does not know Alberto.)

HACER - to make or to do
yo hago (I make)			nosotros make (we speak)
tú haces  (you make, familiar)
él hace  (he makes)			ellos hacen (they make, masculine, mixed)
ella hace (she makes)			ellas hacen (they make, feminine)
usted hace (you makes, formal)	ustedes hacen (you make, plural)


Notice that there are five forms I'm giving you for each verb. PONER, for example: pongo, pones, pone, ponemos, ponen.

Assignment 1
Stop by the front porch and pick up a copy of the unit "A COMER." It's in the folder that says BEGINNING UNITS. If this
is your first course with us, pick up one that has a paper clip. Read pages 1-2 of the unit and the stuff that paperclipped
to the unit as well.

Assignment 2
Write out the conjugation for these IRREGULAR VERBS (SABER, CONOCER, HACER) over and over (just like I did above,
but without the english) until you can do it from memory without looking at another piece of paper on which they are
already written.

Assignment 3
Practice the conjugations orally until you can recite them without looking.

Assignment 4
Write one original sentence using each form of each verb: that's 20 original sentences! Use a dictionary of course and
be creative. But keep them simple: don't use words that you'll have difficulty explaining to a partner without using English.

Example:
Yo pongo el sombrero en la mesa. (I put the hat on the table.)



 

 
Carbón Homework Class 6
Lesson 1: Irregular verb DAR (to give)

DAR in the present indicative
doy 			damos
das
da  	 		dan

NOTE: The preposition "a" is used when expressing the giving of something TO someone.
Example: Yo le doy el libro a Simón. (I give the book to Simón.)
(Don't worry about the "le" right now.)

Lesson 2: Irregular verb SALIR (to go out)

SALIR in the present indicative
salgo 			salimos
sales
sale  	 		salen

NOTE: The preposition "de" is used when expressing WHERE someone is going out FROM.
Example: Yo salgo de la casa a las 7:00. (I go out of the house at 7:00.)

NOTE: The preposition "a" is used when expressing WHERE someone is going out TO.
Example: Cuando no queremos cocinar, salimos a un restaurante. (When we don&rsquot want to cook, we go out to a restaurant.)

Lesson 3: TRAER (to bring)
traigo                           traemos
traes
trae	                        traen

NOTE: In Spanish, TRAER (to bring) is not to be confused with LLEVAR (to take). In English the two verbs are somewhat interchangeable. Not so in Spanish. TRAER is used ONLY from the perspective of someone who is AT the destination. NOT from the perspective of someone who is GOING TO BUT NOT YET AT the destination.
Examples:
¿Quién trae la limonada a nuestra fiesta? (Who is bringing the lemonade to our party?)
¡Miren lo que traigo! (Look what I bring!)
Versus
¿Qué llevo a la fiesta? (What do I bring [take] to the party?)

Lesson 4: PONER (to put)
pongo			ponemos
pones
pone			ponen

Assignment 1
Write out the conjugation for DAR, SALIR, TRAER and PONER. Do it over and over until you can do it from memory without looking at
another piece of paper on which they are already written.

Assignment 2
Practice the conjugations orally until you can recite them without looking.

Assignment 3
Write one original sentence using each form of each verb: that's 20 original sentences. Again, use a dictionary of course
and be creative. Again, keep them simple: don't use words that you'll have difficulty explaining to a partner without using English.


 

 

 
Carbón Homework Class 7

Lesson 1: Expressing Posession with "de"

There's no "apostrophe 's'" in Spanish.

You can't say "Bob's tacos." You have to say "the tacos of Bob."

You say it like this: "Los tacos de Bob." (Bob's tacos)

Or "Los tacos son de Bob." (The tacos are Bob's.)
Lesson 2: Use of Articles with "de"

If the posessor is not stated as a proper noun (like Bob), it will
usually have an article in front of it (un, el, etc.)

Examples:

Los tacos son de la mujer.

Las casas son de las mujeres.

Los libros son de los hombres.

Las mesas son del hombre.
Note that the last example features the contraction DEL, which is the
combination of DE and EL.
Lesson 3: Use of Definite Articles with Titles

When using someone's title to refer to them, there's a difference between
when you address them directly and when you talk about them to someone
else.
When talking about them to someone else, you use a definite article
in front of their title.

Examples:

Hoy el señor Rodríguez no está aquí. (Today
Mr. Rodriguez is not here.)

¿Dónde está la señora Ruíz? (Where
is Mrs. Ruiz?)
When addressing someone directly, you don't use the article.

Examples:

Hola señor Rodríguez.

¿Cómo está señora Ruíz?
ASSIGNMENT 1

Write 12 sentences that state possession similar to those in Lesson
2. Write:

3 with de la

3 with de las

3 with de los

3 with del
But mix up the sentences so that they aren't in the above groups together.
The structure of each sentence should be as follows:

noun 1, SER, de, definite article, noun 2



Questions?



Last updated 24 July 2015