Celeste Class 1
Celeste Homework Class 1 Lesson 1: Transitive and Intransitive verbs Transitive verbs are those that take an object. Intransitive verbs are those that don’t. Examples: Transitive verbs Ramón come un taco. (Ramón eats what? A taco.) Yo compré una camisa. (I bought what? A shirt.) Intransitive verbs Nosotros pausamos un momento. (We paused a moment... the verb takes no object.) Ellos duermen. (They sleep... the verb takes no object.) Assignment 1 Write a list of 20 transitive verbs and another, separate list of 10 intransitive verbs. Lesson 2: Direct objects Direct objects are what directly receive the action of a verb. Examples: Ramón come un taco. (Ramón eats what? A taco... Taco is the direct object.) Yo compré una camisa. (I bought what? A shirt... Shirt is the direct object.) Assignment 2 Write ten sentences (double spaced!) in which there is at least one direct object. Use different verbs and objects in each sentence and endeavor to make your sentences more creative that my examples. Assignment 3 (This applies to every other week during the course.) Read a book in Spanish at whatever level you feel comfortable (don’t forget to go to the library!) and bring it to class to share with one or two other students.
Celeste Class 2
Lesson 1: La "a" Personal
In Spanish, when a direct object is a person, it is correct to insert the preposition "a" before the person in the sentence.
(This is also true for nonhuman creatures with whom the speaker has a relationship, like a pet: the speaker recognizes
the creature’s "personality.")
Examples:
Yo veo las rosas.
Yo veo a Rosa.
Lesson 2:
After a preposition, most of the personal pronouns work, but not "yo" or "tú."
a mí
a ti
a él
a ella
a usted
a nosotros
a vosotros
a ellos
a ellas
a ustedes
Here are some prepostions:
para
de
para
por
sobre
en
desde
con
sin
Note: In combination with the prepostion "con," "mí" and "ti" become "conmigo" and "contigo."
Lesson 3: Direct Object pronouns
Here are the direct object pronouns:
me nos
te
lo los
la las
When used in conjunction with conjugated verbs, these pronouns are placed before the verb.
Example:
Simón lee el libro. ("El libro" is the direct object.)
Simón lo lee. ("Lo" represents "el libro.")
Assignments
1. Rewrite your 10 sentences from last week so that the direct object is replaced with a direct object pronoun.
2. Write 5 new sentences in which there is a stated direct object and it is human.
3. Rewrite these 5 sentences using the appropriate direct object pronoun.
Celeste Class 3
Lesson: Direct Object Pronouns After Nonconjugated Verbs You know that direct object pronouns come before conjugated verbs. Example: Yo leo el libro.=Yo lo leo. But with certain verb forms (not considered conjugations) these pronouns come afterward. A. Infinitives These pronouns get attached to the end of an infinitive. Examples: 1. Para comprar un carro, tengo que verlo. (In order to buy a car, I have to see it.) 2. Manejarlo también es importante. (Driving it is also important.) In example 1, notice that the infinitive (verlo) is part of a verbal expression (tener que + infinitive). The pronoun can actually go before the conjugated verb in the expression (tengo) as well as after the infinitive verb: two verb forms, two options. This does not change the meaning. In example 2, notice that the infinitive is not part of any expression, but rather is the subject of the sentence. Assignment 1: Write 5 examples like my example 1. Also write 5 examples like my example 2. Make sure to establish what your object is before you use the direct object pronouns. B. Affirmative Imperative (commands) These pronouns get attached to the end of positive commands. (They go before the verb with negative commands.) Example: Yo trabajé muy duro para preparale ese taco. ¡Cómalo! (I worked hard to prepare you that taco. Eat it!) Note in the example above that the verb has an accent mark on it. That’s because the addition of the pronoun also adds a syllable to the word, which changes the customary position of the stressed syllable. The accent mark indicates where the stress should be in the new word. Assignment 2: Write 10 examples like mine above. Pay attention to the accent marks. Here are 10 commands you can use: (I’m offering you "usted" commands because I think they’re more essential.) coma escriba hable escuche mire diga escriba beba corte limpie C. Present Participles These pronouns get attached to the end of an present participles. Examples: 1. Juan: ¿Dónde está mi taco? Juana: El perro está comiéndolo. (Juan: Where’s my taco. Juana: The dog’s eating it.) 2. Ramón tiene nueva novia. Pasó toda la fiesta besándola. (Ramón has a new girlfriend. He spent the whole party kissing her.) In example 1, notice that the present participle (comiendo) is part of the compound tense called the "present progressive" (estar + present participle). This is how the present participle is most commonly used. With this compound tense, the pronoun can actually go before the conjugated verb in the expression (está) as well as after the present participle: two verb forms, two options. This does not change the meaning. In example 2, notice that the present participle is used independently. This is a lot less common. The present participle is NOT used as the subject of a sentence as it is in English. Assignment 3: Write 5 examples like my example 1. Make sure you establish what your object is before you use the pronoun. You don’t have to write sentences like example 2. Assignment 4: Read a book.
Celeste Class 4
Assignment: 20 Clues (Based on 20 Questions) Think of something relatively common (a carrot, chocolate, a dog…), then write statements about it in which the "something" is presented as the DIRECT OBJECT of the verb. Example: (lechuga) 1. La puedes comer. 2. Cuando la ves, ves el color verde. 3. Es posible meterla adentro de una bolsa. Notice that, in this case, I used "la" because "lechuga" is femenine. You too should use the appropriate form for your "something." BE CAREFUL not to treat your "something" as the subject of any of your sentences. Do not say, for example, "Es verde," because then you’re not practicing the direct object pronouns you’re supposed to be practicing. Also do not say, "La es verde." That is grammatically nonsensical. (Examples 2 and 3, above, for "lechuga," are ways of getting around this.) Try to give at least five clues for one "something." If you don’t give 20 clues for your "something," pick an additional "something" (or two, or three) so that your total number of clues amounts roughly to 20. (For example, you could pick four "somethings" and for each you could give five clues.)
Celeste Class 5
PLEASE PICK UP A COPY OF THE NEW UNIT ("TE LO JURO") FROM MY FRONT PORCH AND GO OVER PAGES 1 AND 2.
Lesson: Indirect Object Pronouns
A. An indirect object receives an action indirectly. Often it is the recipient of the direct object.
Example: Yo doy el regalo a Pedro.
In the above sentence, "el regalo" is the direct object.
"Pedro" is the indirect object.
Here are the indirect object pronouns:
me nos
te
le les
Like direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns are place before a conjugated verb.
Example: Yo le doy el regalo a Pedro.
Notice that BOTH the pronoun ("le") and the person or thing to which it refers ("Pedro") are present in the sentence.
This is standard practice when establishing the meaning of "le" or "les." It’s not necessary with the other pronouns
because their meaning is self evident.
B. When both direct and indirect pronouns are used in a clause, the INDIRECT PRONOUN comes first.
Example:
Nosotros damos el regalo a ti.
Nosotros te lo damos.
C. When either LE or LES comes before LO, LA, LOS, or LAS, the indirect object pronoun (LE or LES) becomes SE.
Example:
Yo le doy el regalo a Pedro.
Yo se lo doy. (SE = LE)
Assignment
1.Write 10 sentences that have clearly stated direct and indirect objects and use the appropriate indirect object
pronoun.
2. Rewrite the sentences in their abbreviated form (using the direct and indirect object pronouns).
Celeste Class 6
Lesson 1: Order of direct and indirect object pronouns So say you have a sentence like: Yo te doy el regalo. If you want to use the pronoun LO in subsequent sentences to represent EL REGALO in addition to using the pronoun TE, remember that the order of these pronouns is: INDIRECT, DIRECT (the abbreviation ID might help you remember this) Therefore, the sentence you get is: Yo te lo doy. NOTE: When LE or LES comes before LO, LA, LOS, or LAS, the former become SE. Example: Yo le doy el regalo a Roberto.=Yo se lo doy. Assignment 1: Rewrite your ten sentences from last week so that they employ both the direct and indirect object pronouns. Lesson 2: Gustar You probably know that GUSTAR is different from LIKE. In Spanish, it’s not YOU that LIKES the a thing, it’s A THING that PLEASES you. Example: Me gusta el chocolate. The subject is EL CHOCOLATE. For emphasis, it is also common to say: A mí me gusta el chocolate. A MÍ, A TI, and A NOSOTROS are all used in this way, for emphasis. But when the pronoun in question is LE or LES, it is necessary to specify to whom or to what you are referring (the first time you use LE or LES to refer to something or someone). Examples: A ellos les gusta el chocolate. A ti te gustan los caballos. Similar verbs: encantar, fascinar, molestar, importar Assignment 2: A. Write ten creative sentences using GUSTAR (and/or any similar verbs), varying the subject and object and using the phrase A TI, A ELLA, etc. Example: A ti te gusta bañarte en chocolate. B. Rewrite these same sentences, but leaving a blank where the indirect object pronoun should be. Example: A ti _______ gusta bañarte en chocolate. C. Rewrite these same sentences, but leaving a blank where the verb should be. Example: A ti te ____________ bañarte en chocolate.
Celeste Class 7
Write a letter of complaint regarding some service and product. Establish what the service and product are, then forge ahead, giving examples of the problem, making sure to use the DIRECTand INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS we’ve been studying. Example: Estimado Gerente de Distribución, El muchacho quien entrega mi periódico en las mañanas es muy inconsistente. A veces no me lo trae. A veces me lo deja en la calle. A veces me lo trae mojado. Pero al vecino siempre se lo da en la mano…. PLEASE DOUBLE SPACE.
Questions?
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This page last updated 29 July 2010