Remediation Material
Spanish II
To be completed by September 29
Below, you will find a list of major topics to review and activities to complete. I have included explanations for a couple of topics along with a link for extra explanation. At the end of each topic, you will find a link with the quizzes to be completed online. Make sure to login with your student account prior to completing these activities, otherwise, I have no way to know whether you have completed them or not.
Make sure to work a little bit daily. Do not try to finish all in one weekend. You need to give your brain enough time to process the material. You will remember better if you study in small portions.
Besides these activities, I will also provide a handout for verb conjugations. The handout also needs to be turned in by September 29th.
1 - Gender of nouns + Definite and Indefinite Articles
For a different explanation, you can go to:
and
A noun is a person, place, thing or idea. Every noun in Spanish has a specific article that denotes the gender of the word. They can be definite or indefinite and have four forms:
Definite articles (the)Indefinite articles (a, an, some)
Masculine singular - el Masculine singular – un
Feminine singular – laFeminine singular - una
Masculine plural – losMasculine plural - unos
Feminine plural – lasFeminine plural - unas
Examples:
person
el niño→theboyla niña→thegirl
los niños→theboyslas niñas→thegirls
place
el restaurante→the restaurant la casa→the house
losrestaurantes→the restaurants las casas→the houses
thing
el papel→thepaperla mesa→thetable
los papeles→thepaperslas mesas→thetables
idea
el pensamiento→the thoughtla idea→the idea
lospensamientos→the thoughts las ideas→the ideas
Living Creatures are referred to by the gender they represent
This one is simple. Every living creature is either anelor ala.If you are an English speaker you have always referred to creatures withthe. The Spanish language is a lot more detailed in this respect. It loves to observe and categorize the differences. With this in mind, take note of the first two rules for mastering Spanish gender:
Rule #1
- When speaking about living creatures, nouns that end in “o” are masculine.
Examples:
el gato→the male cat el perro→the male dog
losgatos→the male cats losperros→the male dogs
el chico→the boy el oso→the male bear
loschicos→the boys lososos→the male bears
el abuelo→the grandfather el tío→the uncle
losabuelos→the grandparents lostíos→the uncles
Rule #2
- When speaking about living creatures, nouns that end in “a” are feminine.
Examples:
La gata→the female cat la perra→the female dog
Las gatas→the female cats las perras→the female dogs
La chica→the girl la osa→the female bear
Las chicas→the girls las osas→the female bears
*Beware of the gender trap!*
There is a slight possibility that you might fall into a “gender thinking trap.” This deception tricks you into thinking that everything associated with amalewill automatically bemasculineand everything associated with afemalewill automatically befeminine.This is false. Only distinct living creatures fall under this categorization.
The following examples clearly illustrate how objects commonly associated with each gender do not follow the rule.
- la corbata→the necktie
- el maquillaje→the makeup
To keep you from falling into this trap, a very important step you can take is to experienceand interact with these nouns in real-world situations. How can you do that from home?
The Masculine in Spanish
When there is a crowd or a group of people, animals, ideas or things that have a mixed gender, what gender is used?
If you answered, “the masculinegender is always used when there is a mixed group,” you are already thinking in the same direction as the Spanish language.
Rule #3
- When there is a group of mixed gender, no matter what the ratio is of females to males and males to females, the group is always referred to as masculine.
1niño+ 4niñas= 5niños1 boy + 4 girls = 5 kids
3gatos+ 542gatas= 545gatos3 male cats + 542 female cats = 545 cats
The masculinegender has more power than the female gender when it comes to making the rules. Although the words have the same value, the male acts as the default leader. To make the wordfeminineyou simply add the feminine “a” touch.
Rule #4
- Masculine nouns that end in consonants (non-vowels) have a corresponding feminine form that ends in “a”
Examples:
el profesor→the male professor la profesora→the female professor
el doctor→ the male doctor la doctora→the female doctor
el señor→the Mr. la señora→the Mrs.
Nouns, Gender and Professions
Some nouns that refer to professions do not change their forms. This does not mean that the importance of gender disappears. If the word does not change, the article is in full charge of specifying gender.
Rule#5
- Some nouns that refer to professions have the same form for masculine and feminine. The article is the only thing that changes.
Examples:
el piloto→ the male pilot la piloto→ the female pilot
el soldado→ the male soldier la soldado→ the female soldier
el modelo→ the male model la modelo→ the female model
el poeta→ the male poet la poeta→ the female poet
el atleta→ the male athlete la atleta→ the female athlete
el psiquiatra→ the male psychiatrist la psquiatra→ the female psychiatrist
Optional brain exercise*Make a list of nouns that currently surround you (wherever you are) in English (you decide on how many you want to attempt). Try to guess their gender in Spanish. Look up the words and see how many you got right and what rules you recognize.
Exclusive Endings
Some words are exclusively reserved for female articles and others are exclusively reserved for male ones. These will admit no opposite intervention, ever! The use of masculine articles with exclusively feminine endings and vice-versa will disrupt and distort your communication.
Rule #6
- Nouns that end in –sión, –ción, –dad, –tudand –umbrewill always require the feminine article.
Examples:
la exposición→theexhibition
la habitación→theroom
la felicidad→thehappiness
la solicitud→theapplication
la costumbre→thecustom
Rule #7
- Nouns that end in –marequire a masculine article
Examples:
el problema→the problem
el emblema→the emblem
el enigma→ the mystery
Exceptions That Create New Rules
Languages exist within a strict framework of rules, yet they are alive, they are dynamic, and the are continuously evolving. Therefore, there are always exceptions to the rules, and these exceptions, in turn, create new rules.
Rule #8
- Some nouns that end in “a” are masculine
- Some nouns that end in “o” are feminine
Examples:
A
el día→ the day
el mapa→ the map
el cura→ the priest
el planeta→ the planet
O
la foto→ the photo
la mano→the hand
la radio→the radio
la moto→the motorcycle
Now, go to studyspanish.com, log into your account, and complete the following activities online:
2. Plural Forms
For a different explanation, go to:
Just as in English, in Spanish there are nouns that name one thing (singular nouns) and nouns that name more than one (plural nouns). However, in Spanish we must also change the article
to its plural form.
the boy the boys
el chico loschicos
Here are the rules for forming plurals in Spanish:
1) El becomeslos; la becomeslas.
2) Un becomes unos; unabecomes unas
If the noun ends in a vowel, just add –s.
If the noun ends in a consonant, add –es.
If the noun ends in z, change the z to c and add –es.
If there is an accent mark on the final vowel, drop the accent.
Now, go to studyspanish.com, log into your account, and complete the following activities online:
3. The verb form “hay”
For additional explanation, go to:
‘Hay’ means ‘there is’ or ‘there are’.
Example: Hay un libro en mi mochila.
(There is a book in my backpack)
Hay veinticuatro(24) estudiantes en la clase.
(There are 24 students in the class)
‘Hay’ is often used in questions.
Example: ¿Hay un libro en tu mochila?
Is there a book in your backpack?
¿Cuántos estudiantes hay en la clase?
How many students are there in the class?
¿Qué hay en tu maleta?
What is there in your suitcase?
Now, go to studyspanish.com, log into your account, and complete the following activities online:
4. Regular Verbs
Verbs in Spanish have either –ar, -er, or –irendings. For example: hablar (to speak), comer (to eat), escribir (to write). These endings indicate that the verb is in its original form, referred to as the infinitive form. When we remove the ‘infinitive’ ending, we are left with the stem of the verb (the part that stays the same). For example, the stem of hablar is habl-. When a regular verb is conjugated, the stem doesn’t change. The ending, however, will vary according to the subject or subject pronoun it agrees with, but it follows a fixed pattern.
More explanation and conjugation patterns:
Once you’ve studied and understood regular verbs, log into your account on studyspanish.com and complete the following activities.
5. Adjectives
activities
6. negation
activities
7. ser vs. estar
quiz
quiz
quiz
quiz
8. possessiveadjectives
quiz
9. Questions
quiz
10.Telling time
quiz
11. irregular verbs
quiz
quiz
12.por vs para
quiz
13. ir + a + infinitive
quiz