Today we worked more on how to attack "se" verbs when we find them. Here are some techniques that work:
Example: El acuario, que se ha reconocido de largo como una de las instalaciones marinas más importantes de la investigación del mundo, está iniciando las nuevas estrategias para proteger los océanos del planeta.
1. Identify the infinitive of the main verb (the right-most piece of the verb). In this case, the verb is "reconocido." Since it ends in IDO, the verb is either "reconocer" or "reconocir." Check the dictionary. The verb is "reconocer."
2. Identify the tense of the verb in Spanish. In this case it is a perfect (we know this because there is the word "ha" there -- a form of "haber"). "Ha" is present tense. Thus the tense is "present perfect."
3. Write down the possible meanings of the verb: recognize, admit, examine.
4. Write the past participle form of the verb in ENGLISH. In most cases this will be the -ed form of the verb: recognized, admitted, examined.
5. Change the verb into the English equivalency of the tense: has recognized, has admitted, has examined.
6. Try to make the verb passive. This will require you to add the appropriate form of "be." With perfects, the form is "been." has been recognized, has been admitted, has been examined.
7. Look to both the right of the Spanish verb AND the left of the Spanish verb to figure out WHAT has been recognized, admitted, or examined. In this case, the logical word is "que" (that) "that has been recognized/admitted/examined." The "que" refers to "el acuario" -- the aquarium. The aquarium that has been recognized . . . .
But the passive interpretation won't work always. Consider this example:
Existe una infinidad de historias en las que se cita o se habla de ballenas, animales que por su gran talla y peculiar forma han llamado la atención desde tiempos muy remotos.
If you move through the steps above, the passive interpretation doesn't seem to work:
There exist an infinite number of stories in which are cited or are spoken of whales. . . .
Thus, it is time to try another way to look at the verb: as an impersonal.
1. Rework the sentence to interpret the word "se" as "they" or "one."
There exist an infinite number of stories in which they cite or speak of whales. . . .
Perhaps in more formal English, we might rewrite this as follows:
There exist an infinite number of stories that cite or speak of whales . . . .
HW: Read and translate these three sentences and have them ready for class on Friday. We'll have a little in-class exercise as well on Friday:
El descenso se ha hecho patente en los últimos tres años, según el coordinador de la campaña de océanos y costas de Greenpeace en México, Alejandro Olivera.
En años anteriores la media era de 3.000 ballenas anuales, pero en la temporada 2006-2007 únicamente se registró un millar, agregó.
La Secretaría de Medio Ambiente mexicana (Semarnat), el ministerio del área, confirmó el descenso en la llegada de esos ejemplares, pero aclaró que no se debe a causas originadas en el país, sino al camino que siguen los cetáceos para llegar hasta él.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
POST: Week 4, Day 1, Friday, September 19
READING STRATEGIES
In rendering a complex translation of a long sentence, remember these tips:
1. Remove anything between dashes. Translate it LAST and then add it back into your translation.
2. Separate out all the “que” structures in the sentence, since each of those mark at least one clause.
Example:
Quienes se cercioraron de la causa del llanto durante las noches de luna llena, dijeron
que la iluminación les permitió ver
que las calles se llenaban de una neblina espesa a ras del suelo y también a alguien parecido a una mujer joven y bella aún, vestida de blanco con un velo en su rostro recorriendo con pasos lentos las calles de la ciudad.
3. Translate the noun phrases first. Move left to right.
4. Then translate the verbs.
STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING “SE.”
“Se” is a structure you’ll see with a lot of verbs in articles written in Spanish. Be alert! Here are some of the common ways to translate it:
1. As an intransitive. It’s important to understand what an “intransitive” means. English and Spanish have structures called “transitives” and “intransitives.” In English, a verb is intransitive if it has no direct object.
Example: The man left.
Contrast this with the transitive:
The man left the plate on the table.
Spanish often (but not always) marks intransitives with the reflexive particle (which in the case of the third person is “se.”)
El hombre se fue. (The man left).
2. As a reflexive, translatable by “himself” or “herself” or “themselves.”
Example: The woman threw herself at the problem.
La mujer se lanzo al problema.
3. As a passive.
In English, the passive is made with a form of the verb “be” (am/is/are/was/were/has been/have been/will be/had been) and the past participle form of the verb (see the previous blog):
Example: A book is used to explain the problem.
In Spanish, the “se” can be used. What in English would be the grammatical subject of the passive is often found AFTER the verb.
Example: Se usa un libro para explicar el problema.
4. As an impersonal.
In English, we often use “they” informally or “one” or “people” (more formally) to express, in a vague sort of non-specific way, the idea that somebody did/does something.
Example: One enters here. People study here.
In Spanish, the “se” can be used to accomplish this. This is mostly done with intransitive verbs and non-specific transitive verbs.
Example: Se entra aqui. Se estudia aqui.
5. As part of a verbal phrase that is idiomatically translated.
An example of this in Spanish is: tratarse de --- to be about.
Example: Me gusta mucho la pelicula. Se trata de la leyenda de la llorona. (I like the movie a lot. It’s about the legend of la llorona.)
6. As an indirect object “to someone” when there is another object particle in front of the verb.
Example: The woman gave it to him.
La mujer se lo dio.
HW: FIVE SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. Translated these five sentences as perfectly as possible. I will give you two more sentences from the same article for translation on Friday (as an in-class translation).
These five sentences were taken from an article entitled:
Las Ballenas: El Problema de la Contaminación de las Aguas Marinas
A la muerte directa por envenenamiento, se unen los efectos sub-letales sobre la capacidad reproductiva y el sistema inmunitario.
Se han encontrado delfines con niveles de más de mil partes por millón (ppm) de PCB (Bifénilos policlorados) y otras sustancias altamente tóxicas.
Por desgracia, además de los peligrosos organoclorados, los cetáceos reciben fuertes dosis de metales pesados, hidrocarburos y otras sustancias, a las que se añaden las basuras flotantes, sobre todo, los plásticos.
También sufren enfermedades que, al alcanzar altos niveles de incidencia, se llaman epizootías (epidemias, entre los humanos).
Se desconoce cómo han llegado estos virus a los hábitats marinos, qué papel juegan en las mortandades masivas o la incidencia de otros factores (en los animales muertos, se encontraron altos niveles de contaminantes y un pobre estado alimenticio).
In rendering a complex translation of a long sentence, remember these tips:
1. Remove anything between dashes. Translate it LAST and then add it back into your translation.
2. Separate out all the “que” structures in the sentence, since each of those mark at least one clause.
Example:
Quienes se cercioraron de la causa del llanto durante las noches de luna llena, dijeron
que la iluminación les permitió ver
que las calles se llenaban de una neblina espesa a ras del suelo y también a alguien parecido a una mujer joven y bella aún, vestida de blanco con un velo en su rostro recorriendo con pasos lentos las calles de la ciudad.
3. Translate the noun phrases first. Move left to right.
4. Then translate the verbs.
STRATEGIES FOR TRANSLATING “SE.”
“Se” is a structure you’ll see with a lot of verbs in articles written in Spanish. Be alert! Here are some of the common ways to translate it:
1. As an intransitive. It’s important to understand what an “intransitive” means. English and Spanish have structures called “transitives” and “intransitives.” In English, a verb is intransitive if it has no direct object.
Example: The man left.
Contrast this with the transitive:
The man left the plate on the table.
Spanish often (but not always) marks intransitives with the reflexive particle (which in the case of the third person is “se.”)
El hombre se fue. (The man left).
2. As a reflexive, translatable by “himself” or “herself” or “themselves.”
Example: The woman threw herself at the problem.
La mujer se lanzo al problema.
3. As a passive.
In English, the passive is made with a form of the verb “be” (am/is/are/was/were/has been/have been/will be/had been) and the past participle form of the verb (see the previous blog):
Example: A book is used to explain the problem.
In Spanish, the “se” can be used. What in English would be the grammatical subject of the passive is often found AFTER the verb.
Example: Se usa un libro para explicar el problema.
4. As an impersonal.
In English, we often use “they” informally or “one” or “people” (more formally) to express, in a vague sort of non-specific way, the idea that somebody did/does something.
Example: One enters here. People study here.
In Spanish, the “se” can be used to accomplish this. This is mostly done with intransitive verbs and non-specific transitive verbs.
Example: Se entra aqui. Se estudia aqui.
5. As part of a verbal phrase that is idiomatically translated.
An example of this in Spanish is: tratarse de --- to be about.
Example: Me gusta mucho la pelicula. Se trata de la leyenda de la llorona. (I like the movie a lot. It’s about the legend of la llorona.)
6. As an indirect object “to someone” when there is another object particle in front of the verb.
Example: The woman gave it to him.
La mujer se lo dio.
HW: FIVE SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE. Translated these five sentences as perfectly as possible. I will give you two more sentences from the same article for translation on Friday (as an in-class translation).
These five sentences were taken from an article entitled:
Las Ballenas: El Problema de la Contaminación de las Aguas Marinas
A la muerte directa por envenenamiento, se unen los efectos sub-letales sobre la capacidad reproductiva y el sistema inmunitario.
Se han encontrado delfines con niveles de más de mil partes por millón (ppm) de PCB (Bifénilos policlorados) y otras sustancias altamente tóxicas.
Por desgracia, además de los peligrosos organoclorados, los cetáceos reciben fuertes dosis de metales pesados, hidrocarburos y otras sustancias, a las que se añaden las basuras flotantes, sobre todo, los plásticos.
También sufren enfermedades que, al alcanzar altos niveles de incidencia, se llaman epizootías (epidemias, entre los humanos).
Se desconoce cómo han llegado estos virus a los hábitats marinos, qué papel juegan en las mortandades masivas o la incidencia de otros factores (en los animales muertos, se encontraron altos niveles de contaminantes y un pobre estado alimenticio).
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
POST: Week 3, Day 1, Friday, September 12, 2008
More on noun phrases.
1. Other noun markers to be aware of:
A. Cuyo(a)(s). This means "whose." What comes after it is a noun. It generally marks a complete clause (a noun phrase acting as subject and a finite verb).
Example in English: That is the man whose wife speaks Spanish.
Example in Spanish: Ese es el hombre cuya esposa habla espanol.
2. We started in to an interesting area: the use of past participle verb forms to make adjectives.
Let us review some essentials here:
Spanish has three types of verb infinitives: -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.
All Spanish verbs, like all English verbs, have a past participle form. In English, this form often, though not always, looks like the past tense. It often ends in -ed in English. This useful form can be used as an adjective, as part of a post-noun modifying phrase, a part of the passive, or as part of what is called a "compound tense."
Here is a regular example in English:
to cook
past tense: cooked. I cooked dinner last night.
past participle: cooked.
-- as an adjective: My totally cooked roast beef tasted horrible.
-- as a phrase: My roast beef, cooked in its own juice, was still too dry.
-- as a piece of the passive. The roast beef was cooked by my husband.
-- as a part of a compound tense: My daughter has cooked dinner for us.
Here is an irregular example in English:
to sing
past tense: sang. I sang a song.
past participle: sung.
-- as an adjective: The well sung song filled the choir loft.
-- as a phrase: The song, sung acapella, sounded lovely.
-- as a piece of the passive: The song was sung by a gospel group.
-- as a part of a compound tense: The choir has sung the chorale.
Now let's look at Spanish.
Each Spanish verb infinitive form can be made into a past participle form as well.
- ar verbs: -ado (hablar>> hablado)
- er verbs: -ido (comer>> comido)
- ir verbs: - ido (decidir>>> decidido)
And Spanish -- like English -- has many irregular forms.
abrir (to open) - abierto (open)
cubrir (to cover) - cubierto (covered)
decir (to say) - dicho (said)
describir (to describe) - descrito (described)
escribir (to write) - escrito (written)
freír (to fry) - frito (fried)
hacer (to do) - hecho (done)
morir (to die) - muerto (dead)
poner (to put) - puesto (put)
resolver (to resolve) - resuelto (resolved)
romper (to break) - roto (broken)
ver (to see) - visto (seen)
volver (to return) - vuelto (returned)
Everything an English past participle can do, a Spanish part participle can do as well. BUT REMEMBER -- the Spanish past participle AGREES in gender and number with the noun it modifies (when it is used as an adjective or in a modifying phrase).
La palabra hablada nos distingue de los monos. (The spoken word distinguishes us from the monkeys).
Hablamos un poco sobre las dichas peliculas. (We spoke a little about the said movies).
No hay que hablar sobre la alternativa escojida. (It's not necessary to speak about the chosen alternative).
Note: We can use the spelling of a Spanish past participle to decide how the infinitive is probably spelled. For example, if we see:
Los periodicos ya mandados . . . (the already sent newspapers. . .)
we can focus on the -ad -- and we know the infinitive is an "ar" verb: mandar.
If we see:
Las semillas difundidas . . . (the dispersed seeds)
we can fcus on the -id and we know the infinitive is either an "er" or "ir" verb: difundir or difunder (it's difundir). This helps us narrow our choices when searching for the meaning of a word.
HW: Continue translating the noun phrases (and prepositional phrases) in the next three paragraphs of the article on Andean music. We'll do this as preparatory work -- we'll review it in class.
1. Other noun markers to be aware of:
A. Cuyo(a)(s). This means "whose." What comes after it is a noun. It generally marks a complete clause (a noun phrase acting as subject and a finite verb).
Example in English: That is the man whose wife speaks Spanish.
Example in Spanish: Ese es el hombre cuya esposa habla espanol.
2. We started in to an interesting area: the use of past participle verb forms to make adjectives.
Let us review some essentials here:
Spanish has three types of verb infinitives: -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.
All Spanish verbs, like all English verbs, have a past participle form. In English, this form often, though not always, looks like the past tense. It often ends in -ed in English. This useful form can be used as an adjective, as part of a post-noun modifying phrase, a part of the passive, or as part of what is called a "compound tense."
Here is a regular example in English:
to cook
past tense: cooked. I cooked dinner last night.
past participle: cooked.
-- as an adjective: My totally cooked roast beef tasted horrible.
-- as a phrase: My roast beef, cooked in its own juice, was still too dry.
-- as a piece of the passive. The roast beef was cooked by my husband.
-- as a part of a compound tense: My daughter has cooked dinner for us.
Here is an irregular example in English:
to sing
past tense: sang. I sang a song.
past participle: sung.
-- as an adjective: The well sung song filled the choir loft.
-- as a phrase: The song, sung acapella, sounded lovely.
-- as a piece of the passive: The song was sung by a gospel group.
-- as a part of a compound tense: The choir has sung the chorale.
Now let's look at Spanish.
Each Spanish verb infinitive form can be made into a past participle form as well.
- ar verbs: -ado (hablar>> hablado)
- er verbs: -ido (comer>> comido)
- ir verbs: - ido (decidir>>> decidido)
And Spanish -- like English -- has many irregular forms.
abrir (to open) - abierto (open)
cubrir (to cover) - cubierto (covered)
decir (to say) - dicho (said)
describir (to describe) - descrito (described)
escribir (to write) - escrito (written)
freír (to fry) - frito (fried)
hacer (to do) - hecho (done)
morir (to die) - muerto (dead)
poner (to put) - puesto (put)
resolver (to resolve) - resuelto (resolved)
romper (to break) - roto (broken)
ver (to see) - visto (seen)
volver (to return) - vuelto (returned)
Everything an English past participle can do, a Spanish part participle can do as well. BUT REMEMBER -- the Spanish past participle AGREES in gender and number with the noun it modifies (when it is used as an adjective or in a modifying phrase).
La palabra hablada nos distingue de los monos. (The spoken word distinguishes us from the monkeys).
Hablamos un poco sobre las dichas peliculas. (We spoke a little about the said movies).
No hay que hablar sobre la alternativa escojida. (It's not necessary to speak about the chosen alternative).
Note: We can use the spelling of a Spanish past participle to decide how the infinitive is probably spelled. For example, if we see:
Los periodicos ya mandados . . . (the already sent newspapers. . .)
we can focus on the -ad -- and we know the infinitive is an "ar" verb: mandar.
If we see:
Las semillas difundidas . . . (the dispersed seeds)
we can fcus on the -id and we know the infinitive is either an "er" or "ir" verb: difundir or difunder (it's difundir). This helps us narrow our choices when searching for the meaning of a word.
HW: Continue translating the noun phrases (and prepositional phrases) in the next three paragraphs of the article on Andean music. We'll do this as preparatory work -- we'll review it in class.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
POST: Week 2, Day 1, Friday, September 5, 2008
More Information on Noun Phrases
I. Most noun phrases are "marked" (that is "headed") by determiners. The obvious determiners are the articles (la/las; el/los; un/unos; una; unas). But there are other classes of determiners to consider:
The possessives: See this link for a chart.
mi(s) -- my / mis zapatos nuevos (my new shoes)
tu(s) -- your /tu abuela consada (your tired grandmother)
su(s) -- his her, its, their (depending on the context)/ su cara amable (his/her friendly face)
nuestro(a)(s) -- our / nuestro partido (our party)
The demonstratives: See this link for a chart.
esta(s)
este(estos) -- this/these
Esta mujer es mi amiga (this woman is my friend).
Estos hombres son muy inteligentes (these men are very intelligent).
esa(s)
ese(esos) -- that/those
Esas mujeres son mis amigas (those women are my friends).
Ese hombre es muy inteligente (that man is very intelligent).
aquella (s)
aquel (aquellos) -- that/those over there
Aquella mujer es mi amiga (that woman over there is my friend).
Aquellos hombres son muy inteligentes (those men over there are very intelligent).
Quantifiers of various types including
otro(a)(s) -- another, other
Otro asunto interesante es el partido nacional (another interesting matter is the national party).
II. Noun phrases can be replaced by relative pronouns such as:
lo que -- what. Yo se lo que voy a hacer (I know what I am going to do).
la/las que; el/los que -- that/those which. Hay tres cuadernos. Voy a escriber mi nombre en el que me gusta. There are three notebooks. I am going to write my name in that which (the one which) I like.
III. Noun phrases are never stacked next to each other. If you have a noun phrase next to another noun phrase, you need a preposition to connect them.
Example: la puerta de mi edificio (the door of my building).
Some common prepositions are:
de: of/from/by
a: to
These can be contracted with "el" to form: del/al
Example: La puerta del edificio.
IV. Prepositional phrases are formed by a preposition followed by (usually) a noun phrase:
Example: la puerta de mi casa (the door of my house) (de + NP: mi casa/ of + NP: my house)
Prepositional phrases often serve as modifiers of nouns. In this sense, they function as adjectivals.
Which door? The door of my house. La puerta de mi casa.
V. Occasionally, a noun phrase can be broken up by taking some of the modifiers and sticking them on the other side of the verb "to be." The verb "to be" is important to note.
In English the forms of the verb "to be" are as follows. See this link for more information.
I am
You are
She/he/it is
We are
They are
In Spanish there are are two forms of the verb "to be": ser and estar
The forms of "ser" are:
yo soy
tu eres
el/ella/uested es
nosotros/ as somos
ellos/ellas/ustedes son
The forms of "estar" are:
yo estoy
tu estas
el/ella/usted esta
nosotros/as estamos
ellos/ellas/ustedes estan
In noun phrases one common pattern is:
Determiner + (Optional Modifiers) + Noun + form of TO BE + (Optional Adverb) + Adjective
The young woman is very rich. La mujer joven es muy rica.
HW: Finish working on the paragraph on "visual thinking" that we did previously. I'll collect that on Friday.
To prepare for class on Friday: Identify/translate the noun phrases in the first three paragraphs in this article. DO NOT identify or translate anything except the noun phrases. Bring your work with you to class. We'll review this in class, but I won't collect it!
I. Most noun phrases are "marked" (that is "headed") by determiners. The obvious determiners are the articles (la/las; el/los; un/unos; una; unas). But there are other classes of determiners to consider:
The possessives: See this link for a chart.
mi(s) -- my / mis zapatos nuevos (my new shoes)
tu(s) -- your /tu abuela consada (your tired grandmother)
su(s) -- his her, its, their (depending on the context)/ su cara amable (his/her friendly face)
nuestro(a)(s) -- our / nuestro partido (our party)
The demonstratives: See this link for a chart.
esta(s)
este(estos) -- this/these
Esta mujer es mi amiga (this woman is my friend).
Estos hombres son muy inteligentes (these men are very intelligent).
esa(s)
ese(esos) -- that/those
Esas mujeres son mis amigas (those women are my friends).
Ese hombre es muy inteligente (that man is very intelligent).
aquella (s)
aquel (aquellos) -- that/those over there
Aquella mujer es mi amiga (that woman over there is my friend).
Aquellos hombres son muy inteligentes (those men over there are very intelligent).
Quantifiers of various types including
otro(a)(s) -- another, other
Otro asunto interesante es el partido nacional (another interesting matter is the national party).
II. Noun phrases can be replaced by relative pronouns such as:
lo que -- what. Yo se lo que voy a hacer (I know what I am going to do).
la/las que; el/los que -- that/those which. Hay tres cuadernos. Voy a escriber mi nombre en el que me gusta. There are three notebooks. I am going to write my name in that which (the one which) I like.
III. Noun phrases are never stacked next to each other. If you have a noun phrase next to another noun phrase, you need a preposition to connect them.
Example: la puerta de mi edificio (the door of my building).
Some common prepositions are:
de: of/from/by
a: to
These can be contracted with "el" to form: del/al
Example: La puerta del edificio.
IV. Prepositional phrases are formed by a preposition followed by (usually) a noun phrase:
Example: la puerta de mi casa (the door of my house) (de + NP: mi casa/ of + NP: my house)
Prepositional phrases often serve as modifiers of nouns. In this sense, they function as adjectivals.
Which door? The door of my house. La puerta de mi casa.
V. Occasionally, a noun phrase can be broken up by taking some of the modifiers and sticking them on the other side of the verb "to be." The verb "to be" is important to note.
In English the forms of the verb "to be" are as follows. See this link for more information.
I am
You are
She/he/it is
We are
They are
In Spanish there are are two forms of the verb "to be": ser and estar
The forms of "ser" are:
yo soy
tu eres
el/ella/uested es
nosotros/ as somos
ellos/ellas/ustedes son
The forms of "estar" are:
yo estoy
tu estas
el/ella/usted esta
nosotros/as estamos
ellos/ellas/ustedes estan
In noun phrases one common pattern is:
Determiner + (Optional Modifiers) + Noun + form of TO BE + (Optional Adverb) + Adjective
The young woman is very rich. La mujer joven es muy rica.
HW: Finish working on the paragraph on "visual thinking" that we did previously. I'll collect that on Friday.
To prepare for class on Friday: Identify/translate the noun phrases in the first three paragraphs in this article. DO NOT identify or translate anything except the noun phrases. Bring your work with you to class. We'll review this in class, but I won't collect it!
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