Learn that Spanish adjectives have gender and number that much match the nouns they modify
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fernando: Can You Describe that Person to Me in Spanish, JP? What’s going on, man? |
| JP: Not much, Fernando. We got a pretty good lesson today. |
| Fernando: Awesome. |
| JP: So, welcome everyone to the newest SpanishPod101.com. We are studying modern Spanish in a fun and educational format, so whether you started learning Spanish long ago or you’re just starting with us today, we are glad you’re here with us for this lesson. Now Fernando, tell the people what we’re gonna learn today. |
| Fernando: Sure thing! In this lesson, you will learn about adjectives. This conversation takes place at a party and the conversation is between Diego and Pedro. The speakers will be using the familiar register. |
| JP: Let’s take a listen to this dialogue. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Lesson Conversation + Translation |
| (1 time natural native speed, 1 time slowly, 1 time with translation) |
| (1 time natural native speed) |
| Diego: ¿Quién es tu amiga? La morenita... |
| Pedro: Es Adriana. Y tiene novio. |
| Diego: Ni modo. ¿Me presentas? |
| Pedro: ¡Claro! |
| English Host: Let’s hear it again, dramatic speed. |
| Diego: ¿Quién es tu amiga? La morenita... |
| Pedro: Es Adriana. Y tiene novio. |
| Diego: Ni modo. ¿Me presentas? |
| Pedro: ¡Claro! |
| English Host: One more time with the translation. |
| Diego: ¿Quién es tu amiga? La morenita... |
| JP: Who is your friend? The cute, dark-skinned one... |
| Pedro: Es Adriana. Y tiene novio. |
| JP: It's Adriana. And she has a boyfriend. |
| Diego: Ni modo. ¿Me presentas? |
| JP: Oh well. Will you introduce me? |
| Pedro:¡ Claro! |
| JP: Of course! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| JP: All right. Now, this is a pretty short lesson, but it’s chock-full of adjectives, so we’re gonna have a lot to talk about in the conversation. |
| Fernando: Yes. Diego starts off with ¿Quién es tu amiga? La morenita... |
| JP: Okay, let’s take a look at that first question. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. ¿Quién es tu amiga? |
| JP: ¿Quién es tu amiga? Now that word amiga is the word for “friend,” right? |
| Fernando: Yes, female friend. |
| JP: Oh! And then quién is “who,” so “Who is your friend?” |
| Fernando: Right. ¿Quién es tu amiga? |
| JP: And then he specifies… |
| Fernando: La morenita... |
| JP: La morenita… And the translation I used - “The cute, dark-skinned one…” what do you think of that? Is that an okay translation? |
| Fernando: It’s a good translation because morenita is an adjective. It’s an affectionate way to describe someone. |
| JP: Right. In the dictionary, you’ll find moreno, which means, you know, dark-skinned or dark-featured. It’s feminine form, so morena, and then we the diminutive form, which kind of lends some affection to the word, right? |
| Fernando: Exactly, yes. |
| JP: La morenita… You said it was an adjective, but here, it’s with a definite article la, la morenita. So in English, we have to say the dark-skinned girl or the dark-skinned one. And Diego is into her. |
| Fernando: He is. Pedro answers, it’s Adriana. |
| JP: All right, so it’s Adriana. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. And guess what? |
| JP: She has a boyfriend. |
| Fernando: Y tiene novio. |
| JP: Okay. So, Pedro is giving him information that, you know, he needs to know. |
| Fernando: Right. |
| JP: But she’s probably off limits. |
| Fernando: Probably off limits. I don’t think that’s gonna stop Diego though. |
| JP: No. It’s totally irrelevant. |
| Fernando: He’s not the jealous type. |
| JP: No, he just shrugs it off. |
| Fernando: Ni modo. ¿Me presentas? |
| JP: So, novio, of course, means “boyfriend.” |
| Fernando: Yes, it does. |
| JP: But Diego, it’s not gonna stop him. He shrugs it off. |
| Fernando: Ni modo. |
| JP: Ni modo. He’s like, “Oh well.” |
| Fernando: Yeah. Ni modo. |
| JP: So, he’s like, oh well, whatever. And then he asked a question. |
| Fernando: ¿Me presentas? |
| JP: Okay, “Will you introduce me?” |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: And then Pedro, |
| Fernando: “Of course!” |
| JP: ¡Claro! |
| Fernando: It’s not his problem anymore. It’s the boyfriend’s problem. |
| JP: Okay. So, Diego is interested in a morenita named Adriana, who is Pedro’s friend. |
| Fernando: Right. |
| JP: And Pedro is gonna introduce him, even though Adriana has a boyfriend. |
| Fernando: Tiene novio. |
| JP: All right. That’s the summary. Shall we go to the vocabulary? |
| Fernando: Yes. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Fernando: el amigo [natural native speed] |
| JP: friend |
| Fernando: el amigo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: el amigo [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: moreno [natural native speed] |
| JP: dark-skinned, tanned, dark-haired (Europe) |
| Fernando: moreno [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: moreno [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: el novio [natural native speed] |
| JP: boyfriend, groom |
| Fernando: el novio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: el novio [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: quién [natural native speed] |
| JP: who, whom |
| Fernando: quién [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: quién [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: presentar [natural native speed] |
| JP: to introduce |
| Fernando: presentar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: presentar [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| JP: All right, we’re back and we’re gonna discuss these vocabulary words in a little bit more depth. So, we’re gonna start with an interrogative pronoun. |
| Fernando: ¿Quién? |
| JP: "Who?" |
| Fernando: Who? |
| JP: Right, ¿quién? So this is a question word you ask when you know the answer is gonna be a person. |
| Fernando: Yes. |
| JP: Okay, ¿quién? |
| Fernando: ¿quién? |
| JP: And I just wanna mention that if you think it’s gonna be more than one person, there is a plural form of who? |
| Fernando: ¿quiénes? |
| JP: ¿Quiénes? Okay. ¿Quién? ¿Quiénes? They both mean “Who?” All right, moving on. |
| Fernando: la amiga |
| JP: La amiga. Now, this is the friend. In the isolated dialogue, we used the masculine form, el amigo, because that’s what you’re gonna find in the dictionary. But in the dialogue, we heard la amiga, “Who’s your friend?” right. |
| Fernando: Who’s your friend? ¿Quién es tu amiga? |
| JP: ¿Quién es tu amiga? |
| Fernando: Es Adriana. La morenita… |
| JP: La morenita is our next word. And I kind of explained it already. The dictionary form is gonna be moreno. To make it feminine, it’s morena and then to add some affection to what we use in diminutive. |
| Fernando: It go either way, morenito, morenita. |
| JP: Morenita. In this case, we’re talking about Adriana, so she is morenita. |
| Fernando: Right. |
| JP: And you’ll notice that we used it with the article la morenita. |
| Fernando: la morenita |
| JP: Okay, the dark-haired, the dark-skined one. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: Right, the tanned one. |
| Fernando: And Adriana, la morenita has a boyfriend, el novio. |
| JP: El novio, right. That’s the next vocab word. Now, novio in this context means boyfriend. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: But in other contexts, it can also mean groom. |
| Fernando: And novios (plural) can mean bride and groom as well. |
| JP: So, el novio and the feminine, la novia. |
| Fernando: la novia |
| JP: What’s next? |
| Fernando: presentar |
| JP: presentar "to introduce" |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: Now, you can present someone an object, like if you present them a gift. |
| Fernando: Yes. |
| JP: You can give it to them. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: “To present” presentar. But it’s used commonly in these social situations to mean to introduce somebody to someone else, right? |
| Fernando: Right. ¿Me presentas? |
| JP: Okay, “Will you introduce me?” Sweet. Let’s move on to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| JP: All right. In the grammar section today, we’re gonna talk about adjectives in terms of gender and number. Now, we already kind of talked about this word for dark-skinned. |
| Fernando: la morenita |
| JP: La morenita. In the dictionary, it’s moreno. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: Right? Because it’s the masculine form that’s listed. Now usually, adjectives, even if they’re listed in the masculine form, will also have a feminine equivalent. So, it will be moreno in the dictionary, but women we’ll refer to as morena. |
| Fernando: You can call me moreno. |
| JP: I could call you moreno. Give us another adjective. How about the word for “tall?” |
| Fernando: alto |
| JP: Alto means “tall.” That’s the dictionary form ‘cause it’s masculine. If you’re referring to a woman? |
| Fernando: Alta, but that’s usually because of the heels. |
| JP: Okay. |
| Fernando: Just kidding. |
| JP: Right. You’ll notice that the feminine version ends in -a, you know, alta, morena. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: How about the adjective for “funny?” |
| Fernando: chistoso |
| JP: Chistoso “funny.” In the dictionary, the masculine form, chistoso, will be listed, right? |
| Fernando: Yes. |
| JP: If it’s a woman that’s funny? |
| Fernando: chistosa |
| JP: Chistosa. It ends in that -a. So, I think you’re getting the pattern here. Usually, if an adjective ends in an -o, it’s a masculine form and has a feminine equivalent that ends in -a; moreno - morena, alto - alta, chistoso - chistosa. |
| Fernando: I think you just described my ideal woman. |
| JP: Okay. All right. How about the word for “imaginary?” |
| Fernando: imaginario |
| JP: Imaginario, and the feminine form? |
| Fernando: imaginaria |
| JP: Okay. So, “imaginary,” that fits in our pattern as well. |
| Fernando: That means that this ideal woman no longer exists. |
| JP: Well, you can’t win them all, Fernando. No, it’s true that not all adjectives follow this pattern. For example, the word for “demanding.” |
| Fernando: exigente |
| JP: Exigente. Now, exigente “demanding,” this is a quality that all your girlfriends have too. Right, Fernando? |
| Fernando: Um… |
| JP: So, the masculine form, exigente. And the feminine form? |
| Fernando: exigente |
| JP: Exigente. Notice that both the masculine form and the feminine form both end in -e. In the dictionary, you’ll find it listed exigente. |
| Fernando: This girlfriend thing is not working out for me, JP. |
| JP: One last thing that I wanna talk about is that affectionate suffix that we put on the end of morena to make it more cute. |
| Fernando: Mm-hmm. |
| JP: So, how do we do that? |
| Fernando: morenita - morenito |
| JP: morenita |
| Fernando: -ito |
| JP: Okay. So, -ito and -ita. If you see those on the end of an adjective, you know that there’s some kind of affection or cuteness that is going along with it. So when Diego calls Adriana morenita, we kind of know that he’s interested in her. |
| Fernando: Yeah, from the get-go. |
| JP: From the get-go. |
| Fernando: [*] |
| JP: Mm-hmm. |
| Fernando: And this can all be applied to alta - alto, chistoso - chistosa. |
| JP: So, if I wanna be affectionate about a woman that’s tall. |
| Fernando: altita |
| JP: Altita. |
| Fernando: Altita! |
| JP: She’s so tall. She’s totally tall. |
| Fernando: Oh, oh. |
| JP: How about if you wanna be affectionate about a woman that’s funny? |
| Fernando: [*] |
| JP: [*] |
| Fernando: But you can also use it to be sarcastic. [*] |
| JP: “Oh, you’re funny now.” |
| Fernando: Yeah, you’re funny now, huh! |
| JP: Yeah, that’s pretty funny. |
| Fernando: Comedian there we got, huh! |
| JP: Exactly. |
Outro |
|---|
| JP: I think that’s it for today, Fernando. |
| Fernando: I think so. |
| JP: Say goodbye. |
| Fernando: ¡Adiós! |
| JP: ¡Hasta luego! |
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