Lesson 14 · Lección decimocuarta - Lección catorce
Possessive Adjectives and the Verbs salir, oír, venir in Spanish
La visita al enfermo
Vocablos
| el | enfermo | sick person, patient; sick, ill |
| la | visita | visit |
| llamar | here: to call | |
| abrir (¡abre!) | to open (open!) | |
| su | his, her, its, their, your | |
| mejor | better | |
| medio | half | |
| oír (oye) | to hear, to listen (hears) | |
| el | trozo | piece, bit, fragment |
| la | conversación | conversation |
| bonito, -a | pretty, nice, beautiful | |
| el | vestido | dress |
| la | moda | fashion |
| demasiado | too, too much/many | |
| largo, -a | long | |
| mi | my | |
| último, -a | last (here: last/latest issue) | |
| la | revista | magazine |
| entonces | then; therefore, hence | |
| salir (salen) | to go out, to leave (go out) | |
| nuestro, -а | our | |
| nuestros, -as | our | |
| vuestro, -a | your | |
| vuestros, -as | your | |
| ¡Dios mío! | my God! | |
| la | fiebre | fever, temperature |
| decimocuarto, -a fourteenth; catorce fourteen | ||
Notes & Explanations
Expressions
¿Qué quiere Vd.?
What do you want?
¿Cómo está usted?
How are you?
Está mejor.
He is better.
no está de moda
to be out of fashion
estoy en casa
I’m at home
hablar con ...
to talk with (somebody)
hablar de ...
to talk about (somebody/something)
Tú tienes fiebre.
You have a fever.
medio dormido
half asleep
Grammar points
1. Possessive Adjectives (pronombres posesivos)
mi vestido
my dress
tu vestido
your dress
su hijo (de usted)
your son
nuestro lápiz
our pencil
The pronouns mi, tu, su, nuestro are possessive adjectives. They usually come before nouns and always agree with them in number and some of them in gender as well. When these are used, the article before the noun is omitted.
Remember the following:
- The forms mi, tu, su are for both genders, for example:
mi lápiz
my pencil
mi lámpara
my lamp
- The forms nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras are all translated into English as our, just remember that the first two are singular and the last two are plural; the same goes for vuestro, vuestra and vuestros, vuestras your which is used to address people you know well.
- The forms su, sus agree in gender and number not with the person that owns the object, but with the noun — object that belongs to the owner — person, for example: su lápiz is: “his” pencil, “her” pencil, “your” pencil, “their” pencil.
Thus, both su and sus can mean belonging to one or several persons. In order to clarify that, in Spanish, in addition to the possessive adjective, a personal pronoun of the 3rd person with the preposition de is used, that expresses the relationship answering the question whose?, for example:su lápiz de él
his pencil
su lápiz de ella
her pencil
su lápiz de usted
your pencil
sus lámparas de ellos
their lamps
sus lámparas de ustedes
your lamps
Table of Possessive Adjectives
| Owners | Owned objects | |||||
| One object | Several objects | |||||
| One person | mi | my | mis | my | ||
| tu | your | tus | your | |||
| su | his, her, your | sus | his, her, their, your | |||
| Several persons | nuestro | our | nuestros | our | ||
| nuestra | our | nuestras | our | |||
| vuestro | your | vuestros | your | |||
| vuestra | your | vuestras | your | |||
| su | your, their | sus | their, your | |||
mi libro
mis libros
nuestro hijo
nuestros hijos
In English we often use own to emphasize possession, but in Spanish the regular possessive adjectives are used, and su/sus in the 3rd person must be handled carefully, since it agrees with the owned object and not the owner.
in English
in Spanish
in English
in Spanish
Individual conjugation of the verbs salir, oír, venir
The verbs salir to go out, oír to hear, venir to come are irregular verbs of individual conjugation.
Presente
| salir — to go out | ||||
| singular | plural | |||
| 1. | salgo | I go out | salimos | we go out |
| 2. | sales | you go out | salís | you go out |
| 3. | sale | he goes out | salen | they go out |
| oír — to hear | ||||
| singular | plural | |||
| 1. | oigo | I hear | oímos | we hear |
| 2. | oyes | you hear | oís | you hear |
| 3. | oye | he hears | oyen | they hear |
| venir — to come | ||||
| singular | plural | |||
| 1. | vengo | I come | venimos | we come |
| 2. | vienes | you come | venís | you come |
| 3. | viene | he comes | vienen | they come |
Modo imperativo
Imperative mood
¡sal! come out! get out!
¡salid! go out!
¡oye! listen!
¡oíd! listen!
¡ven! come (on)! come here!
¡venid! come (on)! come here!
oír vs escuchar
Unfortunately, oír isn’t always translated as to hear and escuchar isn’t always translated as to listen. They both can have these two meanings. Oír is the involuntary awareness of sound, while escuchar is the voluntary effort that one makes to actually pay attention and understand something or someone that you hear. You oír with your ears while you escuchar with your brain.
Exercises
I. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate possessive adjective:
hijo está enfermo. lámpara es blanca. casa es grande. hijos están en casa. bolígrafo está sobre la mesa. libros están en la cartera. padres son buenos. ¿Dónde están padres? padres están en Madrid. hermanas están en el cine. hermano estudia en la universidad. hijos estudian en casa.
II. Translate into English:
— Mamá — dice Juana —, mi vestido azul ya no está de moda, quiero un vestido nuevo. — Tu hermano está enfermo y tú hablas de vestidos... Regresa el padre de José y Juana y pregunta: — ¿Cómo está nuestro hijo? — José está mejor — dice la madre. Los padres entran en la habitación de su hijo. José lee su libro. Cuando sus padres entran, José dice: — “Papá, mañana quiero ir a la universidad. Tengo mucho trabajo y quiero ir también a casa del tío. En casa del tío trabajo mejor. Nuestros tíos no hablan de vestidos”. Juana se ruboriza cuando oye esto y comienza a mirar por la ventana.
III. Translate into Spanish:
My parents are in London. Your father works at the factory. Our mum works at home. Where are your brothers? Where is your (pl.) daughter? Where are your (p.f.) grandfather and grandmother (one word)? Our grandparents are in Madrid. Where does your (pl.) uncle work? Our uncle works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Where do their children study? Your (pl.) mother is good. I like your (p.f.) sons. Your (p.f., pl.) daughter is a good girl. Our daughters work. Where are your (p.f.) children? My son is at home. His sister is sick. Maria has her book and I have my pen.