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3.3: Recordemos cómo dividir palabras en sílabas

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    206129
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    escribir_1-1.png

    Do you remember how to figure out the number of syllables that a Spanish word has?

    _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Keep in mind that Spanish phonetics are controlled by vowels unlike in English. In Spanish, a consonant doesn’t have sound, and we cannot read it if it is not with a vowel. But a vowel has its own sound and doesn’t need a consonant. A vowel can be a syllable by itself. The more you control the sounds of the Spanish vowels, the better your pronunciation will be. Remember the correct position of the lips, tongue and mouth when you produce the sound in Spanish.

    Do you remember la sílaba tónica (the stressed syllable)?

    ¿En español cuál es la sílaba tónica? ___________________________________________

    Remember the rules about the stressed syllable:

    Regla número UNO:

    Words ending in vowel, n or s are stressed _______________________________________

    A bed.
    CA -ma
    A glass of lemonade.
    Li-mo- NA -da
    A book.
    LI -bro
    A pen.
    PLU -ma

    Regla número DOS:

    Words ending in any consonant except n or s are stressed _________________________

    A figure reading a book.
    Le-ER
    A figure walking.
    ca-mi-NAR
    A figure drinking from a water fountain.
    be-BER
    A pen drawing a line.
    di-bu-JAR
    Regla número TRES:

    When rules number one and number two above are not followed that is when we use the written accent. The name of this written accent is the _______________________________

    Regla número CUATRO:

    escribir_1-1.pngWritten accents are also used to differentiate between words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings. This orthographic stress is known as __________________________

    If you did not recall what to fill above, go back to Unit 2 to check your notes.

    We studied these words in Unidad 1, please complete the next table by filling in their English translation.

    ¿qué?

    vs

     

    que

       

    vs

     

    tu

       

    ¿cuándo?

    vs

     

    cuando

       

    más

    vs

     

    mas

       

    vs

     

    si

       

    ¿cuánto?

    vs

     

    cuanto

       

    él

    vs

     

    el

       

    Practiquemos cambiar palabras del singular al plural:

    Typically one would make a word plural by adding’ “s” if a word ends in a vowel or “es” if the word ends in a consonant. We have only one exception, when a Spanish word ends with the letter Z like el lápiz, the letter Z changes to C, los lápices. Remember the letter Z only goes with the vowels a, o, u for the sound th/s. With the vowels e and i, Spanish has the letter C for the soft sound. Examples:

    A cross.
    cruz–cruces
    An actress.
    actriz–actrices
    A bowl of rice with chopsticks.
    arroz–arroces
    A pencil.
    lápiz–lápices

    When we change the number of the word (singular vs plural), the stressed syllable changes, because the number of the syllables changes. In the next exercise, we want you to change the number of the words (singular, plural). If the word is in the singular, write the plural and vice versa. In case you have a doubt about the syllable division or the stressed syllable review our last unit and use the website BUSCAPALABRAS.

    In the next chart, you will find several examples. Analyze each one and then finish the exercise.

    escribir_1-1.png
    Palabras Género Número Sí-la-bas Plural/singular Sí-la-bas
    La mesa femenino singular Me-sa A table. Las mesas Me-sas
    El sillón masculino singular Si-llón A couch. Los sillones Si-llo-nes
    Las ventanas femenino plural Ven-ta-nas A window. La ventana Ven-ta-na
    Los coches masculino plural Co-ches A car. El coche Co-che
    El radio       A radio.    
    La silla       A chair.    
    Las lámparas       A lamp.    
    Los c       A pen.    
    La flor       A flower.    
    Los árboles       A tree.    
    El avión       An airplane.    
    La voz       A figure speaking.    
    Las narices       A nose.    
    Las casas       A house.    
    El zapato       A shoe.    
    Los gatos       A cat.    

    Apliquemos los conceptos a la fecha (date):

    We will start with the days of the week. Observe the words in the following list. We will use all the concepts that we have been studying: syllables, definite articles, orthographic stress, etc. Our objective is that you not only learn words, we want you to learn the words with the correct phonetics so you can write, read, speak and listen in Spanish.

    What gender are they?

    What number are they? (singular/plural)

    A yellow circle with the word "ojo" placed so that the "o" letters look like eyes.

    Losdías de lasemana:

    • el/los lunes
    • el/los martes
    • el/los miércoles
    • el/los jueves
    • el/los viernes
    • el/los sábado (s)
    • el/los domingo (s)
    • elfin de semana / losfines de semana

    Now answer the next questions:

    1. How do you say “days” in Spanish?_______________________________________

    escribir_1-1.png

    2. El número de la palabra “días” es singular o plural: ___________________________

    3. ¿Qué género tiene la palabra “días”? _____________________________________

    4. ¿Qué significa en inglés “ la semana”? ____________________________________

    5. ¿Qué número tiene la palabra “ la semana”?_______________________________

    6. ¿Qué género es la palabra “semana”?_____________________________________

    Ellunes significa on Monday, el martes significa on Tuesday, el miércoles significa on Wednesday. The word “el” and “los” in this case means “on”. This only occurs for the days of the week where one uses the definite article “el” or “los” to indicate “on” which day.

    7. ¿Qué significa el jueves?________________________________________________

    8. ¿Qué significa el viernes?_______________________________________________

    9. ¿Qué significan los sábados?___________________________________________

    10. ¿Qué significan los domingos?__________________________________________

    El fin de semana means the weekend.

    11. ¿Qué significan los fines de semana?_______________________________________

    12. ¿Qué género es la palabra “el jueves”?___________________________________

    13. ¿Qué género son todos” los días de la semana”?_____________________________

    14. ¿Qué género son “todas las semanas en el mes” (month)?______________________

    15. ¿Qué género es la palabra “ el mes”?____________________________________

    16. ¿Cómo se escribe (write) el mes en plural?_________________________________

    Did you notice that in Spanish the words for the days of the week are the same for singular and for plural? The definite article is the word that lets us know if it is singular or plural:

    Ellunes vs loslunes, elmartes vs losmartes, elmiércoles vs losmiércoles, etc…

    *Note: in Spanish we don’t use capital letters en los días de la semana or the months and seasons.

    Los días de la semana: divide the days of the week in syllables and identify the stressed syllable.

    escribir_1-1.png
    Artículo definido Sustantivo/nombre Sí – la – bas Sílaba tónica
    El / los lunes lu – nes Lu
    El / los martes
    El / los miércoles
    El / los jueves
    El / los viernes
    El / los sábado/s
    El / los domingo/s
    El / los fin/es
    La/las semana/s

    Observa el video 1.3.1. Listen and repeat the days of the week out loud. Pay attention to the pronunciation. You can listen to it several times until you feel comfortable with your Spanish. If some day of the week is giving you problems review the chart above. Pay attention to the syllables for the day and identify the stressed syllable. Remember the vowels are a key part of the Spanish phonetic.

    Thumbnail for the embedded element "01008 Spanish Lesson - Days of the Week"

    A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://pb.libretexts.org/spanish1/?p=133

    Las estaciones del año = Divide the seasons of the years in syllables. Identify the stressed syllable, the gender and the number.

    escribir_1-1.pngArtículo
    Estación del año Sí – la – bas Número Género
    La primavera
    noun_Rose_1472741-150x150.png
    El verano
    noun_Watermelon_3487585-150x150.png
    El otoño
    noun_leaf_4155398-150x150.png
    El invierno
    noun_Snowman_4155961-150x150.png

    Los meses del año: divide the months of the year in syllables and identify the stressed syllable. Remember a difference with English; the months in Spanish don’t begin with a capital letter within a sentence. Remember there are three kinds of sentences: interrogative (questions), declarative or exclamatory.

    escribir_1-1.png
    Sin artículo enero e-ne-ro Sin artículo julio
    Sin artículo febrero Sin artículo agosto
    Sin artículo marzo Sin artículo septiembre
    Sin artículo abril Sin artículo octubre
    Sin artículo mayo Sin artículo noviembre
    Sin artículo junio Sin artículo diciembre

    In Spanish, as in English, the months of the year don’t use the definite article. In English, the months are written with a capital letter. They are considered proper names. In Spanish, on the other hand, we don’t write the months of the year with a capital letter and also we don’t use a definite article before the names of the months. Only capitalize a month if it begins the sentence.

    Observa el video 1.3.2. Watch the vocabulary tutorial for seasons and months. It’s very important that you listen to the video and observe the syllables of the word. Pay attention to the stressed syllable. Repeat until the Spanish sounds and the Spanish words become natural to you.

    Thumbnail for the embedded element "Learn season and months in Spanish ~ estaciones y meses"

    A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://pb.libretexts.org/spanish1/?p=133

    Aprendemos a pronunciar correctamente los lugares:

    Let’s practice the correct pronunciation of the next words. At the same time, you will practice making the words plural.

    Pay attention to ca-fe-te-rí-a and li-bre-rí-a

    In both, we have a diphthong ia → soft vowel i + strong vowel a.

    In both words the diphthong is broken→ rí – a.

    When we have an orthographic stress on the soft vowel the diphthong is broken: ca-fe-te-rí-a / li-bre-rí-a

    We just learned rule number five: If the soft vowel in the diphthong or in the tripthong is stressed, the diphthong or tripthong is destroyed:

    ca-fe-te-rí-a → rí –a the soft vowel i has an orthographic stress = it breaks the diphthong.

    li-bre-rí-a → rí –a the soft vowel i has an orthographic stress = it breaks the diphthong

    Now we will learn rule number six: We have some words in Spanish that have an “h” between vowels. If the vowels are the combination of a soft and strong vowel, the diphthong exists even with the “h” in the middle (Remember the “ h” is silent producing a diphthong).

    Ahi – ja – do → Godson

    Prohi – bir → To ban

    escribir_1-1.png

    Los lugares: places

    Artículo Singular Sílaba tónica Significado Artículo Plural
    el apartamento a-par-ta-men-to noun_Apartment_2062209-150x150.png
    la Biblioteca bi-blio-te-ca noun_Library_1951682-150x150.png
    la cafetería Ca-fe-te--a noun_Cafeteria_732-150x150.png
    el edificio e-di-fi-cio noun_building_1285515-150x150.png
    el estadio es-ta-dio noun_stadium_2228304-150x150.png
    el laboratorio la-bo-ra-to-rio noun_lab_4019818-150x150.png
    la libreria li-bre--a noun_Library_1951682-150x150.png
    la residencia
    estudiantil
    Re-si-den-cia
    es-tu-dian-til
    noun_Bunk-Bed_3846543-150x150.png
    la tienda tien-da noun_Store_1358627-150x150.png

    This page titled 3.3: Recordemos cómo dividir palabras en sílabas is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Elizabeth Silvaggio-Adams and Ma. Del Rocío Vallejo-Alegre (Milne Publishing) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.