Learn Spanish Part No 7

Learn Spanish Part No 7

Spanish Grammar

The indefinite article Part No 2  

Omission of the indefinite article with common verb + noun combinations

The indefinite article is often omitted after verbs such as buscar “to look for”, emplear “to use”, encontrar (to find), hay (there is), llevar (to wear), tener (to have).

Estamos buscando casa (We are looking for a house)

No llevaba abrigo (He wasn’t wearing a coat)

No tienen garaje – (They don’t have a garage)

Exceptions to the above, as with other uses of the articles, include contexts where the noun is qualified and contexts where it is necessary – to indicate “one”

Hay una radio que funciona – Is there a radio that works

Encontro una rueda pero no la otra – He found one wheel but not the other

Use one omission of the article with more than one noun

Spanish is much less likely than English to omit an article before the second or subsequent nouns in a list (especially when the nouns are of different genders) – Los CDs y las Cintas no estan aqui “The CDs and tapes are not here”

Spanish usage approximates to English only when the sequence consists of nouns of similar meaning that form part of a single idea – El cello, dedication y determinacion de este estudiante son increibles “The zeal, dedication and determination of this student are unbelievable”

The safest option for foreign learners is to use the appropriate article with each noun.\

 The neutral article Lo

This is used to refer to beliefs, concept, thoughts, opinions or ideas that have no gender

1.      Lo with adjectives and past participles

Lo may be used before a masculine singular adjective or past participle, to state succinctly what is sometimes expressed in English by the use of an adjective followed by a noun such as “thing” or “matter”

Lo maw importante es informar el banco (The most important thing is to inform the bank)

Todo lo mio esta en esa maleta (All that is mine is in that suitcase)

When used in this construction, the verb ser will be plural if what follows is plural noun –

Lo convenido ayer no son mas que las lineas generals (What was agreed yesterday was only the general outlines)

For lo with the possessive adjectives – 

1.      A + lo + adjective or noun conveys the idea of a la manera de  “in the manner / style of” a lo antiguo “in an old – fashioned way”

2.      De + lo + mas / menos + adjective (or other comparative word) creates a superlative construction – La lana de alpaca es lo mas fina que hay (Alpaca wool is very soft / one of the softest there is”

Lo + adjective / past participle / adverb + que

This common construction often corresponds to English “How” + adjective or adverb (sometimes with the force of an exclamation). An adjective or past participle used in this way agrees with the noun to which it refers.

Hasta entonces no me habia dado cuenta de lo alta que era

Until then I hadn’t realized how tall she was.

Hay que ver lo despacho que conduce ]

You have to see how slowly he drives

For the use of “que + adjective / adverb to translate “how”

This construction is also preceded by con, para or por.

Con lo listo que es, y mira que mal ha hecho el examen

He’s so clever but look how badly he did in the exam

Tiene bastantes canas para lo joven que es.

He has a lot of grey hairs for someone so young.

a.       Lo + de + noun

This succinctly approximates to English “the matter of”, “the business about”

Lo del agua es un problema grave – The water situation is a serious problem

b.      Lo que

Approximates in English  to “he thing which”, “wht”

Lo que nos soprendido fue su dominio del ingles

What surpsised us was her excellent English

c.       Lo in idiomatic expressions

Lo also occurs in a number of fixed phases (usually involving a, de or por)

A lo major (perhaps)               por lo menos (at least)

Por lo visto (appaqrently)       de lo contrarlo (otherwise)