The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-28

| feminine noun beginning with accent
ed a.
10. The forms of the definite article are
in the singular ell for the masculine and
la for the feminine; in the plural the
masculine form is los, the feminine las.
The English word the translates all these
forms.
a. neuter article 10, which has no
plural, is used with an adjective cousid-
cred as an abstract quality-lo buenO 10
Verdadero 10 bello. the good, the true
and the beautiful
b. One form of the definite article, ell, is
contracted with the propositions de- of,
and a, to-del zapatero, of the shoemak-
er; al zapato, to the shoe.
C. The definite article is widely en-
ployed where English omits it, as with
general or abstract nouns-la fe, la es-
peranza la carload, faith, hope and
charity; also with most names of coun-
tries in formal or precise style-el emba-
Jador de la Francia, the ambassador of
France; la ESpana meridional SouInern
Spain.
H. The indefinite article un, una, a or
an, is used with singular nouns only
The forms unos, unas, meaning some or
several, are indefinite pronouns, not ar
ticles.
(a) The indefinite article is generally
omitted before an appositive and before
atty or profession after ser, to be; We
ra Cruz, puerto de MEXICO, Vera Cruz,
seaport of Mexico; yo tambien soy pin
tor, l, too, am a painter.
T. The noun is infected only in taking
an or es as its plural ending. 1t takes
s, if it ends in an unaccented vowel 9TH
er than Y; but es, if it ends in a conso-
nant, in y, or in an accented vowel other
than G.
(a) The grammatical gender of nouns
depends chiefly on natural gender, but
partly on the ending Thus the endings
and or mark the masculine gender
while the endings a, dad tad tud. ion.
umbre and lie mark the feminine. Latin
and Greek masculines and neuters have
mostly become masculine.
13. The noun is used in all the COM
mon constructions; subject, object and
predicate after verbs, and object of prep
oslt1ons. But the proposition a serves
not only in the sense of to, but also as
mere sign mot to be translated) that
the noun following is a direct object and
represents definite person. or an animal
or thing personified.
The following sentences illustrate the
peculiar construction just mentioned, as
well as the preceding rules concerning
nouns and articles. The figures in pa
renthesis refer to the rule which the
preceding words illustrates; the parenthe-
ses -inclese words to be supplied in trans
lation:
l. I'm buen padre quiere a OBJ sus hijos
"A good father loves his children. 2.
Busco a Q3) mi caballo-I am looking for
my horse. 3. Veo al 90 and 80 hombre-
see the man. A. Hengo ell nbro del
muchacho-I have the boys book. s. Eel
ferrocarril de Mejico-The Mexican rail-
road. 6. Tengo una vaca I'm caballo-
have a cow and horse. Z. Quien 6. 2b)
tlene al Q3 perro?-Who has the dc :?
3. Ell hombre habla a su hijo-The man
speaks to his son. 9. Ell idioma de la
muJer es ell castellano-The -woman's
language is Spanish. 10. La mujer habla,
ell ingles-The woman speaks English IL
Busca la lana ell limo trabaja gus
tosamente con Sus manOs-She seeks wool
and flax and works willingly with her
hands. II. Su modo de hacer negocfos
habla muy alto en- su favor-His way of
Going business speaks very loudly in his
favor. 49, La profundidad del @, ex-
ception) aqua es de siete brazas-The
depth of the water is seven fathoms a.
Las noticias de las colonfas causan
mucho desaliento-The news from the
colonies causes much Encouragement.
Is. Obra empezada, medic acabada--
Work begun Gs) half done.
Editors Note-This is the first of a
series of twelve lessons in the Spanish
language which Prof George T.. McEib-
ben is writing for the OBJ e. The next
lesson will appear Monday of next week.
Copyright, 1909