Foreign Language Spanish - Advanced flashcards
Foreign Language Spanish - Advanced · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Decimal comma
- Spanish writes decimals with a comma and thousands with a point: 1.500,25 means fifteen hundred and twenty-five hundredths. Reading the wrong convention reverses the value.
- Sin embargo
- Contrast connector meaning 'however'. It signals that the next clause reverses or limits the previous claim, so it usually introduces the author's actual position.
- Por consiguiente
- Formal consequence connector meaning 'therefore'. It marks a conclusion drawn from preceding evidence, common in academic and journalistic prose.
- A menos que + subjunctive
- Means 'unless' and always takes subjunctive: a menos que llueva. The subjunctive marks the hypothetical condition, not a factual event.
- Hace + time + pretérito
- Expresses 'ago': hace dos años viajé. Do not confuse with desde hace + present, which means 'for' a duration still continuing.
- Verbatim distractor trap
- In reading questions, an option that copies words from the passage without paraphrasing is usually wrong. Correct answers restate the idea in different vocabulary.
- Syllable-final /s/ aspiration
- In Caribbean and coastal varieties, final /s/ weakens to [h] or disappears: los amigos sounds like lo[h]amigo[h]. Plural meaning is recovered from articles and verbs.
- Double negation in Spanish
- Nunca, nadie, nada, and tampoco keep their negative meaning after the verb if no precedes it: No vi a nadie. Nada is standard, not an error.
- Quiero que + subjunctive
- When the wanting and the wanted action have different subjects, use subjunctive: Quiero que vengas. With the same subject, use the infinitive: Quiero venir.
- Softening with conditional
- ¿Podrías ayudarme? and quería preguntarte use conditional or imperfect to reduce imposition. This is more polite than an imperative in most interactions.
- Es que + justification
- A conversational formula introducing an excuse or explanation: Es que no tenía tiempo. It softens refusals and often precedes a decline or apology.
- Indirect question backshift
- Direct ¿Dónde vives? becomes Me preguntó dónde vivía. The question word stays, inversion and question marks disappear, and the tense shifts back.
- Affirmative tú commands
- Regular affirmative tú commands use the third-person present: habla, come, escribe. Eight are irregular: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven.
- Negative tú commands
- Negative tú commands use the subjunctive form: no hables, no comas, no vayas. This pattern is regular across all verbs.
- Tutéame
- Literally 'address me with tú'. It is an explicit invitation to switch from usted to informal address, and accepting it is expected in most contexts.
- Declining an invitation
- Standard pattern: apology + reason + alternative. Lo siento, no puedo porque trabajo; ¿qué tal el domingo? This maintains rapport while refusing.
- Repair phrases
- ¿Cómo dices? and ¿Qué quieres decir con eso? request reformulation. They signal a comprehension gap without implying the other speaker made an error.
- O sea
- A reformulation marker meaning 'that is' or 'in other words'. It introduces a clarification and is frequent in informal spoken Spanish.
- Written accent default rule
- Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s stress the penultimate syllable by default. Otherwise a written accent marks the stressed syllable: árbol, canción, jóvenes.
- Accents distinguishing homophones
- él/el, más/mas, sé/se, tú/tu, sí/si differ only by the written accent. The accented form is usually the pronoun, adverb, or verb.
- Ser for definition
- Ser states identity or inherent characteristic: La novela es realista. Estar would describe a temporary state or result instead.
- Por versus para
- Por marks cause, exchange, duration, and means. Para marks purpose, destination, deadline, recipient, and opinion: para mí.
- Inverted opening punctuation
- Spanish opens questions and exclamations with ¿ and ¡. Omitting them is a mechanical error that examiners notice in presentational writing.
- Collective noun agreement
- La gente, el equipo, and la mayoría take singular verbs in standard written Spanish, even when they refer to many people.
- Se impersonal
- Formal exposition prefers se + third person over vague first-person plural: Se observa que... This raises register in essays and reports.
- Connector variety
- Repeating one connector (además, además, además) weakens cohesion. Rotate among asimismo, por otro lado, en cambio, and por lo tanto.
- Presentation signposting
- Spoken structure relies on phrases like en primer lugar and para concluir. They replace written paragraph breaks and guide listeners through the argument.
- Muletillas
- Filler words such as pues, este, and bueno mark hesitation. Replacing them with short pauses or es decir improves perceived fluency.
- Spanish tap versus trill
- A single tap /r/ contrasts with the trill /rr/: pero 'but' versus perro 'dog'. The contrast is phonemic and changes meaning.
- Día de los Muertos
- A Mexican observance on 1-2 November honoring deceased relatives with ofrendas, altars, cempasúchil flowers, and food. It is distinct from Halloween.
- Flamenco elements
- An Andalusian tradition combining cante (song), toque (guitar), baile (dance), and jaleo (shouted encouragement). It originated in southern Spain, not Latin America.
- El mate
- A shared infusion of yerba mate drunk through a bombilla, central to social life in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Passing the gourd signals hospitality.