MTTC Spanish (028) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Spanish vowel system

Spanish has five pure monophthong vowels /a e i o u/ with no length contrast; unstressed vowels reduce less than in English, which is why Spanish speakers may merge English /iː/ and /ɪ/.

b and v merger

In Spanish, orthographic b and v both represent the bilabial phoneme /b/, realized as the approximant [β] between vowels; thus 'baca' and 'vaca' are homophones.

Tilde stress rule

Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are stressed on the penultimate syllable; words ending in other consonants are stressed on the last. Any deviation requires a written accent mark.

Diphthong accent placement

A written accent falls on the strong vowel (a, e, o) of a diphthong, as in 'adiós' or 'piénsalo'; weak-vowel pairs like 'iu' or 'ui' form a hiatus when accented ('país').

Orthographic change: c to qu

To keep the /k/ sound before e, the letter c changes to qu in spelling: 'buscar' becomes 'busqué' in the preterite first person, and 'sacar' becomes 'saqué'.

Orthographic change: z to c

Before e, z changes to c to preserve the /s/ or /θ/ sound: 'empezar' becomes 'empecé', and 'cazar' becomes 'cacé' in the preterite.

Orthographic change: g to gu

To keep the hard /g/ before e, g changes to gu: 'llegar' becomes 'llegué', and 'pagar' becomes 'pagué' in the first-person preterite.

Preterite aspect

The preterite presents an event as bounded and complete, often with a specified endpoint; it advances narrative action and interacts with time expressions like 'ayer' and 'de repente'.

Imperfect aspect

The imperfect presents an event as unbounded, habitual, or backgrounded; it describes ongoing states, repeated actions, and scene-setting details, often with 'siempre' or 'mientras'.

Ser with inherent traits

Ser attributes defining or inherent characteristics: identity, origin, nationality, profession, material, possession, and the time or location of an event ('La fiesta es en mi casa').

Estar with states and location

Estar expresses location and transient or result states, including progressive constructions ('está lloviendo'); with adjectives it often signals change from a norm.

Adjective meaning shift

Some adjectives change meaning with ser versus estar: 'ser listo' means clever while 'estar listo' means ready; 'ser aburrido' means boring while 'estar aburrido' means bored.

Present subjunctive triggers

The subjunctive follows expressions of doubt, emotion, necessity, and unrealized events, typically introduced by 'que': 'Dudo que venga', 'Es posible que llueva', 'Quiero que estudies'.

Subjunctive in adverbial clauses

Adverbial conjunctions like 'para que', 'antes de que', and 'a menos que' require the subjunctive, while 'cuando' and 'hasta que' take it only when the event is unrealized.

Conditional sentences with si

Real conditions use indicative ('Si llueve, no iremos'); unreal present conditions use imperfect subjunctive plus conditional ('Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría'); past counterfactuals use pluperfect subjunctive plus conditional perfect.

Tú versus usted

Tú marks informal solidarity with one interlocutor; usted marks formality or distance and takes third-person verb forms. Choice depends on age, hierarchy, and regional norms.

Vosotros versus ustedes

Vosotros is the informal plural used mainly in peninsular Spanish; ustedes is the formal plural and the standard plural in Latin America, taking third-person plural verbs.

Diminutive pragmatics

Suffixes like -ito and -ico add affective or politeness meaning rather than literal smallness: 'ahorita' softens a time reference, and 'cafecito' conveys warmth.

Indirect speech act

A question form can perform a request: '¿Podría abrir la ventana?' functions as a polite command; interpreting it requires pragmatic inference beyond literal meaning.

False friends

Words that resemble English but differ in meaning: 'embarazada' means pregnant, not embarrassed; 'éxito' means success, not exit; 'librería' means bookstore, not library.

Syllable-final /s/ weakening

In Caribbean and some coastal varieties, syllable-final /s/ weakens to [h] or is deleted, so 'los amigos' may sound like 'loh amigo'; meaning is often recovered from context.

Yeísmo

Most Spanish varieties merge the historical /ʎ/ (ll) and /ʝ/ (y) into one phoneme, so 'calló' and 'cayó' are pronounced alike; distinction survives in parts of the Andes and Paraguay.

Voseo

Voseo uses 'vos' with distinctive verb forms ('vos tenés', 'vos sos') instead of 'tú'; it is standard in Argentina, Uruguay, and parts of Central America.

Spanish word order

Spanish permits flexible order because subject pronouns are often omitted; information structure drives placement, with focused or new information typically placed at the end of the clause.

Noun-adjective agreement

Adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number: 'libro nuevo' versus 'libros nuevos'; adjectives ending in -o have four forms, while many ending in -e or a consonant have two.

Personal a

The preposition 'a' precedes a direct object that is a specific person or personified entity: 'Veo a María' but 'Veo el libro'; it is omitted after 'tener'.

Reflexive versus pronominal verbs

Reflexive verbs mark an action on the subject ('se lava'), while pronominal verbs like 'irse' or 'quejarse' carry lexicalized meaning; the pronoun does not always signal reflexivity.

Gustar-type verbs

Verbs like 'gustar', 'doler', and 'faltar' take an indirect object as experiencer and a grammatical subject that is the thing liked or lacking: 'Me duelen las piernas'.

Por versus para

Por marks cause, exchange, duration, and means; para marks purpose, destination, deadline, and recipient. Contrast: 'por ti' (because of you) versus 'para ti' (for you).

Ser versus hay

Hay introduces new or indefinite entities ('Hay un banco aquí'); estar locates known or definite entities ('El banco está aquí'); ser identifies events and characteristics.

Haber as auxiliary

Compound tenses use haber plus a past participle: 'he hablado', 'había comido'. The participle is invariable in these forms, so 'las cartas que he escrito' shows no feminine -a.

Register and code-switching

Bilingual speakers shift between Spanish and English based on domain, audience, and topic; this is a rule-governed communicative practice, not evidence of deficient proficiency in either language.