Unit 2

Contents

1. Basic Cardinal Number Forms..................................................................................................1

Twenties.....................................................................................................................................2

31-99............................................................................................................................................2

When to Use Cardinal Numbers...................................................................................................3

Telling Time..................................................................................................................................3

Dates............................................................................................................................................3

Age................................................................................................................................................3

Cardinal Numbers as Adjectives...................................................................................................4

Uno...............................................................................................................................................4

Cien...............................................................................................................................................4

2. Numbers and Gender.................................................................................................................4

3. Reflexive Verbs...............................................................................................................................5

4. Impersonal Verbs............................................................................................................................7

5. Possessive adjectives....................................................................................................................7

6. Check your progress..................................................................................................................8

Objectives

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• Describe numbers

• Apply the specific gender and number of nouns and adjectives in Spanish

• Explain the definite articles

• Agree the articles and the adjectives depending on the noun’s gender and number

• Describe the characteristics of reflexive verbs

• Understand impersonal phrases

• Apply the different determinate possessive adjectives

 1. Basic Cardinal Number Forms

Here are the numbers from 0 to 20, as well as the multiples of 10 from 10 to 100.

Numeral Spanish Numeral Spanish

cero quince
0 15
uno dieciséis
1 16
dos diecisiete
2 17
tres dieciocho
3 18
cuatro diecinueve
4 19
cinco veinte
5 20
seis treinta
6 30
siete cuarenta
7 40
ocho cincuenta
8 50
nueve sesenta
9 60
diez setenta
10 70
once ochenta
11 80
doce noventa
12 90
trece
13 100 cien / ciento
catorce
14

Twenties

The numbers from 21 to 29 use a combination of veinti- and a number from 1-9 (with no
space in between).

Numeral
veintiuno
21
veintidós
22
 veintitrés
23
veinticuatro
24
veinticinco
25
veintiséis
26
veintisiete
27
veintiocho
28
29 veintinueve

Note that veintidós, veintitrés, and veintiséis and have an accent on the last
syllable.

31-99

Forming the numbers from 31 to 99 is a cinch. You just use a multiple of 10 plus the
conjunction y and a number from 1 to 9. Here are some examples.

Numeral
treinta y uno
31
cuarenta y dos
42
cincuenta y tres
53
sesenta y cuatro
64
setenta y cinco
75
ochenta y seis
86
97 noventa y siete

When to Use Cardinal Numbers

Besides being used to simply count, cardinal numbers are used in Spanish to tell the
time and talk about dates and age.

Telling Time

To tell the time in Spanish, you use the verb ser , a feminine definite article (la or
las), and a cardinal number.
Son las ocho.

It is eight o'clock.
Es la una de la tarde.

It's one in the afternoon.

Dates

To talk about dates, use the masculine singular definite article (el) and a cardinal
number.

To talk about the first of the month, you use the ordinal number primero (first)
instead of the cardinal number uno.
Hoy es el diecinueve de mayo.

Today is May 19th.

El primero de enero es mi cumpleaños.

January 1st is my birthday.

Age

To talk about age, use the verb tener and a cardinal number.

Yo tengo veinticuatro años.

I am twenty-four years old.

Mi hermana tiene treinta y nueve años.

My sister is thirty-nine years old.

Cardinal Numbers as Adjectives

As mentioned before, cardinal numbers can be both nouns and adjectives. When a
cardinal number is used as an adjective, it doesn't change to match the gender or
number of the noun it modifies except in the cases of uno and cien.

Uno

Uno becomes un when used to describe masculine nouns and una when used to
describe feminine nouns. Numbers ending in uno (veintiuno, treinta y uno, etc.)
also undergo these changes.

Tengo un libro.

I have one book.

Mandé treinta y una cartas.

I sent thirty-one cards.

Cien

Cien changes to ciento in numbers above 100 and changes according to the gender of the
noun.

Jorge contó hasta cien.

Jorge counted to a hundred.

Llegaron ciento y diez personas.

One hundred ten people showed up.

Quiero trescientos libros.

I want three hundred books.

2. Numbers and Gender

In Spanish, nouns have genders (male/female). When speaking Spanish, you need
to know this to be able to communicate correctly. The "articles," the words "the" and
"a," need to have gender and number (indicate singular or plural), and must agree
properly with the noun of the sentence.

"the" = definite article:

el, los (male singular and plural)

la, las (female singular and plural)

"a" or "some" = indefinite article:

un, unos (male singular and plural)

una, unas (female singular and plural)

Most of the time, we can deduce the gender of a word by looking at the ending of the
noun. Usually, masculine nouns end in one of the following ways: -o, -e, -l, -n, -r.
These nouns require a masculine article (el, los, un, unos).

Usually, feminine nouns end in one of the following ways: -a, -dad, -tad, -ión, -ud,
-umbre. These nouns require a feminine article (la, las, una, unas).

Look at the following examples:

la cabeza (the head); las orejas (the ears)

la actitud (the attitude); una inyección (an injection); unas gotas (some drops)

la articulación (the joint); la cabeza (the head)

el hígado (the liver); los labios (the lips); un ojo (an eye); el sol (the sun)

el pulgar (the thumb); el mentón (the chin); los pulmónes (the lungs)

Now, look at these examples:

unos días (a few days)

la frente (the forehead or brow)

Traditionally, there are many assigned articles that do not parallel the noun's ending,
and these exceptions just need to be learned and reinforced by repetition.

3. Reflexive Verbs

If the subject in a sentence performs an action on itself, then the verb is considered
to be reflexive, and the pronoun used to receive the action is reflexive.

The singular reflexive pronouns are: me (myself), te (yourself), and se (yourself

(formal), himself, herself).

The plural reflexive pronouns are: nos (ourselves), os (yourselves - informal Spain),
and se (yourselves, themselves).

For example, consider the sentence, "Yo me baño," (I bathe myself, or I take a bath).
The verb is reflexive, and "me" is the reflexive pronoun. Of course the verb bañar is
not always used as a reflexive verb, but in this case it is.

There are some verbs that are always used reflexively, such as arrepentirse (to
repent, or regret), and that is how they are found in the dictionary, with the reflexive
pronoun "se" attached to the end.

Reflexive verbs and pronouns are often used in ways that are less straightforward.
Consider the following examples.

"Me corté el dedo." (I cut my finger.) In this case, the object that receives the action
is the finger, but also oneself.

"Roberto se cansa." (Robert is getting tired.) In this case, Robert tires himself by
doing some activity or perhaps just going along through the day.

"Me alegro de estar aquí." (I am glad to be here.) In this case, the subject is
gladdening himself due to being somewhere. The use of a reflexive verb to express
a feeling is customary in Spanish.
"¿Porqué te vas?" (Why do you leave?) In this case, the reflexive form if the verb ir
(to go), is irse (to leave, or go away.) One is causing himself to go away.

Of note, there are also a few situations when verbs are used reflexively even though
the subject has no clear action upon itself, as, for example, in the sentence, "Se
murió repentinamente." (He died suddenly.)

Here is a list of reflexive pronouns with subjects and a sample conjugated reflexive
verb:

acostar(se) (to lie down)

Subject Pronoun Verb Translation

Yo me acuesto I lie down.
Tú te acuestas You (informal) lie down.
Él, Ella, Usted se acuesta He, she, you (formal) lie(s) down.
Nosotros nos acostamos We lie down.
Vosotros os acostáis You (plural informal in Spain) lie down.
Ellos, Ellas, They (male), they (female), you (plural) lie
se acuestan
Ustedes down.

The reflexive pronoun is positioned before the verb when the verb is conjugated (as
seen above), but is placed after (and connected to) the verb when the verb is in the
infinitive or imperative (giving an order). However, if the infinitive verb is preceded by
a separate conjugated verb, then the reflexive pronoun can be positioned first. All of
the following sentences are correct:

Antes de vestirme, prendo la luz. (Before getting dressed, I turn on the light.)

¡Vistete! (Get dressed!)

Me puedo calmar. (I can calm down.)

Puedo calmarme. (I can calm down.)

4. Impersonal Verbs

The word "se" has many uses in Spanish. Two of the most frequent uses are the
impersonal "se" and the passive "se". The impersonal "se" is used with a third
person singular verb to express the impersonal English subjects, one, you, people,
or they.

 ¿Se puede nadar en el lago?

Can you swim in the lake? / Can one swim in the lake?
 Se dice que hay brujos que viven en la sierra.
They say there are witches that live in the mountains.
  Se come muy bien en México.
One eats very well in Mexico. (You are fed good food in Mexico).

The passive "se" is very similar to the impersonal "se". The agent of the action is
either unknown or unimportant and the influence is placed on the action and not the
doer/actor.

 No se habla español en ese pueblo.

Spanish isn't spoken in that town.
 Se gasta mucho dinero en el mercado.
A lot of money is spent in the market.

5. Possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives simply describe the nouns that they precede, showing
belonging or ownership. For example, "these are his lab results."

Possessive Adjectives
Adjective describing Adjective describing
Possessive Adjective object(s) - when noun object(s) - when noun
is masculine is feminine
my mi (mis) mi (mis)
your (one person) - informal tu (tus) tu (tus)
your (one person) - formal su (sus) su (sus)
his su (sus) su (sus)
her su (sus) su (sus)
our nuestro (nuestros) nuestra (nuestras)
your (more than one person) - informal form used
vuestro (vuestros) vuestra (vuestras)
in Spain
your (more than one person) - Latin America and
su (sus) su (sus)
Spain
their su (sus) su (sus)

6. Check your progress

Multiple Choice Questions

1.Cinco + tres =

A) Seis

B) Diez

C) Ocho

D) Catorce
2. Mi hermana es… (My sister is clever)

A) Rojas

B) Españoles

C) Inteligente

D) Rubio

3. Yo ___ llamo Kevin

A) soy

B) me

C) Se
D) tú

4. Mi hermano_______ (afeitarse) todas las mañanas.

A) se afeitas

B) se afeita

C) se afeitan

D) se afeitais

5. Mis primos_________(levantarse) temprano.

A) se levanta

B) se levantan

C) se levantais

D) se levantas

6. _________(lavarse,yo) la cabeza con champú para niños.

A) se lava
B) te lavas

C) me lavo

D) nos lavamos

7. ¿__________(ducharse,tú) todos los días?

A) nos duchamos

B) me ducho

C) se ducha

D) te duchas

8. ________(acostarse,nosotros) antes de las diez.

A) ustedes acostan

B) vos acostais

C) nos acostamos

D) se acosta

9.________(lavarse,vosotros) las manos antes de comer.

A) nos lavamos

B) os laváis

C) se lavan

D) me lavo

10. __________(llamarse,yo) Sara, pero mis amigos me llaman Sarita.

A) nos llamamos

B) te llamas
 C) me llamo

D) se llama

11. ____________(bañarse,yo) en el mar.

A) se baña

B) te baña

C) me baño

D) nos bañamos

12. ___________(sentarse) siempre en el mismo sillón.

A) me siento

B) te siente

C) se sienta

D) se sientas

13. _____________(vestirse,yo) antes de desayunar.

A) nos vestimos

B) te vistas

C) me visto

D) se vista

14. Where are our friends? = ¿Dónde están amigos?

A) tus
B) sus

C) nuestro

D) nuestra

15. Where are your cats? (tú) = ¿Dónde están gatos?

A) nuestro

B) mis

C) tus

D) sus

16. Where are his parents? = ¿Dónde están padres?

A) mis

B) tus

C) mis

D) sus

17. Where are your passports? (ustedes) = ¿Dónde están

pasaportes?

A) tus

B) vuestros

C) nuestros

D) sus

18. Where are my glasses? = ¿Dónde están lentes?

A) nosotros
 B) mis

C) tus

D) sus

19. Where is our computer? = ¿Dónde está computadora?

A) tus

B) vosotros

C) sus

D) nosotros

20. Where are your headphones? (tú)= ¿Dónde están audífonos?

A) nosotros

B) tus

C) sus

D) mis

Check Your Progress: Answers

Answers
1. C
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. B
6. C
7. D
8. C
9. B
10. C
11. C
12. C
13. C
14. C
15. C
16. D
17. B
18. B
19. D
20. B