Description, Dialogue, Verbs, and Nouns in Spanish

Description

Description: The presentation of the characteristics of people, objects, places, or events belonging to the real world or an imagined world, so that the receiver will have a clear idea of them.

Types of Descriptions

  • Objective Description: The issuer shows reality without providing personal assessments.
  • Subjective Description: The issuer shows their particular perception of what they describe.

Description Styles

  • Static Description: Reality is presented as stable and motionless.
  • Dynamic Description: Presents a changing reality and movement.

The Language of Description

In descriptions, special mention is made of adjectives and spatial markers. Sometimes, certain stylistic resources bring expressiveness.

  • Adjectives are used to express the qualities of what is described.
  • Spatial markers are used to place things in space.
  • Stylistic resources used are epithets and metaphors.

Verb Phrases

Verb phrases are those that have a verb as their nucleus.

The Verb

Verbs are action words that name variables, states, or processes located at a specific time.

Verb Root and Ending

  • Root: The part that supports the lexical meaning of the verb.
  • Ending: The endings are added to a root.

Verb Conjugation

The conjugation of a verb is the set of forms obtained by combining the root with various endings.

Tense and Mode

A verb tense is a set of verb forms that show only variation of number and person. Verbs also express mode.

Impersonal Forms of the Verb

Non-personal forms of the verb are those that lack the grammatical features of number, person, tense, and mood.

Suffixation

Suffixation is the process of forming words by adding a suffix to the root.

Dialogue

Dialogue is the exchange of information between two or more persons.

Conversation

A conversation is a dialogue that occurs spontaneously between two parties, who are usually on equal footing and in a casual situation.

Interview

An interview is a dialogue in which one party (the interviewer) raises a number of questions for the other party (the respondent) to answer.

Discussion

A discussion is a formal, argumentative dialogue in which two or more people, guided by a moderator, confront their views on a controversial issue. It typically includes an introduction, initial exposure, discussion, conclusions, and farewell.

Noun Phrases

Noun phrases are phrases that have a noun as their nucleus.

Noun

Nouns are variable words that name entities that we can think of as independent: people, objects, feelings, ideas, etc.

Gender of Nouns

Gender is a trait that all Spanish nouns carry. Nouns can be masculine or feminine.

Masculine/Feminine Opposition

Nouns usually have one gender, either masculine or feminine. However, some nouns support gender variation.

Meaning of Gender

In nouns naming living things, gender distinctions often respond to a differentiation of sexual character. However, usually, gender is only a grammatical mark that all nouns carry, regardless of their significance.

Types of Nouns

Nouns can be classified as:

  • Common
  • Proper
  • Concrete
  • Abstract
  • Individual
  • Collective
  • Countable
  • Uncountable

Prefixation

Prefixation is the procedure of forming words by adding a prefix to the root.