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Lección 57

Perfect Infinitive and Article in Spanish

Otra vez Carmen y José riñendo

— Carmen, estás hablando y hablando, ¿no puedes quedarte un momento sin hablar?
— Y tú no dejas pasar un día sin reprocharme algo. Dije solamente, que cuando se alquila una casa se debe mirar bien el número de ella. Mariano se equivocó por no haber mirado bien.
— ¿De qué hablas Carmencita? ¿Estabas escuchando el cuento?text translation
— Sí.
— No debías haberlo escuchado. No es un cuento para ti. ¡Ah! olvidé deciros que había llegado una carta de Miguel. Fué mordido por un perro y está enfermo.
— ¿Y quién ha escrito la carta?
— Creo que la carta ha sido escrita por su mamá, pero no estoy seguro.
— ¿Y contestaste ya a la carta anterior?
— No. text translation
— ¡Qué mal! Hace tiempo que debías haber contestado.

Vocablos

  otra vez again, once more
la riña quarrel, fight, argument
  reprochar to reproach, to blame
  morder to bite; to eat into
  anterior previous

Grammar points

1. Usage of sin + infinitive

 

sin hablar

without speaking/talking

In lesson 39 you learned the construction al + infinitive that is used to express adverbial subordinate clause of time.

The construction sin + infinitive is used to express adverbial subordinate clause of manner and indicates in what way an action is happening (history of the action). Sin + infinitive is translated into English using Gerund, for example:

Mirando la película, comía una manzana.

Looking at the movie, he was eating an apple.

Comía la manzana sin mirar la película.

I was eating the apple without looking at the movie.

Oía a Carmencita sin escucharla.

I heard Carmencita without listening to her.

2. Perfect / Compound Infinitive

 

Se debe mirar bien.

It should be well looked at. / A good look should/must be taken.

 

Se equivocó por no haber mirado bien.

He made a mistake because he didn’t look properly. / He was wrong for not having looked well.

In Spanish, the infinitive verb has two forms: simple infinitive and compound or perfect infinitive.

The perfect form of the infinitive is formed with the auxiliary verb haber in the infinitive form and the participle of the conjugated verb, e.g.:

haber mirado
haber comido
etc.

Both simple and perfect infinitives on their own do not express neither tense nor person nor number.

Being in a sentence with a personal form of another verb, simple and perfect forms express the tense that is used with the personal form of the conjugated verb.

Simple infinitive expresses an action that is simultaneous with the action of the conjugated verb, while perfect infinitive expresses an action that precedes the action expressed by the personal form of the conjugated verb, e.g.:

Estás muy contento de leer este libro.

You are very happy to read this book.

Estás muy contento de haber leído este libro.

You are very happy to have read this book.

3. Passive Voice (Voz Pasiva) (continuation)

Fue mordido por un perro.

He was bitten by a dog.

La carta es escrita por la madre de Juana.

The letter is written by Juana’s mother.

The participial form of the passive voice in Spanish is formed with the personal forms of the verb ser and the passive participle of the conjugated verb, for example:

José ha leído un cuento.

Jose has read a story.

El cuento ha sido leído por José.

The story has been read by Jose.

The participial form of the passive voice in modern Spanish is rarely used; it is replaced by the impersonal form of the passive voice with the pronoun se:

Instead of:

Better to say:

Fue comprado un perro.

Se compró un perro.

Juan es amado en la casa de su novia.

A Juan se le ama en la casa de su novia.

Miguel será bien recibido en Madrid.

A Miguel se le recibirá bien en Madrid.

The passive participle agrees with the subject in person and number, e.g.:

 

El libro fue recibido ayer.

The book was received yesterday.

 

Los libros fueron recibidos.

The books were received.

 

La carta fue recibida.

The letter was received.

 

Las cartas fueron recibidas.

The letters were received.

Conjugation of verbs in passive voice

invitar to invite
Presente de indicativo
soy
eres
es
invitado, -а I am invited somos
ois
son
invitados, -as we are invited
etc. etc.
Pretérito imperfecto
era
eras
era
invitado, -a I was invited éramos
erais
eran
invitados, -as we were invited
etc. etc.
Pretérito perfecto
he
has
ha
sido invitado I have been invited hemos
habéis
han
sido invitados, -as I have been invited
etc. etc.
Pretérito indefinido
fui
fuiste
fue
invitado I was invited fuimos
fuisteis
fueron
invitados, -as we were invited
etc. etc.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
había
habías
había
sido invitado, -a I had been invited habíamos
habíais
habían
sido invitados, -as we had been invited
etc. etc.
Futuro imperfecto
seré
serás
será
invitado, -a I will be invited etc.
seremos
seréis
serán
invitados, -as we will be invited etc.
Futuro perfecto
habré
habrás
habrá
sido invitado, -a I will have been invited etc.
habremos
habréis
habrán
sido invitados, -as we will have been invited etc.
Potencial simple
sería
serías
sería
invitado, -a I would be invited etc.
seríamos
seríais
serían
invitados, -as we would be invited etc.
Potencial compuesto
habría
habrías
habría
sido invitado, -a I would have been invited etc.
habríamos
habríais
habrían
sido invitados, -as we would have been invited etc.
Presente de subjuntivo
sea
seas
sea
invitado, -a me to be invited etc.
seamos
seáis
sean
invitados, -as us to be invited etc.
Pretérito imperfecto de subjuntivo
fuera (fuese)
fueras (fueses)
fuera (fuese)
invitado, -a if I were invited etc.
fueramos (fuesemos)
fuerais (fueseis)
fueran (fuesen)
invitados, -as if we were invited etc.
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
haya
hayas
haya
sido invitado, -a me to have been invited etc.
hayamos
hayáis
hayan
sido invitados, -as us to have been invited etc.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
hubiera (hubiese)
hubieras (hubieses)
hubiera (hubiese)
sido invitado, -а if I had been invited etc.
hubiéramos (hubiésemos)
hubierais (hubieseis)
hubieran (hubiesen)
sido invitados, -as if we have been invited etc.
Infinitivo
ser invitado, -a,-os, -as to be invited
Infinitivo compuesto
haber sido invitado, -a, -os, -as to have been invited etc.
Gerundio simple
siendo invitado, -a, -os, -as being invited etc.
Gerundio compuesto
habiendo sido invitado, -a, -os, -as having been invited etc.

Note:

The participial form of the passive voice is also used with the verb estar if:

  • the passive participle functions as an adjective without an object, e.g.:

     

    La carta está escrita.

    The letter is written.

  • the sentence indicates a place or geographical location, e.g.:

La casa está construída en la orilla del mar.

The house is built on the seashore.

4. The general rules for using articles in Spanish

We talked about the articles in the beginning of the course. In this lesson, we will examine the general rules for using the articles.

The definite article is used:

a) Before nouns that name well-known objects or meanings, e.g.:

 

A Juan le gustan las fiestas.

Juan likes parties.

 

El perro es amigo del hombre.

A dog is a man’s best friend

b) Before nouns that express abstract ideas (no article in English in this case), e.g.:

 

La juventud, el arte, la belleza.

Youth, art, beauty.

c) before nouns that denote unique objects, as in English, e.g.:

 

la tierra

the earth

 

el sol

the sun

 

el cielo

the sky

 

el mar

the sea

d) before nouns that refer to academic degrees, ranks, positions, e.g.:

 

el coronel Toledano

Colonel Toledano

 

el ingeniero López

engineer Lopez

or:

 

la tía María

aunt Maria

 

el señor López

Mr. Lopez

When calling someone directly, the article is not used, like in English:

 

¿Adonde va usted, tío?

Where are you going, uncle?

 

¿Cómo está usted, señor López?

How are you, Mr. Lopez?

e) before names of the week, before dates, when indicating time, years etc., answering the question: when?

 

Come a las tres.

He eats at three (o’clock).

 

Viene el viernes.

He comes on Friday.

 

Hace calor en el verano.

It’s hot in the summer.

f) instead of the possessive pronouns when naming parts of the body, clothes or other objects that belong to someone or closely related to them, e.g.:

 

Juana abrió la boca.

Juana opened the mouth.

 

José se puso el sombrero.

Jose put on the hat.

 

Carmen tiene los ojos negros.

Carmen has black eyes.

 

María cambió el vestido.

Maria changed the dress.

g) before name of mountains, rivers, seas and names only of some countries and cities, e.g.:

 

el Volga

the Volga

 

la Habana

Havana

 

el Mediterráneo

the Mediterranean

 

la Argentina

Argentina

h) before ordinal numbers preceding nouns, e.g.:

José ha recibido hoy la primera carta de Miguel.

Jose has received the first letter from Miguel today.

The indefinite article is used:

a) before nouns to introduce them for the first time, as in English, e.g.:

Veo por la ventana a una mujer.

I see a woman through the window.

Vivía en una pequeña ciudad.

He used to live in a small town.

b) before nouns that go after the impersonal form, e.g.:

 

Aquí hay un libro.

There is a book here.

c) before nouns after which cualquiera is used in the meaning any, e.g.:

 

un libro cualquiera

any book / a book of any kind

The neutral article lo is used:

a) before an adjective, an adverb or a passive participle, giving them abstract nature, e.g.:

Lo malo es que José no viene.

The bad thing/news is that Jose is not coming.

Carmencita quiera siempre lo imposible.

Carmencita always wants the impossible.

Lo dicho por él no es interesante.

What he said is not interesting.

b) lo + adverb in the superlative degree in a combination with the word posible, e.g.:

 

lo mejor posible

as best/well as possible, the best way possible

 

lo más tarde posible

as late as possible

c) lo + adjective or adverb in a combinatin with que, e.g.:

Lo triste que está la pobre Carmencita.

How sad poor Carmencita is.

d) in other expressions, for example:

 

a lo lejos

in the distance, far away

5. Omission of Articles

The article is omitted:

a) before nouns if demonstrative, possessive, interrogative, indefinite pronouns or cardinal numbers go before them, e.g.:

 

esta mesa

this table

 

tus libros

your books

 

¿cuáles libros?

which books?

 

¿qué lápices?

what pencils?

 

algunas personas

some people

 

tres maestros y cuatro alumnos

three teachers and four students

b) before nouns that are used after the verb ser as a nominal part of the predicate and refer to a profession, nationality, party affiliation:

 

José es español.

Jose is Spanish.

 

La madre de María es profesora.

Maria’s mother is a teacher.

 

El señor López es demócrata.

Mr. Lopez is a democrat.

However, if the above mentioned nouns are used with an attribute, the article goes before them, e.g.:

 

Paul es un joven inglés.

Paul is a young Englishman.

 

La padre de María es la mejor conductor de Madrid.

Maria’s father is the best driver in Madrid.

 

El señor Morales es un comunista muy activo.

Mr. Morales is a very active communist.

c) before proper names, for example:

 

María es la novia de José.

Maria is Jose’s girlfriend.

 

Juan estudia en la universidad.

Juan studies at the university.

d) before uncountable nouns when indicated that only part of the sunstance or object is used, e.g.:

 

He comido carne, pan, patatas.

I have eaten meat, bread, potatoes.

or

 

una libra de queso

one/a pound of cheese

 

un metro de tela

one/a meter of fabric

e) before nouns with the prepositions: a, con, de, en, e.g.:

 

en cama

in bed

 

de madera

wooden / of wood

 

con impaciencia

eagerly / with impatience

f) after the verb tener in the negative form or after the preposition sin, e.g.:

 

No tenemos tiempo.

We don’t have time.

 

No tengo sombrero.

I don’t have a hat.

 

Vino sin sombrero.

He came without a hat.

g) After que in exclamatory sentences and after como, and also after the preposition de, e.g.:

¡Qué mujer!

What a woman!

Trabaja de ingeniero.

He works as an engineer.

Vino aquí como turista.

He came here as a tourist.

Exercises

No more exercises. :-)