Gramática Contrastiva Inglés-Español.
Montse Martínez 1
SYNTAX Classify and distinguish the underlined elements/or constructions in the sentences
below. Explain why the items marked by a ‘*’ are not acceptable. Compare with Spanish.
The Noun phrase: the head (from Quirk et alii, 1985)
(1) a. We can only drink a little beer tonight.
concrete abstract b. We can only drink a few beers tonight.
count book idea
common (2) a. Can you give me a piece of bacon?
mass water love b. Can you give me a piece of advice?
c. They raise pigs.
collective d. They eat a lot of pork.
proper: John (3) a. How much are those glasses?
b. I always carry two pairs of glasses.
c. ?I want two trousers.
We need to buy some sugar. d. *I want one trousers
Tenemos que comprar azúcar.
(4) a. He plays the piano with sensitivity
En esa tienda venden unos panes integrales muy buenos. b. *He plays the piano with a sensitivity
In that shop you can get some very good wholemeal bread. c. He plays the piano with (a) charming sensitivity
(5) a. This sheep looks small.
Mass/ count variation b. The sheep are sleeping.
She has no authority over us.
She’s an authority in Linguistics. (6) a. Two coffees, please.
She is a person of great beauty. b. Would you like another cup of coffee?
She is a beauty. c. This is an expensive cup of coffee.
d. This is a cup of expensive coffee.
iron / glass / wood
(7) a. There is little hope for the lost hikers
b. There is a little hope for the lost hikers
collective nouns (Br. E)
The audience were enjoying every minute of it. (8) a. Is anybody driving to Madrid this weekend?
The public are tired of demonstrations. b. Is somebody driving to Madrid this weekend?
England have won the cup.
adjectives
The audience was/were enormous. quality size/age/shape colour origin past participle
A beautiful old brown French handmade cupboard
a family who quarrel amongst themselves
a family which dates back to the Norman Conquest
-my pretty young friend
-dirty British books / -British dirty books
Gramática Contrastiva Inglés-Español. Montse Martínez 2
Pronouns SE in pronominal verbs
One never knows. arrepentirse, atreverse, quejarse, enterarse, etc.
I want the blue one. dormir/ dormirse
ir / irse
I believe/think…so / creo que sí.
So do I. Yo también. casar / casarse
acordar = decidir / acordarse = recordar
Uses of “se”. What is the meaning of SE in the following sentences? con verbos de movimiento: levantarse, acostarse, sentarse, meterse, subirse, bajarse, etc.
1. Las amigas se abrazaron.
2. Se la mandé ayer. impersonal SE
Se dice que no vendrán.
3. Se arrepintieron.
Se auxilió a los heridos.
4. Se acordó inmediatamente.
One never knows.
5. Se acostó muy tarde.
6. Se dice que habraá huelga mañana.
Passive SE
7. En este país se discrimina a los ancianos. Se venden libros. (libros son vendidos).
8. Se venden antigüedades.
Accidental SE (with IO)
9. Se me perdió la llave del coche.
A mis padres, se les olvidó mi cumpleaños
10. Se comió tres platos de paella. A María, se le perdieron las llaves.
Reflexive SE Se me cayó el plato “The dish fell itself on me”
Se vistió/afeitó... Se me rompió la camisa “My shirt tore itself on me”
He never shaves before lunch.
I had brushed my teeth, showered, shaved and dressed by the time a waiter wheeled in “the expression of accidents, unplanned events, and escape from responsibility.”
breakfast. (Whitley,1986: 186)
Reciprocal SE get + past participle
Se encontraron / se besaron What is the meaning of get + pp in the following sentences? Translate them into
They met /They kissed Spanish
He got knifed in the back by his friend.
SE for LE/LES You do all the work and I get paid.
Les manda la información a los alumnos *Les la manda àse la manda She got killed in an accident.
She sends the info to the students. *She sends them it. I got so bored.
She sends it to them. Let's get all dressed up and go out for dinner!
Ted and Sara got married today.