Hi ProudU.,

Speaking of, I'm curious as to what the official second language is here in the US. In my country of origin, it's English (American version)

Hey Explora, Can we have numbers next please!
I know some but not all. I noticed you did the alphabet, so numbers would be good, thank you..

Hi Mrs. B. - you know what's funny? English hasn't been declared as the official language of the US legally. That's why all of the states are trying to enact such laws at this time. Everyone is in such a fury (which is provoked by the politicians and media) since Congress wasn't able to pass fair immigration reform last year, the states are grabbing at straws to pass harsh legislation targeted toward the illegal immigrants. Mandating English as the official language is one of them.

Sorry to be so long, but there is no official 1st or 2nd language in this country. We are a melting pot of many different cultures and languages which helps to make the USA a great country! I will say that English is the primary language of the USA and it would serve all newcomers to become proficient in it as a second language.

quote:

Originally posted by NeedHelpFast:
Beverly,
If you have a different viewpoint about the Spanish language, start a thread about it, or better yet, add to one of your many pre-existing threads. No disrespect intended, but I don't understand why you feel the need to post the above article here, this thread was clearly an instructional on learning another language, and I was enjoying reading it without news articles. Why can't you respect the rules of the board?

Not that I owe you an explanation but for the record, the article I posted expresses the opposite of the warm and fuzzy feelings some people have for spanish.

That being said at least its about spanish in a spanish thread as opposed to the Wesley Snipes bankruptcy article you posted in the thread which is clearly about Illegal Alien Crime.

So its okay for Hudson to post an article in his lame attempt at racism but you want to dictate to me where and what I should post? Other than the fact that both Wesley and I are Black his point was . . . oh wait a lame attempt at race baiting. Where was the outrage then? You people are so full of it I can smell you without logging in.

In case you wondering if I care what you think read my response to what's her face a page or two back and replace her name with yours.

Just in case in missed my response, Mrs. B. - here it is again

quote:

Hi Mrs. B. - you know what's funny? English hasn't been declared as the official language of the US legally. That's why all of the states are trying to enact such laws at this time. Everyone is in such a fury (which is provoked by the politicians and media) since Congress wasn't able to pass fair immigration reform last year, the states are grabbing at straws to pass harsh legislation targeted toward the illegal immigrants. Mandating English as the official language is one of them.

Sorry to be so long, but there is no official 1st or 2nd language in this country. We are a melting pot of many different cultures and languages which helps to make the USA a great country! I will say that English is the primary language of the USA and it would serve all newcomers to become proficient in it as a second language.

Hi ProudU,

Well, that's a surprise!

It's about time that English be declared as the official language, but I can understand the sentiments of others because of the timing.

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Beverly:

quote:

Originally posted by NeedHelpFast:
Beverly,
If you have a different viewpoint about the Spanish language, start a thread about it, or better yet, add to one of your many pre-existing threads. No disrespect intended, but I don't understand why you feel the need to post the above article here, this thread was clearly an instructional on learning another language, and I was enjoying reading it without news articles. Why can't you respect the rules of the board?

Not that I owe you an explanation but for the record, the article I posted expresses the opposite of the warm and fuzzy feelings some people have for spanish.

That being said at least its about spanish in a spanish thread as opposed to the Wesley Snipes bankruptcy article you posted in the thread which is clearly about Illegal Alien Crime.

So its okay for Hudson to post an article in his lame attempt at racism but you want to dictate to me where and what I should post? Other than the fact that both Wesley and I are Black his point was . . . oh wait a lame attempt at race baiting. Where was the outrage then? You people are so full of it I can smell you without logging in.

In case you wondering if I care what you think read my response to what's her face a page or two back and replace her name with yours.

My thoughts on the above...

Well I am wondering what you think, as this is why I specifically wrote your name. I care because you are an intelligent individual, but I don't think you are being respected as such by many posters, because of the disruptive postings that you have displayed. Maybe this is your goal, it does not matter to me what your views are, but there has to come a point where one realizes that one is not accomplishing the goal at hand. If your goal is to disrupt, you have accomplished your goal. But if your goal is to introduce opposing views, I think this is an open forum where an open exchange is encouraged by posters who may not agree. Opposing views are all apart of freedom of speech, and this great country we live in, but when these views are presented in a disruptive manner, they are not read, listened to, pondered or agreed with. They are ignored and again, the only goal accomplished here, is, disruption.
I think (and you can throw out what I think if you want to) if your views were presented in a more respectful manner, posters would actually read what you are trying to present and respond appropriately. Simply post in the right place.

I did not see the article you mentioned, but if it was presented in the manner you described, no one should be disruptive to the thread or topic starter, it's simply not polite, or if you don't care about being polite, it is simply not being read.

My suggestion, again, for all posters is that we all respect the topic starter and the continuity of a thread. News articles belong with news articles. Opinions belong with other opinions and so on.
This thread was an INSTRUCTIONAL on the Spanish language, if you don't want to be instructed in Spanish, don't read or respond to the thread.
The article you posted here would be much more appropriately posted on your American Exploitation thread. That thread has the continuity that coincides with this particlular article.
Thank you for your time and consideration. You have nothing to lose by respecting this request, and everything to gain.

quote:

You people are so full of it I can smell you without logging in.

If we smell so bad, then why are you here?

Cardinal Numbers 31-1000

First, let's review the cardinal numbers 1-30:

1. uno
2. dos
3. tres
4. cuatro
5. cinco
6. seis
7. siete
8. ocho
9. nueve
10. diez
11. once
12. doce
13. trece
14. catorce
15. quince
16. dieciséis
17. diecisiete
18. dieciocho
19. diecinueve
20. veinte
21. veintiuno
22. veintidós
23. veintitrés
24. veinticuatro
25. veinticinco
26. veintiséis
27. veintisiete
28. veintiocho
29. veintinueve
30. treinta

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next step is to learn to count by 10s all the way to 100:

10. diez
20. veinte
30. treinta
40. cuarenta
50. cincuenta
60. sesenta
70. setenta
80. ochenta
90. noventa
100. cien

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, see how easy it is to fill in the gaps:

31. treinta y uno
32. treinta y dos
33. treinta y tres
34. treinta y cuatro
35. treinta y cinco
36. treinta y seis
37. treinta y siete
38. treinta y ocho
39. treinta y nueve
40. cuarenta
41. cuarenta y uno
42. cuarenta y dos
etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This pattern continues all the way to 100:

53. cincuenta y tres
54. cincuenta y cuatro
65. sesenta y cinco
66. sesenta y seis
78. setenta y ocho
88. ochenta y ocho
99. noventa y nueve
etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From 101-199, use "ciento":

ciento uno
ciento dosciento
ciento tres
ciento sesenta y uno
ciento sesenta y dos
etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notice that "y" is used only in numbers 31-99 (and 131-199, 231-299, 331-399, etc.) and it is not used to separate hundreds from tens.

Correct:
ciento ochenta y nueve

Incorrect:
ciento y ochenta y nueve

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To get to 1000, all of the rules you have learned so far continue to apply. All you need to do now is learn to count by 100s all the way to 1000, and that is quite easy:

100. cien
200. doscientos
300. trescientos
400. cuatrocientos
500. quinientos
600. seiscientos
700. setecientos
800. ochocientos
900. novecientos
1000. mil


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are some more examples:

142. ciento cuarenta y dos
375. trescientos setenta y cinco
612. seiscientos doce
907. novecientos siete
999. novecientos noventa y nueve

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember from an earlier lesson, there is a masculine and a feminine form for the number one:

un libro
one book

una pluma
one pen

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is also true for the numbers 200, 300, 400, etc.

doscientos libros
doscientas plumas

cuatrocientos señores
cuatrocientas señoras

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When there is exactly 100 of something, and the number is used with the noun, use the shortened form "cien."

cien dólares
cien gatas
cien perros
cien pesetas

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, in Spanish a period is used to indicate thousands, and a comma is used as a decimal point.

English
1,543.67

Spanish
1.543,67

Hi Explora, Thank you so much for the numbers, I have bought myself a little notebook, so to write everything down, I dont know about others, but I feel if I write things down rather than just looking on the screen, the words sink in better LOL!

thanks again,

Next request... is their masculine and feminine, like in french Le = M La = F

Spanish is very similar to Italian. I guess its the Latin connection.

Actually doing this together makes it easier to learn.

quote:

Originally posted by explora:

Finally, in Spanish a period is used to indicate thousands, and a comma is used as a decimal point.

English
1,543.67

Spanish
1.543,67

Explora, I hope you don't mind a litle correction about the last paragraph: Mexican Spanish uses the comma and the period with numbers just like American English. I believe in the rest of Latin America they use them as you indicated.

Thanks for adding that. I copy this information in here from other sources for convenience. Thanks again and any input is appreciated by all!

Ok just for record i counted from 1 to 100 in spanish since i was a teenager....

You're ahead of the game Caribbeanman!

Oh yeah,living close to Venuezuela helps..lol

Just as maleness or femaleness is an inherent characteristic of human beings and most animals, so is gender an inherent characteristic of nouns in Spanish. With only a few exceptions, mostly those of occupations such as dentista, the gender of nouns doesn't change with the context, and a noun's gender determines the form of many adjectives that describe it.

Although Spanish nouns are classified as either feminine or masculine, remember that there can be feminine nouns that describe things we think of as masculine, and vice versa. For example, el elefante refers to an elephant whether it's male or female. For some people, it might be easier to think of them as simply two classifications rather than giving them a sexual identity. Unlike German and some other Indo-European languages, Spanish has no neuter nouns. (There are a few neuter pronouns, such as lo and ello, which are used under limited circumstances, however.)

The basic rule is that masculine nouns go with masculine adjectives and articles, and feminine nouns go with feminine adjectives and articles. (In English, the articles are "a," "an" and "the." Also note that in Spanish many adjectives don't have separate masculine and feminine forms.) And if you use a pronoun to refer to a masculine noun, you use a masculine pronoun; feminine pronouns refer to feminine nouns.

Nouns and adjectives that end in -o (or -os for plural adjectives) generally are masculine, and nouns and adjectives that end in -a (or -as for plural adjectives) generally are feminine, although there are exceptions. For example, cada día means "each day." Día ("day") is a masculine noun; cada ("each") can be either feminine or masculine.

Since you can't always tell by looking at a noun or knowing its meaning whether it's masculine or feminine, most dictionaries use notations (f or m) to indicate the gender. And it's also common in vocabulary lists, such as many of them at this site, to precede words with an el for masculine words and a la for feminine words. (El and la both mean "the.")

Here is a chart that shows some of the ways a noun's gender affects the usage of other words. Some of the examples may be more understandable once you study adjectives, articles and pronouns. You can hear the Spanish words pronounced in the streaming audio file.

Masculine Feminine

the man: el hombre the woman: la mujer
a man: un hombre a woman: una mujer
the man: los hombres the women: las mujeres
the fat man: el hombre gordo the fat woman: la mujer gorda
some men: unos hombres some women: unas mujeres
He (the man) is fat: Él es gordo. She (the woman) is fat: Ella es gorda.


If you have two or more nouns that are being described by a single adjective, and they are of mixed genders, the masculine adjective is used.

Example: El carro es caro, the car is expensive. La bicicleta es cara, the bicycle is expensive. El carro y la bicicleta son caros, the car and the bicycle are expensive.

quote:

Not that I owe you an explanation but for the record, the article I posted expresses the opposite of the warm and fuzzy feelings some people have for spanish.

That being said at least its about spanish in a spanish thread as opposed to the Wesley Snipes bankruptcy article you posted in the thread which is clearly about Illegal Alien Crime.

So its okay for Hudson to post an article in his lame attempt at racism but you want to dictate to me where and what I should post? Other than the fact that both Wesley and I are Black his point was . . . oh wait a lame attempt at race baiting. Where was the outrage then? You people are so full of it I can smell you without logging in.

In case you wondering if I care what you think read my response to what's her face a page or two back and replace her name with yours.

Bev,
Your article was more about presumption than anything else. Because the author's name was Spanish, the bank tellers presumed he knew Spanish and not English and thus was more comfortable towards one language and not the other. It was a fine example of bad customer service and nothing more. Mr. Sanchez needs to take a chill pill. Civilian life is not the USMC. Otherwise, I will put on my DI uniform and discipline his arse even more.

I could care less if Mr Snipes was black, white, or purple with pink pok-a-dots. The article was about two men who exploited Mr Snipes into a tax fraud scheme. Nothing more. Or I could have posted about an American couple in NY state who exploited two immigrant women they brought over on the au pair visa as slaves.

But this is a public forum, Bev. Explora, Mrs. B, and everyone else is free to post as long as it is within the rules. If a poster requests that certain posts remain off topic, people here have a choice to respect or ignore the reguest. This is not your forum, nor it is your board or thread. Fail to respect others is failing to respect yourself, BEV. Remember that.