VOCABULARY.
=abarrotado=, glutted, cram full =acorazado=, iron-clad =ajo=, garlic =alerta=, on the alert, on the look out =brisa=, breeze =cebollas=, onions =conducta=, conduct, behaviour =contrabando=, contraband =cosecha=, harvest, harvest-time, crop *=dar en el clavo=, to hit it =dátiles=, dates =encogido=, shrivelled, shrunk =fruta=, fruit =granadas=, pomegranates =guardias aduaneras=, custom house officials =higos=, figs =inmaturo=, verde, unripe =limones=, lemons =llevar=, to carry, to wear =matute=, smuggling =mirar=, to look =moscatel=, muscatel grapes =naranja=, orange ¡=ojo=! attention! =olvidar=, to forget =pasas de Corinto=, currants =podrido=, rotten =por decirlo así=, so to say, as it were *=querer decir=, to mean =recobrar=, to recover =reprensible=, objectionable =resumir=, to recapitulate, to state briefly =sinnúmero=, a large number, innumerable =travesía=, journey by sea
EXERCISE 1 (49).
Translate into English—
1. Cuando yo era más joven y me gustaba viajar, hacía la travesía de Liverpool á Las Palmas todos los años.
2. Estuve allí la última vez en 1905 principalmente para recobrar mi salud, pero como viaje de negocios también tuvo muy buen éxito.
3. No había entonces como la hay hoy en día tanta competencia en ese comercio.
4. Cuando llegó el buque á La Coruña había un sinnúmero de guardias aduaneras alerta, pues se decía que llevaba muchos géneros de contrabando.
5. ¿Qué quiere decir género de matute?
6. De matute es lo mismo que de contrabando y matutero ó contrabandista es el que introduce tales géneros.
7. No sabía esta palabra antes, pero ya no la olvidaré.
8. ¿Ha aprendido V. bien la diferencia entre el preterito y el imperfecto?
9. Perfectamente y voy á resumírsela en dos palabras—El uno es pasado, pasado y nada más, el otro es un presente de lo pasado por decirlo así; ¡mire V.! "Encontré á Carlos": pasado absoluto; "Llevaba sombrero blanco"; pasado hoy, presente entonces; ¿qué le parece á V.?
10. Me parece que V. ha dado en el clavo y estoy satisfecho.
11. Y ahora ¡ojo! en la aplicación y ¡no olvidar!
EXERCISE 2 (50).
Translate into Spanish—
1. I believe his behaviour is most (muy) objectionable.
2. And I do also.
3. Did you receive the B/L for the cargo (cargamento) of oranges and grapes from Seville?
4. I did; and I expect a good parcel (partida) of muscatels from Valencia as well.
5. Are these the lemons, onions and pomegranates you were expecting?
6. They are.
7. I am sorry they were delayed so long because now the market is glutted with fruit.
8. He is my friend and I am his.
9. We received this year three cargoes of bananas from the Canary Islands (Islas Canarias). Six were consigned to us last year, but we used to receive many more when we sent our traveller in those islands at harvest time.
10. Ten thousand boxes of currants, 3,000 of figs, and 4,561 of dates were sold by auction.
11. There had not been such large quantities offered for a long time (hacía mucho tiempo que).
12. The iron-clad "Achilles" left yesterday for Vigo. The sea was perfectly calm although a light breeze blew, or was blowing (soplaba not estaba soplando), from the S.W. (sudoeste).
13. The commission-agent (comisionista) went by the three o'clock train.
14. When I went to say good-bye to him (para despedirme de 61) he was writing (escribía or estaba escribiendo) a letter.
15. The cargo was examined and it was found that some of the fruit was unripe, some shrivelled or frost-bitten (tomada por la escarcha), and a parcel of garlic was rotten and had to be destroyed.
LESSON XXVI.
(Lección vigésima sexta.)
THE TENSES (contd.).
Uses of the Past Definite (or Preterite) and the Present Perfect (as: Yo he comprado: I have bought).
According to the English rule, the Past Def. (or Preterite) should be used to narrate events which happened in the past, in a period of time which does not include the present moment as—
Yo lo compre el ano pasado: I bought it last year.
The Present Perfect (called in Spanish Preterito Compuesto) should be used when the period of time includes the present moment, as—
He fletado muchos buques: I have chartered many ships.
By following this rule students will always be correct, but we must notice that in Spanish we find the "Preterito compuesto" often used instead of the Past Definite—
1. When the period, although entirely past, is not defined, as—
Le ha facturado la quincalla: He invoiced him the smallware.
2. When although entirely past and definite, it is very recent, as—Se lo he dicho hace un momento: I told him a moment ago.
N.B.—Plegue a Dios que el año que hoy empieza sea mas feliz que lo ha sido el pasado: May it please God that the year which commences to-day may be happier than the last has been (Grammar of the Academy).[153]
[Footnote 153: Here the Present Perfect is used in both languages, because the effects reach up to the present moment.]
The English Compound Past—"I had spoken"—is rendered by "yo había hablado" or "yo hube hablado."
"Yo había hablado" is in general use.
"Yo hube hablado" is used only after cuando, luego que, inmediatamente que; viz., when the action is represented as immediately preceding another.
N.B.—The Past Def. Simple may always take its place.
Cuando hube declarado mis intenciones, Cuando declaré mis intenciones, se convenció—When I declared my intentions, he was convinced.
The =Future Indicative=, (as well as the =Conditional Mood=) are used in
Spanish oftener than in English to denote probability, as—
Habrá 20 hombres aquí: I dare say there are 20 men here.
¿Le habré dado este derecho? Have I, perchance, given him this right?
¿Tendría miedo talvez? Was he afraid, perhaps?
The =Future Progressive=, is not used in Spanish when its place may be taken by the ordinary Future Simple, as—
Le escribire mañana: I shall be writing him to-morrow.
But—
Cuando él venga yo estare escribiendo: When he comes I shall be writing.
The =Present Subjunctive= in Spanish refers to time present or future; for time future, its place may be taken by the future Subj. (little used).[154]
[Footnote 154: Except after "cuando" (but not in conversation), as—Se lo diré cuando venga or cuando viniere: I shall tell it him when he comes. The Fut. Subj. is also used (not in conversation) after si instead of Pres. Indic., as—Le serviré si la ocasión se ofrece or se ofreciere: I shall serve him if the occasion presents itself.]
=Use of Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood=.
The verb in the Subj. Mood is put in the Present tense when the preceding verb is in the Pres. Indic., Future Indic. (simple) or Imperative, as—
Quiero que él lo haga: I want him to do it.
Querré " " ": I shall want " ""
Quiere tú " " ": Want (thou) " ""
Otherwise the verb in the Subjunctive is in the Imperfect tense.
N.B.—When the preceding verb is in the "preterito compuesto," e.g., "he dicho," when "he dicho" stands exactly for the English "I have told," it governs the Pres. Subj., as—
Le he dicho que se vaya: I have told him to go.
But if it stands for the English "I told," it governs the Imperfect
Subj., as
Le dije (he dicho) que se fuese: I told him to go.
When the preceding verb is in the Future Perfect, the verb in the Subjunctive may be put in the Present when its action does not refer to the past, as—
Habré querido que trabaje hoy o mañana: I shall have (may have) wanted him to work to-day or to-morrow.