AN EASY INTRODUCTION TO
SPANISH CONVERSATION

CONTAINING

ALL THAT IS NECESSARY TO MAKE A
RAPID PROGRESS IN IT.

PARTICULARLY DESIGNED

FOR PERSONS WHO HAVE LITTLE TIME TO STUDY,

OR ARE THEIR OWN INSTRUCTORS.

By M. VELAZQUEZ DE LA CADENA,

PROFESSOR OF THE SPANISH; EDITOR OF OLLENDORFF’S SPANISH
GRAMMAR, NEW SPANISH READER, ETC. ETC.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,

549 & 551 BROADWAY.
1872.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849,
By D. APPLETON & COMPANY,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District
of New York.

PREFACE.

Multum in parvo is the object of this small book; in which the student will find all the elements necessary to enable him in a very short time to enter into a conversation on the most usual topics.

For this purpose, and in order that he may understand the questions put, or the answers given to him, should they be expressed in words different in tense or number from those contained in the dialogues, and also to afford him the best means to vary them himself, it has been deemed expedient to prefix to the vocabularies a synopsis of the Spanish language. The learner is earnestly desired to study it attentively, so as to become perfectly familiar with the conjugation of the verbs; a thorough knowledge of which will render his progress easy, sure, and speedy.

Persons unaccustomed to commit tasks to memory, will do well to begin by learning daily a set number (say five) of nouns, adjectives, or verbs, and as many phrases as they can remember well; repeating always the English before the Spanish. Such exercise being steadily pursued for a month, the student will have acquired an aggregate of more than five hundred of the words most frequently used in common intercourse. This plan has been often tried, and its results have constantly exceeded the most sanguine expectations.

Should the student wish to acquire a thorough knowledge of the Spanish, even without the assistance of a teacher, he may do so by studying Ollendorff’s New Method, by M. Velazquez and T. Simonné, published by D. Appleton & Co., No. 443 Broadway.

This work will also be found very useful for the younger classes of learners, as an introduction to Ollendorff, or any other Spanish grammar, as it contains in a few pages, and exhibits in the plainest manner, the elements necessary to enable them to make a very easy and rapid progress in the study of this language.

New York, June 1st, 1849.

CONTENTS.

PART I.
A SYNOPSIS, ETC.
PAGE
The Letters [ 7]
Accent [10]
Noun—Number [ib. ]
    Gender [ib. ]
    Case [11]
Augmentative and Diminutive Nouns [ib. ]
Adjectives [12]
Comparative [ib. ]
Superlative [13]
Pronouns [14]
Verbs [16]
Conjugation—Simple Tenses [17]
  “   Compound Tenses [23]
Auxiliary Verbs [25]
Idiomatical Tenses [27]
Place of the Pronouns [28]
Verbs affirmatively and negatively conjugated [ib. ]
Passive Verbs [ib. ]
Pronominal Verbs [29]
Gerund [30]
Verbs that alter their radical letters [31]
Remarks on the Subjunctive [ib. ]
Participle [32]
Verbs that have two Participles [ib. ]
Adverbs [33]
Prepositions [34]
Conjunctions [35]
Interjections [36]
Abbreviations [ib. ]

PART II.
A VOCABULARY, ETC.
The Numbers [37]
Moneda corriente [39]
Of Heaven and the Elements [40]
The Weather and Seasons [ib. ]
Days of the Week and Months [41]
Holy Days [ib. ]
Ecclesiastical Dignities [ib. ]
Eatables [42]
Covering of the Table [ib. ]
For Fast Days—Fish [44]
For the Dessert [ib. ]
Conditions of Man and Woman [46]
Clothes and Articles for Dressing [ib. ]
Articles for Riding [47]
Clothes for Ladies [ib. ]
Parts of the Human Body [48]
The Five Senses—Ages [49]
Qualities of the Body [ib. ]
Defects of the Body [50]
Studying [ib. ]
Musical Instruments [ib. ]
Parts and Furniture of a House [51]
What is found about the Chimney, in the Kitchen,
  and in the Cellar [52]
The Servants of a House [53]
What is found in and about the Door,
  and in the Stable [54]
The Garden—Flowers, Trees, &c. [54]
Temporal Dignities [55]
Officers of War—The Army [56]
Fortifications [ib. ]
Professions and Trades [57]
Defects and Imperfections [58]
Good Qualities—Diseases [ib. ]
Bird and Quadrupeds [59]
The Country—The City [60]
Colors—Metals [61]
Commercial Terms [ib. ]
Collection of Verbs [63]

PART III.
DIALOGUES.
I. Saluting, &c. [69]
II. To pay a Visit [70]
III. To dress one’s self [71]
IV. The Tailor [72]
V. To breakfast [73]
VI. To speak Spanish [74]
VII. Of the Weather [75]
VIII. To write [76]
IX. To buy [78]
X. To inquire after News [79]
XI. To inquire after any one [82]
XII. For a journey [83]
XIII. Supper and Lodgings [85]
XIV. To reckon with the Landlord [86]
XV. On a Voyage by Sea [87]
XVI. On board of a Vessel [89]
XVII. On a Journey in a Litter, or on Mules   [90]
XVIII. At the Dinner Table [92]

PART IV.
COMMERCIAL LETTERS, ETC.
First Letter [95]
Second Letter [96]
An Invoice [97]
Third and Fourth Letters [98]
Letter of Recommendation   [99]
A Draft [ib. ]
Endorsement [100]
Notes    [ib. ]

EASY INTRODUCTION

TO

SPANISH CONVERSATION.

PART I.
A SYNOPSIS OF THE CASTILIAN LANGUAGE.

THE LETTERS.

The vowels are, a, e, i, o, u, y.

Pronounce them, ah, ay, ee, oh, oo, ee. They have invariably the same sound, and must be fully and distinctly pronounced.

The vowels are never silent, except u, in the syllables gue, gui, que, qui. When the u is to be sounded in them, it is marked with a diæresis (¨) over it; thus, argüir, ar-goo-ir.

The syllables in which the consonants are pronounced differently from the English, are the following. The letters in italics under them express their respective sounds.

C.
Ca, co, cu,cua, cuo.
Kah, koh, koo,kwah, kwo.
ce, ci.
Th lisped, thay,thee.

CH.
Pronounce it invariably as in the English words chap, chess, cheese.

G.
Ga, go, gu,gue, gui.
Gah, goh, goo,gay, gee.

J.

J before all the vowels, and g before e or i, have the sound of the English h, more harshly aspirated.

Ja,je,ji,jo,ju.
Hah,hay,hee,hoe,who.
Ge,gi.
Hay,hee.

LL.

LL is not a double consonant in Spanish, consequently it must not be divided in spelling. It sounds like ll in English in million; but it must be pronounced more quickly and stronger. In some parts of the Mexican states it is sounded somewhat like the Spanish y consonant, with which they confound it in writing; and in manuscript we frequently see cabayo instead of caballo.

Lla, lle, lli,llo, llu.
Lyah, lye-ay, lyee,lyoh, lyoo.

N.

N has a strong nasal sound, like n in poniard. The gn in French gives its sound.

Na, ñe, ñi,ño, ñu.
Nyah, nye-ay, nyee,nyoh, nyoo.

Q.

The syllables qua, qüe, qüi, quo, are at present written with c, which see above.

Que, qui.
Kay, kee.

V.

V must be pronounced as in English. Its sound is so slender in Spanish, that most generally it is confounded with the b: but such pronunciation must not be imitated. It is frequently used in manuscript instead of the capital U; thus,

Vnion y Libertad, instead of Union y Libertad.

X.

X, in conformity with the new orthography, is to represent solely the sound of cs; but the greater part of the people pronounce and write only the s; thus, estranjero, instead of extranjero, (ex-tran-her´-oh.)

Y.

Y is a vowel when it is followed by a consonant, or terminates a word, and then it sounds like ee. It is a consonant when it is before a vowel, and then it sounds somewhat like English j. In some parts of America it is generally pronounced as ee; thus, suyo, soo´-ee-o.

N. B.—Of late years, some persons write i instead of y in ai, y, convoi, &c., but the Academy retains the y. In manuscript, Y is to be used instead of I, whenever this letter must be a capital.

Z.

Z, before all the vowels, is pronounced like th lisped in the English words thank, theft, thin, path, truth.

Za,ze,zi,zo,zu.
Thah,thay,thee,thoh,thoo.

Az,
ez,
iz,
oz,
uz.
Ath,eth,eeth,oth,ooth.

In Spanish America z is generally pronounced s, and also frequently written instead of that letter.