Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader

by Ernesto Nelson

[1] mis hermanos. The masculine plural includes both brothers and sisters.

[2] nos viene ... por herencia, it comes to us by inheritance; we inherit it.

[3] con sus propias manos, with his own hands. Note that the addition of propias makes the possessive pronoun more emphatic.

[4] hallaba (from hallarse) a gusto, felt at home. VARIANT: Sentirse (or encontrarse) bien.

[5] un año en que, a year in which. Note the use of que instead of cuando.

[6] nos hallamos, we find ourselves. Note that nos (ourselves) is not used here in a reciprocal sense.

[7] el lugar mismo de producción, the very same (or selfsame) place where produced. Note the emphasis given by the adjective mismo.

[8] ¡Pues qué! What! VARIANTS: ¿Qué? ¿Qué dice? or ¡Qué me dice Ud.? ¿Será posible que ...? ¿Es posible que ...?

[9] se (el negocio) reduce casi únicamente a, it (the business) is almost reduced (limited) to.... VARIANTS: Está limitado; no pasa de.

[10] Esto con referencia a, This refers only to. VARIANTS: Lo anterior se refiere a; en lo que concierne a.