Test your Spanish

[Marianopolita]

I am aware of the rule that the stress is usually on the second to last (penultimate) syllable and if not there is an accent on the syllable that is stressed. But in the case of Cabarete, I have never heard anyone stress the last syllable or use an accent, so in my opinion it is not an exception to the rule.

No one said Cabarete should have an accent. You misunderstand my post from the get go. I was always referring to La Ciénaga and that it should have one. I was asking if people noticed an accent on government signs- La Ciénaga.


Please go back and read my posts for clarity if needed…..but I will clarify my post(s) again here. No accent on Cabarete but an accent on La Ciénaga.

Did you not see in the following posts by Lucifer we are talking about La Ciénaga and not Cabarete?

 

[Marianopolita]

@drstock

After my clarification in post #41 ……you see what I am saying? There is no accent on Cabarete…..and I was always asking about Ciénaga because on the web many sites do not have the accent on the é.


I hope this is clear now.

 

[Marianopolita]

@drstock

I went back through the thread trying to
understand why you think I was saying Cabarete has an accent and I think you miss understood post #19.


Look at post #10 and #13- these posts are key where it is established that La Ciénaga is a barrio in Cabarete.

In post #19…. this is where I think you misunderstood…. I was asking if in Cabarete (the town) if there are accents on words on the signs where required and Not on the word Cabarete itself.

Is this clear now?

 

[Lucifer]

And on the case of accents on the penultimate syllable:

If emphasis is placed on it (penultimate), and it ends with a vowel, or the letters 's' and 'n', it is not accentuated with a tilde.
Otherwise it is: López, fácil, dólar...

These types of words are called 'grave' or 'llanas'. They're the most common words in Spanish.

 

[Lucifer]

And here's the importance of tildes in Spanish, and why it's imperative to use them.

Case in point:

Círculo (esdrújula)... circle
Circulo (grave or llana)... presente (yo circulo)
Circuló (aguda)... pretérito perfecto simple (él circuló)

 

[Lucifer]

And here's the one word I will purposely mispronounce only when in the company of Dominicans:

Intervalo, as in interval, with emphasis on the penultimate syllable, as it should, according to la RAE.

However, in the D.R., it's pronounced with emphasis placed on the antepenultimate syllable: intérvalo

 

[Marianopolita]

And here's the importance of tildes in Spanish, and why it's imperative to use them.

Case in point:

Círculo (esdrújula)... circle
Circulo (grave or llana)... presente (yo circulo)
Circuló (aguda)... pretérito perfecto simple (él circuló)

Accents are important as I mentioned previously and not an option and really important on verb forms. If not written or pronounced correctly it can change the nuance of a phrase.

Pregunto vs Preguntó- change of meaning and the subject/ speaker of the phrase. Present vs Past tense

I know some people, Spanish speakers, they have no clue where the accents go on words. For them it is like a decoration on the word and you bet they always place it incorrectly.

 

[Marianopolita]

And here's the one word I will purposely mispronounce only when in the company of Dominicans:

Intervalo, as in interval, with emphasis on the penultimate syllable, as it should, according to la RAE.

However, in the D.R., it's pronounced with emphasis placed on the antepenultimate syllable: intérvalo

I remember you mentioned this in a previous thread. A cada cual lo suyo supongo Lucifer. Yo, personalmente no lo haría.

 

[Lucifer]

Accents are important as I mentioned previously and not an option and really important on verb forms. If not written or pronounced correctly it can change the nuance of a phrase.

Pregunto vs Preguntó- change of meaning and the subject/ speaker of the phrase. Present vs Past tense

I know some people, Spanish speakers, they have no clue where the accents go on words. For them it is like a decoration on the word and you bet they always place it incorrectly.

I always wonder why so many of my compatriots either forget or disregard the use of accents.
I'm a product of the Dominican public education systems up until the 8th grade. However, we learned that stuff in elementary school. And I was a mediocre student at best.

 

[Lucifer]

I remember you mentioned this in a previous thread. A cada cual lo suyo supongo Lucifer. Yo, personalmente no lo haría.

I know what you mean.
I've decided that in order to avoid confusion, I'd go with the flow, as I doubt I could make a dent with the proper pronunciation. No one, absolutely no one in the D.R. pronounces it correctly. In the company of folks hailing from SA and Spain, I'd say intervalo.

Now, I do refuse to use certain words which are now in common usage in the D.R., and especially when we have the proper equivalent: parqueo, parqueado, parking, elevador, enchufle, AND CARPETA for rug, and a host of other words misspoken by Dominicans.
I also refuse the use of pleonasm (subir para arriba, entrar para adentro), as well a the unnecessary redundancy employed by communicators, journalists and politicians, as in herario público, where herario will suffice.

 

[Marianopolita]

I always wonder why so many of my compatriots either forget or disregard the use of accents.
I'm a product of the Dominican public education systems up until the 8th grade. However, we learned that stuff in elementary school. And I was a mediocre student at best.

I think it’s too complicated for most people. Whether it’s understanding syllables or the alternative for many is memorizing the word itself if it has an accent which I think is crazy. It’s better to know the rule than to memorize which words have accents.

As well, maybe people don’t think that it‘s required. Since when? I know the RAE has not changed that rule. Writing words without accents in Spanish is incorrect in formal writing.

All these words that you often see without accents in formal writing should have it.

también, ráfaga, póstumo, agrícola, síntoma, último, contemporáneo etc.

You are expecting a lot if you think the average speaker can talk about accentuation- penúltima, antepenúltima, esdrújula, sobresdrújula like you did. Not in a million years.

Now to compare in English, words don’t have accents and the verb conjugations are no where near as complicated as in Spanish and people complain and struggle in English. So there is no logic to language and what people learn and don’t learn.

 

[Marianopolita]

I know what you mean.
I've decided that in order to avoid confusion, I'd go with the flow, as I doubt I could make a dent with the proper pronunciation. No one, absolutely no one in the D.R. pronounces it correctly. In the company of folks hailing from SA and Spain, I'd say intervalo.

Now, I do refuse to use certain words which are now in common usage in the D.R., and especially when we have the proper equivalent: parqueo, parqueado, parking, elevador, enchufle, AND CARPETA for rug, and a host of other words misspoken by Dominicans.
I also refuse the use of pleonasm (subir para arriba, entrar para adentro), as well a the unnecessary redundancy employed by communicators, journalists and politicians, as in herario público, where herario will suffice.

I will come back to this later on. I have to step out. I‘ll be back.

 

[Lucifer]

Now to compare in English, words don’t have accents and the verb conjugations are no where near as complicated as in Spanish and people complain and struggle in English. So there is no logic to language and what people learn and don’t learn.

Absolutely! And I applaud folks who have to learn verb conjugation in Spanish. If it wasn't my native language, I'd surely struggle with it.

So, kudos to those of you who've made an effort in your struggle to understand verb tense and gender for many things, then have to deal with el agua y las aguas, as well as with Dominicans who probably know less than you do (I've heard communicators, lawyers, and politicians use the wrong article when speaking of declive (decline). It's masculine, as in El declive del imperio romano. But invariably, you'd hear folks say 'la declive.'

 

[Marianopolita]

I know what you mean.
I've decided that in order to avoid confusion, I'd go with the flow, as I doubt I could make a dent with the proper pronunciation. No one, absolutely no one in the D.R. pronounces it correctly. In the company of folks hailing from SA and Spain, I'd say intervalo.

Now, I do refuse to use certain words which are now in common usage in the D.R., and especially when we have the proper equivalent: parqueo, parqueado, parking, elevador, enchufle, AND CARPETA for rug, and a host of other words misspoken by Dominicans.
I also refuse the use of pleonasm (subir para arriba, entrar para adentro), as well a the unnecessary redundancy employed by communicators, journalists and politicians, as in herario público, where herario will suffice.

Buenos días….estoy de vuelta ☀️

I think you have decided to pick your battles and you adjust your pronunciation as to not standout. If not most likely people will say ‘el tipo no sabe hablar….¿por qué dice intervalo?‘ when in fact that is the correct pronunciation. Even a simple word like gandules is mispronounced in DR. Everyone says guandules but there is no u in that word. In DR, one would have to make a lot of adjustments depending on where they are and on the speaker because the spoken language is really colloquial.

Using anglicisms in the DR is strange because the majority of Dominicans do not speak English. Even the ones that say they do for example on the resorts. Let me tell you it is very limited. For the tourists who don’t speak Spanish, good luck because that English is tourist English. Many resort workers just know some words and catch phrases.

Parquear = Estacionar, Parking = Estacionamiento, Elevador= Ascensor, Enchufle? What is this word? Carpeta for carpet is ridiculous. There is no need to use carpeta when there is one that exists in
Spanish and will always be correct alfombra.

The redundancy is part of the language. Subir para arriba, bajar para abajo etc. Careful speakers will avoid these phrases but in my experience you will hear them everyday. In English too. Ones that irk me every time are detrás mío, delante mío, encima nuestra etc These phrases are outright incorrect. I don’t know how people can’t hear how incorrect that sounds.

I am assuming you mean erario without the h:

erario público, expresión redundante

Si bien su uso está muy extendido, la expresión erario público es redundante puesto que la palabra erario lleva implícita la idea de público. Sin embargo, en los medios de comunicación se encuentran frases como «El accidente del rey no generó costes para el erario público» o «Se llegaron a...

www.fundeu.es

 

[Marianopolita]

Absolutely! And I applaud folks who have to learn verb conjugation in Spanish. If it wasn't my native language, I'd surely struggle with it.

So, kudos to those of you who've made an effort in your struggle to understand verb tense and gender for many things, then have to deal with el agua y las aguas, as well as with Dominicans who probably know less than you do (I've heard communicators, lawyers, and politicians use the wrong article when speaking of declive (decline). It's masculine, as in El declive del imperio romano. But invariably, you'd hear folks say 'la declive.'

Spanish verb conjugation is a beast which is the reason why many people stick to learning basic or conversational Spanish because when they see the verb conjugations….adiós…. They don’t stick around. There are about thirteen tenses used in everyday Spanish and with so many irregular verb forms it could be daunting.

Articles - el, la, los, las….are a challenge to learn like you mentioned. There are many exceptions and regional usage. For example, el mar is standard. In some countries and regions it’s la mar. As well, azúcar moreno is correct but you hear many people say azúcar morena.

I have never heard the error with el declive that you mentioned but it does not surprise me. Dominican journalists the real local ones are not too far removed from how the locals speak on the street.

 

[Lucifer]

Buenos días….estoy de vuelta ☀️

I think you have decided to pick your battles and you adjust your pronunciation as to not standout. If not most likely people will say ‘el tipo no sabe hablar….¿por qué dice intervalo?‘ when in fact that is the correct pronunciation. Even a simple word like gandules is mispronounced in DR. Everyone says guandules but there is no u in that word. In DR, one would have to make a lot of adjustments depending on where they are and on the speaker because the spoken language is really colloquial.

Using anglicisms in the DR is strange because the majority of Dominicans do not speak English. Even the ones that say they do for example on the resorts. Let me tell you it is very limited. For the tourists who don’t speak Spanish, good luck because that English is tourist English. Many resort workers just know some words and catch phrases.

Parquear = Estacionar, Parking = Estacionamiento, Elevador= Ascensor, Enchufle? What is this word? Carpeta for carpet is ridiculous. There is no need to use carpeta when there is one that exists in
Spanish and will always be correct alfombra.

The redundancy is part of the language. Subir para arriba, bajar para abajo etc. Careful speakers will avoid these phrases but in my experience you will hear them everyday. In English too. Ones that irk me every time are detrás mío, delante mío, encima nuestra etc These phrases are outright incorrect. I don’t know how people can’t hear how incorrect that sounds.

I am assuming you mean erario without the h:

erario público, expresión redundante

Si bien su uso está muy extendido, la expresión erario público es redundante puesto que la palabra erario lleva implícita la idea de público. Sin embargo, en los medios de comunicación se encuentran frases como «El accidente del rey no generó costes para el erario público» o «Se llegaron a...

www.fundeu.es

Buenos días.

Oh! How did I forget guandules?!
Enchufe is the correct term for wall outlet/socket; most Dominicans call it enchufle.

Yes, I meant erario. I can't say it was a typo, but more of a classic case of brain flatulence.
But almost all Dominican communicators, journalists, and politicians say erario público.

And one of my pet peeve: delivery, as in "Por aquí pasó un delivery..." or "un delivery me trajo la compra".

Where did entrega a domicilio go?
It's quite possible it went to the wrong address, and it was substituted by a "delivery".

El declive:
I've heard a very prominent Dominican attorney, one of the sons of prominent lawyer Vincho Castillo, say la declive. Then another Dominican communicator, Aneudy Santos, whom I consider a pseudointellectual, but who comes across as a know-it-all, using the wrong article, too, when talking about declive.
When I first heard them utter the term, I asked normal folks, and they all agree it's masculine.
So, WHY would intellectuals err on such an obvious thing?

I give a pass to the masses, but I refuse to stop my critique of public figures, many of whom can't pronounce 'corrupción,' or 'corrupto,' or are unable to use the plural form of words, especially those requiring the addition of a simple 'S': "Buena tarde, mi querido oyentes. Un saludoS a la gente que nos e'cucha allá en Santiago de lo 30 Caballero..." "Tenemo que combatir la corrucción intitucional". "Son todo uno corrupt-tos".
Yes, they may occasionally throw in an appropriate 'S', while at other times placing it erroneously.

Lastly, there's casimente, a word which I translated to almostly. I don't pretend to have coined the term 'almostly,' as I bet others have done the same.
I would say that communicators do not use casimente, but you will definitely hear it being uttered by common folks. I give em a pass. However, I do use my translation when talking to Dominicans in English... as a joke, of course, and they get it.

ON EDIT:
I'm guilty on the azúcar morena or azúcar prieta case.

 

[Marianopolita]

Buenos días.

Oh! How did I forget guandules?!
Enchufe is the correct term for wall outlet/socket; most Dominicans call it enchufle.

Yes, I meant erario. I can't say it was a typo, but more of a classic case of brain flatulence.
But almost all Dominican communicators, journalists, and politicians say erario público.

And one of my pet peeve: delivery, as in "Por aquí pasó un delivery..." or "un delivery me trajo la compra".

Where did entrega a domicilio go?
It's quite possible it went to the wrong address, and it was substituted by a "delivery".

El declive:
I've heard a very prominent Dominican attorney, one of the sons of prominent lawyer Vincho Castillo, say la declive. Then another Dominican communicator, Aneudy Santos, whom I consider a pseudointellectual, but who comes across as a know-it-all, using the wrong article, too, when talking about declive.
When I first heard them utter the term, I asked normal folks, and they all agree it's masculine.
So, WHY would intellectuals err on such an obvious thing?

I give a pass to the masses, but I refuse to stop my critique of public figures, many of whom can't pronounce 'corrupción,' or 'corrupto,' or are unable to use the plural form of words, especially those requiring the addition of a simple 'S': "Buena tarde, mi querido oyentes. Un saludoS a la gente que nos e'cucha allá en Santiago de lo 30 Caballero..." "Tenemo que combatir la corrucción intitucional". "Son todo uno corrupt-tos".
Yes, they may occasionally throw in an appropriate 'S', while at other times placing it erroneously.

Lastly, there's casimente, a word which I translated to almostly. I don't pretend to have coined the term 'almostly,' as I bet others have done the same.
I would say that communicators do not use casimente, but you will definitely hear it being uttered by common folks. I give em a pass. However, I do use my translation when talking to Dominicans in English... as a joke, of course, and they get it.

ON EDIT:
I'm guilty on the azúcar morena or azúcar prieta case.

The anglicisms come from Dominicans who live in the US- the Heights, the Bronx, Jersey, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Miami and when they speak to their relatives and go back to DR they speak a different brand of Spanish. Mind you not all because that’s a generalization but they hear people say words in English and then they start to use them even if they don’t know fully what they mean. That is one phenomenon then I think the Puerto Rican, New Yorican diaspora has their own English-Spanish mix. Words like janguear, rufo, yarda come from the Puerto Rican diaspora not the Dominican.

I agree journalists, TV broadcasters, writers should be held to a higher standard. Why? Because they should set an example on how to speak the language properly. There is no debate on this topic.

Azucár moreno vs morena always comes up as an example and it’s because of how people speak. A friend of mine always says el azúcar but las azucares. Why? So we agree to disagree. I think he is comparing it to el agua and las aguas but that is not the same because agua is feminine and the grammar rule dictates in the singular it’s el agua to avoid cacophony….it’s phonetically hard to say la agua….the vowels clash thus the usage of el. Other nouns follow this rule but not el azúcar.

I have never heard azúcar prieta until you mentioned it.

 

[Lucifer]

From Remolacha.net:

"Le venden azúcar prieta en vez de cocaína y llama a la Policía quillao".​

That's the headline of an article from 2019. In the actual article, you read azúcar moreno.

I grew up hearing and using and buying azúcar prieta. Now few people will call it prieta, and others preferring (erroneously) morena.

 

[CristoRey]

Lately I've caught myself writing/ typing my English accidently spelling some of the words in Spanish. Has this ever happened to any of you?

 

[AlterEgo]

Lately I've caught myself writing/ typing my English accidently spelling some of the words in Spanish. Has this ever happened to any of you?

When I play Words With Friends or Scrabble, some great Spanish words pop into my head. Sometimes they actually work. 😊