The Official 'Ask Dave' Section ----

Question

On a one gallon jug are the words,

White Hand Soap
Jabón de Manos Blanco

Now, in english, I know that the adjective "white" is referring to the soap, not the hands. In the spanish phrase, is the fact that white is "blanco" instead of "blancos" (since it says "manos" and not "mano") because it too is actually referring to jabón and not manos?

Just in case I am confusing you more than myself, let me state it another way. If I wanted to say "white hands," wouldn't I say "manos blancos" - both plural? And if I wanted to say "white soap," wouldn't I say "jabón blanco" - both singular? So, is there something in spanish that allows the adjective blanco, singular, to refer to the noun jabón instead of the noun manos even though it is written after manos rather than jabón?

Answer

In English, adjectives (words that describe things) come before nouns, but in Spanish, they come after nouns. For example, instead of saying "white house" you would say "house white" or "casa blanca".

The phrase "jabón de manos" literally means "hand soap". Which, of course is a certain kind of "soap", but not a certain kind of "hands". So - basically, the adjective "blanco" needs to agree with and modify the word "soap". So, we would say "jabón blanco" [or "white soap"] the same way we would say "jabón (de manos) blanco".

Hopefully that answers your question.

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Words of the Week -----
Taken from our complete CD-ROM course. (Click for a discount)

Weekly Spanish Lesson ----

For the weekly lesson this week, click below to learn 7 basic Spanish greetings with audio. You'll hear María from Mexico model each.

To check it out, click here: Interactive Spanish Greetings Lesson

P.S. - If you don't have the Complete Visual Link Spanish™ Course, click below and get free shipping through the newsletter!



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Culture ----- Spanish Names - Part II

Last week we took a look at first names in Spanish - "nombres de pila". And, this week, we're going to learn about Spanish surnames (last names) - "apellidos". There is a verb in Spanish that is used to ask someone's last name. It is "apellidarse". This is a verb that does not exist or translate directly into English. For example, if I asked "¿Cómo se apellida?" [co-mow say ah-peh-ye-thaw], it would literally mean "What is he (or she) last named". If I said, "Me apellido Clark" [may ah-peh-ye-though Clark], it would literally mean "I am last named Clark".

Unlike English, since last names are a little more complex in Spanish, the King of Spanish (fictitious character) who invented Spanish, created a whole verb that goes along with last names which is "appellidarse".

Now I'll explain how last names work in Spanish. Everyone in Spanish has two last names, the first one is from their father (paternal), and the second one is from their mother (maternal). Let's say I was born into a Latin home and my "nombre de pila" was "Juan", and my segundo nombre (middle name) was "Gabriel". So far my name would be "Juan Gabriel...". Next, if my father's name was "Felipe Paco Garcia Lopez", his paternal last name - "Garcia" would be added on as my initial or paternal last name. I would now be known as "Juan Gabrial Garcia...". Finally, if my mother's name was "María Juana Fernandez Martinez", I would take her paternal last name - "Fernandez", and add it on as my final last name. My official name would now be, "Juan Gabriel Garcia Fernandez".

In the above scenario, women generally don't change their last names when they get married; however, they sometimes add their husbands paternal last named after the word "de". Take a look at the graphic (below) for an example of how it all works:

David S. Clark -- President / Director
Visual Link Spanish™
Fun, Interactive Spanish Courses
http://www.learnspanishtoday.com
dave@learnspanishtoday.com

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Responses to Past Newsletters:



Note: Formatting on responses may have been changed to fit your screen.
Response #1

Re Jose and Maria. I recall visiting Argentina on a cargo ship in the early '70s. Crewmembers had to have a very detailed shore pass, including photo, fingerprints, parents names, etc, etc. A photographer came aboard and took the photos and I was detailed to complete the forms. The ship had a multi-national crew, including about a dozen from Spain, Portugal and Cape Verde Islands. You'll be amazed to know that all of these crewmembers, in addition to having identical fingerprints to mine, had parents called Jose and Maria!

Thanks for the very interesting newsletters, keep up the good work.

John Trotter

Steve.

Response #2

Hola Dave,

Me llamo Preeti y soy Indian. I really enjoy learning about different cultures from your newsletters. Like Latin Americans we Indians are very against wasting of food. Although India is a fast developing country, there are still millions of people who don’t get even one square meal a day.

From the very childhood we are taught finish everything it the plate. It sounds quite funny now when I remember my mother telling me “If you don’t finish the chapatti ( Indian bread) I’ll tie it to your stomach! “ But I guess that was her way of making me finish my food & I learnt a good habit.

Though I belong to a country where we worship the Cow, eating all parts of the cow not too much of a cultural shock as living in the UK for one year I heard a lots of dishes like blood pudding( though I did not have the courage to try them & its not considered rude not to everything a host cooks in the UK). It was BIG cultural shock for me to learn that ‘Placenta’ is considered as a delicacy in the UK.

Thanks for the newsletters

Regards

Preeti

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