UNIT 4: THE SIMPLE SENTENCE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH

(8) But have you seen that? Vs. But havent you seen that?
1. Basic word order:
Spanish is a null subject language and English is a non-null-subject
language

Syntactic vs. Lexical negation:

(i) Syntactic negation affects the syntactic structure of the clause either
totally, total negation, (9-10), or partially, 11-12(), partial negation:

1.1. Affirmative structures:

(9) No tengo que dar explicaciones a nadie.
(10) I dont want to go there.
(11) Es un chico no muy guapo.
(12) I have no money.

S + VP (English) vs. (S) + VP + (S) (Spanish)

(1a) She lives here.
(1b) Ella vive aqu.
(2a) My father works there.
(2b) All trabaja mi padre
(3a) They have been running.
(3b) Han estado corriendo.

Though it affects the whole clause, total negation is usually expressed in

the predicate: by means of no in Spanish and not in English. In Spanish it
precedes the whole verbal form, and its English counterpart is attached to
the first auxiliary (operator) of the verbal sequence:

1.2. Negative structures:

Negation is a universal concept. Meaning:
(i) A semantic relation derived from assertion: to communicate that an
element lacks a specific property:

(13) No debera haber comido tanto

(14) I should not have eaten so much.
Exceptions in Spanish:
a) Some made expressions that want to emphasize an adverbial element,
which is fronted and preceded by the negative particle:

(4) Un barrio no de pescadores.

(5) Not a silly boy
(6a) No quiero ser tan baja como soy
(6b) I dontwant to be as short as I am.

(15) No por mucho madrugar amanece ms temprano

(16) No porque t lo digas tengo que hacerlo

(ii) To convey emotive/expressive attitudes (usually in interrogative and

exclamative patterns):

b) When the predicate contains personal pronouns:

(17) No me lo puedo creer
(18) Si no lo veo, no lo creo.

(7) Quieres un caf? Vs. No quieres un caf?

(ii) Lexical negation: conveyed through one or more elements whose

meaning is negative:

(27a) Have you been talking to Peter?

(27b) Has estado hablando con Pedro?
(28a) Did your parents watch the movie?
(28b) Vieron la pelcula tus padres?
(29a) Does his son have a girlfriend?
(29b) Su hijo tiene novia?

(19) Nobody wants to know what has happened.

(20) You will never discover the truth.
(21) Ninguno de los asistentes entendi nada.
(22) Si ti, estara perdido.

Negative yes/no questions:

(i) AUX + nt + S + VR ? (English) vs. (S) + no + VP + (S)?(Spanish):

Negative structures: S + AUX + VR (Verbal remainder) (English) vs. (S) +

no + VP + (S) (Spanish):

(30a) Didnt you visit your friends?

(30b) No visistaste a tus amigos?
(31a) Hasnt their daughter arrived yet?
(31b) Su hija no ha llegado todava?
(32a) Isnt your father very worried?
(32b) No est muy preocupado tu padre?

(23a) You have not read the newspaper yet.

(23b) Todava no has ledo el peridico
(24a)The task hasnt been easy.
(24b) No ha resultado fcil la tarea.
Spanish allows multiple negation, which is forbidden in English, if the
negative element goes after the negative particle no. However, if it
precedes it, the negative particle no does not appear:

Content questions:
(i) INTERR +AUX + S + VR (English) vs. INTERR + VP + (S)?(Spanish):

(25a) Charles no debi salir nunca.

(25b) *Charles nunca no debi salir.
(25c) Charles nunca debi salir.
(26a) *Charles should not have left never.
(26b) *Charles should not never have left.
(26c) Charles should never have left.

(33a) What have you been studying?

(33b) Qu has estado estudiando?
(34a) Where are your friends going?
(34b) Dnde van tus amigos?
1.4 Exclamative structures:
(i) Qu/What + VP, (35a-35b), or NP, (36-36b):

1.3. Questions:
Affirmative yes/no questions:
(i) AUX + S + VR (English) vs. (S) + VP + (S)?(Spanish):

(35a) Qu cosas dice!

(35b) What things he says!
(36a) What luck!

(36b) Qu suerte!
(ii) Qu/How + AP, (37a-37b), AdvP, (38a-38b):

(44) I wouldnt do it like that vs. I WOULD NOT do it like that.

(45) They dont know her vs. They do not know her.
(46) She didnt buy anything vs. She did not nuy anything.

(37a) Qu alta es!

(37b) How tall she is!
(38a) Qu rpido habla!
(38b) How fast she speaks!

(ii) Spanish:
Affirmative structures:
a) Adding s (que) to the sentence, generally between the subject and the
verb:

(iii) Cmo/How + VP:

(47) Rubn vino a mi casa vs. Rubn s (que) vino a mi casa.

(48) Sabis lo que pas vs. Si (que) sabis lo que pas.

(39a) Cmo lo odio!

(39b) How I hate him!

(iii) Other clausal elements different from the verabl action:

English and Spanish: Vocal stress (oral language) or some special type of
letter employed (writen laguage):

1.4. Alternate structures:

1.4.1. Emphatic structures:
(i) English:
Use of reflexive pronouns:

(49a) The woman bought an orange (not tha man).

(49b) The woman bought an orange (not an apple).
(50a) La mujer, no el hombre, compr la naranja.
(50b) La mujer compr la naranja, no la manzana.

(40) I will work here vs. I will myself work here.

Spanish: fronting of the emphasized element:
AUX stressed:
(51a) La nia compr una naranja.
(51b) Compr una naranja la nia.
(51c) Una naranja compr la nia.

(41) He wants a car vs. He does want a car.

(42) They needed some money vs. They did need some money.
(43) Ill wait for him vs. I WILL wait for him.

1.4.2. Elliptical structures:

Those which have some of their components omitted. These elements
ca be easily recoverable from the linguistic or extralinguistic context:

If the statement is negative, the contraction between the ausiliary verb

and the negative particle is avoided:

(i) Short anwers to yes/no questions: in English it consists of yes/no, the

subject and the operator, and in Spanish it consists only of s/no:

(57b) Pedro no acabar su trabajo esta noche, y t tampoco.

(iv) Compound sentences with an infinitive in the second member: they
are only elliptical structures in English, where the infinitive and its direct
object, if any, are omitted; what remains is only the to infinitive mark:

(52a) Did you read the newspaper? Yes, I did.

(52b) Leiste el peridico? S.
(53a) Will he spend the summer in Italy?) No, he wont.
(53b) Pasar el verano en Italia? No.

(58a) He wants to write a book and he hopes to (write a book) son.

(58b)Quiere escribir un libro y espera escribirlo pronto.
(58c) Quiere escribir un libro y espera hacerlo pronto.

ii) Compound clauses that indicate the opposite content of the main
clause: in English the coordinate conjunction introduces the subject and
the operator, and in Spanish it only introduces the subject followed by
si/no:

In Spanish they are not elliptical structures because either the infinitive
has to be repeated, (58b), or it is substituted by the verb hacer, (58c).

(54a) They cant go, but I can.

(54b) Ellos no pueden ir, pero yo s.
(55a) We will stay at home, but she wont.
(55b) Nosotros nos quedaremos en casa, pero ella no.

1.4.3.Question tags:
Used to elicit agreemenet.
English: operator in the opposite mode to that of the main clause
(contracted if it is negative) and the personal pronoun that replaces the
subject

Interesting examples since they are o the few cases in which the subject is
compulsory in Spanish in the two clauses that make up the compound
sentence.

(59) Mary eats a lot, doesnt she?

(60) You dont know my sister, do you?

iii) Compound clauses that indicate the same point of view as the one
expressed in the main clause: in English the following patterns are used:
SO + AUX + S (affirmative) or NEITHER + AUX + S (negative). Their Spanish
alternatives consist only of the subject and the adverbial elements
TAMBIN (Affirmative) and TAMPOCO (negative):

In most of the cases the tag carries rising intonation, but if the speaker
expects a particular answer that is contrary to the one that should be
expected the intonation must be falling or constant with the previous
statement:

(56a) She is humgry, so am I.

(56b) Ella tine hambre y yo tambin.
(57a) Peter wont finish his eaasy tonight, neither will you.

(61a) He isnt here, is he? (Expected negative answer = real)

(61b)He isnt here, is he? (Expected negative answer; affirmative real
answer)

 Spanish: verdad? (both with affirmative and negative statements) and

no? (only with positive statements):
(62) Las mujeres vana oponerse, verdad?/no?.
(63) T no vienes, verdad?/*no?.
1.5. Existential sentences:
Spanish: impersonal haber (therefore, no stated subject and verb
always third person singular):
(64a) Hay un castillo en la montaan.
(65a) Hay 7 nios en la clase.
English: there be (there operating as an apparent subject):
(65b) There is a castle on the mountain.
(66b) There are seven boys in class.
1.6. Reverse constructions:
Those ones that do not agree on how to cast the NPs accompanying
their verbs ; that is, sentences containing verbs whose subcategorization
frame or rgimen is the opposite one:
(66a) Mary (S) likes oranges (Od)
(66b) A Mara (Oi) le gustan las naranjas (S)