www.whyville.net Jan 4, 2009 Weekly Issue



Wicked777
Times Writer

Spanish for the Clueless

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"Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"
- From the Disney movie "Pocahontas"

I don't know about painting with ALL the colors of the wind, but I think we can try to tackle a few. Since colors can be used as adjectives, we'll need to remember how to change them to match up with the noun (article 9928). That means changing them to have the right (a) number and (b) gender.

Here are some of the colors:

Color -- Pronounced -- Means

Rojo -- Roh-ho -- Red
Azul -- Ah-sool -- Blue
Verde -- Bair-day -- Green
Amarillo -- Ah-mah-ree-oh -- Yellow
Anaranjado -- Ah-nah-rahn-ha-doh -- Orange
Morado -- Moh-rah-doh -- Purple
Violeta -- Vee-oh-leh-ta -- Violet
Blanco -- Blahn-coh -- White
Negro -- Neh-groh -- Black
Gris -- Grees -- Gray
Marron (accent over o) -- Mahr-OWN -- Brown
Rosado -- Roh-sah-doh -- Pink
Indigo (accent over first i) -- EEN-dee-goh -- Indigo

The Spanish translation of "the sock" is "la media" (pronounced: lah meh-dee-ah). How would we say "the green sock"?

La media verde = the green sock

Why? Well, "verde" doesn't end in an "o," so we don't change the ending. If it was "the pink sock" we would have to change "rosado" to "rosada" to make it feminine.

La media rosada = the pink sock

Now, for the singular vs. plural: since there's only one sock, it's "la media verde." If there were two socks, we would have to change "verde" to "verdes."

Las medias verdes = the green socks

Because "marron (accent over o)" ends with an "n," we have to add an "es." In this case, we also take away the accent mark.

La media marron (accent over o) = the brown sock
Las medias marrones = the brown socks

"Gris" ends with an "s," another consonant, so we add an "es" to it too.

La media gris = the gray sock
Las medias grises = the gray socks

"El plato" is "the plate" or "the dish." Here's how to say "the blue plate" and "the blue plates."

El plato azul = the blue plate
Los platos azules = the blue plates

Here's a challenge: using what you know about ROY G. BIV and the colors, tell me the colors of the rainbow in Spanish. The first person to y-mail me with the correct answer will get their choice of a free face part from the store Scavenger's at Akbar's Face Mall.

Now, which is better: las medias blancas or las medias rojas?
-Wicked777

 

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