Spanish word families

A word that names a thing or an idea, such as “truth” or “speed”, is a noun. A word that describes a noun, such as “true” or “fast”, is an adjective. A word that says how something is done, or adds to an adjective, such as “truly” or “quickly”, is an adverb.

Two more families show the same three jobs.

Some of these endings are familiar from the cognates lesson. Each one marks a job.

Nouns end in “-dad” (“felicidad”), “-ción” (“información”), “-ez” or “-eza” (“rapidez”; “belleza”, beauty, from “bello”) and “-miento” (“pensamiento”, thought, from “pensar”).

Adjectives end in “-oso” (“famoso”), “-able” (“agradable”, pleasant) and “-ivo” (“activo”). “Verdadero” ends in “-ero”, which nouns use too (“camarero”, waiter), so for that one learn the word itself.

Adverbs end in “-mente”. It is added to the feminine form of the adjective. Many adjectives have a masculine form, “rápido”, and a feminine form, “rápida”, used with a feminine word such as “historia”. So “rápido” becomes “rápida”, then “rápidamente”; “verdadero” becomes “verdadera”, then “verdaderamente”. An adjective like “feliz” has one form for both, so it takes “-mente” as it is: “felizmente”. An accent stays where it was: “rápida” and “rápidamente”.

The word just before the blank you fill says which member of the family the sentence needs.

After “ser” and “estar” (both “to be”), “parecer” (“to seem”) or “sonar” (“to sound”), the sentence needs an adjective, in the form that fits the thing described: “historia” is feminine, so “verdadera”. “La historia suena verdadera” means “The story sounds true”. A learner who types “verdad” here has the right root and the wrong job: “La historia suena verdad” is like English “The story sounds truth”. “Mi hermana parece feliz” means “My sister seems happy”.

After “el”, “la”, “un” or “una”, the sentence needs a noun: “la verdad”, “una felicidad simple”.

Before or after a verb, when the word says how the action is done, the sentence needs an adverb: “Responde rápidamente”, “Todo terminó felizmente”. An adverb never changes its form.

• Digo la verdad.I am telling the truth.
• Es una historia verdadera.It is a true story.
• La historia suena verdadera.The story sounds true.
• Es verdaderamente difícil.It is truly difficult.
• El coche es rápido.The car is fast.
• La rapidez es importante.Speed is important.
• Responde rápidamente.She answers quickly.
• Mi hermana parece feliz.My sister seems happy.
• La felicidad es simple.Happiness is simple.
• Todo terminó felizmente.It all ended happily.

• La historia suena verdad. La historia suena verdadera.After “sonar” the sentence needs an adjective that matches “historia”.
• Mi hermana parece felicidad. Mi hermana parece feliz.“Felicidad” names happiness; “feliz” describes her.
• Ella es rapidez. Ella es rápida.“Rapidez” is speed, a noun; to describe her, use the adjective.
• Trabaja cuidadosa. Trabaja cuidadosamente.A word that says how she works is an adverb, ending in “-mente”.
• Habla rápidomente. Habla rápidamente.“-mente” goes on the feminine form, “rápida”.
• Es una historia verdaderamente. Es una historia verdadera.A word that describes “historia” is an adjective.

Find the family, then read the word before the blank: after “ser”, “estar”, “parecer” or “sonar”, an adjective; after “el”, “la”, “un” or “una”, a noun; beside a verb, saying how, an adverb. Endings tell the job: “-dad”, “-ción”, “-ez”, “-eza” and “-miento” for nouns; “-oso”, “-able” and “-ivo” for adjectives; “-mente” on the feminine adjective for adverbs.