Spanish Lecture: Grammar Comparisons and Cultural Vocabulary

Flashcards covering Spanish grammar rules for noun plurals and comparative constructions, along with cultural vocabulary and foods mentioned in the lecture.

Lesson 6 Theme

The curriculum unit focusing on clothing and shopping vocabulary, including store types, paying methods, and sales.

Dolores

A Spanish word meaning aches or pains, which students often confuse with the plural for dollars ($dólares$).

Stressed initial 'a' or 'ha' rule

A Spanish grammar rule where feminine singular nouns beginning with a stressed 'a' or 'ha' sound (like agua, hacha, and águila) take the article 'el' in the singular to prevent awkward pronunciation, reverting to 'las' in the plural.

Tan … como

The comparative construction of equality used in front of an adjective or an adverb to mean 'as … as'.

Tanto / tanta / tantos / tantas … como

The comparative construction of equality used with nouns to mean 'as much … as' or 'as many … as', which changes form to agree in gender and number.

[Verb] + tanto como

The comparative construction of equality placed directly after a verb to mean 'as much as', where 'tanto' remains fixed and does not change form.

Más / menos … que

The Spanish comparative construction used with adjectives, adverbs, or nouns to express inequality ('more … than' or 'less/fewer … than').

Croquetas

A Spanish food shaped like fritters, prepared with a filling rolled in bread crumbs, deep-fried, and usually served with a sauce.

Paella

A Spanish dish made with rice flavored with saffron, which can be prepared with seafood, sausage, chicken, or as a vegetarian dish.

Gazpacho

A traditional Spanish cold soup.

Gallego

The regional language spoken in Galicia, Spain, alongside Spanish.

Elvers (baby eels)

A regional delicacy in Galicia, white on top and gray on the bottom with two tiny black eye dots, served with scrambled eggs and exported to Japan for a fortune.

Guapo / Guapa

A Spanish adjective meaning handsome or attractive that can be used across genders, often shouted as praise at performers in Spain during events like flamenco.

A la tica

A phrase meaning 'Costa Rican style'.

White rice and black beans (Costa Rica)

A dish served separately with full meals in Costa Rica, referred to as the bride (white rice) and groom (black beans).

Agua de pipa

The drink made from an unripe coconut, chopped open with a machete and consumed through a straw.

Pejibayes

The dry, starchy fruit of the peach palm eaten in Costa Rica.

Tamal

The correct singular form of the traditional dish in Spanish, whose plural form is tamales (never 'tamale').