Perception verb A verb describing how the subject becomes aware
of something through the senses (especially sight):
ver‘to see’, oír‘to hear’, notar‘to notice’.
Person See agreement.
Personal a Use of the preposition ato indicate the direct
object when this is a person, as in Hemos visto a
Rocío‘We have seen Rocío’.
Phrase A group of words that collectively convey a
meaning but do not include a finite verb: a las
ocho, ‘at eight o’clock’, detrás de la puerta‘behind
the door’.
Prepositional object A noun or pronoun that is dependent on a
preposition, e.g. mi hermanain para mi hermana
‘for my sister’, or ella in con ella ‘with her’.
Proper noun The name of a person, place or object,
(or name) e.g. Ricardo, Madrid.
Psychological verb A verb referring to a psychological process or state,
such as recognizing, thinking, understanding or
knowing.
Reciprocal One of the uses of reflexive verbs with the meaning
of ‘each other’, ‘one another’ (see 14.3).
Stress Emphasis placed on a syllable by pronouncing it
more emphatically than those around it. For
example, ro- in the word rojo‘red’. In some words,
stress is indicated by a written acute accent: fácil
‘easy’.
Subject Noun or phrasethat performs the action of the
verb: la chicain La chica cantó un bolero‘The girl
sang a bolero’.
Syllable A unit bigger than a single sound, smaller than a
word and which (in Spanish) contains at least one
vowel. For example, patata‘potato’ can be split
into three syllables: pa-ta-ta.
Transitive verb A verb that has a direct object.
1111
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1011
1
12111
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
20111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
30111
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
40
41111
Glossary
319
