10 Facts About Spanish Adjectives

10 Facts About Spanish Adjectives Here are 10 facts about Spanish adjectives that will be useful to know as you pursue your language studies: 1. Adjective Is Part of Speech An adjective is a part of speech that is used to modify, describe, limit, qualify or otherwise affect the meaning of a noun, pronoun or a phrase functioning as a noun. The words we most often think of as adjectives are descriptive words - words such as verde (green), feliz (happy), fuerte (strong) and impaciente (impatient). 2. Adjectives Have Gender Adjectives in Spanish have gender, and a masculine adjective must be used with a masculine noun, a feminine adjective with a feminine noun following the principle of noun-adjective agreement. Some adjectives change in form with gender, while others dont. Generally, a masculine adjective that ends in -o or -os (in the plural) can become feminine by changing the ending to -a or -as. But singular nouns that dont end in -o generally dont change form to become feminine. 3. Adjectives Have Number Adjectives in Spanish also have number, meaning they can be singular or plural. Again, following the principle of noun-adjective agreement, a singular adjective is used with a singular noun, a plural adjective with a plural noun. Singular adjectives become plural by adding an -s or -es suffix. 4. Some Are Invariable A very few adjectives are invariable, meaning they dont change form among plural and singular, masculine and feminine. Traditionally, the most common invariable adjectives are macho (male) and hembra (female), as can be seen in the sentence Los animales macho en general proporcionan muchos menos atenciones parentales que las animales hembra (Male animals in general provide much less parental attention than the female animals do), although youll also see these words pluralized sometimes as well. Rarely, and then most often in journalese or phrases that have been imported from English, a noun can function as an invariable adjective, as web in the phrase sitios web (websites). Such cases of nouns as adjectives are the exception rather than the rule, and Spanish students should not freely use nouns as adjectives as can be done in English. 5. Placement Can Matter The default location for descriptive adjectives is after the noun they refer to. When the adjective is placed before the noun, it typically gives an emotional or subjective quality to the adjective. For example, la mujer pobre is likely to refer to a woman who has little money, while la pobre mujer is likely to suggest that the speaker feels sorry for the woman, even though both could be translated as the poor woman. 6. Adjectives Can Become Nouns Most descriptive adjectives can be used as nouns, often by preceding them with a definite article. For example, los felices could mean the happy people, and los verdes could mean the green ones. 7. Suffixes Can Be Used The meaning of some adjectives can be modified by using diminutive or augmentative suffixes. For example, while un coche viejo is simply an old car, un coche viejecito might refer to a quaint car or an older car that someone likes. 8. Verb Use Can Affect Meaning In sentences of the type noun is adjective, the adjective might be translated differently depending on whether the verb ser or estar is used. For example, es seguro often means it is safe, while est seguro usually means he or she is certain. 9. No Superlative Forms Spanish doesnt use suffixes such as -er or -est to indicate superlatives. Instead, the adverb is used. Thus, the bluest lake or the bluer lake is el lago ms azul. 10. Some Are Apocopated A few adjectives are shortened when they appear before singular nouns in a process known as apocopation. One of the most common is grande, which is shortened to gran, as in un gran ejà ©rcito for a great army.

Writing a Dissertation Proposal

Writing a Dissertation Proposal Dissertation writing is an exhaustive academic experience, the successful completion of which demonstrates the candidates ability to address a major intellectual problem and arrive at an independent, successful conclusion at a high level of professional competence. What Is a Dissertation Proposal? Any student required to submit a dissertation (a lengthy, formal treatise – especially one written by a candidate for a doctoral degree at a university) will more than likely be required to submit first a dissertation proposal. And even if the student is not required first to write a dissertation proposal, drafting one will be a very useful practice for him when aiming to complete a dissertation in the future. A dissertation proposal is basically an abstract to the  dissertation,  which provides an organized, concise plan for completing it. DISSERTATION WRITING The purpose of the dissertation proposal is to convince a committee, or a group of academic advisors who would ultimately be awarding the student the degree, whether doctoral or graduate, that there is a legitimate question worth pursuing and that the student is in a position to succeed in pursuing it. Proposals of this kind demonstrate that the student has identified an interesting research question, can objectively, concisely and thoroughly explain the importance of the question to just about anyone not familiar with the topic, and has a detailed plan for testing their hypotheses. A proposal includes what one’s dissertation is, most importantly, about, as well as what specific questions are being examined in the academic treatise. They embody previously published thoughts and studies on the topic, the research methods the student will attempt to incorporate, whether empirical or non-empirical and, lastly, the potential outcomes of the study. A Checklist Comprising a Dissertation Proposal Dissertation title Of course, the student will, often after conducting research and observing  developments in the analysis of their subject’s problem, be forced to alter the wording  of their title. The title should also be kept generally short in nature and to the point. Objectives Focus on three strong objectives, or what exactly the student aims to accomplish, to keep from the scope of the dissertation and its accompanying research from being entirely too broad. Literature, context, and background This means the inclusion of all schools of thought, domains of practice, and areas of study that will ultimately be incorporated into the dissertation. Research details In this portion of the proposal, expand on the ideas expressed in the research  question, or the overarching question – or problem, or topic – being solved, addressed and evaluated. Methodologies   Here, the students share the system of methods they plan to implement into their dissertation. Methodologies should either be empirical (which is based on or concerned with, or verifiable, by observation and/or experience rather than theory or pure logic – and are usually a study or collection of data, such as questionnaires) or non-empirical (with research coming from already published writings and projects). Potential outcomes In this part of the dissertation proposal, the students should summarize the type of outcomes they hope to generate. If the outcomes were indeed obvious from the start, there would be no need for – and certainly no approval from the student’s professors and advisors alike – a dissertation in the first place. Timeline Students may be asked to include a realistic, thorough outline of how they plan to conduct and manage research. Adding a timeline helps to convince an academic committee that the students working to have their dissertation accepted for academic credit are prepared to undergo the rigorous process of completing – and actually having accepted – their dissertation. Bibliography Most dissertation proposals (as well the dissertations themselves) will require a list of references used throughout the project. DISSERTATION WRITING SERVICE If you find the process of writing a dissertation proposal difficult or if you have no time for that, feel free to contact our friendly support team for assistance or place an order and we will gladly help you.