Newspapers, Articles, Nouns, and Adjectives: Key Features

Newspapers: A Key Source of Information

A newspaper is a form of print media that informs the public about current events.

Features of a Newspaper

Newspapers are typically divided into sections. These sections include sports, entertainment, economy, opinion, and general information. The most important events are usually placed on the front page.

Newspaper Organization

Newspapers are generally organized with the front and back pages followed by national and international news.

Articles: Grammatical Components

An article is a type of word that precedes a noun, indicating whether it is specific or non-specific. Articles also denote the gender and number of the noun.

Article Classification

• Definite Articles: Used when the noun is known or specific.
• Neutral Articles: Articles that do not have grammatical accidents.
• Indefinite Articles: Used when the noun is not known or non-specific.
• Contracted Articles: Formed when the article is preceded by the prepositions "a" or "de".

Nouns: Words Representing Entities

Nouns are words that refer to fixed classes of entities, as opposed to pronouns, whose referents are contextual. Nouns do not express facts or grammatical relations.

Classification of Nouns

• Masculine Nouns: The masculine gender of a noun is often marked by a gender morpheme at the end of the singular form (e.g., libro, niño, sombrero). However, there are exceptions, such as words ending in -o that are feminine (e.g., foto, mano, moto).
• Feminine Nouns: The feminine gender of a noun is typically determined by adding the gender morpheme -a (e.g., niña, vaca, mesa, ventana) or by using a feminine article (e.g., la, una).
• Neutral Nouns: Abstract concepts are often gender-neutral (e.g., lo bueno, lo malo, lo importante). In Spanish, this category usually consists of substantivized adjectives in the singular.

Adjectives: Describing and Qualifying Nouns

An adjective is a part of speech that accompanies a noun to identify or characterize it. Adjectives express characteristics or properties attributed to a noun.

Classification of Adjectives

• Attributive Adjectives: Directly attached to the noun (e.g., noche oscura or oscura noche).
• Predicative Adjectives: Linked to the noun by a copulative verb (e.g., la noche era oscura).
• Adjectives in Predicative Complement Function: Used when there is no copulative verb between the adjective and the noun (e.g., la casa parece verde, el niño estaba feliz).
• Adjectives in Apposition: When they are coordinated with the noun but not directly attached (e.g., la casa, grande).