{"id":5315,"date":"2012-07-18T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2012-07-18T10:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/?p=5315"},"modified":"2014-07-15T14:11:07","modified_gmt":"2014-07-15T18:11:07","slug":"how-to-use-punctuation-signs-in-spanish-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/spanish\/how-to-use-punctuation-signs-in-spanish-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use punctuation signs in Spanish (II)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a1Hola! \u00bfC\u00f3mo les va?<\/em><\/p>\n

Today let’s learn how to use more punctiation signs in Spanish.<\/p>\n

1. El punto y coma (the semicolon)<\/strong><\/p>\n

El punto y coma<\/strong> is used:<\/p>\n

a. Before mas, pero, aunque, sin embargo<\/em> and no obstante<\/em> in very long sentences.<\/p>\n

“Al o\u00edr esto, los flamencos, llenos de miedo porque estaban descubiertos, quisieron voltar; pero estaban tan cansados que no pudieron levantar una sola pata.” (Horacio Quiroga)<\/p>\n

b. To separate clauses that refer to the same subject, mainly in longer sentences.<\/p>\n

“Con aquellos cobres edific\u00e1bamos torres de sue\u00f1o; mas invent\u00e1bamos aventuras en selvas palpitantes; abord\u00e1bamos veleros.” (Ana Mar\u00eda Ramb)<\/p>\n

2. Los dos puntos (the colon):<\/strong><\/p>\n

a. After letter headings.<\/p>\n

Queridos amigos:
\nEspero que todos est\u00e9n bien.<\/p>\n

b. To introduce dialogues.<\/p>\n

La abuela, llorando, lamentaba:
\n– Tu padre so\u00f1aba con hacerte m\u00e9dico.<\/p>\n

c. Before giving an explanation.<\/p>\n

Y \u00e9l confidenci\u00f3 su plan: ir\u00eda a casarse…
\nS\u00f3lo te pido esto: que no me dejes.<\/p>\n

3. Los par\u00e9ntesis (the parentheses) are used to clarify situations in sentences:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Intent\u00e9 poner cara seria, respetable (me cost\u00f3 pero consegu\u00ed), y dirigi\u00e9ndome a una se\u00f1ora de blanco, dije…” (Graciela Cabal)<\/p>\n

4. Las comillas (quotation marks) are used:<\/strong><\/p>\n

a. At the beginning and at the end of citations.<\/p>\n

\u00c9l dijo: “\u00a1Los intereses son alt\u00edsimos!”<\/p>\n

b. At the beginning and at the end of titles, specially books.<\/p>\n

Jorge Luis Borges es el autor de “El hacedor”.<\/p>\n

c. To emphasize a word.<\/p>\n

“Gente” se escribe con g, pero “junto” se escribe con “j”.<\/p>\n

5. La interrogaci\u00f3n (question mark) and la admiraci\u00f3n o exclamaci\u00f3n are used at the beginning and at the end of sentences:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00bfQu\u00e9 haces aqu\u00ed?
\n\u00bfC\u00f3mo te llamas?<\/p>\n

\u00a1Qu\u00e9 caro!
\n\u00a1Qu\u00e9 muchacha m\u00e1s hermosa! \u00a1Hola!
\n\u00a1Ah!<\/p>\n

Adapted from Espa\u00f1ol sin Fronteras (vol. 3)<\/p>\n

Want more free resources to learn Spanish<\/a>? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

\u00a1Hola! \u00bfC\u00f3mo les va? Today let’s learn how to use more punctiation signs in Spanish. 1. El punto y coma (the semicolon) El punto y coma is used: a. Before mas, pero, aunque, sin embargo and no obstante in very long sentences. “Al o\u00edr esto, los flamencos, llenos de miedo porque estaban descubiertos, quisieron voltar…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":5318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[358365],"class_list":["post-5315","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t