Customer Reviews

Guide to Spanish Suffixes (Language - Spanish)

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This is a valuable resource for those who are pursuing specialized studies in Spanish such as translation and linguistics. The book will also be helpful to advanced students, teachers and native speakers who have an interest in the specifics of the language such as the art to vocabulary building. The book focuses on Spanish suffixes and the possible equivalents in the English language where applicable. This book will help you to grow your vocabulary, better understand the roots of Spanish words and also help you to strengthen your foundation in understanding the logical aspect in the formation of words in Spanish. For example:

Words that end in -ity- in English usually end in -dad- Spanish. Humanity=humanidad and eternity =eternidad and the gender is feminine. -ence- and -ency- in English is equivalent to -encia- in Spanish. Agency= agencia and Afluency=afluencia.

Also at the end of every suffix studied there are samples of idiomatic expressions at random that are very helpful which will also increase your vocabulary and knowledge of fixed expressions in Spanish. Examples from the book include:

1) a suplicacion- on petition or by request
2) andar en lenguas- to be the subject of gossip
3) hora punta- rush hour
4) noticia bomba- sensational news
5) huelga decir-needless to say.

I have not seen anything comparable to this guide on the market. I have owned for seven years now and it has been an educational and priceless resource.

After years of sitting in uninspired Spanish classes (I minored in Spanish in college), finally something USEFUL! If only my professors had taught us the fine points of the language like that which is in this book, rather than hours and hours of pounding verb tenses in our heads (a language is more, MUCH more than just preterit and imperfect tenses!!), I might HABLO better than I do now! FABULOUS AUTHOR AND BOOK!

This is a great vocabulary builder in Spanish for me. The only reason my vocabulary hasn't grown more is the lack of time spent. It helps to already have alot of verbs memorized in the infinitive form and from there you can expand a lot with this book. A great purchase for me.

In the Introduction, the author talks about using this book as a tool for vocabulary building, and suggests that with its help you can "give [your dictionary] a rest." Whatever that may mean, it isn't quite true. Let me demonstrate this with four examples taken from the section on the -era suffix. First, "la cuchillera" is given with the English translations, "knife case, scabbard." In the Oxford Spanish Dictionary (OSP), "cuchillero, -ra" is given as "knife maker" or "knife seller," and it is "vaina" that gives the tanslations "scabbard" and "sheath." The all-Spanish Larousse Usual (LU) agrees with the OSP. However, I did find the translation given by Richmond (Devaney) in an old Appleton's New Cuyas dictionary. Second, "Gorrinera" is given as "pigsty," but again, it does not appear in either the OSP or the LU, although it is in the old Cuyas. "Pocilga" is the entry for "pigsty" in OSP and LU. Third, "lechera" is given as "milk pitcher" but it also means "milk seller" (and "milkmaid" in cuentos) and this should probably be noted. Finally, "cucarachera" is given as "nest of cockroaches; cockroach trap." It doesn't appear in either the OSP or the LU, but "cockroach nest" is given as a translation in the old Cuyas.

I like many things about this book, and wish that I could give it at least 3-1/2 stars. The discussions of the suffixes which precede the word-lists are excellent. The word-lists themselves are potentially useful. If you were to carefully select commonly-used words from the lists, checking them against a dictionary to get a full sense of their meanings, you could proceed through these suffixes--reading the book from the beginning to the end--and that would give you a very good understanding of this aspect of word-formation and would also increase your vocabulary. As it stands, a number of these words are of very little use, and to determine that you must use both a good dictionary and your common sense.

Just like there is a root word in English that you manipulate to make a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb, there are counter parts in Spanish.

This book lists the Spanish ending, gives their meanings, and then several examples of the root word and how this ending modified that word to give a new word.

It isn't a magic wand to vocabulary; you do need to read it and think about it, but I found it to be valuable. I'd rather learn rules and apply those rules to large numbers of examples than learn a large number of examples. Easier for me to remember the rules.

I found this book to be much more valuable than 20,000 Spanish words in 20 minutes. That book concentrates on cognates in Spanish and English and how groups of English words translate into Spanish words. e.g. communication comunicacion. Socialism to socialism. Also valuable, but a different type of vocabulary enhancement.

Both will expand your vocabulary quickly.

This book was a great asset to me. This helped me breeze through my spanish suffixes in a flash. I reccomend this book to anyone willing to take the time to learn spanish the fun and easy way.