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The two forms of ’and’ in Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| caned_monkey Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5561 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, German | Message 1 of 14 10 September 2009 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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Greetings to one and all!
This (I'm hoping) should be a fairly simple question for any of you Spanish speakers out there and I'm hoping you can help clear up my own confusion. In Spanish there are two forms of the word 'and'... 'e' and 'y'. 'Y' seems to be the more commonly used word but I've seen 'e' pop up quite regularly as well. What i was wondering was what (if any) are the general rules for the usage of the two different forms? In what situations would you use one rather than the other? Thanks 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jimmymac Senior Member United Kingdom strange-lands.com/le Joined 6159 days ago 276 posts - 362 votes  Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, French | Message 2 of 14 10 September 2009 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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As I understand it 'e' is used only when it precedes a word beginning with an 'i' or begins with an 'ee' sound.
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| Mareike Senior Member Germany Joined 6230 days ago 267 posts - 323 votes Speaks: German* Studies: English, Swedish | Message 3 of 14 10 September 2009 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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Normally you use "y", but follow an i after the "y" you use the "e".
I don't really remeber the explanation. I think it was with the the Spanish sound of y and i it's sounds so similar, so you don't use one after another. P.E.: Hablo alemán e inglés perfecto y un poco de francés y español. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| caned_monkey Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5561 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, German | Message 4 of 14 10 September 2009 at 2:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Great! so you use 'e' when the word following it begins with a sound like the pronounciation of 'y'. so in this example (taken from a Spanish web site):
Últimas noticias sobre Ciencia, Tecnología e Historia the 'e' is used because the 'h' is silent and the word begins with 'i'. Right? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6915 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 14 10 September 2009 at 3:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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That's right. Pronouncing two /i/ sounds in a row is avoided.
By the way, "o" ("or") is written "u" before o/ho, and "ó" between numerals. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rggg Heptaglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6331 days ago 373 posts - 426 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Malay Studies: Romanian, Catalan, Greek, German, Swedish | Message 6 of 14 10 September 2009 at 5:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi!!
You're supposed to use "e" instead of "y" (conjunction) when the next word starts with an "i" sound. - Daniela e Ileana (Ileana starts with an "i" sound) - Matemáticas e historia ("h" is mute, so the first sound is "i") - Padres e hijos ("h" is mute, so the first sound is "i") - Sueños e ilusiones (ilusiones starts with an "i" sound) - Ana e Yves (Yves starts with an "i" sound) Exceptions: "Y" with a sound similar to "j" in Joe - Ella y yo ("Yo" does not start with an "i" sound) - Pilates y yoga ("Yoga" does not start with an "i" sound) Diphthongs - Agua y hielo ("Hielo" starts with a diphthong, "h" is mute) - Basura y hierba ("Hierba starts with a diphthong, "h" is mute) There's another rule, very uncommon by the way, involving the use of a diphthong or a hiatus, but I think I'll stop here =) Take care 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6900 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 14 10 September 2009 at 7:04pm | IP Logged | ||
Except there isn't in fact any exception in this at all, since it is not followed by an i-sound there. But it's certainly a possible trap that is worth warning about. Edited by Hencke on 10 September 2009 at 7:05pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rggg Heptaglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6331 days ago 373 posts - 426 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Malay Studies: Romanian, Catalan, Greek, German, Swedish | Message 8 of 14 27 September 2009 at 12:01am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes =) ..... it is not really an exception per se, but I think people learning Spanish might get a little confused, that's why I used these 2 examples:
Ana e Yves (Yves being a French name starting with an "i" sound) Ella y yo ("yo" with a sound similar to the "j" sound in English) Take care!!! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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