Dec
13
Everything you ever wanted to know about Spanish grammar
The Real Academia Española has finally published the definitive manual of Spanish grammar – “Nueva gramática de la lengua española: El español de todo el mundo”
This volume examines, for the first time under one roof, so to speak, the similarites and differences that exist between the varieties of the Spanish language as it is spoken in Spain and Latin America. The series of books, more than a decade in the making, are a massive collaboration between the 22 Academias de la Lengua Española. As a result special attention will be paid, for the first time by the RAE, to specific terms and usages of the Spanish language in the Americas.
If you’re a die-hard lover of Spanish and linguistics, you may be tempted to buy these books now. I’d caution you to wait and see because there are other versions of the books coming out next year.
The initial two-volume set is HUGE (almost 4,000 pages) and the price tag is 120 euros. A third volume will be released in the coming months. After browsing through the first two volumes it was clear to me that this initial set of books is a scholarly work suited to language/linguistics professors and other academics. It’s not geared to people learning Spanish.
The good news is that the RAE is releasing its nueva gramática in three distinct versions.
The first, the only one currently available, is the complete, unabridged version. The target market for this would be university libraries or Spanish professors and doctoral language students.
Called simply Manual, Version 2.0 of la nueva gramática will be a 750-page tome. It will contain more concise descriptions and succinct explanations than Version 1.0, according to the RAE. It will be published in March 2010.
Target market: Spanish professors and students of Spanish at the university level.
Version 3.0 is entitled “Gramática básica.” This book won’t be released until a year from now, at the end of 2010. It will be a 250-page paperback designed for the general public.
Target market: Spanish teachers at the primary and secondary school level, as well as non-university-level students of Spanish.
If you’d like to get a taste of what Version 1.0, (the unabridged version pictured below), is like, click here for a PDF that contains a sample of the text, as well as other details about the book series.
December 13th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
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December 13th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
hey nice post i also bookmarked your site and look for more updates thanks.
December 16th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Interesting books. I might buy the manual version next year, not the least for the price tag it possibly gets
.
Now I’m wondering, does this work only cover the grammar side of everything, like the use of different verbs and such, or also certain expressions that are different?
December 16th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I spoke too soon. After seeing some parts of the PDF you posted I see it does feature differences in expressions
.
December 17th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Ramses,
Yes, I’m with you. I’m going to wait until next year to see what the abridged versions are like.
I found a news report about the current books that gives more helpful details about what the books are like:
“In Puerto Rico, for example, it acknowledges the fact that subject and verb in a question are often switched around to an order resembling that of English. So the question “Adonde vas tu?” — where are you going? — becomes “Adonde tu vas?” in the U.S. territory.
The new grammar shies from setting cut-and-dry dogma on what is correct and what is not, making instead recommendations as to what the language gurus generally accept to be proper Spanish. The Puerto Rican twist, for instance, is respected as a localism but not something textbook traditional.”
Full article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121280479
December 19th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Interesting books.Very good post
April 17th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
[...] is a reading of a newspaper article which took a creative approach to informing its readers about La nueva gramática de la lengua española. Click here to find the complete [...]
November 19th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Great blog. It is true that one of the best ways to learn Spanish is to dive right in and immerse yourself in the language. Throwing off your inhibitions and chatting away to Spanish speakers helps to develop good pronunciation, fluency and a grasp of juicy slang words.
This is the way that you and I learned to speak our native languages after all. But oh, if only it were that simple. As adults we are no longer programmed to absorb new languages the way that infants and young children can. Learning through absorption is fantastic and it will work to turn you into a fluent Spanish speaker, but only accompanied by a solid grammatical foundation.
Developing a solid base understanding of Spanish grammar is essential in order to learn to speak español in a way that native speakers are going to understand. Having an understanding of Spanish grammar acts as the platform from which you can dive into effective communication.
The grammar of any language is a set of norms through which the language acts as a communicative tool. Thousands of years of communicating have brought languages to the point where they have become systemized and formed what we term “grammar”. Without these norms in place it would be very difficult for us to understand clearly what our companions were trying to share with us.
Once you have grasped some basic Spanish grammar concepts you can begin to experiment and extend your speaking ability by conversing with Spanish speakers. Asking your Spanish speaking friends to help correct you when you say something grammatically incorrect can also be very helpful.
With a good understanding of the norms of Spanish grammar and practice speaking with native Spanish speakers you can become fluent. Without speaking practice you will never become fluent and without an understanding of Spanish grammar you will never make any sense.
April 15th, 2011 at 7:33 am
Thanks so much for the preview of the book.