Copyright: Copyright 1995-1997 Nelson Ford, PsL


Ventanas: Spanish for Windows (tm)

Copyright 1995-1997 Nelson Ford, PsL

Contents:

Copyright, Trademark, Use & Distribution License

Installation

Quick Instructions

Overview of Features

Translating Documents

Menus

English-Spanish Dictionary

Adding/Updating/Importing Words

Adding/Viewing Phrases

Adding/Viewing Verb Conjugations

Categories

Using the Keyboard

Quizzes

Errors & "Correct" Spanish

Spanish Grammar

Ordering


Copyright Use & Distribution License

Ventanas: Spanish for Windows is Copyright 1995-1997 Nelson Ford, PsL

You should have received this program free from a friend or BBS or for a low fee on a shareware disk or CD-ROM for evaluation purposes only. You may use the program for a reasonable evaluation period. Payment to the author of the program is required for use beyond simple evaluation. Print out the order form when you exit the program for more information.

The shareware copy of Ventanas may be copied for others to try, so long as no changes are made to the program nor any of the accompanying files, including this one, if you agree to download and distribute only the latest version, which is always available on the Web at http://www.pslweb.com/ventanas.htm.

The registration code and/or the copies of the files with the registration code in them may NOT be copied for others.

Ventanas is written in Visual Basic. The Visual Basic runtime module, VBRUN300.DLL, is Copyright by Microsoft Corp. Due to its large size and because many people already have VBRUN300.DLL, it is normally not distributed with the shareware version on online services. If you do not have VBRUN300.DLL, check with the source from which you got Ventanas, or get it from our Web site: http://www.pslweb.com/ventanas.htm


Installation

Ventanas does not require any special installation. However, we suggest putting the program files in their own directory and that the directory be named VENTANAS.

Ventanas requires the Visual Basic runtime module, VBRUN300.DLL, which you may already have on your system. (If Ventanas runs, you have it.) If you do not have it, you can download it from the Ventanas page on www.pslweb.com.


Quick Instructions

Looking Up Words

Viewing Phrases for a Word

Verb Conjugations

Adding New Words


Looking Up Words

Press Alt-C to clear the screen.

Type in a word in English or

press Tab to get to the Español text box and

type in a word in Spanish.

Press Enter or click the Translate button.

NOTE: When entering Spanish words, hold the shift key for special characters. For example, to get "ñ", hold the shift key and type "n".

Get a more detailed explanation.


Viewing Phrases for a Word

Find the word per Looking Up Words.

Press Ctrl-F. If there are no phrase entries for the word, you will be given the option of scrolling through other phrases.


Verb Conjugations

Find the word per Looking Up Words.

Click on "Conjugate" or press Alt-J.

Click the right/left arrows at the top of the Conjugation window to scroll through all the tenses for a verb.

Press ESC or Alt-X to remove the Conjugation window.

Get a more detailed explanation.


Adding New Words

Alt-C to clear the screen.

Type in an English word.

Press Enter to see if the word is already in the database. (Scroll back and forth to make sure.)

If it is not, press ESC to put back the new word.

Enter the Spanish translation in the Español text box.

Optionally, click on the Category drop-down list box and select a category.

Click on the part of speech. If the word is a verb, enter the conjugation number or press Ctrl-J to get the program's best guess at the Conjugation Number.

Press Alt-I or click the Insert Word button to add a new entry.

Get a more detailed explanation.


Overview of Features

"Ventanas: Spanish For Windows" ("Ventanas"). is a combination English-Spanish dictionary and thesaurus and language tutor which can be used both by English-speaking people to learn Spanish and Spanish-speaking people to learn English, although the emphasis is on learning to speak Spanish.

Many people buy software hoping to translate documents back and forth between Spanish and English. Unfortunately, there is NO software which can do a usable job of translating documents, although there are programs for sale which CLAIM they can.

FEATURES:

     Like a thesaurus, multiple words which have similar meanings are often given in the translations.

     The part of speech is indicated for each word.

     The complete conjugation for any verb can be displayed. (See Adding/Viewing Verb Conjugations.)

     New words can easily be entered, changed or imported from text files. (See Adding/Updating/Importing Words.)

     Phrases, with an emphasis on idioms, can be viewed at the touch of a key for the word being displayed. You can add as many words and phrases as your hard disk can hold. (See Adding/Viewing Phrases.)

     Categories are used to group words for quiz purposes and also to help define words. (See Quizzes.)


Translating Documents

Many people buy software hoping to translate documents back and forth between Spanish and English.

Such a program must first be able to correctly understand what each sentence means in one language and then be able to use its vocabulary and grasp of concepts to express the same thought in the other language.

Unfortunately, to do a proper job would require a program with artificial intelligence of a level which will probably not be around at all for at least several more years and may not reach the consumer level for 10 years.

The best way to test a translation program is to translate some sentences into Spanish and then back into English with the same program. For example, translating the above paragraph into Spanish and back into English with a program by the name of "Spanish Assistant" results in the following:

"Unfortunately, make an own work it would require a program with artificial intelligence of a level that won't probably be around to everything for at least several years more and it would not lengthen the consumer it even for 10 years." (NONE OF THIS IS A TYPO!)

Here is an even simpler example: "I was soaking wet." is translated (by "Spanish Assistant") to "Empapaba mojado." which it then translates back to "I/he/she/it/you soaked wet."

Interestingly, Spanish Assistant makes it pretty clear in its documentation that its automated translations are going to be unusable except to the extent that "it generally produces understandable translations" (if you think the translations above are understandable).

So it offers an "interactive" mode in which you tell it the translation to be used for each word or phrase (which somewhat defeats the purpose of a "document translator"). However, even that concept, which really should sidestep the AI problem, is flawed in its execution.

For example, it forces you to treat "was soaking" as a verb when in fact, "was" is the verb and "soaking" is an adjective, so the result is still wrong: "I soaked wet."

Another program, "Translate-It!", makes a more humorous attempt. It offers the Spanish translation of "I was soaking wet." as "Yo estuve hecho una sopa." and translates that back to "I was made a soup." (Maybe if I were soaking wet from being in a cannibal's pot...)

One company that has been working on artificial intelligence which would allow a computer to truly understand written language is Cycorp. Cycorp has dozens of people working and tens of millions of dollars invested in its AI project and still cannot yet do what translation programs claim to do - understand written language - much less translate it into another language. (For more information about what Cycorp is doing, visit their Web site at www.cyc.com.)


Menus

This page links the Ventanas menus to the appropriate pages in this Help file. You can also get help for a menu item by clicking on the menu bar, using the cursor keys to move down to a menu item, the pressing F1 to bring up Help.

File:

  Phrases

  Export Words

  Import Words

  Put Up Background

Edit:

  Delete Word Shown

  Add Word Shown

  Update Word Shown

  ---------------------

  Start in English Box

  Start in Spanish Box

  ---------------------

  Adjust Character Set

Scroll

  ---------------------

Main/Irregular Dictionaries

Categories

  Add Category

  Delete Category

  Move Category

  Rename Category

  Select Category

  -----------------

  Zero All Scores

  Zero Category Scores

Verbs

  Get Verb Conjugation #

  Add Conjugations

  Show Conjugation Comments


English-Spanish Dictionary

Finding Translations

Scrolling Entries

Multiple Words In An Entry

Text In Parentheses


Finding Translations

As an English-Spanish dictionary, you can use Ventanas to look up words very quickly and scroll through them:

       1. Enter a word in either language.

       2. Press Enter

             or click the Translate button

             or hold down Alt and press T.

Ventanas will display the entry with the translation. There may be several entries for the same word with different meanings or with other translations with the same meaning. Use the Prior and Next buttons (or press Alt-P and Alt-N) to view all the entries.

If the word entered is not in the database, Ventanas will show the next entry alphabetically. For example, if you entered "spur" and that word was not in the database, it might show you "spurn".

If you are unsure how a word is spelled, just enter a few letters and scroll the database.

Spanish verbs are stored in the main dictionary in the infinitive form. However, if you enter a verb in another form, the program will look for the infinitive entry and display it, if found. It will also tell you the Tense and Person of the form you entered. Then you can click on "Conjugate" to see all the forms of the Spanish verb.

If you enter a form of an irregular verb which Ventanas cannot find, you can have Ventanas add entries for all the irregular forms of that verb once you locate (or create) the entry for the infinitive form of the verb. See Adding Irregular Verbs for more information.

When entering nouns, put in the singular form. Plurals are normally not used in the database.

Phrases are normally not entered on the main screen (press Ctrl-F for phrases). However, a short phrase may be included in the main database if it is required in one language to translate a single word in the other language (example: "cassette tape - cinta") or if a single object has more than one word in its name (ex: "CD player - aparato de discos compactos").


Starting in the English/Spanish Box

This Edit menu option lets you pick whether to have the cursor move to the English input box or the Spanish input box when you clear the screen.

By default, it starts in the English box. If you are looking up a lot of Spanish words, it will be more convenient to click on "Start In Spanish Box".


Scrolling Entries

After a word is displayed, click Next/Previous or press Alt-N/Alt-P to scroll through similar words. The first three ways to scroll through words are:

       1. by English spelling,

       2. by Spanish spelling, and

       3. by Category.

The scrolling method is indicated by a "<" following one of the above captions (English, Spanish, or Category).

To change the scrolling method, click on the desired caption or use the "Scroll" menu or the shortcut keys listed in the Scroll menu. If an entry is already displayed, it will not be changed (unless you have changed the Category), but the next time you scroll, the new scrolling method will be used.

Entries can also be scrolled by reference number. If you are adding new entries to the database, you may want to use this method to look back over the new words. In the Scroll menu, click on "Scroll By Ref.#" or just click on the current entry's number. If no entry is displayed, the program brings up the last word added. You can then use the Previous and Next buttons to continue scrolling by reference number.

Entries can also be scrolled by Conjugation Number. Just press Ctrl-G or use the Scroll menu or click on the "conjugation number" caption. Then scroll in the usual manner. This allows you to see all the words for a particular conjugation number.

To bring up an entry for a specific conjugation number, clear the screen, enter the conjugation number, then click on "conjugation number" or press Ctrl-G or use the Scroll menu. This method can be used to change conjugation numbers even if scrolling by conjugation number is already checked.

When scrolling by conjugation number, Spanish verbs within a specific conjugation type will be displayed in alphabetical order. For example, when scrolling through Type-1 ("-ar") verbs, "asfixiar" will be displayed before "asignar". When you first select scrolling by verb type, if you do not clear the current entry first, Ventanas will start scrolling in the selected verb type with the word in the Spanish box. If you do clear the entry first, Ventanas will start with the first word alphabetically in the verb type.

Likewise, when scrolling by English word, multiple Spanish words for the same English word will be shown within alphabetical order and when scrolling by Spanish, the English words for the same Spanish word will be in alphabetical order.

For example, when scrolling by Spanish, for the word "hablar", the English entry for "speak" will be shown before the entry for "talk".


Choosing Dictionaries

In the "Scroll" menu, you can elect to scroll through just the main dictionary, just the irregular verbs dictionary, or both.

When you click on "Translate", both dictionaries are searched even if you have selected Main Dictionary, but when you scroll, your dictionary selection takes effect. But if you have selected Irregular Dictionary, "Translate" only looks in that dictionary. When an entry from the Irregular Verb Dictionary is displayed, a reference number is not shown, just the word "irreg" in its place.

You can edit and Update an Irregular Verb Dictionary entry, but you cannot manually add an entry. All manually added entries go into the main dictionary.

When looking at an "irreg" entry, you can click on "Conjugate" to bring up the main entry for its infinitive and to see the complete set of Conjugations for the verb.

NOTE: For Web and diskette and shareware distribution, the irregular verb dictionary file comes with no data. You can tell you have an empty file if the size of IRR_VERB.DTA is 5120 bytes. The full file is over 2MB. For directions for adding the irregular verb forms for all of the verbs in the Ventanas dictionary, see Adding Irregular Verbs.


Multiple Words In An Entry

You will frequently see multiple words in an entry for Spanish, English or both. One word can have many different meanings. However, most of the time only different words with similar meanings (synonyms) are put into the same entry and separate entries are made for radically different meanings of the same word.

For example, "contaduría" in Spanish can be translated as either "accountancy" or "bookkeeping" in English, so those words are displayed together in the English box.

Likewise, "contabilidad" also means "accountancy" or "bookkeeping", so it is shown in the Spanish box along with "contaduría".

When both language boxes have multiple words, each word in one language box should have the same meaning/sense as any of the words in the other language box.

However, due to space limitations for each entry, all synonyms for a word may not fit into one entry, so each different entry for a word is not necesssarily a different meaning of the word.

Also see: Entering synonyms


Text In Parentheses

English and Spanish words are often shown with words in parentheses in the translation. There are several reasons for such parenthetical text:

 For Clarification

 To Show Part of Speech

 Phrase Which the Word is Part Of

In addition, you may see words in angled brackets. These indicate irregular English verb forms.


For Clarification

Text in parentheses may help define a word when it can have more than one meaning.

For example, "fit" could mean how well something matches ("his talents were a good fit for the team") or a tantrum ("he threw a fit") or it could be a verb ("the mail fit in the box"). By putting "fit (into)" in the English box, it helps you quickly determine the meaning.

If you are still not certain about the meaning of a word, try scrolling to see other translations of the same word.

For example, when you see "pound" for "machacar", you may not be sure what meaning of "pound" is correct (a weight, to beat on something, British money). By scrolling on "machacar", you find another entry with the English translations: "mash, crush" so you then you know in what way "pound" is meant.


To Show Part of Speech

A word in parentheses can also indicate that a second or third word in the text box is not the same part of speech as that which is marked for the first word.

For example, the entry "piel, cutis (m)" is marked in the Part of Speech box to indicate that "piel" is a feminine noun. The "(m)" indicates that "cutis" and any following words not otherwise marked are masculine.


Phrase Which the Word is Part Of

A phrase in parentheses with three dots in it means that the word before the parentheses MUST be substituted where the dots are. For example, Spanish for "enthusiastically" is shown as "entusiasmo (con...)". That means that the actual translation is not just "entusiasmo", but is "con entusiasmo".

This may seem a little confusing, but the reason for doing this is that if you were to see the phrase "con entusiasmo" in print, you would probably be looking up "entusiasmo" rather than "con entusiasmo". By putting the main word first, it allows you to look it up rather than having to look up "con...".

NOTE: The difference between text with a "-" in parentheses and text with "..." in parentheses is that a dash indicates a phrase in which the word COULD be used while "..." indicates a phrase in which the word MUST be used.

A special case is "[be ...]" after a word. For example, "temer" is translated as "afraid [be ...]". Again, this allows you to look up "afraid" instead of "be afraid". The verb conjugator recognizes the "[be ...]" and substitutes the correct English phrases ("I am afraid", "I was being afraid", "I was...", "I might be...", etc.).

If other words come between "be" and the key word, put them in the square brackets too: "to be in cahoots with" becomes "cahoots with [be in ...]".


Adding, Updating, Importing & Exporting Words
Adding and Updating Words

To add a word (or a set of words with the same meaning), just type it/them in, select a category and part of speech, and click on Insert Word. If you are changing an entry, click on Update Word.

You can tell when you are changing an existing entry because when a word already in the database is displayed, its reference number appears above the "English" caption. If you see a number there, you should click on Update and not on Insert.

However, if you click on Insert when you should have clicked Update, the program will give you a chance to change to Insert; likewise if you click on Update when you should have clicked on Insert.

 Entering Words

 POS for Multiple Words

 Irregular English Verbs

 Selecting a Category

 Part of Speech

 Importing Word Lists

 Exporting Word Lists


Entering Words

Up to 30 characters each can be entered in the English field and the Spanish field. Multiple words may be entered in either the English or Spanish text boxes, or both.

All entries are saved in lowercase letters. This frees the Shift key on the keyboard for entering accented characters in Spanish words.

Irregular English Verbs for the -ed and -ing forms can be indicated in angle brackets in the English text box if Ventanas is unable to calculate the correct usage.

To be able to see the correct conjugation of a Spanish verb, you must enter the correct Conjugation Number.


Entering Accented Characters

When in a Spanish text box, you can enter accented characters by holding the Shift key and pressing the character's key.

For example, to enter ó, just press shift-o. Shift-n enters ñ. Since shift-u enters ú, another key combo is needed for entering ü. Ventanas use Ctrl-u for this.

The Shift key is used to create accented characters because uppercase letters are not saved in Ventanas.


Entering Synonyms

You can put multiple words in a field by separating them with a comma. If there are several Spanish words which mean the same in English, put as many as will fit in the same entry.

However, in order to get immediate response, the database cannot search on words embedded in a field, so to be able to search for such words, you should make additional entries for them.

For example:

    Eng.:  flash (of light)

    Span.: relámpago, destello, ráfaga

With the entry above, if you are searching for Spanish words, you can only search for the word "relámpago". To be able to search for the word "destello", you must make another entry:

     Eng.:  flash (of light)

     Span.: destello, relámpago, ráfaga

...and a third entry is required if you want to be able to search on "ráfaga".

Also see: Multiple Words in An Entry


Getting The Conjugation Number

The best way to find the (Ventanas) conjugation number for an irregular verb is to look up another entry for the same word.

Ventanas will do this for you when you click on Ctrl-J or click on the menu: "Grammar" - "Get verb conjugation #".

If Ventanas finds a matching entry, it will put the number in the Verb Conjugation Number box in the main window. It will put an asterisk after the number so that you can tell that the number was found in a matching entry.

If Ventanas cannot find an entry for the Spanish verb, it will try to determine the conjugation number by analysis of the word.

When Ventanas has computed a conjugation number, the program puts a question mark after the number. When Ventanas has to try to compute the conjugation number, it will be correct most, but not all, of the time.

To be absolutely certain of the correctness of the Conjugation Number, compare the Ventanas conjugation to that given in a Spanish-English dictionary.

There is no standardized classification or numbering system for the conjugation of irregular verbs. In other words, the conjugation numbers in Ventanas and the numbers or codes (if any) used in various Spanish-English dictionaries will all be different.

For more information about Conjugation Types, see Conjugation Charts & Irregular Verb Types.


POS for Multiple Words

When more than one word is in the Spanish box, the Part Of Speech marked applies to the first word and any words immediately following which do not have a different P.O.S. indicated.

For example, "agradecer, apreciar (#1)" is shown as the Spanish translation of "appreciate". The verb conjugation number for the entry is "11", but this applies only to "agradecer". The "(#1)" after "apreciar" indicates that its conjugation number is "1", not "11".

Likewise, "food, lunch" is shown as "comida, alimento (m)" with the "Fem" part of speech checked, meaning that "comida" is feminine, but the "(m)" after "alimento" means that it is masculine.

In the entry for "sunshine" - "sol, luz del sol (f)", "Mas" is checked, indicating that "sol" is masculine. The "(f)" after "luz del sol" does not mean that "sol" suddenly turned feminine; instead, it refers to the first word in the phrase ("luz").

In the entry "capitalista (m/f or adj)", "Mas." (for masculine) is marked, but the text in parentheses indicates that the word can be masculine OR feminine and that it can also be used as an adjective as well as a noun.


Irregular English Verbs

When Ventanas displays Spanish conjugations, it displays the English for the 1st person singular. For example, for the Present tense for "trabajar", it will show "I work - yo trabajo". For Imperfect, "I was working - yo trabajaba". For Preterite, "I worked - yo trabaje".

The normal method is for the program to add "ed" to the English word for the past tense and "ing" for Gerund and Imperfect verb forms (e.g.: "I was playing").

However, some words have English conjugations which cannot be created simply by adding "-ed" and "-ing" to the word stem. Ventanas tries to adjust for these, but there are some exceptions which the program cannot be programmed to forsee. If you notice that the English shown in a conjugation is incorrect, you can force the correct form by putting it in angled brackets.

For example,

        "lie down <lay, lying> (rest), go to bed"

Note that "<lay, lying>" come AFTER any other words in an English phrase, but before anything in parentheses and before any other English words. (Note: all of the text shown above will not fit in the actual English box; this is shown for illustrative purposes only.)

If you do not have room to repeat the full word for both the "ed" and "ing" forms, you can enter just the part of the word which changes. For example:

     "admit <-ted, -ting>"

will cause "ted" and "ting" to be added to "admit".

Note that you may sometimes have to enter the regular "<-ed, -ing>" endings when a verb is an exception to the rules (at the bottom of this page) which Ventanas uses to determine if a verb is irregular.

Show Irregular Entries for First Word Only --

In the example:

        "lie down <lay, lying>, go to bed"

the irregular past tense "<went>" is not shown for "go to bed" because only the first word or phrase ("lie down") will be shown when conjugating verbs.

In the example:

        "hurry <hurried>, rush"

only the irregular past tense form ("<hurried>") is shown for "hurry" because the gerund (hurrying) is regular. Likewise, if the past tense were regular and the gerund, irregular, only the gerund form would be shown.

NOTE: The following is not required reading for using Ventanas. When entering a verb, press Ctrl-J to get the conjugation number; press Alt-J to view the conjugation; scroll to see the English -ed and -ing forms to see if they look right.

If they do NOT look right, go back and enter the correct form in the English text box as explained above. You do not need to worry about WHY why Ventanas didn't get it right, but if you really want to know how Ventanas comes up with the English verb forms, you can continue reading:

Changing The Final "y" To "i" Before "-ed" --

Change "y" to "i" before "-ed" when the character before the "y" is a consonant. Example: defy, defied, defying

Dropping The Final "e" --

If a word ends with an "e" which is preceded by a consonant or a "u", the "e" is dropped before adding "ing". The final "e" is always dropped before adding "ed". Examples:

       race, rac-ing, rac-ed

       glue, glu-ing, glu-ed

but...

       free, free-ing, fre-ed

Doubling the Final Consonant --

The general rule is that if an English verb ends in a consonant followed by a vowel and another consonant AND if the last syllable of the word is accented, then the final consonant is doubled before adding '-ed' and '-ing'

Unfortunately, there is no way for Ventanas to calculate which syllables are accented, so there is no way for Ventanas to know in every case whether to double the final consonant or not.

For example, "for-get" and "tar-get" are simple and very similar words, but they are accented on different syllables. As a result, the "t" at the end of "forget" is doubled ("forgetting") while the one in "target" is not ("targeting"). Clearly, there can be no rules which Ventanas could use to distinguish between these two cases, so whatever the program does in the general case is going to be wrong some of the time.

Fortunately, one-syllable words raise no such issues. If they end in consonant-vowel-consonant, the final consonant is always doubled. Also, most words with "u" as the last vowel do double (abut, abutting) with very few exceptions ("augur" is one).

In addition, words which end in consonant-vowel-consonant do NOT double the last consonant when it is one of the following: c, f, h, j, k, q, v, w, x, y, z.


Categories

Categories are useful if you are trying to learn Spanish or English. You can browse through the dictionary by Category, so that you can focus on particular types of words. Quizzes are also based on categories of specific words.

If you are studying Spanish in school or in a book, you can easily create categories containing words which match your lessons (and of course teachers can create customized files for students -- call about site licensing).

Just add the appropriate categories (e.g.: Lesson01, Lesson02, etc.), enter the words, and assign them to the correct category.

Many of the words you want may already be in the database. To put them in your new categories, bring up the entry for each word, change the entry to the correct category and click Update or Alt-U to save it with the changed category.

The Quiz feature of Ventanas drills you on words in a specified category. So after you have set up a vocabulary lesson in a category, click Quiz to study those words.

Here are the things you can do with categories:

    1. Add Category

    2. Delete Category

    3. Move Words Between Categories

    4. Rename Category

    5. Select Category


Add Category

To Add a Category -

      1. Click on the "Categories" menu.

      2. Click on "Add Category".

      3. When prompted, enter the new category name.


Delete Category

To Delete a Category -

      1. Click on the Category in the drop-down list.

      2. Click on the "Categories" menu.

      3. Click on "Delete Category".

      4. Follow the prompts.

If you delete a category, all words assigned to that category will no longer be in a category. If you want them in another category, do a Move before doing a Delete.


Rename a Category

To Rename a Category -

      1. Click on the Category in the drop-down list.

      2. Click on the "Categories" menu.

      3. Click on "Rename Category".

      4. Follow the prompts.

Each word entry assigned to a specific category stores only the number of the category, so when you rename a category, none of the word entries have to be changed. Therefore, this is an instantaneous change.


Move Words Between Categories

To Move All The Words From One Category To Another -

      1. Click on the Category in the drop-down list.

      2. Click on the "Categories" menu.

      3. Click on "Move Category".

      4. Follow the prompts.

Each entry assigned to a category will be modified to change the category link from the old category to the new one. As a result, this change is not instantaneous, but it should not take long.


Selecting a Category

The category is used only for quiz and study purposes and for browsing on a particular area of interest. You do NOT have to assign a category to a word for purposes of using the program as an English-Spanish dictionary.

To select a Category using the keyboard -

     1. Press Ctrl-K to jump to the Category box.

     2. Press the first letter of the desired category.

     3. Press Tab to move to the English box.

With the mouse, just click on the down arrow on the right side of the Category drop-down list box, then scroll down until you find the Category you want.

MULTIPLE WORDS:

If you enter multiple words in a box, the category should be applicable to both of them (e.g.: "maestro, profesor" - "school").

If a word can have two completely different meanings, make a separate entry for each one. For example, "account" could be a bank account ("cuenta") or a reporting ("relato"). You should make two entries for "account", one under "work/business" and one under "conversation" rather than having one entry for account showing "cuenta, relato" as alternative definitions.

NOTE: Even if you do not assign categories, you should never put two translations for a word in the same box if they have different senses, as explained above. Words in the same translation box should be usable interchangeably (synonyms).


Part of Speech

Entering the part of speech for a word is often necessary to distinguish between words which may have the same spelling as both nouns and as verbs and/or adjectives.

In addition, verbs can be conjugated in a number of different ways. The P.O.S. box lets you enter the verb Conjugation Number.

When entering an English word which has multiple Spanish alternatives which are not all the same gender, set the gender to indicate the first word in the list. The gender of a following word(s) can be indicated by putting "f" or "m" in parentheses after the word(s).


Importing Word Lists

You can import word lists by clicking File - Import on the menu bar. The file must be in one of two specific formats. (See Import File Format.)

The word(s) being imported are shown in the middle of the window, with the English on top, the Spanish below it, and the Part of Speech to the left of the Spanish.

(NOTE: The Import boxes are placed as close as possible to the boxes showing the words already in the database to make it easy to compare the two. As a result, the Part of Speech boxes are moved down below the Import boxes, but the main Part of Speech box still applies to the the words already in the database. The Part of Speech for the Import words are to the LEFT of the Spanish Import word box.)

Word List Import Features/Functions:

     Automated Importing.

     Manual Importing.

     Assigning Categories.

     Using the Program While Importing.

To stop the import procedure, click on the File - Import menu item again. Make a note of the word that you are on so that you can start again at that point. In fact, after stopping in the middle of importing a file, it is best to edit that file with Notepad (or other editor) to delete the words that you have already imported so that in the next session, you can start with the first word in the Import file.


Import File Format

The import file can be prepared with any text editor or word processor which can save files in straight text (with no control characters) and which will let you enter accented characters.

To see if your text editor or word processor supports accented characters, hold down the Alt key while you press the 1, 6, and 3 keys on the number pad, then release the Alt key. An accented u ("ú") should appear. If it does not, use some other editor, such as Notepad in Windows.

Ventanas will accept import files in two formats. The first format is the one used by Ventanas to export words:

Each line is a separate entry with the English word(s) in columns one through 30, the Spanish word(s) in columns 35-65, and the Part Of Speech ("POS") starting in column 70. The POS must use the following abbreviations:

adj - adjective

adv - adverb

art - article

conj - conjunction

interj - interjection

prep - preposition

pron - pronoun

m - noun, masc.

f - noun, female

v# - verb and optional conjugation number

The second import file format which Ventanas will accept is simpler. It consists of an English word or words followed by " : " (that is: space-colon-space) and then the Spanish word or words and, optionally, another " : " and then the Part Of Speech (m, f, adj, adv, art, conj, prep, pron, interj, v##). Examples:

      eat : comer

      speak : hablar : v1


Automated Importing

Importing can be one word at a time or semi-automated. When the button at the top-right of the window (normally the Quiz button) says "Auto-Import", click on it for semi-automated importing. When the button says "Manual", click on it for manual importing.

In automated importing, the computer performs these steps:

     1. Look to see if the English-Spanish word pair is already in the database. If it is, then the import entry is skipped. The Spanish word may already be in the database with a different English word. In that case, the Part Of Speech for that entry will be compared to the imported entry as noted below.

     2. If a Part Of Speech is not specified in the import file, the program tries to calculate the POS.

     3. If the program is NOT able to calculate the POS and the Spanish word IS in the database, then that entry's POS is used without further prompting.

     4. If the program IS able to calculate the POS and the Spanish word IS already in the database and the two POS's do not match, the program displays the database entry and the imported entry and waits for you to decide which POS to use. While Ventanas is waiting for you to decide, you can use other program functions, such as adding or changing existing entries. For program functions available during this time-out, see Using the Program While Importing.

     5. If the program IS able to calculate the POS and the Spanish word is NOT in the database, the calculated POS will be automatically used (with certain exceptions) without further prompting.

Keep in mind that the same spelling of a Spanish word can be a verb, adjective or noun, masculine or feminine, so there is a significant chance that the computer could be wrong. If this is a concern, use manual importing and look up the P.O.S for each imported word in a Spanish dictionary.

Before importing, make a note of the last entry number by clicking on "Clear" and on "Scroll" - "Ref.#". When you are through importing, you can scroll through the new entries by Reference Number to make sure that the entries are correct.


Manual Importing

Importing can be one word at a time or semi-automated. When the button at the top-right of the window (normally the Quiz button) says "Auto-Import", click on it for semi-automated importing. When the button says "Manual", click on it for manual importing.

Please note that all the buttons and menu options continue to apply to the main data file, NOT to the words being imported, with the exception of the Import, Skip, and Manual/Auto-Import buttons. Therefore, you can continue to add, delete and change database entries while importing. For details, see: Using the Program While Importing.

The program goes through the same steps for determining the Part Of Speech as explained in the section on Automated Importing, except that the program waits for you to click Import or Skip before doing anything. (Although duplicate entries are automatically skipped.)

After the import entry and the closest entry in the database are displayed, you can perform these steps:

     1. Use Prior and Next to browse the database if you wish.

     2. Edit the words and/or Part Of Speech, if you wish.

     3. Click Import or press Alt-I to import the entry.

     4. Click Skip or press Alt-S to skip the entry.

For directions for assigning categories to imported entries, see Assigning Categories.


Assigning Categories

Categories are optional. They are used for quizzes and sometimes may help clarify the meaning or sense of a word.

To assign a category to the word being imported:

      1. Click on Clear Screen or press Alt-C.

      2. Click on the Category drop-down list box.

             or just press Ctrl-K.

      3. Select a category with the mouse or by repeatedly

             pressing the first letter of the desired

             category until it appears.

For a category to be assigned to the imported word(s), the English and Spanish boxes which show words already in the database MUST be blank (step 1, above) and you must have selected a category (steps 2 & 3).

Conversely, if you do NOT want to assign a category to a word, be sure that the category box is blank OR that there is text in the English box. During a normal import, the English box WILL have text in it since the program always searches for the next closest entry. So by default, a category will NOT be assigned to an imported entry unless you take action to make it so.


Using Ventanas While Importing

While importing a word list, you can continue to look up, modify, delete and add words, view verb conjugations, and compute verb conjugation numbers, etc.

In fact, all of the buttons and the menu options apply to the database, NOT to the word list being imported, except for the Import, Skip and Manual/Auto-Import buttons.

Use the Prior and Next buttons to scroll the database entries to compare the new import entry to what is already in the database. (You can NOT scroll through the import list. Your choices for entries from the list are to import an entry or skip it.)

To look up a word in Ventanas, click Clear Screen or press Alt-C and follow the usual steps for looking up a word.

Since the regular Add and Update buttons are being used for importing and skipping entries, you have to use the Add and Update menu items in the Edit menu to add new entries. Note the short-cut keys: Ctrl-A to Add and Ctrl-U to Update an entry.

All other buttons and menu options (except Quiz) work the same as usual.


Exporting Word Lists

You can export any new words you have added to the database. This lets you pass those words along to others using this program who can then import the words to their own databases.

You can only export words which YOU have added/imported. You cannot export the original word database which comes with the program.

If you get an update to Ventanas, you should export any words which you have added to the database of the old version, then import that list into the database of the new version. (The program will prompt you with the reference number of your first addition to the database.)

This will insure that you have gotten any corrections which have been made to old entries.


Viewing and Adding Phrases

To view phrases which use the word currently shown on the screen, just press Ctrl-F or click on the File - Phrases menu options.

If there are no entries for the current word, the blank form will appear under the assumption that you want to enter phrases.

The English phrase(s) and Spanish phrase(s) can be up to 100 characters each. To make the most of the space allotted, you can combine multiple phrases onto one line, separated by semi-colons (";"). Entering accented characters in the Spanish line is done just as when entering words on the previous screen.

Up to 5 "Key Words" can be entered in the fields so marked. This allows up to five different word entries to call up the same phrase by pressing Ctrl-F on the Word screen. You cannot enter a key word unless the word is already in the database.

To make it easier to enter words, you can do quick look-ups in the Key Word fields by entering all or part of a word and pressing Enter. You can scroll through words in the database by pressing PgUp and PgDn in a Key Word field after pressing Enter to bring up a translation.

Many phrases are idiomatic, so rather than a literal translation, a common phrase is given which, for one language, gives the same sense as the phrase in the other language.

Example:

"don't cry over spilt milk."

   and

"a lo hecho pecho."

   in which the Spanish phrase has nothing to do with "milk" or "spilling".

If you make changes to an existing entry, the caption will continue to say "Editing". This caption means that the entry is in the database and that you should normally click on Update rather than Add to save additional changes.


Verb Conjugations

 Viewing Verb Conjugations

 Adding Irregular Verbs

 Show Conjugation Comments


Viewing Verb Conjugations

To view the complete conjugation of all tenses for a verb, first bring up the entry for the verb, then click on the "Conjugate" button or press Alt-J.

A small box will come up which shows one tense at a time. To scroll through the tenses, use the PgUp and PgDn keys or Alt-P and Alt-N or the left and right arrows at the top-left corner of the conjugation box.

Click on the "X" at the top-right corner of the conjugation box or press Alt-X or or Esc to remove the conjugation window when you are through viewing conjugations.

An asterisk after a verb in the conjugation box indicates an irregular verb form.

There are three major verb types in Spanish. They are identified by the last two letters of the infinitive: -ar, -er, or -ir. However, some verbs vary from the regular conjugations. These are called "irregular" verbs.

In addition, there are verbs whose infinitive forms end in -se. These are "reflexive" verbs - the verb operates on the subject of the sentence. To find the verb type, look at the two letters before the "se".

Each verb in the database is assigned a number indicating the verb conjugation type. This number is used to display the complete conjugation of the verb. (For more information, see Conjugation Charts & Irregular Verb Types.)

If there is more than one verb in the Spanish box, the number in the verb conjugation box applies only to the first verb in the list. Subsequent verbs in the box with different conjugation numbers should have the numbers indicated in parentheses following the verb. Example: "agradecer, apreciar (#1)".

NOTE: Also see Quizzes for information about quizzes on conjugations.


Adding Irregular Verbs

The database normally contains only the infinitive form of verbs. Ventanas can recognize all regular verb conjugations for which the infinitive is in the Ventanas dictionary.

Ventanas cannot recognize irregular forms unless you add the entries for them. You can get Ventanas to make new entries for each irregular form of verbs with the "Add Irregular Verbs" option in the "Verbs" menu.

To keep the main dictionary from getting cluttered, Ventanas stores irregular verb forms in a separate dictionary (IRR_VERB.DTA).

To conserve disk space or download time, Ventanas is normally distributed with an empty irregular verb data file (5k).

Before starting the "Add Irregular Verbs" function, click on the Conjugation Number box and enter "4" (the first irregular conjugation number). Then click on the Conjugation Number caption to get Ventanas to scroll by verb type. The first type-4 verb will be display.

Now click the "Verbs" menu and on "Add Irregular Verbs" and the process will start after a couple of more caution prompts.

If you need to interrupt the process, an "ABORT" button will be present at the top right area of the window. To restart where you stopped, click Clear Screen, enter the conjugation number you were on, click Next until you reach the verb you were on, then click the Verbs menu and Add Irregular Verbs.

Alternatively, you can just start at the beginning again. Ventanas will skip over verbs that it has already done. This also means that Ventanas will skip over multiple entries of the same Spanish verb with different English translations.

When done, you may want to click on "Scroll" and "Irregular Verbs" enter "a" in the Spanish box and press Enter to see the first entry. Then you can scroll through the other new entries with the Next and Prior buttons. If you change your mind, you can manually delete the entries with the Delete function of the Edit menu. You can also edit these entries.


Show Conjugation Comments

When you click on Conjugate or press Ctrl-J to have Ventanas compute the conjugation number for a verb, the program displays a box with an explanation of that conjugation's irregularities.

If you are not interested in seeing this information each time you can turn it off with the menu "Verbs" - "Show Conjugation Comments".


Using the Keyboard

Ventanas: Spanish for Windows can very easily be used without the mouse most of the time.

To find a word, press Alt-C, which clears the form and leaves you in the English box (press Tab to move to the Spanish box),

Enter all or part of the word, press Alt-T (or just press Enter) to translate, then Alt-P and Alt-N to scroll through the entries.

When a word is displayed, press Ctrl-F to view phrases for the word.

To scroll by Category, press Ctrl-K; by English, Ctrl-E; by Spanish, Ctrl-S.

When entering new words, press

        Alt-M for a masc. noun,

        Alt-F for Fem.,

        Alt-A for Adjective.

        Once you get to Adjective, you can use the right and left cursor keys to move to different parts of speech and press the space bar to select one.

        Alt-V selects Verb and puts you in the Verb Type box so that you can enter a Conjugation Number.

Other shortcut keys can be recognized by their being underlined. In menus, shortcut keys are displayed to the right of the menu items.


Using the Quiz Feature

 Vocabulary Quizzes

 Conjugation Quizzes


Vocabulary Quizzes

Before clicking on Quiz, select a category to use. Once in the Quiz mode, the program will display a word and wait for you to enter the translation. After typing in your entry, press Enter or click on Answer.

Remember that accent marks must be correct. Also, check the part of speech to see if the word shown is a noun, verb, adjective, etc., which can affect your answer.

The program selects quiz words starting with those words in the selected category which have the greatest number of wrong answers. In some cases, this may cause you to see the same word several times before seeing other words in the category which you have translated correctly in the past.

About 70% of the time, the word will be shown in English and you must enter the Spanish translation, and 30% of the time, you will have to translate Spanish to English.

If you enter a wrong answer, the computer will display the correct answer and wait for you to press Enter or click Answer. Before pressing Enter, you should type in the correct answer to reinforce the learning process.

At any time, you can quit the Quiz by clicking on the End Quiz button.

A bar chart pops up when taking a quiz to show you how many you have gotten right.

Even when not in the Quiz mode and you are scrolling through words, you can see how many times (net) you have gotten a word right or wrong and you should give extra attention to those with minus scores.

Minus scores only go down to -9 and plus scores up to 99. Again, the words with the lowest scores will be the ones asked most often. To zero out all the scores, click on the Edit menu and then click Zero Category or Zero All.

To change the score for a particular word (say, from a high score to a low one so that it will come up on the quiz more often), bring up the word and change the score in the text box before Updating the word.


Conjugation Quizzes

In vocabulary quizzes, you will only be drilled on the infinitive form of verbs. To drill on the conjugations, first select a verb, then click on Conjugate, then click on Quiz.

About 80% of the time, an English phrase will be displayed and you must enter the Spanish translation, and 20% of the time, you will have to translate from Spanish to English.

Phrases consist of a pronoun and a verb form. When translating to English, you must also enter a pronoun. For third person singular, just enter "he" instead of "he/she/you/it" in English.

To differentiate "you" singular from plural, enter "you[pl]" with "pl" in square brackets. For example, for "hablasteis", enter "you[pl] spoke".

When entering Spanish text, you may enter just the verb form. For example, if the prompt is "he speaks", you may just enter "habla".

After entering your response, press Enter or Alt-r or click on Answer. If your answer is wrong, you will be given a hint and a chance to correct your answer. If you don't have any idea what the correct answer is, just press Enter to get the hint.

If your second answer is wrong, the conjugation table will pop up so that you can review the conjugations before continuing. When you are ready to continue, press ESC or click the "X" in the upper-right corner of the conjugation box.

To quit the conjugation quiz, click on End Quiz or press Alt-Q. You will be returned to the conjugation window.

Verb conjugations present a lot to learn. With six persons for each of 8 different tenses plus the present and past participle forms, that is 50 different forms for each verb (excluding the infinitive), or 150 total for the three regular conjugations and almost 250 total for the more than 50 irregular verb forms.

Fortunately, there are some tricks which can help you learn the conjugations


Errors and 'Correct' Spanish

Almost nobody speaks perfect English. It should come as no surprise, then, that nobody speaks Spanish perfectly either. Many Mexicans in the U.S. have learned Spanish only at home, not in school, and thus may know next to nothing about proper Spanish grammar and idioms.

In addition, just as English in England is not the same as English in America, Spanish is spoken differently in different countries and even within the same country.

You should learn Spanish as perfectly as possible, but when listening to it and reading it, you should expect to hear things which are not exactly as you learned them.

In preparing the data for this program we checked words in large, expensive English-Spanish dictionaries and found numerous discrepencies and omissions. For example, one omits the Imperative when showing conjugations for irregular verbs. Another shows many verbs as being regular which are in fact irregular (according to the rules of Spanish grammar and verified in other dictionaries).

So don't be surprised if you hear or read something elsewhere which disagrees with what you see in this program.

On the other hand, if you find clear errors, we would greatly appreciate your pointing them out to us so that we can correct future releases. Please also tell us where you verfied the correct data. If possible, try to verify corrections in two different sources.


Adjust Character Set

On some systems, the screen font used may have different than standard character assignments, so that a character code used on most systems to display the "ñ" character displays some other character instead.

If you notice that the correct characters are not being displayed, click on the Edit menu and then on Adjust Character Set. This will bring up a window which can be used to scroll through the character set to find the correct characters.

Some character sets may have a lot of non-displayable characters which appear as a dot (".") or a blank. Just keep clicking until the correct character appears or until you see characters repeating (in which case the character set doesn't have the character you are looking for and you should look for another screen font for your system).


Zero All Scores

 Zeros out quiz scores for all words in the database.

See Quizzes


Put Up Background

Blanks out the screen behind the Ventanas window.


Delete Word Shown

To delete an entry from the dictionary:

       1. Find the entry.

       2. Click the "Edit" menu.

       3. Click on "Delete Word Shown".

This not only deletes the entry, but any reference to it in the phrase database.


Spanish Grammar

Adjectives

Adverbs

Articles

Pronunciation

Verbs


Adjectives

An adjective agrees with its noun or in case of multiple nouns, with the nearest noun.

Changing masculine forms to feminine:

     1. For adjectives ending in -o, change it to -a.

     2. Ending in -an, -on, -or, add -a to the word.

     3. Other endings, there is no change.

Changes before masculine nouns.

     Some adjectives drop -o before masculine nouns:

        alguno, bueno, malo, ninguno,

        postrero, primero, tercero, uno

     Grande becomes gran before any singular noun.

Plural: add -s to vowel endings, -es to consonant endings.

The adjective comes in front of the noun

     - to describe a general characteristic.

     - to use the adjective in a non-literal way.

     - to limit the noun with numbers, possessives, articles.

The adjective follows the noun:

     - to differentiate it from others of its group.

     - to describe a noun objectively.

     - to stress the adjective.


Adverbs

Adverbs are created by adding '-mente' to adjectives.

     Example:  facil - facilmente - easily

If the adjective ends in 'o', change the 'o' to 'a'.

     Example:  rapido - rapidamente - rapidly

If two+ adverbs are used together, add '-mente' only to the last.

     Example:  rapido y facilmente - quickly and easily

Not all adjectives follow the above rule.

     Here are some common exceptions:

       antes - before

       después - after

       malo - badly

       a menudo - often

       mucho - much (used as Adj. & Adv.)

       muy - very

       siempre - always

       todavía - still, yet


Articles

The Definite Article (the: el, la, los, las) refers to a specific person or thing. The Indefinite Article (a/an: un, una, unos, unas) refers to a non-specific person or thing.

Normally, the article in Spanish agrees with its noun: el gato, los gatos, la casa, las casas. But before feminine singular nouns which start with an accented "a" or "ha", the masculine is used instead of the feminine.

     Example:  an axe, un hacha

Spanish Uses Of The Definite Article:

      With time of day, days of the week & seasons:

         Son las oche.

         Voy al oficina los lunes.

      Before infinitives used as nouns:

         El escribir es necesario.

      Before parts of the body & personal possessions:

         La cabeza. La camisa.

      Before the names of classes of objects.

         Las escuelas.


Pronunciation

TRIPTHONGS:

iai - like "yi" in "yikes"

iau - like "eow" in "meow"

iei - like "yea"

uai - like "wi" in "wire"

uau - like "wow"

uei - like "wei" in "weight"

uey - like "wei" in "weight"

DIPTHONGS:

ai - like "i" in "side"

au - like "ou" in "sound"

ay - like "i" in "side"

ei - like "ey" in "they"

eu - like the combined vowel sounds of "may you"

ey - like "ey" in "they"

ia - like "ya" in "yard"

ie - like "ye" in "yen"

io - like "yo" in "yolk"

iu - like "yu" in "yule"

oi - like "oi" in "choice"

oy - like "oi" in "choice"

ua - like "wa" in "wad"

ue - like "we" in "wet"

ui - like "wee" in "weed"

uo - like "uo" in "quote"

ya - like "ya" in "yard"

ye - like "ye" in "yen"

yo - like "yo" in "yolk"

yu - like "yu" in "yule"

SPANISH ALPHABET:

VOWELS:

Sp. Eng.  English

    Snd   Example

--  ---   -------

a   ah    father

e   eh    pet

i   ee    beet

o   ah    cot       when syllable ends with a consonant

o   o     own       when syllable ends with a vowel

u   --silent--      after "q" or in "gue" and "gui"

u   ooh   rule

CONSONANTS:

Sp. Eng.  Example

--  ---   -------

b   b     baby      at start of word or after "m"

b   v     value

c   s     cedar     before "e" or "i"

c  [th    thought   in Spain]

c   k     kid

ch  ch    chew      ("ch" is a separate "letter")

d   d     dog       start of word & after "l" or "n"

d   th    threw     otherwise.

f   f     far

g   h     heart     before "e" or "i"

g   g     gas       otherwise.

h   --silent--      always

j   h     heart

k   k     kid

l   l     love

ll  y     yet       ("ll" is a separate "letter")

ll [lli   million   in Spain]

m   m     move

n   ng    ring      before hard "c" or "g"

n   n     nut       otherwise.

ñ   ny    canyon

p   p     pot

q   k     kick

r   rrrr            at start of word or after l, n or

                     s, the "r" is strong trilled

r   rr              otherwise, single trill

rr  rrrr            double-r is strongly trilled

s   z     rose      before b,d,g,l,m,n

s   s     sand      otherwise.

t   t     toot

v   b     bib       at start of word

v   v     level     otherwise.

w   w     wet

w  [v     veteran   sometimes by some people]

x   x     six       between vowels

x   gs    eggs      sometimes, between vowels

x   s     sure      sometimes, before consonants

x   h     help      in the words "Mexico" and "mexicano"

y   y     yelp      at start of word or between vowels

y   ee    weed      by itself or at the end of a word

z   s     sand

z  [th    thought   in Spain]


Verbs

Verbs may be the hardest part of Spanish to learn, since each verb is conjugated into six "persons" (I, you-familiar, you-formal/he/she/it, we, you-familiar-plural, they) for each of 8 tenses plus the present and past participles. That's 50 words for each verb, in addition to the infinitive form.

In the main display, a "verb conjugation number" is shown for each verb. This determines how a verb conjugation is done when you click on "Conjugate".

Verb conjugation numbers 1-3 are the regular verb forms. The majority of verbs fall into one of these three forms. The rest of the numbers are for irregular verbs.

Explanation of Verb Tenses

Conjugation Charts & Irregular Verb Types

Conjugation Memorization Tricks

Reflexive Verbs

Estar versus Ser


Explanation of Verb Tenses

Infintive

Present Indicative

Imperfect Indicative

Preterite Indicative

Future Indicative

Conditional Indicative

Imperative

Present Subjunctive

Imperfect Subjunctive

Perfect Subjunctives

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Infinitive

In Ventanas, if you enter an English verb, such as "talk", and click "Translate", the Spanish word shown will be in the infinitive form. In Spanish, the infinitive forms for all verbs end with -ar, -er, or -ir (except that Reflexive Verbs have "-se" tacked onto these endings).

In the Conjugation Charts, only the endings for each form are shown. These endings are the same for all verbs with the same Verb Conjugation Number. For example, first person  singular ending for the Present tense for all -ar verbs is -o.

To use the endings, remove the last two letters from the infinitive and add the letters shown. For example, 'to speak' is 'hablar'. So "I speak" is "hablo". (Drop the "-ar" from "hablar" and add the first person singular ending of "-o".)

USES:

     1. The Infinitive is used as a verbal noun, just like the '-ing' (gerund) form in English:

           Parting is such sweet sorrow.

           El partir es...

     2. It may be used in positive (not negative) commands:

           Write... (a letter)

           Escribir...

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Present Indicative

USES:

     1. Action that is happening in the present.

           Simple Present: He eats tacos.

           Emphatic: He does eat properly.

           Progressive: He is eating.

     2. With "desde" or "hace" as the equivalent of "have been":

         - I have been eating since noon.

           Como desde el mediadía.

         - I have eaten here for many years.

           Hace muchos años que como aquí.

     3. With "acabar de" and "por poco" as the equivalent of "...have just"

         - I have just eaten.

           Acabo de como.

         - I almost ate here.

           Por poco como aquí.

     4. As a substitute for the Future tense:

           Tomorrow I am eating at school.

           Manana como a la escuela.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Imperfect Indicative

The Imperfect is regular for all verbs except ser and ir.

USES:

     1. Express action which was continual or repeated in the past:

           I used to eat...

           Comía...

     2. Express continuing action in relation to other action:

           (He left while) I was eating.

           (Partío mientras) yo comía.

     3. To give a descriptive setting for a narrative:

           It was raining and the dogs were howling...

           Llovía y los perros aullaban.

     4. To express emotion, thought or knowledge in the past:

           We knew the story.

           Sabíamos la historia.

The English phrase "had just" is translated in Spanish with "acabar de" and the infinitive.

           I had just eaten.

           Acababa de comer.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Preterite Indicative

The Preterite is for action completed in the past:

    I ate yesterday.

    Yo comí ayer.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Future Indicative

The Future tense is for action which will happen in the future:

     I will eat tomorrow.

     Yo comeré mañana.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Conditional Indicative

USES:

     1. Express desire:

           I would like to eat.

           Comería

     2. State alternatives to facts:

           I would eat, but I'm on a diet.

           Comería, pero estoy a r/'E9gimen.

     3. Express probability in the past:

           The food probably wasn't any good...

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Imperative

The Imperative is used for commands to do something:

      Eat!

      ¡Comé!

For commands NOT to do something, the Subjunctive is used.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Present Subjunctive

USES:

 All of the Subjunctive tenses have the following uses:

1. Express things which are not true or which are uncertain:

      If I were king...

      If you can use it...

2. Express desire or a command with "que" present or implied:

      Don't do that.

      No haga usted eso.

3. Express hope, fear, regret in phrases starting with "que":

      I am sorry that I cannot go.

      Siento que no pueda ir.

4. In phrases following "es probable que", "es necesario que":

      It is fitting that you go.

      It is necessary that you go.

5. In phrases following indefinite expressions:

      dondequiera que vaya...

      quienquiera que me quite el saco

6. In conditional phrases beginning with "if" or equivalent:

      si el no fuera...

      aunque me hubiera pagado...

The tense of the Subjunctive depends on the tense of the main verb.

The Present Subjunctive is used with the Present and Future tenses.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Imperfect Subjunctive

See the Present Subjunctive on the previous page for a description of the uses of the Subjunctive.

The Imperfect Subjunctive is used when the principal verb is in the past, definite past or conditional tenses:

Past:

      He hoped that she would study.

         Esperaba que estudiase.

Conditional:

      I would like you to shop now.

         Me gustaría que hiciese sus compras ahora.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Perfect Subjunctives

See the Present Subjunctive on the previous page for a description of the uses of the Subjunctive.

Present Perfect is used when the principal verb is in the present or future perfect tense.

Past Perfect is used with the pluperfect, past perfect, and conditional perfect forms.

The Perfect Subjunctives conjugations are merely the Subjunctive forms of "haber" followed by the Present or Past Participle; therefore, Ventanas does not show the the complete conjugations for each verb, only the Present (Gerund) and Past Participle forms.

For the complete conjugation of "haber" to go with the Participles, look up "haber".

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Conjugation Charts & Irregular Verb Types

The first three conjugations are the "regular" forms. The charts for them show just the endings for each person and tense.

To create the verb for a particular person-tense, remove the last two letters from the infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir) and add the ending shown.

Conjugation #01    regular verbs ending in -ar

Conjugation #02    regular verbs ending in -er

Conjugation #03    regular verbs ending in -ir

The following are irregular verbs.

Complete conjuations are not shown for irregular verbs, just the exceptions to the regular verbs.

To see words which fall into a particular conjugation type, enter the Conjugation number in the box labeled "Conjugation Type" in Ventanas and press Ctrl-G. You can then view the complete conjugation for that type by pressing Alt-J or clicking "Conjugate".

The following are conjugation numbers for verbs fitting specified patterns:

Conjugation #04 - specified verbs with a stem vowel of e

Conjugation #05 - specified verbs with a stem vowel of o

Conjugation #06 - verbs ending in -irir

Conjugation #07 - verbs ending in -entir, -ertir or -erir

Conjugation #09 - verbs ending in -ebir, -edir (except agredir &

Conjugation #10 - all verbs ending in -eír or -eñir

Conjugation #11 - verbs ending in -acer, -ecer, -ocer, -ucer

Conjugation #12 - all verbs ending in -ducir

Conjugation #13 - all verbs ending in -añir, -añer, -iñir, -uñir, -eller or -ullir

Conjugation #14 - all verbs ending in -üir & -uir, excluding -guir

Conjugation #40 - a lot of words ending in -uar, -iar, & -ear

Conjugation #41 - a lot of words ending in -zar

Conjugation #42 - a lot of words ending in -car

Conjugation #43 - a lot of words ending in -gar

Conjugation #44 - a lot of words ending in -gar

Conjugation #45 - words ending in -guar

Conjugation #46 - some words ending in -cer and -cir

Conjugation #47 - words ending in -eer

Conjugation #51 - verbs ending in -guir

Conjugation #54 - specified verbs with a stem vowel of e

Conjugation #55 - specified verbs ending in -egir

Conjugation #56 - specified verbs ending in -rzar

Conjugation #58 - a lot of words ending in -egar

The following are conjugation numbers for specific verbs and their combinations:

Conjugation #08 - morir & dormir

Conjugation #15 - valer & salir

Conjugation #16 - andar

Conjugation #17 - asir

Conjugation #18 - caber

Conjugation #19 - caer & raer

Conjugation #20 - cocer, torcer

Conjugation #21 - dar

Conjugation #22 - decir

Conjugation #23 - erguir

Conjugation #24 - estar

Conjugation #25 - haber

Conjugation #26 - hacer

Conjugation #27 - ir

Conjugation #28 - oír

Conjugation #29 - poder

Conjugation #30 - pudrir & podrir

Conjugation #31 - poner

Conjugation #32 - querer

Conjugation #33 - saber

Conjugation #34 - ser

Conjugation #35 - tener

Conjugation #36 - traer

Conjugation #37 - venir

Conjugation #38 - ver

Conjugation #39 - yacer

Conjugation #48 - placer

Conjugation #50 - roer

Conjugation #52 - delinquir

Conjugation #53 - avergonzar

Conjugation #57 - jugar

Conjugation #60 - seguir

Conjugation #62 - trocar

Conjugation #63 - rogar, holgar, colgar & others specified.


Conjugation #01

Following are the endings for regular verbs ending in -ar

               Pres.    Imp.     Pret.    Futr.

I              -o       -aba     -é       -aré

you (familiar) -as      -abas    -aste    -arás

he/she/it/you  -a       -aba     -ó       -ará

we             -amos    -ábamous -amos    -aremos

you (plural)   -áis     -abais   -asteis  -aréis

they           -an      -aban    -aron    -arán

               Cond.     Impr.   PrSb.    ImSb.*

I              -aría             -e       -ara

you (familiar) -arías    -a      -es      -aras

he/she/it/you  -aría     -e      -e       -ara

we             -aríamos  -emos   -emos    -áramos

you (plural)   -aríais   -ad     -éis     -arais

they           -arían    -en     -en      -aran

present participle: -ando

past participle:    -ado

*Imperfect Subjunctive can use 'se' in place of the 'ra':

 -ara  = -ase,

 -iera = -iese, etc.


Conjugation #02

Following are the endings for regular verbs ending in -er

               Pres.    Imp.     Pret.    Futr.

I              -o       -ía      -í       -eré

you (familiar) -es      -ías     -iste    -erás

he/she/it/you  -e       -ía      -ió      -erá

we             -emos    -íamous  -imos    -eremos

you (plural)   -éis     -íais    -isteis  -eréis

they           -en      -ían     -ieron   -erán

               Cond.    Impr.    PrSb.    ImSb.*

I              -ería             -a       -iera

you (familiar) -erías   -e       -as      -ieras

he/she/it/you  -ería    -a       -a       -iera

we             -eríamos -amos    -amos    -iéramos

you (plural)   -eríais  -ed      -áis     -ierais

they           -erían   -an      -an      -ieran

present participle: -iendo

past participle:    -ido


Conjugation #03

Following are the endings for regular verbs ending in -ir

               Pres.    Imp.     Pret.    Futr.

I              -o       -ía      -í       -iré

you (familiar) -es      -ías     -iste    -irás

he/she/it/you  -e       -ía      -ió      -irá

we             -imos    -íamous  -imos    -iremos

you (plural)   -ís      -íais    -isteis  -iréis

they           -en      -ían     -ieron   -irán

               Cond.    Impr.    PrSb.    ImSb.*

I              -iría             -a       -iera

you (familiar) -irías   -e       -as      -ieras

he/she/it/you  -iría    -a       -a       -iera

we             -iríamos -amos    -amos    -iéramos

you (plural)   -iríais  -ed      -áis     -ierais

they           -irían   -an      -an      -ieran

present participle: -iendo

past participle:    -ido


Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs in Spanish are indicated by "-se" at the end of the infinitive form. In non-infinitive forms, the "se" goes before the verb.

A verb is reflexive if it acts upon the subject of the sentence.

   Example:  She went to bed. Ella se acostó.

Otherwise, it is NOT reflexive.

   Example: She put the child to bed. Ella acostó el niño.

Many verbs can be either reflexive or non-reflexive. The reflexive form is not shown unless the verb is frequently/mostly used in the reflexive form.


Conjugation Memorization Tricks

The following similarities in the regular verb tables can make conjugations easier to remember. The "key thought" is a simple thought which can help you remember how to create a particular tense. An explanation of the key thought can be found by clicking on the subject line above it.

If you enter a wrong answer when using Ventanas to quiz you on conjugations, Ventanas will give you a hint using one of these tips before counting a wrong answer against you.

Present Indicative vs. Present Subjunctive

    For subjunctive, swap -ar and -er present tense endings.

Imperfect Indicative vs. Imperfect Subjunctive

    Imperfect subjunctive changes "b" to "r".

Imperative vs. Subjunctive

    Imperative copies subjunctive forms.

-er And -ir Verbs

    The -ir verb endings copy -er endings except in the Present.

Future & Conditional

    Future and conditional are rarely irregular.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Present Indicative vs. Present Subjunctive

KEY:  For subjunctive, swap -ar and -er present tense endings.

For subjunctive forms, except for the 1st-person singular, use the -er present tense endings for the -ar present subjunctive endings, and the -ar present tense endings for the -er and -ir present subjunctive endings.

INFINITIVE:

     hablar       comer       abrir

PRESENT INDICATIVE:

     hablo        como        abro

     habl-as      com-es      abr-es

     habl-a       com-e       abr-e

     habl-amos    com-emos    abr-emos

     habl-áis     com-éis     abr-éis

     habl-an      com-en      abr-en

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE:

     USE -ER/IR   USE -AR     USE -AR

     PRES. IND.   PRES.IND    PRES.IND

     ENDINGS      ENDINGS     ENDINGS

     ----------   --------    --------

     hable        coma        abra

     habl-es      com-as      abr-as

     habl-e       com-a       abr-a

     habl-emos    com-amos    abr-amos

     habl-éis     com-áis     abr-áis

     habl-en      com-an      abr-an


Imperfect Indicative vs. Imperfect Subjunctive

KEY:  Imperfect subjunctive changes "b" to "r".

For -ar verbs, the imperfect indicative ("I was ...ing") and the imperfect subjunctive ("I might ...") have indentical endings, except that the imperfect subjunctive form has an 'r' instead of a 'b'.

For -er and -ir verbs, the endings are similar to the -ar Imperfect Subjunctive except that instead of -ara, -aras, etc., it is -iera, -ieras, etc. That is, the ending starts with -ier... for -i/-er verbs.

      -AR           -AR       -ER/-IR

     IMP.IND.     IMP.SUBJ.   IMP.SUBJ.

     ---------    --------    --------

     -aba         -ara        -iera

     -abas        -aras       -ieras

     -aba         -ara        -iera

     -ábamous     -áramos     -iáramos

     -abais       -arais      -ierais

     -aban        -aran       -ieran


Imperative vs. Subjunctive

KEY:  The Imperative copies the Subjunctive.

The imperative and subjunctive forms are the same in the 3rd-singular, 1st-plural, and 3rd-plural forms, as well as in the 2nd person negative commands: Don't eat! = ¡no comas!

There is no 1st-singular Imperative (since you can't really give yourself a command).

The 2nd-singular ending is "a" for -ar verbs and "e" for -er/-ir verbs.

The 2nd-plural ending is "ad" for -ar verbs and "ed" for -er/-ir verbs.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


-er And -ir Verbs

KEY:  The -ir verb endings copy -er endings except in Present.

The -ir and -er verbs are the same except for 1st & 2nd person plural of the present tense, if you look at future and conditional as explained next.

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Future & Conditional

KEY:  Future and conditional rarely change, even for irregulars.

Instead of thinking of the future and conditional endings being -aré, -eré, and -iré, as shown in the conjugation tables, think of them as being the infinitive forms with the endings indicated below:

Key thought:  The Future tense's ending pattern is 1e-2a-2e-1a

For -ar, -er, and -ir verbs, add these endings to the infinitive:

        1 e   : hablar-é

   then 2 a's : hablar-ás

                hablar-á

   then 2 e's : hablar-emos

                hablar-éis

   then 1 a   : hablar-án

Key thought:

      Conditional is the infinitive plus 'í' plus

      the Present -ar endings (except for 1st-singular):

  PRESENT    ----------CONDITIONAL-----------

 INDICATIVE      ADD ENDINGS TO INFINITIVE

-ar ENDINGS   HABLAR       COMER       ABRIR

    -o      hablar-ía    comer-ía    abrir-ía

    -as     hablar-ías   comer-ías   abrir-ías

    -a      hablar-ía    comer-ía    abrir-ía

    -amos   hablar-íamos comer-íamos abrir-íamos

    -íais   hablar-íais  comer-íais  abrir-íais

    -an     hablar-ían   comer-ían   abrir-ían

-ar Verb Charts

-er Verb Charts

-ir Verb Charts


Estar versus Ser

Both ser and estar mean "to be", but with different meanings.

Estar is used...

  - to indicate a (temporary) state or condition.

         I am hungry. Estoy hambrear.

  - to indicate a (temporary) location.

         I am at home. Estoy en la casa.

  - to indicate an activity with the Present Participle.

         I am waiting. Estoy esperando.

  - to indicate a passive state with the Past Participle.

         The toy was broken. El jugete está quebrado.

Ser is used...

  - to indicate a (permanent) characteristic of the subject.

         I am tall.  Yo soy alto.

  - to indicate the origin of the subject.

         I am from Texas.  Yo soy de tejas.

  - to indicate times and dates.

         It is 8:00. Son las ocho.

  - to create impersonal expressions with infinitives.

         It is difficult to ski. Es dificil esquiar.

  - to create the Passive Voice with the Past Participle.

         The work was finished by Juan.

         El trabajo fue completado por Juan.


Conjugation Of Estar

Because "estar" is such an important verb but its conjugation is so irregular, it is presented here in its entirety for easier study.

                Pres.   Imp.       Pret.       Futr.

I              estoy   estaba     estuve      estaré

you (familiar) estás   estabas    estuviste   estarás

he/she/it/you  está    estaba     estuvo      estará

we             estamos estábamous estuvimos   estaremos

you (plural)   estáis  estabais   estuvisteis estaréis

they           están   estaban    estuvieron  estarán

                Cond.     Imper.   PrSb.    ImSb.

I              estaría            esté     estuviera

you (familiar) estarías   está    estés    estuvieras

he/she/it/you  estaría    esté    esté     estuviera

we             estaríamos estemos estemos  estuviéramos

you (plural)   estaríais  estad   estéis   estuvierais

they           estarían   estén   estén    estuvieran

present participle: estando

past participle:    estado


Conjugation Of Ser

Because "ser" is such an important verb but its conjugation is so irregular, it is presented here in its entirety for easier study.

                Pres.    Imp.     Pret.    Futr.

I               soy      era      fui      seré

you (familiar)  eres     eras     fuiste   serás

he/she/it/you   es       era      fue      será

we              somos    éramos   fuimos   seremos

you (plural)    sois     erais    fuisteis seréis

they            son      eran     fueron   serán

                Cond.    Impr.    PrSb.    ImSb.

I               sería             sea      fuera

you (familiar)  serías   sé       seas     fueras

he/she/it/you   sería    sea      sea      fuera

we              seríamos seamos   seamos   fuéramos

you (plural)    seríais  sed      seáis    fuerais

they            serían   sean     sean     fueran

present participle: siendo

past participle:    sido


Ordering Ventanas

This Deluxe Version of Ventanas with both the tutorials and the full dictionary is just $29.95 plus $4 shipping.

You will be given a registration code which will allow you to download minor updates from our Web site (www.pslweb.com/ventanas.htm) when they become available. The code will convert the shareware versions to registered versions. It's a good idea to check the Web page at least every few months for updates. Please note that we reserve the right to charge an upgrade fee for major upgrades. A change from, say, 2.1 to 2.2 would indicate a free upgrade. A change from, say, 2.1 to 3.0 would indicate a major upgrade. (No there is no version 3.0 at this time.)

Order form


ORDER FORM

Call 713-524-6394 or email nford@pslweb.com if you have questions about this program or any other PsL products or offers.

To order, print the order form when exiting the program, fill it out and mail it to PsL, P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705.

Or ORDER ON THE WEB at http://www.pslweb.com/cgi-win/psl_ord.exe/item14000

Or call 800-2424-PSL or 713-524-6394 or FAX 713-524-6398 or email to ventanas@pslweb.com the following information:

Date:

Name:

Address1:

Address2:

City, State, Zip, Country:

Phone (voice, FAX)

Credit Card #:

Expiration Date:

Name on Card:

Billing Address:

Ventanas Deluxe with Tutor & English-Spanish

    Dictionary program: ___ copies @ $29.95  _________

All Work & No Play????

    Shareware version of CardShark Hearts,

    the strongest, most feature-filled

    version of Hearts available for the

    PC. >> Only $1 if ordered at the

    same time as Ventanas! <<              _________

Shipping & Handling For Complete Order:    _____4.00

Total for non-Texas residents              _________

Sales tax for Texas residents at 8.25%     _________

Grand Total                                _________