Cuba - Lonely Planet [400]
ll as the ‘y’ in ‘yellow’
ñ as the ‘ni’ in ‘onion’
rr very strongly rolled
v similar to English ‘b,’ but softer; referred to as b corta
x as in ‘taxi’ except for a few words, when it’s pronounced as j
z as the ‘s’ in ‘sun’
Word Stress
In general, words ending in vowels or the letters n or s have stress on the second-last syllable, while those with other endings have stress on the last syllable. Thus vaca (cow) and caballos (horses) both carry stress on the second-last syllable, while ciudad (city) and infeliz (unhappy) are both stressed on the last syllable.
Written accents will almost always appear in words that don’t follow the rules above, eg sótano (basement), América and porción (portion). When counting syllables, be sure to remember that diphthongs (vowel combinations, such as the ‘ue’ in puede) constitute only one. When a word with a written accent appears in capital letters, the accent is often not written, but is still pronounced.
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GENDER & PLURALS
In Spanish, nouns are either masculine or feminine, and there are rules to help determine gender (there are, of course, some exceptions). Feminine nouns generally end with -a or with the groups -ción, -sión or -dad. Other endings typically signify a masculine noun. Endings for adjectives also change to agree with the gender of the noun they modify (masculine/feminine -o/-a). Where both masculine and feminine forms are included in this chapter, they are separated by a slash, with the masculine form first, eg perdido/a.
If a noun or adjective ends in a vowel, the plural is formed by adding s to the end. If it ends in a consonant, the plural is formed by adding -es.
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ACCOMMODATION
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MAKING A RESERVATION
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CONVERSATION & ESSENTIALS
In their public behavior, Cubans are very informal. If you approach a stranger for information, however, you should always preface your question with a greeting like buenos días or buenas tardes. Cubans routinely address one another as compañero/a (comrade), but the traditional señor and señora are always used with foreigners. In addition, you should only use the polite form of address, especially with the police and public officials. Young people may be less likely to expect this, but it’s best to stick to the polite form unless you’re quite sure you won’t offend by using the informal mode. The polite form is used in all phrases in this chapter; where both options are given, the abbreviations ‘pol’ and ‘inf’ indicate the different forms.
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DIRECTIONS
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SIGNS
Entrada Entrance
Salida Exit
Información Information
Abierto Open
Cerrado Closed
Prohibido Prohibited
Comisaría Police Station
Servicios/Baños Toilets
Hombres/Varones Men
Mujeres/Damas Women
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HEALTH
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EMERGENCIES
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LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
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NUMBERS
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QUESTION WORDS
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SHOPPING & SERVICES
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TIME & DATES
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TRANSPORT
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ROAD SIGNS
Acceso Entrance
Aparcamiento Parking
Ceda el Paso Give Way
Despacio Slow
Dirección Única One Way
Mantenga Su Derecha Keep to the Right
No Adelantar/No Rebase No Passing
Peaje Toll
Peligro Danger
Prohibido Aparcar/No Estacionar No Parking
Prohibido el Paso No Entry
Pare/Stop Stop
Salida de Autopista Exit Freeway
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Private Transport
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TRAVEL WITH CHILDREN
Do you mind if I breast-feed here?
Also available from Lonely Planet:
Latin American Spanish phrasebook
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Glossary
agropecuario – vegetable market; also sells rice, fruit
aguardiente – fermented cane; literally ‘firewater’
Altos – upstairs apartment (when following an address)
ama de llaves