6. Las reglas de puntuación y el uso de mayúsculas en español

English grammar defines punctuation as a group of rules and conventions. When we speak, we use pauses and voice pitch to be understood. Punctuation plays a similar role in writing, making it easier to read. As we were studying intonation, tones, etc., we needed to study punctuation to be able to write and make the meaning clear.

Spanish punctuation is the same as English punctuation with some exceptions, some of them we already studied. Complete the exceptions that we have in Spanish punctuation:

First: What happens with questions marks in Spanish? _______________________

Second: What do the Spanish exclamation and question marks have in common? ____________

Third: The dash (-). In quotations, a dash is generally used to indicate a change in the speaker instead of quotation marks. La profesora dijo: – ¿Qué hora es?- The professor said: “What time is it?”

We can use “<< >>” to indicate quoted speech and dialogue: <<Yo amo el español>> “I love Spanish”

As we studied, English and Spanish punctuation are the same excluding the three cases above: question marks (opened and closed), exclamation marks (opened and closed) and the dash. When we talk about capital letters, it is a different story. Spanish doesn’t use capital letters as frequently as used in English. The rule is very simple: Only proper nouns are capitalized or the word at the beginning of the sentence.

As you progress in your knowledge of Spanish, you can incorporate the tips above and belo w in your written communication.

1. In Spanish, the following are not capitalized when not starting the sentence:
2. The pronouns are not capitalized. Except usted y ustedes if abbreviated as Ud. Uds.
3. The days of the week or months of the year.
4. Names of political parties, languages and titles
5. Nationalities
6. BUT abbreviations are capitalized:
   • usted à Ud. ustedes à Uds. à you (formal)
   • señor à Sr. señora à Sra. señorita à Srta. à Mr., Mrs., Miss
   • doctor à Dr. doctora à Dra. à Dr.

The following nouns are always capitalized:

1. Titles or nicknames to designate specific people: Juana La Loca à Joan the Mad
2. Titles that are equivalent to proper names:
   • El Rey à The King
   • El rey Juan Carlos I à Juan Carlos I King
   • El Presidente à The President
   • El presidente Washington à President Washington
3. Certain collective nouns:
   • La Nación à the Nation
   • El Reino à the kingdom
4. Divine Attributes: Creador à Creator Redentor à Redeemer

Something interesting about Spanish speakers is their frequent references to God in daily speech. It is acceptable to use expressions like “Si Dios lo permite = If God permits” or “Con el permiso de Dios” = With the permission of God”. Remember: “Generalizing is lack of education”, most of the Spanish speakers are Apostolic Roman Catholic, but not all! Understanding the behaviors and values is equally important to succeed in communication as learning the grammar and phonetic rules of the language.

Practiquemos lo aprendido: Rewrite the following passages, inserting proper punctuation and capitals.

1. quien es cristóbal colon? el descubrió américa en 1492. ___________________________________________
2. me gusta comer tacos mexicanos los lunes. ___________________________________________
3. qué inteligente! siempre tiene buenas notas en español. ___________________________________________
4. en agosto voy a ir de vacaciones a el salvador un país hispanohablante. ___________________________________________
5. el presidente habla por la televisión a todos uds. ____________________________________________
6. el flaco es su apodo (nickname), todos lo llaman “el flaco” ____________________________________________

In Spanish, we use nicknames frequently as a way to show affection to the person, but when a Spanish speaker uses your full name, you can be sure you’re in trouble. The names of Spanish speakers normally include four elements: the first name, a second first name and two second names or last names. One is the second/last name of the father and the next one is the mother’s second name or last name. A common first name for females is María for religious traditions, but normally they use the second name on a daily basis.

Example: ¡María Guadalupe López Velázquez!

Everybody will call her Guadalupe, not María. The nickname (apodo) for people called Guadalupe is “Lupita or Lupe”. Her father is Juan José López Torres which is the reason why she has the last name López appear prior to her mother’s last name. Her mom is Mary Carmen Velázquez Riesgo. Lupita’s second last name is Velázquez. But if her mom calls her: “María Guadalupe ¡ven aquí!…,” then Lupita knowns she is in trouble! (¡pobrecita Lupita!)

1. ¿Cuántos nombres tienes?_______ y ¿Cuántos apellidos?______________
2. ¿Tienes un apodo?_______ ¿Cuál es?______________________________
3. ¿Qué piensas de esta costumbre latina?_________________________________________. Sabes que algunos países latinos, como Italia, quieren cambiar el orden de los apellidos. Quieren que primero sea el apellido de la madre y después el apellido del padre.
4. ¿Qué piensas sobre este cambio en el orden de los apellidos?, ¿Estás de acuerdo con el cambio? Si /no y por qué. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________