Spanish Possessive Pronouns

Spanish Possessive Pronouns If youve learned the long form of the possessive adjectives, you already know the possessive pronouns of Spanish. In fact, some grammarians classify the long-form possessive adjectives as pronouns, even though they are used to describe nouns. What Are Possessive Pronouns? Possessive pronouns are the equivalent of the English pronouns mine, yours, his, hers, theirs and its, but they arent used in exactly the same way in Spanish as they are in English. As the name suggests, possessive pronouns are used in the place of nouns rather than to describe nouns as adjectives do. Here are the possessive pronouns of Spanish with simple examples of their use: mà ­o, mà ­a, mà ­os, mà ­as - mine Tu madre y la mà ­a no pueden cantar. (Your mother and mine cant sing.)No me gustan los coches rojos. El mà ­o es verde. (I dont like red cars. Mine is green.)Cuido de tus mascotas como si fueran las mà ­as. (I take care of your pets as if there were mine.) tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas - yours (singular informal) Este libro no es mà ­o. Es tuyo. (This book isnt mine. Its yours.) ¿Dà ³nde est mi mochila? La tuya est aquà ­. (Where is my backpack? Yours is here.) suyo, suya, suyos, suyas - his, hers, yours (singular formal or plural formal), its, theirs Mis calcetines son rojos. Los suyos son negros. (My socks are red. His/hers/yours/theirs are black.)Amo a mi esposa. Él no ama a la suya. (I love my wife. He doesnt love his.) nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras - ours Este coche es nuestro. (This car is ours.) ¿Te gusta tu casa? No me gusta la nuestra. (Do you like your house? I dont like ours.) vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras - yours (plural informal; infrequently used in  Latin America) Nuestra casa es muy vieja.  ¿Y la vuestra? (Our house is very old. And yours?)No me gustan los coches de vuestros competidores. Prefiero los vuestros. (I dont like your competitors cars. I prefer yours.) As you can see from the examples, possessive pronouns must match the noun they represent in both number and gender, just as do the long-form possessive adjectives. They do not necessarily match the number or gender of the person or thing that has possession. Spanish Possessive Pronouns The possessive pronouns of Spanish take the same form as the long form of the possessive adjectives, namely mà ­o, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, and vuestro along with their plural and feminine counterparts.Except when followed by forms of ser, a verb meaning to be, the possessive pronouns are preceded by el, la, lo, los, or las.  Because  suyo is ambiguous, it is sometimes replaced by phrases such as de à ©l or de ellas. Definite Articles With Possessive Pronouns Note that unlike the equivalent pronouns in English, the Spanish possessive pronouns are usually preceded by a definite article (el, la, los or las), the equivalent of the. The article is usually dispensed with when the possessive pronoun follows a form of the verb ser, such as son or es, as in the examples, although it is sometimes retained for emphasis. Ambiguous Suyo Suyo and the related forms can be ambiguous since they can mean his, hers, yours, theirs, or its. When context doesnt make its meaning clear, the possessive pronoun can be omitted and replaced by a prepositional phrase such as de à ©l (instead of his) or de ellos (instead of theirs). Examples: No es mi coche. Es de ella. (Its not my car. Its hers.) ¿Dà ³nde estn mis zapatos? Los de à ©l estn aquà ­. (Where are my shoes? His are here.)En nuestras listas hay luchadores; en las de ellos, cobardes. (On our lists there are fighters; on theirs, cowards.) Note that you wouldnt normally use the de object pronoun to refer to those that arent included in the meaning of su. So, for example, you wouldnt normally substitute de mà ­ for mà ­o. Using the Possessive Neuter Form The single, masculine form of the pronouns can also be treated as neuter and thus be preceded by the definite article lo. Even though singular, the pronoun can stand for more than one object. The neuter form is used when no specific object is being referred to. Examples: No toques lo mà ­o. (Dont touch what is mine. Dont touch my things.)Lo mà ­o es importante. (What is mine is important. My things are important.)Es intolerable que nuestro là ­deres no defiendan lo nuestro. (It is intolerable that our leaders dont defend what is ours. It is intolerable that our leaders dont defend our traditions.)

How to Measure a Vessels Beam

How to Measure a Vessel's Beam When describing the hull of a vessel three basic measurements give a rough outline of the shape of the hull. These are Length, Beam, and Draft. What Is Beam? Beam is a measurement of a vessels width. It is always measured at the widest point because it is often used to determine if passage can be safely made near an obstacle. Beam is important in determining the handling characteristics of a ship design. A narrow beam hull will run fast but will not perform well in heavy waves because of the narrow cross section. A hull which has a wider beam will be less efficient in cutting through the water because of the larger mass of water that is being displaced. This larger mass also tends to roll less. Beam can also be measured at specific points on the hull like the pilot house or cargo area but these measurements will be designated with the names of these structures. The main measurement of beam is taken at the widest point of a vessel. Naval architects use length, beam, and draft measurements to shape a hull for a specific job by using the concept of Deadrise. The three main hull measurements along with deadrise give the hull a specific shape and handling characteristics. The Origin of Beam in Ships Origin of the word comes from early wooden ship design. The large timbers that sit on top of each rib as they extend up from the keel span the whole width of the ship for strength. On top of this was a deck made of smaller boards that also acted as the ceiling for the first level cabins. From the inside, the ship resembled a house with its floor beams and exposed underside floor decking. A common way to talk about a ship was by the size of her roof beams which would tell you how wide the vessel was and how that proportion related to her length and rig. You could tell everything about a ship from the dimension of this single element of construction. How Beams Are Used Today Today, in modern ship construction, wooden beams are replaced with steel boxes which are much wider than the beams. Wooden beams may have been as wide as a person, steel beams called torsion boxes which are as wide as twenty people are set across the hull. Once this is welded together the ship becomes much more rigid because of something called a stressed skin design which makes ships strong and light. Modern cars use the same idea and use the floor pan and body to make a stiff structure that doesnt need the weight of a heavy solid frame. Another benefit of a stressed skin design is a wide open interior. In wooden ships, two interior posts rose from the chine at each rib to help support the beam which made the interior cramped. In warships, these posts were used to lash down the cannons when they werent in use. They also held the hammocks which really were used on ships of the era The space below the deck was damp and only the lower ranked men slept there. Officers and the Master had better cabins with the junior officers in the bow and the Masters cabin at the stern and raised above the deck by one or more levels. Examples You may hear someone refer to a vessel as Beamy. This means that a vessel has a wide beam in proportion to her length.