Mrs. Harris Goes Through Customs

15.1 Basic Sentences — Mrs. Harris Goes Through Customs

Mr. and Mrs. Harris and Molina are going to the customs office while the mother-in-law and children stay behind and wait for them.

New Vocabulary

English	Spanish
rigorous, strict	riguroso
the customs office	la aduana
sure	seguro
the baggage	el equipaje
which	cuál
green	verde
the trunk	el baúl
have (to have)	tenga (tener)
the kindness, goodness	la bondad
please (be so kind as to)	tenga la bondad de
the gift	el regalo
to declare	declarar
the list	la lista
the overnight case, handbag	el maletín
(for) me	me
to examine, inspect	revisar
necessary	necesario
(it) lacks (to lack)	le falta (faltar)
complete	completo
to take care of, assist	atender
the immigration	la inmigración
to complain (to complain oneself)	quejarme (quejarse)
kind, nice, courteous	amable
for us	nos
that (he) may carry (to carry)	que lleve (llevar)
(I) said (to say)	dije (decir)
last night	anoche
the car	el coche
to fit	caber
great (large)	gran (grande)
the help	la ayuda
to us	nos
to lend, to provide	prestar

Dialog

English	Spanish
Are they very strict at the customs office here?	¿Son muy rigurosos en la aduana aquí?
No, I’m sure that they won’t bother you.	No. Estoy seguro de que a usted no la van a molestar.
Right here. My baggage is here now.	Aquí, señor. Ya está aquí mi equipaje.
Which is it?	¿Cuál es?
It’s these green suitcases and this small trunk.	Son estas maletas verdes y este baúl pequeño.
Please open the trunk first.	Tenga la bondad de abrir el baúl primero.
This thing — what is it?	Esto, ¿qué es?
It’s some gifts. Everything’s declared.	Son unos regalos. Todo está declarado.
Oh, yes. Here it is on the list.	Ah, sí. Aquí está en la lista.
This handbag, aren’t you going to check it?	Este maletín, ¿no me lo va a revisar?
No ma’am, it’s not necessary.	No señora, no es necesario.
Are you missing anything, Mrs. Harris?	¿No le falta nada, señora?
No, everything’s here.	No. Todo está completo.
Did they take good care of you in Immigration?	¿La han atendido bien en Inmigración?
I can’t complain. They’ve been very nice to me.	Yo no me puedo quejar. Conmigo han sido muy amables.
I’ll go look for a taxi and someone to carry the suitcases for us.	Voy a buscar un taxi y a alguien que nos lleve las maletas.
As I said last night, there’s room in my car for all of us and the luggage.	Como le dije anoche, en mi coche cabemos todos y el equipaje.
You’re being a great help to us. Thanks a lot, Molina.	Nos está prestando una gran ayuda. Muchas gracias, Molina.

---

15.10 Notes on the Basic Sentences

(1) It is worth noting that in Spanish the number of the verb (plural) rigorously agrees with the number of the subject (plural) even though the subject is positioned after the verb. In English the “logical” subject is plural, but the grammatical subject is “it,” which is singular and requires the singular verb form “is.” The same situation occurs below with “It’s some gifts.”

(2) The occurrence of both direct and indirect clitics in the same phrase will be examined closely in Unit 20. In the meanwhile, note that the indirect clitic is the first of the two. Note also that no equivalent to the indirect me appears in the English translation.

(3) Notice that the Spanish present perfect construction han atendido is translated by the English past tense “did they take good care of” in this sentence. This is a not infrequent translation pattern.

---

15.2 Drills and Grammar

Indirect Clitic Pronouns — One Object

Clitics are pronoun forms that occur with verbs. Clitics are of three kinds: direct (presented in Unit 10), indirect (presented here), and reflexive (to be presented in Unit 24). The selection of the clitic depends on the verb it accompanies. Some verbs may appear only with direct clitics, some only with indirect, some only with reflexive, and some with various combinations.

Indirect clitic pronouns inflect for person and number, but not for gender.

	Singular	Plural
1st person	me	nos
2nd familiar	te	—
2nd-3rd person	le	les

The indirect clitic will often be translated by “to —”; for example, me = “to me,” though sometimes the English sentence must be rearranged: ¿Le gusta el cuarto? literally “Does the room please you?” or more freely “Do you like the room?”

Translation Drill — Indirect Clitics (One Object)

English	Spanish
The suits seem inexpensive to us.	Los trajes nos parecen baratos.
He likes this suburb very much.	Le gusta mucho este barrio.
I don’t like that name.	No me gusta ese nombre.
Does she need anything?	¿Le falta algo?
Don’t you like the house?	¿No le gusta la casa?
On the contrary, I like it very much.	Al contrario, me gusta mucho.
Besides, it seems inexpensive to us.	Además, nos parece barata.
We’re thirteen dollars short.	Nos faltan trece dólares.
How’s it going with you all?	¿Cómo les va?
What do they think of the laundry on the corner?	¿Qué les parece la lavandería de la esquina?
Does she like the new building?	¿Le gusta el edificio nuevo?
It doesn’t suit me, it’s too expensive.	No me conviene, es muy caro.
Does the other one suit you?	¿Le conviene el otro?

Indirect Clitic Pronouns — Two Objects

In this section, two objects appear controlled by the same verb: one pronoun object (expressed by an indirect clitic) and one noun object. The indirect relationship in Spanish is expressed in English with object pronouns in two positions: alone after a verb (“He writes us a letter every day”) or with the relator “to” (“He sent the book to us”). The indirect clitic construction in Spanish also translates several English relators other than “to”: Me trae los libros — “He brings the books to me”; Me lleva la maleta — “He carries the suitcase for me”; Me compra el carro — “He’s buying the car from me.”

	Singular	Plural
1st person	me	nos
2nd familiar	te	—
2nd-3rd person	le	les

Translation Drill — Indirect Clitics (Two Objects): Paired Sentences

English	Spanish
When do you send them the newspapers?	¿Cuándo les manda Ud. los periódicos?
What have you sent them?	¿Qué les ha mandado Ud. a ellos?
She never sends us anything.	Ella nunca nos manda nada.
What has John brought you all?	¿Qué les ha traído Juan a Uds.?
My sister always brings me a new shirt.	Mi hermana siempre me trae una camisa nueva.
My mother-in-law always gives me wine.	Mi suegra siempre me da vino.
I’ve given him my pen.	Yo le he dado mi pluma a él.
The Molinas haven’t rented him the apartment.	Los Molina no le han alquilado el apartamento.
I write her very little.	Yo le escribo muy poco a ella.
My girl friend writes me a lot.	Mi novia me escribe mucho.
When are you going to write him?	¿Cuándo le va a escribir Ud.?

Translation Drill — Indirect Clitics (Two Objects): Sentence Translations

English	Spanish
When does he give us their names?	¿Cuándo nos da los nombres de ellos?
Are you going to help her work?	¿Ud. le va a ayudar a trabajar?
Is she going to rent you all the house?	¿Les va a alquilar la casa?
I don’t owe him anything.	Yo no le debo nada.
How much do you owe me?	¿Cuánto me debe Ud.?
The Harrises always speak to us in English.	Los Harris siempre nos hablan en inglés.
The Garcías haven’t rented the apartment to him.	Los García no le han alquilado el apartamento.
They’re going to write to me.	Ellos me van a escribir.
Why don’t you write to them?	¿Por qué no les escribe Ud.?
The girl cleans the furniture for them.	La muchacha les limpia los muebles.
The chauffeur always carries the suitcases for us.	El chofer siempre nos lleva las maletas.
My wife doesn’t wash my shirts for me.	Mi esposa no me lava las camisas.
Nobody sweeps the apartment for them.	Nadie les barre el apartamento.
Mr. Miranda has bought the furniture from us.	El Sr. Miranda nos ha comprado los muebles.
I have bought the sofa bed from them.	Yo les he comprado el sofá-cama.
A man has bought the house from them.	Un señor les ha comprado la casa a ellos.

Yes-Question Intonation Patterns

A yes-no question to which a “yes” answer is more or less expected is frequently uttered with the intonation pattern /1 2 3 1 ↓/. Note that it differs from the emphatic or contrasting statement pattern of Units 12 and 13 (/1 2 3 1 ↓/) only in the extent and abruptness of the final fade-out.

Pattern	Usage
/1 2 2 2 ↑/	Yes-no question (neutral — answer not anticipated)
/1 2 3 1 ↓/	Yes question (answer “yes” more or less expected)

As a generalization, the /1 2 3 1 ↓/ pattern on a question signals that “yes” is the anticipated reply. For instance, ¿Tiene un lápiz? with this pattern may really mean “Can I borrow a pencil?” if uttered in an appropriate context.

Review Drill — Possessive Constructions

English	Spanish
Juan’s sister is here.	La hermana de Juan está aquí.
Antonio’s wife is here.	La esposa de Antonio está aquí.
Carmen’s mother-in-law is here.	La suegra de Carmen está aquí.
Antonio’s son is here.	El hijo de Antonio está aquí.
Carmen’s cup is here.	La taza de Carmen está aquí.
Antonio’s girl is here.	La niña de Antonio está aquí.
Antonio’s boy is here.	El niño de Antonio está aquí.
Carmen’s friend is here.	La amiga de Carmen está aquí.
Carmen’s things are here.	Las cosas de Carmen están aquí.
José’s furniture is here.	Los muebles de José están aquí.
Juan’s desk is here.	El escritorio de Juan está aquí.

Note: The full drills and practice exercises are designed for oral work with the audio recordings. Open the Student Text PDF for the complete drill sets.