"What's he like?" - Character descriptions

Good
He is good (is a good man). / She is good (is a good woman).
Sp. Es bueno. / Es buena.
Fr. Il est bon. / Elle est bonne.
It. È buono. / È buona.

Bad
Sp. Es malo. / Es mala.
Fr. Il est mauvais. / Elle est mauvaise.
It. È cattivo. / È cattiva.

Nice
Sp. Es símpatico. / Es símpatico.
Fr. Il est sympathique. / Elle est sympathique.
It. È simpatico. / È simpatica.

Mean
Sp. Es mezquino. / Es mezquina.
Fr. Il est méchant. / Elle est méchante.
It. È meschino. / È meschina.

Generous
Sp. generoso/generosa
Fr. généreux/généreuse
It. generoso/generosa

Greedy
Sp. tacaño / tacaña
Fr. avar / avare
It. avaro / avara

"The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker..." - places to go shopping

When you want to go shopping, there are a number of places to go. Here are just a few:

General shopping
the mall: el centro comercial, le centre commercial, il centro commerciale
the supermarket: el supermercado, le supermarché, il supermercato
the market: el mercado, le marché, il mercato
the shop: la tienda, le magasin, il negozio

Note that a market is often of the open-air variety, like a farmer's market. Supermarkets are similar to the larger American chain grocery stores. Malls are generally like our own, but may sometimes feel more like department stores. And shops come in all varieties to meet all needs. A few of the more common shops are noted below.

Specific stores
the bakery: la panaderia, la boulangerie, il panificio
the bookstore: la libreria, la librairie, la libreria
the butcher shop: la carniceria, la boucherie, la macellaria
the drugstore: la farmacia, la pharmacie, la farmacia
the grocery store: los abarrotes, l'épicerie, la drogheria

Grocery stores sell... groceries. And usually basic household goods - soap, toilet paper, etc. Drugstores sell medicinal products. And that's about it. Neither fits the model of the modern convenience store, or even the old general store. For general purpose shopping, the American 7-11 outdoes most stores you'll find in Western Europe. Supermarkets are better, but still not on par with the likes of Rite Aid and Walgreens. In brief, what we do in one stop in the U.S. is probably going to require two or three in Europe. Europeans will tell you that the greater quality and variety of the butcher shop and bakery trump the convenience of running to the meat counter and bakery section of a supermarket. Whether convenience or specialization is paramount is, of course, a matter of opinion.

Memory hints for selected words:
mall = commercial center
market is like mercantile and merchant, as well as market
panaderia is where they make pan, i.e. bread
panificio is also a place to make pan, bread
librettos are "little books"; you sell them at the libreria/librairie/libreria
carnivores get their meat at the carniceria; the butcher works at the boucherie
the drugstore and the pharmacy are the same thing

"Her locks were yellow as gold..." - Hair colors

You may have noticed that in English we sometimes have special words for hair color. We say someone is blonde, or brunette, not that they have yellow or brownish hair. Or we might say someone has blond hair, or is a redhead.

In the Romance languages the words for hair colors and ordinary colors may also differ. Likewise, the best phrase for specifying hair color may vary. In this lesson, we're going to learn the major hair colors in conjunction with phrases to use with them. There may be other ways to specify different hair colors. I have stuck to the construction "to have ____ hair," as it will simultaneously remind you how to say "to have" and minimize problems with agreement. At the end, there is a short usage guide.

Blond I am blond. Sp. Tengo el pelo rubio. Fr. J'ai les cheveux blonds. It. Ho i capelli biondi.	Black-haired I have black hair. Sp. Tengo el pelo negro. Fr. J'ai les cheveux noirs. It. Ho i capelli neri.
Brunette (Chestnut) You are brunette. Sp. (Usted) tiene el pelo castaño. Fr. Vous avez les cheveux châtains. It. (Lei) ha i capelli castani.	Red-haired He is a red-head. Sp. (Él) tiene el pelo rojo. Fr. Il a les cheveux roux. It. (Lui) ha i cappelli rossi.
Gray-headed She has gray hair. Sp. (Ella) tiene el pelo gris. Fr. Elle a les cheveux gris. It. (Lei) ha i capelli grigi.	White-haired They have white hair. Sp. Tienen el pelo blanco. Fr. Ils/Elles ont les cheveux blancs. It. Hanno i capelli bianchi.

Note that the main body of each sentence is in regular type. The hair colors are in italics. These pieces can be mixed to form new sentences. For example, imagine you wished to say "I have gray hair" in Spanish. Take the "Tengo" from the first two sentences, then add the "el pelo gris" from the sentence for "She has gray hair." You get:

Tengo el pelo gris.

The same procedure for French and Italian would give "J'ai les cheveux gris" and "Ho i capelli grigi." Pretty easy, huh?

Sound Correspondences III

The letter "e" in French

The first two Sound Correspondences lessons gave you a way of connecting words from Spanish, French and Italian. This lesson focuses on a place where connections break down, and why. It's a bit harder than the first two, but should help you deal with some of the French words and forms that would otherwise seem completely unlike those of Spanish and Italian.

French is a language that is mumbled. That's not a compliment, not an insult. Just a fact. We do the same thing in English, as a matter of fact, pronouncing most unstressed vowels "uh". The French were doing this well before they started writing the language down. When they did start to write it, they designated the letter "e" to stand for that "uh" sound when it had no accent. This leads to a contrast between French and its relatives Spanish and Italian:

Spanish and Italian tend to preserve the vowels from Latin or alter them in somewhat predictable ways.

French tends to replace vowels from Latin with the letter "e" if the vowels were in a weak, or unstressed, position.

The number one unstressed position where French differs from It. and Sp. is word endings. In early Romance (not exactly, but work with me here) most nouns and adjectives ended in "o," "a," or "e." Nouns from a first category were feminine and ended in "a." Nouns from a second category were masculine and ended in "o." Nouns from a third category could be masculine or feminine and ended in "e." Adjectives stuck to this: group one ended in "a" for feminine and "o" for masculine. group two ended in "e" regardless. In Spanish and Italian, those endings are still there. But in French, they were mumbled and so all became "uh," written "e." The same thing happened with the most common verbs, those ending in "-are" in Latin. They end in -are in Italian and -ar in Spanish. In French, they end in -er, and most of the conjugated forms end in "uh," spelled "e" (though "silent" consonants may follow). So the word for "speak" in I speak, you speak, he speaks, they speak sounds the same, for the most part. Only "we speak" and "you (guys) speak" differ in pronunciation.

What good does this knowledge do us? By knowing that the French have mumbled a lot of vowels into being "uh," written "e," we know not to make too much of a letter "e" in French. If you think a word looks familiar but aren't sure why, from now on, you can try changing "e"s - especially at the end of words - into "a," then "o," in search of corresponding Italian and Spanish words. And you can try pronouncing French words out loud, if they look completely unlike Spanish or Italian, and see if they sound like a mumbled version of the Spanish or Italian word, in which case you've made your connection.

Incidentally, this article only addresses why the letter "e" is written in certain places in French. In the future, we'll talk about when to pronounce it and when you can mumble right past it.

"I have two brothers and three sisters..." - immediate family

The vocabulary for immediate family members starts out easy, then gets trickier:

We'll start with "family." Latin familia actually referred to the family's property (including the slaves). (Domus, like domestic, was the word for family.) Nonetheless, the Romance languages adopted it to refer to shared kinship with Sp. familia, Fr. famille and It. famiglia.

In the familia, one found pater et mater (father and mother), who became Sp. padre y madre, Italian padre e madre and French père et mère. Related: paternal and maternal, i.e. fatherly and motherly.

The parents were called parentes or genitori in Latin. For Romance we have Spanish los padres, French les parents and Italian i genitori. Parents and padres should be clear; for genitori, think of gene, generation and (the highfalutin word for parent) progenitor.

If you're going to have parents, you need children. Lat. infantes becomes Fr. les enfants (cf infants). In Italian, they're i bambini, the babies. In Sp. it's los niños. (I'm not sure of the origin; possibly it's the same as "ninny", an innocent.)

For children, you might have a son and daughter - Lat. filius et filia become It. figlio e figlia, Fr. fils (feess) et fille (feey), Sp. hijo y hija (and yes, even the Spanish is easily derived from the Latin if you know the sound change rules, see the "Sound Correspondences" page).

A son and daughter will, of course, be brother and sister - Lat. frater et soror become Fr. frère (just as pater becomes père) et soeur, It. fratello e sorella (which are diminuitive forms, i.e. "little bro' and little sis"). In Sp. it's hermano y hermana, from Lat. germanus - shared parentage (think of "germination").

Finally, in charge of this all, we have man and woman, husband and wife:

Lat. homo gives Sp. hombre, Fr. homme, It. uomo = man

From here it gets complicated:
woman: Lat. mulier (woman, wife) > Sp. mujer. Lat. domina (lady) > It. donna. Lat. femina (female) > Fr. femme.

husband: Lat. maritus (husband, cf marital) > It. marito, Fr. mari. Lat. sponsus (bridegroom, promised) > Sp. esposo.

wife: Lat. femina > Fr. femme. Lat. mulier > It. moglie. Lat. sponsa > Sp. esposa.

Whew! I hope you didn't actually learn all the vocabulary from reading that. But now you've got enough background that this will sink in more readily:

(English = Spanish, French, Italian)
man and woman = hombre y mujer, homme et femme, uomo e donna
husband and wife = esposo y esposa, mari et femme, marito e moglie
father and mother = padre y madre, père et mère, padre e madre
parents = los padres, les parents, i genitori
children = los niños, les enfants, i bambini
son and daughter = hijo y hija, fils et fille, figlio e figlia
brother and sister = hermano y hermana, frère et soeur, fratello e sorella

Sound Correspondences II

Following on from Sound Correspondences I, here are some more common correspondences within Spanish, French and Italian, along with the Latin from whence it all sprung. The Latin is again generally given in the ablative form for nouns and adjectives (used after prepositions, it's the form most commonly taken over from Latin).

English	(Latin)	Spanish	French	Italian
	pl-	ll-	pl-	pi-
full	pleno	lleno	plein	pieno
rain	pluvia	lluvia	pluie	pioggia
	cl-	ll-	cl-	chi-
call	clamor	llamar	clamer*	chiamare
key	clave	llave	clef	chiave

* clamer=to shout, like exclaim

"Can you describe the suspect? - Physical descriptions

A few words for describing people:

tall - Spanish grande, Italian grande, French grand
short - Sp bajo, It basso, Fr petit
fat - Sp gordo, It grasso, Fr gros
thin - Sp delgado, It magro, Fr mince
handsome - Sp guapo, It bello, Fr beau/belle
pretty - Sp bonito, It carino, Fr joli
ugly - Sp feo, It brutto, Fr laid

Notes:
Sp. bajo and It. basso work like Sp. rojo and It. rosso; bajo/basso are like abased, i.e. lowered or put down
Sp. gordo - think of a gourd; Fr. gros is like "gross negligeance" - very weighty!
It. magro - like meager; Fr. mince - mincing is chopping finely, to make little bits
Fr. beau/belle and It. bello are like a lady's beau, a gentleman's belle - beautiful
Sp. bonito - small goodness (Lat. bonus = good); It. carino = little dear (caro = sweet)

As adjectives, these have to agree in number and gender with the noun. They usually work by the usual rules, except Fr. beau/belle:

beautiful day(s): beau(x) jour(s)
beautiful night(s): belle(s) nuit(s)
and, just to confuse, if a masculine noun starts with a vowel:
handsome man: bel homme

For more on physical description, see the "Colors" and "Hair colors" items.

"Blue and yellow make green" - Colors

Here are some of the major colors in the Romance languages, with cognates listed below. Note that these are adjectives, so have to be made to agree with the noun they modify. A very small illustration of how this works appears at the end of the article. See the forthcoming "How do adjectives work?" part of "Grammar Bits" for more information.

black - Spanish negro, Italian nero, French noir
white - Sp blanco, It bianco, Fr blanc
gray - Sp gris, It grigio, Fr gris
red - Sp rojo, It rosso, Fr rouge
yellow - Sp amarillo, It giallo, Fr jaune
blue - Sp azul, It azzuro, Fr bleu
green - Sp verde, It verde, Fr vert
orange - Sp naranja*, It arancia*, Fr orange
purple - Sp morado, It porporeo, Fr pourpre/violet
pink - Sp rosado, It rosa*, Fr rose

Cognates/memory hints:
negro/nero/noir - Sp. is obvious, the bad emperor Nero, film noir
blanco/bianco/blanc is like a "blank" piece of paper
grigio - like pinot grigio
rouge - like makeup to redden the cheeks, i.e. blush
It. giallo is pronounced "jal-lo", not unlike "yellow"; Fr. jaune is like jaundice, which gives the skin a yellow cast
azul/azzuro are like the azure skies; bleu, from German blau, is like blue
verde/verde/vert are like verdant, which is not just green, but the green of plants that are alive; amazingly enough, they're from the same Indo-European source as virile
orange - all forms like the fruit; the Sp and It don't change forms, by the way
pink - all forms connected to roses, of the pink variety we must assume; It form doesn't change

As I mentioned above, these being adjectives, they change according to the number and gender of the noun they modify. Watch:

masculine singular (like "day"): black cat - gato negro, gatto nero, chat noir
masculine plural (like "days"): black cats - gatos negros, gatti neri, chats noirs
feminine singular (like "night"): black (female) cat - gata negra, gatta nera, chatte noire
feminine plural (like "nights"): black (female) cats - gatas negras, gatte nere, chattes noires

How Romance verbs work in English

Contrary to appearances, grammar rules don't exist to make life difficult for language learners. For native speakers of the languages, they provide a way to make distinctions in meaning that are important to that speech community. One of the trickiest parts of learning the Romance languages for English speakers is the matter of the verb. It seems like the different forms never end. For consolation English speakers should listen to a French, Spanish or Italian speaker trying out English. They'll hear things like "I go to the supermarket this afternoon." In English, we draw distinctions that make sense to us. In the Romance language, they draw different distinctions. What's worse, even when we make the same distinctions, we do it different ways. In this article, I'm going to show some of the distinctions English speakers make but using the terminology I use to explain Romance grammar. Most of the examples will make things transparent, but you should look at the articles on particular grammar points in Romance to find out more of the particulars.

All verbs draw at least two distinctions with regard to the action they express. For this reason, we'll start with a definition of each distinction, then look at all the combinations. Note that this is not intended to be anywhere close to all-inclusive. It only has the most important forms you'll need for the Romance languages.

1) Tense. When did an action happen? (past, present, future)

2) Aspect. How are we considering the action? (perfect - as a completed event, imperfect - as an ongoing process)

3) Mood. Is the action considered objectively, emotionally or judgmentally, or as a possibility?

a) Indicative - the speaker thinks he or she is offering an objective fact
b) Subjunctive - the speaker's feelings, judgments or doubts color the statement
c) Conditional - the action depends on special criteria

These are the three major distinctions we're going to draw here. Now let's look at the different combinations, with examples in English, so you can see what meanings are being given. After that, you can look at the specific articles for subjunctive, imperfect, etc. for more information. Note that we're focusing on the Romance languages, so this listing only has forms of importance for the Romance languages.

past perfect indicative: I went to the store. completed action or event

past imperfect indicative: I was going to the store. action in progress, not completed I would go to the store (every Tuesday). not perfect, because it doesn't mark the completion of a specific action, hence, imperfect

present indicative (no perfect/imperfect distinction): I go to the store (Tuesdays). I am going to the store (now). aspect not an issue because a completed action can't happen or be happening; it has happened

future indicative (no imperfect/perfect distinction): I will go/will be going to the store. in Romance, these are the same

Note that all indicative forms can go in main clauses. That is because the speaker has no need to qualify them. Not so with the subjunctive.

past perfect subjunctive: I was heartened/doubtful that he would have gone/had gone to the store.

past imperfect subjunctive: I was heartened/doubtful that he would be going/was going to the store.

present subjunctive (no perfect/imperfect distinction): I am heartened/doubtful that he would be/is going to the store.

future subjunctive: does not exist; uses present subjunctive or work-around construction

Two things to note about the subjunctive: 1) It's always in a dependent clause (sometimes implied, e.g. (We pray that) the king would live long! = Long live the king!). 2. The dependent clause is of a nature that the truthfulness, or desirability of the second part (in the subjunctive) is shaded by the speaker's thoughts and feelings.

The distinctions drawn by the subjunctive are tricky for English speakers because, as the examples show, there are ways of expressing the thoughts without using a form different from the indicative. Moreover, whatever purists' efforts to retain a subjunctive, the economizing tendencies of English (the language of a plain-speaking folk and immigrant populations just learning it, both of which simplify it wherever possible) will probably level the distinction out of existence altogether. Incidentally, the imperfect subjunctive, though still with us in Italian and Spanish, might as well be dead in French. You'll need to recognize it for reading literature, but even native French speakers don't bother to master it unless they're writers.

conditional (all tenses and aspects): If I had the time, I would go to the store. statement (in italics) dependent upon the veracity of the first clause.

For past conditional, you might have: If I had had the time, I would have gone to the store. I.e. there are the same workarounds for tense as in English.

As a rule, conditional clauses for if-clauses that set the conditions in the imperfect indicative.

Therefore:
Romance: If I was rich, I'd buy a big house.
Proper English: If I were rich, I'd buy a big house.
Increasingly standard English: If I was rich, I'd buy a big house.

The "were" in the proper English version is considered subjunctive. But some grammarians then give us this:

If I were rich, I would be happy.

and propose that both italicized forms are subjunctive. This is why you need to look at this guide, and not a guide to English grammar.

The confusion, by the way, stems from attempts to make English grammar fit the Latin definitions of Latin parts of speech. If you start reading about "counterfactuality" in grammar books in trying to understand the Romance subjunctive, you'll be lost. Let's reiterate the moods or modes one more time so you'll remember what's what. After that you can turn to individual articles on different grammar points.

Indicative: simple statements that the speaker believes are facts

Subjunctive: the author's feelings or judgments set the stage for the statement

Conditional: an if-clause sets terms under which the statement is true or false

If you're feeling confused... you must be learning a Romance language. Take heart and come back to the tips in our articles. In time you'll get the flavor and as you see the languages in action, you'll start having a-ha moments where my more bizarre or abstract statements suddenly make sense.

What is the subjunctive?

When we approach the Romance verb, things can seem complicated because what we usually convey with helper verbs plus a few stock forms they convey with a large battery of endings. A forthcoming article (it may already be up as you read this) called "Romance verbs in English" will show the richness of distinctions we can make and where they correspond to Romance forms.

One of the areas that troubles English speakers is the subjunctive, because the Romance languages have a special form and rules for where to use it, whereas we just throw in a "would" now and then if it feels right. When you get into the subjunctive, you get into the question of the mood, or mode, of the verb. When somebody says something, the mood of the verb is a tip-off as to what they think of what they're saying.

If they use the indicative - that's the form you usually use - they're not thinking about anything but the statement:

The sky sure is blue today!

Yup. Sure is.

No doubts, no confusions, no nuance.

The subjunctive conveys that a statement is nuanced, or shaded, by the speaker's feelings. Here are some ways that might happen: The speaker

• has an opinion. I think it's awful that he would do that.
• has an emotion. I'm really ticked that he would do that.
• has a desire. I really wish he would finish the project.
• has doubts. I don't think that old Joe would do that.

Here's the thing: When you use the indicative, the action is outside of you. You're just observing and reporting, at least as far as you're concerned. But when you use the subjunctive, you're acknowledging that part of the story is what's going through your mind about what you're talking about. It may be how you feel about what you think is true; it may be that you feel something 'taint so. The big thing is you're no longer just looking out and saying, "First this happened, then that happened..." With clues like, "I wish," "I'm angry that," "I don't believe," you're cluing the listener in that this isn't objective reporting, it's you reacting, responding, judging.

So far, I don't think this is too unclear except for the question, what's all this "use the subjunctive" stuff about? In the Romance languages, they aren't content to use those, "It makes me upset that you..." clues. They also use a different verb form in the "that..." clause to make it clear that they are aware, in their own minds, that they're no longer talking about plain, undisputed fact, that they want to nuance what they're saying (or at least that their grammar wants them to). We're going to look at a few examples in French (with English translation) so you can see what this means:

Je suis content que vous étiez venu. I'm happy that you came (would have come).

Il est peu probable qu'il finisse. It's hardly probable that he'll finish (would finish).

Elle est furieuse que Jean ait fait ça. She is furious that John did that (would have done that).

In each case, I've give the "would..." construction in parentheses to mark which bit became subjunctive.

There are other places the Romance languages use the subjunctive (He left before the sun would have risen - because you can only think of the sun rising in your mind before it actually does so!), but here's a general rule:

If the action is out there, and you're just reporting it, it's indicative.

If you're reacting, responding or judging (or what's going on is otherwise filtered by your thoughts and imagination, not merely witnesses and relayed), it's subjunctive.

What is the imperfect?

When something is "perfect," that means it's "all done".

Latin per = through, throughout (perspective is "seeing through something")

Latin factum = a thing done (as opposed to a thing not done, which is why it's a fact)

The imperfect, by contrast, is something that is "not all done".

In the world of grammar, we refer to this perfect/imperfect question as "aspect" - the way you're looking at things.

In the "perfect aspect" a thing has happened, beginning, middle and end all rolled in together - done through from start to finish: I lived in Paris.

In the "imperfect aspect," things happen as part of an unfolding process. You aren't looking at the result, you're looking at the stuff in the middle: I was walking down the street.

In the Romance languages, the "imperfect" is used to talk about things that "were happening" and things that "would be done":

When I was getting dressed, I kept thinking about my meeting later than morning. - Imperfect because you're not looking at dressing and thinking as completed actions, but as things that were happening at a certain time.

Every Tuesday, we would go to the candy shop. - Imperfect because you're not looking at a trip to the candy shop as a completed action, but as a thing happening as part of life's routine.

In the Romance languages, the "imperfect" is usually used with thoughts and emotions because they aren't discrete actions, but sensations going through the brain without definite beginnings and endings. Background details, like the weather or traffic conditions, are also often in the imperfect because they refer to ongoing situations that provide context, not completed actions.

The imperfect often presents a challenge to Romance language learners, but if you're just looking for decent test scores, it doesn't hurt to start by putting everything that could be "was -ing" or "were -ing" (was talking, were eating, was thinking, etc) in the imperfect. Look at the short paragraph below and think about what I've said about the imperfect.

When I was a child, we would go to the candy shop every Tuesday. I always wanted Tootsie Rolls, but my brother preferred the suckers. As I was walking down the street last Tuesday, I noticed the old candy shop. Now it was a music store. I went in and bought a jazz album. I put it in the CD player last night, and as I listened, I thought of the old days. I turned the CD off. It was pretty good, but what I really wanted was a Tootsie Roll.

Now, keeping in mind what I've said about "was -ing" and "were -ing," background, thoughts and emotions, look at the paragraph again, but with a little rephrasing. I've italicized the parts that would be in the imperfect in French and, for the most part, in Spanish and Italian as well.

When I was a child, we would go to the candy shop every Tuesday. I would always want Tootsie Rolls, but my brother would prefer the suckers. As I was walking down the street last Tuesday, I noticed the old candy shop. Now it was a music store. I went in and bought a jazz album. I put it in the CD player last night, and as I was listening, I was thinking of the old days. I turned the CD off. It was pretty good, but what I really was wanting was a Tootsie Roll.

You now have a little text to show where the perfect and imperfect are used, along with a few guidelines. From here, learning depends mostly on being around the language enough - either through reading or talking to people - that you can get a feel for what is one part rules, one part sensibilities. This is, after all, aspect, a matter of how you look at things, and learning to see things through Spanish, French or Italian eyes requires getting comfortable not only with the language but with the culture as well.

Sound Correspondences I

In a way, the Romance languages are all mispronounced Latin. Comparing the Romance languages, then, is looking at the different ways they mispronounced it. Historical linguists and phoneticists spend hours, even days and months, poring over charts showing where these sound changes came from and how they operate. Aren't you glad you're not them? If you are, here's a quick and dirty look at what arises from all their hard work - a cheat sheet for guessing / jogging your memory when you remember a word in one language but not another:

English	(Latin)	Spanish	French	Italian
	-ct-	-ch-	-it	-tt
milk	lacte	leche	lait	latte
eight	octo	ocho	huit	otto
	f-	h-	f-	f-
fact	facto	hecho	fait	fatto
hunger	fame	hambre	faim	fame
	-li-	-j-	-ill-	-gl-
leaf	folia	hoja	feuille	foglia
daughter	filia	hija	fille	figlia
	c-	c-	ch-	c-
horse	caballo	caballo	cheval	cavallo
	c-	g-	ch-	g-
cat	catto	gato	chat	gato
	st-	est-	ét-	st-
narrow	stricto	estrecho	étroit	stretto
student	studente	estudiante	étudiant	studente

Bear in mind that this table does not show laws, but tendencies. Knowing it will not allow you to learn one language and automatically know the vocabulary for the other two. But a familiarity with it will help you connect words that might otherwise seem unrelated, making your learning easier and making the different languages seem... not so different. There will be more tables like this to come. Many more. If you were to try to memorize them all, you'd go mad. But if you read through now and again, letting the connections sink in, you'll find the task of learning three languages much easier.

Note that this table usually shows the ablative form of the Latin word, be it classical or late Latin. This is not the form you find in dictionaries but it was the most commonly used form, which is why so many Spanish and Italian words end in -o, -a or -e. As for French endings - and even the vowels in the middle - there's not much to be said except that the French mumble unless they're speaking forcefully, which leads to a slurring of vowels with all sorts of bothersome consequences for the language student. We'll talk about dealing with this in later "Sound Correspondences" lessons.

"Tell me more about it...." - More adjectives of size

English	Spanish	French	Italian
spacious	amplio	spacieux	spazioso
cramped	*	à l'étroit	estretto
thick	espeso	épais	spesso
thin	fino	fin	fine
heavy	pesado	pesant	pesante
light	ligero	léger	leggero

Notes:
* for rooms, use pequeño (little). No other good equivalent.
Sp. amplio like Eng. "ample". Other words for "spacious" should pose no problem.
Fr. à l'étroit and It. estretto (cramped) are much like étroit and stretto, both meaning narrow.
No obvious cognate for words for "thick," but they are all similar.
Words for "thin" are all like "fine".
The stem, "pes-" refers to "weight" in the Romance languages. Think of the Spanish peso, their equivalent of the British pound.
The words for "light" (of weight) are all similar. Legerdemain - lightness of the hand - is a fancy term for sleight of hand, the magician's method of pulling off card tricks.

"Is it bigger than a breadbox?" - Adjectives of size

English	Spanish	French	Italian
big	grande	grand	grande
little	pequeño	petit	piccolo
long	largo	long	lungo
short	corto	court	corto
wide	vasto	vaste	largo
narrow	estreccho	étroit	stretto

Notes:
The words for big are like "grand".
Fr. petit is like a "petite" size; this is the source for Eng. "petty".
Sp. largo="long"; It. largo="wide".
You might think of "short" as cut short.
Compare: noche / nuit / notte and estrecho / étroit / stretto.