the "&"-sign
Is "&" used in Spanish, or is there another symbol for "and" that is used?
6 Answers
Yes, it is used. No, there isn't any other, besides "y"
Juan y María
Satraño & Jones (especially used for company names)
Speaking of this & and "y", - and with regard to whether or not there is another, well, not "symbol", but another way to say the English "and", it sometimes sounds to me that I hear an "e" where I might be expecting a "y" in my audio "grabaciones". Because I know that "e" does indeed mean "and" in Italian, I am curious. Am I hearing right? Can that be? That there is also one other, the "e" ?
Oh that is very helpful, Quentin, although now I am perturbed that I sometimes think I am hearing an "e" when I probably ought to be hearing the "y" :-(
Wel, my ears are still in training. Is there hope? It is tough, I can tell you. I even played some of my "Pepe Carvahlo" ...supposedly level B1, for my daughter and she found it not so without problems to understand, too.
On example: I hear pómulo as pómbulo. That "m" just won't enter my head without dragging along the "b"! and that is after I finally reverse engineered what I knew must have something to do with cheeks when I coudn't find "bómbulo" in any dictionary. Yikes...slow going.
So thank you for a helpful nudge along the path.
You write that this is a "pronunciation" rule.
By pronunciation rule I meant that the rule exists to facilitate pronouncing something correctly. The "e" in place of the "y" is used in writing as well as speaking. The rule only exist to avoid having two "ee" sounds following one another and being run-on or one omitted, rather that trying to resolve some grammar or writing problem.
Juan y Maria (typically the "and" is "y")
The instance that most students first encounter is with the word "inglés".
Puedo hablar español e inglés. (That may be a bad example because the "inglés" may require "el" before it, since it is separated from "hablar", but that is where I commonly see the "e" used.)
mismo e igual a
interesante e importortante
However, if the word beginning with i or hi does not have the sound of the conjunction "y" then "y" is used for the "and"
nieve y hielo
cobre y hierro
arbustos y hierba
Thank you, Quentin. You write that this is a "pronunciation" rule. Does one write "y" and say "e" or does one also write the "e" in those cases.
Also, would you be so kind as to write out a few examples for me. I want to then compare with a couple of little 30 second clips I recorded in which I hear this "e".
Am I hearing right?
Switching the "y" to "e" before words beginning with "i" or "hi" and have the sound of the conjunction "y" is another of those pronunciation rules for Spanish (like le lo to se lo or la agua to el agua)
In English I think the & is an "ampersand".
