Question for the natives...

Question

Hoy en día, oradores fluidos de inglés les gusta "combinar" palabras para hacerlas mas cortas y para hacerlas más fáciles a decir.

Por eijemplo:

"I am going to...." cambia a "I'm gonna..."

"I want to.." cambia a "I wanna..."

"I have to..." cambia a "I have'ta...."

"I have got to.." cambia a "I gotta.."

Me preguntaba si hay algo así en Español cuando se combinan las palabras para hacerlas más cortas o mas fáciles para decir?

Answer 1

Spanish run the words together I think rather than shorten them like muchas gracias sounds like mucha gracias as they swallow te S

The technical name for what's happening here is elision — the omission of sounds as words are combined into phrases and sentences. As common as it is in English to run words together, it is even more common in Spanish. In normal conversation, there is no way to tell the difference between deste and de este, nor between el lado and helado, nor between ha abierto and abierto, nor between he visto un peso and evistoumpeso. That's probably the main factor that makes understanding conversation so difficult for some learners, even for those who can read with near fluency

however I have heard in benidorm people say cansao instead of cansado and I think this is the case with many words ending in ado

not sure if this helps

That is the case in the country where I come from, only in the Atlantic coast, but the whole nation mocks them because of it. Regarding the ..ado, if you are native, you still pronouce the "ado" but it is a soft - farallon7, Feb 21, 2012

Well, the omission of "S", the use of "deste" and the thing with "-ado" occurs only in Caribbean countries. - JuanPabloW, Feb 21, 2012

Yes, you are right! But still it is not a common practise in most South and Central America - farallon7, Feb 21, 2012

Yes, that's my point. It's not common, normal nor correct in South & Central America. - JuanPabloW, Feb 21, 2012

Thanks Warren, I have, however, heard of some Spanish Speakers "dropping" the S in Estar, it comes out more so a "eh-toy" sound. Am I right? - BradyLabuda, Feb 21, 2012

es verdad brady - warrenmarshall, Feb 22, 2012

I happens in few places, like Caribbean countries or Chile. But it sounds annoying. - JuanPabloW, Feb 22, 2012

"Well, the omission of "S", the use of "deste" and the thing with "-ado" occurs only in Caribbean countries" Not true. Have you ever been to Andalusia or Las Canarias? And plenty of other people in various parts of Spain do that. - FigueroaGaray33, Mar 4, 2012

Losing the final "s" is very common in South America too. - ian-hill, Nov 18, 2013

Answer 2

Well, in Spanish, combinations can occur constantly but they're not considered formal nor they are registered in a dictionary.

In speaking:

It always happens when you're speaking fast and specially when the previous word ends in a vowel and the next one starts with a vowel too; or when the previous one ends in "y". However, they're always written normally.

In writing, there are at least 3 words that native speakers often write them together, but they're considered incorrect.

• 'O sea' is usually written "osea".

• 'Ni siquiera' is usually written "nisiquiera".

• 'De repente' is usually written "derrepente"

I can think of 2 words that are really accepted as combination.

Eg:

• Correveidile: A word which comes from "corre, ve y dile" (run, go and tell him). Used to call someone who is "chismoso" or brings and takes little stories (or gossip).

• Tarúpido: A word which means "tarado" y "estúpido". Used to call someone who is both things.

Moreover, some people say "anteayer" instead of "antes de ayer" (the day before yesterday); some people say "enantes" (being "en" + "antes") instead of "hace un rato/momento" (a while ago) and I think they're valid too.

Grief! I didn't even know that anteayer was short for antes de ayer. I thought it was good Spanish! - Pinolero, Feb 21, 2012

"Antes de ayer" and "anteayer" are both correct. I always use "antes de ayer", the usage of the short one is not necessary and it's usually employed for the ones who already got used to say it. - JuanPabloW, Feb 22, 2012

Answer 3

I think every country has some of these situations where they swallow some lettters or even change the sound of an s for a J, (Que vas a hacer = ¿Que vaj hacer?). Still, that is street language, but if you are preaching or speaking in a conference or class, that is absolutely incorrect and of bad tasteYou will loose some credibility!

Amen, amen! - Pinolero, Feb 21, 2012

They change the "S" for a "J" mainly in Venezuela; but there are cases in the Caribbean countries too. - JuanPabloW, Feb 21, 2012

Yes, a lot of Caribbean countries do that! - farallon7, Feb 22, 2012

Answer 4

Español no es mi primer idioma, pero si me permite... Aquí en Nicaragua algotro es muy usado para algún otro. Ex. ¿Te gusta cantar algotro canto?

Sounds weird, maybe it's local slang. - JuanPabloW, Feb 21, 2012

Answer 5

There is a lot of this.

Answer 6

pa' ca = para acá

also for para alla - Rey_Mysterio, Nov 18, 2013

Answer 7

También existe un fenómeno llamado 'apocopamiento' o la caída de la última sílaba de la palabra. Por ejemplo: Santo > San. En español (no hay necesidad de escribirlo en mayúscula ) coloquial, también se podía dar en otros casos como: 'Vamos para el campo' > 'Vamos pa'l campo' Generalmente, este último efecto no es muy bien visto por los habitantes urbanos, ya que demuestra baja educación.