Explore Taino Artifacts in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to explore Taino artifacts in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• talk about Taino culture

• discuss anthropological topics

• use the passive voice and passive se

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjectives

Spanish	English
protector	protective
religioso	religious
rupestre	rock
sagrado	sacred
taíno	Taino

examples
Se usaron guaízas como amuletos protectores. Guaizas were used as protective amulets.
Se consideraban símbolos religiosos. They were considered religious symbols.
Se narraron historias a través del arte rupestre. Stories were told through rock art.

Adverb Phrase

Spanish	English
a mano	by hand

examples
Se tallaban las canoas a mano. Canoes were carved by hand.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el amuleto	amulet
el barro	clay, mud
el batú	batey
el bohío	bohio
el cacique, la cacica	chief
el caracol	seashell, snail
el cemí	zemi
el conuco	conuco
la cuenta	bead
la deidad	deity
el dujo	duho
el estatus	status
la fibra	fiber
la figura	figure
el guaíza	guaiza
la hamaca	hammock
el ídolo	idol
la joyería	jewelry
la lanza	spear
la nasa	fish trap
el utensilio	utensil

examples
Se usaron guaízas como amuletos protectores. Guaizas were used as protective amulets.
Se crearon utensilios de barro para cocinar. Clay utensils were created for cooking.
Los dujos fueron esculpidos para caciques. Duhos were carved for chiefs.

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
el Caribe	the Caribbean
el instrumento musical	musical instrument

examples
Los artefactos taínos fueron encontrados en el Caribe. Taino artifacts were found in the Caribbean.
Se fabricaron instrumentos musicales con calabazas. Musical instruments were made from gourds.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Spanish Infinitive	English	Past Participle
cazar	to hunt	cazado
confeccionar	to make	confeccionado
esculpir	to carve	esculpido
fabricar	to make	fabricado
venerar	to revere	venerado

The Passive Voice and the Passive Se in Spanish

• In sentences written in the active voice, the doer of an action is the subject.

• In sentences written in the passive voice, the receiver of an action is the subject.

In Spanish, the passive voice is generally used to talk about a person or object without making mention of whoever or whatever is performing the action on that person or object.

There are two ways of using the passive voice in Spanish: passive se constructions and—like in English—passives with ser(to be).

Passive se constructions are one way of using the passive voice in Spanish. Only transitive verbs (verbs that require a direct object) are used in passive se constructions.

Passive Voice Formula

In sentences in passive voice, the receiver of an action gets moved to the subject position. This is often done to move the focus from the doer to whatever it is that was done.

The following formulas are used to create the passive voice:

1. The Passive With Ser

The passive with ser is:

• ser + past participle (+ por[by] + agent)

Note that, like in English passives, we can mention who performed the action. To do so, we use the structure por + agent after the past participle.

For example:

examples
Los petroglifos fueron grabados en rocas. Petroglyphs were engraved in rocks.
Las cerámicas fueron decoradas con símbolos. Pottery was decorated with symbols.

Gender and Number Agreement

The past participle in passive sentences must agree in gender and number with the subject of the passive sentence.

examples
Los petroglifos fueron grabados en rocas. Petroglyphs were engraved in rocks.
Las cerámicas fueron decoradas con símbolos. Pottery was decorated with symbols.

2. Passive Se Formula

The passive se is always formed using the third person singular or plural of a verb. If whatever you're talking about is singular, the verb is singular; if whatever you're talking about is plural, the verb is plural:

• se + third person (singular/plural) verb + (singular/plural) noun

For example:

examples
Se realizaban ofrendas en cuevas sagradas. Offerings were made in sacred caves.
Se valoraban mucho las joyas en la cultura taína. Jewels were greatly valued in Taino culture.

You can learn more about the passive voice and passive se in these articles:

• Active vs. Passive Voice

• Passive "Se" in Spanish

Translation Alert

Note that both the passive voice and passive se are translated into English using the English passive voice. For example:

examples
Se realizaban ofrendas en cuevas sagradas. Offerings were made in sacred caves.
Ofrendas eran realizadas en cuevas sagradas. Offerings were made in sacred caves.
Se tallaron bancos ceremoniales con figuras. Ceremonial benches with figures were carved.
Bancos ceremoniales con figuras fueron tallados. Ceremonial benches with figures were carved.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Zulma:

Acabo de volver de Puerto Rico, Jorge.

I just got back from Puerto Rico, Jorge.

Jorge:

¡Sí! Vi tus fotos. Me gustaría saber más sobre los artefactos taínos.

Yeah! I saw your photos. I'd like to know more about Taino artifacts.

Zulma:

Los artefactos taínos fueron encontrados en el Caribe. Se tallaron ídolos de piedra cuidadosamente.

Taino artifacts were found in the Caribbean. Stone idols were carefully carved.

Jorge:

¿Los cemís?

The zemis?

Zulma:

Sí. Los cemís fueron venerados como deidades.

Yes. Zemis were revered as deities.

Jorge:

He leído que se fabricaron instrumentos musicales con calabazas. ¿Es verdad?

I read that musical instruments were made from gourds. Is that true?

Want to learn more about how to explore Taino artifacts in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Caribbean Spanish

• Spanish Words of Taino Origin

• Spanish Words of Mayan Origin