¡Hola! ¡Bienvenido/a de nuevo!
In our last lesson, we learned a very powerful pattern: how Spanish nouns ending in -ción become English nouns ending in -tion. We also focused on the crucial shift in pronunciation and word stress, like changing na-CIÓN to NA-tion.
Today, we will build on that knowledge by learning another extremely common and useful pattern for nouns. Our goal is to convert Spanish nouns ending in -dad/-tad to English -ty and practice the English pronunciation (e.g., universidad -> university). Just like the last pattern, this one will unlock a large number of English words for you instantly.
From -dad/-tad to -ty: The Basic Rule
The pattern is very straightforward. Spanish nouns that end in the suffixes -dad or -tad almost always have a direct English cognate that ends in -ty.
Let's look at a few examples:
- universidad → university
- cidad → city
- libertad → liberty
To start, let's watch a very short video that introduces this simple conversion.
EL ESPAÑOL ES INGLÉS: palabras cognadas entre inglés y español
The channel 'Inglés con el Güero' provides a quick and clear explanation of this pattern. Notice how he explains that '-dad' becomes '-ty'.
Watch the segment from 06:52 to 07:29. He introduces the rule and gives a couple of clear examples.
The Two Keys to Pronunciation: Sound and Stress
As we saw in our last lesson, spelling is only half the story. To truly master these words, we need to focus on pronunciation. There are two very important rules for words ending in -ty.
1. The Sound of -ty in English
In many English accents, especially American English, the 't' sound in -ty is not a hard 't'. Instead, it becomes a "flap t," which sounds very similar to a soft 'd' in Spanish.
So, the ending -ty often sounds more like "dy" or "dee".
- university is pronounced "u-ni-VER-si-dee"
- activity is pronounced "ac-TIV-i-dee"
This is a key difference from Spanish, where the 'd' in -dad is much softer or even silent at the end of a word.
2. The Stress Pattern (la sílaba tónica)
Just like with -tion words, the stress moves in a predictable way. For English words ending in -ty that have three or more syllables, there's a simple rule.
The website EnglishClub explains a very useful rule for word stress. We will use it to predict where the stress goes in our new words.
Find the section titled 'D. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable'. Read the first rule listed there, for words ending in '-cy, -ty, -phy and -gy'. Notice the examples like 'deMOcracy' and 'dependaBIlity'.
As the article shows, the rule is: stress is placed on the third syllable from the end (the ante-penultimate syllable).
Let's see this in action:
-
universidad (stress is on the last syllable: da-da-da-DA)
-
u-ni-VER-si-ty (stress is on the third syllable from the end: da-da-DA-da-da)
-
posibilidad (po-si-bi-li-DAD)
-
pos-si-BIL-i-ty (da-da-DA-da-da)
This pattern of the stress moving "back" from the end of the word is very common and a fantastic shortcut for pronunciation.
Let's Practice: Listening to the Pattern
Now it's time to listen to many examples to get used to the sound and rhythm of these words. The following video gives a long list of words that follow this pattern.
¡YA SABES INGLÉS! | 250 COGNADOS entre INGLÉS y ESPAÑOL | Superholly
The presenter, Superholly, provides a huge list of '-dad' to '-ty' cognates. She is a native speaker of both Spanish and English, and she explains the American English pronunciation of '-ty' very well.
Watch the section from 03:56 to 07:13. As she lists the words, pay close attention to: The '-ty' ending sounding like '-dy'. The stress falling on the third syllable from the end. Try to repeat the English words after her to practice your own pronunciation.
To reinforce what you just heard, here is a table of common examples. I have capitalized the stressed syllable in the English word to help you see the pattern.
| Spanish | English | Stress Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| actividad | acTIVity | ac-TIV-i-ty |
| capacidad | caPACity | ca-PAC-i-ty |
| comunidad | comMUNity | com-MUN-i-ty |
| dificultad | DIFficulty | DIF-fi-cul-ty |
| electricidad | e-lec-TRICity | e-lec-TRIC-i-ty |
| posibilidad | pos-si-BILity | pos-si-BIL-i-ty |
| universidad | u-ni-VERsity | u-ni-VER-si-ty |
For a more comprehensive list you can refer to later, the following guide is a great resource.
An epic guide to Spanish cognates
This guide from Berlitz contains a long table of words that follow this pattern. It is presented from English to Spanish, but it's perfect for you to practice going from Spanish to English.
Find the section with the heading 'Words that end in “ity” change to “idad”'. Scan the table and practice converting the Spanish words in the right column to the English words in the left column. Notice how many words you now recognize!
Test your understanding!
For each Spanish word below, convert it to English and identify the stressed syllable using capital letters (e.g., u-ni-VER-si-ty).
- curiosidad
- seguridad
- nacionalidad
Show answer
- cu-ri-OS-ity: The English word is curiosity.
- se-CU-rity: The English word is security.
- na-tion-AL-ity: The English word is nationality.
Conclusion
Fantastic work! You have now learned a second major pattern for converting Spanish nouns into English. By recognizing that -dad and -tad become -ty, and by mastering the pronunciation rules, you have added another powerful tool to your vocabulary-building kit.
Key Takeaways:
- Spanish nouns ending in -dad or -tad often become English nouns ending in -ty.
- In American English, the
-tyending often sounds like "dy" or "dee". - The stress in these words is usually on the third syllable from the end (e.g., u-ni-VER-si-ty).
In our next lesson, we will continue with noun cognates by looking at a shorter, but still very useful, pattern: how Spanish words ending in -ia (like historia) change in English. Keep practicing the pronunciation of -tion and -ty words, and you'll be amazed at how much your reading comprehension improves.