# The &kverbos; Handbook

Arnold Kraschinski

    &Arnold.Kraschinski.mail;

2001 2002 &Arnold.Kraschinski;
&FDLNotice;
2002-05-23
3.0.8

&kverbos; is an application specially designed to study Spanish verbforms.

KDE kdeutils Kapp verb spanish

## Introduction

With &kverbos; the user can learn the forms of Spanish verbs. The program suggests a verb and a time and the user enters the different forms. The program corrects the user input an gives a feedback. The user can edit the list of the verbs that can be studied. The program can built regular verb forms by itself. Irregular verb forms have to be entered by the user. If a form of a verb is uncertain then the internet offers good sources: http://csgrs6k1.uwaterloo.ca/~dmg/lando/verbos/con-jugador.html

The most interesting feature in the recent release is the use of &kfeeder;. This is a separate program that the user has to install separately if he wants to use it. If it is installed then the learning progress will be shown in the &kfeeder; application. A dog is running around and will be fed with bones if you are a good learner. Otherwise he will be lying around most of the time.

## Using &kverbos;

Here's a screenshot of &kverbos;
This window can be seen when the user starts the program.

When the user starts the program he can see this window. This is the main window of the application where the user can train verb forms. At the moment no verb file is loaded. So the program cannot suggest a verb. First the user has to open a file either with the menu File Open or with the menubar or he has to enter some verbs with Edit Enternew verb.

Here's a screenshot of &kverbos; with a loaded verb file
Here you see the main window with a loaded verb file.

Once the user has opened a file with verbs the program suggests one of them and a time. The user can type the solution into the textboxes.

  This button wipes out all user input.

  The user can test his input with this button. Incorrect forms will be underlined. Then the user has the chance to do it better and correct the forms another time. If one of the forms wasn't correct the verb cannot be counted as correct anymore.

  If the user wants to see the solution he can use show solution. Then the correct solution is displayed in the editboxes. If the user uses this button the verb cannot be counted as correct anymore.

  The last button in this row can have two functions.

  If the user presses this button and the verb forms haven't been corrected yet the button behaves like the 'corregir' button. The verb forms are corrected and the user can see if his input was correct. If the user wants to go on he has to press the button again.

  If the button is pressed and the verbs already have been corrected the program goes on to the next verb. That means another verb is selected and presented to the user.

A second line of buttons allows the user enter special spanish characters which probably cannot be entered by keyboard.

In the status bar of the program the user gets information about his work. He can see how many verbs he has trained and how many of them have been correct. He can see how many verbs are stored in the opened file and which username has been entered, too.

The progress bar is another feedback for the user. He can see his correct answers as a percentage of trained verbs.

## Command Reference

### The main &kverbos; window

Here's a screenshot of &kverbos; with a loaded verb file

Here you see the main window with a loaded verb file.

#### The File Menu

&Ctrl;N File New

  Creates a new document. That means that the verbs in the actual list are deleted. The number of verbs is set to 0.

&Ctrl;O File Open

  Opens a verb file. The file dialog opens and the user can select one of the verb files. The user has to make sure, that it is a verb file. There isn't a default verb file that comes with the program. The user has to enter his own verbs or he has to download a verb file from the &kverbos; website.

File Open Standard Verb File

  Opens a verb file that is delivered with &kverbos;. The user can use this file if he doesn't want to enter his own verbs.

&Ctrl;S File Save

  Saves the document. The file name dialog opens and the user can choose a name for the verb file. If the file name end with `.htm` or `.html` the verb list is saved as a &HTML; file.

File Save As

  Saves the document. The file name dialog opens and the user can choose a name for the verb file. If the file name end with `.htm` or `.html` the verb list is saved as a &HTML; file.

&Ctrl;W File Close

  Terminates the program.

File New Window

  Starts a new instance of the program.

&Ctrl;Q File Quit

  Quits &kverbos;

#### The Edit Menu

Edit Enter new verb

  Opens the dialog new verbs where you can add new verbs to the verb list. This dialog is described in another chapter of this documentation.

Edit Edit verblist

  Opens a dialog with a list of all the verbs that are in the actual verb list. You can edit this verb list. This dialog is described in another chapter of this documentation.

#### The User Menu

User username

  Opens a small dialog where you can enter your username.

User results

  Opens a dialog where a user can see the number of training sessions he has done with the program and the latest ten results.

#### The Settings Menu

Settings Show toolbar

  The user can decide whether he wants to see the toolbar or not. He can set it here.

Settings Show statusbar

  The user can decide whether he wants to see the status bar or not. In the status bar are shown information like the number of trained verbs and the user name.

Settings options

  Opens a dialog where a user can select the times he wants to train and the correction mode. More details see the chapter about this dialog.

#### The Help Menu

&help.menu.documentation;

### The New Verb Dialog

Here's a screenshot of the New Verb dialog
Here you can see the new verb dialog where the user can enter new verbs.

Use this dialog if you want to make your own verb list or if you want to append some new verbs to an existing verb list. Here you can enter the infinitive of the spanish verb and its meaning in a foreign language. Important is, that you tell the program if it is a regular verb or one of the spanish group verbs or an irregular one. If it is irregular you have to enter the irregular forms, too. Be careful with this dialog and the verb forms you enter because the program uses this data to generate forms automatically.

  Some of the Edit boxes where you can enter the verb information. There are similar Edit Boxes for the gerund and participle form and all the other forms if needed.

  With this Combo Box you select which type of verb you have entered. Do this carfully because it is important information for the program to do its work properly.

  The Spanish language knows three types of regular conjugation. These are the conjugation pattern for the verbs ending on -er, -ar, and -ir. A lot of verbs are not regular in all forms but they aren't completely irregular. This verbs are called group verbs and can be divided in several groups. The program can generate the forms for the regular verbs and the ones for the group verbs itself. It only needs the information to which group the verb belongs. Other verbs are irregular and the irregular forms have to be entered. Select the group in the Combo Box.

  regular

    Chose this if it is a completely regular verb of one of the patterns -ar, -er or -ir.

  irregular

    Select this if the verbs doesn't belong to one of the groups described below. The Tab View will be activated and you can enter all the irregular forms.

  e > ie

    Chose this for stem changing verbs where the e in the stem changes to ie.

  o > ue

    Chose this for stem changing verbs where the o in the stem changes to ue.

  u > ue

    Chose this for stem changing verbs where the u in the stem changes to ue.

  e > i

    Chose this for stem changing verbs where the e in the stem changes to i.

  c > qu

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If a c comes before an e the c changes to qu. Examples: colocar, atacar

  g > gu

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If a g comes before an e the g changes to gu. Example: pagar

  z > c

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If a z comes before an e the z changes to c. Examples: cazar, alzar

  gu > gu

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If a gu comes before an e the gu changes to gu. Example: averiguar

  c > z

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If a c comes before an o or a the c changes to z. Examples: vencer, zurcir

  g > j

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If a g comes before an o or a the g changes to j. Examples: coger, dirigir

  gu > g

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If gu comes before an o or a the gu changes to g. Example: distinguir

  qu > c

    A verb with orthografic irregularity. If qu comes before an o or a the qu changes to c. Example: delinquir

  accent like enviar

    A verb where the accent changes in some forms. Example: enviar

  accent like continuar

    A verb where the accent changes in some forms. Example: continuar

  missing i

    Some verbs lose the instressed i in some forms. Examples: taner, grunir, bullir

  If you enter an irregular verb the tab view will be activated and you can select the tab with the irregular forms.

  You have entered some incorrect information and want to delete them. With this button you can wipe out the data in the Edit box of one single tab.

  This buttons insert the displayed spanish characters to the Edit box that has the focus. Often these characters cannot be entered with the keyboard.

  You want to wipe out all information in all Edit Boxes on all tabs. Then use this button.

  Selects the verb before the actual verb in the verb list into the dialog. You can read an change the information for this verb. If the actual verb is the first one then the last one is loaded into the dialog.

  Selects the verb behind the actual verb in the verb list into the dialog. You can read an change the information for this verb. If the actual verb is the last one then the first one is loaded.

  Closes the dialog and returns to the main program or the Edit Verblist Dialog depending from where the dialog was opened.

### The Edit Verblist Dialog

Here's a screenshot of the Edit Verblist dialog

Here you can see the Edit verblist dialog where the user can edit the list of the verbs.

In the list view of this dialog you can see all the verbs of the opened verb file. If there aren't any verbs in the file or if there isn't a file open the list view will be empty. You can select a verb from the list and edit this verb or you select and delete one of them.

  This button deletes the selected verb from the list of verbs.

  With this button you can leave the dialog. All changes that have been made until this moment will not affect the verb list of the main program. That means that the list of the main program will be unchanged.

  The selected verb will be edited. The new verb dialog opens and the selected verb is loaded to the edit boxes. You can make your changes. If you make a double click on a verb this has the same effect than this button.

  With this button you can close the dialog. The changes that have been made are stored in the verb list of the main program.

### The Username Dialog

Here's a screenshot of the Username Dialog
Here you can see the Username Dialog where the user can enter his name.

Enter your name here. The name is set as the new username of the program. It will be displayed in the programs status bar. Use the OK Button to confirm your input. The Cancel button leaves the user name unchanged.

The program will store some information about your learning progress. The number of training sessions, the result of the last ten sessions and lists with the verbs that you entered right or wrong recently.

You can have a look at this information in the User Results dialog.

### The User Result Dialog

Here's a screenshot of the User Result Dialog
Here you can see the User Result Dialog where the user can see his results.

In this dialog you can see the information that the program stores about you under your username. On the left you can see the results of the latest ten sessions and on the right are lists with the word that you entered right or wrong recently. A verb remains in the list of the right verbs for some time then it changes to the status unlearned again. The verbs that are in the wrong list will appear more frequently. They stay in the list until you enter them correctly. Then they will return to the list of the unlearned verbs.

### The Settings Options Dialog

Here's a screenshot of the Settings Options Dialog
Here you can see the Settings Options Dialog where the user can change some options of the program.

In this dialog you can select the tenses that should be trained. So if you want to study a specific tense or if you haven't learned how to build the forms of a specific tense yet so you can select or deselect the tenses here. Your selection is stored to the properties file of the program.

You can select a correction mode too. If you select correct strictly then every missing accent is regarded as an error. You can make it easier with ignore accent then a missing accent isn't an error.

At last you can control the use of &kfeeder; if this application is installed. You can decide if the learning results will be shown with &kfeeder;, if the splash screen can be seen when the program is starting and what type of food animations are used. The last points needs a further explanation. &kfeeder; displays an animal that is running around. When you enter a correct solution your points will be send to &kfeeder;. The dog gets bones for each point. If you chose move food automatically then the bones move down from the ceiling and one point is one bone. Otherwise every point is only a move for a bone. So you will need more points until the dog can reach the bone. Really the option move food automatically is more interesting.

## Developer's Guide to &kverbos;

At the moment it is not possible to program any plugins for &kverbos;.

## Questions and Answers

&reporting.bugs; &updating.documentation;

Until now nobody had a question that could be answered here.

## Credits and License

&kverbos;

Program Copyright 2002 &Arnold.Kraschinski; &Arnold.Kraschinski.mail;

Documentation Copyright 2002 &Arnold.Kraschinski; &Arnold.Kraschinski.mail;

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

### How to obtain &kverbos;

&install.intro.documentation;

### Requirements

In order to successfully use &kverbos;, you need &kde; 3.x.x. The program is distributed without a verblist file. So you have to enter the verbs yourself or you can download a verbfile.

A verblist file and &kverbos; itself can be found on The &kverbos; home page.

You can find a list of changes at http://edu.kde.org/kverbos/.

### Compilation and Installation

&install.compile.documentation;
&documentation.index;