Spanish: Grammar Basics

What are the Spanish subject pronouns?

yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros/nosotras, vosotros/vosotras, ellos/ellas/ustedes.

What is the difference between tú and usted?

Tú is informal (friends). Usted is formal (adults, strangers, teachers).

Where is vosotros used, and what replaces it in Latin America?

Spain, for informal "you all." Latin America uses ustedes for all "you all."

Which nouns are usually masculine?

Nouns ending in -o (el libro), plus many ending in -e or a consonant.

Which nouns are usually feminine?

Nouns ending in -a (la casa), plus those ending in -ción, -sión, -dad, -tad.

Which common nouns end in -o but are feminine?

la mano, la foto, la radio, la moto.

Which common nouns end in -a but are masculine?

el día, el mapa, el problema, el pijama.

What gender are days of the week?

Masculine: el lunes, el jueves.

What gender are compound nouns like paraguas and cumpleaños?

Masculine: el paraguas, el cumpleaños.

Masculine or feminine: ciudad, estación, libertad?

All feminine (-dad, -ción, -tad).

Masculine or feminine: leche, luz, flor?

All feminine: la leche, la luz, la flor.

Masculine or feminine: árbol, tren, avión, pez, sol?

All masculine.

How do most nouns for people form the feminine?

Change -o to -a (niño, niña) or add -a to a consonant (profesor, profesora).

Which endings stay the same for male and female?

-ista and -ante: el/la taxista, el/la cantante. Only the article changes.

What are the feminine forms of actor and rey?

actriz, and reina.

Which pairs use totally different words for male and female?

padre/madre, marido/mujer, hombre/mujer.

How do you make a noun ending in a vowel plural?

Add -s: casa, casas.

How do you make a noun ending in a consonant plural?

Add -es: reloj, relojes. ciudad, ciudades.

How do you make a noun ending in -z plural?

Change z to c and add -es: lápiz, lápices. feliz, felices.

What happens to camión and francés in the plural?

They add -es and lose the accent: camiones, franceses.

How do lunes, paraguas, and crisis change in the plural?

They don't change: el lunes, los lunes.

What are the plurals of ley and rubí?

leyes, rubíes.

What are the four definite articles (the)?

el (masc. sing.), la (fem. sing.), los (masc. pl.), las (fem. pl.).

What are the four indefinite articles (a, an, some)?

un, una, unos, unas.

Why is it el agua and un aula even though they're feminine?

Feminine words starting with a stressed a or ha use el/un. In plural it's las aguas.

What do a + el and de + el combine into?

al and del: Voy al parque. El hijo del profesor.

When do you use un, una?

For one of something or one of a group: El plátano es una fruta.

Fill in: ___ coche, ___ silla, ___ gafas, ___ libros (un, una, unos, unas).

un coche, una silla, unas gafas, unos libros.

Conjugate ser in the present.

soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son.

When do you use ser?

Permanent traits and identity: origin, profession, description, time, date, and ownership.

When do you use estar?

Temporary states and location: feelings, health, and where something is.

Ser or estar: Yo ___ de Nueva York.

soy (origin).

Ser or estar: Mi casa ___ en Barajas.

está (location).

Ser or estar: Antonio ___ resfriado.

está (health).

Ser or estar: ___ las cuatro y media.

Son (time).

Ser or estar: La muñeca ___ de mi hermana.

es (ownership).

Conjugate tener in the present.

tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen.

How do you say your age in Spanish?

Tengo (number) años. Literally, I have years.

What does tener que + infinitive mean?

To have to: Tengo que estudiar.

What does hay mean?

There is or there are: Hay una fuente en la plaza.

What are the present tense endings for regular -ar verbs (hablar)?

-o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an: hablo, hablas, habla...

What are the present tense endings for regular -er verbs (comer)?

-o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en.

What are the present tense endings for regular -ir verbs (vivir)?

-o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en.

What is the raíz (stem) of a verb?

The part before -ar, -er, -ir: am in amar.

What is the gerundio, and how is it formed?

The -ing form: -ar becomes -ando (hablando), -er and -ir become -iendo (comiendo).

What is the participio, and how is it formed?

The past participle: -ar becomes -ado (hablado), -er and -ir become -ido (comido).

How do you form the present perfect (I have spoken)?

he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han + participle: He hablado.

What are the preterite endings for -ar verbs (finished past actions)?

-é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron: hablé, hablaste, habló...

What are the preterite endings for -er and -ir verbs?

-í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron: comí, comiste, comió...

What are the imperfect endings for -ar verbs (repeated or ongoing past)?

-aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban.

What are the imperfect endings for -er and -ir verbs?

-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.

What is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect?

Preterite = a finished action at a specific time. Imperfect = repeated, ongoing, or background past actions.

How do you form the simple future (I will speak)?

Add -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the whole infinitive: hablaré, comeré.

What is a regular verb?

A verb whose stem never changes. It follows the -ar, -er, or -ir patterns exactly.

What is an e to ie stem-changing verb? Give an example.

The stem e becomes ie, except in nosotros and vosotros. pensar: pienso, piensas, pensamos.

What is an o to ue stem-changing verb? Give an example.

The stem o becomes ue, except in nosotros and vosotros. contar: cuento, cuentas, contamos.

What is an e to i stem-changing verb? Give an example.

The stem e becomes i, except in nosotros and vosotros. pedir: pido, pides, pedimos.

Conjugate jugar in the present.

juego, juegas, juega, jugamos, jugáis, juegan (u changes to ue).

Name three e to ie verbs and three o to ue verbs.

e to ie: empezar, cerrar, despertar. o to ue: dormir, volar, recordar.

Which verbs have a -go ending in the yo form?

hacer (hago), tener (tengo), decir (digo), poner (pongo), salir (salgo), oír (oigo).

Which verbs have a -zco ending in the yo form?

conocer (conozco), conducir (conduzco), traducir (traduzco).

Which verbs have an -oy ending in the yo form?

dar (doy), ser (soy), estar (estoy), ir (voy).

What are the yo forms of saber and ver?

sé, and veo.

Conjugate ir (to go) in the present.

voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van.

Fill in the blank: Ayer ___ a la playa con mis compañeros de clase.

fui (I went, preterite of ir).

Conjugate oír in the present.

oigo, oyes, oye, oímos, oís, oyen.

What happens to verbs ending in -uir, like construir?

They add a y: construyo, construyes, construye (not in nosotros or vosotros).

What do este, ese, and aquel mean?

este = this (near me). ese = that (near you). aquel = that over there (far from both).

What are the feminine and plural forms of este, ese, and aquel?

esta, estos, estas. esa, esos, esas. aquella, aquellos, aquellas.

Which place words go with este, ese, and aquel?

aquí (here), ahí (there), allí (over there).

Fill in the blank (far away): ___ niños son los hijos de Marta.

Aquellos.

What are the possessive adjectives before a noun (my, your, his/her, our)?

mi, tu, su, nuestro. Add -s for plurals: mis libros.

What are the long possessives used after a noun or alone?

mío, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, vuestro (plus -a, -os, -as).

Rewrite with a long possessive: Ésos son tus discos.

Esos discos son tuyos.

Answer with a possessive: ¿De quién son esas bolsas? (yo)

Son mías.

What does ¿Quién? or ¿Quiénes? ask about?

Who (the identity of people).

What does ¿Qué? ask about?

What (actions or things).

What does ¿Cuál? or ¿Cuáles? ask about?

Which (choosing from a group). Use it with ser: ¿Cuál es tu apellido?

What do ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? and ¿Adónde? mean?

When, where, and to where.

What does ¿Cuánto? mean, and how does it change?

How much or how many. It matches the noun: cuántos años, cuántas personas.

What is the difference between ¿Cómo está? and ¿Cómo es?

¿Cómo está? = how is he/she doing (state). ¿Cómo es? = what is he/she like (traits).

What do ¿Por qué? and ¿Para qué? mean?

Why (reason), and what for (purpose).

Why do question words have accent marks?

The accent marks them as question words: qué (what) vs que (that).

Fill in the blank: ¿___ años tienes? Cuarenta y dos años.

Cuántos.

Fill in the blank: ¿___ está el campo de fútbol? Al final de la calle.

Dónde.

Fill in the blank: ¿___ se llama la hermana de Pedro? Se llama Candela.

Cómo.

Fill in the blank: ¿___ va a ir Isidro el fin de semana? A Toledo.

Adónde.

Fill in the blank: ¿___ hay tanta gente en la calle? Ha habido un accidente.

Por qué.

Fill in the blank: ¿___ es la capital de España?

Cuál.

How does gustar work?

The thing liked is the subject: me gusta el café (one thing), me gustan los libros (plural).

Which pronouns go before gusta?

me, te, le, nos, os, les.

Fill in the blank: A mis amigas ___ las compras.

les gustan (they like shopping).

Someone says "No me gusta nada la ópera." How do you agree and disagree?

Agree: A mí tampoco (me neither). Disagree: A mí sí (I do).

What are ¿? and ¡! called?

Signos de interrogación and signos de exclamación. They open and close the sentence.

What are la coma, el punto, and dos puntos?

Comma, period, colon.

What are punto y coma and puntos suspensivos?

Semicolon, and ellipsis (...).

What are comillas and paréntesis?

Quotation marks, and parentheses.

What is diéresis?

The two dots over u (ü) that make it pronounced: pingüino.

What does the acronym DOCTOR stand for in uses of ser?

Description, Occupation, Characteristics, Time/Date, Origin, Relationship.

What does the acronym PLACE stand for in uses of estar?

Position, Location, Action, Condition, Emotion.