Spanish Grammar & Conjugation Review Notes

Vocabulary and rule-based flashcards reviewing Spanish grammar topics including verb conjugations across tenses, reflexive verbs, object pronouns, and adjective agreement.

Irregular Verb

A verb that does not retain its standard stem or base when conjugating according to the subject and family endings.

Ir a + infinitive

A grammatical expression used to indicate an immediate future action ("going to do something"), formed with a conjugated form of "ir" followed by "a" and an untouched verb.

Estar

A verb meaning "to be" that is used to describe location or place, how someone feels (emotion/condition), and to form the present progressive tense.

Personal a

The preposition "a" placed before a direct object when that direct object refers to a specific person.

Direct Object

The person or thing that directly receives the action of the verb in a sentence.

Gustar

A verb meaning "to like" (literally "to be pleasing"), which uses "gusta" with singular nouns and infinitives, and "gustan" with plural nouns.

Stem-changing verbs (e → ie)

Verbs in which the vowel "e" changes to "ie" in all present tense forms except "nosotros" and "vosotros"; when a verb has more than one "e", the change occurs working from the end of the verb.

Poder vs. Querer (Helping Verbs)

Both are followed by an infinitive, but "poder" cannot stand alone in a sentence, whereas "querer" can.

Spanish Adjective Placement

Descriptive adjectives are placed after the noun they modify and must agree with that noun in both gender and number.

Possessive Adjectives

Words showing ownership or relationship (mi/mis, tu/tus, su/sus, nuestro/a/os/as, vuestro/a/os/as) that agree with the noun they describe and are placed before the noun.

Feminine Noun Endings

Spanish nouns referring to female beings or ending in -a, -d, or -ción.

Noun Pluralization (-z ending)

A singular noun ending in "z" changes the "z" to "c" and adds "-es" to form the plural.

Present Progressive Tense

A verb tense used to express an ongoing action currently taking place, formed using the present tense of "estar" plus a present participle (-ando for -ar verbs, -iendo for -er/-ir verbs).

Irregular Gerunds with 'y'

Verbs whose stems end in a vowel—such as leer, traer, oír, and caer—that replace the "i" of the "-iendo" ending with a "y" (leyendo, trayendo, oyendo, cayendo).

Reflexive Verbs

Verbs in which the action is performed by and received by the subject itself (oneself), using reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nos, os, se).

Reflexive Body Parts Rule

The grammatical rule stating that possessive adjectives are not used with body parts or clothing when using reflexive verbs (e.g., "Tú te lavas las manos").

-car, -gar, -zar Spelling Changes

Spelling alterations occurring strictly in the "yo" form of the preterite tense: c changes to qué, g changes to gué, and z changes to cé.

Preterite 3rd-Person Stem Changes

Stem-changing -ir verbs that alter their stem vowels (e → i or o → u) exclusively in the third-person singular (él/ella/usted) and third-person plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes) forms in the preterite tense.

Imperfect Tense

A past tense used to express ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions in the past, as well as background information and descriptions (typically translated as "used to" or "was/were").

Preterite Indicator Words

Specific time expressions signaling completed actions in the preterite, including ayer (yesterday), anoche (last night), un día (one day), de repente (suddenly), cuando (when), and una vez (one time).

Imperfect Indicator Words

Time phrases signaling habitual, continuous, or repeated actions, including siempre (always), nunca (never), cada (each), todos (every), mientras (while), a veces (sometimes), and a menudo (often).

Present Perfect Tense

A compound tense used to describe actions that occurred recently or at an unspecified time, connecting past and present; formed with the present tense of "haber" plus a past participle (-ado/-ido).

Double Object Pronoun 'se' Rule

The rule requiring the indirect object pronoun "le" or "les" to change to "se" when followed immediately by the direct object pronouns "lo", "la", "los", or "las".

Future Tense

A verb tense used to express an action or event that will happen in the future, formed by adding endings (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án) directly to the infinitive for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.

Future of Probability

The use of the future tense to express speculation, wondering, or probability about a present situation (e.g., "¿Qué hora será?" / "Serán las ocho").