3rd October 2024

Pre reading

Everything in spanish is gendered so the nouns are either male, female, singular or plural.

Male:

Masculine nouns will usually preceded by ‘el’ or ‘un’ and many end with ‘o’. Exceptions such as consonants or stressed vowels may end in -a or -e etc.
When plural, ‘el’ turns into los and an ‘s’ is added to the end. Examples include:

El hombre (male)- Los Hombres (Male+Plural)
El gato (male) - Los gatos (Male+plural)
El amigo (Friend or male friend) - los amigos (friends or male friends)

Femenine

Feminine nouns will be preceded with ‘la’ or ‘una’ and many end with ‘a’. Feminine sounds can also end in -ion, -az, -ad, -ud, -is and -umbre.
When it is plural, ‘la’ turns into ‘las’ and an -s is added to the end. Some examples include:

La mujer (Female) Las mujeres (Female+Plural)
La perra (Female dog) - Las perras (Plural)
La amiga (female friend) - Las amigas (Plural)

If you have a group of friends that includes both men and women you always use masculine form (amigos).

Spanish sentence structure

Basic sentence structure in Spanish could be written in a few different ways yet maintain the same meaning, Verb conjugation, word order and all different pats of speech will play a role. Typically the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object (the same as english)

El gato negro esconde detras del sofa - The black cat hides behind the sofa
Detras del sofa se esconde el gato negro - The black cat hides behind the sofa

El sol brilla intensamente en el cielo azul - The sun shines intensely in the blue sky
En el cielo azul, el sol brilla intensamente - The sun shines intensely in the blue sky

Writing questions in Spanish

Questions in Spanish usually follow the same structure, usually you will only know its a question due to (upside down) ? and ?. The structure can also change from SVO to VSO

Juan camina por el parque - Juan walks through the park.
?Juan camina por el parque? - Does Juan walk through the park?

El perro ladra fuerte - The dog parks loudy
?El perro ladra fuerte? - Does the dog bark loudly?

Verbs are conjugated regarding the subject pronoun

The subject pronoun determines the Spanish verb conjugation. Subject pronouns can be used to replaces names or nouns, in Spanish there are 12:

1. yo (I)

2. tu (you)

3. usted (you - formal)

4. el (he)

5. ella (she)

6. nosotros/nosotras (we - male/female)

7. vosotros/vosotras (you - plural, male/female)

8. ustedes (you - plural, formal)

9. ellos (they - masculine)

10. ellas (they - feminine)

Pronouns affect the verb, for example:

I went to the movies - Yo fui al cine
He went to the movies - El fue al cine
They went to the movies - Ellos fueron al cine

Three main types of conjugation: -ar verbs, -er verbs, and -ir verbs

Subject pronouns in sentences is optional

Since subject pronouns change how a verb is conjugated, it can be omitted from the sentence and native speakers often do this as the subject becomes obvious based on the verb ending.

For example, the following both mean “I cam cooking dinner tonight”

Voy a preparar la cena este noche
Yo voy a preparar la cena esta noche

the form of ‘voy’ implies that the pronoun in Spanish is ‘Yo’ so it’s redundant and can be omitted.

Adjectives go after the noun

Spanish adjectives also need to agree with the nouns in gender and number by changing their endings. Some examples include:

unca casa hermosa - a beautiful horse
flores hermosas - beautiful flowers
un coche hermoso - a beautiful car
perros hermosos - beautiful dogs

Pronouns will (almost) always precede the verb

Spanish uses several types of basic pronouns- personal, reflexive, direct and indirect that always precede the verb. In english it is used after. Examples include:

Le gusta su perro. - She likes her dog
Mike se levanta trade - Mike gets up late

However, verbs in infinitive, gerund or imperative form, the pronoun is placed after:
Sientese, por favor - Sit down please
?Quieres hacerme la comida? - Do you want to make me food

Adverb placement is quite flexible

Adverbs can be put almost anywhere if they modify the entire Spanish sentence. All the sentences below mean: “Maria ate her food quickly”

• Maria come su comida rapidamente

• Rapidamente, Maria comesu comida

• Maria rapidamente come su comida

• Maria come rapidamente su comida

However when adverbs modify a particular part of the sentence they require specific placement,

When adverbs modify adjectives, the adverb is placed before the adjective:

Esta muy enfadada. - She is very angry

When adverbs modify another adverb, it is placed before the modified adverb

Ella puede nadar tan rapido - She can swim so quickly

When adverbs modify a verb, the adverb needs to go after the verb:

Su discurso se basa principalmente en la politica - Her speech is based mainly on politics

You can turn an affirmative statement into a negative by adding ‘No’

Me gusta el helado - I like ice cream
No me gusta el helado - I don’t like ice cream

Ella tiene un gato - She has a cat
Ella no tiene un gato - She doesn’t have a cat

Nosotros vamos al parque - We are going to the park
Nosotros no vamos al parque - We are not going to the park

Masculine is considered ‘gender neutral’

Alternatives for gender neutral language

• Both grammatical genders together, eg: ‘los alumnos y las alumnas’ (masculine usually appears first

• Using the feminine only if there are more women than men in a group

• Using collective nouns eg: ‘el alumndo’

Standard tested spanish:

Only two grammatical genders are recognised
The masculine is to be used and interpreted as ‘unmarked’

Focus of today: nationalities and professions:

• Words ending in -o are masculine, e.g. britanico

• Words ending in -a are feminine, eg: brtanica

• Words ending in a consonant are masculine: eg: espanol, profesor

Verbs in Spanish

An infinitive is the ‘basic’ or the ‘dictionary’ form of a verb:

Infinitives in spanish always end in either -ar, er, -ir.
comer (to eat) or escribir (to write)

Who the subject is, eg: ‘hablo’ means ‘I speak’ whereas ‘hablas’ means ‘you speak’
Tense: ‘hablo’ means ‘I speak’, whereas ‘hable’ means I spoke

In spanish, there are 5 pronouns that mean ‘you’

1. ‘Tu’ - casual or relaxed

2. ‘Usted’ - formal

3. ‘vosotros’ to adress a group of people if there at least 1 male, ‘vosotras’ for a group of females

4. In spain, most people use ‘ustedes’ to refer to a group of people in a formal setting, In the americas it is the only way to say

Ser: To be
Yo: Soy
Tu’: Eres
el, ella, usted: es
nosotras/os: somos

Tener: To have

lllamarse: To be called

Ser: To be
Tener: To have
Llamarse: To be called/named