Spanish Grammar in a Nutshell

Spanish Grammar

Definite Articles

• Spanish distinguishes between masculine and feminine definite articles.
• Grammatical genders: masculine and feminine.
• Definite articles agree with nouns in gender (masculine, feminine) and number (singular, plural).

Singular Definite Articles

• Masculine: "el" (e.g., el niño – the boy)
• Feminine: "la" (e.g., la niña – the girl)

Exceptions for "el"

• Nouns starting with a stressed a- or ha- sound take "el" (e.g., el agua (f) – water, el hada (f) – fairy, el águila (f) – eagle).
• Contractions: "a + el" becomes "al", and "de + el" becomes "del" (e.g., al [a + el] cine – to the cinema, del [de + el] colegio – from school).

Neutral Definite Article "lo"

• Used with adjectives turned into nouns (e.g., lo nuevo – the new, lo mejor – the best).

Plural Definite Articles

• Masculine: "los" (e.g., los niños – the boys)
• Feminine: "las" (e.g., las niñas – the girls)

Indefinite Articles

Singular Indefinite Articles

• Masculine: "un" (e.g., un niño – a boy)
• Feminine: "una" (e.g., una niña – a girl, un hada (f) – a fairy, un águila (f) – an eagle)

Plural Indefinite Articles

• Masculine: "unos" (e.g., unos niños – some boys)
• Feminine: "unas" (e.g., unas niñas – some girls)
• English translation uses "some" to mark the plural (e.g., Un pájaro canta en el jardín. – A bird sings in the garden. Unos pájaros cantan en el jardín. – Some birds sing in the garden.).

Grammatical Gender

• Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine.
• Important to remember the gender of each noun.

Case System

• Spanish does not have a case system; nouns are not declined.
• Prepositions or sentence structure clarify the case.

Plural Formation Rules

General Rule

• Add -s to nouns ending in a vowel (e.g., el día (day) – los días (days), el menú (set meal) – los menús (set meals)).
• Add -es to nouns ending in a consonant (e.g., el hotel (hotel) – los hoteles (hotels), el mes (month) – los meses (months)).

Exceptions

• Accent removal: If a noun with an accent in the last syllable is pluralized, the accent vanishes (e.g., el melocotón (peach) – los melocotones (peaches)).
• "-z" to "-ces": Nouns ending in “-z” change the “z” to “-ces” (e.g., la vez (time) – las veces (times), la voz (voice) – las voces (voices)).
• 不变的plural: Polysyllabic nouns ending in “-s” with an unstressed last syllable don't change in the plural (e.g., el paraguas (umbrella) – los paraguas (umbrellas), el lunes (Monday) – los lunes (Mondays)).

Adjectives

• Modify nouns.
• Inflect to agree with the noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) (e.g., los zapatos rojos – the red shoes, Los zapatos son rojos. – The shoes are red.). Applies to predicate and attributive adjectives.
• Placement: Generally placed after the noun (e.g., los zapatos rojos – the red shoes, la casa grande – the big house, la casa roja – the red house, el camarero simpático – the likeable waiter).
• Placement Change for Meaning: Placing the adjective before the noun can change the meaning (e.g., un amigo viejo – an old friend (well advanced in years), un viejo amigo – an old friend (friendship dates way back)).

Feminine Form

• Add "-a" to the end or substitute "-o" with "-a" (e.g., bonito (m) → bonita (f) – beautiful, un zapato bonito – a beautiful shoe, una lámpara bonita – a beautiful lamp, trabajador (m) → trabajadora (f) – busy, industrious, el muchacho trabajador – the busy boy, la muchacha trabajadora – the busy girl).
• Some adjectives have the same form for masculine and feminine (e.g., grande (m, f) – big, great, un zapato grande – a big shoe, una lámpara grande – a big lamp).

Plural Form

• Masculine adjectives take “-os” as plural ending (e.g., bonito (m, sg) → bonitos (m, pl), los zapatos bonitos – the beautiful shoes).
• Feminine adjectives inflect in the plural with “-as” (e.g., bonita (f, sg) → bonitas (f, pl), las lámparas bonitas – the beautiful lamps).
• Adjectives with one form for masculine and feminine add an “-s” to build the plural (e.g., facil (m/f, sg) → faciles (m/f, pl), los ejercicios faciles – the easy tasks, las tareas faciles – the easy homework, feliz (m/f, sg) → felices (m/f, pl), los muchachos felices – the happy boys, las muchachas felices – the happy girls).

Comparison

• Equality: “tan … como” (as … as) (e.g., El chico es tan alto como la chica. – The boy is as tall as the girl., La chica es tan alta como el chico. – The girl is as tall as the boy., Madrid es tan bonita como Barcelona. – Madrid is as beautiful as Barcelona.).

Comparative Degree

• Strengthening: más (more) + adjective + que (than) (e.g., Madrid es más bonita que Barcelona. – Madrid is more beautiful than Barcelona.).
• Weakening: menos (less) + adjective + que (than) (e.g., Barcelona es menos bonita que Madrid. – Barcelona is less beautiful than Madrid.).

Irregular Comparative Degrees

• bueno – good → mejor – better
• malo – bad → peor – worse
• grande – tall, old → mayor – taller, elder
• pequeño – small, young → menor – smaller, younger
• alto – high → superior - higher
• bajo – low → inferior – lower

Superlative

• Relative Superlative: definite article (el, la, lo, los, las) + comparative degree (e.g., Madrid es la ciudad más bonita del mundo. – Madrid is the most beautiful city on earth., Está es la solución mejor. – That 's the best solution.).
• Absolute Superlative:
  • muy (very) + adjective (e.g., El coche azul es muy rápido. – The blue car is very fast.).
  • adjective + „-ísimo/a/os/as“ (e.g., facilísimo – absolutely easy, totally easy, super easy, puntualísimo – really punctual, absolutely punctual, extremely punctual, El ejercicio era facilísimo. – The exercise was totally easy., Juan es puntualísimo. – Juan is extremely punctual.).

Adverbs

• Modify verbs or adjectives.

Types

• Derived from adjectives: feminine singular form of the adjective + “-mente” (e.g., rapida (f, sg) → rápidamente (Adv.), Juan come rápidamente. – Juan eats fast., tranquila (f, sg) → tranquilamente, María duerme tranquilamente. – Maria sleeps quietly.).
• Existing independently: temporal (pronto – soon, shortly, ahora – now, hoy – today), modal (solo – only, just, ojalá – hopefully, quizás - maybe), causal (por eso – therefore, hence, es decir – namely), local (arriba – above, up, abajo – down, below, a la derecha – on the right, a la sinistra – on the left).

Comparison and Comparative Degree

• Follow the same rules as adjectives (e.g., trabajar tan rápidamente como – to work as fast as, trabajar más rápidamente que – to work faster than, trabajar menos rápidamente que – to work less fast than, trabajar rapidísimamente – work the fastest).

Irregular Adverbs

Verbs

Verb Classes

• -ar verbs: hablar – to talk, pensar – to think, pagar – to pay
• -er verbs: creer – to believe, to think, comer – to eat, temer – to fear
• -ir verbs: vivir – to live, decidir – to decide, salir – to go out, to go away

Verb Stem

• Remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) to find the stem (e.g., hablar → habl-).

Present Tense (el presente)

• Remove the infinitive ending and add the correct ending based on the verb class and person.

Verb Pattern

Examples

• Examples: Ana estudia en España. – Ana studies in Spain., El sábado comemos siempre en el restaurante. – On Sundays we always eat at the restaurant.

Stem Changes in Present Tense

• "e“ turns into “i“ (e.g., repetir – to repeat: repito, repites, repite, repetimos, repetís, repiten)
• "e“ turns into “ie“ (e.g., pensar – to think: pienso, piensas, piensa, pensamos, pensáis, piensan)
• "o“ changes to “ue“ (e.g., dormir – to sleep: duermo, duermes, duerme, dormimos, dormís, duermen)
• Verbs ending in “-uir”, add “y” (e.g., concluir – to finish, to conclude: concluyo, concluyes, concluye, concluimos, concluís, concluyen)
• First person singular with “-zco” (Verbs ending in „-acer, -ecer, -ocer, -ucir“ build the first person singular with the ending “-zco”.) (e.g., conocer – to know: conozco – I know, conoces – you know, …)

Irregular Verbs “ser” and “estar” (to be)

Difference between “ser” and “estar”

• "Ser" for long-duration conditions, unchangeable characteristics (nationality, profession, religion) (e.g., Luise es americana. – Luise is American., Nosotros somos canadienses. – We are Canadians., Alejandro es ingeniero. – Alejandro is a engineer., Soy católico. – I am catholic.).
• "Estar" for states that can change, not permanent (diseases, feelings, weather) (e.g., Están tristes. – They are sad., Estamos a 1ºC y está nevando. – It has 1°C and it is snowing., ¿Dónde está mi raqueta de tenis? – Where is my tennis racket?).

Past Participle (participio)

• -ar verbs: verb stem + -ado
• -er and -ir verbs: verb stem + -ido
• Examples: hablar → hablado (said), tener → tenido (had), vivir → vivido (lived)

Present Perfect (perfecto)

• Events in the past connected to the present.
• General rule: present tense of auxiliary verb “haber” (to have) + past participle (participio) of the main verb
• haber conjugation: he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han
• Examples: hemos viajado – we have travelled, has comido – you have eaten, han vivido – they have lived, Esta mañana he trabajado mucho. – This morning I worked hard., Hasta ahora el cliente no ha llamado. – So far, the client hasn’t called.

Indefinido

• Describes past events with no subjective relevance to the present. Translate using simple past.
• General rule: verb stem + endings for indefinido

Endings for Indefinido

• Examples: Crecí en una aldea del sur. – I grew up in a village in the South., Viajé por todo el mundo. – I travelled the whole world.

Stem Changes in Indefinido

• "e“ in the verb stem turns into “i” (e.g., sentir – to feel: sentí, sentiste, sintió, sentimos, sentisteis, sintieron)
• "o“ changes to “u“ (e.g., dormir – to sleep: dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron)

Imperfecto

• Equivalent of simple past, describes past events.
• General rule: for -ar verbs: verb stem + aba/ abas/ aba/ ábamos/ abais/ aban, for -er/ir verbs: stem + ía/ ías/ ía/ íamos/ íais/ ían
• Example: Antes Ernesto fumaba y comía mucho. – In the past Ernesto smoked and ate a lot.

Plusquamperfecto (Past Perfect)

• Describes events in the past that happened before another event in the past.
• General rule: imperfecto of “haber” + past participle (participio) of the main verb
• haber imperfecto conjugation: había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían
• Examples: habá comido – I had eaten, habían viajado – they had travelled

Futuro (Future Tense)

• General rule: infinitive of the verb + -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án
• Example: El año que viene se trasladará a Múnich. – Next year he will move to Munich.

Condicional (Conditional)

• Politely ask for something, state a polite phrase, talk about probabilities, make a wish, give advice.
• General rule: Infinitive of the verb + -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían
• Examples: ¿Me podría mostrar el camino hasta el museo? – Could you show the way to the museum?, En tu lugar, yo cogería otro trozo de tarta. – If I was you, I’d take another piece of cake.

Condicional II (Conditional II)

• Describes an action in the past that could not happen because preconditions did not allow it.
• General rule: condicional I of “haber“ + past participle (participio) of the main verb
• Examples: Yo en tu lugar, lo habría hecho de otro manera. – If I were you, I would have done it differently., Me habría gustado ir a la fiesta. – I would have loved to go to the party.

Subjuntivo (Subjunctive Mood)

• Expresses moods, doubts, feelings, opinions, negations, or requests.
• Speakers express how one person subjectively looks upon the world.
• Prompted by certain keywords (conjugations or verbs).
• Examples: No creo que haya terminado. – I don’t think he's finished., Deseo que mi ayudes mas. – I wish you would help me more., En 2020 era imposible que Lola viajara. – In 2020 it was impossible for Lola to travel.

Subjuntivo Presente

• General rule: a-verbs: verb stem + -e/-es/-e/-emos/-éis/-en, e- and i-verbs: verb stem + -a/-as/-a/-amos/-áis/-an
• Examples: es necesario que viaje – it is necessary that I travel, es bueno que comas – it is good that you eat

Subjuntivo Presente - Exceptions

• “o” shifts to “ue” (e.g., contar (to tell) cuente, cuentes, cuente, contemos, contéis, cuenten)
• “o” turns into “ue” + “o” changes into “u” (e.g., dormir (to sleep) duerma, duermas, duerma, durmamos, durmáis, duerman)
• “e” turns into “ie” (e.g., pensar (to think) piense, pienses, piense, pensamos, penséis, piensen)
• “e” changes to “i” (e.g., pedir (to ask for) pida, pidas, pida, pidamos, pidáis, pidan)
• “e” turns into “ie” or “i” (e.g., sentir (to feel) sienta, sientas, sienta, sintamos, sintáis, sientan)
• Verbs ending in “-uir“ additionally add a “y” (e.g., concluir (to finish) concluyo, concluya, concluyas, concluyamos, concluyais, concluyan)
• Verbs ending in -acer, -ecer, -ocer or -ucir, form their subjuntivo with -zco. (e.g., conocer (to know) conozca, conozcas, conozca, conozcamos, conozcáis, conozcan)

Subjuntivo Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto

• Used within a subordinate phrase, if the verb in the main phrase makes a statement in the present tense, the present perfect, the imperative or the future tense; subordinate phase points to something in the past.
• General rule: subjuntivo presente of „haber“ + past participle (participio) of the main verb
• Examples: haya comido – he has eaten, No creo que haya hecho los deberes. – I don’t think that he has done his homework., Es mejor que hayamos hablado contigo. – It is better that we have talked to you.

Subjuntivo Pretérito Imperfecto

• Used within subordinate clauses. The introductory main clause is in the condicional or in one of the past tenses and the subordinate clause expresses simultaneity or posteriority.
• General rule: 3rd pers pl in indefinido; substitute -ron with -ra/-se + endings -, s, -, mos, is, n

• Example: Temería que mi hijo no tuviese bastante tiempo para los deberes. – I would be afraid that my son wouldn’t have enough time for his homework.

Subjuntivo Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto

• In subordinate clauses; the introductory main clause refers to something in the past; the action in the subordinate clause refers to a point in time before the action of the main clause.
• General rule: subjuntivo pretérito imperfecto of the verb “haber” + past participle (participio) of the main verb
• Examples: hubiera comido – he had eaten, No creía que hubiera hecho los deberes. – I didn’t think that he had done his homework., Era mejor que hubiéramos hablado contigo. – It was better that we had talked to you.

Imperativo (Imperative)

• Used for requests and instructions.

Informal, Affirmative Imperative (tú and vosotros)

• Singular: a-verbs: verb stem + “a”, e- and i-verbs: verb stem + “e”
• Plural: a-verbs: verb stem + “ad”, e- and i-verbs: verb stem + “ed”
• Examples: ¡Viaja! (Travel! sg), ¡Viajad! (Travel! pl), ¡Come! (Eat! sg), ¡Comed! (Eat! pl), ¡Abre! (open! sg), ¡Abrid! (Open! pl)

Informal, Negated Imperative (tú and vosotros)

• Singular: no + 2nd pers sg subjuntivo presente
• Plural: no + 2nd pers pl subjuntivo presente
• Examples: ¡No viajes! (Do not travel! sg), ¡No viajéis! (Do not travel! pl), ¡No comas! (Do not eat! sg), ¡No comáis! (Do not eat! pl), ¡No abras! (Do not open! sg), ¡No abráis! (Do not open! pl)

Formal, Affirmative Imperative (usted and ustedes)

• Singular: 3rd pers sg subjuntivo presente
• Plural: 3rd pers pl subjuntivo presente
• Examples: ¡Viaje! (Travel! 3rd pers sg), ¡Viajen! (Travel! 3rd pers pl), ¡Coma! (Eat! 3rd pers sg), ¡Coman! (Eat! 3rd pers pl), ¡Abra! (Open! 3rd pers sg), ¡Abran! (Open! 3rd pers pl)

Formal, Negated Imperative (usted and ustedes)

• Singular: no + 3rd pers sg subjuntivo presente
• Plural: no + 3rd pers pl subjuntivo presente
• Examples: ¡No viaje! (Do not travel! 3rd pers sg), ¡No viajen! (Do not travel! 3rd pers pl), ¡No coma! (Do not eat! 3rd pers sg), ¡No coman! (Do not eat! 3rd pers pl), ¡No abra! (Do not open! 3rd pers sg), ¡No abran! (Do not open! 3rd pers pl)

Passive Voice

Building the Passive I

• General rule: “ser”/”estar” in its particular tense + past participle (participio) of the main verb
• Examples: es perseguido/a – he/she/it is chased, era perseguido/a – he/she/it was chased, fue perseguido/a – he/she/it has been chased, será perseguido/a – he/she/it will be chased, sería perseguido/a – he/she/it would be chased

Building the Passive II

• General rule: „haber“ in its particular tense + past participle (participio) of „ser“ („sido“) + past participle (participio) of the main verb
• Examples: había sido perseguido/a – he/she/it had been chased, habrá sido perseguido/a – he/she/it will have been chased, habría sido perseguido/a – he/she/it would have been chased

Gerundio (Progressive Form)

• General rules: -ar verbs: verb stem + -ando, -er/-ir verbs: verb stem + -iendo
• Examples: viajando – travelling, comiendo – eating, abriendo – opening
• Progressive forms are built by combining “estar” with the gerundio (e.g., estoy hablando – I am speaking, estaba leyendo – he was reading)

Pronouns

Personal (Subject) Pronouns

• yo – I

• tú – you

• usted – you (formal, sg)

• él/ ella – he/ she

• nosotros/ nosotras – we

• vosotros/ vosotras – you (pl)

• ustedes – you (formal, pl)

• ellos/ ellas – they

• Spanish personal pronouns are usually left out because verb forms carry the information about the grammatical person.

• Mention when stressing the person or for clarification (e.g., Estoy cansada. – I (f) am tired., Yo estoy saliendo del tren, pero ¿donde estás tú? – I am getting of the train, but where are you?).

Subject Pronouns Following Prepositions

• Use “mí” & “tí” – instead of “yo” & “tú” (e.g., ¿Qué quieres de mí? – What do you want from me?, Pienso siempre en tí. – I always think of you.).
• Preposition con (with) merges with pronouns to form “conmigo“ and “contigo“ (e.g., ¿Puedes venir conmigo? – Can you come with me?, Iré contigo. – I will go with you.).

Direct & Indirect Object Pronouns

• Examples (direct object pronouns): ¿Me puedes pasar el libro? – Can you pass me the book?, Lo he visto esta mañana. – I have seen him this morning., Nos han despedido. – We have been fired.
• Examples (indirect object pronouns): Les interesa mucho la gramática. – She is very interested in grammar., ¿Os han regalado flores? – Have you been given flowers?, Te doy el libro con mucho gusto. – I’m happy to give you the book.
• If both direct and indirect object pronouns are used, the indirect object pronoun comes first (e.g., ¡Te lo he dicho! – I have told you so!, ¡Dámelos ahora mismo! – Give them to me right now!).

Reflexive Pronouns

• Come together with reflexive verbs (ending in “se”).
• Examples (infinitive): equivocarse – to be wrong, acordarse – to remember so/sth, sentirse bien – to feel good
• Reflexive pronoun adapts to person and number when the verb is inflected.
• Example: llamarse – to call oneself, to be called
  • yo me llamo – I call myself
  • tú te llamas – you call yourself
  • él se llama – he calls himself
  • nosotros nos llamamos – we call ourselves
  • vosotros os llamáis – you call yourselves
  • ellos/ellas/ustedes se llaman – they call themselves

Possessive Pronouns

• Mark possession.
• Found in front of the possession; have the same gender and number as the word they refer to.
• Examples: ¿Son cómodas vuestras camas? – Are your beds comfortable?, ¡Nuestro hotel está muy bien amueblado! – Our hotel is very nicely furnished!

Demonstrative Pronouns

• Refer to a noun.
• Spanish uses three different demonstrative pronouns depending on the distance from the speaker.
• Examples: Esta camiseta me gusta mucho. – I like this shirt, ¡Pero esa chaqueta es feísima! – But that jacket is really ugly!

Interrogative Pronouns

• Used to formulate supplementary questions.
• Always accented.

Sentence Structure

Positive Sentences

• Subject + verb + (direct & indirect) object + rest (e.g., (1.)Monika (2.)trabaja (3.)en la escuela (4.)del pueblo. - (1.)Monika (2.)works (3.)at the school (4)of the village.).

Negative Sentences

• Place “no” in front of the verb (e.g., Monika trabaja en la escuela. – Monika works at the school., Monika no trabaja en la escuela. – Monika does not work at the school.).

Negative Terms

• nada – nothing
• nadie – no-one
• ni … ni – neither … nor
• ningún – no
• ninguno/a – none (of)
• ni siquiera – not even
• nunca – never, not at any time
• tampoco – neither

Interrogative Sentences

• Sentence structure doesn’t differ from declarative sentences.
• Written Spanish uses question marks at the beginning and end of the sentence (e.g., ¿Monika trabaja en la escuela? – Monika works at the school?).
• Spoken Spanish raises voice at the end of the question (e.g., ¿Trabaja en una gran empresa? – She works for a big company?, ¿Tiene un novio nuevo? – She has a new boyfriend?).

Numbers

Spanish Numbers (0-10)

• cero – zero
• uno (un), una – one
• dos – two
• tres – three
• cuatro – four
• cinco – five
• seis – six
• siete – seven
• ocho – eight
• nueve – nine
• diez – ten

Spanish Numbers (11-20)

• once – eleven
• doce – twelve
• trece – thirteen
• catorce – fourteen
• quince – fifteen
• dieciséis – sixteen
• diecisiete – seventeen
• dieciocho – eighteen
• diecinueve – nineteen
• veinte – twenty

Spanish Numbers (21-1000)

• veintiuno / veintiuna – 21
• veintidós – 22
• treinta – 30
• treinta y uno – 31
• treinta y dos – 32
• cuarenta – 40
• cuarenta y uno – 41
• cuarenta y dos – 42
• cincuenta – 50
• sesenta – 60
• setenta – 70
• ochenta – 80
• noventa – 90
• cien – 100
• mil – 1.000