grammer book

Blanca Birdsong

Table of contents Imperfect preterite Preterite : -car, -gar,-zar; spock, cucaracha; snake Modal verbs Adverbs Progressive : present & past Future – irregular Conditional Superlatives Formal commands Prepositions Demonstratives

Imperfect Ar

Aba

Abas

Aba

Abamos

Aban

Er/ Ir

Ia

Ias

Ia

Iamos

ian

Preterite (past) Tense

-ar

• -é

• -aste

• -ó

• -amos

• -aron

-er/ir

• -í

• -iste

• -ió

• imos

• ieron

Preterite

TOCAR

Toque

Tocaste

Toco

Tocamos

Tocaron

JUGAR

Jugue

Jugaste

Jugo

Jugamos

Jugaron

COMENZAR

Comence

Comenzaste

Comenzo

Comenzamos

Comezaron

Preterite continued

car

• yo

• Qué

gar

• yo

• gué

zar

• yo

• cé

Sacar : c -> qu (yo) saqué

Pagar: g -> gu (yo) pagué

Empezar: z-> c (yo) empecé

hacer

Hice

Hiciste

Hizo

Hicimos

Hiceron

ir/ser

Fui

Fuiste

Fue

Fuimos

Fueron

Dar(d)/Ver(v)

i

Iste

ió

Imos

ieron

Spock (irregular preteriteverbs)

Preterite Trigger Words

Ayer

Anoche

Anteayer

La semana pasada

El año pasado

cucarachaAndar

Estar

Poder

Poner

Quere

Saber

Tener

venir

Anduve-

Estuve-

Pud-

Pus-

Quis-

Sup-

Tuv-

Vin-

Conducir

Producir

Traducir

Decir

Traer

Conduj-

Produj-

Traduj-

Dij-

Traj-

-e

• -iste

• -o

-imos

• -isteis

• -ieron

Take off the “I”

snake

Dormí

Dormimos

Dormiste

Durmió

Dumieron

Dormir

Leí

Leimos

Leiste

Leyó

leyeron

Leer

Modal Verbsir a infinitive

poder infinitive(one able to

do something)

querer infinitive(want to do something)

deber infinitive(should do something)

Tenerque

infinitive(To have to

do something)

soler infinitive(to be

accustomed to)

Los adverbios

adjective

Claro

Constante

Feminine Form

Clara

Constante

Adverb

Claramente

Constantemente

Most Spanish adverbs are formed by adding –mente to the feminine singular form of the adjective. This ending corresponds to –ly in English. –E ending does not change r in constenant.

When two adverbs modify the same verb, only the second one uses the –menteending. Note the adverb is the same as the feminine singular form of the adjective.Ex:Juan trabaja lenta y cuidadosamente.

Progressive Tense (present)

estar -ando-iendo or

Yendo

Examples:1. Estaba hablando a ti. (I was talking to you.)2. Estabas nadando en el rio. ( you were swimming in the river.)

er/ircomer: comiendo(comer - er + iendo)hacer: haciendo(hacer - er + iendo)vivir: viviendo(vivir - ir + iendo)escribir: escribiendo(escribir - ir + iendo)

arhablar: hablando(hablar - ar + ando)trabajar: trabajando(trabajar - ar + ando)estudiar:

The present progressive is formed by combining the verb “to be” with the present participle. (-ing part of verb)

Progressive Tense (past)

Examples:1. Estaba hablando a ti. (I was talking to you.)2. Estabas nadando en el rio. ( you were swimming in the river.)

Yo

estaba

comiendo

Tu

estabas

comiendo

El-Ella-Usd.

estaba

comiendo

Nosotros

estábmos

comiendo

Ellos-Ellas-Usds.

estaban

comiendo

A past progressive tense that is EXACTLY THE SAME as the present progressive, except that the verb estar is in the imperfect tense.

ConditionalTo conjugate regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs in the conditional, simply add one of

the following to the infintive:

Examples:Yo sabía que abrirían la tienda a las siete.I knew that they would open the store at seven o'clock.Si yo tuviera tiempo, iría al cine esta noche.If I had time, I would go to the movies tonight.

Ía Ías Ía Íamos Íais ían

Future infinitive + é

infinitive + ás

infinitive + á

infinitive + emos

infinitive + án

Irregular adverbs: Mucho- a lot Muy- very bastante- quite enough Mal- bad Bien- good Ya- already Tan- so Demasiado- too Siempre- always Nunca- never Poco- little Peor- worse

SuperlativesWhen you want to say that something has the most or the least of a certain quality, use a superlative!

El másEl

menos

Los más

Los menos

La másLa

menos

Las más

Las menos

Ex:Luis es el más alto.( Luis is the tallest.)Carmen es la más pequeña.

(Carmen is the smallest.)

Formal CommandsThe formal commands are formed the same way as the present

subjunctive:1. Start with the yo form of the present indicative.2. Then drop the -o ending.3. Finally, add the following endings:

-ar verbs:-e (for Ud.), -en (for Uds.)

-er and -ir verbs:-a (for Ud.), -an (for Uds.)

Examples:Compre Ud. el anillo.(You) Buy the ring.Haga Ud. la tarea.(You) Do the homework.Compren Uds. los libros.(You-all) Buy the books.

PrepositionsList of Spanish Prepositions

a (to, at) en vez de (instead of)

al (upon) en (in, at)al lado de (beside) encima de (above, on top)

ante (before) enfrente de (in front of)

antes de (before) entre (between, among)

bajo (under) fuera de (outside)

cerca de (near) hacia (towards)

como (like) hasta (until)con (with) lejos de (far from)

contra (against) menos (except)

de (from, of, about) para (for)debajo de (under, beneath) por (for, on account of)

delante de (in front of) salvo (except)dentro de (inside) según (according to)

desde (since) sin (without)después de (after) sobre (about, above/on)detrás de (behind) tras (after)

Demonstratives eso, esto, aquello are nuter- refer to situations or ideas, not to specific nouns. accent marks denotes pronouns which take the place of a noun. all demonstratives always agree in gender and number of the noun they modify.

Sing. male

Plural male

Sing.female

PluralFemale

translations

Allífar)

Ese Esos Esa Esas That

Aquí

(here)

Este Estos Esta Estas This

Alla(way far away)

aquel aquellos Aquella Aquellas That way over there