Nombre: Fecha:
Infinitives- verbs (action words) are the most basic form of a verb. You can spot an infinitive in English because it usually has the word “to” in front of it. For example: to read, to write, to swim.
In Spanish infinitive verbs end in –ar, -er, and ir. For example: leer, escribir, nadar.
Cognates are words that look alike and have similar meanings in English.
For example: popular, usar, guitarra, computadora.
Subject pronouns- The subject of a sentence tells who is doing the action. You often use people’s names as the subject. You also use the subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, we, they) to tell who is doing an action. The subject pronouns replace people’s names.
For example: Greg escucha música. Greg listens to music. Ana canta y baila Ana sings and dances
Él escucha música. He listens to music. Ella canta y baila she sings and dances
Here are all of the subject pronouns in Spanish.
Singular / PluralYo / I / Nosotros
Nosotras / We masculine, mas/fem
We feminine
Tú
Usted (Ud.) / You (familiar, informal)
You (formal) / Vosotros
Vosotras
Ustedes (Uds.) / You masculine, mas/fem
You feminine
You formal
Él
Ella / He
She / Ellos
Ellas / They masculine, mas/fem
They feminine
Tú, usted, ustedes, and vosotros (as) all mean “you.”
Tú- family and friends, people your age or younger and anyone you call by his/her first name.
Usted- adults you address with a title, such as señor, señora, professor(a), etc. Usted is usually written Ud.
Negatives- to make a sentence negative in Spanish, you usually put no in front of the verb or expression.
For example: No me gusta cantar. ( I do not like to sing).
To answer a sentence negatively you often use no twice. The first no answers the question, the second no says “I do not or don’t”
For example: ¿Te gusta escribir cuentos? No, no me gusta.
In Spanish, you might use one or more negatives after answering “no.”
For example: ¿Te gusta cantar? – No, no me gusta nada (No, I don’t like it at all)
If you want to say that you do not like either of two choices, use ni… ni:
For example: No me gusta ni nadar ni dibujar.
Expressing agreement or disagreement- To agree with what a person likes, you use “a mí también” (me too)
If someone tells you that he or she dislikes something, you can agree by saying “a mí tampoco” (me neither)
Adjectives- wors that describe people and things. In Spanish, most adjectives have a masculine and feminine forms. The masculine form usually ends in the letter –o and the feminine usually ends in the letter –a.
Masculine / FeminineOrdenado / Ordenada
Trabajador / Trabajadora
Paciente / Paciente
Deportista / Deportista
Masculine adjectives describe masculine nouns.
For example: Marcos es ordenado y simpático.
Feminine nouns usually describe feminine nouns.
For example: Marta es ordenana y simpático.
Adjectives that end in –e describe both masculine and feminine nouns.
For example: Anita es inteligente. Pedro es inteligente también.
Adjectives whose masculine form ends in –dor have a feminine form that ends in –dora.
For example: Juan es trabajador. Luz is trabajadora.
Some adjectives that end in –a, such as deportista, describe both masculine and feminine nouns.
For example: Tomás es deportista. Marta es deportista también.
Just as adjectives agree with a noun depending on whether it’s masculine or feminine, they also agree according to whether the noun is singular or plural. To make adjectives plural, just add an –s after the vowel at the end of the adjective. If the adjective ends in a consonant, add –es.
For example: La hamburguesa es sabrosa. Las hamburguesas son sabrosas.
El pastel es muy popular. Los pasteles son populares.
or
Marta es simpática. Anita es simpática. Marta y Anita son simpáticas.
Marcos es ordenado. Tomás es ordenado. Marcos y Tomás son ordenados.
When an adjective describes a group including both masculine and feminine nouns, use the masculine plural form.
For example: La lechuga, las zanahorias y los tomates son buenos para la salud.
or
Marta es simpática. Marcos es simpático. Marta y Marcos son simpáticos.
∙ Don’t forget that the singular form of mucho means “much” or “a lot of,” but that the plural form, muchos (as)
means “many.”
For example: No como mucha carne, pero como muchas verduras.
Definite articles in Spanish are el, la, los, and las and are the equivalent of “the” in English. El and los are used with masculine nouns; la and las are used with feminine nouns.
For example: el libro, los libros, la carpeta, las carpetas.
Singular / PluralMasculine / el / los
Feminine / la / las
Indefinite articles
Indefinite articles in Spanish are un, una, unos and unas.
Un and una are the equivalent of “a” and “an” in English.
Unos and unas are the equivalent of “some” or “a few” in English.
Un and unos are used with masculine nouns; una and unas are used with feminine nouns.
For example: un libro, unos libros, una carpeta, unas carpetas.
Singular / PluralMasculine / un / unos
Feminine / una / unas
For example: El libro The book
Los libros The books
Un libro A book
Unos libros Some books or a few books.
To make nouns plural you usually add –s to words ending in a vowel and –es to words ending in a consonant.
For example: silla- sillas teclado- teclados cartel- carteles
Singular nouns that end in z change the z to c and add es.
For example: el lápiz- los lápices
Singular / PluralEl reloj / Los relojes
La ventana / Las ventanas
Un disquete / Unos disquetes
Una mesa / Unas mesas
Word order: Placement of adjectives-
In English the adjective usually comes before the noun.
For example: Sara is an artistic girl.
In Spanish adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.
For example: Sarah es una chica artística (notice how artística follows chica in the Spanish sentence)
Here is a simple pattern you can follow when writing a sentence in Spanish.
Subject / Verb / Indefinite article + noun / AdjectiveMargarita / es / una chicha / muy artística.
Pablo / es / un estudiante / inteligente.
La Sra. Ortiz / es / una profesora / muy buena
Present tense of –ar verbs
To conjugate verbs ending in –ar in the present tense you simply drop the –ar from the infinitive and add the endings –o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an.
Hablar- to speak
Yo / Hablo / I speakI am speaking / Nosotros, -as / Hablamos / We speak
We are speaking
Tú / Hablas / You speak (s, informal)
You are speaking (s, i) / Vosotros, -as / Habláis / You speaking (p,i)
You are speaking (p,i)
Ud.,
él, ella / Habla / You speak (singular, formal)
You are speaking (s,f)
He/she speaks
He/she is speaking / Uds.,
ellos, ellas / hablan / You speak (p,f)
You are speaking (p,f)
They speak
They are speaking
The verb endings always indicate who is doing the action. In this case, they tell who is speaking. Because of this, you can often use the verb without a subject:
For example: Hablo ingles. (I speak English) or ¿Hablas español? (Do you speak Spanish?)
Subject pronouns are often used for emphasis or clarification.
For example: Ella habla ingles pero él habla español.
Present tense of –er and –ir verbs
To create the present tense forms of –er and –ir verbs, drop the endings from the infinitives, then add the verb endings –o, -es, -e, -emos/-imos, -éis/-ís, or –en to the stem.
Comer- to eat
Yo / como / I eatI am eating / Nosotros, -as / comemos / we eat
we are eating
Tú / comes / you eat (singular, informal)
you are eating (s,i) / Vosotros, -as / coméis / you eat (plural, informal)
you area eating
Ud.,
él, ella / come / you eat (singular, formal)
you are eating (s,f)
he/she eats
he/she is eating / Uds.,
ellos, ellas / comen / you eat (plural, formal)
you are eating (p,f)
they eat
they are eating
∙ regular –er verbs that you know are beber (to drink), comer (to eat), comprender (to understand) , correr (to
run) and leer (to read).
∙ You also know the verb ver (to see). It is regular except in the yo form, which is veo.
Compartir- to share
Yo / comparto / I shareI am sharing / Nosotros, -as / compartimos / we share
we are sharing
Tú / compartes / you share (s,i)
you are sharing / Vosotros, -as / compartís / you share (p,i)
you are sharing (p,i)
Ud.,
él, ella / comparte / you share (s,f)
you are sharing (s,f)
he/she shares
he/she is sharing / Uds.,
ellos, ellas / comparten / you share (p,f)
you are sharing (p,f)
they share
they are sharing
∙ Regular –ir verbs that you know are compartir (to share), and esciribir (to write).
Me gusta, me encanta
The verb gustar literally means “to be pleasing to” but people usually translate it to mean “to like” in English. “I like this hotel” becomes Me gusta este hotel (literally, This hotel is pleasing to me”). To talk about what other people like or dislike, use the appropriate indirect object pronoun form in front of the verb. To whom is something pleasing?
Me (to me) nos (to us)
Te (to you, [informal]) os (to you [informal])
Le (to you [formal], to him, to her) les (to you [formal], to them)
Gustar is used in two ways: gusta (for one thing that is pleasing or liked) and gustan (for more than one thing that is pleasing).
For example: Me gusta el restaurante I like the restaurant.
Me gustan los tacos I like the tacos.
To say that you don’t like something, place a no in front of the indirect object pronoun.
For example: No me gusta el restaurante I don’t like the restaurant.
No me gustan las enchiladas I don’t like the enchiladas.
Avoid using gustar when talking about liking people, as it has sexual connotations in some regions.
What is pleasing? ¿El restaurante? Me gusta el restaurante, te gusta el restaurante, le gusta el restaurante, nos gusta el restaurante, os gusta el restaurante, les gusta el restaurante. ¿Las enchiladas? Me gustan las enchiladas, te gustan las enchiladas, le gustan las enchiladas, nos gustan las enchiladas, os gustan las enchiladas, les gustan las enchiladas.
Notice that the verb form, gusta or gustan, agrees in singular or plural with its grammatical subject, the thing or things that are pleasing (liked), not with the person that is pleased (or likes).
When a verb follows gustar, it will be in the infinitive.
For example: Me gusta comer tacos. I like to eat tacos.
Gustar- to like, to be pleased
Singular / PluralI like / me gusta / we like / nos gusta
you like / te gusta / you like / os gusta
he/she/you(f.) likes / le gusta / they like you like (f) / les gusta
*Use me encanta or me encantan when you want to say you really like or love something.
The verb ir
To say where someone is going, use the verb ir. Here are the present tense forms:
Yo / voy / I goI am going / Nosotros, -as / vamos / we go
we are going
Tú / vas / you go (singular, informal)
you are going (s,i) / Vosotros, -as / vais / you go (plural, informal)
you are going (p,i)
Ud.,
él, ella / va / you go (singular, formal)
you are going (s,f)
he/she goes
he/she is going / Uds.,
ellos, ellas / van / you go (plural, formal)
you are going (p,f)
they go
they are going
The verb ir is almost always fallowed by a or de.
To ask where someone is going, use ¿Adónde?
For example: ¿Adónde vas? Where are you going (to)?
Ir + a + infinitive
Just as you use “going” + an infinitive in English to say what you are going to do, in Spanish you use a form of the verb ir + a + infinitive to express the same thing.
For example: Voy a jugar al tenis hoy. I am going to play tennis today.
¿Tú vas a jugar al golf esta tarde? Are you going to play golf this afternoon?
Mis amigas van a ir de camping mañana. My friends are going camping tomorrow.
Asking questions
You use interrogative words (who, what, where, and so on) to ask a question.
¿Qué? / What? / ¿Adónde? / (to) Where?¿Cómo? / How?, What? / ¿De dónde? / From where?
¿Quién? / Who? / ¿Cuál? / Which?, What?
¿Con quién? / With whom? / ¿Por qué? / Why?
¿Dónde? / Where? / ¿Cuándo? / When?
¿Cuántos, -as? / How many?
*Notice that all interrogative words have a written accent mark.
In Spanish, when you ask a question with an interrogative word you put the verb before the subject.
For example:
¿Qué come Elena en el restaurante? What does Elena eat at the restaurant?
¿Adónde van Uds. Después de las clases? Where do you go after classes?
¿Por qué va Ignacio a la playa todos los días? Why does Ignacio go to the beach every day?
For simple questions that can be answered by sí or no, you can indicate with your voice that you’re asking a question by having the pitch of your voice raise toward the end of the question.
By doing this, you can ask questions the following way: ¿Ana va a la biblioteca?
or ¿Va Ana a la biblioteca?
or Ana va a la biblioteca, ¿verdad?
The verb jugar
Use the verb jugar to talk about playing a sport or a game. Even though jugar uses the same endings as the other –ar verbs, it has a different stem in some forms. For those forms, the –u- becomes –ue-.