Español II- Repaso del examen final
1. SER VS. ESTAR
Ser and Estar are verbs that both mean “to be”. However, they are used very differently.
A. Ser- is used for more permanent states of being. One way to remember the use of Ser is with the acronym DIDOP.
D- Description (physical features and personality traits)
I- Identity (race, religion, nationality, status, affiliation, gender)
D- Date and Time (telling time and saying the date, year, month, season)
O- Origin (saying where you are from- use with the word “de”)
P- Profession (your job and/or title...do not use with articles Ex: Yo soy profesora)
SER- to be
Yo soy Nosotros somos
Tú eres Vosotros sois
Él Ellos
Ella Es Ellas Son
Usted Ustedes
B. ESTAR- also means “to be”, but is used for less permanent states of being- specifically for feelings and location (which always change)
“What you feel and where you are, always use the verb ESTAR”
Estar- to be
Yo estoy Nosotros estamos
Tú estás Vosotros estais
Él Ellos
Ella está Ellas están
Usted Ustedes
** Do not forget accent marks! Without them you are changing the meaning of the words! **
C. ESTAR EXPRESSIONS
The following are expressions that use the verb Estar. Remember that you must conjugate Estar for your subject.
Estar + Bien/ mal - to be (feeling) good or bad
Estar + Enfermo/a - to be sick
Estar + Cansado/a - to be tired
Estar + Abierto/ cerrado - to be open/ closed
Estar + Triste - to be sad
Estar + Contento/a - to be content and happy
Estar + Sucio/ limpio - to be dirty/ clean
Estar + Listo/a - to be ready
Estar + Caliente/ frío - to be warm/ cold (to the touch)
Estar + Nervioso/a - to be nervous
Example: Ella está contenta hoy - she is happy today
2. TENER
Tener is an irregular verb that means “to have”.
We use tener to show possession and also to state our age.
Tener is a yo-go verb…. Meaning that there is a “go” in the “yo” form.
Tener is also a stem changing verb in the present tense.
e à ie when conjugated in all forms except the nosotros form!
Tener- to have
Yo tengo Nosotros tenemos
Tú tienes Vosotros teneis
Él Ellos
Ella tiene Ellas tienen
Usted Ustedes
Example: Yo tengo 18 años – I am 18 years old. (Literal: I have 18 years)
Tener Expressions
Many expressions use the verb Tener. Remember that you must conjugate Tener for your subject
Tener + Miedo – to be afraid Tener + Hambre- to be hungry
Tener + Prisa – to be in a hurry Tener + Dolor- to have pain
Tener + Cuidado – to be careful Tener + que – to have to
Tener + Suerte – to be lucky Tener + Sed – to be thirsty
3. Possessive Adjectives
Mi/ mis – my
Tu/ tus – your
Su/ sus - his/ her/ your (formal)
Nuestro/ nuestra/ nuestros/ nuestras – our
Vuestro/ vuestra/ vuestros/ vuestras - all of your (informal)
Su/ sus – their/ all of your (forma
**Be sure that your possession words match in gender and number to the item(s) which are being possessed. **
Example:
Nuestra abuela se llama Rosa. – Our grandmother is named Rosa.
Sus sombreros son rojos. – Their hats are red.
Nuestros amigos son viejos. – Our friends are old.
4. Yo- Go and Irregular “yo” forms
In the present tense, there are many verbs which have an irregular “yo” form. Some of these are called “yo-go” verbs because they have a “go” in the yo form.
Tener- tengo Hacer- hago Estar- estoy
Salir- salgo Poner- pongo Dar- doy
Venir- vengo Ir- voy Decir- digo
Oír- oigo Ser- soy
5. Stem-Changing Verbs (present tense)
Infinitive: An un-conjugated verb that still has its –ar, -er, or –ir ending
Stem: What is left after we drop our ending; the root of the verb
Ending: has to be either –ar, -er, or –ir when un-conjugated
Stem-changing verbs in the present tense verbs that require another step when conjugating them. This means that after you drop off your ending, you must make a spelling change in the stem before you add your ending.
**The only forms that do not stem change are the nosotros and vosotros forms!** (boot verbs)
There are three types of stem-changers:
e à ie (if there is more an 1 e in the verb, usually the second one changes)
e à i
o à ue
Here is a list of common stem-changing verbs (In the present tense):
eà ie Oà ue e ài
Tener Almorzar Pedir
Venir Dormir Decir
Empezar Poder Vestirse
Despertarse Costar
Pensar Acostarse ** Jugar- u changes to ue**
Nevar Llover
Preferir Example: Ella almuerza en el café.
6. Reflexives Verbs
Are verbs in which the subject is also receiving the action…. In other words, they are verbs or actions that one does to oneself.
You can tell that a verb is reflexive when it has a “se” attached to the end of an infinitive
Example: Ducharse
There are 2 parts to a reflexive verb:
1) A reflexive pronoun (states the person who receives the action)
2) The verb (the action)
Reflexive Pronouns
Me Nos
Te Os
Se Se
To conjugate a reflexive verb:
1. Move the “se” off the infinitive and move it to the front
2. Change the “se” to the appropriate reflexive pronoun to match its subject
3. Conjugate the reflexive verb according to the subject (be careful for stem changing reflexive verbs + be sure to use the correct tense)
Example: ducharse (yo)
1. Yo se duchar
2. Yo me duchar
3. Yo me ducho – I shower (myself)
Reflexives in the Infinitive
When reflexive verbs directly follow another verb or the words “antes de” (before) and “despúes de” (after) you must leave the verb in the infinitive but change the pronoun attached on the end to match its subject.
Example: Me gusta bañarme – I like to bathe
Antes de ducharme, yo me seco.
Despúes de cepillarnos, nosotros nos arreglamos.
7. Direct Object Pronouns. The DOPs are as follows:
DOP English meaning
me me
te you (fam.)
lo/la him/her/Ud./it Note gender agreement is required
nos us
los/las them/Uds./them Note gender agreement is required
Remember, a DOP answers the question “What (or, sometimes, whom)?” In the sentence, “I threw it to him,” the word “it” is acting as a DOP (Threw what? Threw it!). For the Spanish II final, you should focus on studying the forms for “it” (lo and la) and “them” (los and las).
8. Indirect Object Pronouns. The IDOPs are as follows:
IDOP English meaning
me To/for me
te To/for you (fam.)
le (se) To/for him/her/Ud. Note se stands in for le in some cases (see below)
nos To/for us
les (se) To/for them/Uds. Note se stands in for les in some cases (see below)
Remember, an IDOP answers the question “To or for whom?” with respect to the verb. In the sentence, “I threw it to him,” the word “him” is acting as an IDOP (Threw to whom? To him!)
Many important Spanish verbs take IDOPs. The most common one is gustar (“to be pleasing to”). Note that, with this and similar verbs, the conjugation of the verb tells us what is pleasing to somebody, and is usually in third person singular or third person plural (me gusta = “it pleases me,” me gustan = “they please me”)
9. Gustar
Gustar is also a unique verb. There are only 2 forms of Gustar in any tense that you may use … a singular conjugation and a plural (3rd person) conjugation.
Gustar literally means “to be pleasing to” however we usually translate it to “to like”.
Gustar also uses pronouns when conjugated- this tells us who the item or activity is pleasing to.
Pronouns
Me Nos
Te Os
Le Les
Gusta: 1 noun or an infinitive (libro, nadar, tenis)
Or
Gustan: 2+ nouns (las películas, las clases)
*To specify a subject or to add emphasis, you must add a personal “a” before your subject. Note that the “yo” and “tú” forms are a little different.*
A mi me…. A ellos/ ellas/ ustedes les…
A ti te…. A María le…
A él/ ella/ usted le… A los estudiantes les….
A nosotros nos…. A pablo y yo nos…
A vosotros os….
Examples:
A mí me gustan los zapatos - I like the shoes
A Ricardo le gusta el professor – Ricardo likes the teacher
10. The verb IR
Ir is an irregular verb which means “to go”. You can also use Ir to express an idea in the future (simple future tense) by stating that you are going to do something.
The verb Ir is almost always followed by “a” which means “to”
IR- to go
Yo voy Nosotros vamos
Tú vas Vosotros vais
Él Ellos
Ella va Ellas van
Usted Ustedes
The formula for stating an action you will do in the future is:
Ir + a + infinitive
Example: Ellos van a dormir- they are going to slee
11. The Preterite (Past) Tense
The preterite is one of two past tenses. The preterite is used for actions that happened in the past during a certain time period and which are completed. There is a definite beginning and an end to the action. Think of the preterite as a snapshot. The endings for regular preterite verbs are as follows:
-AR -ER/IR
é amos í imos
aste asteis iste isteis
ó aron
ió ieron
** Be sure to always include your accent marks! They are very important to the meaning of the verb!**
One rule to remember: If a verb stem-changes in the present, do not stem change it in the preterite! (unless there is an exception)
Example: Yo pienso - I think
Yo pensé - I thought
12. -CAR, -GAR, -ZAR verbs
Verbs that have these specific endings are slightly different in the preterite tense. These changes occur only in the “YO” FORM!
-CAR : c changes to a qu yo toque el piano.
-GAR : g changes to a gu yo jugué los deportes.
-ZAR : z changes to a c yo amorcé en la cocina.
13. Ser and Ir in the preterite
Are irregular verbs without accents. These 2 verbs are conjugated the same way…. speakers will know which verb you are using by the context of your sentence.
Ser and IR
fui fuimos
fuiste fuisteis
fue fueron
Examples: Ella fue al parque. She went to the park
El viaje fue un desastre The trip was a disaster.
14. Irregular Preterite
The following verbs are irregular in the preterite tense. You must memorize their stem-changes. Once you have changed the stem, simply put on the preterite endings you have learned.
Verb: Stem:
Estar estuv-
Tener tuv-
Poner pus-
Poder pud-
Hacer hic-
Decir dij-
Querer quis-
Saber sup-
Venir vin-
Dar di * is an –AR verb with –ER endings
15. IMPERFECT
The imperfect is one of two simple past tense forms that exist in Spanish. (The other is the preterite). The imperfect is used to talk about actions that were in progress in the past, or that occurred regularly or habitually in the past. These uses of the imperfect are often translated into English using the term “used to.”
Example: Cuando yo era niño, jugaba en el parque todos los sábados.
When I was a boy, I used to play in the park every Saturday.
When used with the preterite, the imperfect describes the “background action,” and the preterite is used for the specific action or event that in some sense interrupted the background action.
Example: Marta jugaba al fútbol cuando ocurrió el accidente.
Marta was playing soccer when the accident occurred.
To describe two actions that were going on at the same time in the past – one was happening while the other was happening – you would normally use the imperfect tense for both.
Example: Mi papá lavaba los platos mientras mi mamá los secaba.
My dad washed the dishes while my mom dried them.
For verbs that are regular in the imperfect (and almost all are regular), you drop the infinitive ending (-ar, -er or -ir) and add these endings:
-AR verbs -ER and –IR verbs
-aba -ía
-abas -ías
-aba -ía
-ábamos -íamos
-aban -ían
Only three important verbs are irregular in the imperfect (you must memorize these forms):
ser ir ver
era iba veía
eras ibas veías
era iba veía
éramos íbamos veíamos
eran iban veían
16. THE PROGRESSIVE TENSE
The progressive tenses are very much like their English counterparts. The present progressive is used to talk about what is happening NOW (e.g., I am speaking, you are eating, etc.). Here’s the formula:
Present progressive = present tense conjugation of estar + present participle
Hablar Estoy hablando. I am speaking.
Comer Estás comiendo. You are eating.
Leer Ellos están leyendo. They are reading.
Note that for verbs like leer, the rule stated above would give us three vowels in a row in the ending (“-eiendo”). In such cases, change the “i” to “y” (e.g., leyendo, oyendo, construyendo, etc.).
17. COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE EXPRESSIONS
To talk about the differences between people and things, use the expressions más ____ que and menos ____ que. An adjective, noun or adverb can go in the blank. Here are some examples of the so-called comparisons of inequality:
Anita es más alta que Juan. Anita is taller than Juan.