Liliana Russell

GRAMMAR BOOK

1. Nationality

2. Stem changers

3. Para

4. IOP

5. Pronoun Placement

6. Gustar

7. Affirmative and Negative Words

8. Superlatives

9. Reflexives

10. Affirmative tú Commands/ Irregulars/ Pronoun

Placement

11. Negative tú Commands/ Irregulars/ Pronoun

Placement

12. Sequencing events

13. Preterite

14. Trigger Words

15. -Car, -Gar, -Zar

16. Deber and infinitive

17. Modal verbs

18. Present progressive

19. Adverbs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NATIONALITIES

STEM CHANGE

Dormir Jugar Pedir

Pensar Almorzar Contar

Duermo Dormimos

Duermes Dormeis

Duerme Duermen

Juego Jugamos

Juegas Jugáis

Juega Juegan

Pido Pedimos

Pides Pedís

Pide Piden

Pienso Pensamos

Piensas Pensáis

Piensa Piensan

Almuerzo Almorzamos

Almuerzas Almorzáis

Almuerza Almuerza

Cuento Cuentamos

Cuentas Cuentais

Cuenta Cuentan

The stem doesn’t change for the nosotros or vosotros form

• Use para (for, in order to) to indicate…

PARA

The recipient of items• El regalo para

tú mama

Purpose• Vamos al

restaraunte para comer.

Implied purpose• Tengo dinero

para (comprar) algo.

• They are nouns that tell whom/ what or for whom/

what • Replace object pronouns or

accompany indirect objects• Can be in three places

1. Before a conjugated verb2. Attached to the end of an

infinitive3. Attached to a gerund (-ing

verb)

IOP

Me Nos

Te Os

Le Les

• The pronouns le and les can refer to different indirect object. To clarify what they mean, they are accompanied by:

a+ name, noun, or pronoun

1. Attach the pronoun to the infinitive2. Attach the pronoun to the progressive

3. Attach the pronoun to an affirmative tense4. Place the pronoun before a conjugated verb

*IO Placement• When the pronoun accompanies a conjugated verb,

the pronoun comes before the verb• But when the pronoun accompanies a sentence with

an infinitive, it can either go before the conjugated verb or be attached to the end of the infinitive

PRONOUN PLACEMENT

¡ T Ó C A L A !¡ B Á Ñ A T E !

¡ N O L A T O Q U E S !

Gusta

Me

Te

LeNos

Os

Les

GUSTAR

• A mi= me gusta• A ti= te gusta• A usted/ a el/ a ella= le gusta• A nosotros= nos gusta• A ustedes/ a ellas/ a ellos= les

gusta• A vosotros= os gusta

• Gusta singular• Me gusta el carro.

• Infinitive gusta• Me gusta hablar

español.• Plural gusta

• Me gustan los carros.*Read the sentence backwards• Me gusta el carro. The car is liked by me.*A MI me gusta tacos.• Used for emphasis

• The form of gustar matches the noun, not the speaker

• When you want to talk about an indefinite or negative situation, you use an affirmative or a negative word

• Alguno and ninguno must match the gender of the noun they replace or modify. They have different forms when used before masculine or

singular nouns.• If a verb is proceeded by no, words that follow must be negative. A

double negative is required in Spanish when no proceeds the verb.• However, if a negative words, such as nunca or nadie, comes before

the verb, a second negative is not needed.

AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE WORDS

Affirmative Words

• Algo= something• Alguien= someone• Algún/ alguno(a)= some• Siempre=always• También=also

Negative Words

• Nada= nothing• Nadie= no one• Ningún/ Ninguno(a)= none• Nunca= never• Tampoco= neither

• The suffix –ismo, -isimos, -isima, and –isimas are added to adjectives and adverbs

• It is equivalent to extremely or very before and adjective or adverb

• Adjectives & adverbs ending in C, G, or Z change spelling to que, gu, and c

• Adjectives that end in –n or –r form by adding –cisimo/a

SUPERLATIVES

Malo Malísimo

Muchas Muchísimas

Difícil Dificilísimo

Rico Riquísimo

Largo Larguísima

Feliz Felicísimo

Joven Jovencísimo

Trabajador Trabajadorcísimo

• To describe people doing things for themselves, use reflexive verbs.

• Ex: brushing one’s teeth or combing one’s hair• Reflexive pronouns are used with reflexive verbs

to indicate that the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb.

• Many verbs can be used with or without reflexive pronouns. When there is no reflexive pronoun,

the person doing the action does not receive the action

Sara se lava. ← Reflexive Not reflexive →Sara lava el carro.

Sara washes herself. Sara washes the car.• They include the concept of possession.• You can put the reflexive pronoun in front of

the conjugated verb.

* When you use the infinitive form of a reflexive verb after a conjugated verb, be sure to use the

correct reflexive pronoun.

• In the reflexive construction, the subject is also the object

• A person does as well as receives the action

• The subject, the pronoun, and the verb are all in the same form• Por ejemplo:

Yo me levanto a las ocho de la mañana.

• How do you form these verbs?

1. Conjugate the verb as always

• Posición de los pronombres reflexivos

1. In front of a conjugated verb

2. Attached to a gerund

3. Attached to an infinitive

4. Attached to an infinitive command

*Reflexive= se on the end

-acostarse

-bañarse

REFLEXIVES

Me lavo Nos lavamos

Te lavas Os laváis

Se lava Se lavan

They give instructions or commands to someone by using the Affirmative tú commands of regular

verbs.

*Notice it is a tú command, but ends like a 3rd house form

Remember that when you use a pronoun with an affirmative command, the pronoun attaches to the command

• Pon te otra camisa.

Put on (yourself) another shirt

Aff irmative tú Commands

Irregular Aff irmative tú Commands

AFFIRMATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/ IRREGULARS/ PRONOUN PLACEMENT

Caminar ComerAbrir

CaminaComeAbre

Camina en el parqueCome toda la hamburguesa

Abre la puerta, quiero entrar

Infinitivedecirhacer

irponersalirser

tenervenir

Affirmative tú Commanddi

hazve

ponsalsetenven

• When using an object pronoun, attach the pronoun to the end of the command.

ex. Cruza el parque → ¡Crúzalo!

1) Affirmative: Drop the –s

2) Put in yo form, change vowel, add –s

3) Affirmative irregulars: Di haz, ven, pon, sal, se, ten, ven

4) Irregular Commands:

Tener No tengas

Venir No vengas

Dar/ decir

No des/ digas

Ir No vayas

Ser No seas

Hacer No hagas

Estar No estés

Saber/ salir

No sepas/ salgas

When you tell someone what not to do, use a negative command. Negative tú

commands are formed by taking you form of the

present tense, dropping the –o, and adding the appropriate ending.

A few verbs have irregular negative tú commands.

Notice that none of the yo forms of these verbs end in -

o

Negative Tú Commands Irregular tú Commands

NEGATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/ IRREGULARS/ PRONOUN PLACEMENT

Infinitive (yo form)

•Dar (doy)•Estar (estoy)•Ir (voy)•Ser (soy)

Negative tú Command• No les des mi

dirección a nadie• Don’t give my

address to anyone

• No estés triste.• Don’t be sad.

• No vayas a la tienda.• Don’t go to the

store.• No seas mala.

• Don’t be bad.

Infinitive

•Hablar•volver•Venir

Yo form

•Hablo•Vuelvo

Negative tú Command

•No hables•No vuelvasObject pronouns precede the verbs in negative commands, just as with

other conjugated verbs. Ex: No lo uses. (Don’t use it (the blow-dryer)

Negativos

Des

Estés

Vayas

Seas

Primero Entonces Luego/ después

Por fin

First Then Later/ after Finally

SEQUENCING EVENTS

Antes de/ después de

Before/ after

Por la mañana/ tarde/ noche

In/ during the… (NO SPECIFIC TIME GIVEN)

AR

éhable

Amoshablamos

Astehablaste

óhabló

Aronhablaron

Er/ir

íComí

Escribí

ImosComimos

Escribimos

IsteComiste

Escribiste

IóComió

Escribió

IeronComieron

escribieron

PRETERITE

• -car ending preterite verbs in the yo form will change to –que in order to keep the hard ‘c’ sounds:

Ex. Yo saque (sacar) la basura ayer.

Perfected action in the past“snapshot”Beginning &/ or ending

TRIGGER WORDS

TocarToque

Tocaste

Toco

Tocamos

Tocaron

JugarJugué

Jugaste

Jugo

Jugamos

jugaron

ComenzarComencé

Comenzaste

Comenzócomenzamos

Comenzaron

-CAR, -GAR, -ZAR

Car -> yo -> que This applies to verbs that end in –car, -gar,Gar -> yo -> gue -zar. The verb form only changes in the yo form. Zar-> yo -> ce

Debo Debemos

Debes Debéis

Debe Deben

-¿Por qué te debo ayudar?

-En vez de sacar fotos, debes ayudarme.

*Remember you can put a pronoun in front of a conjugated verb

or attach it to an infinitive.

DEBER AND INFINITIVE

The verb deber means should or ought to. To say what people should do, use a conjugated form of deber with the infinitive of another verb.

When verbs are used in the modal

verb combinations, the 2nd verb is not conjugated. It is

left in the infinitive form. You would

never say “no puedo nadar”

Deber Should, ought to

Desear To desire

Necesitar To need

Poder Can, could, might

Querer Want, would like to

Saber Know, know how to

Soler Usually, used to

MODAL VERBS

Ar AndoEr/ir Iendo

3 vowel Yendo

Three Vowel Rule

1. Leer

2. Leindo

3. Leyendo

*When the stem of an –er or –ir verb ends in a vowel, change the –iendo to –yendo to form

the present progressive

*e- i stem- changing verbs have a vowel change in the

stem

*Some other verbs also have a vowel change in the stem

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

Estoy Estamos

Estas Estáis

Esta Están

Estar+ present progressive

*When you use pronouns with the present progressive, you can put them in one of two places.1. Put pronouns before the

conjugated verb2. Attach them to the end of the

present participle

To describe how something is done, use adverbs. Many adverbs in Spanish are made by changing an existing adjective. When the verb ends in –o, you replace

the –o with an –a.

When an adjective ends in e, l, or z, simply add –mente to the end.

When you use two adverbs. Drop the –mente from the first one Adjective Adverb

Reciente Recientemente

Frecuente Frecuentemente

Fácil Fácilmente

Normal Normalmente

Especial Especialmente

Feliz Felizmente

Cuidadoso Cuidadosamente

Lento Lentamente

Tranquilo Tranquilamente

ADVERBS

Irregular Adverbs

Mucho A lot

Muy Very

Mal Bad

Bestante Quite

Bien Good

Ya Already

Tan So

Demasiado Too

Nunca Never

Poco Little

Peor Worse

Siempre always