M A R A O ’ B R I E N

Grammar Book

Table of contents:

1. Imperfect

2. Pretérito

3. Irregular Pretérito

4. Spock

5. Cucaracha

6. Snake/snakey

7. Modal verbs

8. Adverbs

9. Present/past progressive

10. Futuro/ irregulars

10. Conditional

11. Supperlatives

12. Formal commands

13. Prepositions

14. Demonstratives

Imperfect words.

Verb Hablar Comer Escribir

Yo Hablaba Comía Escribía

tu Hablabas Comías Escribías

l/ella/Ud. Hablaba Comía Escribía

Nosotros bamos Comíamos Escribíamos

vosortos Hablabais Comíais Escribía is

Ellos/ellas/Uds. hablaban Comían Escribían

Imperfect verbs continued.

Verb Ir Ser Ver

Yo iba era veía

Tu ibas eras veías

l/ella/Ud. iba era veía

Nosotros íbamos ramos veíamos

Vosotros ibais erais veíais

Ellos/ellas/Uds. iban eran veían

Pretérite.

A snapshot of the past

A perfected action of the past.

Beginning and/or ending

Ar Er/Ir

Yo é í

Tu aste iste

El/Ella/Ud. ó ió

Nosotros amos imos

Ellos/Ellas/Uds.

aron ieron

Preterite triggerwords.

Ayer

Anoche

anteayer

La semana pasada

El año pasado

Irregular Pretérito.

Tocar:-Toqué-Tocaste-Tocó-Tocamos-Tocaron

Jugar:-Jugué-Jugaste-Jugó-Jugamos-Jugaron

Comenzar:-Comencé-Comenzaste

-comenzó-Comenzamos

-Comenzaron

-car-gar-zar

Regular verbs that end in –car –gar –zar have a spelling change in the yoform of the preterite to maintain the original sound of the verb.

Pretérito.

SpockHiceHicisteHizoHicimoshicieron

FuiFuisteFueFuimosfueron

d/v-i-iste-io-imos-ieron

Pretérito.

Ander= anduv- Estar= estuv- Ponder= pud- Poner= pus- Querer= quis- Saber= sup- Tener= tuv- Venir= vin-

Decir= dij- Traer= traj- Conducir= conduj- Producir= produj- traducir= traduj-

Cucaracha-e-iste-o-imos-isteis-ieron

Pretérito.

Snake/SnakeyStem Changers

Y ChangersDORMIR-Dormí-Dormimos-Dormiste-Durmio

-Dumieron

LEER-Leí-Leimos-Leiste-Leyo

-Leyeron

- To write the third person (el/ella/ud. And ellos/ellas/uds. In preterite form of –er and –ir verbs with stems that end in a vowel, change the I to Y.

- All of these preteriteforms require an accent, except the uds./ellos/ellasforms.

Modal verbs.

Congugate and pair the modal verbs with an infinitive to get a new meaning

ir+a+infinitive(going to do something)

Poder+infinitive(are able to do something)

Querer+infinitive(want to do something)

Deber+infinitive(should do something)

Tener+que+infinitive(to have to do something)

Soler+infinitive(to be accustomed to…)

Los Adverbs.

Most Spanish adverbs are formed by adding –menteto the feminine singular form of the adjective.

Corresponds to –ly in English

Claro-clara-claramente=clearly

Constante - Constante – constantemente =constantly

When two adverbs modify the same verb, only the second adverb uses the –mente meaning. The first adverb is just changed into the feminine singular form.

Ex: Juan trabaja lenta y curdadosamente

• Juan works slowly and carefully.

El chico le habló clara y cortésmente

• The boy spoke to him clearly and constantly

Progressive tense.

Present progressive tense is formed by combing the conjugated, word “to be” with the present participle.(used when the action is happening)

Estar + -ando/-iendo/-yendo

Ex. Estoy hablando a ti.= I am talking to you.

To from past progressive conjugate estar in the imperfect tense, drop the –ar/-er/-ir of infinitive, and attach the appropriate ending. (used when the action is continually going)

Ex. Estaba hablando a ti.= I was talking to you.

El futuro.

-é

-ás

- á

-emos

- án

Decir= dir-

Hacer= har-

Poner= pondr-

Salir= saldr-

Tener =tendr-

Valer= vendr-

Poder= podr-

Querer= querr-

Saber= sabr-

Infinitive -é-ás- á-emos- án

Conditional

Used to express probability, possibility, and wonder, usually translated as would, could, probably or must have.

Infinitive +

Ía

ías

ía

íamos

ían

For Example:

Hablar:HablaríaHablaríasHablaríaHablaríamosHablarían

Superlatives.

When you want to say something has the most or the least of a certain quantity, you use a superlative. Ex: Luis es el más alto. -Luis is the tallest

To use a noun with the superlative form. Put an alter after article. Ex: Luis es el chico mas alto. – Luis is the tallest boy.

When you refer to an idea or a concept, use the acticle lo. Ex: Luis says: -Lo más increible es que

son los dos.. –the most incredible {thing }is that it’s two o’clock..

Remember to use these irregular forms when referring to the best, worst, oldest and youngest. El/la mejor, el/la peor, el/la mayor, el/la menor.

El más.. Elmenos..

Los más.. Los menos..

La más.. La menos..

Las más.. Las menos..

Formal commands.

DOP+IOP +’se’ can attach to an affirmative

---------------------------

DOP+IOP +’se’ must go before the negative command

Tu- simply drop the ‘s’

Los irregulares- di, haz ,ve, pon, sal, se, ten, ven.

Ud./uds.-pit it in ‘yo’ form and change to opposite vowel.

Los irregulares-TVDISHES

Los irregulares-TVDISHES

Los irregulares-TVDISHES

Ud./uds.-pit it in ‘yo’ form and change to opposite vowel.

Tu- put it in the ‘yo’ form and change the opposite vowel, add an ‘s’.

AFIRMATIVE

NEGATIVE

NOSOTROS

Make same as ud./Uds.

Irregular-TVdishes

Prepositions.

To tell where things are located.

Abajo Down/ under

Arriba On top of

Debajo Below

Dentro Inside

Encima de Above

A la izquierda To the left of

A la derecha To the right of

En el centro In the center

Demonstratives.

This That That over there

Este Ese Aquel

Esta Esa Aquella

These Those Those over there

Estos Esos Aquellos

Estas Esas Aquellas