GRAMMAR BOOKTad Cramer

TABLE OF CONTENTS• Ser • Estar• Preterite

– Triggers – Irregulars

• -car, -gar, -zar• Spock• Cucaracha• Snake• Snake-ey

• Imperfect• Preterite vs. Imperfect• Preterite and Imperfect in the Same Sentence• Por• Para• Por vs. Para• Verbs like Gustar• Comparatives and superlatives• Transition words• Futuro

SER

•description

D

•origins

O

•classifications

C•t

ime

T

•occupation

O

•relationships

R

•possession

P

•events

E

•dates

D

Singular

Plural

1st person

soy somos

2nd person

eres sois

3rd person

es son• Ser means “to be”

ESTAR

•health

H

•emotions

E

•locations/conditions

L

•present condition

P

•-ar = ando

•-er/ir = iendo

“ING”

Singular

Plural

1st person

estoy estamos

2nd person

estás estáis

3rd person

está estan• Estar means “to be”

PRETERITE

AR verbs

-é -amos

-aste

-ó -aron

ER/IR verbs

-í -imos

-iste

-ió -ieron

¡é, í, aste, iste, ó, ió,

amos, imos, aron, ieron,

ESTO ES EL PRETERITO!

PRETERITE TRIGGER WORDS • These are words which set up a

sentence for preterite tense.• These words make you know its

preterite.• These include:– Ayer– Anoche– Pasado– Anteayer– El semana pasado

PRETERITE IRREGULARS:-CAR, -GAR, -ZARto get the same sound for certain verbs, the ending

must change.

Ejemplos:

to get the hard “c” from tocar, you must replace the “c” with a “qu”:

TOCAR + -é = toqué

to get the hard “g” sound in jugar in the yo form,

change the “g” to a “gu”:

JUGAR + -é = jugué

to get the soft “z” sound in comenzar, in the yo form change the “z” to a “c”

COMENZAR + -é = comencé

PRETERITE IRREGULARS:“SPOCK VERBS”

Ir/Ser:Fui FuimosFuisteFue Fueron

Dar/Ver:d/v -i d/v -imosd/v -iste d/v -io d/v -ieron

Hacer:hice hicimoshicistehizo hicieron

These are stem changing verbs in the preterite.

PRETERITE IRREGULARS:“CUCARACHA” VERBSandar anduv-estar estuv-poder pud-poner pus-querer quis-saber sup-tener tuv-venir vin-decir dij-traer traj-conducir conduj-producir produj-traducir traduj-

• These verbs change form for preterite.

• These verbs need only the normal preterite ending.

• The only exceptions are the verbs in green. – In the plural verb

form, these verbs add “-eron” instead of “-ieron” because they end in “j”s

PRETERITE IRREGULARS:SNAKESe > i

pedirpreferircompetirrepetirservirsentir

o > udormirmorir

• These verbs are stem changers in the “usted” and “ustedes” form.

PRETERITE IRREGULARS:SNAKE-EY VERBS Verbs like leer

and oir. They need to

have a “y” in the usted and ustedes.

Leer -leí leímos

leiste leísteis

leyó leyeron

IMPERFECT

-ar

-aba -ábamos

-abas -abais

-aba -aban

-ir/er

-ía -íamos

-ías -íais

-ía -ían

Irregulars

Ser

era éramos

eras erais

era eranIrregulars

Ir

iba íbamos

ibas ibais

iba iban

Irregulars

Ver

veía veíamos

veías veíais

veía veían

TRIGGER WORDS• Siempre• A veces• Mientrads• Cada dia• A menudo• Muchas veces• Todos los dias• De vez en cuando• Los lunes• Frecuentemente

Preterite• A

ctions viewed by speaker as completed

• Beginning or end of past action

• Narrate a series of past actions

Imperfect• To describe

an ongoing past action

• Habitual past actions and events

• Physical emotions or states and characteristics

PRETERITE VS. IMPERFECT

Imperfect•Tells what was going on when…

Preterite•Interrupts the action

María leía cuando el teléfono sonó.

PRETERITE AND IMPERFECT IN THE SAME SENTENCE

POR• passing through… PORTAL• general rather than specific• location… PORTUGAL• how long something lasts… POREVER• the cause of something… PORPUSE• an exchange… IMPORT-EXPORT• doing something in place or instead

of someone else… IM POR PAY FOR ME

• a means of transportation TRANSPORTATION

• numbers and time

PARA• for whom something is done… a surprise

PARATY• destination… PARAGUAY

– El hombre salió PARA Madrid• purpose for which something is done

– Anteojos PARA ver mejor• to express an opinion… PARADON ME

– PARA mí, ejercicios son fantásticos.• to compare or contrast

– PARA maestra, no sabe mucho de las matemáticas • to express the idea of a deadline

– Hay que terminar la tarea PARA mañana. • in order to

POR VS. PARA Este regalo es por mi mama.

‘por’ suggests it was made by his or her mother

Este regalo es para mi mama. ‘para’ suggests the gift is for or to be given

to his or her mother

VERBS LIKE GUSTAR Verbs like gustar concur

with what they are “gustar-ing” in plurality.

When gustar is followed by one or more verbs in the infinitive, the singular gustar is used

gustaria – conditional form (would, should could)

faltar, aburrir, encantar, fascinar, importar, interesar, molestan, quedar, caer bien/mal, doler, disgustar, hacer fala, preocupar, soprender, apetecer

Me gustan tus zapatos.I like your shoes.

Me gusta tu chaqueta.I like your jacket.

It agrees in plurality.

TRANSITION WORDS Can be used to

make language flow more easily.

Ejemplo: Aunque mi

hermano es muy pesado, lo amo.

aunque even though

también also

mientras while

a pesar de in spite of

pero but

por lo tanto therefore

sin embargo/no obstante nevertheless

COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

La casa es

grande.

más (grande) que (la otra).

el más (grande) de (todos).

Este dinosaurio es

feroz.

menos (feroz) que (la otra).

el menos (feroz) de (todos).

Sofia es tan bonita como Penelope.

Sofia is as pretty as Penelope.

COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES (CONT.)

more than or less than numbers

“mas de” or “menos de”

FUTUROinfinitivo +

yo é nosotros

emos

tú ás vosotros

éis

él/ellausted

á ellos/ellasustedes

án

Los Irregulares

decir dir-

hacer har-

poner pondr-

salir saldr-

tener tendr-

valer valdr-

venir vendr-

poder podr-

querer querr-

saber sabr-

caber cabr-

haber habr-

hay habrá‘there

will be’

TRIGGER WORDS

mañana en los días/horas/semanas

el proximo día