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1 Present indicative of regular -ar verbs
*Spanish verbs are classified in three main patterns of conjugation,
according to the infinitive ending. The three infinitive endings are -ar,
-er, and -ir.
Hablar-to speak
Yo hablo (I speak, do speak, am
speaking)
Nosotros(as) hablamos (we speak)
Tú hablas (you speak; friendly)
Vosotros habláis (you speak; Spain)
Él/Ella/Ud. habla (He/She Speaks,
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. hablan
You speak; formal)
(They speak; You all speak)
-¿Qué idioma hablas? ------ "What language do you speak?"
-Yo hablo español. -------
"I speak Spanish."
-¿Y Pierre? --------"And Pierre?"
-Él habla francés. -------"He speaks French."
*Regular verbs ending in -ar are all conjugated as hablar. Some other
common -ar verbs are:
desear to want, wish
estudiar to study
necesitar to need
regresar to return
llamar to call
trabajar to work
-¿Uds. estudian por la noche?----- "Do you study in the evening?"
-No, nosotros estudiamos por la tarde.-----"No, we study in the afternoon."
-¿Qué necesitas tú? -----------"What do you need?"
-Yo necesito un libro. ---------"I need a book."
ATENCIÓN:Notice that the verb forms for Ud., él, and ella are the
same. In addition, Uds., ellos, and ellas share common verb forms.
This is true for all verbs in all tenses.
*The infinitive of Spanish verbs consists of a stem (such as habl-) and
an ending (such as -ar).
*The stem habl- does not change. The endings change with the
subject.
*The Spanish present tense is equivalent to three English forms:
Yo hablo inglés
I speak English, I do speak
English, I am speaking English
*Because the verb endings indicate who is performing the action, the
subject pronouns are frequently omitted.
Necesito un lápiz. -------I need a pencil.
Estudiamos inglés. -------We study English.
Hoy trabajo.--------I work today.
*Subject pronouns can, however, be used for emphasis or clarification.
-¿Ellos hablan inglés? -----------"Do they speak English?"
*In Spanish, as in English, when two verbs are used together, the
second verb remains in the infinitive.
-¿Con quién necesita hablar Ud.?----"With whom do you need to speak?"
-Necesito hablar con Roberto.-------"I need to speak with Roberto."
2 Negative and interrogative sentences
A. Negative sentences
*To make a sentence negative, simply place the word no in front of
the verb.
Yo trabajo en el hospital. ------I work at the hospital.
Yo no trabajo en el hospital. ------I don't work at the hospital.
Ella habla inglés. ---------She speaks English.
Ella no habla inglés. ---------She doesn't speak English.
*If the answer to a question is negative, the word no will appear
twice: at the beginning of the sentence, as in English, and in front of
the verb.
-¿Habla Ud. español?------ "Do you speak Spanish?"
-No, yo no hablo español. ------
"No, I don't speak Spanish."
The subject pronoun may be omitted.
-No, no hablo español. -------
"No, I don't speak Spanish."
B. Interrogative sentences
In Spanish, there are several ways of asking a question to elicit a yes
or no answer.
¿Ud. habla español?
Sí, yo hablo español.
¿Habla Ud. español?
¿Habla español Ud.?
*These three questions ask for the same information and have the
same meaning. The subject may be placed at the beginning of the
sentence, after the verb, or at the end of the sentence.
*Note that written questions in Spanish begin with an inverted
question mark.
*Another common way to ask a question in Spanish is to add tag
questions such as ¿no? and ¿verdad? at the end of a statement.
Ud. habla español, ¿verdad? -------You speak Spanish, don't you?
*Questions that ask for information begin with an interrogative word,
and the verb, not the subject, is placed after the interrogative word.
¿Dónde trabajas tú? --------Where do you work?
¿Cuándo regresan ellos? --------When do they return?
¿Qué necesita Ud.? ---------What do you need?
¿Quién es el profesor?---------Who is the professor?
ATENCIÓN:Spanish does not use an auxiliary verb, such as do or does,
in negative or interrogative sentences.
3 Descriptive adjectives: Forms, position, and agreement with
articles and nouns
A. Forms of adjectives
*Descriptive adjectives identify characteristics or qualities such as
color, size, and personality.
In Spanish, these adjectives agree in gender and number with the
nouns they modify. Adjectives ending in -o are made feminine by
changing the -o to -a.
el muchacho mexicano
la muchacha mexicana
el chico rubio
la chica rubia
el lápiz rojo
la pluma roja
*Adjectives ending in -e or in a consonant have the same form for the
masculine and the feminine.
el chico inteligente
la chica inteligente
el esposo feliz (happy) la esposa feliz
el libro fácil (easy)
la clase fácil
*Adjectives of nationality that end in a consonant add an -a in the
feminine.
el muchacho español
la muchacha española
el señor inglés
la señora inglesa
*Adjectives ending in -or, -án, -ón, or -ín add an -a in the feminine.
El alumno trabajador
La alumna trabajadora
The hard working student
¡ATENCIÓN! Adjectives that have an accent in the last syllable of the
masculine form drop it in the feminine: inglés  inglesa.
*To form the plural, adjectives follow the same rules as nouns.
Adjectives ending in a vowel add -s; adjectives ending in a consonant
add -es; adjectives ending in -z change the -z to c and add -es.
norteamericana
norteamericanas
español
españoles
feliz
felices
B. Position of adjectives
*Descriptive adjectives generally follow the noun.
Miguel es un chico inteligente.
Necesito dos plumas rojas.
Miguel is an intelligent boy.
I need two red pens.
*Adjectives denoting nationality always follow the noun.
El profesor mexicano trabaja en la universidad.
C. Agreement of articles, nouns, and adjectives
*In Spanish, the article, noun, and adjective agree in gender and
number.
un muchacho alto
una muchacha alta
los muchachos altos
las muchachas altas
*When an adjective modifies two or more nouns, the plural form is
used.
la silla y la mesa rojas
*If two nouns described together are of different genders, the
masculine plural form of the adjective is used.
La chica mexicana
El chico mexicano
4 Telling time

la chica y el chico mexicanos
*To ask what time it is, say, "¿Qué hora es?" To tell the time in
Spanish, the following word order is used:
Es la
Or
y
+
hour
+
or
minutes
Son las
*Es is used with una.
Es la una.(It’s 1:00)
*Son is used with all the other hours. (2:00-12:00)
Son las cuatro.(It’s 4:00)
*The feminine definite article is always used before the hour, since it
refers to la hora.
Es la una y media.(It’s 1:30)
Son las diez y cuarto. (It’s 10:15)
*The hour is given first, then the minutes.
Son las once y veinte. (It’s 11:20)
*The equivalent of past or after is y.
Es la una y veinticinco. (It’s 1:25)
*To specify whether the time is A.M. or P.M., use de la mañana or de
la tarde, respectively.
-¿La clase es a las 7 de la mañana?
"Is the class at 7 A.M.?"
-No, ¡es a las 7 de la tarde!
"No, it's at 7 P.M.!"
*To indicate that an activity takes place at an undefined time in the
morning or in the afternoon, use por la mañana or por la tarde,
respectively.
-¿Estudiamos por la mañana? "Shall we study in the morning?"
5 Cardinal numbers 300-1,000
101-1.000
Trescientos
300
Setecientos
700
Cuatrocientos 400
Ochocientos
800
Quinientos
500
Novecientos
900
Seiscientos
600
Mil
1.000
*To ask how much a single item costs, say, "¿Cuánto cuesta?" For
multiple items, use "¿Cuánto cuestan?"
-¿Cuánto cuesta el escritorio? "How much does the desk cost?"
-Cuesta ciento cincuenta dólares. "It costs a hundred and fifty
dollars."
-¿Cuánto cuestan las ventanas? "How much do the windows cost?"
-Cuestan mil cien dólares. "They cost eleven hundred dollars."
*When counting beyond 100 (101 to 199), ciento is used.
*Y appears only in numbers between 16 and 99. It is not used to
separate thousands, hundreds, and tens from each other: mil
quinientos ochenta y seis.
*In Spanish, one does not count in hundreds beyond 1,000; thus,
1,100 is expressed as mil cien. After 1,000, thousands are counted
dos mil, tres mil, and so on. Note that Spanish uses a period rather
than a comma to indicate thousands.
*When modifying a feminine noun, the feminine form is used:
doscientas sillas.