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GrammarPacket
A.HaceTimeExpressions
Todescribehowlongsomethinghasbeengoingon:
Ifyoutrytotranslate“IhavebeenlivinginCarmelforfiveyears”word-for-wordintoSpanish,you’llendupreally
confusingpeople—justasifaSpanish-speakertranslatedtheSpanishexpressionintoEnglishandsaid“Itmakes
fiveyearsthatIliveinCarmel”.Beforewetranslateanexpressionlikethis,weneedtothinkaboutwhatwe’re
reallysayinginSpanish.Itwillsoundawkward,butunderstandable:
IhavebeenlivinginCarmelforfiveyears.ItmakesfiveyearsthatIliveinCarmel.
Translatethat,andyouget:HacecincoañosquevivoenCarmel.
Theformula:Hace+periodoftime+que+present-tenseverb.
Todescribehowlongagosomethinghappened:
IlivedinCarmeltenyearsago.ItmakestenyearsthatIlivedinCarmel.HacediezañosquevivíenCarmel.
Theformula:Hace+periodoftime+que+past-tenseverb.
So,howwouldwemakeaquestionlikethis?
HowlonghaveyoubeenlivinginCarmel?HowmuchtimedoesitmakethatyouliveinCarmel?
Translatethat,andyouget:¿CuántotiempohacequevivesenCarmel?
HowlongagodidyouliveinCarmel?HowmuchtimedoesitmakethatyoulivedinCarmel?
Translatethat,andyouget:¿CuántotiempohacequevivisteenCarmel?
Theformula:¿Cuánto/a(s)tiempo(horas,meses,días,etc.)hace+que+presentorpreteriteverb?
B.Makingadjectivesintoadverbs
Adverbsarewordsthatexplainhowanactionisdone,like“quickly”,“well”,or“rudely”(orthatmodifyanadjective
oradverb,like“noticeablydifferent”,or“extremelyfast”).YouknowbynowthatthemostadverbsinSpanish
endin-mente,justasmostadverbsinEnglishendin-ly.
Tochangeanadjectiveintoanadverb,youstartwiththefeminineformoftheadjectiveandadd-mente:
rápidorápida+mente=rápidamente
Iftheadjectivedoesnothaveafeminineform(becauseitdoesn’tendino),justadd–mente:
fácil+mente=fácilmente
probable+mente=probablemente
C.PresentProgressive(is___-ing)(presentformofestar+presentparticiple)
Aprogressivetenseisusedtotalkaboutanaction“in-progress”.Thepresentprogressive,then,emphasizesthat
somethingisin-progressnow.
Youalreadyknowhowtosaythe“is”(or“am”,or“are”)part.(Justuseapresent-tenseformofestar.Itmakes
sensetouseestarratherthanser¸becauseyou’retalkingaboutsomethingthat’sgoingonata“giveninstant”.)
Nowforthe“-ing”part:Youhavelearnedthat-andoand-iendoendingscorrespondtoEnglish-ingendings.
Whenoneoftheseendingsisaddedtoaverbstem,thewordthatiscreatediscalleda“presentparticiple”.To
formthepresentparticiple,simplydroptheinfinitiveending(-ar,-er,or-ir)andadd-ando(-arverbs)or-iendo
(-eror-irverbs):trabajando,comiendo,viviendo
ExamplesofPresentProgressive:
EstoyescuchandolacanciónnuevadeJackJohnson.
Mipadreestáescribiendounlibro.
D.PastProgressive(was___-ing)
Justputestarintheimperfect(ongoingpast)tense.That’stheobviouschoice,becausesomething“in-progress”in
thepastis“ongoing”.
ExamplesofPastProgressive:
Mipadreestaba(was)hablando(-ing)porteléfono.Mydadwastalkingonthephone.
Mishermanasestaban(were)haciendo(-ing)latarea.Mysistersweredoinghomework.
E.IrregularPresentParticiples,andAddingPronouns
Somepresentparticiples(the“-ing”word)areirregular:
Thesamerulesthatapplytosomepreteritesalsoapplytopresentparticiples.“changetheiontheendingsthirdsingularand-pluraltoy”whenthestemendsinavowel:leyendo,cayendo,trayendo,oyendo.“theonlyverbs
thathaveachangeinthestemare-irverbs”...”uorIjustoneletterinitsspace”:compitiendo,divirtiendo,
muriendo,durmiendo.Onemoreirregular:yendo(going)
ExamplesofthePresentProgressive:
Mipadreestá(is)hablando(-ing)porteléfono.Mydadistalkingonthephone.
Mishermanasestán(are)haciendo(-ing)latarea.Mysistersaredoinghomework.
Pronounscanbeaddedtopresentparticiplesjustlikeinfinitives.Justlikeyoumayneedtodoanytimeyouadda
syllabletoaword,addanaccenttokeepthestressfromchanging:amándote,diciéndonos
F.Personal“a”
Whenapersonorapetisthedirectobjectinasentence,you’llputanuntranslatableabeforeit.Thisdoesnotapply
afterformsoftener.
YoconozcoaJamesFranco.(Knowwho?JamesFranco.He’sthedirectobject,andaperson,sousea.)
¿Oístealaprofesora?(Hearwho?Theteacher.She’sthedirectobject,andaperson,sousea.)
G.PastParticiples(the-edword—averbchangedintoanadjective)
Tomakeaverbintoanadjective,takeofftheendingandadd-adoto-arverbsand-idoto-er/-irverbs:
prepararpreparado/a(prepared),comercomido/a(eaten),aburriraburrido/a(bored)
Somepastparticiplesareirregular:
decirdicho(said)
abrirabierto(open,opened)
ponerpuesto(put,placed,set)
hacerhecho(done)
cubrircubierto(covered)
volvervuelto(returned)
escribirescrito(written)
descubrirdescubierto
devolverdevuelto(returned)
vervisto(seen)
(discovered,uncovered)
irido(gone)
morirmuerto(died,dead)
romperroto(broken)
H.PerfectTenses(usehaberwithapastparticipletotalkaboutwhatsomeone“has”doneor“had”done)
Theyhavearrivedtoschoollateeveryday.Hanllegadotardetodoslosdíasalaescuela.
haberPresent
Presenttenseformforpresentperfect
he
hemos
has Imperfecttenseformforpastperfect
ha
han
IhadnotseenthenewswhenIheardthetornado.Nohabíavistolasnoticiascuandooímoseltornado
haberImperfect
había habíamos
habías había habían
I.Comparatives/Superlatives
peorworse
el/lapeor*theworst
mejorbetter
el/lamejor*thebest
mayorolder
el/lamayortheoldest
másmore
el/lamásthemost
menosless
el/lamenostheleast
menoryounger
el/lamenoryoungest
tan1st“as”
tanto/aasmuch,tantos/asasmany
como2nd“as”
“than”que(unlessfollowedbyanumber)
“than”de(whenfollowedbyanumber)
example:Ganémásdemildólares.
TrickythingsaboutComparativesandSuperlatives:
*“mejorandpeorcomebefore”(thenoun)
1. tan(quality)vs.tanto(quantity)
w/nouns,makeagreement
2. “thetallest(girl)intheclass”
a. NoticetheorderinSpanish:la(chica)másaltadelaclase
Justasinnormalsentences,theadjectivecomesafterthenoun,except…
b. Alsonoticetheuseofdeinsteadofen:“of”,not“in”.
J.Affirmatives/Negatives
síyes
nono(neverusebeforenoun)
alguiensomeone,somebody
nadienoone,nobody
algosomething
nadanothing
algún,algunos,alguna,algunasa,some
ningún,ningunos,ninguna,ningunas
no,notone,none
tambiénalso(addingtoalistofpositives)
tampocoeither,neither(addingtoalistof
negatives)
siemprealways
nuncanever
o…o…either…or…
ni…ni…neither…nor
ni…noteven…
Noticethatalgunoandningunoarebothvariationsofuno:un,uno,una,unos,unas,meaning“a”and“some”.There
isonlyasubtledifferencebetween“uno”,etc.and“alguno”,etc.
Nunca,tampoco,nadiecanbeusedintwoways:
Nuncavoyalcine.
Novoynuncaalcine.
Tampocoquieroir.
Noquieroirtampoco.
Nadiequieretrabajar.
Noquieretrabajarnadie.
DoublenegativesarecorrectinSpanish:
Miamigonotienenadaensucartera.
Miamigonuncatienenadaensucartera.
Miamigonovanuncaalbanco.
K.RecognizingOtherTenses:
Infinitive+é/ás/á/emos/án=“will___”(FutureTense)Endingsareformsofhaber(below)minustheh.
Infinitive+ía/ías/ía/íamos/ían=“would___”(ConditionalTense)Endingsaresameas–er/-irImperfect.
Stem+ía/ías/ía/íamos/ían=ongoing/repeatedactionorstateinthepast.(ImperfectTense)
-ado/-ido=anadjectivemadefromaverb,endingin-ed(PastParticiple)
he/has/ha/hemos/han+-ido/-ado=have,has__-ed(Formofhaber+pastparticiple=PastPerfecttense)
Stem+preteriteending=eventinthepast(Preteritetense)
-ando/-iendo=-ing(PresentParticiple)
Presentformofestar+verbthatendsin-ando/-iendo=is__-ing
Imperfectformofestar+verbthatendsin-ando/-iendo=was__-ing
Yo-formstem+-arendingon-er/-irverb,or-er/-irendingon-arverb:command,or“may”.
Noticethatonlythefirst-and
L.PrepositionalPronounsUsethesepronounsafterprepositions: mí
nosotros
second-personsingulardiffer
Anexception:wedon’tsay“conmí”or“conti”,butconmigoandcontigo.
ti
fromsubjectpronouns.
él
ellos
“Mí”hasanaccentmarktodistinguishitfrom“my”.“Ti”doesn’tneedone,
ella
ellas
becausethere’snoother“ti”todistinguishitfrom.
Ud.
Uds.
M.SerandEstar(FormsoftheseverbsarefoundonthebackofVerbReviewI)
Spanishhastwowordsfor“tobe”whichdepend
Yes,youreallydohavetomakethis
onwhichkindofbeingyou’retryingtosay:
choiceeverytimeyoueversay“is”,“am”
or“are”inSpanish!
Whenyousay“Iam”“youare”“heis”
serisforcharacteristics,estarisforstates
Noticethatboth“state”andestarhave“sta”inthem.
Characteristicorstateisusuallyallyouneedtoask
Todecideserorestarreallyfast.
…andyoudowanttodecideFAST!
Astateisthewaysomethingisatagiveninstant
Characteristic’sthewaysomethinggenerallyis.
particularmoment,point-in-time,at-the-moment…
notnecessarilyalways,generallyisgoodenough!
Chooseserorestarbasedontheemphasis
Locationmaynotseemlikeastate
ofathinglikeabuildingthatdoesnotmove
Butestarisusedforwhereanythingisstanding,
stationaryoroutontheloose
Eventsdon’tstandanywhere,useser!
youdon’thavetodecidewhetheryouradjectiveisa
stateorcharacteristic,justwhichoftheseisthe
emphasisofthesentenceyou’reworkingon.
estarisusedforthelocationofanyphysicalobject
(includingpeople).Serisusedforthelocationofan
event.
Ifyou’retalkingaboutthewaysomethingisataparticularmoment(oritslocation)useestar.
Ifyou’retalkingaboutthewaysomethingisingeneral(orthelocationofanevent)useser.
It’sthatsimple—don’tcomplicateit!
N.ObjectPronouns
SeeVerbReviewIIIforallinformationondirectobject,reflexive,andindirectobjectpronouns.
O.UsingMoreThanOneObjectPronouninaSentence
Atthispoint,youareanexpertinusingdirectobject,reflexive,andindirectobjectpronounstosaythingslike“I
rememberthem”,“hetookashower”,and“Iamgoingtosendthegifttoher”.Ineachofthosesentences,however,
youusedonlyonepronoun.Whatifyouwantedtosay“Iamgoingtosendittoher”?Youwouldneedtousea
directobjectpronounandanindirectobjectpronouninthesamesentence.Thetroubleis,you’velearnedthat
directobjectpronounsgobeforeaconjugatedverb,orareattachedtoaninfinitive—andthesamerulesapplyto
indirectobjectpronouns.Soobviouslyweneedsomerulestotelluswhatordertoputthemininrelationtoeach
other.Heretheyare:
“Indirectbeforedirect,reflexivebeforeall”.(Youdon’thavetoworryaboutreflexivesthisyear.)
Iexplainedittoyouyesterday=Teloexpliquéayer.
d.o.i.oi.o.d.o.
Buttherearetwotechnicalitieswehavetolearn:1.Whenbothpronounsbeginwiththeletter“L”,wechangethe
firstpronounto“se”,and2.Whenweattachtwopronounstotheendofaword,weuseanaccentmarktokeepthe
stresswhereitwasbeforeweaddedthepronouns.(Actually,youshouldalreadyknowthisprinciple—wheneveryou
addasyllabletoaword,youneedtochecktoseeifyouneedtouseanaccentmarktokeepthestressfrom
changing.)
Isentittothemyesterday.=Leslomandéayer.Selomandéayer.
becausebothofthesepronounsbeginwith“L”,wechangethefirstto“se”
I’mgoingtosendittothem.=Voyamandarselo.Voyamandárselo.
mandarhaslastsyllablestressed;weuseanaccentmarktokeepstressfrommovingtoe
P.BackwardVerbs:SeethebacksideofVerbReviewIIIforanexplanationofbackwardverbs.
ThePastTenseSheet
Thepreteritetenseisusedtodescribeeventsinthepast.Inastory,aneventissomethingthathappenedinthe
story—whenyoudescribeit,thebeginningofitiscleartothelistener,andyou’veinformedthelisteneraboutthe
wholeevent,beginning-to-end,usingoneword.
RegularPreterite(EventPast)
-arVerbs
yo
tú
él
ella
Ud.
-é
-aste
-er/-irVerbs
nosotros -amos
vosotros -asteis
ellos
ellas
Uds.
-ó
él
ella
Ud.
-aron
-ar preterite is é aste ó amos aron
-er/ir forms are í iste ió imos ieron
Many verbs that end in -uir (not guir) change the "i"
PreteriteForms(Regular)Lyrics
yo
tú
of the endings third singular and plural to "y"
The same is true of many stems with a vowel on the
end,like leer, oír, creer, caer, poseer
The only verbs that have a change in the stem
Are -ir verbs, you must remember them
-í
-iste
-ió
nosotros -imos
vosotros -isteis
ellos
ellas
Uds.
-ieron
Porejemplo:(“y”preterites)
influí,influiste,influyó,influimos,influyeron
leí,leíste,leyó,leímos,leyeron
pero…
seguí,seguiste,siguió,seguiste,siguieron
Porejemplo:(stem-changers)
dormí,dormiste,durmió,dormimos,durmieron
mentí,mentiste,mintió,mentimos,mintieron
Third person stems will have the vowel replaced
By u or i, just one letter in its space
Because i's and e's soften g's and c's
Sometimes a spelling change is what you need
Don't let an ending change the way you say
The last letter of the stem—make a consonant change
(c>qu, g>gu, z>c)
IrregularPreteritesLyrics
e, iste, o, imos, isteis, ieron
Irregular preterites
have got their own set of stems
And their own set of endings
that don't have accent marks on them
cup, sup, hub
are caber, saber, haber
quis, vin, hic,
are querer, venir, hacer
anduv, tuv, estuv,
andar, tener, estar
traj, dij, traduj,
traer, decir, traducir
cabertofit
andartowalk,togo
traducirtotranslate
ponertoput
Forhaber,usehuboonly,
“therewas/were”w/event.
the-ieronendinglosesitsiafterthej
Finally now remember
for poder the stem is pud
They both have a "d",
The stem rhymes with food
Conducir(todrive)andproducir
(toproduce)areconjugatedlike
traducir:conduj-andproduj-
The toughest stem of all, although it's no excuse,
The stem for poner
Isn't pon, it's pus
Porejemplo:buscar,llegar,empezar
c>qu:busqué,buscaste,buscó,etc.
g>gu:llegué,llegaste,llegó,etc.
z>c:empecé,empezaste,empezó,etc.
Theseverbsareoftencalled-car/-gar/-zarverbs.
Some-irstem-changersand“y”preterites
competir(i) tocompete
destruir todestroy
mentir(ie)
tolie
construir tobuild
pedir(i)
torequest
caer
tofall
morir(ue)
todie
poseer
topossess
sentir(ie)
tofeel
oír
tohear
divertir(ie) todivert
influir
toinfluence
seguir(i)
tofollow
Noticethatinbothsetsofverbs,theweirdstuffhappensinthethird
personsingularandplural;theél/ella/Ud,/ellos/ellas/Uds.forms
OtrosIrregulares
Therearefourverycommonirregularsthatdon’t
followthepatternforirregularpreterites:
ir/ser:fui,fuiste,fue,fuimos,fueron
hacer:hice,hiciste,hizo,hicimos,hicieron
ver:vi,viste,vio,vimos,vieron
dar:di,diste,dio,dimos,dieron
Noticethattheformsthatnormallyneedaccentmarksare
onlyone-syllable,sonoaccentmarksareneeded.
Theimperfecttenseisusedtopresentactionsorstatesinthepastasongoingorrepetitious.Whenyoutellastory,
youuseimperfecttogivebackgroundinformation(whatwas“goingon”atacertainpartofyourstory),ortotalk
aboutthingsthathappenedrepeatedly(what“usedto”happen)inthepast.
ThereareonlyTHREEirregulars,andtheyareshownbelow.Toconjugatetheregulars,startbyremovingthe
–ar,-er,or-irfromtheverb.Allregular-arformshave-abaattachedtothestem,andall-er/-irformshaveía.
Regularorirregular,theyoformisalwaysthesameastheél/ella/Ud.form.Asyouseebelow,justadd-s,-mos,or
–n,tothe–íaor–abaasneeded.
-arVerbs
-er/-irVerbs
yo
tú
él
ella
Ud.
-aba
-abas
-aba
nosotros -ábamos
vosotros -abais
ellos
ellas
Uds.
-aban
yo
tú
él
ella
Ud.
-ía
-ías
-ía
nosotros -íamos
vosotros -íais
ellos
ellas
Uds.
-ían
Irregulars
You’renotgoingtobelievethis,butonlythreeverbsareirregularintheimperfect:
Ir
Ser
Ver
iba
íbamos
era
éramos
veía
veíamos
ibas
ibais
eras
erais
veías veíais
iba
iban
era
eran
veía
veían
Howtochoosebetweenpreteriteandimperfect
Themostimportantthingtodointryingtodecidewhethertousepreteritetense(events)orimperfect
(ongoing/repetitious)tenseistopicturetheaction:
Preterite:IsusedtodescribeEVENTS.Ifyou’resummingupanactionorstatebeginning-to-endwithoneword(or
focusingonthebeginningortheend),that’sanEVENT,andyou’regoingtousethepreteritetense.Forexample:
Weateinafancyrestaurantlastnight.Comimosanocheenunrestauranteelegante.
You’resummingupthatentireeveninginoneword:comimos.Yourlistenerinstantlypicturesthatevent
beginning-to-end,frombeingseatedtoleavingtherestaurant.
Imperfect:Ifyou’representinganactionorstateasONGOINGorREPETITIOUS*,usetheimperfect.
Aviolinplayerplayedwhileweate.Unviolinistatocabamientrascomíamos.(Ongoingactions/states)
Inthiscase,you’renotfocusingthelisteneronthebeginningorendofeitheraction—you’reploppingthe
listenerdowninthemiddleoftwoongoingactions,playing,andeating.You’redescribingtwothingsthat
were“goingon”whileyouwereattherestaurant.
Weboughtpizzaaftermyballgames.Comprábamospizzadespuésdemispartidos.(Actions/statespresented
asrepetitious.)
*Ifthenumberoftimesthethinghappenedismentioned,usepreterite.
Watchout!
YoumaybetemptedtouseEnglishasashort-cutwhenworkingwithpreteriteandimperfect.Itistruethataphrase
like“wewereeating”makesitclearthatanactionisongoing,that“usedto”makesitclearthatsomethingwas
repetitious,andthatanEnglish-edendingmakessomethingsoundlikeanevent,butnoticeintheaboveexample
thatwe’renotalwaysconsistentinEnglishinthewaywespeakaboutongoingorrepeatedactions.Thoseshort-cuts
maygetyouthroughahomeworkassignment,buttheywillnotmakeyougoodatpreteritevs.imperfectinthelong
run.
¿qué?vs.¿cuál?(adaptedfromDescubreI,p.316)
Youknowthat“¿qué?”isusuallytranslatedas“what?”,and“¿cuál?”isusuallytranslatedas“which?”
Unfortunately,itisalittlemorecomplicatedthanthat.
¿Qué?isnotusedbeforeserunlessyou’reaskingforadefinition.
¿Quéeselflan?Whatisflan?
¿Quésonlasnubesdedesarrollovertical?Whatare“cloudsofverticaldevelopment”?
Ifyou’renotaskingforadefinition,use”cuál”beforeser.Thisexplainssomeexpressionsyoumayhaveheard
whereitdoesn’tseemlike“which”wouldbeappropriate.
¿Cuáleslafechadehoy?
What(which)isthedateoftoday?
Becausewe’renotseekingadefinitionof“fecha”,andwewanttoknow“which”ofthe365datesitis,weuse“¿cuál?”
¿Cuálessunombre?
What(which)isyourname?
We’renotseekingadefinitionof“nombre”,andwewanttoknow“which”ofthenamesyouhave,weuse“¿cuál?”
Beforeanyotherverb,use¿qué?toask“what”,justaswedoinEnglish,whenwe’renotmakingreferencetoaset
ofoptions.
¿Quéestudias? Whatdoyoustudy?
¿Quéquierescomprar?Whatdoyouwhattobuy?
¿QuétedijoLuisasobreelexamen?WhatdidLuisatellyouaboutthetest?
¿Cuál?isnotuseddirectlybeforeanoun;directlybeforenouns,¿qué?isused.
¿Quésorpresatedierontusamigos? Whatsurprisedidyourfriendsgiveyou?
¿Quécolorestegustan?
Whatcolorsdoyoulike?
When¿qué?isuseddirectlybeforeanoun,youcanthinkofitas“which?”
¿Quéregalotegusta? What(which)giftdoyoulike?
¿Quédulcesquierenustedes? What(which)candiesdoyoualllike?
¿Cuál(es)?isusedwhenyou’rereferringtoasetofoptions,justliketheEnglish“which”,whetherornottheoptions
arestated.
¿Cuál(delosdos)prefieres,elcaféoelté?
Which(ofthetwo)doyouprefer:coffeeortea?
¿Cuálessontusguantes?
Which(ofthese)areyourgloves?
DecisionTree