Download Rules for Spanish Sentence Writing

Rules for Spanish Sentence Writing
1. Every sentence should have a subject either real or implied.
Real: Él es alto
Maria está bien.
Implied: ¿Vas a la escuela? (subject- tú)
Soy la maestra.
(subject- Yo)
2. Every sentence must have a properly conjugated verb. (ie. You cannot have only
infinitives in a sentence)
INCORRECT: Ella hablar español.
CORRECT: Ella habla español
3. More than one verb in a sentence:
A) if the verb is a compound verb both must be conjugated.
Ex. Ella canta y baila. (She sings and dances)
B) if the two verbs are part of a verb phrase, idiom, or expression the
second verb will be left in infinitive form.
Ex. Ella tiene que hablar a su madre. Verb phrase
(She has to talk to her mother.)
Ex. A Elena y yo, nos gusta bailar.
(Elena and I like to dance.) expression
Ex. ¿Qué quieres hacer?
(What do you want to do?)
C) If the two verbs are contained in two phrases that are two different
thoughts both will be conjugated.
En los fines de semana, mi madre limpia la casa mientras nosotros jugamos en el parque.
(On weekends, my mother cleans house while we play in the park.)
4. All sentences must have a predicate. Additional information/sentence forms.
A)
Sentence may be nothing more than a subject and a properly
conjugated verb. In this case, the conjugated verb is considered the
simple predicate.
Ex. Ella canta. She sings.
B)
Subject + verb + description.
Ex. Elena está contenta. Elena is happy.
Maria es bonita.
Maria is pretty.
C)
Subject + verb+ direct object. (direct object s who or what the
recieves the action of the verb.)
Ex. Ella empieza la prueba. She begins the quiz.
Él toma el helado.
He eats ice cream.
D)
Subject + verb + direct object + indirect object. (indirect object-to whom
or for whom the action is done)
Ex. Ella abra la puerta para Juan.
She opens the door for John.
іDámelo!
Give me that./Give that to me.
E)
Additional info:
Prepositional phrase—may be used to give more information.
Ex. Ella da el informe a mí despues de la danza.
She gave the report to me after the dance.
5.
Sentence agreement:
A)
The verb in a sentence must agree with the subject.
Ex:
Ella bebe agua. She drinks water.
Yo bebo agua. I drink water.
Tú bebes agua. You drink water.
B)
Adjectives must agree in gender and number to the noun they
modify.
Ex:
Ella está contenta.
She is happy.
Ella lleva pantalones cortos y blancos. She wears short, white pants.
C)
In general adjectives will follow the noun they modify (either
directly after or separated by a verb)
Ex. La blusa es amarilla. The blouse is yellow.
Ella lleva una blusa amarilla. She wears a yellow blouse.
D)
Exceptions: Adjectives of number (algunos, dos, muchos),
demonstrative adjectives (eso, este, aquel) adjectives of quality
(mejor, peor, mayor, menor, mal, buen), possessive adjectives (mi,
tus, su, nuestro), and definite and indefinite articles (el, la, unos,
unas) come before thenoun they modify.
Ex. Hay siete libros. There are seven books.
En la tercera pisa es mi cuarto. On the third floor is my room.
Este libro es de Margo. This book is Margo’s.
El informe es de un libro. The report is about a book.
*SAMPLE SENTENCE FORMS/ EASY SENTENCE FORMATS
∆ = a form of
1.
Subject + ∆ tener + que + infinitive. (to have to do something)
Ella tiene que estudiar. She has to study.
2.
subject + ∆ saber + infintive (to know how to do something)
Yo sé cocinar. I know how to cook.
3.
Subject + ∆ querrer + infinitive (to want to do something)
Ella quiere nadar. She wants to swim.
4.
Subject + ∆ ir + a + infinitive (to be going to do something)
Ella va a nadar. She is going to swim.
5.
subject + me, te, le, nos, les (indirect object pronoun) + gusta + infinitive (to like
to do something)
A ella, le gusta dormir. She likes to sleep.
Don’t forget that you can also use gusta with singular nouns and gustan with plural nouns
for liking a particular item(s)
Special Notes for Sentences
Anytime the subject of a sentence is not clear by the verb the sentence must be clarified
with a subject.
Ex. Va al mercado. (unclear—who goes to the market)
Elena va al mercado. Elena goes to the market.
If you are using a transitive verb (ie. Gustar, encantar, detestar, molestar, olvidar, etc.)
THESE VERBS USE THE OBJECT PRONOUNS me, te, le, nos, les) You MUST clarify le/les
using A + a proper noun or name.
Ex. Le gusta hablar. (unclear)
A Ella, le gusta hablar. She likes to talk.
When using the same subject repeatedly it is not necessary to repeat the pronoun, noun, or
proper noun unless you are using transitive verbs.
2. You may not mix tenses within one sentence or one complete thought (often an entire
story)
HINT: preterite and imperfect are both past tenses and therefore may coexist.
You may not mix present with past or future.
Exceptions: *Present to indicate future.
∆ ir + a + infinitive. ( a present form of ir (voy vas va vamos van) may be used to
indicate plans or things that will occur in the near future <<PLANS THAT ARE INDEFINITE,
MAY CHANGE, OR ARE CONTINGENT ON ANOTHER EVENT become CONDITIONAL and
CANNOT use ∆ir + a + an infinitive.>>
Ex: Voy a ir a Madrid y iré al Prado.
I am going to go to Madrid and will go to the Prado.
*Present to indicate past actions.
Hace + <<time>> + que + present tense conjugation of a verb. (It has been amount
of time that ____ has been doing something or _____ has been doing something for
amount of time.)
Ex. Hace seis meses que estudio espanol.
I have been studying Spanish.
HINT: The present tense conjugation will agree with the subject (ie the person that has
been doing said activity)
Ex. Hace tres años que mi madre vive en Nueve York.
My mom has lived (has been living) in New York for 3 years.
*The two past tenses.
There are several cases where preterite and imperfect can be used together. Though
sentences may be done without both full stories or paragraphs can rarely ever be told
entirely in one tense.
Ex. Mientras you hablaba, mi madre abrió la puerta.