GRAMMAR BOOK

By: Carla Shockey

TABLE OF CONTENTS1. Nationalities

2. Stem Changers

3. Para

4. Indirect Object Pronoun

5. Object Pronoun Placement

6. Gustar

7. Affirmative and Negative Words

8. Superlatives

9. Reflexives

10. Affirmative tú Commands/Irregulars/ Pronoun Placement

11. Negative tú Commands/Irregulars/ Pronoun Placement

12. Sequencing Events

13. Pretérito

14. Trigger Words

15. -car, -gar, -zar

16. Deber + Infinitive

17. MODAL verbs

18. Present Progressive

19. Adverbs

STEM CHANGING

Pensar (to think) e>ie

Almorzar (to eat lunch) o>ue

Pedir (to ask) e>i

Pienso Pensamos

Piensas Pensáis

Piensa Piesan

Almuerzo Almorzamos

Almuerzas Almorzáis

Almuerza Almuerzan

Pido Pedemos

Pides Pedeís

Pide Piden

Juego Jugamos

Juegas Jugáis

Juega Juegan

Jugar (to play) u>ue

PARA

The recipient of an item

• Example: El regalo para tú mama.

Purpose

• Example: Vamos al restaurante para comer.

Implied Purpose

• Example: Tengodinero para (comprar) algo.

Use para (for, in order to)

to indicate……

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN

Indirect Objects are nouns that tell to whom/what or for whom/what. Indirect Object Pronouns replace or accompany indirect objects.

The pronouns le and les can refer to

different indirect objects. To clarify

what they mean, they are often

accompanied by….

a+ name, noun, or pronoun

ex: Rosa le comprar una olla a su madre.

To add emphasis use….

a+ pronoun

ex: A mi me compro unos aretes.

me

(me)

nos

(us)

te

(you

familiar)

os

(you

familiar)

le

(you

formal,

him, her

les

(you,

them)

Singular Plural

OBJECT PRONOUN PLACEMENT

1.• Attach the pronoun to an infinitive.

2.

• Attach the pronoun to a progressive tense

3.

• Attach the pronoun to an affirmative command

4.

• Place the pronoun before a conjugated verb.4.

•When the pronoun accompanies a conjugated verb, the pronoun

comes before the verb.

•When the pronoun accompanies a sentence with an infinitive, it

can either go before the conjugated verb or be attached to the end

of the infinitive.

GUSTAR

Gustar means to like

Gusta

me

te

le

nos

os

les

mi= me gusta

Ti= te gusta

Usted/el/ella=le gusta

Nosotros= nos gusta

Ustedes/ellas/ellos= les gusta

Vosotros= os gusta

Gusto Gustamos

Gustas Gustáis

Gusta Gustan*Form of gusta depends on

object liked*

Ex: Me gustan los perros.

Negative Phrase

No goes before conjugated verb

No______ gusta

AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE WORDS

Affirmative Words

Algo Something

Alguien Someone

Algún/Alguno/a Some

Negative Words

Nada Nothing

Nadie Nobody

Ningun/Ninguno/a None

•Alguno and ninguno must match the gender of the noun they replace

or modify. Alguno and niguno have different forms when used before

masculine singular nouns.

•If a verb is preceded by no, words that follow must be negative. A

double negative is required in Spanish when no proceeds the verb.

•However, if a negative word, such as nunca or nadie, comes before

the verb, a second negative is not needed.

Siempre Always

También Also

Nunca Never

Tampoco Neither,

either

SUPERLATIVE

To express extremes with adjectives amd adverbs superlatives are used.

The suffix –ísimo, -ísimos, -ísima, -ísimas are added to adjectives and adverbs.

Its equivalent to extremely or very.

Malo> malísimo

Muchas> muchisímas

Difícil> difilísmo

Adjectives and adverbs ending in c, g, or z change spelling to qu, gu, and c

respectively

Rico> riquísimo

Larga> larguísima

Feliz> felicísmo

Adjectives that end in –n or –r form by adding –císimo/a

joven > jovencísimo

trabajador > trabajadorcísimo

REFLEXIVES

Reflexives are used to describe people doing things for themselves.

In the reflexive construction, the subject is also the object.

The subject, the pronoun and the verb are all in the same form.

Ex: Yo me levanto a las ocho de la mañana.

Form the verb Reflexives can be……

Levantarse

Conjugate the verb…

me levanto nos levantamos

te levantas es levantáis

se levanta se levantan

1. In front of a conjugated verb

2. Attached to a gerund

3. Attached to an infinitve

4. Attached to an affirmative command

AFFIRMATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/

PRONOUN PLACEMENT

Affirmative tú Commands

Give instructions or commands to someone by

using the affirmative tú commands of regular verbs.

Caminar

¡Camina!

¡Camina en el parque!

It is a tú command, but end in third person.

AFFIRMATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/

PRONOUN PLACEMENT CONTINUED

Infinitive Affirmative tú

Commadns

decir di

hacer haz

ir ve

poner pon

salir Sal

ser sé

tener ten

venir ven

*When you use a pronoun

with an affirmative

command, the pronoun

attaches to the command.*

Pronoun Placement

When using an object

pronoun, attach the

pronoun to the end of the

command.

Irregular Affirmative Tú Commands

NEGATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/

PRONOUN PLACEMENT

When you tell someone what not to do, use a negative

command. Negative tú commands are formed by taking you

form of the present tense, dropping the o, and adding the

appropriate ending.

Hablo -es for –ar verbs

Vuelvo -as for –er and ir verbs

Infinitive Yo Form Negative tú

Command

Hablar Hablo ¡No hablas!

Volver Vuelvo ¡No Vuelvas!

Negative tú Commands

NEGATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/

PRONOUN PLACEMENT CONTINUED

Irregular NegativeTú Commands

•A few verbs have irregular tú commands. The noun of the yo forms of

these verbs end in –o.

Infinitive (yo form) Negative tú Command

Dar (doy) No le des mi dirreccion a

nadie.

Estar (estoy) No estes triste

Ir (voy) No vayas a la tienda.

Ser (soy) No seas mala.

Pronoun Placement

Object Pronouns precede the

verbs in negative commands, just

as with other conjugated verbs.

Ex: ¡ No lo uses!

SEQUENCING EVENTS

PrimeroFirst EntoncesThenLuego/

despuésLater Por FinFinally

Antes de/ después de

Before/ after

Por la manana/

tarde/noche

Los lunes, los

martes, los

miercoles,…etc.

In/ during the

(no specific time

given)

Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday

Words used to tell when and in what order certain events occur.

PRETÉRITE

-é

hablé

-amos

hablamos

-aste

hablaste

-asteís

hablasteís

-ó

habló

-aron

hablaron

ar:

hablar

-í

comí

escribí

-imos

comimos

escibimos

-íste

comíste

escribíste

-isteís

comisteís

escribisteís

-ió

comió

escribió

-ieron

comieron

escribieron

er/ir:

Comer/escribir

•A pretérite is a perfected action in the past.

•“snapshot”

•Beginning and/or ending

TRIGGER WORDS

Trigger Words

-CAR, -GAR, -ZAR

•* -car ending preterite verbs in the yo form will change to –que in order

to keep the hard „c‟ sound.*

•Ex: Yo saque (sacar) la basura.

-car

tocar

-gar -zar

-toqué -jugué -comencé

-tocaste -jugaste -comenzaste

-tocó -jugó - comenzó

-tocamos -jugamos -comenzamos

-tocaron -jugaron -comenzaron

DEBER + INFINITIVE

•The verb deber means should or ought to. To say what people

should do, use a conjugated form of deber with the infinitive of

another verb.

debo debemos

debes debéis

debe deben

Deber

should, ought toEx:

Debo barrer el suelo.

I should sweep the floor.

Deben sacar la basura.

They should take out the trash.

*Remember you can put a pronoun in front

of a conjugated verb or attach it to an

infinitive.*

MODAL VERBS

When verbs are used in modal verb combinations….

• The second verb is not conjugated but rather left in the

infinitive form.

•You would never say “no puedo nado”.

Deber- should

Desear- desire

Necesitar- to need

Poder- can, could, might

Querer- want, would like to

Saber- know, know how to

Soler- usually, used to

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

estoy

esperando

estamos

esperando

estás

esperando

estáis

esperando

está esperando están

esperando

•When you use pronouns with the present progressive, you can put

them in two places.

•Put pronouns before the conjugated form of estar…

or attach to the end of the present participle.

Ex: Estoy sacándolas para algo muy importante.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE CONTINUED

Verb

Irregular

Present

Participle

Leer

Oir

traer

Leyendo

Oyendo

Trayendo

Pedir

Servir

Pidiendo

Sirviendo

Decir

Dormir

Venir

Diciendo

Durmiendo

Viniendo

•When the stem of an –er or –ir

verb ends in a vowel, change the

–iendo to –yendo to form the

present participle.

•e>i stemchanging verbs have a

vowel change in the stem.

•Some other verbs also have a

vowel change in the stem.

Irregulars

ADVERBS

Adjectives Adverb

Reciente

recently

Recientemente

recently

Frecuente

frequently

Frecuentemente

frequently

Fácil

easy

Fácilmente

easily

Normal

normal

Normalmente

normally

Especial

special

Especialmente

specially

Feliz

happy

Felizmente

happily

•When an adjective ends in

e,I, or z, simply add -mente

to the end.

For adjectives with –o or

–a endings, add –mente

to the feminine form.

Adjective Adverb

Cuidadoso(a) cuidadosamente

Rápido(a) rápidamente

Lento(a) lentamente

Tranquillo(a) tranquillamente

Irregular Verbs-

Mucho- alot

Muy-very

Mal-bad

Bastante- quiet/enough

Bien-good/ well

Ya- already

Tan- so

Demasiado- too

*When two adverbs modify the same

verb, only the second one uses the

–mente ending.*