Spanish 4H Grammar Book

Alejandra CookePeriod 1

Table of Contents

3: El Presente4: Irregular Yo Forms5: Irregular Verbs (present tense)6: Ser y Estar7: Verbos Como Gustar8: Nouns & Articles9: Preterite v. Imperfect

El Presente

• present tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending “-ar, -er, -ir”

• used to express habitual actions or actions that will take place in the near future

Stem-changing verbs>-ar/-er: e to ie and o to ue>-ir: e to i

**no stem-changing in the nosotros and vosotros forms >JUGAR: u to ueconstruir, destruir, incluir, influir (add y before personal endings)

Irregular Yo Forms

• -er/-ir have irregular yo forms in the present tense • -cer/-cir change to -zco in the yo form• -ger/-gir change to –jo• many verbs have irregular -go endings

>caer, to fall: yo caigo>conducir, to drive: yo conduzco>dirigir, to direct/manage: yo dirijo>caber, to fit: yo quepo>saber, to know: yo sé>ver, to see: yo veo

Irregular Verbs, Present Tense

>dar: doy, das, da, damos, dais, dan>decir>estar>ir>ser>tener>venir

Ser y Estar“to be”

not interchangeable SER

• nationality and place of origin

• profession or occupation• characteristics of people,

animals, and things• generalizations• possession• material of composition• time, date, or season• where or when an event

takes place

ESTAR• express things temporarily

(qualities or conditions that change with time)

• location or spatial relationships

• health• emotional states• certain weather expressions• ongoing actions (progressive

tenses)• results of actions (past

participles)• death: “muerto/a”

Verbos Como Gustar

• gustar: “to please”>the thing/person that

pleases is the subject; gustar agrees in person and number

>singular or plural• when gustar is followed by

one or more verbs in infinitive, singular form of gustar is always used

• used in conditional to soften a request

• a+[prep. pronoun] or a+[noun] emphasizes who is pleased

• Aburrir: to bore• Caer bien/mal: to get along• Disgustar: to upset • Doler: to hurt• Encantar: to enjoy• Faltar: to lack• Fascinar: to fascinate• Hacer falta• Importar• Interesar: to interest• Molestar: to bother• Preocupar: to worry• Quedar: to leave; to fit

(clothing)• Sorprender: to surprise

Nouns & Articles

• nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine (masculine usually ends in –o, feminine usually ends in –a) Definite Articles

ellaloslas

Indefinite Articlesununa

unos unas

Feminine: -a, -dad/-tad/-tud, -ción/-sión/-gión, -ez, -triz, -umbre, and nouns referring to women

Masculine: -o, -ma/-ta/-pa

Examples: feminine--la fruta, la ciudad, la canción, la validez, la actriz, la costumbre, la madre; masculine--el programa, el día

Preterite v. ImperfectPRETERITE

“Snapshot” of the past>actions viewed as single events>actions repeated a specific number of times>actions that occurred during a specific time period>part of a chain of events>state the beginning/end of an action

IMPERFECT“Video” of the past without a specific beginning or stopping point>habitual actions>actions that “set the stage” for other past actions>time>date>weather>age>mental states>describing characteristics of people, things, or conditions

Preterite é íaste iste ó ióamos imosasteis isteisaron ieron

Imperfect aba ábamos ía íamos abas abais ías íais aba aban ía ían

Preterite v. Imperfect contd.

PRETERITETrigger Words: ayer, anoche, el otro día, entonces, esta mañana/tarde, la semana pasada, el año pasado

ExampleJuan habló con la estudiante.Juan spoke with the student.

IMPERFECTTrigger Words: a veces, cada día, cada semana/mes/año, muchas veces, nunca, mientras, siempre, todos los días>would, used to, were/was…

ExampleLas chicas hablaban en inglés.The girls used to speak in English.

Preterite v. Imperfect contd.

• -gar changes g to gu• -car changes c to qu• -zar changes z to c • verbs that end in -aer, -eer, -oír, -oer,

& uir change ió to yó & ieron to yeron