[ad_1]
Trying to be taught Spanish grammar however don’t know the place to start out?
Don’t fear—should you take it little by little, you too will have the ability to navigate the intricacies of Spanish grammar!
On this publish, we’ll go over all of the important parts of Spanish grammar, and supply assets the place you’ll be able to be taught them in depth. It’s like our very personal Spanish grammar Wiki.
Able to get began?
Contents
Obtain:
This weblog publish is obtainable as a handy and transportable PDF that you just
can take wherever.
Click on right here to get a duplicate. (Obtain)
Nouns
Nouns are basically the identify for any particular person, animal, place, factor, high quality, concept or motion.
As with English, Spanish nouns have a number of classifications. There are 9 several types of nouns in complete, and understanding them is sophisticated by the straightforward truth that you just in all probability aren’t aware of noun classifications in English, both (responsible).
Gender
Should you solely communicate English, it might take a while to get your head across the idea of gender in Spanish grammar. However simply go together with it!
Put merely, each noun in Spanish is assessed as both masculine or female.
And, whereas there are some guidelines concerning gender, whether or not a phrase is masculine or female will not be all the time apparent. That’s why it’s necessary to be taught the gender of a noun on the identical time you be taught its translation.
Plurals
Plural nouns—versus singular nouns—are comparatively simple to kind in Spanish. Most of the time it’s as simple as including “s” or “es” to the tip of a phrase (similar to in English!).
Nonetheless, there are conditions the place the spelling of a phrase might change or the phrase is saved the identical and solely the article adjustments, and also you’ve acquired to keep in mind the gender of the phrase.
Placement
The topic of a sentence (the phrase for no matter is performing an motion, normally a noun) is usually positioned first in a sentence, adopted by a verb after which an object (if the verb really has an object).
This construction usually adjustments, although: the noun might be positioned otherwise in an effort to emphasize totally different elements of the sentence, and also you’ll usually discover that adjectives come earlier than quite a lot of nouns.
Prefixes and Suffixes
Prefixes and suffixes are additions to the start and finish of a phrase (respectively) which modify its which means.
For instance, including the suffix -ito / -ita to the tip of a phrase conveys smallness or endearment. Should you take the phrase gato (cat) and add -ito it turns into gatito, which implies “little kitten/cat.”
Figuring out prefixes and suffixes will show you how to perceive the which means of a phrase even when it’s unfamiliar to you!
Pronouns
Pronouns are phrases that are used within the place of a noun (e.g. utilizing “he,” “she” or “they” rather than utilizing somebody’s precise identify).
Spanish nonetheless has a couple of extra pronouns than we’re used to in English. There are 5 methods of claiming “you”, and to make use of them we should think about issues just like the formality of the scenario and even what space of the world you’re in.
Private Pronouns
Private pronouns are quick phrases which change the names of individuals, issues or locations in an effort to make a sentence shorter and extra concise—for instance, as a substitute of repeating an individual’s identify time and again in a dialog, we may substitute it with the phrase “they.”
They’re cut up into “topic pronouns” and “object pronouns,” relying on the position the phrase takes in a sentence.
Topic Pronouns
The topic pronouns change the identify of the topic in a sentence: whoever is performing the motion. Spanish has 12 topic pronouns, that are:
Object Pronouns
Subsequent we have now object pronouns, which change the “object” of the sentence: the particular person or factor that receives the motion of a verb. We cut up these into “direct object” and “oblique object.”
Direct object pronouns
Direct object pronouns obtain the motion of the verb straight. For instance, within the phrase su papá la quiere (her dad loves her), the direct object is “her,” as a result of she is receiving the motion of the verb “love”.
Spanish direct object pronouns are:
- Me
— me - Te
— you - Lo
, la
— him, her, it, you (formal) - Los
, las
— them, you all (formal in Spain) - Os
— you all (casual in Spain) - Nos
— us
Oblique object pronouns
Oblique object pronouns are not directly affected by the motion of the verb.
For instance, think about the phrase le escribo una carta. (I write him a letter). On this case, le (her or him) is the oblique object, because the verb will not be straight affecting them.
They’re nearly the identical as direct object pronouns—simply with lo and la changing into le, and los and las changing into les:
- Me
— me - Te
— you - Le
— him, her, it, you (formal) - Les
— them, you all (formal in Spain) - Os
— you all (casual in Spain) - Nos
— us
Possessive Pronouns
Like the remainder of the pronouns we’ve seen, possessive pronouns are additionally phrases which change nouns—but additionally point out possession.
They’re usually confused with possessive adjectives, that are totally different as a result of possessive adjectives merely describe nouns and don’t really change them.
Listed here are the possessive pronouns in Spanish:
- Mío
, mía
, míos
, mías
— mine - Tuyo
, tuya
, tuyos
, tuyas
— yours (casual singular) - Suyo
, suya
, suyos
, suyas
— his, hers, theirs, yours (formal singular and plural) - Vuestro
, vuestra
, vuestros
, vuestras
— yours (casual plural in Spain) - Nuestro
, nuestra
, nuestros
, nuestras
— ours
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are used to level out particular individuals or issues. They modify relying on the gap of the speaker, and naturally the gender of no matter is being referred to.
Typically, although, you’ll end up in conditions the place you don’t really know the gender of the thing you’re referring to: in these circumstances, you’ll need to use neuter demonstrative pronouns.
Reflexive Pronouns
When the thing of a verb refers back to the identical noun as the topic of that verb, we use reflexive pronouns.
Listed here are the reflexive pronouns alongside their English translations:
- Me
— myself - Te
— your self - Se
— himself, herself, themselves - Se
— your self (formal), yourselves (formal in Spain) - Os
— yourselves (casual in Spain) - Nos
— ourselves
Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are phrases or phrases which refer again to a noun that was used earlier in communication. In English, they’re usually phrases like “who,” “whose,” “that” and “which.”
For instance, within the phrase “the meals that I purchased,” the relative pronoun is “that.”
The next phrases and phrases are used as relative pronouns in Spanish:
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are phrases which don’t really check with something specifically—that’s, they aren’t particular to any particular person, quantity, or factor. In English we’d use phrases like “something,” “all people,” “none,” “a number of” and “some.”
Listed here are a couple of of frequent indefinite pronouns you’ll come throughout in Spanish:
- Alguien
— somebody, somebody - Alguno
/ alguna
/ algunos
/ algunas
— one, some, any - Cualquiera
— any, anyone, anybody - Nada
— nothing, not something - Nadie
— nobody, not anybody - Ninguno
/ ninguna
— none, nobody - Otro
/ otra
— different one, one other one - Poco
/ poca
— little, few
Interrogative Pronouns
Lastly, we have now interrogative pronouns: these are pronouns that are used to ask questions (therefore the identify “interrogative”).
Listed here are among the commonest interrogative pronouns in Spanish:
Articles
An article is a phrase which identifies part of a speech as a noun, with out really describing it.
It sounds sophisticated however it all is smart if you see what the English equal could be: on this case, articles in English are “the,” “a” and “an.” For instance:
“The child began to cry, so I gave him a bottle”
Articles may also be labeled as “particular” and “indefinite” articles, that are defined under.
Particular Articles
The particular article is used when the noun being referred to is already identified to the speaker or reader. It refers to a selected, outlined object.
In Spanish it has 4 kinds, relying on the gender and variety of the noun in query:
Indefinite Articles
In distinction, particular articles are used when the noun being referred to is common, or will not be identified to the speaker or reader.
Like particular articles, indefinite articles in Spanish additionally replicate the gender and variety of the noun. These are:
Verbs
Verbs are phrases used to explain an motion, state, or incidence.
Utilizing verbs in Spanish is a little more advanced than in English—the next part has a run down of an important issues you must know.
Infinitive Verbs
An infinitive is the type of a verb which states nothing however an motion—that’s, they inform us nothing about who is definitely performing the motion, and when it’s being (or was) carried out.
The English equal could be after we use verbs with “to” in entrance, akin to: “to go,” “to sleep” or “to assume.”
Whereas in English our infinitive verbs start with the phrase “to” in Spanish we establish them by their endings: -ar, -er and -ir.
Verb teams
Spanish verbs are cut up into three teams primarily based on whether or not they finish in -ar, -er, or -ir.
Every group is conjugated otherwise, so it’s necessary to know the place the verb belongs in an effort to conjugate them accordingly.
Verb Conjugation
Verb conjugation is what we name it when a verb is modified to replicate an individual, tense, quantity and temper.
In Spanish, we begin with the infinitive verb and modify its ending in accordance with who we’re speaking about and the way.
Let’s say that I need to say “I communicate.” Listed here are the essential steps:
- Determine the verb you need to conjugate. On this case it could be hablar (“to talk”)
- Resolve who’s performing the motion (aka the topic). On this case, I’m the topic
- Discover the suitable ending. Use a verb conjugation desk to search out the ending that corresponds with “I” within the current tense. This can be -o
- Conjugate the verb. Take away -ar from hablar and add -o. This provides us hablo (“I communicate.”).
Common and Irregular Verbs
Whereas most verbs in Spanish are common and so comply with the same old conjugation sample, a big portion of them—42%, to be precise—are literally irregular verbs.
Because of this they (unhelpfully) don’t all the time comply with commonplace conjugation patterns, so that you’ll need to be taught their conjugations individually!
Important Verbs
To be taught Spanish you must work smarter, not more durable.
So as a substitute of studying every thing you probably can if you first begin out, persist with what is going to get you essentially the most outcomes—you must be taught the important, most frequent verbs earlier than you get into the extra advanced ones.
Ser and Estar
Whether or not to make use of ser or estar (which each imply “to be”) might be one of the Googled questions by us Spanish learners.
Basically, I wish to keep in mind that ser is for extra everlasting states, whereas estar is used for extra transient states.
In fact, it could be no enjoyable if the principles had been that straightforward, so take a look at our publish for a full run down!
Verbs Like Gustar
Whereas verbs like gustar (to love) seem sophisticated at first, the excellent news is that should you take a little bit of time to know them they actually do make sense.
With these verbs the thing of the sentence turns into the topic, and the topic turns into the oblique object.
For instance, to say “I such as you” in Spanish is me gustas—straight translated this is able to be one thing like “to me, you might be pleasing.”
With the verb gustar “you” turns into topic (the place it could usually be the thing), and is due to this fact conjugated from gustar into gustas. “I” then turns into the oblique object (as a substitute of the topic), which necessitates the oblique object pronoun me.
Stem-Altering Verbs
Stem-changing verbs are verbs which don’t solely change their endings whereas being conjugated, their “stem”, or the start of the verb, additionally adjustments.
There are three primary forms of stem altering verbs:
- E to ie stem-changing verbs
- E to i stem-changing verbs
- O to ue stem-changing verbs
Pronominal Verbs
This can be a sort of verb which requires a reflexive pronoun (the me, te, se and so on. pronouns that I discussed earlier within the publish). They’re simple to establish as they finish in -se as a substitute of the common -ar, -er or -ir infinitive ending.
There are a number of forms of pronominal verbs, however purely pronominal verbs can not exist with no reflexive pronoun.
Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs are a sort of pronominal verb. They too finish in -se, and check with an motion {that a} topic performs on itself—in distinction to an everyday verb, the place the topic performs the motion on somebody or one thing else.
For instance:
Phrasal Verbs
Subsequent on the record of grammar phrases you by no means knew existed we have now phrasal verbs! These are verbs which really change their which means if you add an adverb or preposition to them.
They’re on the superior aspect, however studying them will show you how to to specific your self higher—and likewise make your Spanish sound fairly flash.
Modal Verbs
These verbs point out meanings akin to probability, capability, suggestion, or recommendation.
In English, these verbs embody phrases like “can,” “would,” “ought to” or “would possibly.” Listed here are a couple of frequent ones in Spanish:
Energetic and Passive Voice
The energetic voice is what we use to speak the overwhelming majority of the time. It’s a type of a verb by which the topic is performing the motion, whereas the passive voice is the place the topic undergoes the motion of the verb.
By contrasting these examples, you must get a greater concept of what they’re:
- Energetic: You broke the glass
- Passive: The glass was damaged by you
In Spanish, the passive voice is shaped with the system topic + ser + previous participle.
Tenses
You’re in all probability conscious what a tense is, however only for these of us who recognize extra formal explanations: tense signifies the time of an motion in relation to the time of utterance.
There are 14 tenses to discover in Spanish, every with totally different conjugations relying on the topic—so buckle up!
Current Tense
The current tense in Spanish is essentially the most fundamental tense, and what you’ll begin off studying. It’s used to specific actions which:
- Are taking place now
- Are habitually carried out
- Usually exist
Current participle
The current participle comes after one other verb and expresses a steady motion. Consider them because the “-ing” phrases in English.
To kind the current participle in Spanish, take away the -ar, -er and -ir from the infinitive verb and easily add -ando (for an -ar verb) and -iendo (for -er and -ir verbs).
Previous Tense
At first look, the previous tense appears simply as simple as the current tense—besides that it’s really not.
There are a number of forms of previous tenses in Spanish, and we’ll clarify the principle ones under.
Preterite
This verb tense expresses an motion which passed off at a selected level previously. Particularly actions or occasions which:
- Are accomplished
- Occurred on particular occasions/dates or throughout a selected time interval
- Have particular beginnings or endings
- Befell in a sequence
Previous imperfect
In distinction, the previous imperfect expresses an motion previously which was ongoing or didn’t have an outlined starting/finish. Listed here are a few of its makes use of in Spanish:
- Repeated or routine actions previously
- One thing that was in progress previously
- Descriptions of individuals/issues previously
- Individuals’s ages previously
- Instances and dates previously
Previous participle
The previous participle is a type of a verb used as a noun, an adjective, or to make “good tenses.”
For instance, think about the sentence: I’ve eaten. “Eaten” is the previous participle of “to eat.”
To kind the previous participle in Spanish, we simply take away the infinitive ending (-ar, -er and -ir) and add -ado (for -ar verbs) or -ido (for -er and -ir verbs).
Future Tense
To speak in regards to the future in Spanish, we have now a couple of choices—which fortunately have some fairly shut equivalents in English. Observe that the primary two choices are mostly used.
- Easy future. Hablaré con ella. (I’ll speak to her).
This tense is shaped by conjugating a verb with a selected ending. - Ir + a + infinitive. Voy a hablar con ella. (I’m going to speak to her).
That is shaped through the use of the current easy conjugation of the verb ir (on this case voy) plus a (which means “to”) plus hablar (the infinitive type of the verb “to speak) - Future good. Habré hablado con ella. (I’ll have talked to her).
To kind this, we conjugate haber within the easy future tense (habré) and add the previous participle of the principle verb (hablado)
Conditional Tense
The conditional tense is extremely helpful for dialog and for forming superior phrases, and as soon as I found it it opened up a complete new world of expressing myself.
In layman’s phrases, the conditional signifies levels of chance within the current, future and previous—like after we’re speaking about one thing that may occur sooner or later, one thing that didn’t occur previously or one thing that can in all probability by no means occur.
Excellent Tense
This tense is used to speak about actions or occasions which have occurred within the current previous, began previously and continues to the current day, or when one thing has occurred a sure variety of occasions. For instance:
“They have been ready for you”
In Spanish it’s shaped through the use of the verb haber (to have) and the previous participle.
Current good
Current good is shaped by conjugating haber (to have) within the current tense, and pairing it with the previous participle.
He querido verte.
(I’ve wished to see you)
Future good
Future good is shaped by conjugating haber (to have) within the—you guessed it—future tense, and pairing it with the previous participle.
¿Habrás terminado mañana?
(Will you’ve got completed tomorrow?)
Pluperfect Tense
The pluperfect tense has a number of makes use of, the principle one being to point that an motion passed off earlier than one other motion previously.
We kind it by conjugating haber (to have) previously imperfect tense, and once more, pairing it with the previous participle.
Habías dicho que sí.
(You had mentioned sure)
Progressive Tense
Progressive is a sort of tense that expresses an incomplete motion at a selected time.
In an effort to kind the progressive tense in Spanish, we use the system estar (to be) + current participle (lastly, we’re shifting away from the previous participle!).
Estoy saliendo.
(I’m leaving)
Current progressive
The current progressive tense is fairly self explanatory: it’s a progressive tense, used within the current.
Following the identical system as above, we conjugate estar within the current tense and add the current participle.
Estamos intentando.
(We’re making an attempt)
Previous progressive
Once more, previous progressive is a progressive tense which is used previously.
Following the identical system estar + current participle, we conjugate estar previously imperfect tense and add the current participle.
Estábamos intentando.
(We had been making an attempt)
Temper
Temper in Spanish grammar isn’t what it first seems—it doesn’t need to do together with your way of thinking.
Within the context of grammar, it’s a class of verb kind which expresses whether or not one thing is:
- A truth (indicative temper)
- A situation (subjunctive temper)
- A command (crucial temper)
Verb conjugations change relying on which temper you’re talking in, so it’s necessary to know when and the best way to use each.
Indicative Temper
The indicative temper is the temper we use most frequently to speak. Merely put, it’s used to specific something that we think about to be truth.
Subjunctive Temper
The subjunctive temper might be trickier to know and use. That is due partly to the truth that the subjunctive in English is fairly obscure, so we aren’t very aware of it.
The place the indicative temper is goal, the subjunctive is subjective—it’s used to specific one thing that’s wished, imagined or attainable.
Crucial Temper
The crucial temper is used to kind instructions or requests.
Whereas ordering somebody round might sound rude, you’d be stunned how usually this temper comes up in our daily lives: e.g. “come right here” or “take the following proper flip.”
Destructive instructions
In distinction to affirmative instructions (the place you inform somebody/one thing to do one thing), adverse instructions are the place you inform somebody/one thing not to do one thing.
Along with the no (no) that you just’ll add to the beginning of the verb, the verb itself can be conjugated otherwise—so it pays to be taught the conjugations for each affirmative and adverse instructions.
Adjectives
It’s possible you’ll keep in mind out of your elementary faculty days that adjectives are “describing phrases.” Whereas that is true, extra formally they’re outlined as “a phrase which names an attribute of a noun.”
Like many issues in Spanish, adjectives normally need to replicate the quantity and gender of the noun (or pronoun) it’s describing. Let’s have a deeper have a look at them.
Adjective Endings
- Adjectives that finish in –o make up the vast majority of adjectives in Spanish. They’ve 4 attainable endings, every which displays gender and quantity
- -o — masculine singular
- -os —masculine plural
- -a —female singular
- -as — female plural
- Adjectives that finish in -e or -ista don’t change for gender, just for quantity:
- -e — masculine/female singular
- -es — masculine/female plural
- -ista — masculine/female singular
- –istas — masculine/female plural
- Adjectives that finish in a consonant additionally don’t change for gender, just for quantity. To alter these adjectives from singular to plural we normally simply add -es to the tip, nonetheless there are a number of exceptions to this rule
Adjective Placement
It’s possible you’ll already remember that adjectives are positioned otherwise in Spanish than in English: the vast majority of the time, the adjective is positioned after the noun it modifies.
However there are a few exceptions, so pay attention to these circumstances the place the adjective really goes in entrance:
- Correct nouns
- Nouns/relations that we solely have one among
- Inherent qualities which can be all the time related to that noun
- Whenever you already know the noun that the adjective is referencing
Adjective Clauses
You already know we’re getting deep after we begin speaking about clauses.
A clause is a gaggle of phrases with a topic and a verb. Within the case of an adjective clause, it’s basically a gaggle of phrases—together with a topic and a verb—which features a lot the identical as an everyday adjective.
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives are adjectives which point out a relationship of possession—whether or not it’s strict possession or different forms of possession to a lesser diploma.
They’re phrases like “my,” “mine,” “ours” and “theirs.”
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
These two kinds of adjectives assist describe relationships between two (or extra) objects.
Comparative adjectives evaluate the standard of two issues (“she is taller than him”), whereas a superlative expresses the best diploma of the standard (“she is the tallest“).
Demonstrative Adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives establish the relative place of somebody or one thing in time or house.
Demonstrative adjectives in Spanish categorical three forms of distance:
- Este — this
- Ese — that
- Aquel — that (over there)
And since they’re adjectives—don’t overlook that they’ll change to replicate quantity and gender!
Adjectives as Nouns
By now we all know what an adjective is, and what a noun is. However what about utilizing an adjective as a noun?
There are a few ways in which adjectives might be altered to perform as a noun:
1. Including an article
2. Modifying an adjective with a demonstrative adjective
3. Utilizing the article lo
4. Utilizing the private a
Relative Adjectives
These are adjectives which present relation in a sentence—therefore the nomenclature. They introduce new details about one thing or somebody that has been beforehand talked about within the type of a relative clause.
For instance, in English we use the phrase “whose.” In Spanish, we’d use cuyo, cuya, cuyos and cuyas (relying on the gender and variety of no matter you’re referring to).
Adverbs
Adverbs are a phrase or phrase which modifies different phrases in a sentence (normally an adjective, verb or one other adverb) to additional describe particulars akin to place, time, method or diploma.
As a result of they don’t modify nouns, adverbs don’t change in accordance with gender or quantity like different lessons of phrases do—that’s one much less factor to fret about, at the very least!
Kinds of Adverbs
Adverbs might be positioned into a number of classes relying on the kind of info they supply. Let’s take a look on the primary ones and a few examples:
- Adverbs of place give details about a spot or location that one thing is occurring, answering the query “the place?”. For instance aquí (right here) and cerca (shut)
- Adverbs of frequency describe how usually an motion is carried out. For instance a veces (generally) and siempre (all the time)
- Adverbs of method categorical the way in which by which an motion is carried out by answering “how?” or “in what manner?”. For instance juntos (collectively) and bien (nicely)
- Adverbs of diploma modify adjectives, and reply the query “how a lot/many?”. For instance mucho (a lot), peor (worse)
- Adverbs of time because the identify suggests, these adverbs describe the time and period of one thing. They reply questions like “when?” and “how lengthy?”. For instance ya (already) and pronto (quickly)
Adverb Placement
Adverbs in Spanish are normally positioned both proper earlier than or proper after the phrase they’re modifying, and the kind of phrase determines this placement. As a common rule, we will assume that they’re normally:
- Positioned after verbs
- Positioned earlier than adjectives
- Versatile if modifying the which means of a sentence
Adverb Endings
Many adverbs in Spanish finish in -mente, which is just like the equal of phrases ending in “-ly” in English (like “slowly,” “shortly,” or “commonly”).
We will kind an adverb through the use of nearly any singular female adjective and including -mente.
Rápida (fast, fem. sing.) + –mente = rápidamente (shortly)
Prepositions
Prepositions play an enormous position within the which means of sentences, however are sometimes missed by these finding out Spanish.
Prepositions are phrases—or a gaggle of phrases—used earlier than nouns, pronouns or noun phrases to hyperlink them to different phrases in a sentence.
They convey issues like route, time, location, spatial relationship, or introduce an object.
Prepositions of Place
These prepositions describe the place of one thing (or somebody) in relation to one thing else. There are a couple of to be taught, however listed here are among the commonest ones to get you began:
The Private A
Even after a few years of studying Spanish, the “private a” nonetheless journeys me up a bit—in all probability as a result of there is no such thing as a equal in English.
It’s a preposition that’s positioned between the verb and the direct object of a sentence when the direct object is an individual or a pet. It doesn’t translate to something, however we have to use it nonetheless!
Llamo a mi novio
— I name my boyfriend
Por and Para
Like ser and estar, whether or not you must use por or para is one other nice conundrum of the Spanish learner.
They each loosely translate to “for”—nonetheless they’re fairly versatile of their meanings—so it may be fairly difficult determining when to make use of one over the opposite.
Listed here are some fundamental factors to recollect:
-
Por is used to imply “by” somebody, whereas para is “for” somebody
- Por is used for purpose, whereas para is for function
-
Por is for touring round or by someplace, para is for the vacation spot
Verbs and Prepositions
There are a complete lot of Spanish verbs which both have to be used with a preposition, or change their meanings when paired with a preposition.
Sadly there isn’t a selected rule that can assist you be taught them—you’ll have to choose them up as you employ them!
Listed here are a few frequent examples:
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are phrases used to attach different phrases and sentences, they usually’ll show you how to bridge from newbie to intermediate and superior by permitting you to make extra advanced sentences.
Let’s check out among the commonest Spanish conjunctions:
- Y — and
- O — or
- Pero — however, but
- Aunque — although, though, however
- Para que — in order that, so, in an effort to/for
- Porque — as a result of
- Así que — so
- Si — if
They appear fundamental, however don’t underestimate them—you’d be stunned what understanding them will do to your Spanish!
Contractions
A contraction is a shortened model of a phrase or phrase, created by the omission of letters and sounds.
In English you’ll see contractions with an apostrophe: “I’m” (from I’m), “couldn’t” (from couldn’t), “you’ll” (from you’ll).
I’m glad to inform you that in Spanish, there are solely two contractions to recollect:
1. A + el = al
2. De + el = del
Sentences
So that you’ve realized a bunch of Spanish phrases, now you must string them collectively to make a coherent sentence—fortunately, it’s not tremendous sophisticated!
Let’s take a look at among the primary elements of sentences in Spanish.
Sentence Construction
The sentence construction in Spanish normally follows the identical system we use for English:
Topic + verb + object
It will be nice if we may simply say it’s the identical as in English and go away it there, however there a few different necessary factors concerning sentence construction:
- It’s not all the time obligatory so as to add a topic (like we should do in English)
- Pronouns are positioned straight earlier than the verb, not after it
- The verb can generally be positioned in entrance of the topic
Negation
Negation is the place we insert a phrase or phrase to specific the alternative which means of a phrase or sentence.
In Spanish, it’s normally as simple as including no earlier than the verb in a sentence.
No quiero irme. (I don’t need to go).
It will get a bit of trickier with regards to the “double adverse,” which is taken into account incorrect (or non-standard) in English however is used usually in appropriate Spanish.
We do that through the use of “adverse phrases”—akin to nada (nothing) or nunca (by no means)—both on their very own or together with no.
1. Destructive phrase used alone earlier than the verb
Nunca veo películas. (I by no means watch films).
2. No earlier than the verb and adverse phrase after the verb
No veo películas nunca. (I by no means watch films).
Transition Phrases
Transition phrases are simple to confuse with conjunctions. The distinction is that transition phrases point out the relationship between sentences or paragraphs, and eradicating them gained’t really have an effect on grammatical correctness.
There are a ton of various varieties for varied conditions—akin to for explanations, outcomes, emphasis and summaries—and understanding them will actually assist your Spanish move.
Belief me, take a while to be taught them and also you’ll thank me later!
Comparisons
We use a selected sort of language to match and distinction issues, whether or not you understand it or not. Listed here are some formulation for making easy comparisons in Spanish:
- To check two issues: más/menos + adjective + que
- To check nouns: más/menos + noun + que
- To check numbers: más/menos + de + quantity
- To explain a distinction in how one thing is finished: más/menos + adverb + que
Take a look at the publish under to learn the way to make use of superlatives and make comparisons of equality!
Reported Speech
You would possibly really dwell your complete life as a Spanish learner and by no means come throughout this time period, however since we’re right here we might as nicely get the run-down.
Reported speech is a sort of speech that tells you what somebody mentioned, however doesn’t really use the particular person’s phrases.
Mi hermana cube que está cansada.
(My sister says she is drained).
To make use of this sort of speech you’ll have to be taught “reporting” or “communication” verbs, akin to decir (to say, to inform), querer saber (to need to know) and pedir (to ask)
Questions
Studying to ask questions in Spanish is tremendous necessary—in truth, you can argue that it’s one of the necessary issues to be taught!
Fortuitously it’s comparatively easy, particularly as a result of in Spanish we don’t want to make use of auxiliary verbs (like “do” or “does”). Usually a query mark and a rising intonation will just do effective, however we will additionally make the most of “query phrases” to higher elicit info.
Query Phrases
Whereas they aren’t all the time important, we do usually want “query phrases” to kind questions.
We really lined many of those phrases earlier below “Interrogative Pronouns,” however these phrases are so necessary that it gained’t damage to offer this record one other learn!
Por Qué v Porque
Should you used to assume it was sufficient to know the distinction between por qué and porque, you’re not alone (and, sadly, you’re additionally incorrect).
Spanish is already bursting with pors and ques, however we’re going so as to add some variations to the record within the type of por qué, por que, porqué and porque.
Don’t get too anxious, although—listed here are their fundamental meanings in a nutshell:
Query Marks
Little question you’ve seen the curious the wrong way up query mark that’s distinctive to the Spanish language.
There’s no secret to it—this inverted query mark is used together with an everyday query mark to point a query, similar to in English. If a sentence is lengthy, simply use the query marks instantly earlier than the query:
No he probado jamón serrano, ¿cómo es? (I haven’t tried jamón, what’s it like?)
It’s used principally in formal settings as of late, so that you positively don’t fear about it should you’re chatting together with your Spanish-speaking buddies on WhatsApp!
Exclamations and Interjections
Exclamations and interjections are each used to specific sturdy emotions and feelings.
An exclamation is normally a phrase or clause used with exclamation marks, whereas interjections are normally single phrases and are used with commas and query marks along with exclamation marks.
Interjections may also be sounds, and are grammatically unrelated to the sentence.
These not solely allow you to categorical emotion in only a phrase or two, they present that you just perceive what’s occurring they usually’ll make you sound actually fluent!
Take a look at the posts under to be taught some actually helpful ones.
It’d really feel such as you’re going again to elementary faculty by studying numbers from scratch once more, however it’s nicely value your whereas! You’ll have to be taught numbers in Spanish for every thing from telling the time to creating transactions.
Let’s take a look at numbers one to 10:
After which some ordinal numbers:
Writing Mechanics
Writing mechanics are simply guidelines of a written language—issues like punctuation, capitalization, spelling and abbreviations.
You could have already picked up on a pair (such because the quirky “the wrong way up” query mark), however we’re going to go over a couple of variations between Spanish and English which can be necessary to know.
Punctuation
For essentially the most half punctuation is fairly simple in Spanish. Should you’re uncertain about one thing can normally assume that it’s the identical as in English, however listed here are the principle issues to look out for:
- Query marks. As talked about earlier, in additional formal writing you must add an inverted query mark on the starting of the query in addition to the tip.
- Exclamation marks. Equally, inverted exclamation factors are additionally used at the start and finish of the exclaimed phrase or phrase in Spanish.
- Writing numbers. There are a couple of variations between English and Spanish with regards to writing numbers. In Spanish, when writing numbers with 4 or much less numerals, the numerals are written collectively. For instance, the place in English we’d write “4,500,” in Spanish you’ll see “4500.”
If there are greater than 4 numerals in a quantity, an area is meant for use to separate the teams of numerals—as a substitute of the comma which we’d use in English. For instance, in English we’d write “1,500,00,” in Spanish the identical quantity could be written as “1 500 000.” In saying this, you might nicely see numbers of this measurement written as “1.500.000” in lots of locations.
The final level to recollect is that in lots of Spanish-speaking international locations it’s frequent to see a comma used as a decimal separator, as a substitute of a interval like in English. For instance the quantity “20.50” in English is commonly written in Spanish as “20,50.”
- Writing scripts/dialogue. You’ll in all probability come throughout this distinction whereas studying extra so than whereas writing, and that’s the usage of the em-dash (—) in dialogue as a substitute of speech marks. Right here’s an concept of what you would possibly see:
—¡Hola! —dijo la señora. (“Hey!” mentioned the woman).
—Hola, ¿cómo está? —contestó el niño. (“Hey, how are you?” answered the boy).
Capitalization
Spanish doesn’t capitalize phrases as usually as we do in English, so sadly we will’t apply the identical guidelines!
The next forms of phrases are not capitalized in Spanish until it’s the primary phrase in a sentence:
- Months and days of the week
- E-book and film titles (solely the primary phrase is capitalized)
- Locations (excluding international locations and cities)
- Religions
- Languages
- Nationalities
- The non-public pronoun yo (I)
[ad_2]