Spanish Grammar/Printable version


Spanish Grammar

The current, editable version of this book is available in Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection, at
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About

This book was written by Wikibook contributors, including Caitlin Schultz and Laura Calabrese (Laurp).


Introduction

This book is designed to give a thourough and complete overview of Spanish grammar. It can be used to give beginners and overview of the language's grammar, or to help experienced learners review grammar points. It is designed to help those learning Spanish as a foreign language. It is written in American English though it is not designed solely for use by native English speakers.

It is recommended that this book be used as a supplement to a traditional course book, such as the Wikibook, as well as exposure to authentic Spanish language material such as newspapers, books, and television programs.


Vowels and consonants

Spanish has five vowels: A, E, I, O, U.

Spanish also has some special consonant sounds: j, x, ll, z

C The letter C can be pronounced /k/ or /s/ based on the letter that follows it: Ca, co, and cu is pronouned as /k/.

Ce, and ci is pronounced as /s/

G The letter G can be pronounced as /x/ or /g/ based on the letter that follows it: Ga, go, and gu is pronounced as /g/ ge and gi is pronounced as /x/.


Common Masculine Noun Endings

As a general rule, most masculine nouns end in -o. But there are many other noun endings. There are some general rules you can memorize to help you recognize masculne nouns even if they don't end in -o.

Many masculine nouns end in -aje. These nouns are almost never feminine.

Many nouns ending in -ma, -pa, or -ta are also masculine.

LONERS nouns: nouns ending in -l, -o, -n, -e, -r, or -s are usually masculine.

Most of the time, a noun that ends in an accented vowel is masculine as well.

There are always exceptions, but remember these generalizations.


Nouns Ending in -o

Most Spanish nouns that end in -o are masculine in gender - for example:

el médico - doctor

el dedo - finger

There are many exceptions - for example:

la mano - hand


Nouns Ending in -aje

Spanish nouns ending in -aje are almost always masculine in gender. Here are some examples:

el aterrizaje - landing

el viaje - trip, journey

el porcentaje - percentage

el hospedaje - accommodations, lodging

el reportaje - report, article

el lenguaje - language, vocabulary

el reciclaje - recycling

el follaje - foliage

el paisaje - countryside


Nouns Ending in -ma, -pa, -ta

Many Spanish nouns ending in -ma, -pa, or -ta are masculine despite ending in -a. These nouns are generally Greek in origin. Some examples:

el clima - climate

el tema - theme

el programa - program


el cometa - comet

el planeta - planet


el mapa - map

el papa - pope


There are many exceptions - for example:

la dama - woman

la tapa - lid, top

la dieta - diet


Nouns Ending in -dad, -tad, -tud

-dad

la ciudad - the city

la sociedad - the society

la verdad - the truth

la comunidad - the community

la oportunidad - the opportunity

-tad

la libertad - the liberty

la dificultad - the difficulty

la facultad - the faculty


Definite and Indefinite Articles

Definite articles are words that translate to " the". Indefinite articles correlate to the English "a" or "an".

Spanish articles change form to agree with the noun they're modifying in number and gender. Therefore, there is more than one word for "the" and more than one word for "a/an":

Masculine Feminine
singular plural singular plural
Definite el los la las
Indefinite un unos una unas

The three elements at play here are definite vs. indefinite, masculine vs. feminine, and singular vs. plural.

The difference between definite and indefinite articles is the same as in English: you are either talking about something individual and specific (definite, "the - el/la"), or generally referring to something in a slightly abstract way (indefinite, "a/an - un/una/unos/unas").

Whether you use the masculine or feminine article depends on the gender of the following noun: abeja (bee) is a feminine noun, so 'the bee' is 'la abeja'. Bolígrafo (pen) is a masculine noun, so 'the pen' is 'el bolígrafo'.

Plurality is simple: if you're talking about more than one (or zero, same as in English), you use the plural form:

dos abejas - two bees

cero bolígrafos - zero pens


Inequality adjectives

Comparisons of inequality: más/menos + adjective/adverb/noun + que

(1) Juan es más alto que Juanita. – Juan is taller than Juanita.

(2) Juanita camina más lentamente que Juan. – Juanita walks more slowly than Juan.

(3) Juan vende más galletas que Juanita. – Juan sells more cookies that Juanita.


Equality adjectives

Comparisons of inequality: más/menos + adjective/adverb/noun + que

(1) Juan es más alto que Juanita. – Juan is taller than Juanita.

(2) Juanita camina más lentamente que Juan. – Juanita walks more slowly than Juan.

(3) Juan vende más galletas que Juanita. – Juan sells more cookies that Juanita.


Subject Pronouns

                 Subject Pronouns

singular                                                                        plural

1st person               yo (I)                                                          nosotros/nosotras (we (m)/(f))

2nd person              tú (you)                                                      vosotros/vosotras (you (plural informal) (m)/(f))

3rd person               el/ella/usted (he/she/you (formal))            ellos/ellas/ustedes (they (m)/(f)/you (plural formal))



Direct Object Pronouns

direct object pronouns
me nos
te os
lo, la los, las

Remember: the direct object of a sentence is the noun or noun phrase that is the recipient of the action of a transitive verb. Like "a book" in sentence (1) and "the food" in sentence (2):

           (1) I read the book. (Yo leí el libro.)

           (2) She brings the food. (Ella trae la comida.)

Direct objects are nouns and so can be replaced by pronouns. The example sentences with pronouns in place of the direct objects are:

           (1) I read it. (Yo lo leí.)

           (2) She brings it. (Ella la trae.)


Indirect Object Pronouns

indirect object pronouns
me nos
te os
le les

The indirect object of a sentence is a noun or noun phrase that is secondarily affected by the action of a transitive verb, like "me" in sentence (1):

                 (1) She brings me the food.*

*In English, sentence (2) can also be phrased as:

                 (1a) She brings the food to me.

*In Spanish, this is expressed through either "Ella me trae la comida." or  "Ella me trae la comida a mí."

The direct object and the indirect object are always nouns, noun phrases, or pronouns. Nouns and noun phrases can be replaced by pronouns:

                 (1) She brings it.

                 (2) She brings me the food.

                 (3) She brings me it.

                 (4) She brings it to me.

In Spanish, these sentences would look like this:

                 (1) Ella la trae.

                 (2) Ella me trae la comida.

                 (3) Ella la me trae.

                 (4) Ella me la trae.

When both direct and indirect object pronouns are being used in a sentence, the indirect object pronoun comes first:

                 (4) Ella me la trae.

Let's look at another example.

                 (1) Yo leí el libro.

                 (2) Yo le leí el libro (a la niña).

When

                 (3) Yo se lo leí.


Reflexive pronouns

           Reflexive Pronouns and Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive pronouns are pronouns that are attached to reflexive verbs. Some examples of reflexive verbs are:

lavarse – to wash onesrself

ducharse – to shower (onesrself)

peinarse – to brush one's hair

hablarse – to talk to oneself

All these examples end in –se because they're reflexive. Se is the reflexive pronoun. It translates to "oneself," "himself," "herself," or "yourself".

                                   Reflexive Pronouns.

                                   singular                                                                        plural

1st person               me (me)                                                            nos (us)

2nd person              te (you)                                                             os (you (plural informal))

3rd person               se (him/her/you (formal)                                  se (them/you (plural formal))

Examples:

                 (1) Ye me lavo las manos. – I wash my hands.

                 (2) Ella se peina. – She brushes her hair.

                 (3) El se habla. – He talks to himself.

Compare the above reflexive sentences with non-reflexive sentences:

                 (1) Yo lavo el perro. – I wash the dog.

                 (2) Ella peina el caballo. – She brushes the horse.

                 (3) El habla con sus padres. – He speaks with his parents.



Possessive pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

                                   singular                                                                        plural

1st person               mi (my)                                                                        nuestro/nuestra (our (m)/(f))

2nd person              tu (your)                                                                      vuestro/vuestra (your (plural informal) (m)/(f))

3rd person               su (his/her/your (formal))                                su (their (m)/(f)/your (plural formal))


Note: Both singular and plural possessive pronouns can modify either singular or plural nouns and are declined to agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

ex. mi maleta/mis maletas – my suitcase/my suitcases

nuestra maleta/nuestras maletas – our suitcase/our suitcases


Demonstrative Pronouns

When the noun is understood in the context, it can be omitted – but adjectives can't stand alone. In these cases, demonstrative pronouns are used. As shown below, demonstrative pronouns are almost exactly the same as demonstrative adjectives – but there's an accent on the stressed syllable. These accents are actually optional.

Demonstrative Pronouns
singular plural singular
English Masculine Feminine English Masculine Feminine English Neuter
this éste ésta these éstos éstas this esto
that ése ésa those ésos ésas that eso
that (over there) aquél aquélla those (over there) aquéllos aquéllas that (over there) aquello


Sometimes a demonstrative pronoun refers to something abstract, not referring to any specific noun. Thus it doesn't have a gender, so neither can the demonstrative pronoun: the neuter form is used. Notice that the neuter form does not have accent marks.


Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to join a pronoun to an entire clause.

An example in English:

It was Lucy who sent the letter.

"Who sent the letter" is a relative clause and "who" is a relative pronoun. "Who" refers to the same thing as "it".

Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Plural English
cuyo cuya cuyos cuyas whose
el cual la cual los cuales las cuales the one(s) who, the one(s) that
lo que that which, what, whatever
los que las que those who, those that
que que que que that, who, which


Regular -ar verbs

conjugated verb = stem + ending

stem = infinitive – ar

1. -AR
singular plural
1st person -o -amos
2nd person -as -áis
3rd person -a -an


ex. hablar  (to speak)                     stem = hablar –ar = habl-
hablo I speak hablamos we speak
hablas you (informal) speak habláis you (informal plural) speak
habla he/she/it/you (formal) speak(s) hablan they/you (formal plural) speak


Regular -er verbs

conjugated verb = stem + ending

stem = infinitive – er

2. -ER
singular plural
1st person -o -emos
2nd person -es -éis
3rd person -e -en


ex. comer  (to eat)                        stem = comer - er = com-
como I eat comemos we eat
comes you (informal) eat coméis you (informal plural) eat
come he/she/it/you (formal) eat(s) comen they/you (formal plural) eat


Regular -ir verbs

conjugated verb = stem + ending

stem = infinitive - ir

3. -IR
singular plural
1st person -o -imos
2nd person -es -ís
3rd person -e -en


ex. vivir  (to live)                           stem = vivir - ir = viv-
vivo I live vivimos we live
vives you (informal) live vivís you (informal plural) live
vive he/she/it/you (formal) live(s) viven they/you (formal plural) live


Regular -ar verbs

conjugated verb = stem + ending

stem = infinitive – ar

1. -AR
singular plural
1st person -o -amos
2nd person -as -áis
3rd person -a -an


ex. hablar  (to speak)                     stem = hablar –ar = habl-
hablo I speak hablamos we speak
hablas you (informal) speak habláis you (informal plural) speak
habla he/she/it/you (formal) speak(s) hablan they/you (formal plural) speak


Regular -ar verbs

conjugated verb = stem + ending

stem = infinitive – ar

1. -AR
singular plural
1st person -o -amos
2nd person -as -áis
3rd person -a -an


ex. hablar  (to speak)                     stem = hablar –ar = habl-
hablo I speak hablamos we speak
hablas you (informal) speak habláis you (informal plural) speak
habla he/she/it/you (formal) speak(s) hablan they/you (formal plural) speak


Personal "a"

The direct object of a sentence is the noun or noun phrase that is the recipient of the action of a transitive verb.

In Spanish, when the direct object is a person it is preceded by the preposition "a". This is called the "personal a". When the direct object is not a person, there is no personal a:

1. María esta esperando el autobus. – María is waiting for the bus.

2. María esta esperando a John. – María is waiting for John.

The personal a is not used for animals:

3. Jorge mira la vaca.

The personal “a” is not used after tener, or the verb haber (even if the direct object is a person).

4. Tengo una esposa hermosa. – I have a beautiful wife.

5. Hay una mujer en la puerta. – There's a woman at the door.

If the direct object is an indefinite person, the personal “a” is not used. The person is considered grammatically “depersonalized.”

6. Busco novia. – I'm looking for a girlfriend (any girl).

7. Necesito médico. – I need a doctor (any doctor).


Por

Por is used…

when expressing gratitude or apologizing

                 e.g. Lo siento por lo que dije. – I'm sorry for what I said.

                 e.g. Gracias por venir. – Thank you for coming.

for multiplication

                 e.g. Dos por cinco son diez. – Two times five is ten.

when talking about velocity, frequency, or proportion

                 e.g. Como tres veces por día. – I eat three times a day.

                 e.g.  Conduzco 60 millas por hora. – I drive 60 miles per hour.

when saying "through," "along," "by," or "in the area of"

                 e.g. Caminamos por el parque. – We walk through/in the area of the park.

when discussing something exchanged or sold

                 e.g. Te doy tres dólares por el sándwich. – I'll give you three dollars for the sandwich.

to express "on behalf of" or "in favor of"

                 e.g. No voté por nadie.

to express a length of time

                 e.g. Hoy hice deporte por una hora y media hoy. – I exercised for an hour and a half today.

when referring to a nonspecific time, to mean "during"

                 e.g. Cocino mucho por el fin de semana.

                 e.g. Trabajo por la tarde.

to refer to means of communication or transportation

                 e.g. Hablo con mi madre por el teléfono. – I talk to my mom on the phone.

                 e.g. Normalmente viajo por coche pero esta vez yo voy por avión. – Normally I travel by car but this time I'm going by plane.

in cases of mistaken identity, or meaning "to be seen as"

                 e.g. Me tienen por loco. – They take me for crazy.

when explaining the purpose of an errand (with ir, venir, pasar, mandar, volver, and preguntar)

                 e.g. Paso por ti a las ocho. – I'll come by for you at eight o'clock.

expression: por + infinitive – expresses an incomplete action

                 e.g. La cena está por cocinar. – Dinner has yet to be cooked.

to express cause or reason

                 e.g. Murió por falta de agua. – He died due to a lack of water.

                e.g. Hoy estoy resfriada, y por eso no fui a clase.- I have a cold today, so I didn't go to class.

expression: estar + por – to be in the mood, to be inclined to do something

                 e.g. Estoy por salir. – I feel like going out.

to indicate agent in passive constructions

                 e.g. El autobús está conducido por el conductor.

to denote authorship

e.g. Por Julio Iglesias- by Julio Iglesias

Por is used in many common expressions and phrases. Here are some good examples:

por favor please
por ejemplo for example
por lo menos at least
por qué why
por fin finally
por eso therefore
por supuesto of course
por ciento percent
por aquí this way
por cierto certainly
palabra por palabra word for word
día por día day by day
por los pelos barely
por ningún lado nowhere


Para

Para is used…

to signify destination

                 e.g. Mario va para la escuela. – Mario is going to the school.

to show the use or purpose of a thing

                 e.g. El libro es para estudiar. – The book is for studying.

meaning: "in order to," "for the purpose of"

                 e.g. Sal de la casa para conocer a amigos. – Leave the house (in order to) make friends.

to indicate a recipient

                 e.g. Este paquete es para usted. – This package is for you.

to specify a deadline or time

                 e.g. La tarea debe estar completa para el miércoles. – The homework should be done by Wednesday.

when expressings something contrary to what was expected

                 e.g. Para un niño es muy intelegente. – For a child, he is very intelligent.

expression: estar + para + infinitive – expresses an action that will soon be completed

                  e.g. La niña está para cumplir trece años. – The child is about to turn thirteen.

Both para is used in many common expressions and phrases. Here are some good examples:

para siempre forever
para dónde where to
estar para to be about to
para adelante forward
para detrás backward
para abajo downward
para entonces by that time
ser tal para cual to be two of a kind