Notes from Spanish 1

Transcription

1 Notes from Spanish 1 version by Kyle Barbour May 9, 2007 Contents 1 Front matter Legal note Corrections or improvements The basics The alphabet Pronunciation Emphasis Numbers Simple arithmetic Punctuation Articles and gender Pluralization Negation Common words and phrases Greetings Telling time The days of the week, months, and seasons Weather Questions and interrogatives Adjectives General rules Adjectives and gender Possessive adjectives Demonstrative adjectives Comparisons Adverbs 14 1

2 6 Verbs General rules Subject pronouns AR, -ER, and -IR verbs Tenses Simple present Present progressive Near future Irregular verbs Empezar Hacer Ir Jugar Oír Pensar Salir Ser and estar Tener Volver Stem-changing verbs Reflexive verbs Prepositions Por and para Bibliography 24 List of Tables 1 El alfabeto de español Examples of emphasis based on ending syllables Los números The months and seasons Possessive adjectives Demonstrative adjectives Subject pronouns Present tense of regular -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs Present tense of empezar Present tense of hacer Present tense of ir Present tense of jugar Present tense of oír Present tense of pensar Present tense of salir Present tense of ser and estar

3 17 Present tense of tener Present tense of volver Reflexive pronouns

4 1 Front matter This document is intended to provide a base reference for materials learned in Spanish 1 which I took at Sierra College in Nevada City. Please note that this course is registered within the California Articulation Number (CAN) system, wherein it is known as CAN SPAN 2 (with Spanish 2, CAN SPAN SEQ A), and as such may be of use to anyone who is taking a course which is similarly recognized. Spanish 1 was, at least at Sierra College, a 4-unit class equivalent to two years of high school Spanish. In this document I intend to give an outline of the grammatical rules, vocabulary, and other material of note that was covered in this course in the hopes that it will be later useful as a refresher and general reference. 1.1 Legal note I claim no responsibility for any mishaps which may occur should you choose to use this document. Please note that while this information contained here is accurate to the best of my knowledge that there may be mistakes. Use at your own risk (or at that of your grade). 1.2 Corrections or improvements While I ve attempted to make this as accurate as possible, I m sure that there are errors to some degree or another (or at the very least, improvements to be made). Found an error? Thought of a better way to say something? Have a question? Shoot me a line at [email protected] and let me know. Nitpicky corrections are very welcome! 2 The basics The Spanish language (español) is the national language of Spain, most countries of South and Central America (exceptions being Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Belize), parts of the Carribbean, Equatorial Guinea, and is spoken extensively in many others (among them, the United States). It is regulated by the Real Academia Española of Madrid, Spain, and the 21 other members of the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, each member coming from a different Spanish-speaking country. 2.1 The alphabet The Spanish alphabet (el alfabeto) has 27 letters: all of the letters of the English alphabet and ñ. Prior to the tenth congress of the Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española in 1994 ch and ll were considered to be separate letters in the Spanish alphabet, and would have separate sections in indeces and alphabetical listings. The digraph rr never enjoyed the letter status that ch and ll once did, and continues to be filed under r as normal. Despite this, as these three digraphs 4

5 have their own pronunciations and names, they have been included in table 1. In addition to these letters, the five vowels may take acute diacritical marks: á, é, í, ó, ú. These letters are spoken [letter] acentuada (example: María is spelled eme, a, ere, i acentuada, a). While other diacriticals may occur in other words, they are not part of the standard Spanish canon. Letter Name Example A a a alfabeto B b be bajo C c ce caballo; cepillarse 1 Ch ch che Chile D d de delgado E e e escritorio F f efe f útbol G g ge grande H h hache hora I i i inteligente J j jota jugar 2 K k ka kilómetro L l ele leer 1 Ll ll elle llama M m eme madre N n ene no Ñ ñ enye ñapa O o o octubre P p pe padre Q q cu quiero R r ere rosa 1 Rr rr erre perro S s ese seis T t te traje U u u Usted V v ve verano 2 W w doble ve whiskey X x equis xilofón Y y i griega yerno Z z ceta zapato 1 No longer considered to be separate letters. 2 Only used in loanwords. Table 1: El alfabeto de español. 5

6 2.2 Pronunciation With few exceptions, pronunciation can be entirely derived from spelling in Spanish. As the only way to learn to accurately pronounce words is to listen to a fluent speaker, individual letter pronunciation will not be gone over in this text save for a few general notes. Intead, we will cover grammatical rules that apply to words as a whole. First, a short note on several letters: b c ch d h B and v are pronounced identically. At the beginning of a word or after m or n, they are pronounced as the English b. In other places, they are pronounced similarly to a combination of English b and v. C may be pronounced either hard or soft, depending. When hard, it is similar to the English k, but comes more from the top of the mouth. When soft, it is pronounced like the English s. Ch is pronounced as the ch in English chicken. Inside of a word, d is pronounced similarly to a mix of English th and English d (although lighter). H is silent at the front of words. Thus, hora is pronounced ora. For the sound of the English h, like most Latin languages Spanish uses j. j J, as said above, is pronounced as the English h. ll Ll is pronounced as English y. q Q is often pronounced similarly to Spanish hard c. r R is trilled (rolled) as if it were rr at the beginnings of words. rr Rr is always trilled (rolled). v See note for b. x X is often pronounced similarly to the English z Emphasis Emphasis in a word falls onto the last syllable, unless the word ends in an -n, -s, a vowel (a, e, i, o, or u), or contains a vowel elsewhere that carries a diacritical mark (such as á, é, í, ó, or ú). If the word ends in -n or -s, the emphasis falls on the second-to-last syllable. If there is a vowel elsewhere in the word that carries a diacritical mark, the emphasis falls on that syllable. Normal Vowel, -n, or -s Diacritical universidad cepillarse inglés azul examen bolígrafo levantar personas están Table 2: Examples of emphasis based on ending syllables. 6

7 Diacriticals accomplish one or both of two things: they give instruction for the pronunciation of a word by showing which syllable carries the emphasis (as in the examples in table 2), or they disambiguate between homophones (such as in si and sí). Although diacriticals other than acute accents exist in Spanish (cf. nicaragüense), they are not standard. Since for all practical purposes, acute accents are the only diacritical marks in Spanish, unless otherwise noted, diacritical will refer to acute accent. In certain situations, a word must have a diacritical mark. They are: 1. When the emphasis falls on a syllable which would not be predicted given the rules above, that syllable must carry a diacritical mark. Examples of this are given above in table All words that are emphasized on the third-to-last syllable must carry a diacritical on that syllable. Examples: teléfono, números. This is an extension of the rule given above. 3. When two consecutive vowels do not form a diphthong (run together), the one which carries the emphasis must carry a diacritical. Examples: adiós, astronomía. 4. Interrogative and exclamatory words carry a diacritical on their emphasized vowel. Examples: Cuándo?, Qué lastima!. 5. Lastly, some words carry diacriticals to distinguish them from other homophones. Ordinarily, these are mono-syllabic words. Examples: mí and mi, tú and tu. 2.3 Numbers In Spanish, the numbers (los números) use the same Arabic numerals that we re familiar with in English (1, 2, 3,... ). While this section won t make you a mathematician, hopefully it will provide some basic insight into counting and basic arithmetical operations in Spanish. Spanish numbers give us our first taste of gender in this language, due to the word uno (one). Uno, apart from meaning one, also means a, the singular indefinite article (and as unos, some, the plural indefinite article). When uno, either by itself or as the end of another number (such as veintiuno, meaning twenty-one), is followed by a masculine noun, it changes to un. When followed by a feminine noun, it changes to una. When used in counting, it remains uno. You ll get more used to this as you go along. Thus, Uno, dos, tres,... Pues, con frecuencia, un reloj es muy caro. Unas mujeres están rompiendo mis cosas! 7

8 0 cero 10 diez 20 veinte 30 treinta 1 uno 1 11 once 21 veintiuno 2 31 treinta y uno 2 dos 12 doce 22 veintidós 2 32 treinta y dos 3 tres 13 trece 23 veintitrés 2 33 treinta y tres 4 cuatro 14 catorce 24 veinticuatro 2 34 treinta y cuatro 5 cinco 15 quince 25 veinticinco 2 35 treinta y cinco 6 seis 16 dieciséis 2 26 veintiséis 2 36 treinta y seis 7 siete 17 diecisiete 2 27 veintisiete 2 37 treinta y siete 8 ocho 18 dieciocho 2 28 veintiocho 2 38 treinta y ocho 9 nueve 19 diecinueve 2 29 veintinueve 2 39 treinta y nueve 10 diez 100 cien mil un millón 20 veinte 200 doscientos dos mil dos millones 30 treinta 300 trescientos tres mil tres millones 40 cuarenta 400 cuatrocientos cuatro mil cuatro millones 50 cincuenta 500 quinientos cinco mil cinco millones 60 sesenta 600 seiscientos seis mil seis millones 70 setenta 700 setecientos siete mil siete millones 80 ochenta 800 ochocientos ocho mil ocho millones 90 noventa 900 novecientos nueve mil nueve millones 1 See second paragraph in section 2.3 for more on uno. 2 Numbers 16 through 19 and 21 through 29 can be written and pronounced two different ways. See section Cien has two forms: cien and ciento. See section The numbers of the hundreds (200, 300,... ) must agree in gender with the nouns they refer to. See section 2.3. Table 3: Los números. 8

9 A few more things here are of note. The numbers 16 through 19 and 21 through 29 may be created one of two ways: as one word, as shown on table 3: dieciocho, veintiocho; or like all other numbers up to one hundred and greater than 30, through the form [multiple of ten] y [number 1-9]: diez y ocho, veinte y ocho. As noted in the table, cien has two forms: cien and ciento. Cien is used when counting to represent 100 (noventa y nueve, cien, ciento uno,... ), to represent numbers two hundred or greater (cien millones) and before nouns (cien personas, cien edificios). Ciento is used with a number from 1 to 99 to express numbers from 101 to 199 (ciento tres, ciento ochenta y ocho. The multiples of 100 from 200 to 900 must agree in gender with the noun they modify. Thus, quinientos cuarenta y tres hombres, but novecientas catorce estrellas. Spanish-speakers use a period in numbers where English-speakers would use a comma, and a comma where English-speakers would use a period. Thus, ,00, rather than 12,000, Also note that when used with a noun, millón or millones must have de (of) between the number and the noun. Thus, cuatro millones de flores. While one would expect to use one of the Spanish forms of to be in describing quantities of things, instead, one uses a form of haber (one flavor of to have), specifically hay (present tense of there is or there are) to describe quatities of objects. No hay catorce mesas en mi cocina, hay dos! Hay catorce parientes en esta fiesta Simple arithmetic The basic mathematical operations of addition and subtraction and done using the words y (and) for addition, menos (less, fewer) for minus, and son (are, third person plural of ser, a form of to be) for equals = 4 Dos y dos son cuatro. 8 5 = 3 Ocho menos cinco son tres. 2.4 Punctuation Spanish has three punctuation marks not used in English: the inverted exclamation mark ( ), the inverted question mark ( ), and guillemets ( and ). Inverted exclamation marks and question marks are used to begin exclamatory and interrogative statements, respectively. Guillemets (las comillas españolas) are used in Spanish in the same way quotation marks are used in English to represent speech. Note that these marks are not restricted to the beginnings or ends of sentences! 9

10 Gracias a dios! Qué es? Cómo está? Bien, gracias, y usted? 2.5 Articles and gender Spanish, like many other Latinate languages, has two genders: masculine and feminine. (A neuter gender occasionally arises when you re referring to an unidentified object: esto, aquello.) Each noun is either masculine or feminine, and words around them (particularly adjectives) must be modified to be of the same gender. A number of rules govern whether a word is maculine or feminine; we will approach this in a moment. There are eight articles in Spanish: four definite (corresponding to the English the), and four indefinite (corresponding the the English a and an). In these two divisions, there are two different types: masculine and feminine; and within that division, there are two further types: singular and plural. Thus, we have: Masculine Feminine Singular Plural Singular Plural Definite el los la las Indefinite un unos una unas Note that when el is preceded immediately by de or a, the two words must be contracted into del and al, respectively. Articles must correspond exactly to the gender and number of the noun they are attached to. Although you may use either a definite or an indefinite article on any given noun, they should not be confused. While the following gender conventions are generalized, and are not true in all cases, they will work in the majority. They are as follows: Words are generally feminine when: 1. The word refers to a female being. Example: la mujer. 2. The word ends in -a, -ción, -dad, or tad. Examples: la cocina, la condición, la diversidad, la libertad. Words are generally masculine when: 1. The word refers to a male being. Example: el hombre. 2. The word ends in -o. Example: el escritorio. Nouns referring to people must, if possible, reflect the gender of the person being referred to. Most nouns are male until changed: nouns like this will often drop an ending -o and add an -a. If the word doesn t end in -o, an -a will simply 10

11 be added. Other nouns use the same form for both men and women; in this case one simply changes the pronoun to reflect gender. El consejero La consejera El profesor La profesora El estudiante La estudiante Of course, some word s genders don t fit this mold and their gender simply must be memorized. 2.6 Pluralization Spanish words are pluralized primarily and with few exceptions by adding -s or -es. Words that end in -z drop the z and add -ces. Note that the article and adjectives attached to the noun must reflect the pluralization, and the verb must also be conjugated in the plural rather than the singular. La mesa es roja, but Las mesas son rojas. El lápiz está en el escritorio, but Los lápices están en el escritorio. Note that the masculine plural is used to refer to groups containing both men and women. 2.7 Negation Verbs are negated in Spanish by placing no in front of the verb in question. Tengo cinco primos. No tengo cinco primos. I have five cousins. I do not have five cousins. 3 Common words and phrases 3.1 Greetings The common addresses of people in Spanish are señor (mister, abbreviated Sr.), señora (ma am, abbreviated Sra.), señorita (miss, abbreviated Srta.), and señorito (master, no common abbreviation). Of these, only señorito is not in common use. Note that there is not a general equvalent of the English Ms. in Spanish. The Spanish equivalents of hello and goodbye are hola and adiós, respectively. It s very common to issue greetings by the time of day: Buenos días (good day, used in the morning); buenas tardes (good afternoon); or buenas noches (good evening); or by asking how someone is: Cómo está? Bien, 11

12 y usted? (formal: How are you? Well, and you?), or the tú form Cómo estás? Bien, y tú? (informal, same translation). Common answers to these questions would be bien, muy bien, así así, or mal (good, very good, so-so, and poorly, repectively. When leaving, frequently used terms are hasta luego (until tomorrow) and hasta mañana (until tomorrow). Other common pleasantries are gracias (thank you), de nada or no hay de qué (both translating as you re welcome), and por favor (please). When meeting someone, to ask their name formally, use Cómo se llama usted?. If they are younger then you or you have a less formal relationship with them, you may use the tú form of Cómo te llamas?. After meeting them, say mucho gusto or encantado (encantada if you re female), meaning my pleasure or charmed, respectively. You may reply with igualmente (likewise) or one of the previously mentioned phrases. To ask, Where are you from?, ask, De dónde es usted? or in the informal tú form, De dónde eres?. To reply, say, Soy de, meaning I am of. There are two phrases to express excuse me in Spanish: perdón and con permiso. Perdón is used to ask for forgiveness or to get someone s attention, while con permiso is used to get permission to pass someone. To make an apology, say lo siento! (sorry!). 3.2 Telling time Time is expressed with ser, which is one of the two Spanish words meaning to be (the other being estar). Time is told using the formula [form of ser] la(s) [hour] y/menos [minutes]. Ser is conjugated as es (is, third person singular of to be) for the hour of one, and as son (are, third person plural of to be) for all other hours. Note that we use la and una even though numbers are generally masculine since we are modifying hora, which is feminine. In Spanish, minutes before the half hour are expressed with addition, and minutes after the half hour are expressed with subtraction from the next hour. Additional pieces of vocabulary are cuarto (quarter) and media (half or middle). A.M. and P.M. are expressed with de la mañana, de la tarde, and de la noche (in the morning, afternoon, and night, respectively). To ask the time, use Qué hora es? ( What hour is it? ). Es la una y cuarto de la tarde. Son las siete y media de la noche. Son las cuatro menos catorce de la mañana! It s a quarter past one in the afternoon. It s half past seven in the evening. It s fourteen to four in the morning! To ask, At what time is...?, say, A qué hora es...?. To reply, say, A la(s)... ( At... ). Lastly, to say exactly, use en punto. To express that something is happening during a given time, use por: por la mañana 12

13 (during the morning). A qué hora es la película? A las siete y media, en punto The days of the week, months, and seasons The Spanish days of the week are as follows. Note the lack of capitalization in the Spanish. To say each [day of the week], use the plural masculine definite article los. To speak of a specific day, use the definite masculine singular article él. Apart from sábado and domingo, which pluralize as expected, don t pluralize the days of the week. Monday lunes Friday viernes Tuesday martes Saturday sábado Wednesday miércoles Sunday domingo Thursday jueves Mañana, apart from meaning morning, also means tomorrow. Ayer means yesterday, and hoy means today. The date is expressed as follows: Hoy es el ocho de mayo de dos mil siete. However, if the day of the week is included, eliminate the el. Thus, Hoy es miércoles, ocho de mayo de dos mil siete. The first of the month is never expressed with un; instead, use el primero. The months (los meses) and seasons (las estaciones) are as follows. Again, note the lack of capitalization. January enero July julio February febrero August agosto March marzo September septiembre April abril October octubre May mayo November noviembre June junio December deciembre Spring primavera Fall otoño Summer verano Winter invierno Table 4: The months and seasons Weather Weather (el tiempo), is mostly expressed with hacer (instead of estar). more on hacer, see For 13

14 3.3 Questions and interrogatives To ask a question in Spanish, the easiest way to do so is to simply raise the pitch of your voice at the end of a sentence. Alternatively, you can switch the order of the verb and the subject, or end a statement with no? or verdad?. There is no word equivalent of the English do you...?. Usted lleva pantalones verde. Lleva usted pantalones verde? You wear green pants. Do you wear green pants? When this isn t sufficient, the following are some common interrogative words. Note the difference between Qué? and Cuál?, and note that Cuántos? must match the gender of what it is asking about. If you wish to use one of these words in a non-interrogative context (as in, when I m bored...), remove the accent. Quién? Who? Qué? What?, for definitions and explanations Cuál? What?, for everything else Cuándo? When? Dónde? Where? Por qué? Why? Cómo? How? Cuánto? How much? Cuántos(-as)? How many? A qué hora? At what time? 4 Adjectives 4.1 General rules Adjectives are placed based according to the following rules: 1. Adjectives describing the quantity of an object always precede the noun. Veintiunos estantes. 2. Adjectives describing the characteristics of a noun follow the noun, with the exceptions of buen, mal, and gran. 3. Bueno and malo can either precede or follow the noun they modify. When preceding, they take the forms buen and mal. Grande may also precede or follow a noun; however, when it does so it both changes in form and in meaning. When preceding, it takes the form gran and refers to awe. When following, it remains grande and refers to size. 4.2 Adjectives and gender Adjectives must agree with the noun they refer to in both quantity and gender. The following rules, as always, while generally true, are generalizations and do 14

15 not apply to every adjective. Thus, be sure to check a dictionary to be sure. The endings of adjectives ending in -o must match the following table, depending on the gender and quantity of the noun: Singular Plural Masculine -o -os Feminine -a -as The endings of adjectives ending in -án, -dor, -ín, or -ón, like those ending in -o, have four forms and must match the following table, depending on the gender and quantity of the noun the modify. Singular Plural Masculine no change +es Feminine +a +as Adjectives which end in -e have only two endings: one for singular, one for plural, regardless of gender. They are -e (singular) and -es (plural). 4.3 Possessive adjectives The Spanish equivalents of English s your, my, etc. are as shown in the following table. Note that the masculine and feminine endings of nuestro and vuestro refer not to the speaker but to the object and must agree in gender. Also note that, like vosotros, vuestro and its forms are not generally used in North and South America. There, the second person plural form is used instead. Masculine Feminine Singular Plural Singular Plural First person (masc.) mi mis nuestro nuestros First person (fem.) nuestra nuestras Second person (inf., masc.) tu tus vuestro vuestros Second person (inf., fem.) vuestra vuestras Second person (form.) su sus su sus Third person su sus su sus Table 5: Possessive adjectives. Note that when referring to parts of one s self or one s clothing, one uses the definite article, not a possessive adjective as in English. Thus, me cepillo los dientes, not me cepillo mis dientes. 4.4 Demonstrative adjectives There are three main demostrative adjectives in Spanish: este (this), ese (that), and aquel (that, far away). Each of these has a singular, plural, masculine, feminine, and neuter (singular only) counterpart, for a total of fifteen 15

16 varieties. Use the neuter form for unidentified objects or a general concept or happening. This That That, far away Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Masculine este estos ese esos aquel aquellos Feminine esta estas esa esas aquella aquellas Neuter esto eso aquello Table 6: Demonstrative adjectives. These adjectives may be used as demonstrative pronouns (equivalents to this one and that one) by adding an accent onto the first letter: éste (this one), ése (that one), áquel (that one, far away). Aquí and allí (here and there) are words that often come in handy with these adjectives. 4.5 Comparisons Comparisons are made with the words tan (as) or tanto (as much) and como (as), for equal comparisons, and más (more) or menos (less) and que (as) for unequal comparisons. The order of and which words you use depends on whether you re comparing nouns, adjectives or adverbs, or verbs. Note that for nouns, tanto must agree with the noun being compared in number and gender. Adjectives or adverbs Nouns Verbs Equal [Noun] tan [adjective] como [noun]. [Person] [verb] tanto/s/a/s [noun] como [person]. [Verb] tanto como [person]. Unequal Adjectives or adverbs [Noun] más/menos [adjective] que [noun]. Nouns [Person 1] [verb] más/menos [noun] que [person 2]. Verbs [Verb] má/menos que [person]. Note that better, worse, older, and younger all have their own special forms: instead of bueno, use mejor; instead of malo use peor, instead of viejo use mayor, and instead of joven use menor. 5 Adverbs Unlike adjectives, adverbs do not change to reflect quantity or gender. 16

17 6 Verbs 6.1 General rules When a verb is immediately followed by another verb, the first one is conjugated while the second stays in the infinitive. Verbs in English sometimes behave this way: see the first example. Me gusta escalar. Puede trabajar. I like to climb. I can work. 6.2 Subject pronouns The subject pronouns in Spanish are listed in table 7. yo I nosotros/-as we tú you (informal) vosotros/-as all of you (informal) usted (Ud.) you (formal) ustedes (Uds.) all of you (formal) él he ellos they, male or mixed group ella she ellas they, female group Table 7: Subject pronouns. Note that the masculine plurals are used when there are both men and women in a group. El, ella, and usted all take the same form of a verb when conjugated, as do ellos, ellas, and ustedes, and as such these six fields will often be condensed into two, singular and plural, in verb charts. Note that when capitalized, él loses its accent: El. There is no word for it in Spanish; instead, when describing an it, use the appropriate definite article (el or la) based on the gender of the object and conjugate as if for él or ella. Latin American and North American Spanish eliminates vosotros, instead simply using ustedes. Note that nosotros and vosotros must agree in gender to the members of the group they are describing. For the second-person, you may use tú for people younger than you, who are friends, and for family. Use usted for everybody else. Remember that you re better off using usted if you re not sure or if you just want to be sure that you re being courteous, as the rules change depending on the customs of who you re talking to and where they re from. A verb conjugates by taking the stem and adding the personal ending (la terminación personal). Since all personal endings in Spanish correspond to exactly one grammatical person and one quantity, with the exception of the third (él, ella, and usted; ellos, ellas, and ustedes), subject pronouns in the first- and second-person may be eliminated. Only use them if you wish to emphasize who is doing something, usually in constrast to who is not, or to compare two groups. Estás escuchando. Tú estás escuchando! You are listening. You are listening! 17

18 6.3 -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs There are three basic categories of Spanish verbs: -AR, -ER, and -IR. These categories refer to the endings of the verbs, and each category has a standard manner of conjugation (there are, of course, irregular verbs). Verbs conjugate (at least in the present tenses) by losing the -AR, -ER, or -IR (thus leaving the stem), and adding an appropriate ending given the gender (masculine or feminine), grammatical person (first-, second-, or third-person), and number of things (singular or plural) performing the action. This ending is called the personal ending (la terminación personal). The various conjugations taught in Spanish 1 will be given in section AR verb Stem -ER verb Stem -IR verb Stem hablar habl- aprender aprend- escribir ecribcantar cant- leer le- conducir conduc- With reflexive verbs (section 6.7) you may see whether the verb is -AR, -ER, or -IR by looking before the addition of the reflexive pronoun. Thus, cepillarse would be an -AR verb. 6.4 Tenses The manner in which a verb conjugates depends on which of three categories the verb falls into: -AR, -ER, or -IR. These three categories have predictable conjugation patterns, as shown in this section. However, as these are merely patterns and not requirements of the language, there are many irregular verbs (in fact, some of the most common, such as ser, estar, tener, and ir are all irregular). The patterns and more detail on these verbs are provided in section 6.5. Conjugation tables are presented as in the following table. Text in italic will be replaced by Spanish in actual tables; text in typewriter will be replaced by English; all text in small caps is merely there as a reference and will not actually exist in real conjugation tables. Where the table has [subject pronoun], [subject pronoun] will be replaced by the verb listed at the top, conjugated for that particular field, and with the personal ending underlined. If the table is not for a particular verb, but is a general template, Spanish verb will be replaced by what the table is a template for (or, it will become the caption), and [subject pronoun] will be replaced by the personal ending to be added onto the stem. Spanish verb: English translation First person yo nosotros Second person (inf.) tú vosotros Second person (form.) usted ustedes Third person (masc.) él ellos Third person (fem.) ella ellas Singular Plural 18

19 Since the third person pronouns (singular: él, ella, and usted; plural: ellos, ellas, and ustedes) all have the same personal ending, rather than writing the same material down over and over again they will be compressed into two fields: one for singular, and one for plural Simple present The simple present tense is the tense that describes things that are happening right now (but are not in progress; for that, you need the progressive tense described in section 6.4.2). An English sentence in this tense would be I hear. Regular -AR verbs conjugate into the simple present as follows: -AR -ER -IR -o -amos -o -emos -o -imos -as -áis -es -éis -es -ís -a -an -e -en -e -en Table 8: Present tense of regular -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs Note that -ER and -IR verbs conjugate identically, save for their nosotros and vosotros forms Present progressive The present progressive tense is a form of the present tense used to describe actions in progress. An English sentence in this tense would be I am hearing. Note that in Spanish, this tense is used solely to describe events that are currently in action. To describe something that is going to happen or something that someone or something is doing over an extended period of time but is not necessarily happening at this exact moment (cases which would take the present progressive in English), use the simple present. To form the present progressive, you use the following formula: [form of estar] [gerund]. Estar should be conjugated appropriately (see section 6.5.8). To form the gerund, add -ando to the stem of an -AR verb and -iendo to the stem of either a -ER or an -IR verb. Estoy escuchando. I am listening. Está haciendo... I am doing... Estamos escribiendo. We are writing. If, after adding -ando or -iendo to the verb stem, there is an i sandwiched between two other vowels, turn it into a y. For example, the stem of leer is le-, and you would add -iendo. This would give the present participle of leiendo (which would be incorrect). Instead, turn the i into a y to get the correct leyendo. 19

20 Stem-changing verbs, if ending in -AR or -ER, generally do not undergo a stem change when conjugated into the present progressive. However, the stem vowel in stem-changing -IR verbs generally do, although this change is sometimes a different one than the normal change is. Generally, stems making an e ie change instead go from e i, and stems making an o ue instead go from o u. Stems changing from e i make the same shift. Dormir, when conjugated, makes a o ue shift. Duermo. I sleep. Thus, in the present progressive, it makes an o u shift. Me estoy durmiendo. I am sleeping. Reflexive verbs still must use a reflexive pronoun! The pronoun may go either before estar, or you may attach it to the end of the reflexive verb. Note that if you attach it to the end, either the a in -ando or the e in -iendo must become accented. Me estoy afeitando. Estoy afeitándome. Nos estamos durmiendo. Estamos durmiéndonos. or or Near future The near future tense is used to describe events that are soon to occur or that are intended to occur. An English example would be I am going to clean tomorrow. As in English, Spanish uses ir, a verb meaning to go. Ir conjugates as described in section To form the near future, use the formula [form of ir] a [infinitive of verb]. That s all there is to it! Pues, voy a trabajar esta noche. Vamos a ir a la película. 6.5 Irregular verbs Empezar Empezar means to begin. When followed by another verb, you must insert a between them. See table 9. 20

21 Empezar: to begin. empiezo empezamos empiezas empezáis empieza empiezan Table 9: Present tense of empezar Hacer Hacer means to do or to make. It is often used to express conditions in the weather ( Hace muy buen tiempo! Hace calor, y hace mucho sol. ). The following three idioms are also common: hacer ejercicio, hacer un viaje, and hacer una pregunta (to exercise, to take a trip, and to ask a question, respectively). Use the plural of ejercicio if you mean that you re doing exercises, as in practices in school. See table 10. Hacer: to do or to make. hago hacemos haces hacéis hace hacen Table 10: Present tense of hacer Ir Ir means to go. Apart from that, it is used to create the near future tense described in section Ir conjugates as shown on table 11. Ir: to go. voy vamos vas vais va van Table 11: Present tense of ir Jugar Jugar means to play a sport. When followed by a sport, you must insert a between jugar and the sport. See table Oír Oír means to hear. It may also be used to get someone s attention, in the way that English speakers use hey!. See table

22 Jugar: to play [a sport]. juego jugamos juegas jugáis juega juegan Table 12: Present tense of jugar. Oír: to hear. oigo oímos oyes oís oye oyen Table 13: Present tense of oír Pensar Pensar means to think. When followed by another verb, it means to intend. When followed by en, it means to think about. See table 14. Pensar: to think. pienso pensamos piensas pensáis piensa pienen Table 14: Present tense of pensar Salir Salir means to leave. Used with con, it can mean to date. Used with bien or mal, it means to turn out well or to turn out poorly. To speak of leaving somewhere, use de after the verb. See table 15. Salir: to leave. salgo salimos sales salís sale salen Table 15: Present tense of salir Ser and estar Spanish has two words meaning to be: ser and estar. Generally speaking, ser describes permanent characteristics (where one is from, intrinsic qualities, etc.), 22

23 while estar is used to describe temporary characteristics (location, etc.). The differences between these verbs are not trivial! Asking Cómo está? (How are you?) is not the same as asking Cómo es? (What are you like?). Note how the form of estar asks about a temporary quality (mood), while the form of ser asks about a permanent one (personality). Both conjugate irregularly. See table 16. Ser: to be Estar: to be soy somos estoy estamos eres sois estás estáis es son está están Table 16: Present tense of ser and estar. The following lists summarize the usages of ser and estar. Use ser: 1. To describe permanent characteristics of a person or thing, identify a person or thing, or to describe inherent qualities of a person or thing (such as profession, type, nationality, personality, or other inherent characteristic). 2. With de, to describe possession or the material of which something is made. 3. With para, to express for whom or what something is intended. 4. To form generalizations. 5. To tell time, as described in section 3.2. Use estar: 1. To describe temporary characteristics of a person or thing, describe location, health, or other temporary qualities or conditions. 2. With the present participle to form the progressive tense, as described in section In a number of fixed expressions, such as estoy de acuerdo (I agree) Tener Tener means to have. Tener is often used idiomatically to describe characteristics of a person that one might assume would be done with ser or estar, such as age (Tengo dieciocho años). Tener conjugates as shown on table 17. Common idomatic expressions with tener include: 23

24 Tener: to have tengo tenemos tienes tenéis tiene tienen Table 17: Present tense of tener. [Tener] años. [To be] years old. [Tener] calor/frío. [To be] hot/cold. [Tener] ganas de [infinitivo]. [To feel like] doing [something]. [Tener] miedo de [infinitivo o cosa]. [To be] afraid of [activity or something]. [Tener] prisa. [To be] in a hurry. [Tener] que [infinitivo]. [To have] to do [something]. [Tener] razón. [To be] correct. [Tener] sueño. [To be] sleepy Volver Volver means to return. When followed by another verb to mean to do again, you must insert a between them. See table 18. Volver: to return. vuelvo volvemos vuelves volvéis vuelve vuelven Table 18: Present tense of volver. 6.6 Stem-changing verbs Stem-changing verbs are verbs whose stem vowel changes from whatever it is, usually e or o, to something else, usually i, ie, or ue (in the present tense) when conjugated. The main types of stem changes are e i, e ie, and o ue (jugar, which changes from u ue, is an exception). Stems change for all grammatical persons save nosotros and vosotros. Examples of this type of verb are tener, dormir, and acostarse. Stemchanging verbs that are not -IR verbs do not generally show a change when conjugated into the present progressive. -IR verbs generally do show a change, but don t change in the same way as they do into the simple present. See section for more detail. 24

25 6.7 Reflexive verbs Reflexive verbs that refer back to the doer of the action. While there is no direct English counterpart, we would translate reflexives as he dresses himself, they sit themselves down, etc. Like the English pronouns myself, themselves, etc., Spanish also has reflexive pronouns. Reflexive verbs must take a reflexive pronoun, and in the infinitive end in the reflexive pronoun -se. They are listed on table 19. me myself nos ourselves te yourself (inf.) os yourselves (inf.) se yourself (form.) se yourselves (form.) se him/her/itself se themselves Table 19: Reflexive pronouns. The reflexive pronoun precedes the verb (se cepilla). If the reflexive verb is preceded by another verb, it may precede that verb (Se quiere cepillar) or attach itself to the end, after the personal ending (Quiere cepillarse). 7 Prepositions A preposition is a variety of adposition (a class for words that define how and in what way something is occuring) that is placed before the something that it is modifying. English examples would be with, for, and at. In Spanish, verbs which follow prepositions remain unconjugated (and thus in the infinitive form). Pronouns that are objects of prepositions are the same as the subject pronouns, save yo and tú. Instead, use mí and ti. When either of these two pronouns is preceded by con, they must combine to form conmigo and contigo, respectively. 7.1 Por and para Por and para are two Spanish words which find their (rough) English equivalent in for. Generally, para is used when something is for a specific purpose. Por is used for everything else. Use por to mean because of, by means of, during, for a duration of, in exchange for, on behalf of, or through or along, and in some fixed expressions, such as por favor or por eso. Use para to mean by [some time], for [some destination], for [some person or purpose], for [somebody being compared to somebody else], in order to [verb], in the employ of, or to be used for. 25

26 8 Bibliography 1. HarperCollins (2006). Spanish Unabriged Dictionary [8th ed.]. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN Larousse (2005). Spanish-English Pocket Dictionary [unknown ed.]. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN

27 Colophon This document was typeset with L A TEX 2ε, using TEXnicCenter for a text editor and pdftex to make the final document. In addition, I used the babel package to typeset some of the Spanish characters (namely, the guillemets), and the ctable package to typeset the tables containing footnotes. The font is the standard Computer Modern L A TEX font. My gratitude and praises go out to those who have helped make these fine pieces of software as excellent as they are and free to boot. 27