Chapter 7: Expressing a State of Being with Ser and Estar. ..... Answer Key . .....
An unusual stem-changing -ar verb: Jugar in the present tense ....................... 89.
Contents at a Glance Introduction ............................................................................ 1 Part I: Starting with the Basics ................................................ 7
TE
RI
AL
Chapter 1: Spanish Grammar in a Nutshell ....................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Sounding Out Spanish Words ........................................................................................ 19 Chapter 3: Naming Things with Nouns and Articles ...................................................................... 29 Chapter 4: Describing Stuff with Adjectives .................................................................................... 47 Chapter 5: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time....................................................................... 67
Part II: Constructing Simple Sentences and Asking Questions.... 81
TE
D
MA
Chapter 6: Writing in the Present Tense .......................................................................................... 83 Chapter 7: Expressing a State of Being with Ser and Estar.......................................................... 107 Chapter 8: Talking about Action in Progress with the Present Progressive ............................. 121 Chapter 9: Replacing Nouns with Pronouns.................................................................................. 133 Chapter 10: Expressing Likes and Dislikes .................................................................................... 149 Chapter 11: Handling Questions and Exclamations ..................................................................... 163
Part III: Beefing Up Your Sentences with More Description ..... 179
PY
RI
GH
Chapter 12: Describing Action with Adverbs ................................................................................ 181 Chapter 13: Modifying Meaning with Prepositions ...................................................................... 195 Chapter 14: Acting on Oneself with the Reflexive......................................................................... 213 Chapter 15: Using the Passive Voice .............................................................................................. 227 Chapter 16: It’s All Relative: Making Comparisons ....................................................................... 237 Chapter 17: Just Say “No”: Negative Words and Expressions ..................................................... 249
CO
Part IV: Talking about the Past or Future............................... 261 Chapter 18: Looking Back with the Preterit .................................................................................. 263 Chapter 19: Describing Ongoing Past Action with the Imperfect ............................................... 281 Chapter 20: Projecting Forward with the Future Tense............................................................... 295 Chapter 21: Forming Compound Tenses with the Helping Verb Haber..................................... 305
Part V: Expressing Conditions and Giving Commands .............. 319 Chapter 22: Wondering “What If” with the Conditional Mood .................................................... 321 Chapter 23: Taking Command with the Imperative Mood........................................................... 329
Part VI: The Part of Tens ...................................................... 345 Chapter 24: Ten Common Spanish Grammar Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) ................ 347 Chapter 25: Ten Useful Spanish Idioms ......................................................................................... 353
Index .................................................................................. 357
Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................. 1 About This Book ................................................................................................................. 1 Conventions Used in This Book ........................................................................................ 1 What You’re Not to Read ................................................................................................... 2 Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................................... 2 How This Book Is Organized ............................................................................................. 3 Part I: Starting with the Basics ................................................................................ 3 Part II: Constructing Simple Sentences and Asking Questions ........................... 3 Part III: Beefing Up Your Sentences with More Description ................................ 3 Part IV: Talking about the Past or Future .............................................................. 4 Part V: Expressing Conditions and Giving Commands ........................................ 4 Part VI: The Part of Tens .......................................................................................... 4 Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................................... 4 Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................................... 5
Part I: Starting with the Basics ................................................. 7 Chapter 1: Spanish Grammar in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Recognizing the Parts of Speech ...................................................................................... 9 Nouns and pronouns ................................................................................................ 9 Articles ..................................................................................................................... 10 Verbs ........................................................................................................................ 11 Adjectives and adverbs .......................................................................................... 11 Prepositions............................................................................................................. 11 Conjunctions ........................................................................................................... 12 Conjugating Verbs in the Present Tense ....................................................................... 12 Identifying infinitives .............................................................................................. 12 Establishing subject-verb agreement ................................................................... 12 Composing a Simple Sentence ........................................................................................ 14 Asking Questions .............................................................................................................. 14 Moving On to Other Verb Tenses ................................................................................... 15 Preterit and imperfect ............................................................................................ 15 Future ....................................................................................................................... 16 Compound ............................................................................................................... 16 Wondering “What If” with the Conditional Mood ......................................................... 17 Forming Simple Commands ............................................................................................ 18
Chapter 2: Sounding Out Spanish Words. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Vocalizing Vowels ............................................................................................................. 19 Conversing with Consonants .......................................................................................... 20 Doubling Up on Diphthongs ............................................................................................ 21
x
Spanish Grammar For Dummies Stressing the Right Syllables and Adding Accents ....................................................... 23 Beginning with basic rules ..................................................................................... 23 Adding an accent mark to change a word’s meaning......................................... 24 Indicating interrogative words with accent marks............................................. 24 Accenting reflexive verbs in the present progressive ....................................... 25 Adjusting Your Intonation ............................................................................................... 26 Answer Key........................................................................................................................ 27
Chapter 3: Naming Things with Nouns and Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Determining Whether a Noun Is Masculine or Feminine ............................................. 29 Identifying masculine nouns.................................................................................. 29 Identifying feminine nouns .................................................................................... 31 Making a masculine noun feminine ...................................................................... 33 Recognizing some exceptions ............................................................................... 34 Pluralizing Nouns.............................................................................................................. 35 The basic rules ........................................................................................................ 35 A few exceptions to the basic rules ...................................................................... 36 Grasping Gender with Articles ........................................................................................ 37 Getting specific with definite articles ................................................................... 38 Generalizing with indefinite articles ..................................................................... 40 Using articles to switch gender and meaning ..................................................... 42 Answer Key........................................................................................................................ 45
Chapter 4: Describing Stuff with Adjectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Making Adjectives Agree with the Nouns They Modify ............................................... 47 Brushing up on some basic rules.......................................................................... 47 Modifying two or more nouns with one adjective .............................................. 52 Using two or more adjectives with one noun...................................................... 53 Using a past participle as an adjective................................................................. 54 Putting Adjectives in Their Proper Place ...................................................................... 56 Placing an adjective after a noun .......................................................................... 56 Placing an adjective before a noun....................................................................... 56 Shortening and changing the meaning of some adjectives based on their position.................................................................... 58 Dealing with Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives ............................................. 60 Belonging with possessive adjectives .................................................................. 60 Noting location with demonstrative adjectives .................................................. 62 Identifying Nationality with Adjectives.......................................................................... 63 Using Adjectives as Nouns .............................................................................................. 64 Answer Key........................................................................................................................ 66
Chapter 5: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Counting from Zero to a Billion: Cardinal Numbers..................................................... 67 Putting Things in Order with Ordinal Numbers ........................................................... 70 Talking about Days, Months, Seasons, and Dates ........................................................ 71 Days of the week ..................................................................................................... 72 Months and seasons of the year ........................................................................... 72 Specific dates........................................................................................................... 73 Telling Time....................................................................................................................... 75 Answer Key........................................................................................................................ 79
Table of Contents
Part II: Constructing Simple Sentences and Asking Questions .... 81 Chapter 6: Writing in the Present Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Grasping Spanish Verb Fundamentals ........................................................................... 83 Introducing infinitives ............................................................................................ 83 Conjugating verbs to agree with subjects ........................................................... 84 Conjugating Regular Verbs .............................................................................................. 85 Conjugating Regular Stem-Changing Verbs ................................................................... 86 Regular -ar and -er verbs whose stems change from e to ie ............................. 87 Regular -ar and -er verbs whose stems change from o to ue ............................ 88 An unusual stem-changing -ar verb: Jugar in the present tense ....................... 89 Regular -ir verbs whose stems change from e to i.............................................. 89 Regular -ir verbs whose stems change from e to ie............................................ 90 Regular -ir verbs whose stems change from o to ue .......................................... 90 Dealing with Regular Spelling-Changing Verbs ............................................................. 91 Verbs that end in a consonant plus -cer or -cir .................................................. 92 Verbs that end in a vowel plus -cer or -cir........................................................... 92 Verbs that end in -ger or -gir ................................................................................. 93 Verbs that end in -guir............................................................................................ 94 Verbs that end in -iar or -uar ................................................................................. 94 Verbs that end in -uir.............................................................................................. 95 Examining Irregular Verbs ............................................................................................... 96 Verbs that are irregular only in the yo form ....................................................... 96 Verbs that are irregular in most or all of their present tense conjugations ... 97 Building Basic Sentences ................................................................................................. 99 Constructing Compound Sentences with Conjunctions ............................................ 100 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 103
Chapter 7: Expressing a State of Being with Ser and Estar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 Comparing Ser and Estar ............................................................................................... 107 Knowing When to Use Ser ............................................................................................. 108 Identifying a person, place, or thing................................................................... 109 Noting profession, origin, and essential qualities ............................................ 109 Describing physical appearance and personality ............................................ 110 Expressing the time, date, or days of the week ................................................ 111 Showing possession ............................................................................................. 111 Knowing When to Use Estar .......................................................................................... 112 Putting feelings into words .................................................................................. 112 Describing temporary conditions or traits........................................................ 113 Establishing the location of a person, place, or thing...................................... 115 Using estar with present participles .................................................................. 115 Using estar with past participles ........................................................................ 115 Discovering How an Adjective’s Meaning Can Change with Ser and Estar ............. 116 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 118
Chapter 8: Talking about Action in Progress with the Present Progressive. . .121 Breaking Down the Structure of the Present Progressive ......................................... 121 Forming Regular Present Participles ........................................................................... 122 Forming the present participle of regular -ar verbs ......................................... 122 Forming the present participle of regular -er and -ir verbs ............................. 123
xi
xii
Spanish Grammar For Dummies Revealing Stem-Changing and Irregular Present Participles..................................... 124 Forming the present participle of verbs with stems that end in a vowel ...... 124 Forming the present participle of stem-changing verbs .................................. 125 Looking at irregular present participles ............................................................ 127 Using the Present Progressive to Describe an Action in Progress .......................... 127 Forming the present progressive with estar ..................................................... 127 Forming the present progressive with verbs other than estar ....................... 129 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 132
Chapter 9: Replacing Nouns with Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133 Summoning Subject Pronouns ...................................................................................... 133 Introducing the subject pronouns ...................................................................... 133 Placing subject pronouns in statements and questions .................................. 135 Deciding when to use a subject pronoun .......................................................... 136 Replacing Direct Objects with Pronouns .................................................................... 138 Introducing the direct object pronouns ............................................................ 138 Placing direct object pronouns ........................................................................... 140 Replacing Indirect Objects with Pronouns ................................................................. 141 Introducing the indirect object pronouns ......................................................... 142 Placing indirect object pronouns ....................................................................... 142 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 146
Chapter 10: Expressing Likes and Dislikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149 Using Indirect Object Pronouns with the Verb Gustar .............................................. 149 Noting the indirect object pronouns .................................................................. 150 Placing indirect object pronouns with the verb gustar ................................... 150 Applying a Few Rules for Expressing Likes with the Verb Gustar ........................... 151 Clarifying and Emphasizing Pronouns with Prepositional Phrases ......................... 153 Clarifying ambiguous pronouns .......................................................................... 153 Emphasizing certain pronouns ........................................................................... 154 Talking about What You Don’t Like ............................................................................. 155 Asking What Someone Else Likes ................................................................................. 157 Introducing Other Verbs That Work Like Gustar ....................................................... 157 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 160
Chapter 11: Handling Questions and Exclamations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163 Composing Yes or No Questions .................................................................................. 163 Sticking with a statement and adding question marks .................................... 164 Adding a tag question to a statement ................................................................ 164 Trying variations of the inversion method ........................................................ 164 Replying to Yes or No Questions .................................................................................. 166 Seeking More Specific Information with Interrogatives............................................. 167 Introducing Spanish interrogatives .................................................................... 167 Forming questions with interrogatives .............................................................. 168 Using ¿Cómo? in different ways .......................................................................... 170 Determining when to use ¿Cuál? or ¿Qué?......................................................... 170 Using prepositions with interrogatives.............................................................. 171 Answering an Interrogative Question .......................................................................... 172 Getting Excited with ¡Exclamations! ............................................................................. 173 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 176
Table of Contents
Part III: Beefing Up Your Sentences with More Description...... 179 Chapter 12: Describing Action with Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181 Telling When, Where, How, How Many, How Much, and How Long ........................ 181 Getting to Know the Forms That Adverbs Take ......................................................... 184 Forming adverbs that end in -mente (-ly) .......................................................... 184 Meeting some adverbial expressions ................................................................. 185 Using adjectives as adverbs ................................................................................ 188 Placing Adverbs in a Sentence ...................................................................................... 189 Adverbs that modify verbs .................................................................................. 189 Adverbs that modify other adverbs ................................................................... 190 Adverbs that modify adjectives .......................................................................... 190 Adverbs that modify the entire sentence .......................................................... 190 Making Comparisons with Adverbs ............................................................................. 191 Making comparisons of inequality...................................................................... 191 Making comparisons of equality ......................................................................... 191 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 192
Chapter 13: Modifying Meaning with Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195 Parading Simple Prepositions ....................................................................................... 195 Contrasting the personal a and the prepositional a......................................... 197 Comparing por and para ...................................................................................... 198 Designating possession with de .......................................................................... 202 Expressing location with en ................................................................................ 203 Considering con .................................................................................................... 205 Presenting Compound Prepositions ............................................................................ 205 Recognizing and Using Some Verbs That Require Prepositions .............................. 206 The basics of verbs that require prepositions.................................................. 206 Lists of verbs that require prepositions ............................................................ 207 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 211
Chapter 14: Acting on Oneself with the Reflexive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213 Getting to Know Reflexive Verbs and Pronouns......................................................... 213 Checking out some common reflexive verbs .................................................... 213 Introducing the reflexive pronouns .................................................................... 215 Forming Regular Reflexive Verbs ................................................................................. 216 Conjugating Stem-Changing and Irregular Reflexive Verbs....................................... 218 Understanding the Uses of Reflexive Verbs ................................................................ 221 Describing actions of personal care and habitual routines ............................ 221 Becoming with the reflexive construction......................................................... 222 Using the reflexive to change a verb’s meaning ............................................... 222 Acting on each other: Expressing reciprocal actions with the reflexive form........................................................................ 223 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 224
Chapter 15: Using the Passive Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227 Setting Up Passive Voice with Ser ................................................................................ 227 Forming the passive voice with ser and a past participle ............................... 227 Expressing an agent with por .............................................................................. 229
xiii
xiv
Spanish Grammar For Dummies Forming Passive Constructions with Se ...................................................................... 231 Creating the passive voice with se ..................................................................... 231 Forming expressions in the impersonal voice .................................................. 232 Considering the Uses of Passive Voice ........................................................................ 233 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 234
Chapter 16: It’s All Relative: Making Comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237 Expressing Comparisons of Inequality ........................................................................ 237 Saying “more than” or “less than” ...................................................................... 237 Including numbers ................................................................................................ 239 Making Comparisons of Equality .................................................................................. 240 Rising to the Highest Degree with Superlatives.......................................................... 242 Investigating Irregular Comparatives .......................................................................... 243 Going from good to best and from bad to worst .............................................. 244 Describing age ....................................................................................................... 244 Using a special suffix to express “really” ........................................................... 245 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 246
Chapter 17: Just Say “No”: Negative Words and Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249 Introducing Negative Words and Expressions ........................................................... 249 Naming the negative words and putting them to use ...................................... 249 Identifying some common negative expressions.............................................. 251 Piecing together your sentences with pero and sino....................................... 253 Pointing Out the Differences between Spanish and English Negatives ................... 255 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 257
Part IV: Talking about the Past or Future ............................... 261 Chapter 18: Looking Back with the Preterit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263 Forming the Preterit Tense of Regular Verbs ............................................................. 263 Forming the preterit of -ar verbs ........................................................................ 263 Forming the preterit of -er and -ir verbs ............................................................ 264 Dealing with Stem-Changing, Spelling-Changing, and Irregular Verbs..................... 265 Stem-changing verbs ............................................................................................ 266 Spelling-changing verbs ....................................................................................... 267 Irregular verbs....................................................................................................... 270 Using the Preterit Tense ................................................................................................ 274 Completing an action or a series of actions in the past................................... 274 Being specific about a past action ...................................................................... 275 Changing Verb Meanings in the Preterit...................................................................... 276 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 278
Chapter 19: Describing Ongoing Past Action with the Imperfect . . . . . . . . . . . .281 Forming the Regular Imperfect Tense ......................................................................... 281 Forming the imperfect of regular -ar verbs ....................................................... 282 Forming the imperfect of regular -er and -ir verbs ........................................... 282
Table of Contents Recognizing Some Irregular Imperfect Verbs ............................................................. 283 Using the Imperfect Tense in Certain Ways ................................................................ 285 Describing past conditions or states of mind ................................................... 285 Describing continuing or ongoing past actions ................................................ 286 Describing repeated or habitual past actions ................................................... 286 Expressing “would”............................................................................................... 287 Describing simultaneous activities in the past ................................................. 287 Describing actions that were occurring when something else happened .... 287 Comparing the Preterit and Imperfect Tenses ........................................................... 289 Knowing when to use the preterit ...................................................................... 289 Knowing when to use the imperfect ................................................................... 290 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 292
Chapter 20: Projecting Forward with the Future Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295 Forming the Regular Future Tense ............................................................................... 295 Meeting Some Irregular Future Verbs .......................................................................... 297 Getting More Specific with Futuristic Adverbs ........................................................... 298 Exploring Additional Simple Ways to Talk about the Future .................................... 300 Using the present tense ....................................................................................... 300 Using ir + a + an infinitive ..................................................................................... 300 Putting the Future Tense to Use ................................................................................... 302 Describing an action that will happen or is likely to happen.......................... 302 Expressing conjecture, supposition, or probability in the present ............... 302 Describing a future cause-effect relationship ................................................... 302 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 303
Chapter 21: Forming Compound Tenses with the Helping Verb Haber . . . . . . .305 Forming Past Participles ................................................................................................ 305 Irregular past participles: Group 1 ..................................................................... 306 Irregular past participles: Group 2 ..................................................................... 307 Constructing and Using the Present Perfect ............................................................... 308 Discovering the present tense forms of the verb haber .................................. 308 Forming the present perfect ................................................................................ 308 Knowing when to use the present perfect ......................................................... 310 Constructing and Using the Pluperfect........................................................................ 310 Conjugating the verb haber in the imperfect tense.......................................... 311 Forming the pluperfect ........................................................................................ 311 Employing the pluperfect .................................................................................... 312 Constructing and Using the Future Perfect ................................................................. 313 Conjugating the verb haber in the future tense ................................................ 313 Forming the future perfect .................................................................................. 313 Knowing when to use the future perfect............................................................ 315 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 316
xv
xvi
Spanish Grammar For Dummies
Part V: Expressing Conditions and Giving Commands ............... 319 Chapter 22: Wondering “What If” with the Conditional Mood . . . . . . . . . . . . . .321 Forming the Conditional of Regular Verbs .................................................................. 321 Dealing with Irregular Conditional Verbs .................................................................... 323 Knowing When to Use the Conditional ........................................................................ 325 Describing hypothetical actions or events in the present or future .............. 325 Communicating the probability of a past action or event............................... 325 Indicating the future within a past tense expression ....................................... 326 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 327
Chapter 23: Taking Command with the Imperative Mood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329 Giving Commands to Individuals .................................................................................. 329 Constructing informal singular commands with regular verbs ...................... 330 Creating formal singular commands with regular verbs ................................. 330 Checking out verbs with stem changes in the singular imperative ............... 331 Introducing verbs with spelling changes in the singular imperative ............. 332 Handling verbs with stem and spelling changes in the singular imperative ................................................................................ 333 Dealing with irregular verbs in the singular imperative .................................. 333 Issuing Commands to Two or More People ................................................................ 335 Constructing informal plural commands with regular verbs .......................... 335 Creating formal plural commands with regular verbs ..................................... 336 Checking out verbs with stem changes in the plural imperative ................... 337 Introducing verbs with spelling changes in the plural imperative................. 338 Handling verbs with stem and spelling changes in the plural imperative .... 338 Dealing with irregular verbs in the plural imperative ...................................... 339 Using Subject Pronouns with Commands ................................................................... 340 Forming “Let’s” Commands........................................................................................... 341 Answer Key...................................................................................................................... 343
Part VI: The Part of Tens ....................................................... 345 Chapter 24: Ten Common Spanish Grammar Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347 Chapter 25: Ten Useful Spanish Idioms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353
Index ................................................................................... 357
