Some
students do not understand grammar of their own language so when
they start learning another language they can not cope with the
information of structures they receive from the teacher. At
LALS we understand these
difficulties and we try to help you as much as we can. We have designed
the following tips for you in order that you will enjoy the learning
of your new language and not just cope with it. We also have grammar
help per level so please choose any of the following options:
If you are
a language teacher and want to collaborate with more tips please
contact us.
basic grammar
Beginners
Intermediate
Advanced
BASIC
GRAMMAR
El
señor Sánchez conduce lentamente
su carro viejo por la calle
(Mr
Sanchez drive his old car slowly on the road)
El señor
Sánchez conduce
verb
The verb
modifies the sentences and makes it active. Denotes
an actions, experience, occurrence or state eg.
Hacer (to do), trabajar(to work) ser (to be)
El
conduce su carro
Subject
pronoun
The subject pronoun is a word such as yo, él, ella, ellos (I,
he, she, they) etc used in place of, and to refer
to, a noun, phrase, clause, etc.
El
conduce su
carro
noun
The noun
(sustantivo) is a word used as the name of a person
, animal, thing, place or quality.
El
conduce lentamente
su carro
viejo
adjetive
The adjective
is a word that describes or modifies a noun or
pronoun used in place of, and to refer to, a noun, phrase,
clause, etc. eg casa bonita (beautiful
house).
El señor
Sánchez conduce lentamente
adverb
The adverb
is a word which describes or adds to the meaning of
a verb, adjective or another adverb, sus as muy (very) lentamente
(slowly)
El
conduce lentamente su carro viejo
por la calle
Preposition
Prepositions
are words such as en, a, debajo, (at, to, under) preciding
nouns and pronouns, and describing their position, movement,
etc in relation to other words in the sentence.
El
conduce lentamente su carro viejo por la
calle
Article
There
are two kinds of articles: definitive articles el, la (the)
and indefinitive articles un, una (a). In Spanish we have
feminine and masculine and singulars and plurals.
A.The days of the week-los dias de la semana- and
months-los meses- of the year are written in small letters and are
masculine nouns
domingo-Sunday
lunes-Monday
martes-Tuesday
miércoles-Wednesday
jueves-Thursday
viernes-Friday
sábado-Saturday
You will need the word POR to express parts of the
day
la mañana
lunes
POR
la tarde
(Día)
la noche
Monday morning/ afternoon/ evening
enero-January
febrero-February
marzo-March
abril-April
mayo-May
junio-June
julio-July
agosto-August
setiembre-September
octubre-October
noviembre-November
diciembre-december
B. The seasons-las
estaciones
La primavera-spring
El verano-summer El Otono-autumn El
invierno-winter
C.
The colours-los colores. Check that not all colours have femenine
MASCULINO
FEMENINO
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
azul
+es
xxxx
xxxx
marrón
xxxx
xxxx
verde
xxxx
xxxx
amarillo
amarilla
blanco
blanca
negro
+s
negra
+s
rojo
roja
rosado
rosada
Verb
to be- Verb Ser & Estar
These verbs
are extremely important to understand them and know how to use them
applying the rules in every situation. Memorizing the rules
and applying them is the key to succsess.
A.
Ser
is an irregular verb and it is used to describe a permanent state
or condition. The following
rules are to be used only for SER
1.Nationality.
¿Es usted italiano? No soy italiano, soy español
2.Profession.
María es
secretaria, Pedro es profesor
3.Descriptions
of persons Juan
es inteligente
and
Tú eres alto
things
Esta mesa es de madera.
4.
Permanent conditions: Lima es la capital del
Peru.
Maria es mi hermana
B.
Estaris an irregular
verb and it is used to describe position and temporary state or
condition. The
following
rules are to be used only for ESTAR.
1.
Position: Madrid está
en España
¿Dónde estás? Estoy en el jardín
2. Temporary: Estoy muy
cansado
¿Estás
listo?
Conjugation
I am
You are
She/he
is
We are
You are
They
are
Soy
Eres
Es
Somos
Son ("sois" in
Spain)
Son
Estoy
Estas
Esta
Estamos
Estan ("estais"
in Spain)
Son
Regular
& Irregular verbs
Regular
verbs
All verbs in
Spanish finish in AR-ER-IR. In order to form the present tense of
regular verbs the infinitive endind is dropped. Because the ending
changes to indicate the person referred to, it is common to omit
the subject pronouns (yo, tu, nosotros) in Spanish.
SUBJECT
PRONOUN
Yo
Tu
El, ella
Nosotros
Ustedes (vosotros)
Ellos, ellas
COMPRAR
Compr-
Compro
Compras
Compra
Compramos
Compran
Compran
ENDING
-o
-as
-a
-amos
-an (ais)
-an
COMER
COM-
Como
Comes
Come
Comemos
Comen
Comen
ENDING
-o
-es
-e
-emos
-en (eis)
-en
VIVIR
VIV-
Vivo
Vives
Vive
Vivimos
Viven
Viven
ENDING
-o
-es
-e
-imos
-en (eis)
-en
Irregular
verbs
The following
are some groups of changing verbs and have a change in most conjugated
forms.
E è
IE
E è
I
O è
UE
I è
Y
cerrar
cierro
cierras
cierra
è
cerramos
cierran
cierran
comenzar, entender, perder,
pensar, querer
pedir
pido
pides
pide
è pedimos
piden
piden
repetir,
servir, despedir, reir
acostarse
(me) acuesto
(te)acuestas
(se) acuesta
è(nos) acostamos
(se) acuestan
(se) acuestan
doler, morir, poder, mostrar, acordar
concluir
concluyo
concluyes
concluye
èconcluimos
concluyen
concluyen
contribuir, huir, disminuir, incluir
C è
ZC 1st person
“G” in
1st person
Irreg.1st
person
agradecer agradezco
agradeces
agradece
agradecemos
agradecen
agradecen
conocer,
conducir, producir
decir
digo
dices
dice
decimos
dicen
dicen
valer, hacer, tener, poner,
traer
dar
doy
das
da
damos
dan
dan
Possesive Adjectives
Possessive
adjectives go before the noun and agree with gender and number of
the possessed thing and not with the owner.
ONE OWNER
TWO OWNERS
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
My
Mi
Mis
Our
Nuestro/nuestra
Nuestros/nuestras
your
Tu
Tus
Your
Vuestro/vuestra
Vuestros/vuestras
His/her
Su
Sus
Their
Su
Sus
Direct
Object Complemento
Directo
The
Direct Object immediately follows the verb in a sentence. It represents
the person or thing on which the action is performed. (It's
directly affected by the action).
Ejemplos:
María
lee el diario todas las mañanas.
Ellos hacen las compras los domingos.
Invité a Juan al cine.
Note: When
the direct object denotes a person the preposition a preceedes
it.
Persons
Pronouns
Yo
Me
Tu
Te
El/Ella/Ud
Lo/La
Nosotros/as
Nos
Uds/Ellos/as
Los/Las
1. ¿Cuándo lees el diario?
5. Ayer te esperé 2 horas bajo la lluvia.
Lo leo
a la mañana.
( Yo esperé a ti)
2. ¿Quién prepara la cena?
6. Mi marido me extrañó muchísimo.
La hago
yo.
( Mi
marido extrañó a mí)
3. ¿Cuándo haces las compras?
7. Ella nos escuchó toda la noche.
Las
hago a la mañana.
( Ella escuchó a nosotros)
4. ¿Dónde pones los libros?
Los pongo
en mi habitación.
Indirect
Object
Complemento Indirecto
The
Indirect Object immediately follows the verb in a sentence. It represents
the recipient or receiver of the action. (It's indirectly affected
by the action). It's usually proceeded by the prepositions a
& para.
Ejemplos:
María
pregunta la hora a un señor.
Mi hermano regaló flores a su novia.
Ellos pidieron perdón a los Martinez.
Persons
Pronouns
Yo
Me
Tú
Te
El/Ella/Ud
Le
Nosotros/as
Nos
Uds/Ellos/as
Les
1.
¿Trajiste los libros a María?
3. Mis padres me regalaron un reloj ( a mí)
Sí, le traje los libros, ¿qué más?
4. Te dieron un premio ( a ti)
2.
Ellos prestaron dinero a Juan
5.. Los oficiales nos llevaron las maletas (a nosotros)
¿Cuánto dinero le prestaron?
6. Dije Adiós a ellos
