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48 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Ser (to be)
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soy
eres es somos sois son |
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Estar (to be)
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estoy
estás está estamos estáis están |
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Ser is used to express?
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the hour, day, and date
place of origin occupation nationality religious or political affiliation the material something is made of possession relationship of one person to another certain impersonal expressions where an event is taking place essential qualities |
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Estar is used to express?
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geographic or physical location
state or condition many idiomatic expressions progressive tenses |
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Ser and Estar (constrasting uses)
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When a noun follows the verb, use ser
When an adjective follows the verb, decide between "essence" and "condition" To tell where something is from, use ser To tell where something is located right now, use estar To tell where an event is taking place, use ser |
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Definitive articles - el, la
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Many nouns that denote living things have both a masculine and a feminine form.
Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a. Some nouns that refer to people use the same form for both masculine and feminine. These nouns indicate gender by the article (el or la). |
el profesor
la profesora el estudiante la estudiante |
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Gender of nouns - usual rules
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Nouns that end in -o are usually masculine. Nouns that end in -a are usually feminine.
Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine. Nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine. |
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Four of the nouns that end in -a are simply exceptions and must be memorized.
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el día
el mapa el planeta el sofá |
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A few nouns that end in -o are feminine.
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la mano
la radio |
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A few nouns that end in -ma are feminine
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la cama
la pluma |
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Numbers 1-10
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1. uno
2. dos 3. tres 4. cuatro 5. cinco 6. seis 7. siete 8. ocho 9. nueve 10. diez |
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Number 1
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The number "one" changes from "uno" to "un" before a masculine noun.
The number "one" changes from "uno" to "una" before a feminine noun. When counting generically (one, two, three ...) use "uno" but when counting specifically (one cat, one dog), use "un" or "una." |
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Numbers 11-20
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11. once
12. doce 13. trece 14. catorce 15. quince 16. dieciséis 17. diecisiete 18. dieciocho 19. diecinueve 20. veinte |
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Plural forms of nouns
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If a noun ends in a vowel, make it plural by adding -s
If a noun ends in a consonant, make it plural by adding -es If a noun ends in -ión, add -es and drop the written accent If a noun ends in -z, add -es and change the z to c When the plural refers to two or more nouns of different genders, the masculine plural is used. |
el libro: los libros
la pluma: las plumas el borrador: los borradores la conversación: las conversaciones el lápiz: los lápices 2 perros + 6 perras = 8 perros (not perras) |
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Definite articles
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In English, the definite article is the word "the" regardless of whether the noun it introduces is singular or plural.
In Spanish, the definite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. |
el gato
the male cat los gatos the male cats la gata the female cat las gatas the female cats |
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Indefinite articles
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In English, the indefinite article is the word "a," "an," or "some."
In Spanish, the indefinite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. |
un gato
a male cat unos gatos some male cats una gata a female cat unas gatas some female cats |
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Hay
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There is, there are
Is there, are there? |
Hay un libro encima de la mesa.
There is a book on the table. Hay cuatro océanos en el mundo. There are 4 oceans in the world. ¿Hay algunos libros por aquí? Are there any books around here? |
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Subject Pronouns (singular)
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yo - I
tú - you (familiar) él - he ella - she usted - you (formal) |
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Subject Pronouns (plural)
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nosotros - we (masculine or mixed gender)
nosotras - we (feminine) vosotros - you-all (familiar, Spain, masculine or mixed gender) vosotras - you-all (familiar, Spain, feminine) ellos - they (masculine or mixed gender) ellas - they (feminine) ustedes - you-all (formal in Spain, formal and familiar in Latin America) |
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Present indicative
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In Spanish means three things.
1.Yo hablo inglés: I speak English. I do speak English. I am speaking English. |
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Regular verbs
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-ar verb
hablar (to speak) -er verb comer (to eat) -ir verb vivir (to live) |
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Hablar (to speak)
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hablo
hablas habla hablamos habláis hablan |
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Comer (to eat)
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como
comes come comemos coméis comen |
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Vivir (to live)
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vivo
vives vive vivimos vivís viven |
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Two verbs in a row
- Just like in English, the first verb is conjugated, while the second verb remains in the infinitive form. |
Necesito hablar con Alfredo.
I need to speak with Alfredo. (necesitar, hablar) Deseas vivir en España. You wish to live in Spain. (desear, vivir) |
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Common Regular -ar Verbs
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alquilar – to rent
entrar (en) – to enter (into) necesitar – to need amar – to love enviar – to send olvidar – to forget andar – to walk escuchar – to listen to pagar – to pay for ayudar – to help esperar – to hope, to wait for practicar – to practice bailar – to dance estudiar – to study preguntar – to ask buscar – to look for firmar – to sign preparar – to prepare caminar – to walk ganar – to win, earn regresar – to return cantar – to sing gastar – to spend money saludar – to greet cocinar – to cook hablar – to speak, to talk tocar – to touch, to play an instrument comprar – to buy lavar – to wash tomar – to take, to drink contestar – to answer llegar – to arrive trabajar – to work dejar – to allow, to leave llevar – to wear, to carry viajar – to travel desear – to desire mandar – to order visitar – to visit enseñar – to teach mirar – to watch, to look at |
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Common Regular -er Verbs
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aprender – to learn
creer – to believe poseer – to possess, to own beber – to drink deber – to have to, to owe prometer – to promise comer – to eat esconder – to hide romper – to break comprender – to understand leer – to read temer – to fear correr – to run meter en – to put into vender – to sell |
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Common Regular -ir Verbs
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abrir – to open
descubrir – to discover permitir – to permit admitir – to admit discutir – to discuss recibir – to receive asistir a – to attend escribir – to write subir – to climb, to go up cubrir – to cover existir – to exist sufrir – to suffer decidir – to decide omitir – to omit unir – to unite describir – to describe partir – to divide vivir – to live |
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Adjectives
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•Adjectives that end in -o have four forms:
el chico alto los chicos altos la chica alta las chicas altas •Adjectives that end in -e have two forms: inteligente, inteligentes •Most adjectives that end in a consonant have two forms: popular, populares (form plural by adding -es) Adjectives of nationality ending in a consonant have four forms: español, española, españoles, españolas Adjectives ending in -or, -án, -ón, or -ín have four forms: hablador, habladora, habladores, habladoras |
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Position of adjectives in a sentence
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Adjectives that are descriptive usually follow the noun they describe.
casa blanca chica alta When an adjective speaks of a quality that is inherent and usually taken for granted, the adjective precedes the noun. la blanca nieve the white snow (snow is inherently white) los altos picos the tall peaks (peaks are inherently tall) Adjectives of quantity usually come before the noun. pocos libros muchos libros |
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Days of the week (all masculine)
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el lunes
el martes el miércoles el jueves el viernes el sábado el domingo |
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Days of the week
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When used with the days of the week, the definite article has the special meaning "on."
No trabajo el lunes. I don't work on Monday. Days ending in -s do not change form in the plural. Only the article changes. el lunes los lunes In Spanish, the present tense of the indicative is sometimes used to express the near future. English does this too. Salimos el lunes. We (will) leave on Monday. Mañana es domingo. Tomorrow (will be) is Sunday. |
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Negation
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To make a sentence negative, place the word "no" before the verb.
Ella no habla inglés. When the answer to a question is negative, two negative words are required. ¿ Está Gerardo en la clase? (Is Gerardo in the class?) No. Gerardo no está en la clase. |
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Affirmative words and their negative counterparts
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algo (something)
nada (nothing) alguien (somebody) nadie (nobody) algún (-o, -a, -os, -as) (some, something) ningún (-o, -a, -os, -as) (no, none) siempre (always) nunca (never) jamás (never, ever) también (also) tampoco (neither, not either) o . . . o (either . . . or) ni . . . ni (neither . . . nor) |
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Negation continued
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The negative words can be used alone, preceding the verb.
Nadie habla. Nobody speaks. The negative words can also be used with the word "no," following the verb. No habla nadie. Sometimes, three negative words occur in the same sentence. No compro nada nunca. I never buy anything. Unlike English, Spanish does not normally mix negative and affirmative words. Maria doesn't need anything. María no necesita nada. |
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Alguno and ninguno
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Alguno and ninguno drop the -o before a masculine singular noun.
¿Tienes algún libro? No, no tengo ningún libro. Ninguno(-a) is generally used in the singular. ¿Tienes algunas revistas? No, no tengo ninguna. The plural of ninguno(-a) is used only when the noun it modifies exists only in plural, or is normally used in plural. Ningunas vacaciones a Alaska son completas sin una excursión a Mt. McKinley. |
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Questions
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Notice how the subject and verbs are inverted. That is, the subject comes after the verb.
¿Qué estudia Pilar? What does Pilar study? Another method of forming questions is to add a tag question to the end of a statement. María habla español, ¿no? Maria speaks Spanish, doesn't she? María habla español, ¿verdad? Maria speaks Spanish, right? |
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Dónde, adónde, de dónde
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¿Dónde? means "Where?" ¿Adónde? means "To where?" Thus, dónde asks for a location, while adónde asks for a destination.
¿De dónde? means "From where?" |
¿Dónde está la biblioteca?
Where is the library? ¿Adónde va Raúl? Where is Raul going? (Literally: To where goes Raul?) ¿De dónde es Gerardo? Where is Gerardo from? |
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Cuándo, Cuánto, Cuántos
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¿Cuándo? means "When?"
¿Cuánto(-a)? means "How much?" ¿Cuántos(-as)? means "How many?" |
¿Cuándo van a ir ustedes?
When are you-all going to go? ¿Cuánto dinero gana Eduardo? How much money does Eduardo earn? ¿Cuántas chicas hay en la clase? How many girls are there in the class? |
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Cómo, Cuál, Cuáles
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¿Cómo? means "How?"
¿Cuál? and ¿Cuáles? mean "What?" or "Which?" |
¿Cómo está usted?
How are you? ¿Cuál es tu nombre? What is your name? ¿Cuáles son tus libros favoritos? What (Which) are your favorite books? |
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Qué, De qué
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¿Qué? means "What?"
¿De qué? means "About what?" or "Of what?" |
¿Qué es la libertad?
What is liberty? ¿De qué material es la pluma? What is the pen made of? Literally: Of what material is the pen? ¿De qué hablan ustedes? What are you-all talking about? Literally: Of what do you-all speak? |
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Cuál vs Qué
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When used with the verb ser, cuál and qué can both mean "what," but they are not interchangeable. Cuál is more common, and is used to indicate a selection, or choice of possibilities. Qué is used to elicit a definition or an explanation.
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¿Cuál es la capital de España?
What is the capital of Spain? ¿Qué es la capital? What is the (definition of) capital? |
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Por qué and Para qué
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¿Por qué? means "Why? (for what reason)"
¿Para qué? means "Why? (for what purpose)" |
¿Por qué estudias español?
For what reason do you study Spanish? Possible answer: Porque es un requisito. Because it's required. ¿Para qué estudias español? For what purpose do you study Spanish? Possible answer: Para ser profesor de español. In order to become a Spanish teacher. |
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Quién, A quién, Con quién, De quién
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¿Quién(-es)? means "Who?"
¿A quién(-es)? means "Whom?" ¿Con quién(-es)? means "With whom?" ¿De quién(-es)? means "Whose?" |
¿Quién es Gregorio?
Who is Gregorio? ¿Quiénes son esos chicos? Who are those boys? ¿A quién(-es)? means "Whom?" ¿Con quién(-es)? means "With whom?" ¿De quién(-es)? means "Whose?" |
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Possessive adjectives
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Possessive adjectives agree with the nouns they modify. That is, they agree with the thing possessed, not the possessor.
mi(s) my tu(s) your (fam. sing.) su(s) his, her, your (formal), their If the meaning of su is not clear from the context of the sentence, a prepositional phrase is used in place of su. nuestro(-a, -os, -as) our vuestro(-a, -os, -as) your (fam. pl.) |
Ellos buscan a su hermana.
They are looking for their sister. María busca el cuaderno de Juan. María looks for Juan's notebook. |
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Possessive adjectives - exclusions
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Note that these possessive adjectives are not used with articles of clothing or body parts. Rather, the definite article is used.
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Me gusta el vestido nuevo.
I like my new dress Me duele el brazo. My arm hurts. |
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tener (to have)
venir (to come) |
tengo / vengo
tienes / vienes tiene / viene tenemos / venimos tenéis / venís tienen / vienen |
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Tener que, Hay que
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Tener que + infinitive
"someone has to do something." Tener is conjugated according to the subject of the sentence. Hay que + infinitive "one must do something" It is a more general expression and since there is no subject, the verb form hay is always used. |
Tengo que comer las verduras.
I have to eat the vegetables. Hay que estudiar mucho. One must study a lot. |
