Spanish II Semester I Grammar Review

1.1 Gustar, Reflexive Pronouns

In English, it is correct to construct a sentence that has the subject "liking" a direct object.

In Spanish, this never occurs. In Spanish, a different construction is used.

English: I like the room.

Spanish: The room is pleasing to me.

English: We like the books.

Spanish: The books are pleasing to us.

The first thing you need to notice is that both versions really mean the same thing. They are

merely different expressions of the same idea.

Idea: My feelings with regard to the book are positive.

English Way: I like the book.

Spanish Way: The book is pleasing to me.

The second thing to notice is that in English, the subject of the sentence is the person (I,

we) while in Spanish the subject of the sentence is the object (room, books).

The room is pleasing to me.

Subject: The room

I like the room.

Subject: I
Finally notice that while the English sentence has a direct object, the Spanish sentence has

an indirect object.

The room is pleasing to me.

me = Indirect Object

I like the room.

room = Direct Object

Notice that gustar is conjugated as "gustan" not "gusto." A common mistake is to say "Me

gusto los libros." This is incorrect because the subject of the sentence is "los libros" even

though it comes at the end. Remember, the verb is conjugated to agree with the subject of

the sentence.

Me gustan los libros. (I like the books.)

Notice that the conjugation of gustar changes to "gusta" when the subject of the sentence is

singular.

Me gusta el libro. (I like the book.)

Since the subject of the sentence must be either singular (book) or plural (books), the only

forms of gustar you will use are "gusta" and "gustan." This is true regardless of what IO

pronoun appears in the sentence.

1.2 Idioms w/Tener, Ir + a, Present Progressive, Direct
Object Pronouns, Affirmative & Neg inf. Commands
tener frío to be cold

tener calor to be hot

tener hambre to be hungry

tener sed to be thirsty

tener sueño to be sleepy

tener dolor de to hurt or be sore, etc.

There are also many idiomatic expressions with tener that express sensations more

psychological in nature:

tener prisa to be in a hurry

tener miedo a/de + noun to be afraid of something

tener miedo a/de + infinitive to be afraid to do something

tener celos to be jealous

tener confianza to be confident

tener cuidado to be careful

tener vergüenza to be ashamed

There are other idiomatic expressions with tener as well:

tener razón to be right

tener éxito to be successful

tener la culpa to be guilty

tener suerte to be lucky

tener lugar to take place

tener ganas de to feel like

tener en cuenta to take into account

===========================

To form the present participle of regular -er and -ir verbs, add -iendo to the stem of the

verb.
 comer: comiendo

(comer - er + iendo)

hacer: haciendo

(hacer - er + iendo)

vivir: viviendo

(vivir - ir + iendo)

escribir: escribiendo

(escribir - ir + iendo)

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Direct object pronouns are the things that an action is being done TO.

Ex:

I see it. = Lo veo.

Veo = I see

Lo = it.

In a literal statement, Lo veo is "It is seen by me."

"I see it." and "It is seen by me." have the same meaning.

D.O. => Me Te Lo/La Nos Los/Las

======================================

The following examples of commands use three regular verbs: hablar, comer, and escribir.

Habla (tú) más lentamente.

(You) Speak more slowly.

 Come (tú) la cena.

(You) Eat the dinner.

Escribe (tú) la carta.

(You) Write the letter.

Note that the negative informal commands use the tú form of the present subjunctive.

No cuentes tus beneficios.

Don't count your blessings.

No hables más lentamente.

Don't speak more slowly.

Be sure to note that this is the tú form!

Affirmative:

(Tú) hablas con tus amigos. "You talk with your friends."

(take out 's')

Habla (tú) con tus amigos. "Talk with your friends."

^ Aff. command form ^

Neg. Informal:

No (tú) hablas con tus amigos. "You talk with your friends."

(take out switch -ar to -er)

-ar to -er

-er to -ar

No hables con tus amigos. "Don't talk with your friends."

2.1 Indirect Object Pronouns, Dar + Decir, Saber +
Conocer,
To identify the indirect object use our two guidelines:

1. The IO tells us where the DO is going.

2. The IO answers the question "to whom?" or "for whom" the action of the verb is

performed.

When a pronoun takes the place of the name of the indirect object, use the following

pronouns:

me (me)

te (you-familiar)

le (him, her, you-formal)

nos (us)

os (you-all-familiar)

les (them, you-all-formal)

"He buys flowers for me."

Él compra flores a mi.

Él me compra flores a mi.

Él me compra flores.

I.O. me / a mi "me"

D.O. flores "flowers"

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As in English, the verbs decir (to say or to tell) and dar (to give) are widely used in the
Spanish language.

Like tener and venir, the verb decir is both stem-changing (-e to –i) and irregular in the

“yo” form. The verb dar, on the other hand, is irregular in the “yo” form only (aside from an

unstressed—e.g., unaccented—vosotros form).

It is a good idea to memorize each individual form of these verbs, as you will use them

frequently.

DECIR DAR

to say, to tell to give

yo digo doy

tú dices das

Ud., él, ella dice da

nosotros/as decimos damos

vosotros/as decís dais

Uds., ellos, ellas dicen dan

Remember those indirect and direct object pronouns from the previous section? These verbs

will give you the perfect chance to practice. Both are often used with indirect object

pronouns. In other words, the action is performed for you or me, or he or she.

=======================================

Saber vs Conocer
saber: to know (facts, information, how to do something,
something by heart)
conocer: to know (to be familiar with people, places, things)
2.2 Ser + Estar, Expressions, Preterite -ar -er -ir, Preterite
hacer + ir

ser (to be)

soy

eres

es

somos

sois

son

Uses of ser

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

estar (to be)

estoy

estás

está

estamos

estáis

están

Uses of estar

geographic or physical location

state or condition

many idiomatic expressions

progressive tenses

Ser and estar (contrasting uses)

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

================================
To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of

the following:

aste

amos

asteis

aron

To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir)

and add one of the following:

iste

ió

imos

isteis

ieron

Here are all three regular preterite verb forms together:

hablar comer vivir

hablé comí viví

hablaste comiste viviste

habló comió vivió

hablamos comimos vivimos

hablasteis comisteis vivisteis

hablaron comieron vivieron

Note: the nosotros forms for -ar and -ir verbs are the same in both preterite and present

tenses: hablamos, vivimos.

-ar and -er verbs that change their stem in the present tense do not change in the

preterite. They are conjugated just like other regular preterite verbs, using the regular

endings.

-ir verbs that change their stem in the present tense do change in the preterite, but in a

different way. They change e:i and o:u in the third person, singular and plural.
3.1 Impersonal Se, Passive Se, Preterite -car -gar -zar +
Conocer, Irregular Preterites

In English, we say "You shouldn't smoke in a hospital", "They say she is very pretty", or

"One never knows when he will turn up." These are "impersonal expressions". In other

words, we don't really have anyone specific in mind when we say "They say..." or "One" or

" You". We mean people in general. This is what we mean by "impersonal".

We use se in front of verbs to create the Spanish way of making general statements.

Here are some examples:

They say it's going to snow. Se dice que va a nevar.

You pay the fines on Mondays. Se pagan las multas los lunes.

How does one say "icecream" in Italian? ¿Cómo se dice "helado" en italiano?

You say "gelato". Se dice "gelato".

• Don't forget that if what you are referring to is plural, you need to use the third

person plural form of the verb (see the second example above)

The "Passive se" is what we call in English "the passive voice". An Active voice is when

you have a subject doing something with an active verb. In English a Passive voice has an

object having something done to it with or without an identified subject.

Let's look at some examples in English:

An Active Voice Construction A Passive Voice Construction

Sra. Verde teaches me Spanish. Spanish is taught to me (by Sra. Verde)

I purchased the dress. The dress was purchased (by me)

I drove my father's new car. My father's new car was driven (by me)

The Passive Voice in English uses a form of "to Be" with a Past Participle.

In Spanish, the Passive Voice is normally formed by using se + the third person singular or
plural conjugation of a verb, just as we did with the Impersonal se. In Spanish there is not

a subject - identified or not!

Let's look at some examples in Spanish and English:

An Active Voice Construction A Passive Voice Construction

Los dependientes del almacén hablan

Se habla ruso en el mercado.
ruso.

The department store clerks speak

Russian is spoken in the shopping center.
Russian.

David escribe el libro en italiano. Se escribe el libro en italiano.

David is writing the book in Italian. The book is written in Italian.

La heladería vende una gran cantidad de

Se vende una gran cantidad de helado.
helado.

The ice cream store sells a large quantity

A large quantity of ice cream is sold.
of ice cream.

Mis amigos comieron la torta. Se comió la torta.

My friends ate the cake. The cake was eaten.

In order to preserve the sound of the infinitive, a number of verbs change orthographically

(spelling) in the preterite tense. The following changes occur in the "yo" form only:

Verbs that end in -gar change g to gu

Verbs that end in -car change c to qu

Verbs that end in -zar change z to c

Here are three examples:

yo jugué (jugar)

yo busqué (buscar)

yo almorcé (almorzar)

Here are the verbs, along with their corresponding stem changes:

preterite: decir, traer

dije traje

dijiste trajiste

dijo trajo

dijimos trajimos

dijisteis trajisteis

dijeron trajeron

Infinitive Stem Change

andar anduv-

estar estuv-

tener tuv-

caber cup-

haber hub-

poder pud-

poner pus-

saber sup-
hacer hic-

querer quis-

venir vin-

Preterite: ser, ir

fui

fuiste

fue

fuimos

fuisteis

fueron

Here are two examples of how this pattern is applied:

estar (estuv-) saber (sup-)

estuve supe

estuviste supiste

estuvo supo

estuvimos supimos

estuvisteis supisteis

estuvieron supieron

Note: The one exception is the third person singular of hacer. As you learned in a previous

lesson, the c changes to z to form "hizo."

yo conocí nosotros/as conocimos,

tu conociste

usted/él/ella conoció ustedes/ellos/ellas conocieron

3.2 Formal Commands, Irregular Formal
Commands, Commands with pronouns

The formal commands are formed the same way as the present subjunctive:

1. Start with the yo form of the present indicative.

2. Then drop the -o ending.

3. Finally, add the following endings:

-ar verbs:

-e (for Ud.), -en (for Uds.)

-er and -ir verbs:

-a (for Ud.), -an (for Uds.)

The following examples of formal commands use three regular verbs: hablar, comer, and

escribir.

Hable Ud. más lentamente.

Hablen Uds. más lentamente.

Speak more slowly.

Coma Ud. la cena.

Coman Uds. la cena.

Eat the dinner.

Escriba Ud. la carta.

Escriban Uds. la carta.

Irregular Informal (tú) Commands (Imperative)

(Affirmative Only)

decir - di salir - sal

hacer - haz ser - sé

ir - ve tener - ten
poner - pon venir - ven

Remember, if the first person singular (yo) form is irregular, that irregularity is carried over

into the formation of the formal command.

Tengan Uds. un buen viaje. (yo tengo) Have a good trip.

Traiga Ud. el dinero. (yo traigo) Bring the money.

Venga Ud. conmigo. (yo vengo) Come with me.

This also applies to stem-changing verbs.

Cuente Ud. sus beneficios. (yo cuento) Count your blessings.

Vuelvan Uds. pronto. (yo vuelvo) Return quickly.

Pida dinero. (yo pido) Ask for money.

As with the present subjunctive, the following verbs are irregular:

dar

dé Ud.

den Uds.

estar

esté Ud.

estén Uds.

ir

vaya Ud.

vayan Uds.

ser

sea Ud.

sean Uds.

saber

sepa Ud.

sepan Uds.
Remember the rule regarding two object pronouns: whenever both pronouns begin with the

letter "l" change the first pronoun to "se."

le lo = se lo

le la = se la

le los = se los

le las = se las

les lo = se lo

les la = se la

les los = se los

les las = se las

Pronoun placement with commands

Affirmative commands: attach to verb

Negative commands: precede verb

Tráigaselas.

No se las traiga.