Spanish grammar
One point at a time.
Spanish tells you who is speaking in the verb ending, so the pronoun is usually left out altogether. Every noun is masculine or feminine and the words around it agree. And there are two verbs for “to be”, which is the difficulty the whole language is organised around. These are those, one page each, in plain English.
A1 21 points
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Every noun has a gender
el + masculine noun · la + feminine noun
A property of the word rather than the thing, and everything around it agrees.
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el, la, los, las, un, una
el / la / los / las + Noun · un / una + Noun
Four definite articles and four indefinite, and Spanish uses them where English uses none.
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Plurals
Noun + s / es
Add -s or -es, and unlike French you can hear every one of them.
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Subject pronouns, and leaving them out
(Pronoun) + Verb
The verb ending already says who. Saying the pronoun as well is the commonest beginner habit.
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ser — permanent being
Subject + ser + Complement
Identity, origin, profession, time. What something fundamentally is.
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estar — state and place
Subject + estar + Complement
Where something is, and how it happens to be at the moment.
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ser against estar
ser + what it is · estar + how it is
The difficulty the whole language is organised around. With some adjectives it changes the word’s meaning.
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-ar verbs in the present
Stem + o / as / a / amos / áis / an
Six endings, all of them audible, each one telling you who is speaking.
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-er and -ir verbs, and the irregular ones
Stem + o / es / e / emos / éis / en
Two families that differ in exactly one form, and a handful of verbs that follow neither.
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Stem-changing verbs
Stem vowel changes in four of six forms
The vowel in the stem changes wherever the stress falls on it — which leaves nosotros untouched.
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no — and double negatives that are correct
no + Verb
One word, straight in front of the verb. And unlike English, the negatives stack.
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Asking a question
¿Statement? · ¿Question word + Verb + Subject?
The word order barely changes. The punctuation does more work than the grammar.
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Adjectives — agreement and position
Noun + Adjective
They agree in gender and number, they come after the noun, and a few change meaning when they move.
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mi, tu, su — possessives
Possessive + Noun
They agree with the thing owned, and su covers his, her, their and your all at once.
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hay — there is, there are
hay + Noun
One form for both, and it never changes. Not to be confused with está.
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gustar — the verb that runs backwards
(A + person) + me / te / le + gusta / gustan + Thing
You are not the subject. The thing you like is, and it is doing the pleasing.
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tener — having, and being
Subject + tener + Noun · tener que + Infinitive
The states English calls “being” are things you have in Spanish. And tener que is how you say “must”.
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ir a + infinitive — the near future
ir (conjugated) + a + Infinitive
The same “going to” as English, and the a is not optional.
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The preterite — the completed past
Stem + é / aste / ó / amos / asteis / aron
One set of endings for -er and -ir together, and the accents are doing real work.
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Numbers
Number + Noun
Regular from thirty upwards, with one form that agrees and one that shortens.
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este, ese, aquel — this and that
este / ese / aquel + Noun
Three distances rather than two, and they line up with the three persons of the verb.
A2 20 points
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Object pronouns
Pronoun + Verb · Verb + Pronoun (attached)
They go in front of the verb, and the direct and indirect sets differ in only one place.
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The imperfect
Stem + aba / ía endings
Two sets of endings, three irregular verbs in the whole language, and no accent problems.
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Which past tense
Imperfect (setting) + Preterite (event)
Not when it happened, but whether you are reporting an event or describing a situation.
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Reflexive verbs
Subject + se + Verb
A pronoun matching the subject, on far more verbs than English would use one for.
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The present perfect
haber (conjugated) + Past participle
haber plus a participle, and in Spain it covers today in a way the preterite does not.
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The simple future
Infinitive + é / ás / á / emos / éis / án
One set of endings on the whole infinitive, and it doubles as a way of guessing.
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The conditional
Future stem + ía / ías / ía / íamos / íais / ían
The future stem with the imperfect endings, and it is how Spanish is polite.
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más, menos, tan — comparing
más / menos + Adjective + que · tan + Adjective + como
The adjective never changes. Four common words are irregular and the rest are not.
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por and para
por + cause / means · para + purpose / destination
Both are “for”. One looks backwards at a cause, the other forwards at a purpose.
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Giving an instruction
Verb (él form) for tú · no + Subjunctive
The positive and negative forms are different words, and the pronouns move with them.
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The subjunctive, and what forces it
Trigger + que + Subjunctive
Not a tense. A form that certain expressions require of the verb after them.
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saber and conocer
saber + fact / infinitive · conocer + person / place
Two verbs for “know”. One is facts and skills, the other is acquaintance.
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Adverbs in -mente
Feminine adjective + mente
Built on the feminine adjective, and when two appear together only the last one takes the ending.
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que, quien, donde, cuyo
Noun + que / quien / donde + Clause
que does most of the work, and unlike English it can never be left out.
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se for “one”, and for the passive
se + Verb (+ Noun)
A subjectless sentence. Spanish reaches for it where English uses “you”, “they” or a passive.
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acabar de — the recent past
acabar (conjugated) + de + Infinitive
A present-tense verb describing something already finished, like French venir de.
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muy and mucho
muy + Adjective · mucho + Noun
One modifies adjectives and never changes. The other modifies nouns and agrees with them.
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estar + gerund
estar (conjugated) + Gerund
Spanish has a progressive and uses it far less than English does.
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hace, desde hace, desde
hace + Duration · Verb (present) + desde hace + Duration
hace means “ago” and, with a present tense, “for” — and the tense is what tells them apart.
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Two pronouns together
Indirect + Direct + Verb
Indirect before direct, and le becomes se in front of lo — for sound alone.