Basic Grammar Rules Flashcards
Definite Article : THE
What is it?
Where is it placed?
What does it match?
- Spanish: 4 forms of the definite article THE
Masculine Femenine
Singular: El libro La casa
Plural: Los libros Las casas
- They are placed before nouns
- They must match noun gender
Indefinite Article:
A
AN
ONE
SOME
A, AN, ONE
Singular: UN libro UNA casa
SOME
Plural: UNOS libros UNAS casas
Gender Rules
- Nouns in Spanish are masculine or feminine*
- Nouns that refer to males or most that end in -O are masculine:
Example: EL hombre, EL chico, EL libro
Exceptions: LA mano, LA moto
- Nouns ending in -A are feminine:
Example: LA señora, LA pluma
Exceptions: EL programa, el dia
Additional Masculine Rules
Words ending in -AMA
Examples: el drAMA, el progrAMA, el telegrAMA
Most nouns that end in -L or -R
Examples: el papeL, el maR, el profesoR
Additional Feminine Rules
Most nouns that end in -D or -DAD
Examples: la comuniDAD, la uniDAD
Plural Nouns
To make nouns plural:
- Add -S to all singular nouns that end in a vowel -a, -e, -o
puerta = puertas clase=clases libro=libros
- Add -ES to all nouns that end in a consonant
papel = papeles ciudad = ciudades
- A noun that ends in -Z replace the -Z with a -C and add -ES.
lapiz=lapices actriz=actrices
- A nound that ends in -ión, -án, and és drops the accent before adding -ES
francés=franceses uníon = uniones
Pronouns:
Neuter Demonstratives
THIS
THAT
This: ESTO That: ESO, AQUELLO
Examples:
¿Qué es esto? What is this?
Yo quiero eso. I want that.
No me gusta aquello. I don’t like that.
Aquello (aquel) generally has the idea of remoteness and distance.
The New System of Alphabetizing
As of 1994, when the Association of Spanish Language Academies met in Madrid for their 10th Annual Conference, the separate letters of CH and LL were eliminated. As with Ñ and RR, all words are alphabetized accordingly with words that do not have the tilde or the double letters.
Example: andar used to be before añadir because Ñ had its own section. Now, añadir is placed before andar because the alphabetizing is now done letter by letter.
*Barron’s Foreign Language Guides
Subject Pronouns
Singular _* *_Plural
Yo Nosotros - Nosotras
Tú *Vosotros - Vosotras
Él * Ellos
Ella Ellas
Usted Ustedes
Vosotros (as) is the plural form of you. It is typically only used in Spain.
Ellos refers to males but it can also be used to include everyone. Ellas only refers to females!
To Be …
Uses for Ser
- origin Soy de California
- nationality Somos Holandeses
- profession Es doctora
- time/dates Son las 2
- physical/personal traits Ella es muy alta
- material Es de oro
- location of an event La fiesta es aquí
SER ESTAR
Yo soy estoy
Tú eres estás
Él es está
Ella es está
Usted es está
Nosotros (-as) somos estamos
Ellos son están
Ellas son están
Ustedes son están
Or…
To Be
Uses for Estar
- location Estoy en casa
- physical/mental state Estamos enfermos
- actions happening now ¿Qué estás comiendo?
SER ESTAR
Yo soy estoy
Tú eres estás
Él es está
Ella es está
Usted es está
Nosotros (-as) somos estamos
Ellos son están
Ellas son están
Ustedes son están
