Basic Grammar Rules Flashcards

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1
Q

Definite Article : THE

What is it?

Where is it placed?

What does it match?

A
  • 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
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2
Q

Indefinite Article:

A

AN

ONE

SOME

A

A, AN, ONE

Singular: UN libro UNA casa

SOME

Plural: UNOS libros UNAS casas

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3
Q

Gender Rules

A
  • 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

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4
Q

Additional Masculine Rules

A

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

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5
Q

Additional Feminine Rules

A

Most nouns that end in -D or -DAD

Examples: la comuniDAD, la uniDAD

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6
Q

Plural Nouns

A

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

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7
Q

Pronouns:

Neuter Demonstratives

THIS

THAT

A

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.

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8
Q

The New System of Alphabetizing

A

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

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9
Q

Subject Pronouns

A

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!

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10
Q

To Be …

A

Uses for Ser

  1. origin Soy de California
  2. nationality Somos Holandeses
  3. profession Es doctora
  4. time/dates Son las 2
  5. physical/personal traits Ella es muy alta
  6. material Es de oro
  7. 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

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11
Q

Or…

To Be

A

Uses for Estar

  1. location Estoy en casa
  2. physical/mental state Estamos enfermos
  3. 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

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