Misc Grammar

Question 1

Infinitive

Answer 1

The infinitive is generally the form that is found in dictionaries. This form corresponds to the English “base-form” or “dictionary form”.

The ending of the infinitive is the basis of the names given in English to the three form classes of Spanish verbs: “-ar verbs” (primera conjugación).

Examples: hablar (‘to speak’); cantar (‘to sing’); bailar (‘to dance’). “-er verbs” (segunda conjugación).

Examples: beber (‘to drink’); leer (‘to read’); comprender (‘to understand’). “-ir verbs” (tercera conjugación).

Examples: vivir (‘to live’); sentir (‘to feel’); escribir (‘to write’).

Question 2

Gerund

Answer 2

Although, in English grammar, “gerund” refers to the -ing form of a verb used as a noun, in Spanish the term refers to a verb form that behaves more like an adverb.

For -ar verbs, the ending is -ando. Examples: hablando (‘speaking’); cantando (‘singing’); bailando (‘dancing’).

For -er verbs, the ending is -iendo. Examples: bebiendo (‘drinking’); leyendo [with spelling change] (‘reading’); comprendiendo (‘understanding’).

For -ir verbs, the ending is also -iendo. Examples: viviendo (‘living’); sintiendo [with stem-vowel change] (‘feeling’); escribiendo (‘writing’).

Question 3

Past participle

Answer 3

The past participle corresponds to the English -en or -ed form:

For -ar verbs, the ending is -ado. Examples: hablado (‘spoken’); cantado (‘sung’); bailado (‘danced’).

For -er verbs, the regular ending is -ido. Examples: bebido (‘drunk’); leído [requires accent mark] (‘read’); comprendido (‘understood’).

For -ir verbs, the regular ending is also -ido. Examples: vivido (‘lived’); sentido (‘felt’); hervido (‘boiled’).

The past participle, ending invariably in -o, is used following a form of the auxiliary verb haber to form the compound or perfect: (Yo) he hablado (‘I have spoken’), (Ellos) habían hablado (‘They had spoken’), etc.

When the past participle is used as an adjective, it agrees with the noun that it modifies, e.g. una lengua hablada en España (‘a language spoken in Spain’).

The past participle, similarly agreeing with the subject of ser or estar, can be used to form, respectively, the “true” passive voice (e.g. Los platos fueron preparados en la mañana ‘The dishes were prepared in the morning’) or the “passive of result” (e.g. Los platos ya están preparados ‘The dishes are already prepared’).

Question 4

Impersonal or Non-Finite Forms of the Verb

Answer 4

The Spanish non-finite verb forms refer to an action or state without indicating the time or the person. Spanish has three impersonal forms: infinitive, gerund and past participle.

Question 5

Gerund v. Infinitive

Answer 5

In Spanish, it is the infinitive that works a noun, not the gerund. Usually, when you can replace the -ing form with “this” or “that”, you use an infinitive in Spanish:

I like dancing -> I like this -> Me gusta bailar
Thanks for helping -> Thanks for that -> Gracias por ayudar

The Spanish gerund has an adverbial meaning. It’s mostly used in continuous tenses (to be + [verb]-ing… i.e., I am reading = estoy leyendo) or modifies a verb (He came eating = vino comiendo). Note that in these cases you can usually replace -ing with “like this”.

The Spanish present participle, used as an adjective, is quite rare and doesn’t really exist for many verbs. Instead, the construction “que + verb” is used.

The running dog -> El perro que corre

Question 6

Affirmative imperative

(imperativo positivo)

The positive form of the imperative mood in regular verbs is formed by removing the infinitive ending and adding the following:

Answer 6

tú -a -e -e
usted -e -a -a
nosotros -emos -amos -amos
ustedes -en -an -an

Beginner’s rule: To conjugate something that is positive in the imperative mood for the tú form (which is used most often), conjugate for your tú form and drop the ‘s’.

Question 7

Negative imperative

(imperativo negativo)

For the negative imperative, the adverb no is placed before the verb, and the following endings are attached to the stem:

Answer 7

tú -es -as -as
usted -e -a -a
nosotros -emos -amos -amos
ustedes -en -an -an

Beginner’s rule: To conjugate something that is negative in the imperative mood for the tú form (which also is used most often), conjugate in the yo form, drop the ‘o’, add the opposite tú ending (if it is an -ar verb add ‘es’; for an -er or -ir verb add as), and then put ‘no’ in front.

Question 8

Affirmative Imperative of estar - Be!

Answer 8

No first person imperative
está
esté
estemos
estén

Question 9

Negative Imperative of estar - Don’t be!

Answer 9

No first person negative imperative
no estés
no esté
no estemos
no estén

Question 10

Affirmative Imperative of ser. Be!

Answer 10

No first person imperative
sé
sea
seamos
sean

Question 11

Negative Commands of ser. Dont be!

Answer 11

No first person imperative
no seas
no sea
no seamos
no sean

Question 12

Use of bien and bueno

Answer 12

Bien is an adverb that follows the verb.

Bueno(a) is an adjective that follows a noun.

Question 13

Present Participle of ser. Being.

Answer 13

siendo

Question 14

Past Participle of ser. Been.

Answer 14

sido

Question 15

Present Participle of estar

Answer 15

estando

Question 16

Past Participle of estar

Answer 16

estado

Question 17

hace

Answer 17

hace

Used as an impersonal verb and conjugated only with the third person singular with natural phenomenon that one can feel such as heat, cold, sunshine and wind.

Hace + calor, frío, sol, viento.

Question 18

Hay (Haber)

Answer 18

Hay (Haber)

Used as an impersonal verb and conjugated only with the third person singular when used with existence and natural phenomenon.

Used with the indefinite article.

Existence: Hay cuatro estudiantes en classe. Hay tres libros en la mesa. Hay dos caballos en el establo.

Natural phenomenon: Hay + lluvia, nieve, niebla, tormentas, terremotos, huracanes, tornados, inundaciones, maremoto.

Question 19

Uses of Ser

Answer 19

Uses of Ser

• Country of origin
• Profession
• Religion/political beliefs
• Material something is made of
• Personal relationships
• Marital status*
• Possession
• Hours/dates
• Characteristics
• Event locations
• Impersonal expressions (es + posible/necesario/bueno + infinitivo

*With marital status, estar may be preferred in everyday speech, at least with casado. Thus, while you might ask a new acquaintance “¿es usted casado?” you might ask a friend you haven’t seen for a while “¿estás casado?” as a way of asking, “Have you become married since I saw you last?” or “Are you still married?”

The same is true with a very few adjectives, such as gordo (“fat”) and delgado (“thin”), that describe personal characteristics. Both “es gordo” and “está gordo” can be used to say “he is fat,” for example. The latter often suggests that there has been a change, while the former may suggest merely a description of the way a person is. So the choice of verb can suggest an attitude — estar may suggest a state of being at the moment, while ser may suggest an inherent characteristic. In fact, that is the safest way to make your verb choice, and estar must be used where indeed there has been a change.

Question 20

Uses of Estar

Answer 20

Uses of Estar

• Location of people, places and objects
• Distance (estar + a)
• Conditions (the chair is wet, he is sick)
• Gerunds

Question 21

Negation in Spanish always comes before the verb and after the pronoun if necessary.

Is your name Jorge?
No, it’s not my name.
No, my name is not Jorge.

Answer 21

¿Es tu nombre Jorge?
No, no es mi nombre.
No, mi nombre no es Jorge.

Question 22

Interrogatives such as Why?, Who?, Where?, What? … may be preceded by prepositions such as … of, for, to, in, for, with.

Examples:
What do you mean?
Who is Mario?
Where are you going?
Where are you from?
Why are you here?

Answer 22

Ejemplos:

¿De qué hablas?
¿Con quién está Mario?
¿A dónde vas?
¿De dónde eres?
¿Por qué estás aquí?

Question 23

Use of muy and mucho

Answer 23

Use of muy and mucho
Muy + adjective
Mucho(a) + noun

Question 24

Use of bien and bueno

Answer 24

Bien is an adverb that follows the verb.

Bueno(a) is an adjective that follows a noun.

Question 25

Haber as a helping verb for all tenses

Answer 25

Haber as a helping verb for all tenses

+Perfect Indicative Tenses
Present: he, has, ha, hemos, han
Past: había, habías, había, habíamos, habían
Future: habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habrán
Conditional: habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habrían
Preterite: hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubieron

+Perfect Subjunctive Tenses
Present: haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayan
Past: hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubieran
Future: hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubierenHaber is used with the indefinite article.

Question 26

Estar v. Haber

Answer 26

Both the verbs estar and haber can be used to indicate the presence of a person or thing. However, they are seldom interchangeable.

The difference is that haber, typically in the form of hay in the present tense or había for the past, is used to indicate the mere existence of the person or thing. Estar, on the other hand, is used to indicate the location of the person or thing.

As a general rule, estar is used when a specific person or thing is referred to (but a third-person form of haber can be used when the word is used more generically). Estar is used with:

• a noun preceded by a definite article (the word el, la, los or las, meaning “the”),
• a demonstrative adjective (a word such as ese or esta, meaning “that” or “this,” respectively) or
• a possessive adjective (such as mi or tu, meaning “my” or “your,” respectively).

With nouns that can’t have a location, haber must be used:

No había problema. (There was no problem.) Hay riesgo inmediato. (There’s an immediate risk.)