span grammar Flashcards
(33 cards)
present tense - regular verbs - endings
The present tense is used to talk about the present.
The present tense - Stem-changing verbs
Stem-changing verbs are formed in the same way as regular present tense verbs. However, a vowel change occurs in the stem in some of their forms (I, you (singular), he/she/it/you polite (singular), they/you polite (plural)). 1, 2, 3, 6 verbs. They are usually regular in their endings.
The present tense - Stem-changing verbs - o-ue examples
costar → to cost.
Acostarse → to go to bed.
Dormir → to sleep.
encontrar→ to find.
llover→ to rain
Volver → to return.
Morir → to die.
Contar → to count/tell.
Poder → to be able to
The present tense - Stem-changing verbs - e-ie examples
empezar → to begin.
entender → to understand.
despertarse → to wake up.
nevar → to snow
pensar → to think.
perder → to lose.
preferir → to prefer.
Mentir → to lie.
Recomendar → to recommend.
The present tense - Stem-changing verbs - e-i examples
repitir → to repeat
server → to serve
pedir → to ask for
vestirse → to get dressed
The present tense - irregular verbs - 2 types
verbs which are only irregular in the ‘I’ form (the first person)
fully irregular verbs
The present tense - irregular verbs - verbs which are only irregular in the ‘I’ form (the first person)
conducir → conduzco I drive
hacer → hago I make/do
conocer → conozco I know
salir → salgo I go out
traer → traigo I bring
poner→ pongo I put
dar → doy I give
saber → sé I know
The present tense - irregular verbs - fully irregular verbs
The preterite tense - what is it & things to watch out for
The preterit tense is sometimes known as the ‘simple past. It is used to talk about completed actions in the past.
Things to watch out for:
* Some forms of regular verbs in the preterite take an accent. Be careful that you use accents correctly as using them incorrectly can change the meaning of a word. E.g. escucho (I listen), but escuchó (he listened)
* Irregular verbs don’t take accents in the preterite.
* The verbs ir and ser are the same in the preterite.
The preterite tense - regular verb endings
The preterite tense is formed by taking the infinitive of a verb, removing the infinitive endings (-ar, -er or -ir), and then adding the following preterite endings. Note that -er and -ir verbs take the same endings in the preterite.
The preterite tense - types of irregular verbs
fully irregular - common & less common
irregular in the first-person singular (yo)
The preterite tense - irregular in the first-person singular (yo)
Some preterite verbs have irregular spellings just in the first-person singular (yo). For example:
Sacar → saqué I got/took
Empezar → empecé I started
tocar → toqué I played
jugar → jugué I played
cruzar → crucé I crossed
llegar → llegué I arrived
The preterite tense - fully irregular - common
estar – to be
* estuve
* estuviste
* estuvo
* estuvimos
* estuvisteis
* estuvieron
The preterite tense - fully irregular - less common
Poder – to be able to
* pude
* pudiste
* pudo
* pudimos
* pudisteis
* pudieron
poner - to put
* puse
* pusiste
* puso
* pusimos
* pusisteis
* pusieron
dar – to give
* di
* diste
* dio
* dimos
* disteis
* dieron
decir – to say
* dije
* dijiste
* dijo
* dijimos
* dijisteis
* dijeron
venir – to come
* vine
* viniste
* vino
* vinimos
* vinisteis
* vinieron
The Imperfect tense - what is it
The imperfect tense is another way of talking about the past. It is used in Spanish for:
* Descriptions in the past (what someone or something was like or was doing) – e.g. En mi escuela primaria, las instalaciones eran mejores. In my primary school, the facilities were better.
* Repeated actions in the past- e.g. Tenía clases de gimnasia cada semana. I had gymnastics classes every week.
* What people used to do and what things used to be like - e.g. Antes jugábamos al fútbol, pero ahora preferimos hacer kárate. Before we used to play football, but now we prefer to do karate.
Preterite vs imperfect
You use the preterite tense for single events in the past and the imperfect tense for repeated actions and things you used to do in the past.
The Imperfect tense - regular
The imperfect tense is formed by taking the infinitive of a verb, removing the infinitive endings (-ar, -er, -ir) and then adding the following endings. Note that -er and -ir verbs take the same endings in the imperfect.
The Imperfect tense - irregular
hay - preterite vs imperfect vs future vs conditional
The imperfect tense of hay (there is) is había (there was/were) and the preterite is hubo (there was/were). Había is very useful for describing things and saying what things used to be like and hubo is used for completed actions and specific past events.
The future tense of haber is habrá (there will be).
En el hotel había una piscina cubierta. - In the hotel there was an indoor pool.
Last weekend there was an accident. - El fin de semana pasado hubo un accidente.
The conditional tense of haber is habría (there would be).
Near future tense - what is it
The near future is used to describe what is going to happen (for example, tonight, tomorrow, next week, etc.). It is the most common tense in Spanish for describing future plans.
Voy a practicar el español. - I am going to practise Spanish. Vamos a ir de excursión. - We are going to go on a trip.
forming the Near future tense
To form the near future, you need: ir (in the present tense) + a + infinitive.
future tense - what is it
The future tense is used to describe what will happen in the future. E.g. - Mañana iremos al centro comercial. Tomorrow we will go to the shopping centre.
forming the future tense - regular
To form the future tense of most verbs, you take the infinitive of the verb and add the following endings (these are the same for -ar, -er and -ir verbs):
forming the future tense - irregular
The following verbs have irregular stems in the future tense. You need to use these stems instead of the infinitive, but the endings stay the same as for regular verbs. These are also the irregular verbs for the conditional tense.
decir – to say - dir, hacer - to do/make – har,
poder - to be able to – podr, poner – to put – pondr,
querer - to want – querr, saber - to know – sabr,
salir - to leave/go out – saldr, tener - to have - tendr
venir - to come - vendr
