Spanish Rules Flashcards
Explain “Possessives” (Explicar los posesivos)
*Nivel 2
We use possessive (my, your, his, her, our, their) to describe ownership. They follow the gender and number rule.
Examples:
Mis relojes son nuevos.
Tu comida es deliciosa.
Marcos está pagando su pasaporte.
Nosotros estamos cocinando nuestra comida.
Explain expressing “possessives” with “de” (Expresar posesión con)
*Nivel 2
De is used to express possession or belonging.
Usually, this is represented in English using ’s.
Most of the time, if the article el comes after de,
the two words merge into del.
Examples:
Los gatos de ellas.
La mamá del niño.
El carro del policía.
El chófer de las actrices.
El profesor de los estudiantes.
Explain “to have, to have to” (Tener, tener que)
*Nivel 2
We use tener to talk about possession, physical sensations, age or describe people’s physical traits. We use tener que and deber to talk about obligations or necessities.
Examples:
La estudiante tiene cinco hermanos.
Tenemos que hablar.
Tengo calor.
Ellos deben leer en la clase.
¿Tienes efectivo?
Explain “can, can’t” (Poder, no poder)
*Nivel 2
Poder (can, can’t) + infinitive verb (-ar,-er,-ir) is the structure used to express abilities and possibilities or request permission.
Poder is used in english as can when it refers to
abilities or to ask for permission; but is used as may when it refers to possibilities or to grant or to ask for permission in a formal way.
Examples:
Yo puedo hablar español.
No puedes comer carne.
¿Aurora puede trabajar en la tarde?
¿Podemos ir al supermercado?
Explain “Demonstratives” (Demostrativos)
*Nivel 2
Demonstratives are used to indicate the proximity of an object or a person. They can be adjectives or pronouns, the adjectives need to be followed by a noun, whereas pronouns stand on their own. There are neuter pronouns used when talking about
unspecified or unknown ideas. The demonstrative adjectives are generally placed immediately before the noun they’re modifying. However, they may appear before the verb to be in some cases.
Examples:
Ese abogado es inteligente.
Aquel sofá está nuevo.
Estas hamburguesas están deliciosas.
Eso no puede ser.
Explain “To want, to prefer, to need” (Querer, preferir, necesitar)
*Nivel 2
Querer (to want), preferir (to prefer), and necesitar (to need) are verbs that express desire, preference and needs.
Examples:
Ellos necesitan comer saludable.
¿Prefieres carne o pollo?
Quiero comer chocolate.
Luis no necesita ir a la farmacia.
Explain “I like, I love, I’m interested in
“ (Me gusta, me encanta, me interesa)
*Nivel 2
Gustar (to like), encantar (to love), and interesar (to be interested in) are verbs that follow a different pattern. They don’t use personal pronouns (yo, tú, él, etc), they use other type of pronouns (me, te,
les, etc). These verbs focus on what is liked or loved, so they can be singular, or plural based on that.
Examples:
Le encanta el otoño.
A nosotros no nos interesa el deporte.
¿Les gustan los mangos?
Explain “Be going to” (Ir a)
*Nivel 2
Ir + a + infinitive verb is used to talk about future plans or immediate future actions.
Examples:
Voy a desayunar en casa.
Él va a leer el libro.
¿Vas a ir a la fiesta?
Vamos a caminar al supermercado
Explain “adverbs” (Algunos adverbios)
*Nivel 3
Adverbs complement or intensify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. They express different type of circumstances. Adverbs aren’t influenced by gender or number. Some of them have the ending –mente.
Explain “frequency adverbs” (Adverbios de Frecuencia)
*Nivel 3
Frequency adverbs and adverbial phrases are used to say how often something happens or is done. They can be placed before or after the phrase and can be used on their own to answer questions.
Examples:
- Nosotros usualmente hacemos la cena en casa.
- Luis a veces compra cervezas en el supermercado.
- ¿Qué tan seguido limpias tu casa?
- ¿Cuántas veces tienes clases de español en la semana?
Explain “simple present” (Presente simple)
*Nivel 3
Simple present is used to talk about facts and frequent actions, such as routines and habits. Verbs are conjugated by changing the
ending, but irregular verbs will change the stem too.
Examples:
Yo trabajo todos los días.
Yo vivo en Ecuador.
Explain “What and Which” (Qué y Cuál)
*Nivel 3
Qué and cuál are used to ask about objects or situations. The main difference between them is that qué asks for definitions and cuál for information. Also, cuál works with a limited set of options.
Examples:
Qué estás haciendo?
¿Qué es una mesa?
¿Cuál reloj estás usando?
¿Cuál prefieres, el té o el café?
Explain “Reflexives” (Verbos reflexivos)
*Nivel 3
Reflexive verbs indicate that a subject performs an action and is affected by it; this can be a change of state, emotion, perception, or social status. They use a reflexive pronoun for each subject.
These pronouns can go before a conjugated verb, or attached at the end of an infinitive or –ing verb.
Examples:
Ellas están maquillándose en el baño.
No me voy a enfermar.
¿A qué hora nos vamos a levantar el domingo?
Los niños se están divirtiendo.
Explain “to be in past” (Ser y estar en pasado)(imperfect past)
*Nivel 3
The verb ser is normally used to talk about name nouns, such as nationalities, occupations, relationships, physical or personality traits and time. The verb estar is used to indicate states, such as emotions, appearance, conditions and location. These verbs are conjugated in imperfect past, which describes actions that might be unfinished or that happened in an unspecified point or period in the past.
Examples:
Yo era estudiante aquí.
¿De dónde era tu mamá?
Nosotros éramos buenos amigos.
Mi mamá no estaba en ese edificio.
Ellos estaban en la casa ayer.
Yo estaba en Sudamérica.
I was in South America.
Las fiestas de mi amigo eran muy divertidas
Explain “to be in past” (Ser y estar en pasado)(simple past)
*Nivel 3
Estuve, fui:
These verbs are conjugated in simple past, which describe actions that are finished or that happened in a specified point in the past.
Examples:
El año pasado estuve en Sudamérica. (Last year, I was in South America.)
La fiesta del sábado fue muy divertida. (The party on Saturday was very fun.)
