1. Spanish 4 Grammar
Concepts
Heli Martin

2. Table of Contents
1. El Presente
2. Irregular yo form
3. Irregulars
4. Ser
5. Estar
6. Ser y estar con adjectivos
7. Gustar
8. Verbs like gustar
9. Preterite v Imperfect
10. Preterite y trigger words
11. Preterite Conjugation
12. Preterite Irregulars
13. Imperfect y trigger words
14. Imperfect conjugation
15. Imperfect Irregulars

3. El Presente
• Used to express actions or situations
that are happening in the present
• Used to express habitual actions or
actions that will take place in the near
future
• Regular –ar, -er, -ir
• -ar: o, as, a, amos, áis, an
• -er: o, es, e, emos, éis, en
• -ir: o, es, e, imos, ís, en

4. Irregular yo form
• Irregular yo forms: many –er and –ir verbs have irregualr yo forms in
the present tense.
• Verbs ending in –ger or –gir change to –jo
coger, colegir (e:i), dirigir, escoger, recoger…
ex: Coger – changes to cojo in yo form
• Verbs ending in –guir change the gu to g in the yo form
conseguir,distinguir, extinguir, seguir…
ex: Conseguir (e:i) – changes to consigo in yo form
• Verbs ending in –cer or –cir change the c to z in yo form
coercer, convencer, ejercer, esparicir, mecer, remecer, vencer, zurcir,
conducir, producir, concocer, palcer, crecer, aparacer
exceptions are hacer and decir
• Verbs that end in –uir add y before o, e, and a
atribuir, concluir, construir, distruir, exclurir, destruir, incluir
ex: atribuir – atribuyo, atribuyes, atribuye, atribuimos, atribuís,
atribuyen

5. Irregulars
• Irregular in present tense or combine a stem change with an irregular yo
form or spell change
• Stem changes: e-ie, o-ue, e-i
• e-ie: acertar, advertir, negar, atravesar, entender, comenzar, defendir,
pensar…
ex: cerrar- cierro, cierras, cierra, cerramos, cerráis, cierran
• o-ue:almorzar, rogar , dormir, volver, sonar, soler, poder, morir,
encontrar…
ex: contar- cuento, cuentas, cuenta, contamos, contáis, cuentan
• e-i: competir, concebir, despedir, medir, servir, repetir, vestir…
ex: pedir- pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden
• *Notice that there is no stem change in the Vosotros or Nosotros form*
• Ir: voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van
• Dar: doy, das, damos, dais, dan
• Tener: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen
• Venir: vengo, vienes, viene, venimos, venís, vienen

6. Ser
Description, Origin,
Characteristics, Time, Occupation,
Relationship, Possession, Event,
Date

7. Ser
• Means to be
• Used to express an essential equality
soy somos
eres sois
es son

8. Health
Estar
Emotions
Location
Present Condition
Present
Participles.
Rules:
•-ar to –ando
•-er and –ir to –
iendo or -yendo

9. Estar
estoy estamos
estás estáis
está están
• Means to be
• Used to express
condition

10. Ser y estar con adjectivos
• Some adjectives change their meaning when used with either "ser" or
"estar".
• Examples :
Listo : means clever when used with ser
means ready when used estar
Malo: means bad when used with ser
means ill when used with estar
Rico: means rich when used with ser
means tasty when used with estar
Vivo: means lively when used with ser
means alive when used with estar
Bueno: means good when used with ser
means well when used with estar
Moreno: means dark haired when used with ser
means suntanned when used with estar
Aburrido: means boring when used with ser
means bored when used with estar
Seguro: means safe when used with ser
means sure, certain when used with estar

11. Gustar
• Means to like or to be pleasing
• Me gusta el libro - I like the book
• Me gustan los libros – I like the books
• When the noun that you like is plural use
–an
• Pronouns – me, te, le, nos, os, les
• A mi me gusta, a ti te gusta, etc.

12. Verbs Like Gustar
• These verbs follow the same conjugation as gustar with doler having an “e” stem
changer.
• Aburrir- to bore
• Importar- tp be important to
• Caer bien/mal- to (not) suit
• Interesar- to be interesting to
• Digustar- to hate soemthing
• Parecer- to appear to be
• Encantar- to love
• Quedar- to be left over, remain
• Volver loco- to be crazy about
• Faltar- to lack
• Doler- to hurt
• Fascinar- to fascinate
• Molestar- to bother
Examples: Te falta pelo.
Nos gustan los libros.

13. Preterite Imperfect
•To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the •To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the
preterite, simply drop the ending (-ar) imperfect, simply drop the ending (-ar)
and add one of the following: and add one of the following:
•é •aba
aste abas
ó aba
amos ábamos
asteis abais
aron aban
•The preterite is used for actions in the •The imperfect is used for actions in the
past that are seen as completed. Use of past that are not seen as completed.
the preterite tense implies that the past Use of the imperfect tense implies that
action had a definite beginning and the past action did not have a definite
definite end. beginning or a definite end.
The preterite tells us specifically
when an action took place.The
imperfect tells us in general
when an action took place.

14. El Pretérito y Trigger Words
It is a definite time in the past, and has a
beginning or an ending.
Trigger words that you could assume may
deal with this are:
Ayer
Anoche
El año pasado
La semana pasada
Ante ayer

15. ER
-í -imos
El -iste -isteí s
Pretérito -ió -ieron
IR
-í -imos
-iste -isteís
-ió -ieron

16. El Pretérito Irregulars
There are 3 main types of Irregular
Pretérito verbs we have learned about.
They are:
Car, Gar, y Zar
Cucaracha
Spock

17. Car, Gar, y Zar Irregulars
-qué -camos -gué -gamos -cé -zamos
-caste casteís -gaste -zaste -zasteís
-gasteís
-có -caron -gó -garon -zo -zaron

18. Spock Irregulars!
3 different groupings.
The words in each grouping are
conjugated the same way.
The groupings are:
1. IR y SER
2.DAR y VER
3.HACER

19. DAR- to give VER- to see
IR- to go SER- to
be I Imos
Fui Fuimos Iste Isteís
Fuiste Fuisteís Io Ieron
Fue Fueron
HACER…. TO MAKE
OR DO
Hice Hicimos
Hiciste Hicisteís
Hito Hicieron

20. Cucaracha Verbs
Endings for all are the same:

21. Andar- aduv
Estar- estuv Conducir-
Poder- pud conduj
Poner- pus Producir- produj
Querer- quis
Traducir- traduj
Saber- sup
Tener- tuv Decir- dij
Venir- vin Traer- traj
Cucaracha Verbs

22. Snake
• In the 3rd person, the stem change
occurs.
• The stem change is to opposite vowel
with the first vowel.
Dormi Dormimos
Dormiste Dormisteis
Durmio Durmierion

23. Snakeys
Follows same concept as SNAKE, but is
more specific.
In the 3rd person the stem change is the
vowel “I” to the vowel “y”.
Leer

24. Imperfect y Trigger Words
• The imperfect tense is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly.
• They have no definite end or beginning
• Trigger words:
muchas veces
a menudo
mucho
a veces
cada día nunca
cada año por un rato
con frecuencia siempre
de vez en cuando tantas veces
en aquella época todas las semanas
frecuentemente todos los días
generalmente todo el tiempo
varias veces

25. Imperfect
- ar -er and –ir
aba ábamos ía íamos
abas abais ías íais
aba aban ía ían

26. Imperfect Irregulars