Miguel Hodges
GRAMMAR BOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Slide
number
 Present –ar, -er, -ir endings
3-4
 Stem changers
5
 Irregular “yo”
6
 Saber vs. Conocer
7
 Reflexives
8
 “Se” impersonal
9
 Dipthongs with accents
10
 Verbs like -ger/-gir, -uir/-guir, -cer/-cir
11
 Hace +____+ que +______
12
 Imperfecto
13
 Preterite 14-

PRESENT TENSE –AR/-ER/-IR
 In the present tense for verbs ending in –ar
Person talked about Replaces -ar at the end
Yo o
Tú as
Él/Ella/Usted a
Nosotros amos
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes an
 In the present tense for verbs ending in -er
Person talked about Replaces -er at the end
Yo o
Tú es
Él/Ella/Usted E
Nosotros emos
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes en

PRESENT TENSE –AR/-ER/-IR CONT’D
 In the present tense for verbs ending in -ir
Person talked about Replaces -ei at the end
Yo o
Tú Es
Él/Ella/Usted E
Nosotros imos
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes en

STEM CHANGERS
 Also called “Boot verbs” it changes in all but nosotros.
 More than just the ending changes. The vowel in the stem
changes.
 3 catergories. eie, o ue, and ei.
 Common e ie verbs- Tener, Preferir
 Common oue verbs- Dormir, Poder, Jugar
 *Common ei verbs- Decir, Repetir, Servir.
 * This stem change only happens in –Ir verbs!

IRREGULAR “YO” FORM
 caber (to fit) yo quepo  poner (to put, to place)yo
 caer (to fall) yo caigo pongo
 conducir (to drive) yo  saber (to know something -
conduzco a fact)yo sé
 conocer (to know,) yo  salir (to leave)yo salgo
conozco  seguir (to follow)yo sigo
 escoger (to choose )yo  traer (to bring)yo traigo
escojo  valer (to be worth)yo valgo
 dirigir (to direct) yo dirijo  ver (to see)yo veo
 hacer (to do, to make) yo
hago

SABER VS. CONOCER
 When using saber it mean that you know a
fact or how to do something.
 When using conocer it means you know a
person or are familiar with something.

REFLEXIVES
 When refering to a person doing an action.
Person talked about Reflexive pronoun
Yo Me
Tú Te
Él/Ella/Usted Se
Nosotros Nos
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes Se

“SE” IMPERSONAL
 When using an impersonal voice like “How
do you spell truck?” in Spanish you place
“se” in front to make it a general statements.

DIPTHONGS WITH ACCENTS
Here are some fairly common words that
include diphthongs : puerto, tierra, siete,
hay, cuida, ciudad, labio, hacia, paisano,
canción, Europa, aire.

VERBS LIKE GER/GIR, UIR/GUIR, CER/CIR
 For verbs that end in ger/gir, In the first
person change the g to a j.
 In guir verbs, in the yo form the gu changes
to g.
 In uir verbs add a y before a, e and, o.
 For cer/cir verbs, in the yo form, change the
c to a z.

HACE+ ______+QUE+_____
 The second blank is to be filled with a verb in
either the present or preterite form.
 The First Black is filled with an expression of
time

IMPERFECTO
 A past tense form for events without a specific time.
 For –er/-ir endings For –ar endings
Person talked about Replaces -ar at the Person talked Replaces -ar at the
end about end
Yo ía Yo aba
Tú Ías Tú abas
Él/Ella/Usted Ía Él/Ella/Usted aba
Nosotros Íamos Nosotros ábamos
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes ían Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes aban
 Trigger words Irregulars
Trigger Words Translation Ser Ir Ver
a menudo Often Era iba Veía
A veces Sometimes
Eras Ibas Veías
Cada dia everyday
Era Iba Veía
Cada año Every year
Con frecuencia frequently éramos Íbamos Veíamos
generalmente Usually Erais Ibais Veíais
siempre always eran Iban veían

PRETERITE TENSE IRREGULARS
 In irregular car,gar, zar verbs only the yo
form changes. Gar g to gu car c to qu
zar z to c
 Spock Verbs Hacer
Ir/Ser Dar/Ver
Yo Fui D/V -i Hice
Tú Fuiste D/V –iste Hiciste
El/Ella/Usted Fue D/V –io Hizo
Nosotros Fuimos D/V –imos Hicimos
Ustedes/Ello Fueron D/V- ieron Hicieron
s /Ellas

IRREGULAR PRETERITE CONT’D
Andar Anduv-
Estar Estuv-
Poder Pud-
Poner Pus-
Querer Quis- -e
Saber Sup- -iste
Tener Tuv- -o
Vener Vin- -imos
Conducir Conduj- -ieron
Producir Produj-
Traducir Traduj-
Decir Dij-
Traer Traj-

PRETERITE IRREGULAR
 In snake Verbs only the El/Ella/Usted form and Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes for changes
 Snakeys verbs are also like this except the I in these forms changes to a y
Dormí Leí
Dormiste Leiste
Durmió Leyo
Dormimos Leimos
Durmieron leyeron
Snakes Snakeys
 Preterite Trigger Words
 el otro día the other day
 el año pasado last year
 Ayer yesterday
 una vez once
 Anoche last night
 la semana pasada last week

COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES
 To form the comparisons of equality using adjectives or adverbs, use the following formula:
 tan + adjective (adverb) + como
 To form comparisons of equality with nouns, use the following formula:
 tanto(-a,-os,-as) + noun + como
 In Spanish, inequality is expressed by using one of the following formulae:
 más (menos) + adjective + que
más (menos) + adverb + que
más (menos) + noun + que
 The absolute superlative for adjectives has three possible forms.
 muy + adjective
sumamente + adjective
adjective + ísimo (-a, -os, -as)
 In Spanish, the relative superlative construction is similar to the comparative.
 definite article + noun + más (menos) + adjective + de

FUTURO
 The future tense is used to tell what "will"
happen, or what "shall" happen.
 Regular verbs in the future tense are
conjugated by adding the following endings
to the infinitive form of the verb: -é, -ás, -á, -
emos, -éis, -án

FUTURO
 Irregulars Trigger words
Decir Dir- Mañana
Haber Habr- Pasado mañana
Hacer Har- Año que viene
Poder Podr- Año proximo
Poner Pondr es un/ dos/tres horas
Querer Querr-
Saber Sabr-
Salir Saldr-
Tener Tendr-
Valer Valdr-
Venir Vendr-

PRETERITE V. IMPERFECT
Preterite is an action that has
definite beginning and end.
Imperfect has not definite
beginning or end.

FUTURE V. CONDITIONAL
 Future tense is used when you could say “I
will” in english. Such as I will go to the
movies( Yo Iré a la cinema)
 Conditional Is used when you would say
“Would, Should, or could”

POR V. PARA
 Uses of por Uses of Para
 Motion or general Destination…toward, in the
location…around through along by direction of,
 Duration of an action…for Deadline or a specific time
during in in the future
 Reason or motive for an action . . . Purpose or goal +
because of, on account of, on infinitive…. In order to
behalf of Purpose + noun… for,
 Object of search used for
 Means by which something is Recipient of
done… by, by way of, by means of something…for
 Exchange or substitution…in Comparison with others or
exchange for an opinion… for, considering
 Unit of measure…per, by In the employ of…for

POR V. PARA CONTD
 Por
• Para
 Through portal
• Destination
 Location Paraguay
Portugal • Purpose Parasites
 Time Porever stay in our body to
 Cause of
stay alive
• To make an opinion
Porpoise
Paradon me
 Exchange
export/ import

COMMANDS
Negative Tú Affirmative Tú
Used to tell family young people, or friends not to do Telling family, friends or young people to do a
a certain thing. certain thing.
Formed by taking the yo form of a verb and replacing Formed by using the third person singular
the o with –as for er and ir verbs and –es for ar verbs
Negative Usted Affirmative Usted
Used to tell older people or higher ranking Used to tell older people or higher ranking
people not to do something. people to do something.
Formed by taking the yo form and replacing the Formed by taking the yo form and replacing
o with a (Singular) or an (Plural) for eri and ir the o with a (Singular) or an (Plural) for eri and
verbs and e (Singular) or en (Plural) for ar verbs ir verbs and e (Singular) or en (Plural) for ar
verbs

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
 This form is used when you say” He/She has…”
or “ I have…” or “We have been…..”
 So combining the auxiliary verb has or have
with something done in the past.
 Haber changes to he has ha hemos
 Add ado to the end of ar verbs
 And ido to the end of ir and er verbs

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS
 Object that receives the action
 Me=me
 You=te
 Him, her or it= lo, la
 We=nos
 Them= los, las
 I have the pen= La tengo

ADVERBS
 Usually words that end in ly in english
ex.rapidly
 Mente is added to the end of the feminine
form of the verb
 Tall=altamente
 Short=Bajamente

SUBJUNTIVE
 Conjugated with opposite vowel
 Used for WEDDING
 W wish
Irregulars
 Emotion Conducir conduzca
 Doubt Decir Diga
Oir Oiga
 Denial
Dar De
 Impersonal expressions
Estar Este
 Negation Ir Vaya
 Guesses Saber Sepa
Ser Sea
Hacer Haya

“SE” IMPERSONAL
 When using an impersonal voice like “How
do you spell truck?” in Spanish you place
“se” in front to make it a general statements.

PROGRESSIVES USING IR, ANDAR, AND SEGUIR
 Ir+ present participle= is slowly but
surely___ing
 Andar+present participle=is going
around____ing
 Seguir+present participle= is still ____ing