1. Spanish 4H Grammar Book
Alejandra Cooke
Period 1

2. Table of Contents
3: El Presente 23: Negative Formal
4: Irregular Yo Forms Commands
5: Irregular Verbs 24: Informal Commands
(present tense) 25: Nosotros Commands
6: Ser y Estar 27: Object Pronouns
8: Verbos Como Gustar 29: Prepositional
10: Nouns & Articles Pronouns
11: Adjetivos 30: Double Object
12: Preterite v. Pronouns
Imperfect
31: Possessive Adjectives
15: Present Subjunctive
32: Possessive Pronouns
19: Subjunctive in Noun
Clauses 33: Demonstrative
20: Subjunctive in Adjectives
Adjective Clauses 34: Demonstrative
21: DOP & IOP with Pronouns
commands 37: Reflexive Pronouns
22: Formal Commands 38: Por y Para
39: To Become
40: Reflexive Verbs

3. Table of Contents contd.
42: Future 60: Future Perfect
43: Conditional 61: Conditional Perfect
45: Relative Pronouns 62: Si Clauses
46: Qué vs. Cuál 63: Transitional Expressions
47: The Neuter Lo 64: Pero vs. Sino
48: Subjunctive in Adverbial 65: Passive Voice
Clauses 66: Negative & Indefinite Expressions
50: Past Subjunctive 67: Past Perfect
51: Comparisons and Superlatives 68: Past Perfect Subjunctive
52: Adverbs 69: Uses of the Infinitive
53: Diminutives 70: Prepositions
54: Augmentatives
55: Present Perfect
56: Present Perfect Subjunctive
57: Uses of Se
58: Past Participles as Adjectives
59: Time Expressions with Hacer

4. El Presente
• present tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive
ending “-ar, -er, -ir”
• used to express habitual actions or actions that will take place in the
near future
Stem-changing verbs
>-ar/-er: e to ie and o to ue
>-ir: e to i
**no stem-changing in the nosotros and vosotros forms
>JUGAR: u to ueconstruir, destruir, incluir, influir (add y before personal
endings)
Ejemplos
1) Yo como una hamburguesa para mi almuerzo.
2) Ella juega fútbol con sus amigas.
3) Escribimos con un lapiz en mi cuaderno.

5. Irregular Yo Forms
• -er/-ir have irregular yo forms in the present
tense
• -cer/-cir change to -zco in the yo form
• -ger/-gir change to –jo
• many verbs have irregular -go endings
>caer, to fall: yo caigo
>conducir, to drive: yo conduzco
>dirigir, to direct/manage: yo dirijo
>caber, to fit: yo quepo
>saber, to know: yo sé
>ver, to see: yo veo

6. Irregular Verbs, Present Tense
>dar: doy, das, da, damos, dais, dan
>decir
>estar Ejemplos
>ir 1) Yo hago mucha comida durante los
vacaciones de diciembre.
>ser 2) Yo pongo mis libros en mi escritorio.
3) Yo salgo mi casa para ir al aeropuerto.
4) Yo conduzco con mi madre para recibir mi
>tener licencia.
>venir

7. Ser y Estar
“to be”
not interchangeable
SER ESTAR
• nationality and place of • express things temporarily
origin (qualities or conditions that
• profession or occupation change with time)
• characteristics of • location or spatial
people, animals, and things relationships
• generalizations • health
• possession • emotional states
• material of composition • certain weather expressions
• time, date, or season • ongoing actions
• where or when an event (progressive tenses)
takes place • results of actions (past
participles)
• death: “muerto/a”

8. Ser y Estar contd.
SER Ejemplos ESTAR Ejemplos
1) Soy de Woodstock, GA. 1) Estoy en Nueva York
2) Ella es colombiana. para esta semana.
3) Mi madre es una 2) Ellos están aburridos
doctora.
en la clase de
4) Los gemelos, Ana y
Nico, son morenos con ciencias.
ojos verdes. 3) Porque es octubre,
5) El libro Twilight es de estamos en el otoño.
Selena.
4) Mi amiga Marisol está
6) El concierto de Jingle
Ball es en diciembre.
enferma con la gripe.

9. Verbos Como Gustar
• gustar: “to please” • Aburrir: to bore
>the thing/person • Caer bien/mal: to get along
that pleases is the subject; • Disgustar: to upset
gustar agrees in person and • Doler: to hurt
number • Encantar: to enjoy
>singular or plural • Faltar: to lack
• when gustar is followed by • Fascinar: to fascinate
one or more verbs in
infinitive, singular form of • Hacer falta
gustar is always used • Importar
• used in conditional to • Interesar: to interest
soften a request • Molestar: to bother
• a+[prep. pronoun] or • Preocupar: to worry
a+[noun] emphasizes who • Quedar: to leave; to fit
is pleased
(clothing)
• Sorprender: to surprise

10. Verbos Como Gustar contd.
1) Me gusta la revista de InStyle.
2) Nos gustan las vacaciones en Florida.
3) Me fascina Central Park en Nueva
York.
4) Te duelen piernas.

11. Nouns & Articles
• nouns in Spanish are either masculine
or feminine (masculine usually ends in –
o, feminine usually ends in –a)
Definite Articles Indefinite Articles
el un
la una
los unos
las unas
Feminine: -a, -dad/-tad/-tud, - Masculine: -o, -ma/-ta/-pa
ción/-sión/-gión, -ez, -triz, -
umbre, and nouns referring to
women
Examples: feminine--la fruta, la ciudad, la canción, la validez, la
actriz, la costumbre, la madre; masculine--el programa, el día

12. Adjetivos
• adjectives are used to describe nouns
• they take the form of either masculine or
feminine, depending on the gender of
the word they are describing (la fresa
roja, el libro aburrido)
• either singular or plural, again depending
on the noun it‟s describing (EX: el chico
alto, los chicos altos)
• adjectives that end in -e for the singular
also end in –es for the plural

13. Preterite v. Imperfect
PRETERITE IMPERFECT
“Snapshot” of the past “Video” of the past without a specific
beginning or stopping point
>actions viewed as single events
>habitual actions
>actions repeated a specific
>actions that “set the stage” for other
number of times past actions
>actions that occurred during a >time
specific time period >date
>part of a chain of events >weather
>state the beginning/end of an >age
action >mental states
Preterite >describing characteristics of
é í people, things, or conditions
aste iste
ó ió Imperfect
amos imos aba ábamos ía íamos
asteis isteis abas abais ías íais
aron ieron aba aban ía ían

14. Preterite v. Imperfect contd.
PRETERITE IMPERFECT
Trigger Words: Trigger Words: a
ayer, anoche, el otro veces, cada día, cada
día, entonces, esta semana/mes/año, muchas
mañana/tarde, la semana veces, nunca, mientras, sie
mpre, todos los días
pasada, el año pasado
>would, used
to, were/was…
Example
Juan habló con la Example
estudiante. Las chicas hablaban en
Juan spoke with the inglés.
student. The girls used to speak in
English.

15. Preterite v. Imperfect contd.
• -gar changes g to gu
• -car changes c to qu
• -zar changes z to c
• verbs that end in -aer, -eer, -oír, -oer, &
uir change ió to yó & ieron to yeron

16. Present Subjunctive
Subjunctive Main clause -ar: e, es, e, Irregulars
Mood + emos, en dar (dé)
*attitudes connector estar (esté)
*uncertainty + -er/-ir: a, as, a, ir (vaya)
*hypothetical subordinate amos, an saber (sepa)
clause haber (haya)
ser (sea)
Tenga
Wishing/Wanting **Subjunctive is SUBJECTIVE Venga
Emotion *iffy
Doubt *indicative Dé/Diga
Disbelief I vaya
Impersonal Sea
Expressions Haga/Haya
Negation Esté
God/Grief Sepa

17. Present Subjunctive contd.
Impersonal Expressions
*Es bueno que
*Es mejor que
*Es malo que
*Es necesario que
*Es importante que
*Es urgente que

18. Present Subjunctive contd.
Expressions of Emotion
*alegrarse (de): to be happy
*esperar: to hope, to wish
*sentir (e-ie): to be sorry, to regret
*sorprender: to surprise
*temer: to be afraid, to fear
*Es triste: It‟s sad
*Ojalá (que): I hope (that), I wish (that)

19. Present Subjunctive contd.
Expressions of Doubt, Disbelief, & Denial
*dudar: to doubt
*negar (e-ie): to deny
*Es imposible: It‟s impossible
*Es improbable: It‟s improbable
*No es cierto: It‟s not true, It‟s not certain
*No es seguro: It‟s not certain
*No es verdad: It‟s not true

20. Subjunctive in Noun Clauses
• noun clause: dependent clauses that serve as
a direct object or complement of a verb
• the subjunctive mood is used with noun
clauses when:
*subj. of the verb is different than that of
the dependent clause
*the verb is influence/willing
(want, prefer, desire), emotion
(fear, happy), doubt/negation
(uncertain, deny), and impersonal expression
(es posible, es importante)
EX: Dudo que vaya al Inglaterra en el verano.
Creo que tengamos una prueba en ciencias.

21. Subjunctive in Adjective Clauses
• adjective clause: an entire clause that
describes a noun or pronoun
• the subjunctive mood is used with
adjective clauses when the
antecedent is
indefinite, unknown, nonexistent, or
negated
EX: Necesito un libro que me explique
esto.
Busco una doctora que sepa español.

22. DOP & IOP with Commands
AFFIRMATIVE NOSOTROS
Tú: drop the ‘s’ Ud./Uds.: put it in ‘yo’ form, change
Irregulars: to opposite vowel
di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven Irregulars: TVDISHES
Tú: put it in „yo‟ form and change Ud./Uds.: same as above
to the opposite vowel, add „s‟ Irregulars: TVDISHES
Irregulars: TVDISHES
NEGATIVE NOSOTROS
*DOP + IOP + „se‟ can attach to affirmative
*DOP + IOP + „se‟ must go before the negative
command

23. Formal Commands
• use when addressing someone you don‟t know well or
someone you show respect to
• all usted and ustedes commands are formed the same as
the present subjunctive
1. start with the yo form of the present tense
**irregularity carries
2. drop the –o ending over from the yo form
to command form
3. add the following endings: >tenga, tengan
*-ar: -e (usted), -en (ustedes) >traiga, traigan
>venga, vengan
*-er/-ir: -a (usted), -an (ustedes)
**stem-changing verbs
*hable, hablen *Affirmative &
transition the same as
*coma, coman Negative
irregulars
*escriba, escriban commands use
>cuente, cuenten
the same verb
>vuelva, vuelvan
forms*
>pida, pidan

24. Negative Formal Commands
• add “no” in front of the formal
command
EX: No saquen sus libros.
No ponga su mochila aquí.
No lleguen tarde.

25. Informal Commands
• use when addressing family or friends
• affirmative tú commands are formed the same as the
present tense usted form
*hablar –ar + a= habla
*comer –er + e= come
*escribir –ir + e= escribe
*EX: Compra la camisa.
*pronoun attached to the end of aff. commands
*IRREGULARS: decir-di, salir-sal, hacer-haz, ser-
sé, ver-ve, tener-ten, poner-pon, venir-ven
• negative informal commands use the tú form of the
present subjunctive (EX: no hables, no escribas)
*pronoun precedes the verb

26. Nosotros Commands
• used when the speaker suggests an action to be done
by a group, including the speaker
• two ways to form these commands: ir form and
subjunctive form
*IR: use present nosotros form of ir
EX: Vamos a nadar.
Vamos al restaurante.
*pronoun attached to the end
*SUBJUNCTIVE: use nosotros in the present
subjunctive form
EX: Tomemos un taxi.
Comamos aquí.
*pronouns nos & se-drop the final –s of the verb and
add to the end

27. Nosotros Commands contd.
Negative
• place “no” in front of the present subjunctive of nosotros
EX: No nademos.
No salgamos.
*reflexive, direct object, & indirect object pronouns
precede negative pronouns
EX: No los comamos.
Reflexive: Peinémonos el cabello. Cepillémonos
los dientes.
DO: Comámoslas. Pongámoslo.
IOP: Contestémosles.
**when attaching reflexive pronouns to the end of
a nosotros command, drop the final s of the
command form before the reflexive pronoun**

28. Object Pronouns
*direct object pronouns receive the
action of the verb
**indirect object pronouns identify to
whom or for whom an action is done
*direct/indirect object pronouns
precede the conjugated verb
*obj. pronouns may be attached to the
infinitive, gerund, affirmative
command, or placed before the
conjugated verb

29. Object Pronouns contd.
**Le and Les change to se when they
are used with lo, la, los, or las
*when obj. pronouns are attached to
infinitives, participles, or commands, a
written accent is often required to
maintain proper word stress

30. Prepositional Pronouns
Mí: me, myself Él: him, it Nosotros/as: us, Ellos: them
ourselves
Ti: you, yourself Ella: her, it Vosotros/as: Ellas: them
you, yourselves
Ud.: you, yourself Sí: himself, Uds.: you, Sí: themselves
herself, itself yourselves
*prepositional pronouns function as the objects of
prepositions
>except for mí, ti, & sí, they are identical to their
corresponding subj. pronouns
*pronoun sí is used to refer back to the same third-person
subject (mismo/a(s) added for clarification)
*when mí, ti, & sí are used with con, they become conmigo,
contigo, & consigo
*these are used with tú and yo instead of ti and mí: entre,
excepto, incluso, menos, salvo, según

31. Double Object Pronouns
*indirect object pronouns precede the
direct object pronoun when they are
used together in a sentence

32. Possessive Adjectives
5 Possessive Adjectives: mi (my), tu (your
informal), su (his, her, their, your formal), nuestro
(our), & vuestro (your familiar or plural)
*mi, tu, and su have both singular and plural
forms: mi, mis, tu, tus, su, sus
• agree with the nouns they modify
• mi, tu, and su do not have feminine or masculine
forms (stay the same regardless of gender)
• nuestro and vuestro:
nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras &
vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras
EX: mi libro, tus libros, su revista, nuestros
carros, vuestro cuaderno

33. Possessive Pronouns
• mine: el mío, la mía, los míos, las mías
• yours (familiars): el tuyo, la tuya, los tuyos, las tuyas
• yours (formal), his, hers: el suyo, la suya, los suyos, las
suyas
• ours: el nuestro, la nuestra, los nuestros, las nuestras
• yours (familiar): el vuestro, la vuestra, los vuestros, las
vuestras
• yours (formal), theirs: el suyo, la suya, los suyos, las
suyas
EX: Mi libro es grande pero el tuyo es pequeño.
Su carro es negro pero el mío es rojo.

34. Demonstrative Adjectives
Este Ese Aquel
este ese aquel
estos esos aquellos
esta esa aquella
estas esas aquellas
Neuter Forms (refer to abstract ideas)
*esto: this matter, this thing
*eso: that matter, that thing
*aquello: that matter/thing over there

35. Demonstrative Pronouns
• replace a noun in a phrase instead of
modifying it like an adjective would
1) replace noun(s) close to the speaker
(this one)
EX: Yo quiero ésta aquí.
Singular Plural
éste (this one here) éstos (this one here)
ésta (this one here) éstas (this one here)

36. Demonstrative Pronouns contd.
2) replace noun(s) that are not close to
the speaker (that one)
EX: Ésas son las más bonitas.
Singular Plural
ése (that one there) ésos (those there)
ésa (that one there) ésas (those there)

37. Demonstrative Pronouns contd.
3) replace noun(s) far from the speaker
and listener (that over there)
EX: Aquél allá es peligroso.
Singular Plural
aquél (that over there) aquéllos (those over
there)
aquélla (that over there) aquéllas (those over
there)

38. Reflexive Pronouns
• reflexive pronouns work with reflexive verbs to show that a
person is performing the action to him/herself (personal care &
daily routines)
• used to indicate an emotional response
EX: Me ducho cada mañana.
I shower (myself) every morning.
• placed immediately before simple conjugated verbs &
negative commands; attached to affirmative commands
Reflexive Verb Examples Singular Plural
cepillarse (to brush) 1st person me (to, for, from, or nos (to, for, from, or
off myself) off ourselves)
ducharse (to shower)
2nd person te (to, for, from, or os (to, for, from, or
secarse (to dry off) off yourself) off yourselves)
3rd person se (to, for, from, or se (to, for, from, or
off himself, herself, off themselves,
itself, yourself) yourselves)

39. Por y Para
POR PARA
*express gratitude or apology:
Gracias por la ayuda *destination: Ella salió para
*“through”, “along”, “by”, “in Madrid
the area of”: Andamos por el *use or purpose: El vaso es
parque para agua
*exchange, including sales
*“in order to”, “for the purpose
*“on behalf of”, “in favor of”
of”
*express length of time: Estudié
por dos horas *recipient: Este regalo es para
*“during” ti
*communication, transportatio *deadline or specific time
n: Viajo por tren y hablo por
teléfono
*express cause or reason
*idiomatic expression: por
ahora, por aquí, por
ejemplo, por favor, por fin, por
último

40. To Become
• Hacerse: reflexive verb; to become, to
pretend; conjugated the same as
hacer (add the proper reflexive
pronoun-EX: me hago)
• Ponerse: me pongo, se ponen,
reflexive form of poner
• Volverse: me vuelvo, te vuelves
• Llegar a ser: Spanish phrasal verb that
means “to become”

41. Reflexive Verbs
*transitive verbs have an object, while intransitive does not have an
object
-aburrirse: to become bored
-acordarse: to remember Ponerse
-comerse: to eat up “to get”
-dormirse: to fall asleep “to become”
-irse (de): to go away (from) *used with adj.
-llevarse: to carry away
-mudarse: to move
-parecerse (a): to resemble, to look like
-ponerse: to put on (clothing)
-quitarse: to take off (clothing)
*prepositions: a, de, & en
-acercarse (a): to approach
-enterarse (de): to find out (about)
-morirse (de): to die (of)

42. Future
• tells what will happen or what shall happen
• expresses wonder or probability in the
present state
Irregular Verbs
• caber: cabr-
Regular Verbs • poner: pondr-
**add these endings • decir: dir-
to the infinitive form • haber: habr-
• salir: saldr-
-é • hacer: har-
-ás • poder: podr-
-á • tener: tendr-
-emos • querer: querr-
-éis • valer: valdr-
-án • saber: sabr-
• venir: vendr-

43. Conditional
• expresses probability, possibility, wonder, or
conjecture would, could, must have, or
probably
Irregular Verbs
• caber: cabr-
Regular Verbs
• poner: pondr-
**add these endings
• decir: dir-
to the infinitve form
• haber: habr-
• salir: saldr-
-ía
• hacer: har-
-ías
• poder: podr-
-ía
• tener: tendr-
-íamos
• querer: querr-
-íais
• valer: valdr-
-ían
• saber: sabr-
• venir: vendr-

44. Conditional contd.
Uses
• express speculation about the past
• express the future from the perspective of the
past
• express hypothetical actions/events that may or
may not occur
• polite use to soften requests
• ask for advice
• reported speech
• express what would be done in a particular
situation

45. Relative Pronouns
• combine two sentences that share a
common noun
• “related” to a noun that has been previously
stated
• introduce a clause that modifies a noun
Examples
*que: refers to both people and things, in either subject or object position
*quien: only refers to people
*el/la/los/las/lo que: refers to both people and things
*cuyo/cuya/cuyos/cuyas: relates the owner to that which is owned “whose”

46. Qué vs. Cuál
Qué Cuál
• “what” • “which”
• asking for definitions • used before es and
• most often used before other forms of ser when
nouns not seeking a definition
Examples • suggest a selection or
¿Qué es una ciudad? choice from among a
What is a city? group
¿De qué color es la camisa? Examples
What color is the shirt? ¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?
What is your phone number?

47. The Neuter Lo
• used before singular adjectives when they
function as nouns, usually referring to a
concept or category
• lo has a difficult time translating to English, but
sometimes it serves as “what is”
Example: Lo importante es amar.
The important aspect is to love.
What’s important is to love.
• represents an idea/concept when it is the DO
of the verb translated as “it”

48. Subjunctive in Adverbial Clauses
Conjunctions that ALWAYS Conjunctions that SOMETIMES
take the subjunctive take the subjunctive
• antes (de) que: before • aunque:
• para que & a fin de although, even
que: in order that though, even if
• sin que: without expresses uncertainty
• con tal (de) que: • de modo que/de
provided that manera que: so that, in
• en caso de que: in such a way that
case expresses intent or
• a no ser que & a purpose
menos que: unless

49. Subjunctive in Adverbial Clauses contd.
Time Expressions
• cuando: when
• hasta que: until
• en cuanto: as soon as
• luego que: as soon as
• después (de) que: after
• mientras (que): while

50. Past Subjunctive
Subject Ending Subject Ending
yo -ra nosotros/nosotras (accented vowel) + -ramos
tú -ras vosotros/vosotras -rais
él -ra ellos -ran
ella -ra ellas -ran
usted -ra ustedes -ran
Forming the Past Subjunctive
**take third person plural in the preterit and add
the endings seen in the chart above
***the ending “-se” may be seen replacing “-ra”

51. Comparisons and Superlatives
• comparisons: indicate that something has more or less of a
particular quality (like the English suffix –er)
Ex: Roberto es menos guapo.
Roberto is less handsome.
• superlatives: indicate that something has the most of a
particular quality (like the English suffix –est)
Ex: Ana es la más inteligente. Irregulars
Ana is the most intelligent. • bueno (good)
• malo (bad)
• mayor (older)
• menor (younger)
• mejor (better)
• peor (worse)
• viejo (old)
• joven (young)

52. Adverbs
• most Spanish adverbs are formed by adding
–mente to the feminine singular form of the
adjective (“-ly” in English)
Ex: perfectamente – perfectly
cariñosamente – affectionately

53. Diminutives
• diminutives: indicate smallness or show
affection
**drop “–o” or “–a” from almost any noun and
add “-ito” or “-ita”
**add “-cito” or “-cita” to words not ending in
“-o” or “-a”
Ex: la chica la chiquita
el niño el niñito

54. Augmentatives
• indicates that something is large or
undesirable
Endings
*-azo/-aza
*-ón/-ona
*-ote/-ota
*-ucho/-ucha
*-acho/-acha
*-udo/-uda

55. Present Perfect
• refers to events that happened in the past
• formed by the present tense of haber followed
by the past participle
• participles are formed by adding –ado to
“-ar” verbs and –ido to “-er/-ir” verbs
Conjugation
he + past participle
has + past participle
ha + past participle
hemos + past participle
habéis + past participle
han + past participle

56. Present Perfect Subjunctive
• formed by the present subjunctive
conjugation of haber + the past participle
Conjugation
haya + past participle
hayas + past participle
haya + past participle
hayamos + past participle
hayáis + past participle
hayan + past participle

57. Uses of Se
• reflexive pronoun: subject of the verb is also
the object; reflexive pronoun for 3rd-person
uses (Ex: himself, themselves in English)
• equivalent of English passive voice:
indicates action without indicating who
performed the action
• substitute for le or les: avoids having two
pronouns in a row beginning with l sound
(Ex: to her, to them)

58. Past Participles as Adjectives
• as adjectives, they agree with the nouns
they describe in both gender and number
(plurals have an s added)
• add –ado to –ar verbs; add –ido to –er/-ir
verbs

59. Time Expressions with Hacer
• hace + time + que + present tense of verb
Ex: Hace un año que estudio español.
I have been studying Spanish for one year.
**to make the expression negative, add “no”
before the verb
• present tense of verb + desde hace + time
Ex: Estudio español desde hace un año.
I have been studying Spanish for one year.
**to make it negative, add “no” before the verb

60. Future Perfect
• refers to an event or action that hasn‟t
happened yet but is expected or predicted
to before another occurrence “will have” or
“shall have”
• formed by the future indicative form of
haber followed by the past participle
Singular Plural
habré + past participle habremos + past participle
habrás + past participle habréis + past participle
habrá + past participle habrán +past participle
**can be translated as “must have”,
“may have”, or “might have”

61. Conditional Perfect
• expresses something that would have
happened; probability or supposition in the
past
• formed by the conditional conjugation of
haber + the past participle “would have”
Singular Plural
habría habríamos
habrías habríais
habría habrían

62. Si Clauses
• two types that become part of a sentence:
1) sentences in which the condition is
likely or reasonably likely si followed
by present indicative tense of a verb
2) sentences in which the condition is
contrary to fact or is unlikely past
subjunctive is used
• si clauses can either precede or follow the
rest of the sentence

63. Transitional Expressions
• different uses: cause & effect, clarification &
explanation, contrast & similarity, general & specific,
intro & conclusion
Examples
1) cause & effect: por, porque, como, ya que
2) clarification & explanation: además (de), en otras
palabras
3) contrast & similarity: sin embargo, aunque,
igualmente
4) general & specific: en general, específicamente
5) intro & conclusion: en primer lugar, para concluir

64. Pero vs. Sino
• pero & sino are both coordinating
conjunctions meaning “but”
• “pero” indicates contrast
• “sino”: when the part of the sentence
coming before the conjunction is in the
negative; when the part after the
conjunction directly contradicts what is
negated in the first part (“rather”, “but
rather”, “instead”)

65. Passive Voice
• used when the subject is unimportant, unknown, or refers to a generalized
subject
• the thing that receives the action of the verb comes first, followed by the verb
“to be” and the past participle of the main verb
*ser is conjugated to agree with the
subject preceding it
• the subject of a sentence written in passive voice would be the direct object
in a sentence written in active voice
• another method: use se followed by a verb to express ideas like “one does it”,
“they do it”, or “you (in general) do it”
Active Passive
El terremoto destruyó el El pueblo fue destruido
pueblo. por el terremoto.
The earthquake The town was destroyed
destroyed the town. by the earthquake.

66. Negative & Indefinite Expressions
Negative Indefinite
*used when talking about nobody *used when you don‟t know what
or nothing or who you‟re referring to
-nada: nothing -algo: something, anything
-nadie: nobody, nothing -alguien: someone, somebody
-ningún: not any -alguna vez: once, sometime
-ninguno/a: neither one -alguno/a: some, any
-ni: neither, nor -cualquier/a: which- / whatever
-nunca, jamás: never *alguno & cualquier change
-tampoco: neither, not either according to gender
*also formed by adding “no” EX: Algo pasó en el banco.
before the verb Something happened in the bank.
*you have to form double
negatives in Spanish because it‟s
the proper grammatical way

67. Past Perfect
• formed by combining the auxiliary verb “had” with
the past participle
*imperfect tense of “haber” + past
participle
• to make the sentence negative, add “no” before
the conjugated form of haber
Past Perfect Tense
había + past participle
habías + past participle
había + past participle
habíamos + past participle
habíais + past participle
habían + past participle

68. Past Perfect Subjunctive
• imperfect subjunctive of haber + past
participle
Uses
1) completed actions that had happened
before another past action
2) conditional constructions
3) hypothetical situations that could‟ve
happened, but didn‟t

69. Uses of the Infinitive
• has one of the three endings: -ar, -
er, or -ir ~translated as “to + verb”
Uses
1) subject (gerund form: -ing)
2) predicate nominative (noun that
follows the verb)
3) object of a verb
4) object of the preposition

70. Prepositions
• used to form a phrase, which then functions as an adjective or
adverb
• preposition followed by an object (usually noun but sometimes a
pronoun or verb that functions as a noun)
Examples
-a: to, at, by means of
-antes de: before
-con: with
-contra: against
-de: of, from, indicating possession
-desde: since, from
-durante: during
-en: in, on
-entre: between, among
-hasta: until
-para: for, in order to
-por: for, by
-sin: without
-sobre: over, about