SPANISH COURSE I: GRAMMAR

SUBJECT PRONOUNS  

first person	yo	I	nosotros nosotras	we
second person	tú usted	you (informal/formal)	vosotros vosotras ustedes	you (informal/formal)
third person	él ella	he / it she / it	ellos ellas	they (masculine) they (feminine)

 

              Yo vivo en España./ I live in Spain.

           Ellos están en casa./ They are at home.
           Ustedes son los siguientes/ You are next. 

          EXERCISES



           Listen: 

ARTICLES AND DEMONSTRATIVES

	Masc. Singular	Fem. Singular		Masc. Plural	Fem. Plural
the	el	la	the	los	las
a, an	un	una	some	unos	unas
this	este	esta	these	estos	estas
that	ese	esa	those	esos	esas
that	aquel	aquella	those	aquellos	aquellas

           Aquellos son mis amigos./Those are my friends.
        Tengo una bicicleta nueva/I have a new bike.
        Esta casa es muy bonita/ This house is very nice.

       EXERCISES

       Listen: 

POSSESIVE ADJECTIVES

	BEFORE THE NOUN		AFTER THE NOUN
	singular	plural	singular	plural
my	mi	mis	mío mía	míos mías
your	tu	tus	tuyo tuya	tuyos tuyas
his / her / its ; you      ( formal)	su	sus	suyo suya	suyos suyas
our	nuestro nuestra	nuestros nuestras	nuestro nuestra	nuestros nuestras
your	vuestro vuestra	vuestros vuestras	vuestro vuestra	vuestros vuestras
their ; your	su	sus	suyo suya	suyos suyas

Mi madre tiene 68 años. / My mother is 68 years old.
Su profesora es francesa = La profesora suya es francesa. / Their teacher is French.
Tu libro parece divertido = El libro tuyo parece divertido / Your book seems to be fun. 

 EXERCISES

Listen:

SER-TO BE

	present		preterite	imperfect		future
(yo)	soy	I am	fui	era	I was	seré	I will be
(tú / vos)	eres	you are	fuiste	eras	you were	serás	you will be
(él / ella) (usted)	es es	he / she / it is you are	fue fue	era era	he / she / it was you were	será será	he / she / it will be you will be
(nosotros / -as)	somos	we are	fuimos	éramos	we were	seremos	we will be
(vosotros / -as)	sois	you are	fuisteis	erais	you were	seréis	you will be
(ellos / ellas)	son	they are	fueron	eran	they were	serán	they will be

            Yo soy holandés./ I´m Dutch.
          Ellas son felices./ They are happy.
          Tú eras mi amiga./ You were my friend.
          Nosotros éramos estudiantes./ We were students.
          Usted fue mi profesor./ You were my teacher.
          Ella fue rápida./ She was fast.
          Él será médico./ He will be a doctor.
          Vosotras seréis las primeras. / You will be the first.

          Listen:

   

ESTAR- TO BE

	present		preterite	imperfect		future
(yo)	estoy	I am	estuve	estaba	I was	estaré	I will be
(tú / vos)	estás	you are	estuviste	estabas	you were	estarás	you will be
(él / ella) (usted)	está está	he / she / it is you are	estuvo estuvo	estaba estaba	he / she / it was you were	estará estará	he / she / it will be you will be
(nosotros / -as)	estamos	we are	estuvimos	estábamos	we were	estaremos	we will be
(vosotros / -as)	estáis	you are	estuvisteis	estabais	you were	estaréis	you will be
(ellos / ellas, ustedes)	están	they are	estuvieron	estaban	they were	estarán	they will be
TENER- TO HAVE
	present		preterite	imperfect		future
(yo)	tengo	I have	tuve	tenía	I had	tendré	I will have
(tú)	tienes	you have	tuviste	tenías	you had	tendrás	you will have
(él / ella) (usted)	tiene tiene	he / she / it has you have	tuvo tuvo	tenía tenía	he / she / it had you had	tendrá tendrá	he / she / it will have you will have
(nosotros / -as)	tenemos	we have	tuvimos	teníamos	we had	tendremos	we will have
(vosotros / -as)	tenéis	you have	tuvisteis	teníais	you had	tendréis	you will have
(ellos / ellas, ustedes)	tienen	they have	tuvieron	tenían	they had	tendrán	they will have

Ser is used to identify or describe.  It tells what something is, its basic characteristics, or its origin.  Estar is used to tell the location of something or how someone feels.
LISTEN:

Uses of “Ser”

 

Identify person/object	El edificio es un templo.	The building is a temple.
Inherent Characteristics or qualities	La casa es grande. Carlos es pobre	The house is large. Charles is poor.
Nationality/Occupation	María es rusa Él es carpintero.	María is Russian He is a carpenter.
Telling time	Son las tres.	It's three o'clock.
Express ownership	Los libros son de Juan.	The books are John's.
Passive voice	El teléfono fue inventado por Bell.	The telephone was invented by Bell.

 Uses of “Estar”

 

Location/position	El libro está en la mesa.	The book is on the table.
Temporary condition/state	La ventana está abierta.	The window is open.
State of health	Juan está enfermo.	John is sick.
Form progressive tense	Miguel está estudiando.	Michael is studying.

Sometimes changing the verb can completely change the meaning: ser aburrido means to be boring, while estar aburrido means to be bored. Others include: ser bueno - to be nice, estar bueno - to be in good health; or to be handsome -ser callado - to be discrete, estar callado - to be silent; ser moreno - to have brown hair, estar moreno - to be tan.

     LISTEN:

 Many common expressions using the verb "be" in English use the verb "tener" in Spanish (but not all):

to be afraid	tener miedo	to be in a hurry	tener prisa, estar de prisa
to be against	estar en contra	to be jealous	tener celos
to be at fault	tener la culpa	to be lucky	tener suerte
to be careful	tener cuidado	to be patient	tener paciencia
to be cold	tener frío	to be sleepy	tener sueño
to be curious	ser curioso/a	to be successful	tener éxito
to be fed up	estar harto/a	to be thirsty	tener sed
to be happy	estar contento/a	to be tired	estar cansado/a
to be hot	tener calor	to be ___ years old	tener ___ años
to be hungry	tener hambre

      EXERCISE 1
      EXERCISE 2
      EXERCISE 3

     LISTEN:

TO DO/ MAKE

hacer - to do or make
	present: do(es), make(s)	preterite: did, made	imperfect: did, made	future: will do, will make
(yo)	hago	hice	hacía	haré
(tú)	haces	hiciste	hacías	harás
(él / ella / usted)	hace	hizo	hacía	hará
(nosotros / nosotras)	hacemos	hicimos	hacíamos	haremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	hacéis	hicisteis	hacíais	haréis
(ellos / ellas, ustedes)	hacen	hicieron	hacían	harán

 

Yo hice los deberes/ I did my homework.

Vosotros haréis el pan/ you will make the bread.

Ella  nos hizo reír./ She made us laugh.

LISTEN: