Spanish Study Card

• The Artículos Definidos (Definite Articles) are the word the in English.
• It has to agree with the number and gender of the noun it precedes.
•  In Spanish, there are masculine and feminine objects. So make sure you know the gender of the word.
• El is used with masculine singular nouns.

Example:

el libro – the book

• la is used with feminine singular nouns.

Example:

la casa – the house

• los is used with masculine nouns in the plural form.

Example:

los libros – the books

• las is used with feminine nouns in the plural form.

 Example:

las casas – the houses

• Los Artículos Indefinidos (Indefinite Articles) are the equivalent of a/an in English.
• In Spanish, they have a masculine and feminine form in singular and plural. The plural form means some.
• Just like the Artículos Definidos, they need to agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
• Un is used with masculine singular nouns.

Example:

un libro – a book

• una is used with feminine singular nouns.

 Example: 

una casa – a car

• unos is used with plural masculine nouns.

Example: 

unos libros, – some books

• unas is used with plural feminine nouns.

Example: 

unas casas – some houses

•  LOS PRONOMBRES PERSONALES DE SUJETO (Subject Pronouns) are the persons who do the action or the persons being described.

Example:

 Yo soy irlandesa. I’m Irish.

Él es muy amable. He’s very kind.

Ella vive en Canada. She lives in Canada.

Nosotros tenemos dos hijos. We have two kids

•  In Spanish, it is common to omit the Personal Pronoun:

Example:

 Soy irlandesa. I’m Irish.

Es muy amable. He’s very kind.

Vive en Canada. She lives in Canada.

Tenemos dos hijos. We have two kids

This is a very important verb which you will be using all the time.

• Ser literally means to be. (the conjugated forms are: am, is, are).
• There is another verb, estar, which also means to be. 

• Ser is used when you want to express unchanging identity traits, such as your physical description, personality, and character, your nationality, race, gender and profession.

Example:

(Yo) soy alta. I’m tall.

(Ellos) son franceses. They are French.

(Vosotros) sois muy inteligentes. You are very intelligent. 

Carlos es abogado. Carlos is a lawyer.

• It’s also used in date and time.

Example:

La fiesta es el sábado.  The party is on Saturday.

El concierto es a las 8:00 de la noche. The concert is at 8:00 pm.

• It’s used to express possession.

Example:

El coche negro es mío. The black car is mine.

Los calcetines con rayas rojas son de Tomás. The socks with red stripes are Thomas.

• This expression literally means there is and there are.

Example:

Hay una piscina. There is a pool

Hay un castillo. There is a castle.

Hay unos libros sobe la mesa. There are some books on the table. 

• This is a great expression to practise los Artculos Indefinidos (un, una, unos, unas)
• Negative form: No, hay.

Example:

No hay un banco en esta calle. There isn’t a bank on this street.

This table displays the Pronouns you need to use to express likes and dislikes. They are represented in the same colour coded system as the Subject Personal Pronouns.

• To say I like in English, you need to use the pronouns given on the table.

Example:

Me encanta la música. I love music. 

• If the noun you are using is in the plural, add an –n to the verb.

Example:

Me encantan los deportes. I love sports.

• If you want to add the name of the person, add a before the name.

Example:

A Gabriel no le gusta la carne. Gabriel doesn’t like meat.

• If you want to emphasize the person in the sentence for I and you, you add mi and ti respectively.

Example:

A mi no me gusta la cebolla. I don’t like onions.

A ti te encanta la lectura. You love reading.

• If you want to emphasize the person in the sentence (he, she, we, you and they), you use the Subject Personal pronouns.

Example:

A él le encantan las motocicletas. He loves motorcycles.

A vosotras os interesa la buena comida. You (pl) are interested in good food.

This table displays the Possessive Adjectives in singular and plural form.

• Los Posesivos are the words used to indicate to whom or to what something belongs.
• They need to agree with the noun that is possessed, in gender and number.
• The feminine and masculine possessives are the same except for nuestro and vuestro. For these, you change the vowel –o for –a. Nuestra, vuestra.
• To form the plural, you add an –s to all the possessives, except for nuestro and vuestro. For these, you change o for –os, if the noun is masculine, or –as if the noun is feminine. Nuestros, nuestras, vuestros, vuestras.
• The colours in the Posesivos table will help you identify the word needed for a specific person (first, second, third; singular or plural). Remember that the light colours indicate the singular persons and the dark ones the plural persons.

Example:

mi padre – my father

mi madre – my mother

mis amigos –my friends

vuestras amigas – your friends

nuestros hermanos – our brothers

This table displays the Possessive Pronouns in the masculine form. The letters in brackets, indicate the letters you need to add to form the plurals in the masculine and feminine form.

• You should get used to the endings:

o for masculine singular

os for masculine plural

a for feminine singular

as for feminine plural

• They are the words used to indicate to whom or to what something belongs.
• The Possessive needs to agree with the noun that is possessed, in gender and number.
• The difference between Possessives 1 and 2 is that a noun does not follow these words. It may be implicit, or it has been used before.
• In English, they are similar to the words: mine, yours, his, hers, etc.
• The colours in the Posesivos table will help you identify the word needed for a specific person (first, second, third; singular or plural). Remember that the light colours indicate the singular persons and the dark ones the plural persons.

Example:

Es el gato de Claudio; es suyo. It’s Claudio’s cat; it’s his.

Esta revista no es mía. This magazine is not mine. 

Los papeles con tinta negra son vuestros. The papers with blue ink are yours.

This table displays 36 common Adjectives. They are given in the singular masculine form.

• Adjectives in Spanish have a masculine and feminine form, singular and plural. As a general rule, masculine adjectives end in -o, and feminine adjectives end in –a. To form the plural, an –s is added.

Example:

El pueblo (masculine) es pequeño. The town is small.

Los pueblos (m) son pequeños. The towns are small.

La casa (feminine) es pequeña. The house is small.

Las casas (f) son pequeñas. The houses are small.

• Some adjectives end in –e. These adjectives are both the same for masculine and feminine. To form the plural, an –s is added.

Example:

La manzana es verde. The apple is green.

El césped es verde. The book is green.

• To form the plural, add an –s to the masculine or feminine adjective.

Example:

Este documento es muy importante. This document is very important.

La comida es excelente. The food is excellent. 

Estos zapatos están enormes. These shoes are huge.

• If the adjective ends in a consonant, (except for -án, -ón, -or and ín) it’s the same form for masculine and feminine nouns. To form the plural, add –es.

Example:

La profesora es joven. The teacher is young.

El profesor es joven. The teacher is young.

Los profesores son jóvenes. The teachers are young.

Él es muy feliz. He’s very happy.

Steven tiene los ojos azules. Steven has blue eyes. 

This table in your card displays the six Reflexive Pronouns, each in its own colour to identify each person.

• Reflexive pronouns are used when the action is done and received by the subject.
• The meaning in English is

me – myself

te – yourself

se – himself

se – herself

nos – ourselves

os – yourselves (pl informal),

se – themselves, yourselves (pl. formal).

• More Spanish verbs need the reflexive pronoun than English verbs.
• You can identify a Reflexive verb by the reflexive pronouns –se, which is placed after the infinitive: dormirse.
• To conjugate the verb, you add the Pronombre Reflexivo before the verb. Remove –se and conjugate the verb according to the person.

Example:

ducharse – to wash/shower

duchar + ending

(Yo) me ducho. I shower (myself).

levantarse – to get up

Los sábados nos levantamos temprano. We get up early on Saturdays.

• Notice that some boxes are coloured. This means that those verbs have an irregular vowel change. Refer to the bottom U table with the same colour pattern to check which vowel change occurs in those verbs.

Example:

This means, there’s a vowel change in divertirse. The e changes to ie in all the persons, except in nosotros y vosotros.

Example:

Ellos se divierten. They have fun.

Nosotros también nos divertimos. We also have fun.

The centre pages have plenty of information on verbs. To take full advantage of the Spanish Study Card, it’s important to understand the layout and colour-coded system.

• The main topic on this page is the Present Tense. This page has an upper and lower U table. The upper section contains 19 VERBOS en PRESENTE REGULAR.
• The lower U table has 19 VERBOS IRREGULARES en  PRESENTE. On each box, you will find the verb in Spanish, escuchar, and its meaning in English, to listen.
• The bottom U table is coloured in three different shades to differentiate the three different kinds of irregular verbs.
• At the beginning of each coloured section in the bottom U table, there is a little box which displays the change of vowels that occur:

The green box indicates that the underlined e in the verb is changed to ie when conjugating the verb in Present. The yellow and purple coloured small tables in the box, indicate that you change the vowels in all the persons, except in those two colours which correspond to nosotros (we), and vosotros (you plural informal).

There are two more boxes with two more vowel changes in the bottom U table. o–ue and e – i.

In the centre of the page, you will find the regular endings for the ar, er and ir verbs for each person in the colour-coded system:

• You use the present tense to talk about habits, routine and facts. It’s also used to describe something happening soon.

Example:

Los lunes voy al supermercado. I go to the supermarket on Mondays.

John vive en Londres. John lives in London. 

Mi vuelo sale a las 4:00 pm. My flight leaves at 4:00 pm.

(Yo) trabajo en una oficina. I work in an office. 

To form the Present tense is quite easy:

• First, you need to get the infinitive of the verb. Your Spanish Card has a top U table with 19 regular verbs. They end in ar, er and ir.

Example:

hablar – to speak

comer – to eat

vivir – to live

• Remove the infinitive ending ar, er or ir. You are now left with the present stem: habl-, com-, viv-
• Finally, add the personal ending shown in the centre of the card, according to your type of verb and the person you want to use it with.

hablo – I speak

hablas – you speak

él/ella Ud. habla – he/she/you -formal- speaks

hablamos –we speak

habláis  – you speak (plural informal )

ellos / ellas hablan  – they speak

Use the table called FRECUENCIA on your table, to form complete personal sentences.

Remember to practise them out loud.

IRREGULAR VERBS

• Irregular verbs in Spanish suffer some vowel changes when they are conjugated.
• Your card displays three types of irregular verbs. The three different types are displayed in different colours.
• Each irregular section begins with a table like this:

This shows the change in vowel: e – ie. This means that the vowel e changes to ie. The yellow and purple boxes beside it with a diagonal line over it, represent the persons that aren’t affected. Those two colours represent nosotros (we) and vosotros (you informal).

Example:

pensar –   to think

pienso – I think

piensas – you think

piensa – he/she thinks

pensamos – we think

pensáis – you think (plural informal)

piensan – they think

• The second change is in the vowels o – ue. It follows the same rule as above, nosotros and vosotros don’t suffer any change.

Example:

encontrar – to find

encuentro – I find

encontramos – we find

encontráis – you find (plural informal)

• The third irregular change happens in the vowels e – i. The same rule above applies to these irregular verbs.

Example:

pedir – to ask for

pido – I ask for

pedimos – we ask for

pedistéis – you ask for (plural informal)

You can practise the conjugation of these irregularities with some common verbs given in your card.

• Some common verbs are only irregular in the first person yo ( I ).
• This table displays 11 commonly used verb and the form conjugated in yo.
• The rest of the persons are conjugated like a regular verb.

Example:

conocer – to know

(yo) conozco – I know

conoces – you know

conoce – he/she knows

conocemos – we know

conocéis – you know (plural informal)

conocen – they know

• These two verbs are very common, so it’s advisable to learn the conjugations very well.

• The verb ir can be used as a verb and also as a helping verb when forming sentences in the future tense.

Example:

Voy al gimnasio todos los días. I go to the gym every day.

Jorge va al cine una vez al mes. Jorge goes to the cinema once a month. 

Hugo va a viajar en Mayo – Hugo is travelling in May. (future meaning)

• The verb estar means to be.
• You use estar for location.

Example: 

El restaurante está en la esquina. The restaurant is on the corner. 

• Also for mood and physical condition. (Temporary states)

Example:

Estoy enfermo.  I’m sick

Estamos muy emocionados. We’re very excited. 

• Estar is used to form the Present Progressive. (Explained in detail in the table below)

Example:

¿Estáis escuchando? Are you listening?

• This tense expresses that something is in progress.
• It’s formed with the conjugated verb estar in present and with the endings –ando (ar verbs) and –iendo (er/ir verbs).
• Remove the –ar, –er or –ir of the verb and add ando or iendo to the root.  This corresponds to ing in English

Example: 

estudiar – estudi + ando = estudiando (studying)

Estoy estudiando para mi examen. I’m studying for my exam.

vivir – viv + iendo = viviendo (living)

Franco está viviendo con sus abuelos. Franco is living with his grandparents.

comer – com + iendo = comiendo

David está comiendo sano. Davis is eating healthily. 

• There’s a table below which shows some verbs in the progressive form. Note the changes that some of them suffer.

Example:

leer – leyendo (reading)

oir – oyendo (listening)

decir – diciendo (saying)

• These are used to point to a person, thing, place or time. In English, they are the words: this, these, those.
• M stands for masculine and F stands for the feminine. The first column displays them in the singular form, and the second column shows them in the plural form.

Masculine

este – this

estos – those

Feminine

esta – this 

estas – those

• aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas (masculine and feminine singular and plural respectively) are used for objects, people or places that are at a greater distance from the speaker.

Example:

¿Me puedes pasar aquella bolsa negra?  Can you pass me that black bag?

Nunca olvidaré aquel día. I will never forget that day. (día is a masculine noun)

The main topic in this page is the Pretérito (Past Tense). This page has an upper and lower U table.

• The upper U table contains 19 regular verbs.
• The lower U table has  19 irregular verbs. (Divided into three irregularities)

In the centre of the page, you will find the regular endings for Pretérito for the ar, er and ir verbs for each person in the colour-coded system:

• Pretérito is used to express that an action in the past has been completed.

Example:

Compré dos boletos para el concierto. I bought two tickets for the concert.

Forming the Pretérito:

• Check if your verb ends in: –ar, –er or –ir.

Example:

hablar – to speak

comer – to eat

vivir – to live

• Remove –ar, –er or –ir and add the endings given in the table.
• Note that er and ir verbs take the same endings.

Example:

hablar – habl + é = hablé (I spoke)

comer – com + í = comí (I ate)

vivir – viv + í = viví (I lived)

• Use the EXPRESIONES PASADO table to add time expressions to your sentences.

PRETÉRITO IRREGULAR EN YO 

• Some irregular verbs in Spanish in Pretérito suffer some changes when they are conjugated in the first person singular.
• Your card displays three types of irregularities. They are displayed in different colours.
• Each irregular section begins with a table like this:

These 12 irregular verbs should be studied thoroughly. The roots of the verbs are very irregular, and the endings are different from the regular endings in Pretérito.

Example:

poner – to put

pus-

puse – I put

puso – he/she put

pusimos – we put

pusieron – they put

querer – want

quis

quise – I wanted

quiso – he/she wanted

quisimos – we wanted

quisieron – they wanted

• The verbs that have an asterisk * beside it take the *eron conjugation for ellos (they), instead of ieron.

Example:

decir – to say

dij

dije – I said

dijeron – they said

This table displays the conjugations of four very irregular and very common verbs in Pretérito:

ser/ir, dar, pedir and hacer.

• Ser (to be) and ir (to go) have the same conjugation. The context should tell you which one is being referred to.

Example:  

Ayer fui al supermercado. Yesterday I went to the supermarket.

Fui un buen estudiante en la secundaria. I was a good student in secondary school.

This box shows the changes that these verbs suffer in the third person singular and plural.

• The vowel i is changed to the letter y. The conjugation is formed like with the regular verbs.

Example:

leer – to read

leí – I read

leíste – you read

leyó – he/she read

leímos –we read

leíste – you read (informal plural)

leyeron – they read

• Remember that the Direct Object is the part that’s affected directly by the verb in the sentence.

Example:

Compré flores – I bought flowers 

Carlos llamó a Luis – Carlos called Luis

• The direct object pronoun substitutes the direct object. The pronoun goes before the verb when there’s only one verb in the sentence. The table shows the different pronouns coloured according to the person.
• Remember to pay attention to third persons in singular and plural. They can be either feminine or masculine singular

Example:

Compré flores – I bought flowers (feminine noun)

las compré – I bought them

Daniel compró chocolates – Daniel bought chocolates (masculine noun)

Daniel los compró or Los compró Daniel – Daniel bought them

• The Indirect Object is what’s affected by the verb in an indirect form.
• The Indirect Object pronoun must be present in a sentence any time there’s an indirect object.

Example: 

Le di las llaves a mi hermano. I gave the keys to my brother. 

Te escribí una carta. I wrote you a letter. 

• If you want to substitute both the direct and indirect pronouns in the same sentence, the indirect object pronoun comes first.

Example: 

Te escribí una carta. I wrote you a letter. 

Te la escribí. I wrote it for you. 

Mi mamá me mandó un email. My mom sent me an email. 

Mi mamá me lo mandó. My mom sent it to me.

• When a sentence has one verb in infinitive and a conjugated verb, the direct object pronoun can be positioned before the conjugated verb or after the infinitive. It has to be connected to it.

Example: 

Necesito leer este libro. I need to read this book. 

Lo necesito leer or Necesito leerlo. I need to read it.

• The same rule applies for the indirect object pronouns.

Example: 

Le quiero enseñar esta foto a Oscar / Quiero enseñarle esta foto a Oscar.  I want to show this photo to Oscar.

• When the indirect object le or les (third person singular or plural) is combined with any direct object pronoun, le and les changes to se.

Example: 

Le quiero enseñar esta foto a Oscar / Quiero enseñarle esta foto a Oscar.  I want to show this photo to Oscar.

Se la quiero enseñar.  / Quiero enseñársela.  I want to show it to him.

• In Spanish, you place the word no before the conjugated verb to express the negative form.

Example: 

No soy francés. Im not French. 

No hablo alemán. I don’t speak German.

No voy a viajar este año. I’m not going to travel this year.

• To form the negative with the expressions nothing, no one, never, you need to use no as well.

Example: 

No espero nada. I expect nothing.

No conozco a nadie. I know no one. 

No tengo ni su número ni su dirección. I don’t have his number nor his address.

• When you begin the sentence with never, nothing or no one, it’s not necessary to use no.

Example:

Nunca viajé a esa parte de Italia. I never travelled to that part of Italy. 

Jamás regresaré a ese restaurnte. I will never go back to that restaurant. 

Nadie me explicó las instrucciones. Nobody explained the instructions to me. 

• This table displays the endings to form the Imperfecto for- ar and –er/ir verbs.
• It also shows the three irregular verbs in Imperfecto.
•  The Imperfect is a type of Past tense. It’s used to describe habits in the past. It expresses what people used to do. It also sets the scene in the past.

Example:

Cuando tenía 8 años, jugaba con mi perro Fido. When I was 8 years old, I used to play with my dog Fido.  

Lo recuerdo muy bien, era un día lluvioso, tú llevabas un abrigo marrón. I remember it very well, it was a rainy day, you were wearing a brown coat. 

• To form the Imperfecto, you remove the ar, er/ir ending of the verb, and add the endings given in the table. Remember that the colour coded system indicates which person it belongs to.

Example: 

hablar, comer, vivir 

habl +

com +

viv+

hablaba – I spoke, I used to speak, I was speaking

comía – I ate, I used to eat, I was eating

vivía – I lived, I used to live, I was eating

• Learn by heart the three irregular verbs in Imperfect: ser, ver, ir.

• his table displays two ways to form the future.
• The first one is formed by adding the future endings to the infinitive verbs. There’s one single ending for the ar, er and ir verbs.

Example:

hablar, comer, vivir +

hablaré – I will speak

comeremos – we will eat

vivirán – they will live

• This type of future is not commonly used to express plans in the future. It’s sometimes used to express wonder or probability in the present tense. It’s also used to express a dream in the long term.

Example:

¿Estará pensando en mí? I wonder if he’s thinking about me.

Tendrá mucho tiempo libre. He probably has too much free time.

Viajaré por todo el mundo. I’ll travel all around the world.

• The second form of the future is more common. It expresses plans and actions that will occur soon.
• It’s formed by using the conjugated form of the verb ir in the present and the infinitive form of the verb.

Example:

Gabriel va a traer la comida. Gabriel s bringing the food.

Vamos a llegar temprano. We’re going to arrive early.

Vais a ir con nosotros? Are you going with us?

Voy a salir. I’m going out.

Van a estudiar italiano. They’re going to study Italian.

No voy a desayunar. I’m not having breakfast.

This table shows the irregularities of some verbs in condicional and futuro

• Drop the last e or i in the following verbs and add d.

Example:

salir –saldr- ( to go out, to leave)

tener – tendr– (to have)

valer – valdr– (to be worth, to cost)

venir – vendr– (to come)

• Then add the endings for conjugating in condicional or in futuro.

Example:

saldré – I will go out

saldría –  I would

tendrás – you will have

tendrías – you would have

valdrá – it will cost

valdría – it would cost

vendremos – we will come

vendríamos – we would come

• Drop the final vowel and add the endings for condicional and futuro.

Example:

caber – cabr– ( to fit)

cabrás, cabrías

querer – querr– (want)

querremos, querríamos

saber – sabr – (to know)

sabrán, sabrían

• A special case with the irregular stem. The stem of these two verbs is very irregular, so it’s best to memorise it.

Example:

decir – dir–

hacer – har–

• Then add the endings for Futuro and Condicional

Example:

diré, diría ( I will say, I would say)

haré, haría (I will do, I would do)

This table displays the endings needed to conjugate the verbs in Conditional.