1. GRAMMAR BOOK
By: Carla Shockey

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Nationalities
2. Stem Changers
3. Para
4. Indirect Object Pronoun
5. Object Pronoun Placement
6. Gustar
7. Affirmative and Negative Words
8. Superlatives
9. Reflexives
10. Affirmative tú Commands/Irregulars/ Pronoun Placement
11. Negative tú Commands/Irregulars/ Pronoun Placement
12. Sequencing Events
13. Pretérito
14. Trigger Words
15. -car, -gar, -zar
16. Deber + Infinitive
17. MODAL verbs
18. Present Progressive
19. Adverbs

4. STEM CHANGING
Pensar (to think) e>ie
Pienso Pensamos
Piensas Pensáis
Piensa Piesan
Almorzar (to eat lunch) o>ue
Almuerzo Almorzamos
Almuerzas Almorzáis
Almuerza Almuerzan
Pedir (to ask) e>i
Pido Pedemos
Pides Pedeís
Pide Piden
Jugar (to play) u>ue
Juego Jugamos
Juegas Jugáis
Juega Juegan

5. PARA
Use para (for, in order to)
to indicate……
The recipient Implied
Purpose
of an item Purpose
• Example: El • Example: • Example:
regalo para Vamos al Tengo
tú mama. restaurante dinero para
para comer. (comprar)
algo.

6. INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN
Indirect Objects are nouns that tell to whom/what or for
whom/what. Indirect Object Pronouns replace or accompany
indirect objects.
Singular Plural The pronouns le and les can refer to
different indirect objects. To clarify
me nos what they mean, they are often
(me) (us) accompanied by….


te os
a+ name, noun, or pronoun
(you (you ex: Rosa le comprar una olla a su madre.
familiar) familiar)
To add emphasis use….
le les
(you (you, a+ pronoun
formal, them) ex: A mi me compro unos aretes.
him, her

7. OBJECT PRONOUN PLACEMENT
• Attach the pronoun to an infinitive.
1.
• Attach the pronoun to a progressive
2. tense
• Attach the pronoun to an affirmative
3. command
• Place the pronoun before a conjugated
4. verb.
4.
•When the pronoun accompanies a conjugated verb, the pronoun
comes before the verb.
•When the pronoun accompanies a sentence with an infinitive, it
can either go before the conjugated verb or be attached to the end
of the infinitive.

8. GUSTAR Negative Phrase
No goes before conjugated verb
 Gustar means to like No______ gusta
mi= me gusta
me Ti= te gusta
Usted/el/ella=le gusta
les te Nosotros= nos gusta
Ustedes/ellas/ellos= les gusta
Gusta Vosotros= os gusta
Gusto Gustamos
os le
nos Gustas Gustáis
*Form of gusta depends on
Gusta Gustan
object liked*
Ex: Me gustan los perros.

9. AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE WORDS
Affirmative Words Negative Words
Algo Something Nada Nothing
Nadie Nobody
Alguien Someone
Ningun/Ninguno/a None
Algún/Alguno/a Some
Nunca Never
Siempre Always
Tampoco Neither,
También Also either
•Alguno and ninguno must match the gender of the noun they replace
or modify. Alguno and niguno have different forms when used before
masculine singular nouns.
•If a verb is preceded by no, words that follow must be negative. A
double negative is required in Spanish when no proceeds the verb.
•However, if a negative word, such as nunca or nadie, comes before
the verb, a second negative is not needed.

10. SUPERLATIVE
 To express extremes with adjectives amd adverbs superlatives are used.
 The suffix –ísimo, -ísimos, -ísima, -ísimas are added to adjectives and adverbs.
 Its equivalent to extremely or very.
 Malo> malísimo
 Muchas> muchisímas
 Difícil> difilísmo
 Adjectives and adverbs ending in c, g, or z change spelling to qu, gu, and c
respectively
 Rico> riquísimo
 Larga> larguísima
 Feliz> felicísmo
 Adjectives that end in –n or –r form by adding –císimo/a
 joven > jovencísimo
 trabajador > trabajadorcísimo

11. REFLEXIVES
 Reflexives are used to describe people doing things for
themselves.
 In the reflexive construction, the subject is also the object.
 The subject, the pronoun and the verb are all in the same form.
Ex: Yo me levanto a las ocho de la mañana.
Form the verb Reflexives can be……
Levantarse 1. In front of a conjugated verb
2. Attached to a gerund
Conjugate the verb… 3. Attached to an infinitve
4. Attached to an affirmative command
me levanto nos levantamos
te levantas es levantáis
se levanta se levantan

12. AFFIRMATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/
PRONOUN PLACEMENT
 Affirmative tú Commands
 Give instructions or commands to someone by
using the affirmative tú commands of regular verbs.
Caminar
¡Camina!
¡Camina en el parque!
It is a tú command, but end in third person.

13. AFFIRMATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/
PRONOUN PLACEMENT CONTINUED
Irregular Affirmative Tú Commands
Infinitive Affirmative tú
Commadns
decir di
*When you use a pronoun
hacer haz with an affirmative
ir ve command, the pronoun
poner pon attaches to the command.*
salir Sal
ser sé
tener ten Pronoun Placement
When using an object
venir ven pronoun, attach the
pronoun to the end of the
command.

14. NEGATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/
PRONOUN PLACEMENT
Negative tú Commands
When you tell someone what not to do, use a negative
command. Negative tú commands are formed by taking you
form of the present tense, dropping the o, and adding the
appropriate ending.
Hablo -es for –ar verbs
Vuelvo -as for –er and ir verbs
Infinitive Yo Form Negative tú
Command
Hablar Hablo ¡No hablas!
Volver Vuelvo ¡No Vuelvas!

15. NEGATIVE TÚ COMMANDS/IRREGULARS/
PRONOUN PLACEMENT CONTINUED
Irregular NegativeTú Commands
•A few verbs have irregular tú commands. The noun of the yo forms of
these verbs end in –o.
Infinitive (yo form) Negative tú Command
Dar (doy) No le des mi dirreccion a
nadie.
Estar (estoy) No estes triste
Ir (voy) No vayas a la tienda.
Ser (soy) No seas mala.
Pronoun Placement
Object Pronouns precede the
verbs in negative commands, just
as with other conjugated verbs.
Ex: ¡ No lo uses!

16. SEQUENCING EVENTS
Luego/
First Primero Then Entonces Later después Finally Por Fin
Antes de/ después de Por la manana/ Los lunes, los
tarde/noche martes, los
miercoles,…etc.
Before/ after In/ during the Monday, Tuesday,
(no specific time Wednesday
given)
Words used to tell when and in what order certain events occur.

17. PRETÉRITE
ar: er/ir:
hablar Comer/escribir
-é -amos -í -imos
hablé hablamos comí comimos
escribí escibimos
-aste -asteís -íste -isteís
hablaste hablasteís comíste comisteís
escribíste escribisteís
-ó -aron
-ió -ieron
habló hablaron
comió comieron
escribió escribieron
•A pretérite is a perfected action in the past.
•“snapshot”
•Beginning and/or ending

18. Trigger Words
TRIGGER WORDS

19. -CAR, -GAR, -ZAR
-car -gar -zar
tocar
-toqué -jugué -comencé
-tocaste -jugaste -comenzaste
-tocó -jugó - comenzó
-tocamos -jugamos -comenzamos
-tocaron -jugaron -comenzaron
•* -car ending preterite verbs in the yo form will change to –que in order
to keep the hard „c‟ sound.*
•Ex: Yo saque (sacar) la basura.

20. DEBER + INFINITIVE
•The verb deber means should or ought to. To say what people
should do, use a conjugated form of deber with the infinitive of
another verb.
Deber
should, ought to
Ex:
debo debemos
Debo barrer el suelo.
I should sweep the floor.
debes debéis
Deben sacar la basura.
They should take out the trash.
debe deben
*Remember you can put a pronoun in front
of a conjugated verb or attach it to an
infinitive.*

21. MODAL VERBS
When verbs are used in modal verb combinations….
• The second verb is not conjugated but rather left in the
infinitive form.
•You would never say “no puedo nado”.
Deber- should
Desear- desire
Necesitar- to need
Poder- can, could, might
Querer- want, would like to
Saber- know, know how to
Soler- usually, used to

22. PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
estoy estamos
esperando esperando
estás estáis
esperando esperando
está esperando están
esperando
•When you use pronouns with the present progressive, you can put
them in two places.
•Put pronouns before the conjugated form of estar…
or attach to the end of the present participle.
Ex: Estoy sacándolas para algo muy importante.

23. PRESENT PROGRESSIVE CONTINUED
Irregulars
Irregular
•When the stem of an –er or –ir
Verb Present
verb ends in a vowel, change the
Participle
–iendo to –yendo to form the
present participle. Leer Leyendo
Oir Oyendo
•e>i stemchanging verbs have a traer Trayendo
vowel change in the stem.
Pedir Pidiendo
Servir Sirviendo
•Some other verbs also have a
vowel change in the stem.
Decir Diciendo
Dormir Durmiendo
Venir Viniendo

24. Adjectives Adverb
Reciente Recientemente
recently recently
ADVERBS Frecuente Frecuentemente
frequently frequently
•When an adjective ends in Fácil Fácilmente
e,I, or z, simply add -mente easy easily
to the end.
*When two adverbs modify the same Normal Normalmente
verb, only the second one uses the normal normally
–mente ending.* Especial Especialmente
special specially
For adjectives with –o or
–a endings, add –mente Feliz Felizmente
to the feminine form. happy happily
Irregular Verbs-
Adjective Adverb Mucho- alot
Muy-very
Cuidadoso(a) cuidadosamente Mal-bad
Rápido(a) rápidamente Bastante- quiet/enough
Bien-good/ well
Lento(a) lentamente
Ya- already
Tranquillo(a) tranquillamente Tan- so
Demasiado- too