Unlike English, each subject has a distinct verb ending.

FIRST CONJUGATION:

Comprar/ to buy

yo compr o / I buy tú compr as / you buy él, ella, usted compr a / he, she, you (formal) buy(s) nosotros compram os / we buy vosotros compr áis / you buy ellos, ustedes compr an / they, you buy

SECOND AND THIRD CONJUGATIONS:

The endings for the second and third groups are identical except for the nosotros and vosotros.

 

Vender/to sell	Recibir/to receive
yo vend o tú vend es él vend e nos.vend emos vos. vend éis ellos vend en	yo recib o tú recib es él recib e nos. recib imos vos. recib ís ellos recib en

NOTE: In the above examples, to conjugate a verb, the ending of the infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir) is removed and an appropriate ending is added.

Use the present tense in the following situations:

The Spanish present tense is equivalent to following 4 forms in English:

Yo firmo el contracto.

I sign the contract. I do sign the contract. I am signing the contract. I will sign the contract. (in the immediate future)

1. It is used to indicate what is happening now.

EXAMPLE:

· Yo como ahora./ I am eating right now.

2. The present tense is also used to express an action that will take place in the immediate future:

EXAMPLE:

· Firmo el contracto mañana./ I will sign the contract tomorrow.

 

3. It is also used to make a request or ask for instructions:

EXAMPLES:

· ¿ Quieren cenar conmigo? Will you have dinner with me?

· ¿ Escribo el cheque?/ Shall I write the check?

4. This tense is used to indicate habitual actions:

EXAMPLES:

· Los Argentinos cenan alrededor de las 10 de la noche./ Argentines eat dinner around 10 P.M.

· Los españoles duermen una siesta después de almorzar./ Spanish people take a nap after lunch.

NOTE: Since the verb endings indicate who the subject is, the subject pronouns are frequently omitted; however, it is ALWAYS used when there are 2 subjects and 2 verbs.

EXAMPLES:

· Correct: Yo tomo, y ella come./ I drink, and she eats.

· Incorrect: Tomo y come./ I drink, and she eats.

Comparatives

Comparatives allow the comparison of equal and unequal degrees of qualities, attributes and characteristics.

There are 5 levels of comparison:

1. equality

2. inferiority

3. superiority

4. superlative

5. irregular

IGUALDAD/ EQUALITY

1. When comparing adjectives and adverbs, tan…como / as...as is used. Tan never changes in the comparison or contrast of qualities.

EXAMPLES:

· La amortización es tan importante como los gastos./ The depreciation is as important as expenses.

· El porcentaje de interés es tan bajo como las ganancias./ The interest rate is as low as the profits.

2. When equating quantities or comparing nouns, tanto…como (as much as, as many as) is used. Tanto changes to tanta, tantas, tantos to agree with the noun's gender and number.

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine	tanto	tantos
Feminine	tanta	tantas

EXAMPLES:

· Esta compañía no tiene tanto dinero como su competición./ This company doesn't have as much money as its competition.

· Sin embargo sí tiene tantos autos como su competición./ However, it does have as many cars as its competition.

DESIGUALDAD/ INEQUALITY

In Spanish, the comparative of most adjectives, adverbs, and nouns is formed by using más… que / more...than for superiority and menos…que / less...than for inferiority.

NOTE: That the words más and menos do NOT change with gender or number.

EXAMPLES:

· La tasa de interés al consumidor es menos atractiva que la interbancaria./ The consumer's interest rate is less attractive than that of the interbank's.

· Tengo más interés en las finanzas que en la mercadotecnia./ I have more interest in finance than in marketing.

NOTE: De is used instead of que before an expression of quantity or amount.

EXAMPLES:

· Hay más de 3 competidores./ There are more than 3 competitors.

· Tengo menos de 30 minutos para terminar la lección./ I have less than 30 minutes to finish the lesson.

SUPERLATIVOS/ SUPERLATIVES

They express the highest or lowest degree of comparison when comparing two or more things.

There are 2 main ways to express a superlative idea. Its construction is similar to that of the comparative form:

1. Superlatives are formed by placing the definite article before the noun being compared, and note that the words más and menos do NOT change with gender or number. In these instances, the article determines the gender and the number of the subject.

Degree	Gender	Singular	Plural
Highest	Masculine	el más / the most	los más / the most
Feminine	la más / the most	las más / the most
Lowest	Masculine	el menos / the least	los menos / the least
Feminine	la menos / the least	lasmenos/ the least

EXAMPLES:

· Este banco es el más grande del país./ This bank is the largest in the country.

· Estos bancos son losmás grandes del país./ These banks are the largest in the country.

· La casa es lamás grande en la cuadra./ The house is the largest in the block.

· Las casas son lasmás grandes en la cuadra./ The houses are the largest in the block.

· El vicepresidente es el menos pagado en la compañía./ The Vice President is the least paid in the company.

· Los vicepresidentes son los menos pagados./ The Vice Presidents are the least paid.

· La vicepresidenta es la menos pagada./ The Vice Presidente (female) is the least paid.

· Las vicepresidentas son las menos pagadas./ The Vice Presidents (female) are the least paid.

2. Superlatives are also formed by adding the suffix -ísimo (-a, -os, -as) to an adjective or an adverb.

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine	-ísimo	-ísimos
Feminine	-ísima	-ísimas

EXAMPLES:

· Juan es inteligent ísimo. / Juan is extremely intelligent.

· Juan y Ana son inteligent ísimos. / Juan and Ana are extremely intelligent.

· Ana es inteligent ísima. / Ana is extremely intelligent.

· Ana y Rosa son inteligent ísimas. / Ana and Rosa are extremely intelligent.

IRREGULAR/ IRREGULAR

The following are adjectives and adverbs with irregular comparative forms:

Adjectives and adverbs	Comparative form
bueno/ good	mejor/better
bien/well	mejor/better
malo/bad	peor/worse
mal/badly	peor/worse
viejo/old (when referring to people only)	mayor/older
joven/young (when referring to people only)	menor/younger

 

Conditional Tense

The conditional tense in Spanish is equivalent to the conditional tense in English, would + verb.

To form this tense, add the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, íais, ían to an infinitive. These roots are used for all three conjugations, -ar, -er, and -ir.

Note that all forms have a written accent.

EXAMPLES:

Pronoun	Calcul ar / to calculate	Com er / to eat	Escrib ir / to write
yo	calcular ía	comer ía	escribir ía
tú	calcular ías	comer ías	escribir ías
él, ella, Ud.	calcular ía	comer ía	escribir ía
nosotros	calcular íamos	comer íamos	escribir íamos
vosotros	calcular íais	comer íais	escribir íais
ellos, Uds.	calcular ían	comer ían	escribir ían

IRREGULAR CONDITIONAL FORMS

The following verbs have irregular conditional stems to which are added the conditional endings. These forms are the same as their future tense stems.

Infinitive/ Conditional/ English

Salir / saldría /to go out

Venir/ vendría/to come

Tener/tendría/ to have

Poner/ pondría/to put

Poder/podría/ to be able

Valer/ valdría/ to be worth

Haber/ habría/ to be

Saber/ sabría/ to know

Caber/ cabría/ to fit

Hacer/ haría/to do

Decir/ diría/to say

Querer/ querría/ to want

 

Futuro/ Future Tense

The future tense in Spanish is equivalent to the future tense in English, will or shall + verb.

There are 3 ways to express a future action:

4. The present tense: Indicative mode.

5. Ir + a + infinity: going to + verb.

6. The future tense: includes irregular forms.

THE PRESENT TENSE

This tense can be used to express an action taking place in the near future.

EXAMPLES:

· Esta tarde mi hija va al concierto./ This afternoon my daughter will go to the concert.

· Estoy en la oficina todo el día./ I 'll be in the office all day.

The construction ir + a + infinitive

This construction is equivalent to the English expression going to + verb. It is frequently used to express a future action.

Ir / to go

Yo voy/ I am going

tú vas/ you are going

él, ella, (Ud.) va/ he, she, (you are) is going

nosotros vamos/ we are going

vosotros vais/ you are going

Uds., ellos, ellas van/ you, they are going

EXAMPLES:

· Voy a aprender español./ I am going to learn Spanish.

· Vamos a abrir un negocio propio./ We are going to open our own business.

THE FUTURE

To form the future, add these endings to the infinitive, which serves as the stem of almost all Spanish verbs: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. The endings are the same for all 3 conjugations.

 

	compr ar / to buy	vend er / to sell	receb ir / to receive
Yo/ I Tú, Ud., / you él, ella/ he, she Nosotros/ we Vosotros/ you Uds., ellos, ellas/ you, they	comprar é comprar ás comprar á comprar emos comprar éis comprar án	vender é vender ás vender á vender emos vender éis vender án	recibir é recibir ás recibir á recibir emos recibir éis recibir án

IRREGULAR VERBS

Some verbs have irregular future stems, which are the same as their irregular conditional stems. Add the future endings to them.

Use the future tense in the following situations:

1. To express probability, conjecture or doubt of an action, condition or state, in the present or future time, the future tense is used. It is equivalent to the English expressions: (probably, wonder, suppose, guess).

EXAMPLES:

· Hoy no me puse el reloj. ¿Qué hora será?/ Today I am not wearing my watch. I wonder what time it is? (What time could it be?)

· Serán las dos y pico./ It must be a little after two.

· ¿Quiénes estarán afuera? ¿Serán los niños? / I wonder who are outside? They must be the children. (They are probably the children.)

2. To express the willingness to do something, the verbs desear or querer are used instead of the future tense.

EXAMPLE:

· ¿Quiéren cenar conmigo?/ Will you have dinner with me?

NOTE: The Spanish future tense is NOT used to make requests, as it is in English.

3. The future tense is also used to express orders or commands.

EXAMPLES:

· Mandarás estos folletos esta tarde./ Send these pamphlets this afternoon.

· Niños, no irán al cine./ Children, don't go (won't) to the movies.

Contracciones/ Contractions

In Spanish, there are only 2 contractions, al and del.

The prepositions a (to, toward) and de (from, of) combine with the definite article el to form al (a + el = al) and del (de + el = del).

EXAMPLES:

· Voy al hotel./ I am going to the hotel.

· Vengo del colegio./ I am coming from college.

NOTE: That the pronoun él does NOT contract.

EXAMPLE:

· Decile a él que venga./ Tell him to come.

NOTE: That no other definite articles (la, las, los) form contractions when combined with de.

EXAMPLES:

o La ventana de la casa está sucia./ The window of the house is dirty.

o Las hipotecas de las casas./ The mortgages of the houses.

o Los empleados de los bancos./ The employees of the banks.

El Imperativo/ Imperative Form

The imperative form is used to give an order, direction, or command.

REGULAR VERBS

To form the command, drop the -o of the first person present form (indicative mode) of the verb and add the following endings:

Verbs ending in -ar, such as cobrar/ to collect money:

Positive Imperative	Negative Imperative
cobr a (tú) cobr e (Ud.) cobr emos (nosotros) cobr ad (vosotros) cobr en (Uds., ellos)	no cobr es no cobr e no cobr emos no cobr éis n o cobr en

Verbs ending in -er and -ir, such as prender / to turn-on and escribir/ to write, have the same endings, except for vosotros.

IRREGULAR VERBS -COMMANDS

The same endings mentioned above are used for irregular verbs for the imperative form.

Infinitive	Tú	Ud., él	Nos.	Vos.	Uds., ellos
pensar / to think contar / to count conocer / to know poner /to put	Piens a Cuent a Conoc e pon	Piens e Cuent e conozc a pong a	Pens emos Cont emos conozc amos pong amos	Pens ad Cont ad conoc ed pon ed	piens en cuent en conozc an pong an

IRREGULAR FORMS -COMMANDS

1. The following have irregular command forms for the pronoun tú:

Infinitive	Pos. Imper.	Neg. Imper.
Ser /to be Tener / to have Venir / to come Decir / to say Salir / to go out Hacer / to do Ir / to go Poner / to put	sé (tú) ten (tú) ven (tú) di (tú) sal (tú) haz (tú) ve (tú) pon (tú)	no seas no tengas no vengas no digas no salgas no hagas no vayas no pongas

2. The following verbs have irregular negative command forms:

Infinitive	Pos. Imper.	Neg. Imper.
Dar / to give Estar / to be Saber / to know	da (tú) está (tú) sabe (tú)	no des no estés no sepas

Although subject pronouns are rarely used with commands, they can be placed after the verb for emphasis or courtesy.

EXAMPLES:

· Coman Uds. sin falta./ Remember to eat.

· Firme Ud. aquí, por favor./ Please, sign here.

THE EXPRESSION LET'S...

1. This English expression is equivalent to the command form corresponding to nosotros.

EXAMPLES:

· Abramos el vino./ Let's open the wine.

· No tomemos tanto./ Let's not drink too much.

2. The expression let's can also be expressed using vamos a + infinitive.

EXAMPLES:

· Vamos a abrir el vino./ Let's open the wine.

· No vayamos a tomar tanto./ Let's not drink too much.

Expresiones Negativas y Afirmativas/ Negative and Affirmative Expressions

The most common way to make a sentence negative is to place no before the verb.

The English auxiliaries do and does are not used in Spanish.

EXAMPLES:

· Juan abre una cuenta bancaria./ Juan opens a checking account.

· Juan no abre la cuenta bancaria./ Juan does not open the checking account.