GRAMMAR BOOKBruno Gathercole

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Preterite2. Trigger Words3. Car, Gar, Zar4. Spock Verbs5. Cucaracha Verbs6. Snake and Snakey7. Imperfect8. Imperfect Irregular9. Trigger Words10. Preterite vs.

Imperfect

11. Verbs Like Gustar12. Ser13. Estar14. Comparatives and

Superlatives15. Transition Words16. Future17. Trigger Words18. Irregulars19. Por20. Para

PRETERITE

Past tense ar er/ir

Corrí a la playa con mi amigo. I ran to the beach with my friend.

é amos

aste

ó aron

í imos

iste

ió ieron

TRIGGER WORDS

Ayer Anteayer Anoche La Semana Pasada El Mes Pasado El Año Pasado El Fin de Semana Pasado

CAR, GAR, ZAR

Car Gar Zar

-qué -gué -cé

-caste -gaste -zaste

-có -gó -zó

-camos -gamos -zamos

-caron -garon -zaron

SPOCK VERBS

Ir/ser Dar/ver Hacer

Fui (D/V)i Hice

Fuiste (D/V)iste Hiciste

Fue (D/V)io Hizo

Fuimos (D/V)imos Hicimos

Fueron (D/V)ieron Hicieron

CUCARACHA VERBS Andar anduv + Estar estuv + Poner pus + Poder pud + Querer quis + Saber sup + Tener tuv + Venir vin + Conducir conduj + Producir produj + Traducir traduj + Decir dij + Traer traj +

-e

-iste

-o

-imos

-ieron

SNAKE AND SNAKEY VERBS

Snake•Only changes in third person•e i: pedir, preferir, competir, repetir, ser, ver, sentir, venir•o u: dormir and morir

Snakey

•Only changes in third person•i y: oir•e y: leer and creer

IMPERFECT VERBS

Used: Past actions that happen repeatedly

“Yo caminaba cada dia” Actions over time

“Comía frecuentamente las papas.” Set stage for preterite

“Corríamos en el bosque cuando vimos a Julio.”

IMPERFECT IRREGULARS

Ser: era

eraseraéramoseraiseran

Ver:

veíaveíasveíaveíamosveíaisveían

Ir: iba

ibasibaíbamosibaisiban

Only three; Ser, Ver, and Ir:

IMPERFECT TRIGGERS

Triggers for the imperfect include: A veces Cada ___ De vez en cuando Muchas veces Mucho Nunca Siempre Todos los ___ Generalmente Frecuentamente

PRETERITE V. IMPERFECT

Preterite

• Completed actions, only happened once• Specific time

Imperfect

Both

• Happened in past

VERBS LIKE GUSTAR

Aburrir Encantar Faltar Fascinar Importar Interesar Molestar Quedar Caer bien/mal Doler

Disgustar Hacer falta Preocupar Soprender Apetecer

SER

D- Description O- Origin C- Characteristics T- Time O- Occupation R- Relationship P- Possession E- Event D- Date

ESTAR

H- Health E- Emotions L- Location P- Present Condition ING- verbs ending in “ing”

COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

Más + adjective + que (more ____ than) Menos + adjective + que (less ____ than) El/La más + adjective + de (the most ____ of) El/La menos + adjective + de (the least ___

of)

TRANSITION WORDS

AunqueTambienMientrasA pesar dePeroPor lo tantoSin Embargo(No obstante)Even thoughAlsoWhileIn spite of

ButThereforeNevertheless

Used to connect phrases; examples:

FUTURE VERBS

Used: For anything in the future Actions “to-be-completed”

FUTURE TRIGGERS

Proxima diaProxima semanaProximo añoMañana

Next dayNext weekNext yearTomorrow

Very few triggers for the future tense, it’s a fairly obvious one:

FUTURE IRREGULARS

Decir

Hacer

Poner

Salir

Tener

Valer

Poder

Querer

Saber

Caber

Haber

Dir-

Har-

Pondr-

Saldr-

Tendr-

Valdr-

Podr-

Querr-

Sabr-

Cabr-

Habr-

Irregulars in the future tense have the same endings; only their bases change:

POR

Por is used when dealing with: Passing through (PORtal) Location (PORtugal) How long something lasts (PORever) Cause of something (PORpuse) Exchanges (imPORt, exPORt) Doing something in place of someone else (I’m

POR, pay for me) A means of Transportation (TransPORtation) Numbers / time

PARA

Para is used when dealing with: For whom something is done (surprise PARAty) Destination (to PARAguay) Purpose for which something is done To express an opinion (PARAdon me, but..) To contrast or compare (comPARAson) To express an idea of deadline (PARAmedic) Basically means “in order to”