Spanish notes

Part 1

Regular present

• ar (o, as, a, amos, áis, an)
• er (o, es, e, emos, éis, en)
• ir (o, es, e, imos, is, en)

Irregular verbs

Ser - to be (permanent or lasting attributes)
Ser | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | soy | somos
second person | eres | sois
third person | es | son

Estar - to be (temporary states and locations)
Estar | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | estoy | estamos
second person | estás | estáis
third person | está | están

Ir - to go
Ir | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | voy | vamos
second person | vas | vais
third person | va | van

Ver - to see
Ver | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | veo | vemos
second person | ves | veis
third person | ve | ven

The Imperfect

The imperfect is used to describe past habits or routines.

Ser, Ir, and Ver are the only irregular verbs in the imperfect

Ser (to be) - era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran

Ir (to go) - iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban

Ver (to see) - veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían

Stem change verbs

• Stem changes in present tense for all forms except nosotros and vosotros

o → ue

• almorzar (to eat lunch)
• volver (to return)
• dormir (to sleep)
• costar (to cost)
• devolver (to return)
• encontrar (to find)
• llover (to rain)
• morir (to die)
• poder (to be able to)
• soñar con (to dream about)

u → ue

• Jugar (to play)

e → ie

If a verb has multiple “e”s in the stem the last one changes.

• cerrar (to close)
• querer (to want)
• mentir (to lie)
• comenzar a (to begin)
• nevar (to snow)
• empezar a (to begin)
• pensar (to think)
• encender (to turn on)
• perder (to lose)
• entender (to understand)
• preferir (to prefer)

e → i

• repetir (to repeat)
• competir (to compete)
• pedir (to ask for)
• reír (to laugh)
• servir (to serve)
• sonreír (to smile)

For reír and sonreír keep accent on final i (río, ríes, ríe, reímos, reís, ríen)

Irregular conjugation in first person singular

The Preterite

• Verbs that end in -car -gar or -zar have spelling changes in first person singular.
• -car -> qué
  • tocar -> yo toqué
• -gar -> gué
  • jugar -> yo jugué
• -zar -> cé
  • empezar -> yo empecé
• An unaccented i always changes to y when it appears between two vowels (in the third person singular and plural)
  • leer (leí, leíste, leyó, leímos, leísteis, leyeron)
  • oír (oí, oíste, oyó, oímos, oísteis, oyeron)
    -ir verbs that change stems in the present tense also have stem changes in the preterite, however, the change only occurs in the third-person singular and plural forms (e->i, o->u)
  • Ex. dormir (dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron)

Stem Changing Verbs in the Preterite

• -ir verbs that change stems in the present tense also have stem changes in the preterite, however, the change only occurs in the third-person singular and plural forms (e->i, o->u)

Irregular verbs in the preterite

Ir (to go) / Ser (to be)
Ir / Ser | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | fui | fuimos
second person | fuiste | fuisteis
third person | fue | fueron

Dar - to give
Dar | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | di | dimos
second person | diste | disteis
third person | dio | dieron

Ver - to see
Ver | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | vi | vimos
second person | viste | visteis
third person | vio | vieron

Irregular stems

Ex. Poner (pus-) - to put
Poner | singular | plural
—- | —- | —-
first person | puse | pusimos
second person | pusiste | pusisteis
third person | puso | pusieron

Present Progressive

• Describe actions in progress at the moment
• Formed with estar + present participle
• To form the present participle add -ando for -ar verbs and -iendo for -ir/-er verbs
• When the stem of an -er or -ir verb ends in a vowel -yendo is used instead of -iendo
• Stem changing ir verbs have an irregular present participle e -> i, o -> u

Ex. Estoy hablando con mi madre. - I am speaking with my mother.

Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns

Direct object pronouns

When using infinitive or present participle the pronoun can be placed in front of the verb

Indirect object pronouns

• When using both direct and indirect object pronouns together the indirect one goes first
• When using the third person indirect object pronoun together with the direct object pronoun change from le/les -> se

Por and Para

Por

• Cause, reason, motive (because of)
• Duration
• Exchange
• Movement through space

Para

• Goal, purpose (in order to)
• Recipient
• Destination
• Deadline
• Contrast with what is expected

Saber and Conocer

Saber - to know (sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben)
Conocer - to know (conozco, conoces, conoce, conocemos, conocéis, conocen)

• Saber is used to express knowledge of facts or information as well as skills
• Conocer is used to express acquaintance of familiarity with something