# Dictionary of Spoken Spanish/Part 1/Grammatical Introduction

Part I
Spanish-English
Grammatical Introduction
I. Sounds and Spelling
Both the sounds and the spelling of Spanish are simple, and will be described together, with the Spanish letters as a starting point.
0.1Vowels are five in number:
These two vowels may occur unstressed before or after a stressed vowel, in which case they are pronounced like English y and w respectively: bien "well"; bueno "good"; automóvil "automobile".
0.2Consonants are:
| b, v | like English b | bebe "he drinks" |
| d | like English d | dedo "finger" |
| gu (before e, i), g (elsewhere) | like English "hard g" | pague Usted "(you) pay"; pagar "pay" |
The above three sounds, when they come between two vowels, are not pronounced with a full closure of lips or tongue (as are English b, d, g) but with the breath forcing its way out between the lips, or between the tongue and teeth, or between the tongue and top of the mouth.
| m | like English m | mano "hand" |
| n | like English n, but with the tip of the tongue against the front teeth | nada "nothing" |
| ñ | like ni in English onion, but a single sound (beginning like n and ending like y) | año "year" |
| f | like English f | fuerte "strong" |
| c (before e, i), z (elsewhere) | like th in English thick | cierto "certain"; zorra "fox"; conozco "I know" |
The above sound is not used by speakers of American Spanish, who replace it by "s".
| s | like English s | seso "brain" |
| l | like English l, but with the tip of the tongue against the front teeth | lado "side" |
| ll | like lli in English million, but a single sound beginning like l and ending like y; in Latin America, generally like English y | llano "plain"; milla "mile" |
| r | single flap of the tongue against the front teeth, somewhat like our American English d | caro "dear" |
| rr | several repeated flaps of the tongue against the front teeth, like the telephone operator's "th-r-r-ee" | carro "cart" |
| y | like English y | reyes "kings" |
| g (before e, i), j (elsewhere) | like English h | gente "people"; junto "together" ​ |
| h | stands for no sound at all, but is written in a number of words | haba "bean"; hierba "grass" |
0.3Syllables.A single consonant sound (and, in writing, two letters representing a single sound), or a consonant followed by l or r, belongs to the same syllable as the vowel following it: ca-ro, ca-rro, mi-lla. Other groups of two consonants are broken up, the first consonant belonging with the preceding vowel and the second with the following vowel: juz-gar "to judge"; rec-tor "rector".
0.4Stress.Words ending in a vowel or in -n or -s are normally stressed on the next to the last syllable; words ending in any other consonant are stressed on the last syllable. Words having this type of stress bear no written accent mark: cosa "thing"; cantan "they sing"; cantas "you sing" (Fam); cantar "to sing". If a word does not conform to this pattern, an accent mark is written over the vowel letter of the syllable which is stressed: vámonos "let's go"; jardín "garden". In a few cases, a written accent serves only to mark the difference between one word and another written like it but having a different meaning: ¿cuándo? "when?" (interrogative), but cuando "when" (relative).
II. Forms
1.1Nouns and adjectives are inflected alike, and will be discussed together. A noun is an inflected form that may follow el/la and precede a verb; an adjective is a form that may follow el/la and precede a noun. (For the definite article, cf §1.22.)
1.11The plural of nouns and adjectives is formed in one of three ways:
1.By leaving the singular unchanged (words ending in -s, family names, and a few others): jueves "Thursday, Thursdays"; López "López, Lopezes"; déficit "deficit, deficits".
2.By adding -s to nouns ending in an unstressed vowel or stressed -é: libro "book", libros "books"; cara "face", caras "faces"; café "coffee", cafés "coffees".
3.By adding -es to most other nouns: rubí "ruby", pl rubíes; buey "ox", pl bueyes; papel "paper", pl papeles. The letter c is replaced by qu, and z by c, before -es: frac "frock coat", pl fraques; lápiz "pencil", pl lápices.
1.12Gender.Nouns belong either to the masculine or the feminine gender; adjectives to both. The feminine of an adjective is formed on the masculine in one of the following three ways:
1.By substituting -a for -o of the masculine: bueno m, buena f "good".
2.By adding -a to the masculine: inglés m, inglesa f "English".
3.By leaving the masculine unchanged: interesante m, f "interesting"; fácil m, f "easy".
1.13Reduced forms of adjectives.Certain adjectives are used in shortened or reduced forms when they stand before a noun they modify, e.g. un buen libro "a good book". The following adjectives have reduced forms in the masculine singular only: buen(o) "good": mal(o) "bad" ; primer(o) "first"; tercer(o) "third"; ​un(o) "one" and its compounds. Santo "Saint" has the form San before a masculine name in the singular: San Francisco "St. Francis". Gran takes the place of grande "great" (but un gran hombre is "an important man" while un hombre grande is "a large man"), and cien takes the place of ciento "100", before either masculine or feminine.
1.2Pronouns are of five classes: personal, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, and indefinite.
1.21Personal pronouns are of two main types: those which can be used apart from verbs, called disjunctive pronouns, and those which can be used only with verbs, called conjunctive pronouns.
1.Disjunctive pronouns are:
| Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| Nominative ||||
| 1. | yo "I" | 1. | nosotros (m), nosotras (f) "we" |
| 2. | tú "you" (Fam) | 2. | vosotros (m), vosotras (f) "you" (Fam) |
| 3. | usted "you" | 3. | ustedes "you" |
| | él "he", ella "she" | | ellos (m), ellas (f) "they" |
| Prepositional ||||
| 1. | mí "me" | 1. | nosotros (m), nosotras (f) "us" |
| 2. | tí "you" (Fam) | 2. | vosotros (m), vosotras (f) "you" (Fam) |
| 3. | usted "you" | 3. | ustedes "you" |
| | él "him", ella "her" | | ellos (m), ellas (f) "they" |
| Reflexive Prepositional ||||
| | sí "himself, herself, itself" | | sí "themselves" |
When the pronouns mí, tí, and sí (sg) are used as objects of the preposition con "with", the following forms result: conmigo, contigo, and consigo.
The word usted (abbreviated Ud. or Vd.) is used when speaking to persons with whom one is not well acquainted, and takes a verb in the third person singular; the plural ustedes (abbreviated Uds. or Vds.) is used in the same way. In Spanish America, ustedes is often used instead of vosotros, as the plural corresponding to tú. Tú is used only between relatives, young people, intimate friends, and in addressing children, servants, and pets. In South America, especially Argentina, vos is generally used for tú.
2.Conjunctive pronouns are:
| Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| Direct Object ||||
| 1. | me "me" | 1. | nos "us" |
| 2. | te "you" (Fam) | 2. | os "you" (Fam) |
| 3. | le "you" (m), "him" | 3. | los "you, them" (m) |
| | la "you" (f), "her", "it" (f) | | las "you, them" (f) |
| | lo "it" |
| Reflexive ||||
| | se "yourself, himself, herself, itself" | | se "yourselves, themselves" |
| Indirect Object ||||
| 1. | me "to me" | 1. | nos "to us" |
| 2. | te "to you" (Fam) | 2. | os "to you" (Fam) |
| 3. | le "to you, to him, to her, to it" | 3. | les "to you, to them" |
These conjunctive pronouns may occur either singly or in groups of two. The occurrence of groups of two conjunctive pronouns is determined by the following rules:
a$^1$)If the pronoun se is present in the group, it always comes before the other conjunctive pronoun. When se is used in this way, it may have the meaning of:
aa)An unspecified actor: se dice "it is said"; se la trató bien "she was treated well".
bb)A third person object, either reflexive or not: se lo dice "he says it to him (her)", or "he (she) says it to himself (herself)".
b$^1$)If the pronoun se is not present, the first pronoun of the group has the meaning of an indirect object, and the second that of a direct object: me lo da "he gives it to me". Le, les may not occur as the first member of a group of conjunctive pronouns, their place being taken by se (see a$^1$. bb, above).
The conjunctive pronouns are placed after the verb they modify, and written together with it, in the following circumstances:
a$^2$)After an infinitive or gerund: dárselo "to give it to him"; diciéndolo "saying it".
b$^2$)After other verb forms, only in literary style or (to save money) in telegrams: fuíme "I went away".
With other verb forms than the infinitive and gerund, the conjunctive pronouns are usually placed before the verb and written as separate words: se lo da "he gives it to him"; me fuí "I went away".
1.22Demonstrative pronouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. The neuter occurs only in the singular and is used only to refer to something abstract or already spoken of. The demonstrative pronouns are éste "this", ése "that" (near you), aquél "that" (over there), and the definite article (el, la, los, las, lo) with de and que, meaning respectively "that (those) of", "the one (ones) with (in, on)", "that (those) which", and "the one (ones) which".
The forms of these pronouns are:
| sg | m | éste | ése | aquél | el de, el que |
| | f | ésta | ésa | aquélla | la de, la que |
| | neu | esto | eso | aquello | lo de, lo que |
| pl | m | éstos | ésos | aquéllos | los de, los que |
| | f | éstas | ésas | aquéllas | las de, las que |
​The demonstrative adjectives are the same as the demonstrative pronouns but do not bear a written accent and they usually precede the noun.
| Yo escribo con esta pluma | "I'm writing with this pen." |
| Esta pluma y ésa | "This pen and that one." |
There is no neuter adjective in Spanish and the neuter demonstrative pronouns esto, eso, aquello, and lo bear no written accent. They are used to refer to a general idea or object without a determined gender.
| Eso es verdad | "That (what has been said) is true." |
| Esto me alarma | "This (situation, outlook) alarms me." |
When used before a noun or noun phrase (cf §2.14.1), el, la, etc, have about the meaning of English "the", and in this use are termed the definite article. The form el is used before a masculine singular noun or noun phrase: el hombre "the man", el gran diccionario "the great dictionary"; and also directly before a feminine noun beginning with the stressed sound a: el alma "the soul", el hambre "the hunger". Before other feminines, la is used: la persona "the person", la otra persona "the other person". In the plural, los is used before masculine and las before feminine nouns or noun phrases: los hombres "the men", los grandes diccionarios "the great dictionaries", las almas "the souls", las otras personas "the other persons".
1.23Interrogative pronouns are: ¿qué? "what?", ¿quién? "who?", ¿quiénes? (pl), ¿de quién? "whose?", ¿de quiénes? (pl), ¿cuál? "which one?", ¿cuáles? "which ones?", ¿cuánto? "how much?", ¿cuántos? "how many?".
All interrogative adjectives and pronouns bear a written accent mark to distinguish them from the corresponding relative.
qué is not inflected. ¿de quién? is always followed immediately by ser: ¿De quién es este libro? "Whose book is this?"
When translating from English into Spanish, the interrogative ¿de quién? should not be confused with the possessive relative cuyo "whose, of which": "This book, whose influence has been so beneficial." Ese libro, cuya influencia ha sido tan beneficiosa. But "Whose book is this?" ¿De quién es este libro?
1.24Relative pronouns are: que "that, which, who", quien, quienes "who, whom", el que "he who, the one who, the one which, that which", la que "she who, the one who, the one which, that which", lo que "that which, what", los que "those who, those which", las que "those who, those which", el cual, la cual "he who (she who), the one who, that which", los cuales, las cuales "they who, the ones who, those which", lo cual "that, which, what", cuanto "all that, as much as", cuantos "all that, as many as".
A simple relative (1, below) has an antecedent in the main clause and the compound relative (2, below) contains its own antecedent. This distinction concerns the use and not the form.
| (1) | El libro que está sobre la mesa es suyo. | "The book which is on the table is yours." |
| (2) | Quien trabaja mejor es María. | "The one who works best is Mary." |
​lo que is used when reference is made to a phrase, a sentence, or to a specific thing without a specific gender: Lo que Ud. pide es imposible. "What (That which) you ask is impossible."
lo cual is used in supplementary clauses when the antecedent is a clause, a phrase, or an idea: Se negó a recibirme, lo cual lamento mucho. "He refused to receive me, which I regret very much."
1.25Indefinite pronouns are: alguien "someone", alguno, -a, -os, -as "somebody, some", algo "something", nadie "no one", ninguno, -a, -os, -as "nobody, none", nada "nothing", cualquiera "whichever", and quienquiera "whoever"'
1.26Possessive adjectives are:
| Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural |
| 1. | mi, mis "my" | 1. | nuestro, -a(s) "our" |
| 2. | tu, tus "your" (Fam) | 2. | vuestro, -a(s) "your" (Fam) |
| 3. | su, sus "his, her, its, your" | 3. | su, sus "their" |
| 1. | mío, ía, -ios, -ías "mine" | 1. | nuestro, -a, -os, -as "ours" |
| 2. | tuyo, -a, -os, -as "yours" (Fam) | 2. | vuestro, -a, -os, -as "yours" (Fam) |
| 3. | suyo, -a, -os, -as "yours, his, hers, its" | 3. | suyo, -a, -os, -as "theirs" |
Possessives agree in gender and number with the thing possessed. Possessive pronouns are formed by adding el to mío, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, and vuestro. El suyo is usually replaced (to avoid ambiguity) by el de él, el de ella, el de ustedes, el de ellos: Mi libro, el suyo y el de él. "My book, yours, and his." El is omitted after the verb ser: El libro es mío. "The book's mine."
The English possessive case ("-'s") is rendered by de and possessor noun or pronoun: Ese es el libro de mi amigo "This is my friend's book."
1.3Prepositions and conjunctions: a, de, en, por, and para are the most frequently used prepositions in Spanish.
1.a "to" implies motion, in contrast with en, which corresponds to English "in" or "at" (place where or state). Bear this distinction in mind in translating English "at".
| Voy a Valencia. | "I'm going to Valencia." |
| Estoy en casa. | "I'm at home." |
a)a is used as a sign of personal object, and as such is not translated into English:
| Yo amo a Maria. | "I love Mary." |
| María enseña a su hija. | "Mary teaches her daughter." |
It is also used with the infinitive after verbs of motion (see §2.44.3)
b) al (a + el) followed by the infinitive corresponds to English "on" and "when": al partir "on leaving"
2.de "of, from" is replaced by que "that" and estar "be" when the position of a noun is purely accidental and not permanent or customary: la casa de enfrente "the house across the street", el hombre que está delante de la casa "the man who is in front of the house".
​3.por points to the cause, motive, or reason for an action and corresponds to the English "through" (along, around), "by" (expressing agency, means, manner, unit of measure) and "for" (meaning "on account of", "because of", "in exchange for", "during", "as").
4.para points to the end or objective of an action and corresponds to the English "for" denoting purpose or destination.
5.por and para are frequently misused by foreign students of Spanish. English "for" is translated in each case into Spanish according to its specific meaning:
| "This present's for you." | Este regalo es PARA Ud. |
| "Do it for me." | Hágalo POR mi. |
1.31Coordinate conjunctions are: y "and", o "or", ni "nor", pero "but" (nevertheless), and sino "but" (on the contrary).
1.y "and" is replaced by e when the word immediately following begins with i or hi: franceses e italianos "Frenchmen and Italians"; padre e hijo "father and son".
2.o "or" is replaced by u before o or ho: siete u ocho "seven or eight"; mujer u hombre "woman or man".
1.32Subordinate conjunctions are: que "that", como "as, since" (causal), cuando "when", mientras "while", pues(que) "for, since", porque "because", and si "if, whether".
1.que, the most widely used subordinate conjunction, introduces noun clauses. In addition to its conjunctive uses, que is also a relative pronoun (§1.24) or a comparative adverb ("than"). Unlike Spanish, "that" is very often omitted in English:
| Quiero que venga. | "I want him to come." |
| Creo que se ha ido. | "I think he's gone." |
| Me parece que si. | "I think so." |
2.si "if, whether" is used to introduce adverb clauses of condition.
3.sí "yes" bears a written accent to differentiate it from the conjunction si, and is an adverb of affirmation: Le pregunté si iba y me dijo que sí. "I asked him if he was going and he said yes."
1.4Adverbs of manner may be formed by adding -mente (which is the equivalent of English "-ly") to the feminine singular of the adjective: lento, -a "slow"; lentamente "slow, slowly".
Prepositional phrases are preferable in Spanish to the adverbs ending in -mente: con lentitud or de una manera lenta instead of lentamente.
1.41Adverbs are placed as near as possible to the verb they modify: Habla bien el español. "He speaks Spanish well."
1.42aquí "here", ahí, allí "there", allá "over there" correspond respectively to the demonstratives este, ese, and aquel.
1.43no "not" corresponds to English "do not", "is not", etc, and the adjective "no".
1.no is placed before the verb: No oigo. "I don't hear."
​2.If another negative is used after the verb, no must always precede: No oigo nada. "I hear nothing."
3.When another negative word precedes the verb, no is omitted: Nada oigo. "I hear nothing."
1.44When no verb is present, no usually follows pronouns and adverbs: todos no "not all of them"; todavía no "not yet". sí is similarly used.
1.45In a negative sentence all forms are negative (§1.43).
1.5Diminutives and augmentatives:The suffixes -ito, -illo, -cito, -cilio added to nouns, adjectives, or adverbs imply small size or affectionate interest: Pedrito "little Peter", chiquillo "kid", mujercita "little woman, dear little wife", pequeñito "very small, tiny", piececito "tiny little foot".
1.51The more frequent augmentative suffixes are -ón, -ote, -azo, -acho, which give the idea of large size or comic effect: mujerona "large woman, awkward woman", grandote "very large", manaza "huge hand", ricacho "rich person".
1.6The absolute superlative ending is regularly -ísimo, corresponding to English "most, very, highly, exceedingly": Es un hombre rarísimo. "He's a most peculiar man." Una mujer simpatiquísima. "A most charming woman."
1.61There are a number of other ways of expressing a high degree of quality in Spanish (see §§2.21, 2.5). The same idea expressed by the suffix -ísimo may be conveyed by muy "very" or sumamente "exceedingly, a most", with the exception of muchísimo (never muy mucho), regular form for "very much."
1.62When -ísimo is added, adjectives and adverbs ending in -co or -ca, -z, -go, and -able change their ending to -qui, -c, -gui, and -bil respectively: cerca, cerquísimo; feroz, ferocísimo; largo, larguísimo; amable, amabilísimo.
1.7Verbs have ten tenses, or sets of finite forms which show the person and number of the actor; and three non-finite forms, or forms which do not show person and number. The non-finite forms are: infinitive, gerund, and past participle. The ten tenses are formed on three stems, the "present" stem, the "future" stem, and the "preterite" stem, as follows:
| Present Stem | Future Stem | Preterite Stem |
| Present Indicative | Future | Preterite |
| Imperfect | Conditional | Past Subjunctive, -se form |
| Present Subjunctive | | Past Subjunctive, -ra form |
| Imperative |
1.71.There are four classes of verbs, according to the ending of the infinitive:
| I. | -ar: cantar "sing" | III. | -ir: vivir "live" |
| II. | -er: aprender "learn" | IV. | -r: ver "see" |
In the following paragraphs, we shall give examples of the normal forms of these four conjugations, as shown in the four model verbs listed above.
1.Present tense. The present tense is generally used to refer to the present but it is often used as a graphic substitute for other tenses, as: a) em​phatic future: Mañana le escribo. "I'll write him tomorrow." b) when immediate future time is involved: ¿Vamos ahora? "Shall we go now?" c) for the perfect conditional in contrary-to-fact conditions: Si dice algo en aquel momento, le pego. "I'd have hit him if he'd said something at that moment." d) for the simple past in historical narrative: Por poco le cojo. "I almost caught him." The forms of the present are:
| 1. | sg | "I" | canto | aprendo | vivo | veo |
| 2. | sg | "you" (Fam) | cantas | aprendes | vives | ves |
| 3. | sg | "you, he, she, it" | canta | aprende | vive | ve |
| 1. | Pl | "we" | cantamos | aprendemos | vivimos | vemos |
| 2. | Pl | "you" (Fam) | cantáis | aprendéis | vivís | veis |
| 3. | pl | "you, they" | cantan | aprenden | viven | ven |
2.Imperfect tense.This tense refers to past action that was going on at the same time as some other action ("I was singing") or that was habitual ("I used to sing").
| 1. | sg | cantaba | aprendía | vivía | veía |
| 2. | sg | cantabas | aprendías | vivías | veías |
| 3. | sg | cantaba | aprendía | vivía | veía |
| 1. | Pl | cantábamos | aprendíamos | vivíamos | veíamos |
| 2. | Pl | cantábais | aprendíais | vivíais | veíais |
| 3. | Pl | cantaban | aprendían | vivían | veían |
3.Present subjunctive.This tense is used either to express a command (in the first person plural, or third person singular or plural) or in certain types of dependent clauses (see §§3.5-3.52).
| 1. | sg | cante | aprenda | viva | vea |
| 2. | sg | cantes | aprendas | vivas | veas |
| 3. | sg | cante | aprenda | viva | vea |
| 1. | pl | cantemos | aprendamos | vivamos | veamos |
| 2. | pl | cantéis | aprendáis | viváis | veáis |
| 3. | pl | canten | aprendan | vivan | vean |
4.Imperative.This tense is used to give commands; it has only the second person singular and plural forms.
| 2. | sg | canta | aprende | vive | ve |
| 2. | pl | cantad | aprended | vivid | ved |
5.Future.This tense refers to action in future time ("I'll sing") or probability.
| 1. | sg | cantaré | aprenderé | viviré | veré |
| 2. | sg | cantarás | aprenderás | vivirás | verás |
| 3. | sg | cantará | aprenderá | vivirá | verá |
| 1. | pl | cantaremos | aprenderemos | viviremos | veremos |
| 2. | pl | cantaréis | aprenderéis | viviréis | veréis |
| 3. | pl | cantarán | aprenderán | vivirán | verán |
​6.Conditional.This tense refers to hypothetical action or to future action viewed from past time ("I'd sing").
| 1. | sg | cantaría | aprendería | viviría | vería |
| 2. | sg | cantarías | aprenderías | vivirías | verías |
| 3. | sg | cantaría | aprendería | viviría | vería |
| 1. | pl | cantaríamos | aprenderíamos | viviríamos | veríamos |
| 2. | pl | cantaríais | aprenderíais | viviríais | veríais |
| 3. | pl | cantarían | aprenderían | vivirían | verían |
7.Past absolute.This tense refers to action at a specific point in past time ("I sang"). The past absolute of most verbs is as follows:
| 1. | sg | canté | apprendí | viví | vi |
| 2. | sg | cantaste | aprendiste | viviste | viste |
| 3. | sg | cantó | apprendió | vivió | vió |
| 1. | pl | cantamos | aprendimos | vivimos | vimos |
| 2. | pl | cantasteis | aprendisteis | vivisteis | visteis |
| 3. | pl | cantaron | aprendieron | vivieron | vieron |
Certain irregular verbs, called "strong" verbs, have special changes in the stem for the past absolute and the two past subjunctive tenses, e.g.: venir "to come"; vine "I came"; and viniera, viniese "(that) I might come". The past absolute of these strong verbs is inflected as follows:
| | Singular | Plural |
| 1. | vine | vinimos |
| 2. | viniste | vinisteis |
| 3. | vino | vinieron |
8.Past subjunctive.Each Spanish verb has two forms of the past subjunctive, one ending in the singular in -se and the other in -ra. The forms of these tenses are always built on the same stem as the past absolute or preterite tense:
a)Past subjunctive in -se:
| 1. | sg | cantase | aprendiese | viviese | viese |
| 2. | sg | cantases | aprendieses | vivieses | vieses |
| 3. | sg | cantase | aprendiese | viviese | viese |
| 1. | pl | cantásemos | aprendiésemos | viviésemos | viésemos |
| 2. | pl | cantaseis | aprendiéseis | vivieseis | vieseis |
| 3. | pl | cantasen | aprendiesen | viviesen | viesen |
b)Past subjunctive in -ra.
| 1. | sg | cantara | aprendiera | viviera | viera |
| 2. | sg | cantaras | aprendieras | vivieras | vieras |
| 3. | sg | cantara | aprendiera | viviera | viera |
| 1. | pl | cantáramos | aprendiéramos | viviéramos | viéramos |
| 2. | pl | cantárais | aprendierais | vivierais | vierais |
| 3. | pl | cantaran | aprendieran | vivieran | vieran |
​1.72Non-finite forms are such as are based on verbs, but do not show distinction of person and number and belong to other than verbal word classes. Verbs normally have:
1.Gerund—an adverb formed by adding -ando to the root of I-conjugation verbs; -endo to roots ending in -y, -ll, -ñ; and -iendo to others: cantando, aprendiendo, viviendo, viendo; oyendo "hearing" (oír "hear"), bullendo "boiling" (bullir "boil"), riñendo "wrangling" (reñir "wrangle").
2.Past participle—an adjective formed by adding -ado to the root of I-conjugation verbs, -ido to the root of II-and III-conjugation verbs, and -do to the root of IV-conjugation verbs. Irregular past participles are all those that have other endings than these, as: abierto "opened", cubierto "covered", dicho "said", escrito "written", hecho "done", impreso "printed", muerto "dead", provisto "provided", resuelto "resolved", roto "broken", visto "seen", vuelto "returned".
3.Infinitive—a masculine singular noun ending in -r. Occasionally an infinitive is used in the plural, which then ends in -es.
1.73Irregular verbs.A number of verbs vary in one way or another from the patterns set forth above. Some of them fall into regular patterns of irregularities:
1.Radical-changing verbs are such as have the regular endings of the conjugation to which they belong, but have certain changes in the vowel of the last syllable of the root, depending on the form involved. There are three main types of radical-changing verbs:
a)Type I, in which a diphthong is substituted for a vowel (ie for e or i; ue for o or u) when it is stressed. (At the beginning of a verb, the sounds ie are spelled ye, and the sounds ue are spelled hue.) These forms are (with contar "count" and pensar "think" as examples):
| Present | 1. | sg | cuento | pienso |
| Present | 2. | sg | cuentas | piensas |
| Present | 3. | sg | cuenta | piensa |
| Present | 3. | pl | cuentan | piensan |
| Present Subjunctive | 1. | sg | cuente | piense |
| Present Subjunctive | 2. | sg | cuentes | pienses |
| Present Subjunctive | 3. | sg | cuente | piense |
| Present Subjunctive | 3. | pl | cuenten | piensen |
| Imperative | 2. | sg | cuenta | piensa |
b)Type II, in which ie is substituted for e, and ue for o, in all forms where stress falls on this vowel, and i is substituted for e, and u for o, wherever the root is unstressed but followed by a, ie, or ió.
c)Type III, in which i is substituted for e both in forms where the last syllable of the root is stressed and where the root is unstressed but followed by a, ie, or ió.
​Examples of types II and III are sentir "feel", dormir "sleep", pedir "ask":
| Present | 1. | sg | siento | duermo | pido |
| Present | 2. | sg | sientes | duermes | pides |
| Present | 3. | sg | siente | duerme | pide |
| Present | 3. | pl | sienten | duermen | piden |
| Present Subjunctive | 1. | sg | sienta | duerma | pida |
| Present Subjunctive | 2. | sg | sientas | duermas | pidas |
| Present Subjunctive | 3. | sg | sienta | duerma | pida |
| Present Subjunctive | 1. | pl | sintamos | durmamos | pidamos |
| Present Subjunctive | 2. | pl | sintáis | durmáis | pidáis |
| Present Subjunctive | 3. | pl | sientan | duerman | pidan |
| Imperative | 2. | sg | siente | duerme | pide |
| Preterite | 3. | sg | sintió | durmió | pidió |
| Preterite | 3. | pl | sintieron | durmieron | pidieron |
| Past Subjunctive | 1, 3. | sg | sintiese | durmiese | pidiese |
| Past Subjunctive | 1, 3. | sg | sintiera | durmiera | pidiera |
| Present Participle | Present Participle | Present Participle | sintiendo | durmiendo | pidiendo |
2.Roots ending in -y lose this y wherever it would come before stressed i, and unstressed i of an ending is lost after this y. Thus, from the root distribuy- (III) "distribute" we have: infinitive distribuir; present 1. pl distribuimos, 2. pl distribuís; imperfect distribuía, etc; imperative 2. pl ''distribuid; future distribuiré, etc; conditional distribuiría, etc; preterite 1. sg distribuí, 2. sg distribuíste, 3. sg distribuyó, 1. pl distribuimos, 2. pl distribuísteis, 3. pl distribuyeron; past participle distribuido; present participle distribuyendo. All verbs with infinitive in -uir are of this type.
3.Certain verbs, which we shall term the -zc- verbs, substitute -zc- for -c- wherever -o or -a follows. Thus conocer (II) "know" has:
| Present Indicative | 1. | sg | conozco |
| Present Subjunctive | 1. | sg | conozca | 1. | pl | conozcamos |
| Present Subjunctive | 2. | sg | conozcas | 2. | pl | conozcáis |
| Present Subjunctive | 3. | sg | conozca | 3. | pl | conozcan |
4.Other irregular verbs, which do not fall into regular sub-patterns, are the following, here listed with indication of the class of verb to which they belong and with the individual forms which are irregular:
* abrir III "open":past part, abierto.
* andar I "walk":preterite anduve etc; past subj. anduviese, anduviera.
* atenerse II "depend":like tener.
* atraer II "attract":like traer.
* avenirse III "agree":like venir.
* bendecir III "bless":like decir, but past part. bendito. ​
* caber II "be contained, fit": pres. 1. sg quepo; pres. subj. quepa etc; fut. cabré; condit. cabría; pret. cupe etc; past subj. cupiese, cupiera.
* caer II "fall": pres. l. sg caigo; pres. subj. caiga etc; pret. 3. sg cayó, 3. pl cayeron; past subj. cayese, cayera; pres. part. cayendo.
* componer II "compose": like poner.
* contener II "contain": like tener.
* contradecir III "contradict": like decir.
* contraer II "contract": like traer.
* convenir III "agree": like venir.
* cubrir III "cover": past part. cubierto.
* dar IV "give": pres. l. sg doy; imperf. daba etc; pres. subj. l. sg dé, 3. sg dé; pret. dí, diste, dió, dimos, disteis, dieron; past subj. diese, diera.
* decaer II "decay": like caer.
* decir III "say": radical-changing type III and: pres. l. sg digo; pres. subj. diga etc; imperative 2. sg di; fut. 1. sg diré etc; condit. diría etc; pret. dije etc; past subj. dijese, dijera; past part. dicho.
* descubrir III "discover": like cubrir.
* desenvolver II "unroll, unwrap": like volver.
* detener II "hold back, detain": like tener.
* disolver II "dissolve": rad-ch I and past part, disuelto.
* disponer II "dispose": like poner.
* distraer II "distract": like traer.
* entretener II "entertain": like tener.
* escribir III "write": past part, escrito.
* estar IV "be": pres. l. sg estoy, 2. sg estás, 3. sg está, 3. pl están; imperf. estaba etc; pres. subj. esté, estés, esté, estemos, estéis, estén; pret. estuve etc; past subj. estuviese, estuviera.
* exponer II "expose": like poner.
* haber II "have, for there to be" (normally used in verbal phrases to form perfect tenses or in 3. sg meaning "there is, there was" etc): pres. he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han; pres. subj. haya etc; fut. habré; condit. habría; pret. hube etc; past subj. hubiese, hubiera. The special form hay is used in pres. 3. sg in the meaning "there is, there are".
* hacer II "do, make": pres. l. sg hago; pres. subj. haga etc; fut. haré; condit. haría; pret. hice etc; past subj. hiciese, hiciera; past part. hecho.
* imponer II "impose": like poner.
* indisponer II "indispose": like poner.
* interponer II "interpose": like pone.
* intervenir III "intervene": like venir.
* ir IV "go": pres. voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van; imperf. iba etc; pres. subj. vaya etc; fut. iré; condit. iría; pret. and past subj. same as those of ser.
* maldecir III "curse": like decir, but past part, maldito.
* mantener II "maintain": like tener. ​
* morir III "die": rad-ch I and past part, muerto.
* obtener II "obtain": like tener.
* oponer II "oppose": like poner.
* poder II "be able": rad-ch I and: fut. podré; condit. podría; pret. pude etc; past subj. pudiese, pudiera.
* poner II "place": pres. 1. sg pongo; pres. subj. ponga etc; fut. pondré; condit. pondría; pret. puse etc; past subj. pusiese, pusiera; past part. puesto.
* prevenir III "prepare, warn": like venir.
* proponer II "propose": like poner.
* retener II "retain": like tener.
* saber II "know": pres. 1. sg sé; pres. subj. sepa etc; fut. sabré; condit. sabría; pret. supe etc; past subj. supiese, supiera.
* salir III "go out": pres. 1. sg salgo; pres. subj. saiga etc; fut. saldré; condit. saldría.
* satisfacer II "satisfy": like hacer.
* ser IV "be": pres. soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son; imperf. era etc; pres. subj. sea etc; pret. fuí, fuiste, fué, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron; past subj. fuese, fuera; pres. part, siendo; past part. sido.
* sostener II "uphold, sustain": like tener.
* suponer II "suppose": like poner.
* tener II "have, hold": rad-ch I and: pres. 1. sg tengo; pres. subj. tenga etc; fut. tendré; condit. tendría; pret. tuve etc; past subj. tuviese, tuviera.
* traer II "bring": pres. 1. sg traigo; pres. subj. traiga etc; pret. traje etc; past subj. trajese, trajera.
* valer II "be worth": pres. 1. sg valgo; pres. subj. valga etc; fut. valdré; condit. valdría.
* venir III "come": rad-ch I and: pres. 1. sg vengo; pres. subj. venga etc; fut. vendré; condit. vendría; pret. vine etc; past subj. viniese, viniera.
* ver IV "see": pret. ví, viste, vió, vimos, visteis, vieron; past subj. viese, viera; past part. visto.
* volver II "turn": rad-ch I and past part. vuelto.
1.8Special uses of some important verbs:
1.ser "be" is used with a noun or adjective denoting permanent condition, inherent characteristic or quality, origin, material, or ownership, and also in impersonal expressions and expressions of time:
| ¿Quién es? | "Who is it?" |
| Soy yo. | "It's me." |
| ¿De dónde es? | "Where's he from?" |
| Es de Cuba. | "He's from Cuba." |
| Yo soy español. | "I'm a Spaniard." |
| Ella es pintora. | "She's a painter." |
| Esa mesa es de madera. | "That table's made of wood." |
| ¿De quién es? | "Whose is it?" |
| Es de ella. | "It's hers." ​ |
| Es para tí. | "It's for you." |
| ¿Qué hora es? | "What time is it?" |
| Son las cinco. | "It's five o'clock." |
| Es tarde. | "It's late." |
| Pero es necesario ir. | "But it's necessary to go." |
| Es evidente. | "It's evident." |
2.estar "be" is used to express a temporary condition, location, and also as the auxiliary of the progressive tense:
| ¿Cómo está Ud.? | "How are you?" |
| ¿Dónde está el libro? | "Where's the book?" |
| Está sobre la mesa. | "It's on the table." |
| Ellos están en Chile. | "They're in Chile." |
| ¿Quién está hablando? | "Who's speaking?" |
| El niño está jugando. | "The child's playing." |
| Ella está enferma. | "She's sick." |
a)In order to determine whether to use ser or estar when the predicate is an adjective, the following rule should be kept in mind: ser is used when the predicate adjective indicates the nature of an object or an inherent characteristic (1, below); estar is used when the predicate adjective indicates a temporary condition (2, below):
| (1) | La lechuga es verde. | "Lettuce is green." (by nature) |
| (2) | La fruta está verde. | "The fruit's green ." (a state of the fruit) |
| (1) | María es pálida. | "Mary's pale." (by nature) |
| (2) | María está pálida. | "Mary looks pale." |
| (1) | Es un hombre raro. | "He's a queer man." |
| (2) | Está muy raro hoy. | "He acts very queer today." |
b)estar should never be used with a predicate noun.
c)ser should never be used with the past participle except to form an unequivocal passive voice:
| La ventana está abierta. | "The window's open." |
| La ventana fué abierta por María. | "The window was opened by Mary." |
| La casa está bien construida. | "The house is well built." |
| La casa fué construida en 1945. | "The house was built in 1945." |
3.haber never means "have" in the sense of "possess". This meaning is rendered by tener: el tiene el libro "he has the book".
a)When haber is not used as an auxiliary verb to form the compound tenses, it is an impersonal verb corresponding to English "there is, there are, there was, there were", etc, and as such has the form hay in the present tense:
| Hay tres libros sobre la mesa. | "There are three books on the table." |
| Hay un hombre en la habitación. | "There's a man in the room." |
​b)In all other tenses the impersonal form is identical with the third person singular of the auxiliary:
| había | "there was, there were" |
| hubo | "there was, there were" |
| habrá | "there'll be" |
| habría | "there'd be" |
4.tener, which means "have" in the sense of "possess", used with que + infinitive expresses a strong obligation equivalent to English "have to, must":
| Tenemos que hacerlo hoy. | "We must do it today." |
a)hay que is substituted for tener que in impersonal constructions and is translated into English as "must, it's necessary":
| Hay que decir la verdad. | "It's necessary to (One must) tell the truth." |
b)tener as used in many idioms is translated "be" in English. In such cases the Spanish adjective mucho is rendered in English by the adverb "very":
| Tengo hambre. | "I'm hungry." |
| Tengo mucha hambre. | "I'm very hungry." |
| Tengo sed. | "I'm thirsty." |
| Tengo frío. | "I'm cold." |
| Tengo miedo. | "I'm afraid." |
| Tengo prisa. | "I'm in a hurry." |
5.The pronoun "it", which is used in the impersonal construction in English, is never required in Spanish:
| Llueve. | "It's raining." | Escampa. | "It's clearing off." |
| Truena. | "It's thundering." | Hace fresco. | "It's cool." |
6.hacer is used impersonally in expressions of weather:
| Hace calor. | "It's warm." | Hace frío. | "It's cold." |
a)hace . . . que, hacía . . . que, and hace (hacía) preceded by desde may be used to indicate time elapsed:
| Hace dos días que llegó. | "It's two days since he arrived." |
| Está aquí desde hace dos días. | "He's been here two days." |
| No la había visto desde hacía dos años. | "I hadn't seen her for two years." |
III. Phrase Structure
Two or more words may be combined into groups of words, or phrases, which are used in sentences to take the place of, and fulfill the functions of, the various parts of speech. In this section we shall list the main types of phrases which occur in Spanish, according to the parts of speech whose place they take. We shall use the term head to refer to the central word of the phrase, and modifier to refer to a word modifying the head: thus, in English "good boy", the noun "boy" is the head of the phrase and "good" is a modifier.
2.0Universal phrase types are such as occur with all parts of speech. In them two or more heads, usually belonging to the same part of speech, are ​placed next to each other, either not connected at all or connected by conjunctions.
1.No conjunction is present in some phrases which serve to enumerate things, actions, etc:
| Se lo dije una, dos, tres veces. | "I told him once, twice, three times." |
| Museos, escuelos, templos, todo lo saquearon. | "Museums, schools, and churches—they pillaged everything." |
2.A conjunction is used in other phrases:
a)Before the last head: el hambre, el frío, la fatiga, y demás dolores "hunger, cold, fatigue, and other sorrows".
b)Before each head: ni esto ni aquello "neither this nor that".
2.1Noun phrases normally contain a noun as their head, and an adjective or other element as modifier. This modifier may occur either before or after the head of the phrase, giving two main types of noun phrases:
2.11Modifier + head.This order occurs primarily when the modifier is:
1.One of the adjectives mentioned in §1.13: buen(o) "good", gran(de) "great", cien(to) "100", mal(o) "bad", postrer(o) "last", primer(o) "first", San(to) "Saint", tercer(o) "third", and un(o) "one"; or one of certain others: pequeño "little", viejo "old", bonito "pretty".
2.A numeral: diez hombres "ten men".
3.An interrogative or indefinite adjective: ¿cuáles libros? "which books?"; otras personas "other persons"; los demás libros "the other books".
2.12Head + modifier.This order is the normal one when the modifier is:
1.An adjective other than the types mentioned in §2.11: un hombre fuerte "a strong man"; una puerta abierta "an open door".
2.An adjective phrase (adverb + adjective), or a phrase consisting of preposition + noun, pronoun, or verb: un hombre may fuerte "a very strong man"; un vaso de agua "a glass of water"; su libro de él "his book"; la casualidad de haberse encontrado con ella "the chance of having met her".
3.A clause, normally introduced by a relative pronoun or adjective: 'un caballero que desea hablarle "a gentleman who wants to talk to you".
2.13Reversal of normal order of adjective and head in a noun phrase (placing the adjective before the noun when it would normally follow, or vice versa) gives to the adjective an added meaning of emphasis, rhetorical ornament, or figurative speech: la blanca nieve "the white, white snow"; cierta ciudad "a certain city"; un hombre malo "a very bad man".
2.14Phrase markers are certain types of words which may precede any noun or noun phrase and mark it as such. They are:
1.The definite article (§1.22): la infeliz madre "the unhappy mother"; los libros escritos en español "the books written in Spanish".
2.The indefinite article un, una, which in the singular has the meaning "a, an" and in the plural "some": un libro interesante "an interesting book"; unos libros interesantes "some interesting books".
​3.A possessive adjective: mi viejo amigo "my old friend".
4.A demonstrative adjective: estos cinco libros "these five books"
2.2Adjective phrases are of the following types:
2.21Modifier + head.The modifier in this type of phrase is normally an adverb muy bonito "very pretty". A special formation of this type is the comparative and superlative of adjectives: más "more" or menos "less" placed before an adjective makes a phrase with comparative meaning: más interesante "more interesting"; menos útil "less useful". The definite article placed before a phrase containing a comparative adjective gives it the meaning of a superlative: el más interesante "the most interesting"; el menos útil "the least useful".
2.22Head + modifier.The modifier may be one of the following:
1.A phrase introduced by a preposition: esta agua es buena para beber "this water's good to drink".
2.A clause introduced by que or de "than" or como "as" (often elliptical) after a comparative phrase (§2.21): más habladora que su madre "more talkative than her mother"; tiene tantas tarjetas como ella "he has as many cards as she".
2.3Pronoun phrases have the structure head + modifier. The modifier may be:
1.An adjective: yo solo "I alone".
2.A phrase introduced by a preposition: el de mi padre "the one of my father, my father's".
3.A clause: lo que me gusta "that which pleases me, what I like".
2.4Verb phrases are of the following types:
2.41Verb + verb.These may be classified according to the form of the second verb in the phrase:
1.Past participle. The first verb may be:
a)haber "have", which forms perfect tenses with the past participle of other verbs. In such phrases, the past participle is always in the masculine singular: ha enviado los libros "he's sent the books"; los libros que ha enviado "the books he's sent"; los ha enviado "he's sent them".
b)ser "be", which forms passive tenses with the past participle of other verbs. This type of phrase is chiefly literary in use; the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject: este libro fué escrito por Pérez Galdós "this book was written by Pérez Galdós".
c)estar "be", tener "have", quedarse "remain", and similar verbs. The past participle agrees in gender and number with the noun to which it refers: la puerta está abierta "the door's open"; los niños estaban sentados en el suelo "the children were sitting on the floor"; tengo escrita la carta "I have the letter written".
2.Gerund, with estar "be", seguir "keep on", etc, as the first verb. This construction is equivalent to the English present progressive, which consists of a form of "be" + a verb form in "-ing": está hablando "he's talking".
3.Infinitive. The first verb is one which indicates desire, ability, obligation, cause, intention, or emotion: debo irme "I have to go away"; creía haberla ​visto "he thought he'd seen it". Among the many verbs which occur in this construction are:
| acostumbrar "be accustomed to" | mandar "order to, command to" |
| bastar "be enough to" | necesitar "need to" |
| conseguir "succeed in" | parecer "seem to, appear to" |
| creer "believe, think" | pensar "intend to" |
| deber "ought, should" | poder "be able to" |
| decidir "decide to" | procurar "try to" |
| dejar "let, allow to" | querer "wish to" |
| desear "wish to, desire to" | resolver "decide to" |
| gustar "like, be pleasing to" | saber "know how to" |
| hacer "cause to, have done" | servirse "be so kind as to" |
| intentar "attempt to, try to" | temer "fear, be afraid" |
| lograr "succeed in" | ver "see" |
2.42Verb + direct object, which is normally a noun, pronoun, or clause: no tenemos libros "we haven't any books"; no me tratan bien "they don't treat me well"; quiero que estén contentos "I want them to be happy". But this construction is normally replaced by that of verb + indirect object (cf §2.44.3) with proper nouns or nouns referring to specific persons (or personified objects or animals), and with disjunctive personal pronouns, relative, demonstrative, and indefinite pronouns referring to persons (except que).
2.43Verb + predicate complement, which is normally a noun or pronoun used after ser or estar "be" and certain other verbs indicating identity or development, and agreeing with the subject in gender and number: mi amigo es abogado "my friend's a lawyer"; estamos cansados "we're tired".
2.44Verb + adverbial complement.This latter may be:
1.An adverb: habla muy bien "he speaks very well".
2.An adjective or noun used as an adverb: el enemigo atacó duro "the enemy attacked hard".
3.A phrase introduced by a preposition: sigue viviendo a la antigua "he continues to live in the old way"; nos entendimos por fin "we understood each other at last". This type of adverbial complement, with the preposition a, is normal instead of a direct object, in referring to a person (cf 2.42, above). Furthermore, the preposition a is normally used to introduce an infinitive after most verbs indicating motion, beginning, teaching, and learning, among others the following:
| acostumbrarse "become accustomed" | empezar "begin" |
| acudir "come up, run" | enseñar "teach" |
| aprender "learn" | invitar "invite" |
| atreverse "dare" | ir "go" |
| ayudar "help" | llegar "come, succeed" |
| comenzar "begin" | negarse "refuse" |
| correr "run" | obligar "oblige" |
| decidirse "decide" | ponerse "start, begin" |
| disponerse "get ready" | probar "try" ​ |
| resistirse "resist" | venir "come" |
| subir "go up, come up" | volver "return, come back" |
| tornar "return, do again" | |
The preposition de is normally used to introduce an infinitive after the following verbs:
* acabar "finish, have just . . ."
* acordarse "remember (to)"
* cansarse "get tired (of)"
* cesar "stop"
* dejar "stop, fail (to)"
* guardarse "take care not (to)"
* haber "have (to), be going (to)"
* olvidarse "forget (to)"
* quejarse "complain (of)"
* tratar "try (to)"; (reflexive) "be a question (of)"
The preposition en is used after the following (and other) verbs:
| complacerse "take pleasure (in)" | insistir "insist (on)" |
| consentir "consent (to)" | pensar "think (of, about)" |
| consistir "consist (of)" | persistir "persist (in)" |
| convenir "agree (to)" | tardar "delay (in)" |
| empeñarse "insist (on)" | |
4.A clause: Antes venía porque me obligaban. "I used to come because they forced me to."
2.5Adverb phrases are normally of the structure modifier + head, with the modifier another adverb: muy bien "very well". An adverb phrase with más "more" or menos "less" as modifier has the meaning of the English comparative or superlative of an adverb: más tarde "later"; menos bien "less well".
Phrases consisting of preposition + noun, pronoun, or verb may also be used adverbially: en el zaguán saludó a la portera "he greeted the janitress in the main entrance".
2.6Preposition phrases normally consist of an adverb (or equivalent phrase) followed by a preposition: junto a' "together with"; a pesar de "in spite of".
2.61Prepositional phrases are used in Spanish where in English two or more nouns can be combined to form compound nouns: máquina de coser "sewing machine"; ropa para caballeros "men's wear"; neumático de repuesto "spare tire".
2.7Conjunction phrases usually consist of an adverb or preposition or equivalent phrase followed by a subordinate conjunction (normally que "that"): para que "in order that"; sin que "without".
IV. Clause Structure
3.0The clause is the basic unit of the sentence in Spanish as in English. Clauses are either major or minor; major clauses are the customary normal ​type, and minor clauses are all others. The structure of major clauses and their combinations will be discussed in §§3.1-3.53; of minor clauses, in §§3.6-3.62. A major clause always contains a predicate and may or may not contain a subject as well.
3.1 The predicate always has as its main element a verb or verb phrase: nos inclinamos para ver mejor "we bent over to see better"; estoy cansado "I'm tired"; han matado a la señora "they've killed the lady". Since the verb indicates by its endings the person and number of the agent, a predicate often occurs alone (as in the above examples), where English would have a pronoun subject.
3.2 The subject may be one of the following:
1. A noun or noun phrase: Inglaterra es grande y bella "England is great and beautiful"; las antiguas explotaciones petrolíferas han sido abandonadas "the old oil drillings have been abandoned".
2. An adjective or other part of speech serving as noun: todo le ayudaba "everything helped him"; lo mejor y más granado "the finest and most select type".
3. A pronoun: él iba delante "he went first"; me gusta éste "I like this one".
3.21 Agreement in number. The subject normally agrees in number with the verb of the predicate: lo hago yo "I'll do it"; lo hacemos nosotros "we'll do it".
3.22 Agreement in person. The verb of the predicate is normally in the grammatical person of the lowest-numbered person represented in the subject. (usted, ustedes "you" naturally count as third person in this respect.) If the subject contains heads belonging to two different grammatical persons, the verb is in the first person if the first person element is present, otherwise in the second: nos casaremos, tú y yo "we'll get married, you and I".
3.23 Agreement in gender. A predicate complement (§2.43) agrees in number and gender with the subject: él estaba cansado "he was tired"; las señoritas estaban cansadas "the young ladies were tired".
3.3 Order of subject and predicate is much freer in Spanish than in English. In general, the normal order is subject+predicate; inversion of this order implies emphasis or rhetorical force, but is very frequent: eso lo hago yo "I'll do that"; así continuaba el joven "the young man continued thus". Inverted order is normal in a clause containing a subjunctive used as an imperative: quítese usted el sombrero "take off your hat".
Likewise the direct object, predicate complement, or adverbial complement is often placed before the verb and subject, giving a meaning of greater emphasis than does the normal order: eso es "that's it" (literally, "it is that"); el que no se entera de nada soy yo "I'm the one who doesn't understand"; mejor será avisar a la policía "it'll be better to notify the police"; mucho lo siento "I'm very sorry". In a sentence containing a specifically interrogative word, the phrase containing this word comes first: ¿qué quiere usted? "what do you want?"; ¿desde cuándo le conoces? "since when have you known him?"
3.4 Coordination is the relation to each other of two or more clauses of equal rank in a sentence. Of two coordinate clauses, the second is usually joined to the first by a coordinating conjunction, such as pero "but", y "and".
​The conjunction que may introduce an independent or coordinate clause when followed by a verb in the subjunctive indicating a command: que lo haga él "let him do it".
3.5 Subordination. If a clause has, in another clause, the function of one of the parts of speech, and modifies some element of that clause, it is said to be subordinate' to or dependent on the element it modifies. Subordinate clauses are normally introduced by a subordinating conjunction, often one formed with que "that". The use of a clause in a subordinate position often requires the use of a subjunctive form in the main verb of the subordinate clause. The use of the subjunctive may be automatic, i.e. obligatory in certain constructions. In others, the use of the subjunctive is not obligatory, and its use is significant, i.e. it gives the clause a different meaning than the use of the indicative would .
3.51 Automatic use of the subjunctive is found in the following types of subordinate clauses:
1. Those containing certain verbs:
a) Verbs whose general meaning is that of desire, command, judgment or opinion, emotion, or doubt. The chief of these verbs are:
agradecer "be grateful" alegrarse "be glad" dejar "let, allow" deplorar "regret" desear "desire" estar "be" + certain adjectives (e.g contento (de) "glad", enojado "annoyed") gustar "like" impedir "hinder" insistir (en) "insist (on)" mandar "command" pedir "ask" perdonar "forgive" permitir "permit, allow" preferir "prefer" prohibir "forbid" querer "want, wish" sentir "be sorry" sorprenderse "be surprised" sugerir "suggest" tener miedo (de) "be afraid"
b) Impersonal expressions (used only in the third person singular) in which ser "be" is followed by any of a number of adjectives, among them:
bueno "good"
difícil "difficult" extraño "strange" fácil "easy" importante "important"
justo "right" malo "bad" mejor "better" necesario "necessary" peor "worse" posible "possible" probable "probable"
c) Verbs, usually when they are in the negative or interrogative, whose general meaning is that of perceiving, thinking, knowing, declaring; the meaning given by use of the subjunctive is that of uncertainty or doubt. The most important of the determining verbs are:
concebir "conceive, imagine" creer "believe" decir "say" estimar "consider" juzgar "judge" pensar "think" saber "know" suponer "suppose"
​But after such verbs as dudar "doubt" and negar "deny", with essentially negative meaning, the subjunctive is used when the main verb is in the positive, and the indicative when it is in the negative: dudo que sea posible "I doubt that it's possible".
2. Clauses serving as adverbs: after a number of conjunctions, such as:
a condición que "on condition that" a fin (de) que "in order that" a menos que "unless"
aun cuando "even if"
para que "so that"
supuesto que "supposing that"
3.52 Significant use of the subjunctive is found in the following types of clauses:
1. Clauses used as adjectives, giving the clauses the meaning of:
a) A desired characteristic or purpose: busco un libro que sea interesante "I'm looking for a book that'll be interesting". b) Uncertainty or doubt: las expresiones que Uds. hayan olvidado "the expressions you may have forgotten". This type of clause is especially frequent after indefinite and concessive expressions: cualquier libro que escriba "whatever book he may write"; por rico que sea "no matter how rich he may be". It is also found after superlatives or equivalent expressions: el libro más interesante que haya "the most interesting book there is".
2. Clauses used as adverbs, giving the meaning of:
a) Intent, purpose, or anticipation: hable Ud. de manera que todos le oigan "talk in such a way that all can hear you"; aunque venga, no nos lo enseñará "even though he may. come, he won't show it to us".
b) Futurity: cuando venga, dígaselo "when he comes, tell it to him".
3.53 Conditional sentences. If a sentence contains a clause beginning with si "if", the tense of the verb in this clause is determined by the tense of the verb in the main clause, normally as follows:
| If the main clause has a verb in the: | | The "if"-clause has a verb in the: |
| Present | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | Present |
| Imperative | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | Present |
| Future | $\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,$ | Present |
| Imperfect | Imperfect |
| Preterite | Preterite |
| Conditional | Past Subjunctive (-ra or -se) |
Thus: si está aquí, trabaja "if he's here, he's working"; si estaba aquí, trabajaba "if he was here, he was working"; si está aquí mañana, trabajará "if he's here tomorrow, he'll be working"; si estuviera aquí, trabajaría "if he were here, he'd be working". A main verb indicating a condition contrary to fact may also be in the -ra form of the subjunctive: si estuviera aquí, trabajara "if he were here, he'd be working".
3.6 Minor clauses, which do not conform to the customary structure of clauses, are chiefly of the following two types:
​3.61 Fragmentary or elliptical clauses: a phrase or single word, such as could enter into the structure of a full clause if the rest of a full clause were uttered. Under this type come most cases of incomplete sentences in normal conversation, answers to questions, etc: ¿Qué le dijo?—Nada. "What did he say to him?—Nothing."; Buenos días. ¿Cómo está Ud.?—Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y Ud.? "Hello. How are you?—Very well, thanks. And you?"
3.62 Interjectional clauses, consisting of words which do not have the inflection or function of any of the parts of speech, and may be used as separate utterances or joined with other clauses: ¡Ah! "Ah!"; ¡Ay! "Ouch!"; ¡Hola! "Hello!"; ¡Oh! "Oh!"; etc.
* ↑ This manual lists as "Class IV verbs" certain verbs usually designated elsewhere as simply "irregular verbs." For irregular verbs of all classes see page 12.
* ↑ Uno used as a pronoun does not drop the o.
* ↑ In Spanish there are only a few genuine compounds of the type of ferrocarril "railroad", radiodifusión "broadcasting", which generally have an initial member ending in -o.