Los tópicos
Subjunctive
Preterit vs
imperfect
Por vs para
All verb tenses
If clauses
Object pronouns
Passive Voice
Ser vs estar
Comparisons
SER contra ESTAR
“How you feel and where you are,
always use the verb ESTAR.” – P. Diddy
If you are talking about what
something is (essential qualities), use
SER; if you are talking about how
something is (condition), use ESTAR.
Ella es bonita.
La puerta está rota.
El pretérito contra el imperfecto
Preterit is used for specific,
completed actions.
Imperfect sets the scene.
4 Reasons to Use the Imperfect:
1. Time and weather in the PAST
2. Characteristics / Emotions in PAST
3. Ongoing or incomplete actions in PAST
4. Habitual actions in PAST
POR contra PARA PARA
Rule: to indicate destination
Model: El hombre salió para Madrid.
(The man left for Madrid.)
Rule: to show the use or purpose of a thing
Model: El vaso es para agua.
(The glass is for water.)
Rule: to mean "in order to" or "for the
purpose of"
Model: Para hacer una paella, primero dore
las carnes.
To make a paella, first sauté the meats.
Rule: to indicate a recipient
Model: Este regalo es para ti.
(This gift is for you.)
Rule: to express a deadline or specific time
Model: Necesito el vestido para el lunes.
(I need the dress by Monday.)
Rule: to express a contrast from what is
expected
Model: Para un niño lee muy bien.
(For a child, he reads very well.)
Rule: "estar para" to express an action that
will soon be completed
Model: El tren está para salir.
(The train is about to leave.)
POR
Rule: to express gratitude or apology
Rule: for multiplication and division
Rule: for velocity, frequency and
proportion
Rule: meaning "through," "along," "by" or
"in the area of"
Rule: when talking about exchange,
including sales
Rule: to mean "on behalf of," or "in favor
of,"
Rule: to express a length of time
Rule: to express an undetermined, or
general time, meaning "during"
Rule: for means of communication or
transportation
Rule: in cases of mistaken identity, or
meaning "to be seen as"
Rule: to show the reason for an errand
(with ir, venir, pasar, mandar, volver, and
preguntar)
Rule: to express cause or reason
Model: El hombre murió por falta de
agua.
Rule: "estar por" means to be in the
mood, or inclined to do something
Model: Estoy por tomar café.
Rule: in passive constructions
Model: El libro fue escrito por Octavio
Paz.
Pronombres de los Objetos Pronouns are words that stand for nouns.
Object pronouns, as opposed to subject pronouns,
RECEIVE the action from the verb; they do not DO the
verb.
There are 3 types of Object Pronouns
Direct Object Pronouns
Indirect Object Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns
The following three pages will discuss each type of
pronoun and explain when or when not to use them.
Direct Object Pronouns Direct object pronouns are used in place of nouns which get
“acted upon” directly by verbs.
For example, in the sentence “The Jonas Brothers used the
guitar,” the word “guitar” is the direct object.
In the related sentence, “The Jonas Brothers used it,” the word
“it” is the direct object pronoun. “It” stands for the guitar.
If the noun/pronoun directly receives the action from the verb,
answering the question “Whom or what?”, then it is a direct
object or DOP.
Direct object pronouns usually come before the conjugated verb
in a sentence. They can also attach to the back of INFs
Direct Object Pronouns
Me = me
Te = you
Lo/la = him/her/it
Nos = us
Los/las = them/you all
Indirect Object Pronouns Indirect Object pronouns are used when the action affects a
noun or pronoun in an indirect way.
The indirect object is still affected by, or may benefit from, the
action, but it does not take the “direct hit” from the verb. For
example: I give Mr. Twehues an apple.
In this sentence, the apple is given, so it is the direct object.
Mr. Twehues loves to eat, and he will benefit from the apple,
so he is the indirect object.
The IOP answers the question “To whom/what or For
whom/what?”
Indirect Object Pronouns
Me = me
Te = you
Le = him/her/it
Nos = us
Les = them/you all
There has to be a Direct Object for there to be an IOP
Reflexive Object Pronouns
When a subject and object refer to the same person or
thing, a reflexive object is used.
In the sentence, “I call myself John,” the subject (I)
refers to the same person as the object (John).
In the sentence, “They showered themselves after the
game.” The subject (They) matches the object
(themselves), and a reflexive object pronoun is used.
Reflexive Object Pronouns
Me = myself
Te = yourself
Se = himself / herself
Nos = ourselves
Se = themselves / yourselves
To form a sentence with the Subjunctive tenses
(any of them), you must follow this formula:
WEIRDO + que + sentence in subjunctive tense.
• Examples:
1. Es bueno que ella coma el sándwich.
2. Ojalá que yo tenga una novia.
3. Yo espero que ella haya llegado a la casa.
4. Ella dudaba que tú tuvieras unos amigos.
5. Tú no pensabas que ella hubiera comido la pizza.
The Subjunctive refers to: subjunctive, subjunctive
perfect, imperfect subjunctive, and past perfect
subjunctive.
W – Wishing, wanting, desire, hopes,
expectations, etc.
E – Emotions
I – Impersonal Expressions
R – Recommendations, advice, suggestions
D – Disbelief, doubt
O – Ojalá que…
W stands for: Wishing, Wanting, Desire.
Use the following verbs to help you set-off
the subjunctive tense.
Verbs:
1. Desear – to desire/wish Esperar – to hope
2. Querer(eie) –to want Mandar – to demand
3. Insistir – to insist Necesitar – to need
Examples:
1. Yo deseo que ella se muera.
2. Ella insiste que visitemos a su abuela.
E stands for: Emotion verbs.
You should keep a few of these in your
pockets at all times to use the subjunctive.
Verbs:
1. Alegrarse – to be happy Enojarse –be mad
2. Temer –scared Sorprenderse -be surprised
3. Entristecerse – to be sad
Examples:
1. Me alegro que tú estés enfermo.
2. Te entristeces que tu perro se muera.
I stands for: Impersonal Expressions.
These do not apply to one, single individual,
but rather are common sense ideas/rules.
Expressions:
1. Es bueno que yo no beba mucho.
2. Es terrible que él no tenga un brazo.
3. Qué lástima que llueva hoy.
4. Es necesario que tú estudies bien.
5. Es posible que Usted tenga razón.
6. Es raro que ella no sea correcta.
R stands for: Recommendation, Suggestion,
Advice, etc.
It’s typical to use an IOP (Indirect Object Pronoun).
Verbs:
1. Recomendar (eie)– to recommend
2. Aconsejar – to advise
3. Sugerir (eie)– to suggest
Examples:
1. Ella me sugiere que yo llame al doctor.
2. Yo te aconsejo que tú uses menos drogas.
D stands for: Doubt, Disbelief, Un-thinking
Verbs:
1. Dudar – to doubt
2. Negar (eie) – to deny
3. (NO) Pensar (eie) – to (not) think
4. (NO) Creer – to (not) believe
Examples:
1. Yo niego que ella tenga razón.
2. Tú no piensas que Castro ya viva.
3. Él duda que sea posible.
O stands for: Ojalá que...
This is an Arabic expression than can
mean “God willing that…” or “I hope to
God that…”
Examples:
1. Ojalá que llueva café en el campo.
2. Ojalá que no tengamos un examen
hoy.
3. Ojalá que vivamos una buena vida.
To form the subjunctive:
1. Take the YO form of the verb = Tengo
2. Drop the O = Teng-
3. Add the opposite ending = Tenga, tengas …
Irregular Verbs in the subjunctive:
1. DAR – dé, des, dé, demos, den
2. ESTAR – esté, estés, esté, estemos, estén
3. HABER – haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayan
4. SER – sea, seas, sea, seamos, sean
5. IR – vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayan
6. SABER – sepa, sepas, sepa, sepamos, sepan
The Subjunctive Perfect is just that…the
perfect form of the subjunctive.
The subj.perfect will sound EXACTLY the
same as the Present Perfect in English.
To form the Subjunctive Perfect:
Take the subjunctive form of HABER
(haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayan) +
the Past Participle (ado or ido).
Example:
…she has eaten the pizza.
…ella haya comido la pizza.
The Imperfect Subjunctive is the MOST difficult
tense in Spanish to form.
Remember this formula: 3p(3)-ron+ra/se
To use the IMP.SUBJ., the first part of the
sentence (WEIRDO) must be in the Past Tenses.
To form the Imperfect Subjunctive:
Take the 3rd Person Plural Preterit form of the
verb (ellos comieron)
Minus the –ron (comie-
Add either –ra, -ras, -ra, -´ramos, -ran OR
-se, --ses, -se, -´semos, -sen.
Comiera, comieras, comiera, comiéramos, comieran
Comiese, comieses, comiese, comiésemos, comiesen
The Past Perfect Subjunctive is the most
difficult PERFECT tense to form because you
have to remember the following forms:
Hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos,
hubieran.
After choosing the appropriate form (person),
and the Past Participle (ado or ido word) and
you have the Past Perfect Subjunctive.
…ella hubiera comido la pizza.
To use the Past Perfect SUBJ., the first part
of the sentence (WEIRDO) must be in the
Past Tenses.
In English, we use IF clauses like this:
If I were President, I would make a lot of money.
In Spanish, you follow this formula:
Si (If) + Imperfect subjunctive or Past Perfect
Subjunctive + phrase in the CONDITIONAL
tense.
Cond. = Infinitive + ía, ías, ía, íamos, ían
(except for irregulars).
Examples:
Si yo fuera presidente, yo ganaría mucho
dinero.
Ellos hablarían mucho si la maestra no
estuviera en la clase.
Comparaciones
To compare nouns to one another, use
comparison phrases.
Use más___que or más de + # to say
“more___than” or “more than (#)”
Use menos__que or menos de + # to
mean “less__than” o “less than (#)”
Use tan__como or tanto como to mean
“as___as” or “as much as”
Mayor (older), menor (younger), mejor
(better), peor (worse) stand without the
más or menos before them.
Números
Ordinal Numbers (First through Tenth)
1st = Primero 6th = Sexto
2nd = Segundo 7th = Séptimo
3rd = Tercero 8th = Octavo
4th = Cuarto 9th = Noveno
5th = Quinto 10th = Décimo
The words primero + tercero lose the
“O” before a masculine, singular noun.
La voz pasiva The passive voice is used when the subject of
the sentence is unimportant, unknown, or
refers to a generalized subject.
In the passive voice, the thing that receives
the action of the verb comes first, followed by
the verb “to be” and the past participle of the
main verb. If the actual “subject” of the
sentence is stated, it is called “the agent,” and
it follows the word “by.”
The jewels were found by the explorers.
The game is won by the team that works
hardest.
Passive voice created by SER and a Past Participle
The object or person receiving the action of the verb is
followed by a form of the verb SER and a past
participle. If the person doing the action of the verb
(the agent) is stated, it follows the preposition por:
Las joyas fueron encontradas por los exploradores.
El partido es ganado por el equipo que se esfuerza más.
The verb SER must be conjugated to go with the subject
that precedes it. The subject of a sentence written in
the passive voice would be the direct object of a
sentence written in the active voice. For example:
Active voice: The politician writes the laws. El político
escribe las leyes.
subject = the politician ( el político)
Passive voice: The laws are written by the politician.
Las leyes son escritas por el político.
Passive voice created by “Se”
This type of sentence is created in Spanish
by using the reflexive pronoun se followed by
the verb to express the idea that “one does
it” or “they do it” or “you (in general) do it.”
The best way to understand this construction
is through examples:
Se venden libros en esa tienda.
They sell books in that store.
Books are sold in that store.
Se toma mucho café en Sudamérica.
They drink a lot of coffee in South America.
A lot of coffee is drunk in South America.
Verbos como GUSTAR/DOLER GUSTAR is one of several Spanish verbs that always
use Indirect Object Pronouns.
The construction of a sentence with GUSTAR places an
Indirect Object Pronoun first, then a form of GUSTAR,
and then the subject.
IOP + GUSTAR + Subject = Correct Sentence
Because the subject is most often an object or objects,
GUSTAR is usually seen as gusta/gustan.
You can also use gusta with Infinitives!
Indirect Object Pronouns
Me = me
Te = you
Le = him, her, you (formal)
Nos = us
Les = them, you all