SPANISH VERB TO BE: 2012

6.14.2012

Possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives are used to show ownership.

mi libro
my book
tu pluma
your pen

There are five possessive adjectives.

mi
tu
su
nuestro
vuestro

Three possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su) have only two forms, singular and plural.

mi
mis
tu
tus
su
sus

Possessive adjectives agree with the nouns they modify. That is, they agree with the thing possessed, not the possessor.

mi libro: my book
mis libros: my books
tu pluma: your pen
tus plumas: your pens

Mi, tu and su do not have masculine and feminine forms. They stay the same, regardless of the gender of the nouns they modify.

mi amigo
mi amiga
tus hermanos
tus hermanas
su libro
sus plumas

Mi means "my" ; tu means "your."

Mi casa es tu casa.
My house is your house.

Su, like tu, can mean "your." The difference between your (tu) and your (su) lies in the degree of formality the speaker wishes to convey.

Mi casa es tu casa.
(speaking to someone you would address as "tú")
Mi casa es su casa.
(speaking to someone you would address as "usted")

Note: The two words "tu" and "tú" are pronounced the same. Tú (with the written accent) is the subject pronoun meaning "you" (informal). Tu (without the written accent) is the possessive adjective meaning "your" (informal).

Su has four meanings: his, her, their and your (formal).

María busca a su hermana.
María is looking for her sister.
Juan busca a su hermana.
Juan is looking for his sister.
Ellos buscan a su hermana.
They are looking for their sister.
Su madre busca a su hermana.
Your mother is looking for your sister.

If the meaning of su is not clear from the context of the sentence, a prepositional phrase is used in place of su.

María busca a la hermana de él.
María looks for his sister.
El hombre busca las llaves de ella.
The man looks for her keys.
María busca el cuaderno de Juan.
María looks for Juan's notebook.
El hombre busca las llaves de Samanta.
The man looks for Samanta's keys.

Two possessive adjectives (nuestro and vuestro) have four forms.

nuestro
nuestra
nuestros
nuestras
vuestro
vuestra
vuestros
vuestras

Nuestro means "our."

nuestro hermano: our brother
nuestra hermana: our sister
nuestros hermanos: our brothers
nuestras hermanas: our sisters

Vuestro means "your" (familiar, plural). Like vosotros, vuestro is primarily used in Spain.

vuestro libro: your book
vuestra pluma: your pen
vuestros libros: your books
vuestras plumas: your pens

Here are all of the possessive adjectives:

mi(s)
my
tu(s)
your (fam. sing.)
su(s)
his, her, your (formal), their
nuestro(-a, -os, -as)
our
vuestro(-a, -os, -as)
your (fam. pl.)

Note that these possessive adjectives are not used with articles of clothing or body parts. Rather, the definite article is used.

Me gusta el vestido nuevo.
I like my new dress
Me duele el brazo.
My arm hurts.

Questions in Spanish

In Spanish, there may be several ways to ask the same question. Note the inverted question mark that begins each question.

¿María habla español?
Does Maria speak Spanish?
¿Habla María español?
Does Maria speak Spanish?
¿Habla español María?
Does Maria speak Spanish?

The following questions mean exactly the same thing:

Does María speak Spanish?
¿María habla español?
¿Habla María español?
¿Habla español María?

Possible answers would be:

Sí, María habla español.
No, María no habla español.

Another method of forming questions is to add a tag question to the end of a statement.

María habla español, ¿no?
Maria speaks Spanish, doesn't she?
María habla español, ¿verdad?
Maria speaks Spanish, right?

Common words used to introduce other questions are:

¿Adónde?
¿Dónde?
¿De dónde?
¿Cómo?
¿Cuál (-es)?
¿Cuándo?
¿Cuánto (-a)?
¿Cuántos (-as)?
¿Qué?
¿De qué?
¿Quién (-es)?
¿A quién (-es)?
¿Con quién (-es)?
¿De quién (-es)?
¿Por qué?
¿Para qué?

Note: Each has a written accent mark.

Notice how the subject and verbs are inverted. That is, the subject comes after the verb.

¿Qué estudia Pilar?
What does Pilar study?
¿Cuándo comen ustedes?
When do you-all eat?
¿Dónde está mi coche?
Where is my car?
¿Cuánto cuesta la corbata?
How much does the tie cost?

¿Dónde? means "Where?" ¿Adónde? means "To where?" Thus, dónde asks for a location, while adónde asks for a destination.

¿Dónde está la biblioteca?
Where is the library?
¿Adónde va Raúl?
Where is Raul going?
(Literally: To where goes Raul?)

¿De dónde? means "From where?"

¿De dónde es Gerardo?
Where is Gerardo from?

¿Cómo? means "How?"

¿Cómo está usted?
How are you?

¿Cuál? and ¿Cuáles? mean "What?" or "Which?"

¿Cuál es tu nombre?
What is your name?
¿Cuáles son tus libros favoritos?
What (Which) are your favorite books?

¿Cuándo? means "When?"

¿Cuándo van a ir ustedes?
When are you-all going to go?

¿Cuánto(-a)? means "How much?"

¿Cuánto dinero gana Eduardo?
How much money does Eduardo earn?

¿Cuántos(-as)? means "How many?"

¿Cuántas chicas hay en la clase?
How many girls are there in the class?

¿Qué? means "What?"

¿Qué es la libertad?
What is liberty?
¿Qué estudias?
What do you study?

¿De qué? means "About what?" or "Of what?"

¿De qué material es la pluma?
What is the pen made of?
Literally: Of what material is the pen?

¿De qué hablan ustedes?
What are you-all talking about?
Literally: Of what do you-all speak?

¿Quién(-es)? means "Who?"

¿Quién es Gregorio?
Who is Gregorio?
¿Quiénes son esos chicos?
Who are those boys?

¿A quién(-es)? means "Whom?"

¿A quién buscas?
For whom are you looking?
¿A quiénes vas a dar tantos libros?
To whom are you going to give so many books?

¿Con quién(-es)? means "With whom?"

¿Con quién hablo?
With whom am I speaking?
¿Con quiénes estudia Mario?
With whom does Mario study?

¿De quién(-es)? means "Whose?"

¿De quién es aquel sombrero?
Whose hat is that?
¿De quiénes son estas monedas?
Whose coins are these?

¿Por qué? means "Why? (for what reason)"

¿Por qué estudias español?
For what reason do you study Spanish?
Possible answer:
Porque es un requisito.
Because it's required.

¿Para qué? means "Why? (for what purpose)"

¿Para qué estudias español?
For what purpose do you study Spanish?
Possible answer:
Para ser profesor de español.
In order to become a Spanish teacher.

When used with the verb ser, cuál and qué can both mean "what," but they are not interchangeable. Cuál is more common, and is used to indicate a selection, or choice of possibilities. Qué is used to elicit a definition or an explanation.

¿Cuál es la capital de España?
What is the capital of Spain?
¿Qué es la capital?
What is the (definition of) capital?

6.11.2012

Adjectives II

Many adjectives of nationality end in -o. These adjectives follow the same rules as other adjectives ending in -o. That is, they have four forms.

el muchacho mexicano
la muchacha mexicana
los muchachos mexicanos
las muchachas mexicanas

Many other adjectives of nationality end in a consonant. These adjectives do not follow the same rules as other adjectives ending in a consonant, rather, they have a distinct feminine form ending in -a.

el muchacho español
la muchacha española
los muchachos españoles
las muchachas españolas

There is another group of adjectives that does not follow the normal rules. Adjectives ending in -or, -án, -ón, or -ín also have a feminine form.

el chico hablador
la chica habladora
los chicos habladores
las chicas habladoras
el hombre trabajador
la mujer trabajadora
los hombres trabajadores
las mujeres trabajadoras

Note: Adjectives ending in "-erior" do not have a feminine form.

Adjectives that are descriptive usually follow the noun they describe.

el chico alto
la chica alta
los libros pequeños
las plumas rojas

Adjectives of quantity almost always come before the noun. Such adjectives tell how much or how many.

pocos libros
mucha energía
mucho trabajo
pocas casas

Sometimes, a descriptive adjective can precede the noun. If the adjective is descriptive, but speaks of a quality that is inherent and usually taken for granted, the adjective comes first.

la blanca nieve
the white snow (snow is inherently white)
los altos picos
the tall peaks (peaks are inherently tall)

Let's review the last two lessons.

Adjectives that end in -o have four forms.

alto
alta
altos
altas

Adjectives of nationality ending in -o are no different from other such adjectives.

guatemalteco
guatemalteca
guatemaltecos
guatemaltecas

Adjectives that end in -e have two forms.

inteligente
inteligentes

Most adjectives ending with a consonant have two forms.

popular
populares

Adjectives of nationality ending in a consonant have four forms.

español
española
españoles
españolas

Adjectives ending in -or, -án, -ón, or -ín have four forms.

hablador
habladora
habladores
habladoras

Adjectives that are descriptive usually follow the noun they describe.

casa blanca
chica alta

When an adjective speaks of a quality that is inherent and usually taken for granted, the adjective precedes the noun.

la blanca nieve
los altos picos

Adjectives of quantity usually come before the noun.

pocos libros
muchos libros

Adjectives I

Adjectives are frequently descriptive. That is, most often adjectives are used to describe a noun, or distinguish the noun from a group of similar objects. For example, an adjective might describe the color of an object.

the red pen
the blue pen

In Spanish, most adjectives change form, depending upon whether the word they modify is masculine or feminine. Notice the difference between "the tall boy" and "the tall girl."

el chico alto
la chica alta

Adjectives also change form depending upon whether the word they modify is singular or plural. Notice the difference between "the tall boy" and "the tall boys" ; "the tall girl" and "the tall girls."

el chico alto
los chicos altos
la chica alta
las chicas altas

Many common adjectives end in -o. These adjectives have four forms. The following words all mean "tall":

alto
alta
altos
altas

The correct form of the adjective depends upon the noun it modifies. Is the noun masculine or feminine? Singular or plural?

libro rojo
red book
pluma roja
red pen
libros rojos
red books
plumas rojas
red pens

Notice how the endings of the nouns and these adjectives are similar.

libro rojo
pluma roja
libros rojos
plumas rojas

Adjectives that end in -e also change form for singular or plural. To form the plural, simply add -s.

la chica inteligente
las chicas inteligentes

Adjectives that end in -e do not, however, change form for masculine or feminine.

la chica inteligente
el chico inteligente
las chicas inteligentes
los chicos inteligentes

Similarly, most adjectives that end in a consonant do change form for singular or plural, but do not change for masculine or feminine. To form the plural, add -es.

la chica popular
el chico popular
las chicas populares
los chicos populares

Days of the week

In Spanish-speaking countries, the week begins on Monday.

lunes
Monday
martes
Tuesday
miércoles
Wednesday
jueves
Thursday
viernes
Friday
sábado
Saturday
domingo
Sunday

Notice that the days of the week are not capitalized.

lunes
martes
miércoles
jueves
viernes
sábado
domingo

The days of the week are all masculine.

el lunes
el martes
el miércoles
el jueves
el viernes
el sábado
el domingo

When used with the days of the week, the definite article has the special meaning "on."

No trabajo el lunes.
I don't work on Monday.
No trabajo los martes.
I don't work on Tuesdays.
Hay una fiesta el miércoles.
There is a party on Wednesday.
Hay muchas fiestas los viernes.
There are many parties on Fridays.

Days of the week ending in -s do not change form in the plural. Only the article changes.

el lunes
los lunes
el martes
los martes
el miércoles
los miércoles
el jueves
los jueves
el viernes
los viernes
el sábado
los sábados
el domingo
los domingos

Use the verb ser to express the day. You will soon learn more about this verb. For now, simply realize that the word "es" is a conjugation of that verb, and is the correct verb in this use.

¿Qué día es hoy?
What day is today?
Hoy es lunes.
Today is Monday.
Mañana es martes.
Tomorrow is Tuesday.

Notice that the following actions do not occur in the present, but rather in the near future.

Salimos el lunes.
We leave on Monday.
Mañana es domingo.
Tomorrow is Sunday.

In Spanish, the present tense of the indicative is sometimes used to express the near future. English does this too.

Salimos el lunes.
We (will) leave on Monday.
Mañana es domingo.
Tomorrow (will be) is Sunday.

6.07.2012

Video: Spanish Verb "Ser"

How to say numbers in spanish

0 to 35

0 – cero	12 – doce	24 – veinticuatro
1 – uno	13 – trece	25 – veinticinco
2 – dos	14 – catorce	26 – veintiséis
3 – tres	15 – quince	27 – veintisiete
4 – cuatro	16 – dieciséis	28 – veintiocho
5 – cinco	17 – diecisiete	29 – veintinueve
6 – seis	18 – dieciocho	30 – treinta
7 – siete	19 – diecinueve	31 – treinta y uno
8 – ocho	20 – veinte	32 – treinta y dos
9 – nueve	21 – veintiuno	33 – treinta y tres
10 – diez	22 – veintidós	34 – treinta y cuatro
11 – once	23 – veintitrés	35 – treinta y cinco

Numbers from 36 to 102

36 – treinta y seis	60 – sesenta
37 – treinta y siete	70 – setenta
38 – treinta y ocho	80 – ochenta
39 – treinta y nueve	90 – noventa
40 – cuarenta	100 – cien
41 – cuarenta y uno	101 – ciento uno
50 – cincuenta	102 – ciento dos

Numbers from 101

101 ciento uno	1100 mil cien
102 ciento dos	2000 dos mil
110 ciento diez	3000 tres mil
150 ciento cincuenta	5000 cinco mil
200 dos cientos	100,000 cien mil
500 quinientos	500,000 quinientos mil
700 setecientos	1,000,000 un millón (de)
900 novecientos	2,000,000 dos millones (de)
1000 mil	100,000,000 cien millones (de)

Spanish Verb Ser- To Be

The following table shows the conjugations of the verb ser in the present tense.

Singular Subject		Plural Subject
Yo (I)	soy	Nosotros/as (we)	somos
Tú (familiar you)	eres	Vosotros/as (familiar you)	sois
Ud., él, ella (polite you, he, she)	es	Uds, ellos, ellas (you, them)	son

Drop the Subject

Each conjugation is so precise that you usually don't need to include a subject at all! In Spanish you can simply say the verb:

Soy de España
Eres joven
Somos de Nueva Zelanda

Spanish Verb Ser – Whose it is and where you're from

The word "de" is widely used with the verb ser. It means "of" when used to indicate possession and "from" when used to indicate origin.

Por ejemplo:

¿De quién es el zapato?
—Whose shoe is this?
(Literally: Of whom is this shoe?)
El zapato es de Mateo
—It is Matthew's shoe
(Literally: The shoe is of Matthew.)
Esos son los pasaportes de mis padres
—Those are my parents' passports
(Literally: Those are the passports of my parents.)
¿De dónde es Eduardo?
—Where does Edward come from?
(Literally: From where is Edward?)
Eduardo es de España
—Edward is from Spain

6.06.2012

Regular Spanish Verbs III

Here's the complete list of Spanish subject pronouns.

Singular: yo tú usted él ella
Plural: nosotros/as vosotros/as ustedes ellos ellas

To conjugate -ar verbs, drop the ending and add:

-o
-as
-a
-amos
-áis
-an

To conjugate -er verbs, drop the ending and add:

-o
-es
-e
-emos
-éis
-en

To conjugate -ir verbs, drop the ending and add:

-o
-es
-e
-imos
-ís
-en

You will benefit greatly by quickly memorizing the three model verbs.

hablar
yo hablo
tú hablas
él, ella, Ud. habla
nosotros/as hablamos
vosotros/as habláis
ellos, ellas, Uds. hablan

comer
yo como
tú comes
él, ella, Ud. come
nosotros/as comemos
vosotros/as coméis
ellos, ellas, Uds. comen

vivir
yo vivo
tú vives
él, ella, Ud. vive
nosotros/as vivimos
vosotros/as vivís
ellos, ellas, Uds. viven

Note: The verb forms are the same for él, ella and Ud. as are the verb forms for ellos, ellas and Uds.

In Spanish the subject pronouns are not always required. This is because the verb endings can indicate who is performing the action.

Hablo español. (Yo is not necessary.)
I speak Spanish.
Comemos carne. (Nosotros is not necessary.)
We eat meat.
Vives en México. (Tú is not necessary.)
You live in Mexico.

Subject pronouns are often used for clarification. For example, the verb form habla is ambiguous.

Ud. habla
él habla
ella habla

Therefore, to distinguish between "you speak," "he speaks," and "she speaks," it may be necessary to use the subject pronoun. Often, the conversation implies the subject of the verb. In such cases the subject pronoun may be omitted.

Subject pronouns are often used for emphasis.

Ella habla español y yo hablo inglés.

Here there is no ambiguity with respect to hablo. The subject pronoun is merely adding emphasis:

She speaks Spanish and I speak English.

Another example of using subject pronouns for emphasis.

Yo como pan y tú comes arroz.

Once again there is no ambiguity. The pronouns emphasize the contrast.

I eat bread and you eat rice.

It is possible to use two verbs in a row. Just like in English, the first verb is conjugated, while the second verb remains in the infinitive form.

Necesito hablar con Alfredo.
I need to speak with Alfredo.
(necesitar, hablar)

Necesito + hablar + con Alfredo.
I need + to speak + with Alfredo.

Another example of two verbs used together:

Deseas vivir en España.
You wish to live in Spain.
(desear, vivir)

Deseas + vivir + en España.
You wish + to live + in Spain.