Spanish Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-15-2022

Speaking Spanish requires you to keep tabs on all sorts of topics: verb conjugation, irregular verbs, and parts of speech, to name a few. Plus, if you intend to travel, being able to ask for information is a must.

Article / Updated 09-29-2022

Maybe you would better understand Spanish verb tenses today if you had paid more attention in your high school Spanish classes. Would . . . that’s what the conditional tense is all about. If the conditions were appropriate, then the action should’ve, could’ve, or would’ve resulted . . . theoretically speaking. Simply put, you use the conditional tense to express a conditional action. But you can also use it to make a polite request or to subtly, or not so subtly, suggest that someone perform a certain action. Forming the regular conditional tense, if you really want to In English, the key word to forming the conditional tense is would. You or somebody else would do something if the conditions were right. In Spanish, you actually change the form of the verb to build the sense of would right into it. When conjugating Spanish verbs in the regular conditional tense, keep the following points in mind: The regular conditional tense is a combination of the imperfect and future tenses. The regular conditional tense requires no spelling or stem changes. When conjugating regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in the conditional tense, you simply take the entire verb infinitive (don’t drop anything) and then add the imperfect verb endings you use for -er and -ir verbs. Conditional Verb Endings Yo -ía Tú -ías él/ella/ello/uno -ía Usted -ía nosotros/nosotras -íamos vosotros/vosotras -íáis ellos/ellas -ían ustedes -ían Check out the following conjugation charts for each verb type. preparar = to prepare Prepararía prepararíamos Prepararías prepararíais Prepararía prepararían Ud. prepararía. = You (formal) would prepare. vender = to sell Vendería venderíamos Venderías venderíais Vendería venderían Vosotras venderíais. = You (plural, female, familiar) would sell. escribir = to write Escribiría escribiríamos Escribirías escribiríais Escribiría escribirían Ella escribiría. = She would write. Waffling with the conditional tense The conditional tense is great for waffling on issues. You can state any impossible condition or set of conditions you like and then say you would’ve done something if only that condition or set of conditions had been in place. It works in every language — English, Spanish, Italian, you name it — and you don’t even have to be a politician to use it. You often use the conditional tense in a sentence with two verbs, in which one verb states the condition or problem and then the second verb states, in the conditional, what you’d do under that condition or if faced with that problem. For example, in the sentence, “If I had a million dollars, I’d travel around the world,” the first verb states a situation or condition, and the second verb expresses what you would do if that situation or condition existed.

Article / Updated 09-29-2022

Spanish uses the pluperfect subjunctive more than English does. If you’ve ever hoped or expected that something had happened, you probably hoped or expected in this verb tense and probably didn’t even realize it. In English, you don’t really use the pluperfect subjunctive, but you use something similar to it in sentences like this one: I wished that I had slept before the party. The main clause, I wished, is in the past tense, and what I wished for — that I had slept before the party — is in the pluperfect, which also is called the past perfect tense. And because what I wished for didn’t happen, it’s subjunctive. Like other compound tenses, you form the Spanish pluperfect subjunctive by conjugating the verb haber (to have) in the imperfect subjunctive tense. Then you add the past participle of the main verb. The chart that follows shows the verb haber conjugated in the imperfect tense. The Imperfect Tense of Haber Conjugation Translation yo hubiera I would have tú hubieras You (informal) would have él/ella/ello/uno hubiera He/she/one would have usted hubiera You (formal) would have nosotros hubiéramos We would have vosotros hubierais You all (informal) would have ellos/ellas hubieran They would have ustedes hubieran You all (formal) would have Notice that the first person singular (yo) and the third person singular (él, ella, Ud.) forms of this conjugation are the same. Take a look at the following examples to see how the pluperfect subjunctive is used. Fue una lástima que ellos no hubieran comprador una casa en nuestro vecindario. It was a pity that they hadn’t bought a house in our neighborhood. Ellos creían que nosotros hubieramos comido antes de llegar. They believed that we had eaten before arriving.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-25-2022

As someone who has surpassed the beginning level of Spanish, you consider yourself rather proficient in the language and want to discover more. So, here you are, eager to jump up to a higher level and perfect your skills. That’s fantastic! You can use the following set of articles as a reference to help you practice and become a more proficient Spanish speaker.

Article / Updated 03-15-2022

Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like ir, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence). But then there are those verbs that refuse to be lumped into a category: the irregulars. Other popular irregular Spanish verbs include ser, tener, dormir, and hacer. Ir (eer) (to go) is the ultimate irregular -ir verb; that’s all it is, i and r! It doesn’t follow most normal ending patterns, so your best bet is to just memorize its conjugations. Here it is in the present tense: The Present Tense of Ir Conjugation Translation yo voy I go tú vas You (informal) go él/ella/ello/uno va He/she/one goes usted va You (formal) go nosotros vamos We go vosotros váis You all (informal) go ellos/ellas van They go ustedes van You all (formal) go The following examples show you ir in action: Nosotros vamos al teatro a veces. (We go to the theater sometimes.) Mi madre va al supermercado ahora. (My mother is going to the supermarket now.) The following table shows you ir in the preterit tense. Think you’ve seen these conjugations before? You probably have; it just so happens that they’re also the preterit forms of the verb ser (to be). It may be confusing, but look on the bright side: It’s one fewer set of verbs you have to memorize. The Preterit Tense of Ir Conjugation Translation yo fui I went tú fuiste You (informal) went él/ella/ello/uno fue He/she/one went usted fue You (formal) went nosotros fuimos We went vosotros fuisteis You all (informal) went ellos/ellas fueron They went ustedes fueron You all (formal) went You use the preterit tense like this: Los turistas fueron al museo. (The tourists went to the museum.) ¿Fueron ustedes al baile? (Did you go to the dance?) Ir is one of only three irregular imperfect verbs. Here’s that conjugation; notice that, like regular verbs, the first-person and third-person singular forms (yo and usted) are the same. The Imperfect Tense of Ir Conjugation Translation yo iba I used to go tú ibas You (informal) used to go él/ella/ello/uno iba He/she/one used to go usted iba You (formal) used to go nosotros íbamos We used to go vosotros ibais You all (informal) used to go ellos/ellas iban They used to go ustedes iban You all (formal) used to go Here are some examples of the imperfect tense: Yo iba a Europa cada año. (I used to go to Europe every year.) Nosotros íbamos a Chicago. (We used to go to Chicago.) Good news! Ir is regular in the future tense, so you can apply the regular verb endings here. The Future Tense of Ir Conjugation Translation yo iré I will go tú irás You (informal) will go él/ella/ello/uno irá He/she/one will go usted irá You (formal) will go nosotros iremos We will go vosotros iréis You all (informal) will go ellos/ellas irán They will go ustedes irán You all (formal) will go The following samples put the future tense to work: Nosotros iremos a Orlando. (We will go to Orlando.) Yo iré a tu casa esta tarde. (I will go to your house this afternoon.)

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-25-2022

Spanish grammar covers a lot of territory. To start writing grammatically correct sentences in the present tense, you need to know about masculine and feminine nouns, adjectives, and regular verbs in Spanish.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-14-2022

Spanish is a language that requires verb conjugation according to the person you’re speaking to and speaking about, so starting with present and past participles and the range of subject pronouns, you can talk about doing things all day long — and all day yesterday as well. In learning any language, the ABCs come in handy as does the proper form for all the questions you’ll be asking.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-04-2022

Spanish verbs are generally easier to deal with than English ones because regular Spanish verbs use consistent rules whether you’re forming simple tenses or moving into participles. To highlight the contrast, the Spanish verbs for speak, eat, and live are often used as examples of regular Spanish verbs, and there’s nothing regular about any of these verbs in English!

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-01-2022

Speaking Spanish requires you to keep tabs on all sorts of topics: essential words and phrases, basic Spanish questions, and the proper gender of articles. Plus, if you intend to travel, you want to be able to get help and give warnings in the case of an emergency. Refer to this Cheat Sheet for your Spanish essentials.

Article / Updated 01-14-2022

Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like leer (to read), you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: Regular: Follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs Stem-changing: Morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence Spelling-changing: Has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules Reflexive: Reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence Leer (leh-ehr) is a regular -er verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Other popular irregular Spanish verbs include ser, estar, hacer, tener. Present tense conjugation The Present Tense of Leer Conjugation Translation yo leo I read tú lees You (informal) read él/ella/ello/uno lee He/she/one reads usted lee You (formal) read nosotros leemos We read vosotros leéis You all (informal) read ellos/ellas leen They read ustedes leen You all (formal) read The following examples show you leer in action: Nosotros leemos muchas novelas en el verano. (We read many novels in the summer.) Ellas leen el periódico. (They read the newspaper.) Need to know how to conjugate leer in another tense? The following tables show you the preterit, imperfect, and future forms. Preterit tense conjugation The Preterit Tense of Leer Conjugation Translation yo leí I read tú leíste You (informal) read él/ella/ello/uno leyó He/she/one read usted leyó You (formal) read nosotros leímos We read vosotros leísteis You all (informal) read ellos/ellas leyeron They read ustedes leyeron You all (formal) read You use the preterit tense like this: Yo leí una bonita poesía ayer. (I read a nice poem yesterday.) Ellos leyeron un libro de historia. (They read a history book.) Imperfect tense conjugation The Imperfect Tense of Leer Conjugation Translation yo leía I used to read tú leías You (informal) used to read él/ella/ello/uno leía He/she/one used to read usted leía You (formal) used to read nosotros leíamos We used to read vosotros leíais You all (informal) used to read ellos/ellas leían They used to read ustedes leían You all (formal) used to read Here are some examples of the imperfect tense: Los estudiantes leían el periódico en clase todos los días. (The students used to read the newspaper in class every day.) Juana leía novelas en el verano. (Juana used to read novels in the summer.) Future tense conjugation The Future Tense of Leer Conjugation Translation yo leeré I will read tú leerás You (informal) will read él/ella/ello/uno leerá He/she/one will read usted leerá You (formal) will read nosotros leeremos We will read vosotros leeréis You all (informal) will read ellos/ellas leerán They will read ustedes leerán You all (formal) will read The following samples put the future tense to work: ¿Leerán los niños sus libros en clase? (Will the children read their books in class?) Sí. Los niños leerán sus libros, y yo leeré el periódico. (Yes. The children will read their books, and I will read the newspaper.)