I have mastered the basic tenses in Spanish (present – I have – tengo, present perfect – I have had – he tenido, imperfect – I was having/used to have – tenía, preterite – I had – tuve), but the Spanish pluperfect subjunctive I really struggle with. I think this is because we don’t use the English pluperfect forms when speaking – we use a simplified version. In older English literature you will find the pluperfect used, but as languages evolve they often become more simple. More »
Possessive Adjectives
Have to agree with the noun they describe
mi/mis – my
tu/tus – your
su/sus – your (usted), his/her/it’s
nuestro/nuestra/nuestros/nuestras – our
vuestro/vuestra/vuestros/vuestras – your
su/sus – their
nuestro coche
nuestra madre
nuestros tios
mi libro
mis cartes
tu perro
Possessive Pronouns
mío, mía, míos, mías – mine
tuyo, tuya, tuyos, tuyas – yours
suyo, suya, suyos, suyas – his/hers/its/yours (usted)
nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras – ours
vuestro, vuestra, vuestros, vuestras – yours
suyo, suya, suyos, suyas – theirs/yours (ustedes)
este libro es mío, aquél es tuyo
this bok is mine, that is yours
Used to demonstrate or pinpoint what is being referred to. They match the noun they are describing so masculine/feminine and singular/plural
este/esta – this estos/estas – these – when it is close to you
ese/esa – that esos/esas – those – when it is near
aquel/aquella – that aquellos/aquellas – those – when it is far away
Adverbs qualify other parts of speech:
verbs: we finished it quickly
adjectives: we found the journey amazingly easy
other adverbs: we got there amazingly quickly
Have 2 main forms:
a) single words in their own right:
adverbs of degree: muy, bastante, mucho, poco
adverbs of time: ya (already), todovía (still, yet), pronto, tarde
adverbs of place: aquí, ahí,allí
b) those that are formed from adjectives, in English mostly formed by adding ‘ly’ to an adjective
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Used to say what has happened, what has been done in the recent past.
¿Qué has hecho hoy? what have you done today
¿Has ido al fútbol? have you been to football?
Formed by using the present tense of haber + the past participle
| -ar | -er | -ir |
| Comprar | Comer | Subir |
| He comprado | He comido | He subido |
| Has comprado | Has comido | Has subido |
| Ha comprado | Ha comido | Ha subido |
| Hemos comprado | Hemos comido | Hemos subido |
| Habéis comprado | Habéis comido | Habéis subido |
| Han comprado | Han comido | Han subido |
Irregulars
abrir – abierto
cubrir – cubierto (covered)
descubrir – descubierto
decir – dicho
volver – vuelto
devolver – devuelto (give(n) back)
disolver – disuelto (resolve(d))
resolver – resuelto (resolve(d))
escribir – escrito
describir – descrito
freír – frito (fri/fried)
hacer – hecho
satisfacer – satisfecho
morir – muerto
poner – puesto (put)
romper – roto
ver – visto
Used to indicate future tenses whether in the near future or the distant future.
Compraré la carne en al carnicería, luego iré al hipermercado.
I’ll buy/I’m going to buy the meat at the butcher’s, then I’ll go to the hypermarket
El año que viene, pasaré mis vacaciones con mis padres, pero cuando tenga veinte años, iré con mis amigos.
Next year I shall spend my holidays with my parents but when I’m 20 I shall go with my friends.
The future tense is also sometimes used to indicate suppositions or approximations (often involving numbers)
¿Dónde estará?
I wonder where he is
¿Dónde está papá? Estará en la cocina
Where is Dad? He’s probably in the kitchen
¿Cuántos años tiene el abuelo? Tendrá unos setenta años.
How old is grandad? He must be about seventy
Future Simple
| -ar | -er | -ir |
| Hablar | Comer | Vivir |
| Hablaré | comeré | viviré |
| Hablarás | Comerás | vivirás |
| Hablará | Comerá | Vivirá |
| Hablaremos | Comeremos | Viviremos |
| Hablaréis | Comeréis | viviréis |
| hablarán | Comeran | vivirán |
Irregular verbs have same ending as above, but stems end in ‘r’
caber: cabré
decir: diré
haber: habré
poder: podré
poner: pondré
querer: querré
saber: sabré
salir: saldré
tener: tendré
valer: valdré
venir: vendré
IR + a
Voy a hablar con tus padres
I am going to speak to your parents
AKA: past historic, past definite, past simple
Usage: To describe a single, completed action in the past or an action which took place over a defined period of time.
Ayer compré un abrigo nuevo – yesterday I bought a new coat
| -ar | -er | -ir |
| Comprar | Beber | Subir |
| Compré | Bebí | Subí |
| Compraste | Bebiste | Subiste |
| compró | bebió | subió |
| Compramos | Bebimos | Subimos |
| Comprasteis | Bebisteis | Subisteis |
| compraron | bebieron | Subieron |
Irregulars:
Ir
fui
fuiste
fue
fuimos
fuisteis
fueron
í = Ctrl + Alt + i é = Ctrl + Alt + e ó = Ctrl + Alt + o ñ = (Ctrl + Shift + ~ ) release, then press n y los numeros: á = Alt + 0225 é = Alt + 0233 í = Alt + 0237 ó = Alt + 0243 ú = Alt + 0250 ñ = Alt + 0241 ü = Alt + 0252 Á = ALT+0193 É = ALT+0201 Í = ALT+0205 Ó = ALT+0211 Ú = ALT+0218 Ñ = ALT+0209 Ü = ALT+0220 ¡ = Alt + 0161 ¿ Alt + 0191
Indicates what used to happen, such as habitual or repeated happenings:
cuando vivíamos en Barcelona, teníamos que hablar catalán.
Description – Madrid era más que un pueblo importante
To say what was happening at a particular time
Hablaba al téléfono
Continuous: Estaba hablando por téléfono cuando llamaron al puerta
2 sets of endings, one for -ar verbs and the other for -er and -ir verbs
| trabajar | comer | vivir |
| trabajaba | comía | vivía |
| trabajabas | comías | vivías |
| trabajaba | comía | vivía |
| trabajábamos | comíamos | vivíamos |
| trabajabais | comíais | vivíais |
| trabajaban | comían | vivían |
The verbs ser and it are irregular
| ser | ir |
| era | iba |
| eras | ibas |
| era | iba |
| éramos | íbamos |
| erais | ibais |
| eran | iban |