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It’s important to understand how to be able to greet someone in all types of social situations, whether they be very formal or very informal.
Question words or interrogative words in Spanish (palabras interrogativas) are used to gather information about any topic. All question words in Spanish have an accent mark and are preceded by an inverted question mark.
It is a well-known fact that in Spanish there are two types of articles: definite and indefinite articles. The article always goes next to a noun (except in proper names), and always carries the same gender and number as the noun. The indefinite article is used to refer to a non-specific item. It also follows the gender-number rule. There are four forms for the indefinite article in Spanish: un, una, unos, unas.
Subject pronouns often replace a subject noun and can be classified several different ways: by person (first, second, or third person), number (singular or plural), gender (male or female), and formality (formal or informal).
In Spanish, the date is always written with the number first and the addition of a “de” or an “el” in the format: The number (day) + de + month + de + year.
Both SER and ESTAR are very useful for talking about the weather and seasons in Spanish. The verb ESTAR will be used to say what the weather is like at a given moment, that is temporary weather conditions, for example: “El clima está caliente”. On the other hand, SER will be used in a more descriptive and general way, for example: “El clima es caliente en mi ciudad” (the weather is hot in my city – it means it is generally hot).
Here is the complete list of numbers from 1 to 100, translated into Spanish, in their "canonical" form (singular masculine noun).
It's easy to “decir la hora” (to tell time) in Spanish as long as you know your cardinal numbers and ser conjugations.
Spanish adjectives are more complicated than English adjectives. When you use Spanish adjectives, you not only do you have to match the gender of the adjective with the noun but you also have to match the number and you have to get the order right.
The near future tense, also known as the immediate future or ‘ir + a + infinitive’, is used to describe actions which are going to happen. It’s used in a very similar way to how we use the construction ‘going to + infinitive’ in English to talk about future actions/plans.
The Spanish verb gustar is usually used in translating English sentences using the verb "to like" or "is pleasing".
Querer is used to mean "to want," it can be used almost exactly the same way as the English verb. However, querer is also a common way of expressing romantic affection, and "Te quiero" is a common way of saying "I love you."
Spanish –ar verbs, in particular, are an essential part of learning Spanish. -Ar verbs share the same construction, so you can easily link them in your mind. This will make all of the words easier to remember.
Spanish –er verbs are an essential part of learning Spanish. -Er verbs share the same construction, so you can easily link them in your mind. Learning these words together will make all of the words easier to remember.
Spanish –ir verbs are an essential part of learning Spanish. -Ir verbs share the same construction, so you can easily link them in your mind. This will make all of the words easier to remember.
Tener – to have – is one of the most common irregular Spanish verbs. In the simple present tense, tener is used just like the English verb "to have" when it means "to possess".
An idiom is an expression that cannot be immediately understood by analyzing its literal meaning. There are many idiomatic expressions with tener.
What are YO GO verbs? In basic terms, this terms refer to a list of irregular verbs that when conjugated in the present indicative, always end in “go” in the first person (yo) form.
Estar can be confusing for many Spanish students because it is usually translated as "to be," just like the verb ser. Although they can often be translated the same way, ser and estar are distinct verbs with distinct meanings and are seldom synonymous.
Ser, or estar, which one should be used? Both words mean to be in English. The Spanish verb ser is usually used to describe traits that are permanent. On the other hand, estar is used to refer to conditions that are temporary.
The term present progressive is a grammatical way of describing the verb tense that emphasizes that an action is currently taking place as we speak or RIGHT NOW. It is characterized by the verb “to be,” followed by a second verb that ends with –ing (the present participle).
A reflexive pronoun (pronombre reflexivo) is used as part of a reflexive verb (verbo reflexivo) to indicate that someone or something is performing an action on or for itself.
Reflexive verbs are those where the subject and object are the same. In other words, the subject does something “to himself”.
The Spanish verb conocer, which comes from the same root as the English words "cognition" and "recognize," generally means "to be familiar with." The most common meaning for saber is "to know a fact," "to know how" or "to possess knowledge."
The preterit tense (El pretérito Regular) is used to express events that have occurred in the past. This tense generally corresponds to the simple past tense in English.
The Spanish preterite tense is used to describe actions completed at a specific point in the past; whereas the imperfect is used to describe habitual or continuous actions in the past with no specific beginning or end. Some verbs require small changes when being conjugated in this tense.
Discover several Spanish verbs that have different meanings when used in the present tense vs the past tense.
There are only two sets of endings for regular imperfect verbs in Spanish, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs. To conjugate a regular verb in the imperfect tense in Spanish, simply remove the infinitive ending ( -ar, -er, or -ir) and add the imperfect ending that matches the subject.
There are only three verbs with irregular conjugations in the imperfect: ir, ser, and ver.
Many students have trouble knowing when to use the preterite tense or the imperfect tense, as they both refer to actions in the past. There are several general rules you can follow to know when to use one tense or another.
The most basic Spanish questions are those whose answer is “Si” or “No”. In English we ask questions using auxiliaries like DO or DID, but in Spanish you just need to say the same sentence without any auxiliary changing its basic structure.