GUIA DE ESTUDIO PARA EL EXAMEN FINAL DE ESPAÑOL II
GRAMÁTICA.
Lección 9
9.1 Irregular preterites
•
Stem changing - ir verbs in the present have also stem change in the preterit. The changes are
e – i and o – u , and occur only in the third person singular and plural. Ex:
Repetir ( i,i) La camarera repitió la orden.
Dormir (ue,u) Los chicos durmieron 8 horas.
•
For verbs that end in -er and –ir preceded by a vowel ( for example: creer, oir)
Change the ( i – y ) in the third person singular and plural. All forms of these verbs are accented in all
persons, except in the third person plural.
María no te creyó ayer.
Ellos oyeron la radio.
•
The preterit of poder, poner and saber have a u in the stem.
Pude ir a la piscina.
•
The preterit of venir, hacer and querer have an i in the stem.
Quise patear el balón, pero no fue posible.
•
The preterit form of hay ( from the verb haber) is hubo for both singular and plural.
Ayer hubo un partido de futbol.

Since the stem of the preterit form of decir and traer ends in j, the third person plural form of
these verbs ends in - eron and not in –ieron.
Trajeron los libros a la clase.
Los niños dijeron la verdad.
(Vistas text book pp. 278, 279)
9.2 Verbs that changes meaning in the preterite
•
The verbs conocer, saber, poder, and querer change meanings when used in the preterite.
Because of this, each of them corresponds to more than none verb in English, depending on its tense.
Present
Preterite
Conocer
To know; to be acquainted with
To meet
Conozco a esa pareja.
Conocí a esta pareja ayer.
I know that couple.
I met that couple yesterday.
Saber
To know information;
To find out; to learn
Sabemos la verdad.
Supimos la verdad anoche.
We know the truth.
We found out (learned) the
truth last night.
Poder
To be able; can
To manage; to succeed
Podemos hacerlo.
Pudimos hacerlo ayer.
We can do it.
We managed to do it yesterday.
Querer
To want; to love
To try
Quiero ir a la fiesta pero tengo
Quise evitar el accidente pero
que trabajar.
fue imposible.
I want to go the party, but I have
to work
I tried to avoid the accident
but it was impossible.
9.3 Qué ? and Cuál ?
•
Qué? is used to ask for a definition or an explanation.
Qué estudias?
•
What do you study?
Cuál (es)? Is used when there is a choice among several possibilities.
Cuál de los dos prefiere?
Cuáles son tus medias?
Which of these do you prefer? Which ones are your socks?
•
Cuál? Cannot be used before a noun; in this case, qué? is used.
Qué colores te gustan?
•
What colors do you like?
Qué? used before a noun has the same meaning as Cuál?
Qué regalo te gusta?
What (Which) gift do you like?
INTERROGATIVE WORDS AND PHRASES:
A qué hora?
At wath time?
Adónde? (to) where?
Cómo? How?
Cuál (es)? What? Which?
Cuándo? When?
Cuánto/a? how much?
Cuántos/as?
How many?
De dónde? From where?
Dónde? Where?
Qué? What? Which?
Quién/es? Who?
9.4 Pronouns after prepositions
•
As in English, the object of a preposition is the noun or pronoun that follows a preposition.
La sopa es para Alicia y para él.
•
Except for mi and tí, these pronouns are the same as the subject pronouns.
•
The preposition con combines with mi and tí to form conmigo and contigo, respectively.
Quieres venir conmigo a Concepción?
Do you want to go with me to Concepción?
Si, gracias, me gustaría ir contigo.
Yes, thanks, I would like to go with you.
•
The preposition entre is followed by tú and yo instead of tí an mí.
Papá va a sentarse entre tú y yo.
Dad is going to sit between you and me.
(Study vocabulary pp. 296)
Lección 10
10.1 The imperfect tense
•
The imperfect tense is the other simple past tense in Spanish.
•
The imperfect tense of regular verbs is formed as follows:
Whit –ar verbs, only the firs-persona plural form has a written accent mark. The imperfect ending for –
er and –ir verbs are identical, and all forms have a written accent mark.
Hablar
Comer
Escribir
Yo
hablaba
comía
escribía
Tu
hablabas
comías
escribías
El
hablaba
comía
escribía
Nosotros
hablábamos
comíamos
escribíamos
Vosotros
hablabais
comíais
escribíais
Ellos/Ustedes
hablaban
comían
escribían
•
Use the imperfect to describe repeated, habitual,, or continuous actions in the past with no
reference to the beginning or ending.
Cuando yo viajaba a Ecuador, volaba en Saeta.
When I traveled to Ecuador, I would fly on Saeta.
•
Use the imperfect to describe an event or action in progress when another event or action takes
place (in the preterit) or is occurring (in the imperfect).
Estaban en la tienda cuando llegaron sus amigas.
They were in the store when their friends arrive.
•
The imperfect is used to describe characteristics or states of being (health, emotions, etc.) in the
past when no particular beginning or ending is implied in the statement.
Mi abuela era muy activa.
My grandmother was very active.
•
The imperfect form of hay is había (there was; there were; there used to be). Like hay, había can
be followed by a singular or plural noun.
Había un solo medico en la sala.
There was only one doctor in the room.
Había dos pacientes allí.
There were two patients there.
•
Irregular verbs in the imperfect.
Ir
Ser
Ver
Yo
iba
era
veía
Tu
ibas
eras
veías
El
iba
era
veía
Nosotros
íbamos
éramos
veíamos
Vosotros
ibais
erais
veíais
eran
veían
Ellos/Ustedes
iban
10.2
The preterite and the imperfect.
•
In Spanish, the use of the preterite and the imperfect reflects the way the speaker views the
action or event being expressed.
The preterite…..
1.
narrates actions or events in the past that the speaker views as completed or finishes.
Victoria y Lucia hablaron por teléfono por dos horas.
2.
expresses the beginning or end of a past event or action.
El zapatero llego a las tres y cinco.
The shoemaker arrived at 3:05.
3.
narrates completed events that occurred in a series.
Carlos entró en la farmacia, vio a su exnovia y salió inmediatamente.
Carlos entered the pharmacy, saw his ex-girlfriend, and left immediately.
4.
expresses changes in mental, physical, and emotional conditions or states in the past.
Estuve nerviosa durante la entrevista.
I was nervous during the interview.
5.
describes weather and scenes as events or within specific time parameters.
Ayer fue un día horrible, llovió e hizo mucho frío.
Yesterday was a horrible day, it rained and was very windy.
The imperfect……
1.
Describes what was happening in the past, usually in relation to another event or at a given
time, with no reference to the beginning or end of an action.
Rosa hablaba mientras miraba las compras.
Rosa was talking while she was looping at her purchases.
2.
Expresses habitual actions or events in the past.
Pedro comía en ese restaurante todos los sábados.
Pedro used to eat at that restaurant every Saturday.
3.
Expresses time in the past.
Eran las once de la noche.
It was 11:00 in the evening.
4.
Expresses mental, physical, and emotional conditions or states in the past.
Alicia estaba contenta durante el concierto.
Alicia was happy during the concert.
5.
Sets the scene (weather, activities in progress, etc.) for other actions and events that take place.
Hacía muy mal tiempo, llovía. Yo leía en mi cuarto y esperaba la llamada.
The weather was bad and it was raining. I was reading in my room and waiting for the call.
•
The preterit and the imperfect tenses are often used together, in the following examples, the
imperfect describes what was happening or in progress when another action ( in the preterit)
interrupted an took place.
Las chicas salían de la tienda cuando Jorge las vio.
The girls were leaving the store when Jorge saw them.
10.3
Constructions with se
•
In lección 7 you learned how to use se as the third person reflexive pronoun (el se despierta). Se
can also be used to form constructions in which the person performing the action is not expressed or is
de-emphasized.
Impersonal constructions with se
•
Verbs that are not reflexive can be used with se to form impersonal constructions. These are
statements in which the person performing the action is not expressed or defines. In English passive
voice or indefinite subjects (you, they, one) are used.
Se puede leer en esta sala de espera.
You can read in the waiting room.
•
You often see the impersonal se in signs, advertisements, and directions.
Se prohibe nadar.
•
Se is also used to form statements that describe accidental or unplanned events. In this
construction, the persona who performs the action is de-emphasized, so as to imply that the accident or
unplanned event is not his or her direct responsibility. These statements are constructed using the
following pattern.
Se + indirect object pronoun + verb + subject
Se
10.4
me
cayó
la pluma.
Adverbs
•
Adverbs are words that describe how when and where actions take place. They can modify
verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs.
•
The most common adverbs are those which end in –mente. These are equivalent to the English
adverbs which end in –ly.
Fácilmente
Generalmente
easily
generally
•
To form adverbs which end in –mente, add –mente to the feminine form of the adjective. If the
adjective does not have a special feminine for, just add –mente to the standard form.
Segura + mente = seguramente
•
Adverbs that end in –mente generally follow the verb, while adverbs that modify an adjective or
another adverb precede the word they modify.
Javier dibuja maravillosamente.
Javier draws wonderfully.
Inés esta casi siempre ocupada.
Ines is almost always busy.
(Study vocabulary pp. 328)
Lección 11
11.1 Familiar commands
•
Familiar commands are used to give orders or advice. You use tú commands when you want to
give an order or advice to someone you normally address with the familiar tú.
Affirmative tú commands:
•
Affirmative tú commands usually have the same form as the él/ ella form of the present
indicative.
Guarda el documento antes de cerrarlo.
Save the document before closing it.
•
There are eight irregular affirmative tú commands.
Decir
di
Hacer
haz
Ir
ve
Poner
pon
Salir
sal
Ser
sé
Tener
ten
Venir
ven
•
Since ir and ver have the same tú command (ve), context will determine the meaning.
Ve al cibercafé con Yolanda.
Go to the cybercafé with Yolanda.
Ve ese programa, es muy interesante.
See that program, it’s very interesting.
Negative tú commands:
•
The negative tú commands are formed by dropping the final –o if the yo form of the present
tense. For –ar verbs, add –es. For –er and –ir verbs, add –as.
Héctor, no pares el carro en el medio de la calle.
Hector, don’t stop the car in the middle of the street.
•
Verbs with irregular yo forms maintain the same irregularity in the negative tú commands.
These verbs include conducir, conocer, decir, hacer, ofrecer, oír, poner, salir, tener, traducir, traer, venir,
and ver.
No conduzcas tan rápido.
Don’t drive so fast.
•
Note also that stem-changing verbs keep their stem changes in negative tú commands.
No pierdas tu licencia de conducir.
Don’t lose your driver’s license.
•
Verbs ending in –car, -gar and –zar have a spelling changed the negative tú commands.
Sacar
c – qu
no saques
Apagar
g – gu
no apagues
Almorzar
z–c
no almuerces
•
The following verbs have irregular negative tú commands.
Dar
no des
Estar
no estes
Ir
no vayas
Saber
no sepas
Ser
no seas
11.2
Por and Para
Por is used to indicate:
•
Motion or general location (around, through, along, by)
La excursión nos llevo por el centro.
The tour took us through downtown.
•
Duration of an action (for, during, in)
Estuve en la Patagonia por un mes.
I was in Patagonia for a month.
•
Reason or motive for an action (because of, on account of, on behaif of)
Lo hizo por su familia.
She did it on behalf of her family.
•
Object of a search (for, in search of)
Vengo por ti a las ocho.
I’m coming for you at eight.
•
Means by which something is done (by, by way of, by means of)
Ellos viajan por la autopista.
They travel by (by way of) the highway.
•
Exchange or substitution (for, in exchange for)
Le di dinero por la videocasetera.
I gave his Money for the VCR.
•
Unit of measure (per, by)
José manejaba a 120 kilómetros por hora.
Jose was driving 120 kilometers per hour.
Para is used to indicate:
•
Destination (toward, in the direction of)
Salimos para Cuba el lunes
We are living for Cuba on Monday.
•
Deadline or a specific time in the future (by, for)
Él va a arreglar el carro para el viernes.
He will fix the car by Friday.
•
Purpose or goal + infinitive (in order to)
Juan estudia para ser médico.
Juan is studying to be a doctor.
•
The recipient of something (for)
Compre un libro para mi hijo.
I bought a book for my son.
•
Comparison with others or an opinion (for, considering)
Para mi esta lección no es difícil.
For me this lesson isn’t difficult.
•
In the employ of (for)
Sara trabaja para Telecom Argentina.
Sara works for Telecom Argentina.
In many cases it is grammatically correct to use either por or para in a sentence. The meaning of the
sentence is different, however depending on which preposition is used.
Caminé por el parque.
I walked through the park.
Caminé para el parque.
I walked to (toward) the park.
11.3
Reciprocal reflexives
Reflexive verbs indicate that the subject of a sentence does the action to itself. Reciprocal reflexives
express a shared or reciprocal action between two or more people or things. In this context the pronoun
means (to) each other, or (to) one another.
•
Only the plural forms of the reflexive pronouns (nos, os, se) are used to express reciprocal
actions because the action must involve more than one person or thing.
Nos ayudamos cuando usamos la computadora.
We help each other when we use the computer.
11.4
Stressed possessive adjectives and pronouns
Spanish has two types of possessive adjectives: the unstressed (or short), and the stressed (or long)
forms. The stressed possessive adjectives are used for emphasis or to express the English phrases of
mine, of yours of his.
Masculine
Feminine
singular singular
Masculine
Feminine
plural plural
mío
mía
míos
mías
my; for mine
tuyo
tuya
tuyos
tuyas
your; (of) yours
suyo
suya
suyos
suyas
your; yours; his
of (his), her; hers; its
nuestro
nuestra
nuestros
nuestras
our; (of) ours
vuestro
vuestra
vuestros
vuestras
your; (of) yours
suyo
suya
suyos
suyas
your; (of) tours
their; (of) theirs
•
Stressed possessive adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
La impresora suya.
Her printer.
•
Stressed possessive adjectives are placed alter the noun they modify, while unstressed
possessive adjectives are placed before the noun.
Son mis llaves.
They are my keys.
•
A definite article, an indefinite article, or a demonstrative adjective usually precedes a noun
modified by a stressed possessive adjective.
unos discos compactos tuyos.
Me encantan
los discos compactos tuyos.
estos discos compactos tuyos.
•
Since suyos, suyas, suyos, and suyas have more than one meaning, you can avoid confusion by
using the construction: (article) + (noun) + de + (subject pronoun).
El teclado suyo. (el teclado de: el/ella/usted/ellos/ellas/ustedes)
Possessive pronouns
•
Are used to replace a noun +(possessive adjective). The possessive pronouns have the same
forms as the stressed possessive adjectives, and they are precede by a definite article.
La calculadora nuestra
•
A possessive pronoun agrees in number and gender with the noun it replaces.
Aquí está mi coche. Dónde está el tuyo?
Here’s my car. Where is yours?
El mío está en el taller de mi hermano.
Mine is at my brother’s garage.
(Study vocabulary pp. 360)
Lección 12
12.1
Relative pronouns
•
Relative pronouns are used to combine two sentences or clauses that share a common element,
such as a noun or pronoun.
•
Spanish has three frequently-used relative pronouns, as shown in the following list.
Que
that; which’ who
Quienes
who; whom; that
Lo que
that which; what
•
Que is the most frequently used relative pronoun. It can refer to things or to people. Unlike its
English counterpart, that, que is never omitted.
Dónde está la cafetera que compré?
Where is the coffee maker (that) I bought?
•
The relative pronoun quien refers only to people and is often used after a preposition or the
personal a. Note that quien has only two forms; quien (singular) and quienes (plural).
Son las chicas de quienes me hablaste la semana pasada?
Are there the girls (that) you told me about last week?
•
Quien(es) is occasionally used instead of que in clauses set off by commas.
Lola, quien es cubana, es médica.
Lola, who is Cuban, is a doctor.
Su tía, que es alemana, ya llegó.
His aunt, who is German, already arrived.
•
Unlike quien and quien(es), lo que doesn’t refer to a specific noun. It refers to an idea, a
situation, or a past event and means what, that which, or the thing that.
Lo que me molesta es el calor.
What bothers me is the heat.
12.2
Formal commands
•
As you learn in Leccion 11, the command forms are used to give orders or advice. Formal
commands are used with people you address as usted or ustedes.
Habla con ellos, don Francisco.
Talk with them, don Francisco.
•
The usted and ustedes commands, like the negative tú commands, are formed by dropping the
final -o of the yo form of the present tense. For –ar verbs, add –er or –en. For –er and –ir verbs, add –a
or –an.
•
Verbs with irregular yo forms maintain the same irregularity in their formal commands. These
verbs include conducir, conocer, decir, hacer, ofrecer, oír, poner, salir, tener, traducir, traer, venir, and
ver.
Salga inmediatamente!
Leave immediately!
•
Note also that stem-changing verbs maintain their stem-changes in usted and ustedes
commands.
e:ie
No pierda la llave
o:ue
Vuelva temprano, joven
e:i
Sirva la sopa, por favor.
•
Verbs ending in –car, -gar, and –zar have a spelling change in the command forms
Sacar
c – qu
saque, saquen
Jugar
g – gu
juegue, jueguen
Almorzar
z–c
almuerce, almuercen
•
The following verbs have irregular formal commands.
Infinitive
•
Ud. command
Uds. command
Dar
dé
den
Estar
esté
estén
Ir
vaya
vayan
Saber
sepa
sepan
Ser
sea
sean
To make a formal command negative, simply place no before the verb.
No pong alas maletas en la cama
Don’t put the suitcases on the bed.
•
In affirmative commands, reflexive, indirect and direct object pronouns are always attached to
the end of the verb.
Siéntense, por favor.
•
In negative commands, these pronouns always precede the verb.
No se preocupe.
No nos las traigan.
•
Usted and ustedes can be used with the command forms to strike a more formal tone. In such
instances they follow the command form.
Muéstrele usted la foto a su amigo.
Show the Photo to your friend.
16.1 The future

In Spanish the future is a simple tense that consists of one word, whereas in English it is made
up of the of the auxiliary verb will or shall, and the main verb.
Cuándo recibirás el ascenso? When will you receive the promotion?

The future endings are the same for regular and irregular verbs. For the regular verbs, only add
the endings to the infinitive. For irregular verbs, add the endings to the irregular stem.
Future tense
_ar; _er, and _ir verbs have the same endings.
Yo
Tú
Usted, él, ella
é
ás
á
Nosotros
Vosotros
Ustedes, ellos/as
emos
éis
án
Exemple: the future tense of estudiar is:
Estudiaré, estudiarás, estudiará, estudiaremos, estudiaréis, estudiarán
Irregular verbs in the future
Infinitive
stem
Decir
Hacer
Poder
Poner
Querer
Saber
Salir
Tener
Venir

dirharpodrpondrquerrsabrsaldrtendrvendr-
future forms
diré
haré
podré
pondré
querré
sabré
saldré
tendré
vendré
Haber in the present tense is hay (there is, there are), and the future is habrá (there will be).
The conditional
The conditional tense in Spanish expresses what you would do, or what would happen under
certain circumstances.

The conditional tense is formed much like the future tense. The endings are the same for all
verbs, both regular and irregular. For regular verbs, you simply add the endings to the infinitive.
Yo
Tú
Usted, él, ella
ía
ías
ía
Nosotros
Vosotros
Usteds, ellos/as
íamos
íais
ían
Exemple: Estudiaría, estudiarías, estudiaría, estudiaríamos, estudiaríais, estudiarían.
The irregular verbs in the conditional tense are the same of the future.
Infinitive
Decir
Hacer
Poder
Poner
Querer
Saber
Salir
Tener
Venir

stem
dirharpodrpondrquerrsabrsaldrtendrvendr-
conditional forms
diría
haría
podría
pondría
querría
sabría
saldría
tendría
vendría
The conditional is commonly used to make polite requests.
Podrías abrir la ventana, por favor? Would you open the window, please?

In Spanish, as in English, the conditional expresses the future in relation to a past action or state
of being. In other words, the future indicates what will happen whereas the conditional
indicates what would happen.
Creo que mañana hará sol. I think it will be sunny tomorrow.
Creía quehoy haría sol. I thought it would be sunny today.