Apuntes de gramática Unidad de Repaso
I. Los Verbos Irregulares: ser, estar, tener, ir
A. Ser vs Estar


The verbs SER and ESTAR, they both mean“TO BE”
Ser is used to:
* Describe physical characteristics
* Describe personality traits
* Tell where someone is from
* Identify someone or something
* Tell the time, date, and day
* Talk about professions

Ser is an irregular verb like “to be”
yo
soy
tú
eres
usted
él
es
ella
nosotros
somos
nosotras
somos
ustedes
ellos
son
ellas

I am
you are (fam.)
you are (form.)
he is
she is
we are (masc.)
we are (fem.)
you all are
they are (masc.)
they are (fem.)
Estar is used to:
*Show/tell the location of people and things.
*Express feelings and temporary conditions.
*Form the present progressive

Estar is also an irregular verb:
Yo
Tú
Él
Ella
Usted
Nosotros
Nosotras
Ustedes
Ellos
Ellas
estoy
estás
está
estamos
están
B. El verbo “Ir”


The verb “Ir” means “to go”
It is an irregular verb
I am
You are (fam)
He is
She is
You are (formal)
we are (masc)
we are (fem)
you all are
they are (masc)
they are (fem)
Yo
voy
nosotros/nosotras
vamos
Tú
vas
ustedes
ellos
ellas
van
Usted
Él
Ella

va
To talk about what you are going to do, you can use:
IR + A + INFINITIVE
¿Qué vas a hacer?
Voy a limpiar la casa
Van a jugar fútbol

What are you going to do?
I’m going to clean the house
They’re going to play soccer
To talk about destination, you can use:
IR + A + PLACE
Voy a mi clase de baile
¿Vamos a la biblioteca hoy?

Note that when “a” is followed by el, the contraction al is formed
a + el = al
Mi familia va al parque
los domingos

I’m going to my dance lesson
Are we going to the library today?
My family goes to the park
on Sundays.
Vamos, the nosotros form, can also mean let’s
Vamos a alquilar un video
Let’s rent a video
Vamos al cine
Let’s go to the movies
C. El verbo “tener”


Tener means “to have”
Tener is an irregular verb
Yo
Tú
Usted
Él
Ella
tengo
tienes
tiene
Nosotros/as
tenemos
Ustedes
Ellos
Ellas
tienen
Uses of “Tener”

Tener is used:
1. To talk about things or activities you have
2. To talk about obligations
3. In idiomatic expressions
1. To talk about things or activities you have:
Tengo dos hermanos
No tenemos clase hoy
Tengo matemáticas a
las nueve.
I have two brothers
We don’t have class today
I have math at 9:00
2. To talk about obligations:
To talk about what you are obligated to do, you can use
Tener + que + infinitive
Tengo que limpiar mi cuarto
Tienes que trabajar
Tenemos que estudiar
I have to clean my room
You have to work
We have to study
3. In idiomatic expressions (“tener” idioms)
An idiom is an expression that makes sense in one language but does not make
sense when translated word for word into another language.
The verb TENER is used in several Spanish idiomatic
expressions:
tener hambre
tener sed
tener calor
tener frío
tener prisa
tener razón
tener suerte
tener ganas de
tener sueño
to be hungry
to be thirsty
to be hot
to be cold
to be in a hurry
to be right
to be lucky
to feel like
to feel sleepy
II. Los verbos regulares. La conjugación
Take off the –ar, -er, or –ir and add:
-AR
-ER
-IR
Yo
-o
-o
-o
Tú
-as
-es
-es
Él/ella/usted
-a
-e
-e
Nosotros/as
-amos
-emos
-imos
Ellos/as/ustedes
-an
-en
-en
III. Los adjetivos

Adjectives are words that describe nouns.
For example:

Juan es delgado
Juan is thin
Tú eres simpática
You are nice
Soy estudioso
I am studious
In Spanish, an adjective that describes a masculine noun must also be masculine; one
that describes a feminine noun must be feminine.

In order to make adjectives masculine or feminine, you may have to change the ending.

Most adjectives in Spanish have a masculine ending –o and a feminine ending –a

Masculine
-o
estudioso
Feminine
-a
estudiosa
Some adjectives with –o/-a endings are:
aburrido (a)
boring
alto (a)
tall
antipático (a)
unpleasant
mediano (a)
average
atlético (a)
athletic
moreno (a)
dark (hair,
bajo (a)
short
bonito (a)
pretty
organizado (a)
organized
bueno (a)
good
pelirrojo (a)
red-haired,
cómico (a)
funny
delgado (a)
slender, thin
pequeño (a)
small
desorganizado (a)
disorganized
romántico (a)
romantic
feo (a)
ugly
rubio (a)
blond
flaco (a)
skinny
serio (a)
serious
generoso (a)
generous
simpático (a)
nice, pleasant
gordo (a)
fat
tímido (a)
timid
tonto (a)
silly, dumb

guapo (a)
good-looking,
handsome
complexion), brunette
redheaded
Other adjectives have only one ending for both, masculine and feminine nouns. These
adjectives end in –e or in a consonant. Some of the adjectives that belong to this group
are:
difícil
difficult
fuerte
strong
interesante
interesting
elegante
elegant
grande
big, large
joven
young
exigente
demanding
inteligente
intelligent
popular
popular

When you use more than one adjective, the last one is connected by y (and)
Él es grande y fuerte
Ella es alta, delgada y elegante.

The word y becomes e when is followed by a word beginning with i or hi
Los chicos son guapos e inteligentes.
IV. El verbo Gustar
If one thing
is liked:
If more than
one thing is liked:
If one thing
is disliked:
If more than one
thing is disliked:
(a mí)
me gusta
me gustan
no me gusta
no me gustan
(a ti)
te gusta
te gustan
no te gusta
no te gustan
(a él/ella/Usted)
le gusta
le gustan
no le gusta
no le gustan
(a nosotros/as)
nos gusta
nos gustan
no nos gusta
no nos gustan
les gustan
no les gusta
no les gustan
(a ellos/as/ustedes) les gusta
V. Los verbos irregulares en “yo”
The following verbs are irregular in the “yo” form only. They follow the regular
conjugation rules for all other forms:











Conocer (to know)
Dar (to give)
Hacer (to do/make)
Poner (to put)
Traer (to bring)
Saber (to know)
Salir (to leave, to go out)
Tener (ie) (to have)
Venir (ie) (to come)
Ver (to see, to watch)
Decir (i) (to say)
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
conozco
doy
hago
pongo
traigo
sé
salgo
tengo
vengo
veo
digo
VI. Los verbos que cambian de raíz (Stem changing verbs)
In these verbs, the FINAL VOWEL of the stem changes from e to ie or from o to ue in
all forms except the nosotros.
e →ie
recomendar (to recommend)
o → ue
poder
recomiendo
recomiendas
recomienda
recomienda
puedo
puedes
puede
puede
recomendamos
recomiendan
recomiendan
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(to be able, can)
podemos
pueden
pueden

Some commonly used e →ie and o →u stem changing verbs are:
e →ie
o →ue
comenzar (to begin)
empezar (to begin)
entender (to understand)
pensar (to think)
preferir (to prefer)
querer (to want)
recomendar (to recommend)
contar (to count)
costar (to cost)
encontrar (to find)
poder (to be able, to can)
recordar (to remember)
u → ue
jugar (to play)
More stem-changing verbs: e→ i
There is a group of –ir verbs that undergo a stem change. In this group, the
final vowel of the stem changes from e to i in all forms except nosotros:
pedir
(to order, to ask for)
pido
pides
pide
pedimos
piden
servir
(to serve)
decir
(to say, tell)
sirvo
sirves
sirve
servimos
sirven
digo
dices
dice
decimos
dicen
seguir
(to follow, to continue)
sigo
sigues
sigue
seguimos
siguen

Some frequently used e →i stem-changing verbs are:
Conseguir
(to get, obtain)
Decir
(to say, tell)
Pedir
(to ask for, to order)
Repetir
(to repeat)
Seguir
(to continue, follow)
Servir
(to serve)
Vestir
(to dress)

The affirmative tú command form and the present participle also undergo this
stem change:
Pide algo para comer
Order something to eat
Sigue media cuadra
Go another half block
Estoy diciendo la verdad
I’m telling the truth
Está sirviendo la cena
They are serving dinner
VII. El Pretérito
A. El pretérito de los verbos regulares
Remember **THE STEM IS THE INFINITIVE OF THE VERB MINUS THE AR, ER, IR**
bailar – bail correr – corr salir – sal
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Just like present tense you start with the stem and add the following endings:
-ar
-er/-ir
yo
tú
él/ella/usted
nosotros
ellos/ellas/ustedes
-é
-aste
-ó
-amos
-aron
- í
-iste
-ió
-imos
-ieron
BAILAR
CORRER
SALIR
bailé
bailaste
bailó
bailamos
bailaron
corrí
corriste
corrió
corrimos
corrieron
salí
saliste
salió
salimos
salieron

The preterite tense has two sets of endings: one for –ar verbs and the other
for –er and –ir verbs.

The yo form and the usted/él/ella forms require a written accent.
Elsa salió primero
Yo no estudié ayer

Elsa left first
I didn’t study yesterday
The nosotros form of –ar and –ir verbs is the same íin the present and
preterite tenses. The context will help you decide which meaning is intended.
Caminamos todos los días
Caminamos mucho ayer
We walk every day
We walked a lot yesterday
B. Preterite of –car, -gar, -zar verbs
The following rules affect the yo form of the preterite in certain verbs to preserve the
consonant sound of their infinitive ending: -car, -gar, and –zar
1. c changes to qu before e or i
buscar: busqué, buscaste, buscó,…
tocar: toqué, tocaste, tocó, …
Other verbs of this type are: calificar, comunicar, criticar, chocar, dedicar, explicar,
practicar, sacar
2. g changes to gu before e or i
pagar: pagué, pagaste, pagó, …
jugar: jugué, jugaste, jugó, …
Other verbs of this type are:
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entregar, llegar, obligar, pegar
3. z changes to c before e or i
empezar: empecé, empezaste, …
comenzar: comencé, comenzaste, …
Other verbs of this type are:
almorzar, cruzar, especializar, utilizar
C. Verbos Irregulares: Ir, Hacer, Ser, Dar and Ver
Ir
Fui
Fuiste
Fue
Fuimos
Fueron
Hacer
Hice
Hiciste
Hizo
Hicimos
Hicieron

Ser
Fui
Fuiste
Fue
Fuimos
Fueron
Ver
Vi
Viste
Vio
Vimos
Vieron
Note that unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs in the preterite do not have
written accents:
I didn’t go to the movies
I watched three movies
Did Elena go to the park?
Yo no fui al cine
Vi tres películas
Fue Elena al parque?

Dar
Di
Diste
Dio
Dimos
Dieron
The preterite forms of the verb Ser are identical to the preterite forms of the
verb Ir. The context will help you decide which verb is being used:
Él fue presidente por ocho años
No fue a la fiesta
He was president for eight years
He didn’t go to the party
D. Irregular stems in the preterite
These are some other irregular verbs in the preterite. Note that these verbs share the
same verb endings (except for dijeron and trajeron), and that there are no written
accents.
ANDAR – anduv
CABER - cup
ESTAR – estuv
PODER – pud
PONER – pus
QUERER – quis
SABER - sup
TENER – tuv
VENIR – vin
DECIR – dij
TRAER – traj
-e
-iste
-o
-imos
-ieron
(ellos/ellas/ustedes -eron)
(ellos/ellas/ustedes -eron)
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E. Stem changing verbs in the preterite:
e→i and o→u

In the preterite, only –ir verbs undergo stem changes. Verbs that end in –ar and –er
are regular and do not undergo stem changes in the preterite.
Ella contó todo el dinero
No lo entendí
No pensaron en eso

Pedí
Pediste
Pidió
Pidió
She counted all the money
I didn’t understand it
They didn’t think about that.
In –ir stem changing verbs, e becomes i and o becomes u in the usted/él/ella and
the ustedes/ellos/ellas forms.
(e→i)
pedimos
(o→u)
dormí
dormiste
durmió
durmió
pidieron
pidieron
dormimos
durmieron
durmieron
The following is a list of common stem-changing –ir verbs. Note that the letters in
parentheses indicate stem changes in the present tense and in the preterite.
e→i (present and preterite)
e→ie (present)/ e→i (preterite)
conseguir (i, i) to get, obtain
divertirse (ie, i)
to have a good time
pedir (i, i)
to ask for
preferir (ie, i)
to prefer
repetir (i, i)
to repeat
sentir (ie, i)
to feel
seguir (i, i)
to follow
vestirse (i, i)
to get dressed o→ue (present)/ o→u (preterite)
dormir (ue, u) to sleep
morir (ue, u)
to die
F. Spelling changes in the preterite

What are the spelling changes for –er and –ir verbs?
An unaccented i between two vowels changes to y (three vowel rule)
Note that this rule affects the él/ella/usted and the ellos/ellas/ustedes forms as well as the –
ndo form of the verb.
oír (to hear) creer (to believe)
leer (to read)
oí
oíste
oyó
oímos
oyeron
creí
creíste
creyó
creímos
creyeron
leí
leíste
leyó
leímos
leyeron
oyendo
creyendo
leyendo
huir (to escape)
huí
huíste
huyó
huímos
huyeron
huyendo
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