Lección 7: Gramática
1. Pretérito de verbos regulares
2. Pretérito de SER, IR, y DAR
3. Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto
4. El verbo GUSTAR
5. Construcciones reflexivas
Pretérito de verbos regulares (1)
• Spanish has two simple past tenses: the
preterit and the imperfect. The endings for -er
and -ir verbs are identical.
yo tomé
Ud. comió
ellos decidieron
I took; I did take
you ate; you did eat
they decided; they did
decide
Pretérito de verbos regulares (2)
• Verbs ending in -ar and -er that are stemchanging in the present indicative are
regular in the preterit.
encontrar:
tú encuentras (present)
tú encontraste (preterit)
volver:
yo vuelvo
yo volví
(present)
(preterit)
Pretérito de verbos regulares (3)
• Verbs ending in -gar, -car, and -zar change g to
gu, c to qu, and z to c
before é in the first person of the preterit.
• pagar →pagué
• buscar →busqué
• empezar →empecé
Pretérito de verbos regulares (4)
• Verbs whose stem ends in a strong vowel
change the unaccented i of the
preterit ending to y in the third-person
singular and plural of the preterit.
• leer →leyó
leyeron
Pretérito de verbos regulares (5)
• The preterit tense refers to actions or
events that the speaker views as
completed in the past.
• ¿Qué compraste ayer?
• Compré un florero.
• ¿Qué comieron Uds.?
• Comimos ensalada.
Pretérito de verbos regulares (6)
• Note that Spanish has no equivalent for the
English did used as an auxiliary verb in
questions and negative sentences.
•
•
•
•
¿Encontraste el dinero?
“Did you find the money?”
No lo busqué.
“I didn’t look for it.”
Pretérito de SER, IR, y DAR (1)
Pretérito de SER, IR, y DAR (2)
• ¿Fuiste al club ayer?
Sí, fui para comprar ropa. Papá me dio el
dinero.
• ¿Quién fue tu profesor de español?
El Dr. Vega.
Pretérito de SER, IR, y DAR (3)
• Note that ser and ir have identical preterit
forms; however, there is no confusion as to
meaning, because the context clarifies it.
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (1)
• In addition to a subject and direct object, a
sentence can have an indirect object.
Ella les da el dinero a los muchachos.
s.
v.
D.O.
I.O.
What does she give? (el dinero)
To whom does she give it? (a los muchachos)
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (2)
Ella les da el dinero a los muchachos.
s.
v.
D.O.
I.O.
• In this sentence, ella is the subject who performs
the action, el dinero is the direct object, and a los
muchachos is the indirect object, the final
recipient of the action expressed by the verb.
• Indirect object nouns are for the most part
preceded by the preposition a.
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (3)
• An indirect object usually tells to whom or for
whom something is done. Compare these
sentences:
Yo voy a mandarlo a México. (lo: direct object)
I’m going to send him to Mexico.
Yo voy a mandarle dinero. (le: indirect object)
I’m going to send him money. (I’m going to
send money to him.)
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (4)
• An indirect object pronoun can be used with or in place of the
indirect object. In Spanish, the indirect object pronoun
includes the meaning to or for. The forms of the indirect
object pronouns are shown in the following table.
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (5)
• Indirect object pronouns have the same form
as direct object pronouns, except in the third
person.
• Indirect object pronouns are usually placed in
front of the conjugated verb.
Le dimos una propina.
We gave him a tip.
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (6)
• When used with an infinitive or in the present
progressive, however, the indirect object pronoun
may either be placed in front of the conjugated
verb or attached to the infinitive or the present
participle.
Le voy a escribir una carta. (conj. verb)
or:
Voy a escribirle una carta. (infinitive)
I’m going to write you a letter.
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (7)
• The indirect object pronouns le and les require
clarification when the context does not specify
the gender or the person to which they refer.
Spanish provides clarification by using the
preposition a + pronoun or noun.
Le doy la información. I give the information . . .
but: (to whom? to him? to her? to you?)
Le doy la información a ella.
I give the information to her.
Pronombres usados como
complemento indirecto (8)
• The prepositional phrase provides clarification
or emphasis; it is not, however, a substitute
for the indirect object pronoun. While the
prepositional form can be omitted, the
indirect object pronoun must always be used.
¿Qué vas a comprarle a tu hija?
Le voy a comprar un florero.
El verbo GUSTAR (1)
• The verb gustar means to like something or somebody
(literally, to be pleasing). A special construction is
required in Spanish to translate the English to like. Note
that the equivalent of the English direct object becomes
the subject of the Spanish sentence. The English subject
then becomes the indirect object of the Spanish
sentence.
• Me gusta tu casa.
I.O.
s.
I like your house.
s.
D.O.
Your house is pleasing to me.
s.
I.O.
El verbo GUSTAR (2)
Example: Me gusta tu casa.
• Gustar is always used with an indirect object
pronoun —in this example, me.
• The two most commonly used forms of gustar
are the third-person singular gusta if the
subject is singular or if the verb is followed by
one or more infinitives, and the third-person
plural gustan if the subject is plural.
El verbo GUSTAR (3)
El verbo GUSTAR (4)
• Note that gustar agrees in number with the
subject of the sentence, that is, the person or
thing being liked.
Me gustan las manzanas.
Apples are
pleasing to me.
• The person who does the liking is the indirect
object.
Me gustan las manzanas.
Apples are pleasing
to me.
El verbo GUSTAR (5)
Examples:
- ¿Les gusta el francés?
“Do you like French?”
- Sí, nos gusta mucho el francés, pero nos gusta
más el español.
“Yes, we like French very much, but we like
Spanish better.”
• Note that the words más and mucho immediately
follow gustar.
El verbo GUSTAR (6)
• The preposition a + a noun or pronoun is used to
clarify meaning or to emphasize the indirect
object.
A Aurora (A ella) le gusta esa panadería, pero a mí
no me gusta.
A Beto y a Rosa les gusta ese restaurante.
• If the thing liked is an action, the second verb is
an infinitive: Me gusta patinar.
Construcciones reflexivas (1)
• The reflexive construction (e.g., I introduce
myself ) consists in Spanish of a reflexive
pronoun and a verb.
• Reflexive pronouns refer to the same person
as the subject of the sentence does.
Construcciones reflexivas (2)
Construcciones reflexivas (3)
• Reflexive pronouns are positioned in the
sentence in the same manner as object
pronouns.
• Note that except for se, reflexive pronouns
have the same forms as the direct and indirect
object pronouns.
Construcciones reflexivas (4)
• The third-person singular and plural se is
invariable, that is, it does not show gender or
number.
• Any verb that can act upon the subject can be
made reflexive in Spanish with the aid of a
reflexive pronoun.
Construcciones reflexivas (5)
Construcciones reflexivas (6)
Construcciones reflexivas (7)
• The following commonly used verbs are
reflexive.
aburrirse
to get bored
acostarse (o>ue)
to go to bed
afeitarse, rasurarse
to shave
bañarse
to bathe
despertarse (e>ie)
to wake up
divertirse (e>ie)
to have fun
Construcciones reflexivas (8)
• The following commonly used verbs are
reflexive (cont.)
lavarse
to wash oneself
levantarse
to get up
ponerse
to put on
probarse (o>ue)
to try on
quitarse
to take off
sentarse (e>ie)
to sit down
Construcciones reflexivas (9)
Ejemplos:
- ¿A qué hora se levantan Uds.?
- Yo me levanto a las seis y Jorge se levanta a
las ocho.
- Uds. se levantaron muy tarde hoy.
- Sí, porque anoche nos acostamos a la
medianoche.