Spanish Trouble Shooting
Here are some Spanish basics that you need to know to avoid errors and make your learning more successful and useful.
1) Match all adjectives with the nouns they modify. Be careful how you end the words. Are they masculine or feminine/ singular or plural? Remember that
el / la / los / las= the and the words un / una = a/an . Most adjectives come after the noun being described. Exceptions are numbers (cardinal or ordinal),
2) Match the subject and verb of each sentence. Be careful to use appropriate endings for the verbs to indicate the subject and the tense.
3) Gustar is a special verb. (me gusta / me gustan te gusta / te gustan
le gusta / le gustan nos gusta / nos gustan les gusta / les gustan )
A Mario le gusta cantar. A mis amigos les gusta el pan.
4) De is used to show possession and also what something is made of or where it originated. Never use ‘s to show possession!! Remember that de + el = del
5) A has a couple of uses. It means “to”, as in a destination. It is also used as the “personal a” in sentences where the direct object receiving the action is a person or group of people.
6) Time There are several words in Spanish we use to say “time”
tiempo = time in general ( I don’t have time today.)
hora = clock time (What time is it?)
vez = the number of times (I eat tacos three times during the week.)
7) Bien / Bueno Bien means well or fine. It’s used as an adverb telling how. Bueno means good. Bueno can change forms, bien can’t.
8) SER / ESTAR Both of these verbs mean “to be”, but each has it’s own uses.
SER * characteristics
* possession
* origin or nationality
* telling what something is made of
* equivalents in a sentence (John is the teacher.)
ESTAR * location of anything permanent or temporary
* condition or feeling of something or somebody
as a result of an action
Remember that the word HAY means there is / there are.
8) This / that these / those Be careful when using these words.
this este esta these estos estas
that ese esa those esos esas
that* aquel aquella those* aquellos aquellas
9) Por & Para These two words cause many problems for non-native speakers. Here are some general guidelines to help you.
POR PARA
* through, by , along * intended for
* per, rate * in order to (not always expressed in English)
* in exchange for * destination
* in place of * due date or deadline
* for a certain length of time * as an employee of
* purpose of an errand
* in favor of
10) Question words in Spanish. What do these words mean?
¿ qué? ¿ quién? ¿quiénes? ¿con quién? ¿ de quién? ¿para quién?
¿ a quién? ¿ cuál? ¿cuáles? ¿ dónde? ¿adónde? ¿de dónde?
¿cómo? ¿por qué? ¿cuándo? ¿cuánto? ¿cuánta? ¿cuántos?
¿cuántas?
Remember to use the correct word order when writing a question in Spanish.
¿ Question word verb subject ? ( ¿Dónde vive Luisa? )
1 2 3
¿ Verb subject ? ( ¿Estudia Carlos? )
1 2
Never end a Spanish sentence (statement or question) with a preposition. In Spanish the preposition usually comes before the question word or connecting word.
Where is he from? * ¿ De dónde es él?
Who do they sing with? * ¿Con quién cantan?
Mary is the girl who he talks with. * Mary es la muchacha con quien él habla.
( * incorrect use of English, but this is the way we talk)
11) Prepositions You should be familiar with all of these prepositions.
a de con sin en para por desde hasta sobre entre delante de detrás de cerca de lejos de
encima de alrededor de debajo de dentro de fuera de a la derecha de a la izquierda de
12) Verbs with built in prepositions: esperar buscar mirar escuchar
Normally don’t use prepositions after these words
13) Verbs followed by infinitives: ir a tener que acabar de querer
poder esperar necesitar gustar
preferir hay que saber ???
