Contents
Introduction
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 1
Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 2 Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 3 Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 4 Prepositions and Conjunctions . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 5 Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 6 Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 7 Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Appendix Orthographic (Spelling) Changes . . . . . . 77
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Adjec ti ves
An adjective is a word that describes a noun (big, small, red, etc.) and
gives us more detail about the noun, such as who it belongs to (my, your,
etc.) and indeed which particular noun we are talking about (this, that,
etc.).
There are many more rules for the use of adjectives in Spanish than
there are in English. In Spanish, adjectives must agree with the nouns
they are describing.
e.g. Una casa grande, dos casas grandes.
One big house, two big houses.
In general adjectives in Spanish come after the noun.
• Adjectives that end in o stay the same when describing a masculine
noun and change the o to a when describing a feminine noun.
e.g. Tengo un bolígrafo nuevo.
Tengo una mochila nueva.
• Adjectives ending in e keep the same form in the masculine and the
feminine
e.g. Un libro grande.
Una goma enorme.
• To make adjectives plural, you simply follow the same rules as for
making nouns plural (add s, es, etc.)
• Adjectives ending in a consonant do not change at all when describing
a feminine noun.
e.g. La falda es azul.
• The exceptions to this rule are (a) adjectives that end in -án/-ón/-or
e.g. La niña es holgazana. = The girl is lazy.
María es trabajadora. = María is hard-working.
and (b) adjectives of nationality
e.g. William es inglés y Siobhán es irlandesa.
Los niños son franceses y las niñas son españolas.
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Complete Spanish Grammar
Note With this type of adjective, the accent is dropped from the vowel when you
add the extra syllable. Also note that adjectives of nationality are always written with
a small first letter.
• Certain adjectives come before the noun and drop the last o when they are describing
a singular masculine noun. This is called apocopation. They are:
primero = first
Estoy en el primer año. = I am in first year.
Me siento en la primera fila. = I sit in the first row.
tercero = third
Ana vive en el tercer piso. = Ana lives on the third floor.
Paco vive en la tercera casa a la derecha. = Paco lives in the
third house on the right.
bueno = good
Es un buen amigo. = He is a good friend.
Es una buena amiga. = She is a good friend.
malo = bad
Es un mal hombre. = He is a bad man.
Es una mala niña. = She is a bad girl.
alguno = some
Lee algún libro. = He is reading some book.
Escribe alguna novela. = He is writing some novel.
ninguno = none
No tiene ningún papel. = He doesn’t have any paper.
No tiene ninguna tiza. = He doesn’t have any chalk.
Note that alguno and ninguno must take an accent on the u when the o is dropped.
Also note that you need the word no before the verb when using the word ninguno in a
negative sentence. This translates as not any in English.
• The words grande, nuevo and antiguo have a slightly different meaning when they
are placed before the noun.
e.g. Matías es un hombre grande. = Matías is a big man.
Matías es un gran hombre. = Matías is a great man.
Note that grande becomes gran when placed before a masculine or feminine singular
noun.
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Adjectives: 3
e.g. Juan tiene un nuevo coche. = Juan has a new car (new to him, but could be
second hand).
Juan tiene un coche nuevo. = Juan has a new car (the car is brand new).
El fantasma está en la casa antigua. = The ghost is in the old house (old in age).
El fantasma está en la antigua casa. = The ghost is in the old house (the former
house, the one we used to live in).
• Some adjectives normally come in front of the noun:
ambos = both
En ambos casos. = In both cases
mucho = a lot of
Tengo mucho dinero. = I have a lot of money.
otro = another
Quiero otro café. = I want another coffee.
poco = a little/few Tengo muy pocos amigos. = I have very few friends.
EXERCISES
Change the adjectives to agree with the noun they are describing
and place them in the correct order:
1. A big book (libro, grande)_ ____________________________________
2. A great book (libro, grande)____________________________________
3. An enormous house (casa, enorme)______________________________
4. Two blue schoolbags (mochila, azul)_____________________________
5. An Irish girl (niña, irlandés)____________________________________
6. The third row (fila, tercero)____________________________________
7. Some friends (female friends) (amigas, alguno)_____________________
8. Lots of money (dinero, mucho)__________________________________
9. Few houses (casa, poco)_ ______________________________________
Comparatives and Superlatives
Examples:
• More . . . than
• Less . . . than
• The least . . . • The biggest, the smallest, etc.
• As . . . as
• The most . . .
• Bigger than, smaller than, etc.
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Complete Spanish Grammar
To compare two nouns in Spanish, you use the simple structure:
más . . . que = more . . . than
menos . . . que = less . . . than
tan . . . como = as . . . as
You place the adjective in the middle and make sure it agrees with the first noun.
e.g.Las manzanas son más dulces que los limones. = Apples are sweeter than lemons.
María es menos inteligente que Mónica. = María is less intelligent than Mónica.
Ana es tan alta como Daniel. = Ana is as tall as Daniel.
To form the superlative (the prettiest, the fastest, the tiniest etc.) you simply place the
definite article (el, la, los, las) before más.
e.g.Alberto es tan alto como Daniel pero Andrés es el más alto. = Alberto is as tall as
Daniel but Andrés is the tallest.
María y Mónica son inteligentes pero Eva es la más inteligente. = María and
Mónica are intelligent but Eva is the most intelligent.
As you can see, in English we have the forms -er and -est for comparatives and superlatives,
but in Spanish we must use the structure more…than and the most…
e.g.delgada, más delgada, la más delgada = skinny, skinner, skinniest
rápido, más rápido, el más rápido = fast, faster, fastest
interesante, más interesante, lo* más interesante = interesting, more interesting, the
most interesting
*the article here is lo referring to neuter nouns, for example:
the most interesting thing is = lo más interesante es
As always, there are exceptions to this rule too. There are four important adjectives that
you must know, which have their own comparative and superlative forms:
• bueno, mejor, el/la/lo mejor = good, better, best
• malo, peor, el/la/lo peor = bad, worse, worst
• grande, mayor, el/la mayor = big, bigger, biggest (usually used when talking about
age, use más grande when talking about size or greatness)
• pequeño, menor, el/la menor = small, smaller, smallest (más pequeño is also used
and acceptable but use menor when talking about age)
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The above comparative and superlative forms do not change in the feminine and the
plural is formed by adding s, es, etc.
Adjectives: 3
Demonstrative Adjectives (this, that, these and those)
In Spanish there are two forms of the word that depending on how far away in distance
or in time the noun is. You simply choose the word that agrees with the noun you are
talking about.
Masculine
Feminine
Masculine
Feminine
This
este
esta
These
estos
estas
That (near)
ese
esa
Those (near)
esos
esas
That (far away)
aquel
aquella
Those (far away)
aquellos
aquellas
e.g. este libro = this book
esta muchacha = this girl
aquellas montañas = those mountains (far away, over there)
Possessive Adjectives
These are the words we use for my, your etc. Again they must agree with the noun they
are describing, NOT the person who owns them! Remember that rule and you should
have no problem with these words.
e.g. Busco mi lápiz. = I am looking for my pencil. (One person, one pencil – singular
adjective)
Busco mis lápices. = I am looking for my pencils. (One person, more than one
pencil – plural adjective)
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Complete Spanish Grammar
So you must choose the correct word depending on the number and gender of the
noun:
Singular noun Plural noun
mi
mis
my
tu
tus
your
su
sus
his/her/its
nuestro/a
nuestros/as
our
vuestro/a
vuestros/as
your
su
sus
their
The words for my, your, his, her, its and their have no spelling change for feminine
nouns.
The words for our and your (plural) cause the most confusion for learners at the start but
just remember that they must agree with the noun they are describing.
e.g. nuestro padre = our father (padre = father is masculine singular)
nuestras casas = our houses (casas = houses is feminine plural)
vuestros equipos = your teams (equipos = teams is masculine plural)
vuestra tía = your aunt (tía = aunt is feminine singular)
• When you are talking about body parts, you use the definite article and not the possessive
adjective:
e.g. Me duele la cabeza. = I have a headache.
Paco se ha roto la pierna. = Paco has broken his leg.
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Adjectives: 3
EXERCISES
1. Comparatives and superlatives.
Translate the following sentences into Spanish:
(a) María is as tall as Elena.
_____________________________________________________
(b) Juan is more intelligent than Jorge but José is the most intelligent.
_____________________________________________________
(c) Orange juice is good but water is better.
_____________________________________________________
(d) My team is better than your team.
_____________________________________________________
(e) Belén is younger than Jaime but Lola is the youngest.
_____________________________________________________
2. Demonstrative and possessive adjectives.
Translate the following into Spanish:
(a) This book_ ___________________________________________
(b) That girl_____________________________________________
(c) Those boys (far away)___________________________________
(d) These apples__________________________________________
(e) Those lemons (near)_ ___________________________________
(f) Those days (long ago) ___________________________________
(g) My pen_ _____________________________________________
(h) Our mothers__________________________________________
(i) His sister_____________________________________________
(j) Your (plural) brother____________________________________
(k) Our school_ __________________________________________
(l) Their teacher (male)____________________________________
(m)My hand hurts_ _______________________________________
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