Copyright: (C) 1999 -2001 G.B. Blanchard, All Rights Reserved


 	 Contents

General Information   Welcome to Spanish Whiz        General Overview Getting Started The Spanish Whiz Sound CD Ordering Information Installing the Registered Version Contacting us Multiple Choice and Fill-in Questions Personal Lists Personal List Editors Chistes Sound Opening Sound Files Dictations Tools Vosotros Dictionaries	Grammar Review--Verbs General Considerations about Verbs Ser and Estar Present Tense Future (ir a) and Present Progressive Preterite (Simple Past) Present Perfect Future and Conditional Imperfect
Grammar Review--General Nouns and Articles El or La Adjectives Adverbs and Prepositions Idioms	Commands and The Subjunctive Commands (the Imperative) The Present Subjunctive--Formation The Past Subjunctive--Formation The Subjunctive--Usage
License Agreement License User support Contacting us


 	 Welcome to Spanish Whiz

  We've made this help topic to give you some great ideas about how to use Spanish Whiz. You don't have to see this every time you start the program: just click on the Don't show help at startup button on the main screen and it won't come up again.

   Here are some things you should know about Spanish Whiz:

  1)  This Help File has extensive grammar explanations with examples.  You can learn a lot from it. Take a look at the Contents to see what there is waiting for you. The help topic called Getting Started has some practical ideas to help you get the most out of the over 150,000 words that the program contains.

   2)  To begin using the program, first click on one of the level buttons on the main screen (Level One, Level Two or Level Three) and then choose which section you want to use by clicking on  the buttons above. Level One is the easiest and Level Three is the most difficult.

  3)  To hear the example Sound files, click on Sound, then on the section you are interested in (for example, Conversations), then double-click on one of the example sound files you'll see listed.

  4) If you don't want to use the Vosotros form, you can change this in the menu Tools --> Options -->Questions.

  5)  You can also set the number of questions for each session, the time for each question, colors and sounds (and other things) by going to  Tools --> Options -->Questions.

  6) If you have the Trial Version: You have 21 non-consecutive days of use to evaluate the program. If you decide to buy it, you can order just the program itself, or the program plus the Sound CD together at a reduced price. You can see the ordering information by clicking on Buy on the main screen or read the Ordering Information topic in this help file.

  7) Please feel free to send any comments or questions you may have to:

    gbb@braser.com

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 	 Getting Started

  The following are suggestions on how to use the program. They are especially valid for beginners and people who only know a few words of Spanish, but can be adapted to anyone's level. By following these steps, you will gain a basic knowledge of Spanish grammar which will enable you to take full advantage of the vocabulary building aspects of Spanish Whiz:

  1. Study the topics under the Menu item Tutor. For example, if the present tense of the verbs is new to you, read that topic, take notes on the verb endings, and then:

  2. Begin practicing the Multiple Choice section of that topic. Use a dictionary  to look up the meanings of verbs that are new to you. If you consistently can't remember the meaning or correct forms of certain words, jot them down and make your own Personal Lists so you can have some intensive, specialized  practice on those hard-to-learn words.

  3. When you feel more confident, go on to the Fill In Questions on the same topic. The Fill In Questions are by nature more difficult than the Multiple Choice ones.  Once again, if you find you have difficulties remembering certain words, make your own Personal List with them.

  4. Additionally , you can listen to the verb forms (or vocabulary pertaining to any other  topic you are trying to learn) in the Sound section. Listening to the words  and reading them on the screen at the same time  will help you remember them. A large collection of verbs is included on The Spanish Whiz Sound CD.

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 	 General Overview

  Spanish Whiz (TM) is a three-level program designed to be an aid for anyone who is trying to learn Spanish, from beginners to people with advanced levels.

  The three different levels are designed to help you get on with learning the language. The program contains most of the common Spanish vocabulary and verbs while making an extra effort to give you practice in typical problem areas such as ser and estar, por and para, prepositions, the imperative forms, the subjunctive and idiomatic expressions. You can test yourself in both multiple choice and fill-in question format, and you can even make your own word lists (see Personal Lists).

  As well as including the ability to record your progress  in a log file, the program has Sound capability to help you with your pronunciation and listening comprehension. Several example sound files are included in the trial version. An optional CD Rom is available with over 4,500 sound files.  These include: conversations, dictations, practice with numbers and verb tenses where you can listen and repeat as well as listen, record yourself and compare.

     Don't forget to use the Help file. It contains a fairly complete discussion of Spanish Grammar and Usage. This is not just your ordinary Help file, but an extra textbook that you get with the program.

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   	 The Spanish Whiz Sound CD

 Studying grammar and vocabulary in the written form is absolutely necessary, but unless you only plan to read Spanish (this is a real possibility for some people who only want to read technical articles), you need to get to the real nitty-gritty of what learning a language is all about: speaking to people and understanding what they say to you.

  The Spanish Whiz Sound CD will help you to do this. Almost every grammatical aspect of the Spanish language is included on this CD. It follows the same no-nonsense approach as the main program: you will be able to listen to practical conversations as well as drill yourself on the basics of grammar while perfecting your pronunciation and listening skills. You do all this while listening to the voices of native speakers from both Latin America and Spain on over 4.500 different sound files. The CD is designed only to be used in conjunction with Spanish Whiz.

  If you have the Sound CD now, remember that you don't have to have it in your computer in order to use the Spanish Whiz program multiple choice and fill-in exercises. You only need to put the CD in when you are doing the Sound exercises.

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 	 Ordering Information

Spanish Whiz  /  Spanish Whiz Sound CD

  The price of the registered version of the Spanish Whiz program is $29.95 plus shipping and handling.  The price of the Spanish Whiz Sound CD is $19.95 plus shipping and handling.

  You can order both the Spanish Whiz program plus the Sound CD together for  $39.95 (save $10).

    Shipping and handling costs from $4 to $6, depending on where you live and which ordering service you use.

  Placing your order is easy. You can:

  ___________________________________________

    1) Click on the Go to Braser Website button at the top of this help page and then follow the Orders link on the main page on the website.

    2) Click on the Braser Website link on the main page of the Spanish Whiz program and when you see the main web page, click on the Orders link you'll see on the left.

3) Copy or type the following line into your browser and tell it to go there:

  http://www.braser.com/orders.html

  ___________________________________________

  When placing orders, having the following information prepared will help speed up the process:

  * Your mailing address.

  * Your credit card # and its expiration date.

  * Your E-Mail address (so that the company fulfilling the order can send you an E-Mail confirming your   purchase).

____________

Go to:

Contents

Contacting us


 	 Installing the Registered Version

  After ordering the Registered Version (meaning the one you pay for which is NOT time limited), you will need to do one of two things to install it:

  If you ordered the Sound CD

  1)  put the CD in the drive:

  2)  start Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer)

  3)  click on the CD drive so that you can see its contents

  4)  double-click on the file named 'swrv' (without the quotes), and

  5) an installation program will come up. You can install the program in the same place you have the trial version installed.

  If you ordered the email download (without the CD):

   1) the company you ordered from will send you a message with a line similar to this one:

    Your download link (489678 bytes):

    http://www.digibuy.com/cgi-bin/dl/gbb/91243971539/914285099430/dl.html/swrv.exe

  2) copy the entire line beginning with 'http://....' into your browser and it will ask you if you want to download the file and where you want to download it to. Remember that the line above is just an example!

  3) Say 'yes'  and remember where it was downloaded on your computer.

  4) Open Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) find the 'swrv' file , and double-click on it.

  5) In the installation program that comes up, tell it to install in the same place that you have the trial version installed in. This should look something like: 'C:\SpanWhiz3', though it could be very different on your computer.

  Remember that you need to have the Trial Version installed on your computer. The file you will download is just a small file that enables the program to continue working indefinitely.

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 	 Contacting us

Contact us at:

G.B. Blanchard

Aptdo. de Correos 555

29680 Estepona, Malaga

Spain

TEL / FAX : Email :	(Spain) 95- 279-3791  gbb@braser.com

To make sure that you have the latest copy of the program, please stop by:

http://www.braser.com

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•	Contents


 	 Multiple Choice and Fill-in Questions

   In general, you will find the Multiple Choice questions much easier than the Fill-In questions. This is due largely to the fact that there are many cognates between Spanish and English. A cognate is a word which has the same origins in different languages, and either looks or sounds similar in each one. For example, even if you've never spent two minutes studying Spanish, you don't have to be a linguistic genius to determine that rápido is probably the Spanish translation of English rapid.

   Therefore, use the Mutiple Choice questions to start formulating your knowledge of new words. Then, go to the Fill-In questions.  There you can really test yourself.  You'll find that what seemed so easy in the Multiple Choice section is a different matter here. In general, you can test yourself on what you REALLY know in the Fill-In sections.

   And yes, you do have to put in all of the accents in order for the question to be considered correct in the Fill-In questions. Forgetting to put in an accent in Spanish is NOT comparable to forgetting to dot your 'i's' in English;  it's more like forgetting to capitalize letters. It really is important.

  When you are going over the questions that you missed, you will see a new button on the screen with the caption Add to PL. If you miss a question again, this button will be enabled and you can click on it in order to open an already existing Personal List and then type in this question into you personal list. Remember that the Personal List you want to use must already be created. If you want to create a new one, go to the menu Personal Lists -> Create. You can read more about Personal Lists by clicking here or on the link below.

   Remember, you can set the length of time you have to answer the questions in the TOOLS  menu under OPTIONS.

Related Topics

•	Personal Lists

•	General Overview

•	Contents


 	 Chistes

  The jokes are included so that you can relax from time to time and take a more light-hearted approach towards learning Spanish, as well as being an excellent way to learn in its own right.

   You should carefully take note of the translations, because all of the  jokes have been translated not literally (word for word) but rather to convey the meaning of the words as they would be expressed in English. This collection should serve you well as a starting point to see the rich variety of meanings a Spanish word or phrase may have in English, and also to appreciate the fact that literal translations seldom convey the full meaning of what is said in one language into another.

  You'll find a number of jokes about people from a town called Lepe. In Spain the 'stupid person' type of joke usually refers to people from this town  in the province of  Huelva. Just to show you how really 'stupid' they are, they have capitalized on this fact and sponsor a yearly joke telling contest in the town which brings in lots of money.

  Jokes based on sex, religion and race have not been included in this collection. We have tried to give you a selection of 'old favorites',  the time-tested jokes which almost everyone in the Spanish-speaking  world has heard at one time or another.

Related Topics:

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 	 Personal Lists

  The Personal Lists are one of the most useful features of Spanish Whiz. You can make your own lists of words and expressions with which to test yourself. If you are a doctor, use them to make lists of medical terminology. If you are a student, make a list of what you think your teacher will put on the quiz tomorrow. YOU are in control of their content.

  For those who don't have Spanish keyboards, a set of buttons has been provided to insert those special characters that English doesn't have. You can either click on the buttons, or use the Control key (CTRL) and the number combinations. For example, if you hold down the CTRL key and press 1, an á will be put into the answer space.

Using a Personal List

   If you have already created a Personal List, simply click on OPEN under the menu item PERSONAL LISTS.  A file dialog box will let you choose the file you want to use.

Editing a Personal List

   This is where you can change anything in your Personal Lists, add any new questions you may want to practice, or delete any questions that you don't want.  You open it using the file dialog box as described immediately above. Please see the Personal List Editors topic for more specific instructions on using the editors.

Creating a Personal List

   Decide whether you want to make a Fill In or a Multiple Choice list, then click on Create. Remember that you have to add at least 5 questions before you can use the Multiple Choice lists.

   When you are finished, you will be prompted to give the file a name before saving it. In our experience, it is a very good idea to give your Fill In lists an extension like '.fil', and your Multiple Choice list one like '.mc'. (Examples: MyList.fil / MyList.mc ). Why do we make such a big deal about this? Because that way when you want to use your files, you will be able to differentiate between them at a glance.

Add to PL button

  You can add the questions that you miss on the Multiple Choice and Fill In questions by clicking on the Add to PL button that you will see when you miss one of the questions that you are repeating. Another possibility you should keep in mind is that whenever you learn a new word -- no matter where you are -- jot it down somewhere and then add it to a Personal List when you get back to your computer.

Related Topics:

•	Personal List Editors

•	Contents


 	 Personal List Editors

Creating a Personal List

  Fill in the spaces with the vocabulary for your expressions and then click on the Add button. Then repeat the process until you are finished with the initial list. You must put something in both spaces in the Multiple Choice Questions and at least one question and one answer in the Fill In Questions. You must add at least 5 questions in the Multiple Choice category in order to use your list in the program.

 After creating and saving your list, you can then open it (Menu Personal Lists -> Edit) and make any changes. If you want to delete or copy a list, use Explorer (or a similar program.

Editing a Personal List

Changing Text:

  1) Make your changes in the current question and when you are finished use the up or down arrows to move to the next question.

  2)  When your session is finished answering yes to Save changes saves your work.  Answering No will close the editor and the file will be saved just as it was when before you began working on it.

Add Questions:

  1) Click on the New button.

  2) Add your vocabulary.

  3) Click on the Add button.

  You should keep in mind that if you are in the middle of  list and click on the New button, the question will be added immediately after the current one. If you are at the end of the list, the question will be added to the end.

Related Topics:

•	Contents

•	Personal Lists


 	 Add2PL

     You can add the questions that you miss on the Multiple Choice and Fill In questions by clicking on the Add to PL button that you will see when you miss one of the questions that you are repeating. But remember: the list you want to use must already exist.

  If you haven't created a Personal List before, just click on the Personal Lists button, choose Multiple Choice or Fill In, and then Create. It's easy.

Related Topics:

•	Personal Lists

•	Personal List Editors

•	Contents


 	 Error messages

  If you see an error message saying 'File must have an even number of lines' in your Multiple Choice personal lists, open the list in question using any text editor (like NotePad that comes with Windows). Edit you list so that its format is like this example (without the dots):

...................................................

MCList

06/09/02

english word

spanish word

english word

spanish word

english word

spanish word

english word

spanish word

english word

spanish word

.....................................................

  Notice that there is a space after the last Spanish Word entry. Then save your changes and when you try to open it in Spanish Whiz again, it should work properly.

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 	 Sound

  When you install Spanish Whiz, the sound files that come with the program are installed in separate folders:  Conversations, Dictations, Numbers, Verbs, Vocabulary.  Click on one of the files that begin with SW_. In the trial version, the files are named 'example'. The files on the Sound CD have names after the 'SW_' that indicate  their content.

  Then you can  1) click on a word or phrase as many times as you want to hear it, or 2) click on the All  button to hear all of the words in order. You can change the Pause time between each word in Tools -> Options or on the 'Listen' screen itself..

  Click on the Practice button to record your own voice. This will activate the Record button. Click on it and you will have up to seven seconds to record yourself. Click on the Stop button if you finish before the seven seconds is up. The best way to use this feature is 1) click on a word and then  2) record yourself saying the same word or phrase. Each time you record a new word, it records over the one you previously recorded.

  You can keep the sound files wherever you want, but we suggest that you keep them in the folders mentioned above. If you do decide to move them, remember that you must keep the files that begin with 'SW_' together with the ones that end in '.wav'.

  Sound files by nature are very large and that is why only a few have been included in the main program. The Sound CD has more than 4,500 different sound files.

Related Topics:

•	The Spanish Whiz Sound CD

•	Contents


 	 Opening Sound Files

    When you install Spanish Whiz, the sound files that come with the program are installed in separate folders:  Conversations, Dictations, Numbers, Verbs, Vocabulary.

  First, click on the 'Sound' button, and then on the item you are interested in.  If you are using the Trial Version, you will see one file listed called 'SW_Example'.  You can double-click on it to open and use it.

  If you are using the Sound CD and you click on Dictations, you will see the following listing:

  Numbers

  One_word

  Sentences

  Double-click on one of them and you will then see the individual sound files listed (they begin with SW_.  The part of the name after the 'SW_'  indicates  their content.

  The same thing will happen if you are using the sound CD and you click on Verbs. You will see a number of folders listed such as -aba, _ando, .....AR_Verbs, etc.  Each name indicates the kind of verbs that are included. Once again, double-click on one of them (such as 'AR_Verbs'), and you will then see the sound files listed (remember, they begin with SW_. Double-click on one of them and you are in business.

Related Topics:

•	Sound

•	The Spanish Whiz Sound CD

•	Contents


 	 Dictations

  The dictation screen should be self-explanatory after you use it once. Basically, click on the Listen or Repeat button, write in what you think your hear, and then click on the Check button to see if you are right.

  Keep in mind the following things:

  1) You can get away with forgetting to put in a  period (full stop), but don't forget  question marks, or it will be counted wrong.

  2) Put the accents on the letters or it will be counted wrong. In Spanish, 'hablo' and 'habló' are different words with different meanings. The accents are important.

  The trial version comes with an example dictation file which is a mixture of One Word dictations and Sentence dictations. If you have the Sound CD, you will find that the One Word exercises in general are easier than the Sentence ones. However, don't neglect to practice with the Sentence exercises even if you don't always get them right. They are an invaluable aid for your listening comprehension.

Related Topics:

•	Sound

•	The Spanish Whiz Sound CD

•	Contents


 	 Tools

  Most of the program options are self-explanatory, but we'll add a few words here just in case:

Options

Maximum time for each question is where you set how many seconds you want for answering questions. Notice that in Level 3, the Fill In Command form exercise has its own option since you will probably want more time on those questions.

Maximum number of questions sets how many questions you want to be quizzed on in each session, up to 50.

Use Vosotros. This has its own separate topic. Click on Vosotros to see it.

Sound after Answering Questions. AllSounds will let you delight in all of those twings, twangs and gurgles when you answer questions. 2 Standard Sounds will limit the sound to a 'twingle' for correct answers and a 'bowoing' for wrong ones. Standard 'Beeps' will use the standard Windows beep sound (this may vary from computer to computer) through your computer speaker instead of the sound card.  No Sound -- we'll let you guess what that one does. You can listen to the different possibilities by clicking on the 'Listen' button.

Listen - Seconds between words. This option lets you set the number of seconds between hearing one word or phrase and the next  when you use the All button in order to hear the words consecutively. If you set it to 3 seconds for example, there will be a 3 second pause between one word and the following one.

Program Screen Color lets you change the color of the exercise screens. You can obtain some truly hideous results here, but to each his own.

Change the image on the main screen lets you substitute the beautiful blue image provided with the color of your choice. Restore the image on the main screen puts it back again.

Keep a Log file allows you to keep the results of your exercises. This can be printed. The For several users option is useful for schools with site licenses, or perhaps for parents with children. What it does is show a screen asking for your name after you complete each exercise.

Personal Lists -- Random Order or List Order Use this to determine if you want to practice your questions in Random Order (let the program choose the question) or in List Order (the order in which you actually put them into the list).

Show hints over program buttons 'Hints' are those little squares that come out explaining what the button is used for. If you don't want to see them, check 'Don't show hints'.

Sound CD This is for people with the Sound CD and is explained on the screen. You can also use it if, for example, you have a large hard-disc and have copied the Sound CD onto it. The Undo option is useful in case you make a mistake in assigning the CD drive, or if you change your computer equipment and the name of the CD drive changes.

Font

  The font menu lets you choose the size and color of the letters that you use in the questions. Be careful not to make it too large or you may not be able to see all of the question. Also, remember that if you decide to print your Personal Lists, they will be printed using the same font size. This font option is independent of the one you can use in Chistes.

View Log File

  You can keep a record of what exercises you have done and how well or poorly you have done them. This record can be printed. If you use the Clear button, all of the information you have accumulated there will be erased and you can start over. Be careful when using it because you can't get the information back again.

Related Topics:

•	Contents


 	 Vosotros

  This is not the place to go into the history of the vosotros form. Let's use as a starting point for our discussion the fact that this form is used on a daily basis in Spain and rarely even heard in the rest of Spanish speaking world outside of church and in books and films that come from Spain.

 Vosotros is second person plural familiar. It occupies the fifth position on our verb paradigms. You already know something about the difference between 'tú' and 'usted', don't you? In very broad terms, 'tú' is used for people you are friends with or on a first-name basis with, and 'usted' is for someone you might call 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.' in English. Vosotros and ustedes are exactly the same thing, but in the plural form.

  Some textbooks in the States don't even include this form in the verbs. We think this is a mistake because if you do go on and become fluent in Spanish, you will meet people from Spain and you will see films and read books from Spain, and you won't know what's going on. However, maybe you want to use the program to study for your exams and you aren't worried about watching films from Spain. No problem, just go to Tools -> Options  and turn it off. If you do so, the vosotros form won't come up in the verb exercises although you may see the possessive 'vuestro' elsewhere in the program. It's your choice.

Related Topics:

•	Tools

•	Contents


 	 Dictionaries

  The dictionary supplied with the program will let you look up basic words. Please note that in order to minimize the download size, only the root word is included. That means that you will find 'tree' = 'árbol' but looking for 'trees' may give you a 'not found' message.

  You can use the personal dictionary to add any words that you find useful. When you use the dictionary, first it looks in the word list supplied with the program and then in the personal dictionary.

  If you want to modify the personal dictionary, you will find it in the folder where you have Spanish Whiz installed and then in the 'data' folder. The name of the file is 'persdict.txt'. Therefore, a typical location could be something like : C:\SpanWhiz\data\persdict.txt

  You can use any word processor in order to modify the list. But remember that the structure MUST be the following:

     English word

     Spanish word

     English word

     Spanish word

with NO empty spaces between words or at the end of the file. If you don't follow this structure, the program will either give you an error message, or the dictionary will not work accurately.

 Related Topics:

•	Contents


 	 General Considerations about Verbs

   Spanish verbs, unlike English verbs, depend on using endings which convey the meaning of who we are referring to. In English we must use subject pronouns. For example, in English 'I eat, you eat, he eats, etc.', if we take away the 'I, you, he', we don't know who we are speaking about. It's not so in Spanish. We can say 'como, comes, come' and it's not necessary to put in the 'yo, tú, él'. However, in order to understand this process, we must know the subject pronouns and their location in the verb paradigm:

Subject Pronouns
Singular yo  (I) tú   (familiar you) él, ella, usted (he, she, formal you)	Plural nosotros   (we) vosotros   (familiar you) ellos, ellas, ustedes (they, they, formal you)

VerbTypes and Endings

   Spanish Verbs are categorized according to the last two letters of the infinitive. These last two letters are known as the 'ending'. Since all Spanish verbs end either in -ar, -er, or -ir, they are referred to as '-ar verbs', '-er verbs', or '-ir verbs.

   Verbs are conjugated by taking off the -ar,-er, or -ir ending and attaching the ending that corresponds to the verb type. For example, the endings that correspond to -ar verbs in the present tense are:

-o -as -a	-amos -áis -an

So if we take a verb like hablar the first thing we do is take off the '-ar'  (which leaves us with 'habl-') and add the endings. Hablar then looks like this:

hablo hablas habla	hablamos habláis hablan

   You will find the endings for all of the tenses covered in this level of Spanish Whiz in other topics.

Related Topics

•	Present Tense

•	Future (ir a) and Present Progressive

•	Preterite (Simple Past)

•	Present Perfect

•	Contents


 	 Present Tense

Usage

   The present tense of the verbs in both English and Spanish is sometimes called the habitual present. This is because we usually use this tense to speak about things we do on a more or less frequent basis. For example, we'll say: 'I usually get up at 7:00'  or 'He never comes on time'.

   One difference in the use of this tense between English and Spanish is that Spanish uses this tense  when referring to the near future. In English, we use the present progressive whereas Spanish uses the simple present. For example:

English:   Are you coming with me tonight?

Spanish:  ¿Vienes conmigo esta noche?

Form

Verb Endings

-AR Verbs -o -amos -as -áis -a -an	-ER Verbs -o -emos -es -éis -e -en	-IR Verbs -o -imos -es -ís -e -en

Examples:

hablar hablo hablamos hablas habláis habla hablan
comer como comemos comes coméis come comen
vivir vivo  vivimos vives vivís vive viven

Stem Changing Verbs

   It would be nice if you could simply put these endings on all the verbs and leave it at that. But many verbs change their stem. Remember that  in a Spanish verb (for example, 'comer') com- is called the stem and -er is called the ending.

   The change takes place in all persons except the 'nosotros' and the 'vosotros'. There are three types of stem-changes:

1. e changes to ie

Example:   perder (ie)

pierdo pierdes pierde	perdemos perdéis pierden

2.  o changes to ue

Example:   volver (ue)

vuelvo vuelves vuelve	volvemos volvéis vuelven

3.  e changes to i

Example:   pedir (i)

pido pides pide	pedimos pedís piden

Related Topics

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Contents


 	 Ser and Estar

  The verbs ser and estar both mean 'to be' in English. However, each one has different uses in Spanish, depending on the situation, or what one is trying to describe. If the differences don't seem perfectly clear to you after reading this, don't worry. This is a tough subject for anyone studying Spanish, and it usually takes a long time to sort out and remember the differences.

  Ser

   soy     somos

   eres   sois

   es       son

  In very general terms, we can say that ser identifies, or tells what things are. It sort of puts a label on people, things and ideas. Thats why you'll find it used with:

  Indentifying someone:  Soy Pedro.  Ella es mi hermana.

   Professions: Juan y Ramón son dentistas.

   Personality traits: Mi padre es amable.

   Bodily characteristics: Mi hermano es alto.

   Nationality: Carole es francesa.

   Birthplace / origen: Jean es de Francia.

   Possession: El coche es de Julián.

   Time: Son las 10:00.

   Impersonal expressions: Es muy importante.

  Estar

  estoy   estamos

  estás   estáis

  está     están

  Estar has three major uses:

  1) Location

  Mis amigos están en la playa.

  Francia está al norte de España.

  2) Emotions and Transitional Physical Condition (temporary)

  Estamos contentos hoy.

  Estoy cansado.

  Mi hermana está enferma.

  El motor está caliente.

  3) With the Present Progressive

  Estamos comiendo.

  Mis amigos están jugando al fútbol.

  Related Topics

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Contents


 	 Future (ir a) and Present Progressive

Usage

   This tense is the equivalent of 'going to' when used to refer to the future in English. Sentences like 'I am going to leave tomorrow' generally have the identical meaning in Spanish: 'Voy a salir mañana'.

Form

   The formula in Spanish for this tense is:   ir  +  a  +  infinitive.

   Therefore, you only need to know how to conjugate the verb 'ir':

voy vas va	vamos vais van

Examples:

I am going to eat. You are going to swim. We are going to study. They are going to work.	Voy a comer. Tú vas a nadar. Vamos a estudiar. Ellos van a trabajar.

Present Progressive

Usage

   The present progressive tense (also called present continuous) is the same in Spanish and English except for one situation.  In both languages, this tense is used to express what is happening at this very moment, but in English we also use it to express something in the near future. (See Present Tense  for a more thorough discussion of this).

Form

   The formula for this tense is:  estar  +  verb in gerund form  (-ando / -iendo)

   For -ar verbs, the ending is taken off and -ando is added:

hablar estudiar	hablando estudiando

   For -er and -ir verbs, the ending is taken off and -iendo is added:

comer volver vivir conducir	comiendo volviendo viviendo conduciendo

   After that, it's simply a matter of placing the proper form of estar at the beginning:

I am speaking. You are returning. We are living. They are driving.	Estoy hablando. Estás volviendo. Estamos viviendo. Ellos están conduciendo.

Related Topics

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Present Tense

•	Contents


 	 Preterite (Simple Past)

Usage

   The preterite (also called 'Simple Past' in English) is the past tense which describes actions in the past in a time frame which is finished.  To understand this, you need to compare this tense with the Present Perfect which uses a time reference which is not yet finished. For example, the preterite in both English and Spanish uses phrases like yesterday (ayer), last week (la semana pasada), last year (el año pasado) which are time periods which are over and done with. The Present Perfect on the other hand uses expressions like today (hoy), this week (esta semana), or this year (este año) which are not yet finished.

   Here are some examples of this contrast:

Preterite I ate fish yesterday. I worked a lot last year. We saw a film last night. Present Perfect I've eaten fish this week. I've worked a lot this year. We've seen a  film today.	Comí pescado ayer. Trabajé mucho el año pasado. Vimos una pelicula anoche. He comido pescado esta semana. He trabajado mucho este año. Hemos visto una buena película hoy.

Form

Endings for  -AR verbs:

-é -aste -ó	-amos -asteis -aron

Example using 'hablar':

hablé hablaste habló	hablamos hablasteis hablaron

Endings for  -ER and -IR verbs:

-í -iste -ió	-imos -isteis -ieron

Examples 'comer' and 'vivir':

comí comiste comió     viví viviste vivió	comimos comisteis comieron vivimos vivisteis vivieron

Irregular Verbs

   As always, this system would be fairly easy to apply if it weren't for those pesky irregular verbs which all languages seem to love so much. The following is a list of the most common irregular verbs with their conjugations:

poner puse pusimos pusiste pusisteis puso pusieron	saber supe supimos supiste supisteis supo supieron
poder pude pudimos pudiste pudisteis pudo pudieron	decir dije dijimos dijiste dijisteis dijo dijeron
hacer hice hicimos hiciste hicisteis hizo hicieron	querer quise quisimos quisiste quisisteis quiso quisieron
venir vine vinimos viniste vinisteis vino vinieron	estar estuve    estuvimos estuviste estuvisteis estuvo    estuvieron
tener tuve tuvimos tuviste tuvisteis tuvo tuvieron	andar anduve     anduvimos anduviste anduvisteis anduvo     anduvieron
traer traje trajimos trajiste trajisteis trajo trajeron	dar di dimos diste disteis dio dieron
ir y ser fui fuimos fuiste fuisteis fue fueron

Related Topics

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Present Perfect

•	Contents


 	 Present Perfect

Usage

   The Present Perfect is roughly equivalent in both English and Spanish provided we take note of some exceptions. In general, this tense is used in a time-frame which is not yet finished. For example, time expressions like today,  this week, or this year make reference to time situations which have not ended yet. Compare a term like 'this week' (unfinished time) to one like 'last week' (finished time).

   Within the Spanish language, it should be noted that whereas in Spain the Present Perfect is roughly compatible in both English and Spanish, many Latin American speakers tend to use the Preterite in the same situation:

Spain ¿Cuándo has venido? He comido mucho hoy. Ellos han llegado esta mañana.	Latin America ¿Cuándo viniste? Comí mucho hoy. Ellos llegaron esta mañana.

   There is one other important situation where the Present Perfect in English is not compatible with its counterpart in Spanish, regardless of  the country. In situations which refer to actions begun in the past which continue, English uses the Present Perfect and Spanish uses three other structures. Examples of this:

English I've lived here for two years.	Spanish Hace dos años que vivo aquí. Vivo aquí desde hace dos años. Llevo dos años viviendo aquí.
He has been working there since May.	Trabaja allí desde mayo. Lleva desde mayo trabajando allí.

Form

   The Present Perfect is composed of the verb Haber  +  the Past Participle.

haber     he has ha	hemos habéis han

   The past participle of -ar verbs is formed by taking of the ending and adding -ado. That of -er and -ir verbs adds -ido. Examples:

hablar trabajar comer vivir I have spoken you have worked we have eaten they have lived	hablado trabajado comido vivido yo he hablado tú has trabajado nosotros hemos comido ellos han vivido

   But of course, the irregulars will never let us alone. The following is a list of the most common verbs with an irregular past participle:

abrir cubrir escribir morir poner -solver romper volver satisfacer decir hacer ver	abierto cubierto escrito muerto puesto -suelto  roto vuelto satisfecho dicho hecho visto

   Notice that -solver -- -suelto is shown as a suffix. This is because there are a number of verbs that change the prefix. A couple of examples: resolver -- resuelto or disolver -- disuelto.

Related Topics

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Preterite (Simple Past)

•	Contents


 	 Future and Conditional

Usage

   Basically, the usage of the future form corresponds to when we say 'will' in English (as in 'I will buy a house when I have the money'), and  the conditional form corresponds to when we use the word 'would' (as in 'I would buy a house if I had the money. Summarized:

Spanish future endings =           	will

Spanish conditional endings= 	would

   Both of these tenses are frequently found in what are known as conditional sentences. The first conditional consists of a verb in the present tense in one clause (frequently preceded by the word if), and a verb in the future in the other clause, both in Spanish and English. Examples:

If we leave now, we will arrive early.

Si salimos ahora, llegaremos temprano.

They will eat with us if they have time.

Ellos comerán con nosotros si tienen tiempo.

   The second conditional in English uses the combination of the conditional in one clause, and the simple past in the other clause. Notice that in Spanish, the past subjunctive replaces the English simple past:

If  we left now, we would arrive early.

Si fuéramos ahora, llegaríamos temprano.

They would eat with us if they had time.

Ellos comerían con nosotros si tuvieran tiempo.

  The future and conditional tenses of course are not found exclusively in conditional sentences. These examples are offered because you will find frequent examples of both tenses here. In general, when you can use will in English, you can use the future endings in Spanish, and the same for would and the conditional endings. However, one important exception to this rule are polite requests. Notice in the following examples the English uses future or conditional, and Spanish uses the simple present:

Will you open the door, please?

Abres la puerta, ¿por favor?

Would you give me a Pepsi, please?

Me da un Pepsi, ¿por favor?

   There is one special use of both the future and the conditional which is very common in Spanish and doesn't have any direct translation into English. It is known as the Future/Conditional of Supposition 'Supposition' being derived from the verb 'to suppose'. It is used in situations when the speaker is not quite sure of the information offered, and it's translation can depend varying upon the context in which it is said. The Future is used in present time situations; the Conditional is used in referring to the past. Examples:

A: ¿Dónde está Pepe? B: No sé. Estará en su casa.	A: Where is Pepe? B: I don't know... He  must be at home. He  could be at home. He  might be at home.

   The English translation would then depend on the degree of certainty that the speaker held at the time.

   The same question now, but referring to the past uses the conditional:

A: ¿Dónde estuvo Pepe ayer? B: No sé. Estaría en su casa.	A: Where was Pepe yesterday? B: I don't know.... He  must have been at home. He  could have been at home. He  might have been at home.

Form

Future Endings (for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs)

-é -ás -á	-emos -éis -án

Example--Future

comeré comerás comerá	comeremos comeréis comerán

Conditional Endings (for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs)

-ía -ías -ía	-íamos -íais -ían

Example--Conditional

comería comerías comería	comeríamos comeríais comerían

Irregulars---Both tenses

   There are a number of irregular verbs (yes, the same ones as always) that luckily, when they are irregular in the Future, they are irregular in the same way in the Conditional, and vice versa. Therefore the trick to learn them rapidly is to try to learn the irregular stems which are in the following list:

tener venir poner salir saber poder haber caber decir hacer querer	tendr- vendr- pondr- saldr- sabr- podr- habr- cabr- dir- har- querr-

   So, to these stems, you add the endings listed above to any of these verbs. Just to give you the idea, we'll show you the verbs 'tener' and 'hacer' in both Future and Conditional:

Tener--Future

tendré tendrás tendrá	tendremos tendréis tendrán

Tener--Conditional

tendría tendrías tendría	tendríamos tendríais tendrían

Hacer--Future

haré harás hará	haremos haréis harán

Hacer--Conditional

haría harías haría	haríamos haríais harían

Related topics:

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Contents


 	 Adjectives

Adjectives

   There are basically three kinds of adjectives: descriptive (examples: big, blue, short, French, happy), demonstrative (examples: this, that, these, those), and possessive (examples: my, your, his, their).

Agreement

   All adjectives agree with the noun in terms of number and gender (which means singular/plural, masculine/feminine). Examples:

Singular un libro blanco una mesa blanca este libro esa mesa nuestro libro nuestra mesa	Plural unos libros blancos unas mesas blancas estos libros esas mesas nuestros libros nuestras mesas

Placement

   As seen in the preceding examples, descriptive adjectives usually go behind the noun while demonstratives and possessives usually go in front of the noun.

Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives

   The list of descriptive adjectives is simply too long to list here. It will, however, be convenient to give you a list of the possessives and demonstratives.

Possessives

English my our your your his, her, its their mine ours yours yours his,hers,its theirs	Spanish mi/mis nuestro/a/os/as tu/tus vuestro/a/os/as su/sus su/sus mío/a/os/as nuestro/a/os/as tuyo/a/os/as vuestro/a/os/as suyo/a/os/as suyo/a/os/as

Demonstratives

this/these este esta estos estas	that/those ese esa esos esas	that/those aquel aquella aquellos aquellas

Related Topics

•	Nouns and Articles

•	Contents


 	 Imperfect

Usage

   The imperfect is basically used in two time situations: 1) to convey actions that went on repeatedly over a period of time in the past, and 2) to describe what was happening at a specific moment of time in the past.

   The first example is what the term used to conveys in English.  The second is usually conveyed as a past continuous construction--was/were +  -ing.  Examples:

used to

I used to get up early when I was younger.

Me levantaba temprano cuando era más joven.

My mother always used to kiss me when I got home.

Mi madre siempre me besaba cuando llegaba a casa.

   Notice in the examples that it is not always necessary to put 'used to' in the sentence, provided that the 'ongoing action' situation is understood by both speakers. Spanish uses the imperfect in both verbs.

was/were + -ing

   In the present tense in English, we use the verb to be + -ing to express an activity that is going on at this very moment:  we are eating.  We simply put the verb 'to be' in the past to express an activity that was happening at a certain moment in the past:  'Last night at 9:15 we were eating.

   In Spanish there are at least two ways you can express this idea:

Last night at 9:15 we were eating.

Anoche a las 9'15 estábamos comiendo.

Anoche a las 9'15 comíamos.

   English speakers learning Spanish tend to latch onto the estábamos comiendo form, because it translates word for word and feels comfortable. This is fine except for the fact that native speakers will generally use the comíamos form to express the same idea, although there are no hard and fast rules about which is used when.

 Form

-ar verb endings

-aba -abas -aba	-ábamos -abais -aban

example

hablaba hablabas hablaba	hablábamos hablabais hablaban

-er and -ir verb endings

-ía -ías -ía	-íamos -íais -ían

examples

comía comías comía	comíamos comíais comían
vivía vivías vivía	vivíamos vivíais vivían

Irregulars

   There are only three irregular verbs in this tense: ser, ver and ir:

Ser

era eras era	éramos erais eran

 Ver

veía veías veía	veíamos veíais veían

Ir

iba ibas iba	íbamos ibais iban

Related Topics:

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Contents


 	 Commands (the Imperative)

   You will find many books which give you extensive instructions on how to form the 'tú' affirmative command, the 'usted' negative command, the 'ustedes' affirmative command, etc. as if they were all separate and individual entities. This is a very complicated way of presenting the imperative.

   The complete rules of the imperative boil down to the following: tú affirmative and  vosotros affirmative commands have their own special formations. All other commands use the subjunctive endings. It's that 'simple'.

Tú Affirmative Commands

   Regular verbs simply do the follwing: they drop the final 's' from the present tense ´tú' form. Therefore, comes becomes ¡come!, hablas becomes ¡habla!,duermes becomes ¡duerme!, etc.  (Note: the exclamation marks are included in this section simply to distinguish the command form from the present form. Even though grammatically they are called commands, they are not military orders; we use commands in gentle ways in everyday life. 'Hey, John, look at that'  (Oye Juan, mira eso) is a command, grammatically speaking.

  As always, there are irregulars, and you'll find that they are the same verbs as always. Here's the list:

salir tener poner venir hacer decir ir	sal ten pon ven haz di ve

Vosotros Affirmative Commands

   Oh happy day!  No irregulars!  The 'vosotros' affirmative command simply changes the final 'r' of the infinitive for a 'd'. So to form the 'vosotros' affirmative command for the verbs comer, hablar, venir, decir, and ir, just change the 'r' to come up with ¡comed!, ¡hablad!, ¡venid!, ¡decid! and ¡id!.

All Other Command Forms

   'Tú' negative, 'vosotros' negative, 'usted' and 'ustedes' affirmative and negative, and the less used 'nosotros' affirmative and negative all use the present subjunctive!.  Therefore, we'll have a little lesson on how the subjunctive endings are formed.

The Present Subjunctive

   Subjunctive endings are really opposite endings. What do we mean by that? Well, you struggle for months to learn that -AR verbs use the endings with an 'a': -o, as, -a, -amos, áis, -an. And then that the -ER and -IR verbs do just the opposite: they all have an 'e' or an 'i' in the endings. Hold onto your hats now, and look at the subjunctive endings for -ar, and -er and -ir verbs:

Subjunctive Endings for -AR Verbs,  with example

-e -es -e	-emos -éis -en

hablar

hable hables hable	hablemos habléis hablen

Subjunctive Endings for -ER and -IR Verbs, with examples

-a -as -a	-amos -áis -an

comer

coma comas coma	comamos comáis coman

vivir

viva vivas viva	vivamos viváis vivan

Formation of the Present Subjunctive

   You learned that in order to form the Present Tense of the verbs that you had to take off the -AR, -ER, or -IR and put on the endings, right?

   Well, with the subjunctive what we have to do is start from the first person singular present and then  take off the '-o' and finally  add the subjunctive endings. The reason for this is that the verbs with irregular first persons (like hago, digo, conduzco, etc. keep the 'g' or 'zc' in the subjunctive. If that were not so, you could simply substitute that subjunctive endings for the regular endings.

   So, above you already have examples of verbs which follow the regular pattern. Let's look at one verb which has a 'g' in the first person present, and another which has 'zc':

decir First person singular: digo

diga digas diga	digamos digáis  digan

conocer First person singular: conozco

conozca conozcas conozca	conozcamos conozcáis conozcan

   Let's see some examples using 'comer' and 'decir':

tú affirmative:	¡Come las manzanas! ¡Di la verdad!
tú negative:	¡No comas tanto! ¡No digas eso!
vosotros affirmative:	¡Comed las manzanas! ¡Decid la verdad!
vosotros negative:	¡No comáis tanto! ¡No digáis eso!
usted affirmative:	¡Coma las manzanas! ¡Diga la verdad!
usted negative:	¡No coma las manzanas! ¡No diga eso!
ustedes affirmative:	¡Coman las manzanas! ¡Digan la verdad!
ustedes negative:	¡No coman tanto! ¡No digan eso!

  Summarizing: The golden rule of the Spanish imperative is:  'tú' and 'vosotros' affirmative have their own system; all other command forms use the subjunctive.

Related topics:

•	General Considerations about Verbs

•	Contents


 	 The Present Subjunctive--Formation

    In this section, you'll find a repetition of what was stated in the Commands (the Imperative) section. Remember that you'll find a similar section about the past subjunctive in The Past Subjunctive--Formation, and a general discussion about how and when the subjunctive is used in The Subjunctive--Usage.

The Present Subjunctive -- Formation

   Subjunctive endings are really opposite endings. What do we mean by that? Well, you struggle for months to learn that -AR verbs use the endings with an 'a': -o, as, -a, -amos, áis, -an. And then that the -ER and -IR verbs do just the opposite: they all have an 'e' or an 'i' in the endings. Hold onto your hats now, and look at the subjunctive endings for -ar, and -er and -ir verbs:

Subjunctive Endings for -AR Verbs,  with example

-e -es -e	-emos -éis -en

hablar

hable hables hable	hablemos habléis hablen

Subjunctive Endings for -ER and -IR Verbs, with examples

-a -as -a	-amos -áis -an

comer

coma comas coma	comamos comáis coman

vivir

viva vivas viva	vivamos viváis vivan

   The above examples don't look too difficult, but what we really have to do to form the subjunctive is start from the first person singular present and then  take off the '-o' and finally  add the subjunctive endings. The reason for this is that the verbs with irregular first persons (like hago, digo, conduzco, etc. keep the 'g' or 'zc' in the subjunctive. If that were not so, you could simply substitute that subjunctive endings for the regular endings.

   So, above you already have examples of verbs which follow the regular pattern. Let's look at one verb which has a 'g' in the first person present, and another which has 'zc':

decir First person singular: digo

diga digas diga	digamos digáis  digan

conocer First person singular: conozco

conozca conozcas conozca	conozcamos conozcáis conozcan

Irregulars

   There are only three irregular verbs in the present subjunctive. That means that you don't start from the first person singular of the present tense to get the proper form. You simply must learn them. They are:

IR

vaya vayas vaya	vayamos vayáis vayan

SER

sea seas sea	seamos seáis sean

HABER

haya hayas haya	hayamos hayáis hayan

Related Topics

•	Commands (the Imperative)

•	The Past Subjunctive--Formation

•	The Subjunctive--Usage

•	Contents


 	 The Past Subjunctive--Formation

   First of all, let's remember how we formed the present subjunctive: basically, we started with the first person singular of the present (hablo, como, vivo, digo, conozco), took off the 'o', and then added the 'opposite endings'.

   Now with the past subjunctive, we're going to go through a similar process, but now, instead of beginning with the first person singular of the present, we use the third person plural of the preterite (simple past). So now our starting point will be, for example: hablaron, comieron, vivieron, dijeron, conocieron.

   But this time we are going to remove  -ron, so we end up with the following stems: habla-, comie-, vivie-, dije-, conocie-).

   Now aren't we lucky, because up to this point in Spanish we've only had to learn one set of verb endings; now we get to learn two sets! And the funny thing is that there is no difference in meaning between one and the other! But let's also look on the positive side of things: they are the same endings whether we are dealing with -ar, -er, or -ir verbs. Here they are:

-ra -ramos -ras -rais -ra -ran	-se -semos -ses -seis -se -sen

   So the verbs cited above will look like this:

hablar

hablara habláramos hablaras hablarais hablara hablaran	hablase hablásemos hablases hablaseis hablase hablasen

comer

comiera comiéramos comieras comierais comiera comieran	comiese comiésemos comieses comieseis comiese comiesen

vivir

viviera viviéramos vivieras vivierais viviera vivieran	viviese viviésemos vivieses vivieseis viviese viviesen

decir

dijera dijéramos dijeras dijerais dijera dijeran	dijese dijésemos dijeses dijeseis dijese dijesen

conocer

conociera conociéramos conocieras conocierais conociera conocieran	conociese conociésemos conocieses conocieseis conociese conociesen

Related Topics

•	The Present Subjunctive--Formation

•	The Subjunctive--Usage

•	Contents


 	 The Subjunctive--Usage

   Most of the textbooks and grammar books that we have seen try to categorize the subjunctive into subjective states: they cite emotion, prohibition, permission, causality, etc. There are plenty of books with this type of explanation around already, so we won´t bore you by repeating it. Besides, after years of teaching, we are convinced that that type of explanation is pretty much useless. Using that sort of guideline, you'll be able to find hundreds of exceptions to the 'rules'.

   We believe that the subjunctive is something that is learned mechanically. You learn a number of expressions or verbs which always take the subjunctive, learn and practice them, and eventually you will remember to use the subjunctive form after them. Therefore, in this spirit, we are going to offer you a fairly complete list of the expressions and verbs which take the subjunctive.

   What you will have to learn is when to use the present, perfect or past subjunctive behind them. We'll give you an example of this with  the verb esperar que. This example will be applicable to almost all of the verbs and expressions on the list.

   For example, in a present tense time situation, you hope someone is going to arrive soon. So you say:

   Espero que llegue pronto. (Present subjunctive).

   If you hope he/she has already arrived, you would say:

   Espero que haya llegado. (Perfect subjunctive).

   Speaking about the past (what happened yesterday, for example), it would be:

   Esperaba que llegara. (Past subjunctive).

   These examples are certainly not sufficient to enable you to master the use of the subjunctive, but they do show the heart of the matter. If you can master the tense-usage concept, and remember which expressions use the subjunctive, you will get it eventually. :-)

Expressions no puede ser que cuando (referring to the future) qué raro que es posible que qué pena que qué lástima que qué bien que no es cierto que no es verdad que no es evidente que no está claro que no es que.... ojalá (que) lo mejor es que es necesario que es probable que para que hasta que (referring to the future) excepto que con tal de que en caso de que en cuanto mientras (referring to the future) aunque (referring to the future) como (threat) siempre que siempre y cuando es normal/lógico/necesario (etc.) que	Verbs   extrañar(le) que importar(le) que molestar(le) que decir(le) que (imperative) pedir(le) que (imperative) querer que (imperativo) esperar que dejar que no estar de acuerdo con  estar en contra de que parecer(le) bien/mal que alegrarse de que dar(le) miedo de que tener miedo de que hace falta que vale/merece la pena que recomendar(le) que aconsejar(le) que perdonar que no creer que gustar que gustaría que

  We have included (le) with many of the verbs,  because they are almost always used with a direct object (a person).. For example, recomendar(le) que will be used in a sentence such as:  Te recomiendo que no bebas tanto.

   Cuando and aunque when referring to the future work in the following way:

   Cuando lleguemos, lo pasaremos bien. (We haven't arrived yet).

   Aunque lleguemos tarde, no pasará nada. (We haven't arrived yet).

Special usages

   There are a few usages which don't fit conveniently into the list above. For example, when you are specifying a 'quality' of something you don't yet have, you use the subjunctive. Example:

   Quiero una casa que tenga una cocina grande.

   One other very important usage of the subjunctive is in the conditional sentences. Conditional sentences frequently have an 'if' and 'would' in them. Spanish always uses the past subjunctive in the second conditional, and past perfect subjunctive ('hubiera') in the third conditional. Examples:

   Second conditional

   If we had money, we would buy a car.

   Si tuviéramos dinero, compraríamos un coche.

   If I were taller, I would play basketball.

   Si fuera más alto, jugaría al baloncesto.

   Third conditional

   If you had gone, you would have seen it.

   Si hubieras ido, lo habrías visto.

   If she had saved her money, she wouldn't have to work now.

   Si hubiera ahorrado su dinero, no tendría que trabajar ahora.

Related topics

•	The Present Subjunctive--Formation

•	The Past Subjunctive--Formation

•	Contents


 	 Nouns and Articles

   Nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the noun may be something that is usually associated with men, or with women. For example, a table is feminine and a car is masculine. You really can't apply any sort of logic to guess if something is masculine or feminine; you simply have to learn it.

   The majority of Spanish nouns end in -o  or in -a. Most of the nouns ending in '-o' are masculine and those ending in '-a' are usually feminine.

   The definite articles (translated as the in English are: el, la, los, las. The indefinite articles (translated as a when singular, and some when plural) are: un, una, unos, unas.

   The plural of nouns is formed by adding s if it ends in a vowel, or by adding es if it ends in a consonant. Now let's look at some examples of the definite and indefinite articles and singular and plural nouns:

Singular el libro  (the book) la mesa  (the table) un libro  (a book) una mesa  (a table)	Plural los libros  (the books) las mesas  (the tables) unos libros  (some books) unas mesas  (some tables)

   As stated above, you must remember if the nouns are masculine or feminine if they don't end in '-o' or '-a'. However the articles still work as shown above. Examples:

Singular el coche  (the car) la flor (the flower) un coche  (a car) una flor  (a flower)	Plural los coches  (the cars) las flores  (the flowers) unos coches  (some cars) unas flores  (some flowers)

   Some nouns, especially those which refer to profession or nationality, have a masculine form when referring to a man, and a feminine form  when referring to a woman. The words ending in '-ista' do not change the ending, but the article does change. Examples:

Masculine un inglés (an English man) el mexicano  (the Mexican man) un abogado (a male lawyer) un turista  (a male tourist)	Feminine una inglesa  (an English woman) la mexicana  (the Mexican woman) una abogada  (a female lawyer) una turista  (a female tourist)

   Then you'll find some words which do just the opposite of what you would expect: el mapa, el día, la radio, etc. But there aren't too many of these. They tend to be common words which you can learn as you go along.

Related Topics

•	Adjectives

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 	 El or La

   Most of the nouns in Spanish end in o --  'masculine' nouns -- or in a -- 'feminine' nouns. 'El libro' and 'la mesa' are typical examples. But there are a number of nouns that don't end in 'o' or in 'a', like el coche or la flor. You need to know whether the words are masculine or feminine in order to know whether it's correct to say  unos coches rojos or  unas coches rojas. After practicing with the El or La exercise, we hope you will choose to say unos coches rojos.

  You just have to practice and learn most of these words. However, there are a couple of tricks:

  Words ending in -ción and -sión are always feminine:

  la canción   la nación   la tensión   la estación

   Words ending in -ad are almost always feminine:

   la universidad   la dificultad   la ciudad   la amistad

Related Topics

•	Nouns and Articles

•	Adjectives

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 	 Adverbs and Prepositions

   Adverbs basically tell how, where, or when something is done. The following is a list of the different kinds of adverbs, with a list of some of the most common Spanish ones:

   Qualifying adverbs tell how something is done. The most common in Spanish are bien, mal, peor, mejor, así.  Then there are dozens of those which are formed from an adjective. In English these are formed by adding -ly whereas Spanish does the same thing by adding -mente. For example: the English adjective rapid becomes the adverb rapidly, while in Spanish rápido becomes rápidamente.  These adverbs are frequently similar to their English counterparts: rarely -- raramente, frequently -- frecuentamente,  totally -- totalmente, etc.

   Determinative adverbs deal with time, location, quantity.

   Time:  ayer, hoy, mañana, ahora, antes, después, luego, siempre, nunca, todavía, pronto, tarde, temprano, etc

   Location:  aquí, ahí, allí, allá, arriba, abajo, delante, detrás, dentro, fuera, cerca, lejos, etc.

   Quantity:  muy, mucho, poco, demasiado, bastante, todo, nada, casi, más, menos, algo, sólo, tan, tanto, etc.

Prepositions

   The following is a brief list of common prepositions. A discussion of por and para and a few other problem areas follows:

   One word prepositions: a, ante, bajo, con, contra, de, desde, durante, en, entre, hacia, hasta, para, por, según, sin, sobre.

   Compound prepositions: alrededor de, al lado de, delante de, cerca de, lejos de, después de, antes de, detrás de, encima de, dentro de, frenta a, enfrente de, debajo de, fuera de, junto a.

Problem areas

   Aside from learning the new words, people learning Spanish commonly have problems in the following areas:  'por and para, personal 'a', and verbs with a fixed preposition.

Por and Para

   Por is used in the following situations:

   1. As the cause of the action of the verb:

   	Lo haré por ti.

   	Trabaja por sus hijos.

   2. With time:  por la mañana, por la tarde, etc.

   3. Imprecise location or transit:

   	Vive por aquí.

   	Pasamos por Madrid ayer.

   4. Exchange, substitution, price:

   	Pagamos 200 dólares por el coche.

   	Vamos a ir por ella.

Para is used in these situations:

   1. Showing the finality or destination of the verbal action:

   	Trabajo para mi padre.

   	Los pasteles son para los niños.

   	Mandaron un regalo para ti.

   2. Meaning 'in order to' or 'to' in English:

   	Para cantar bien, hay que practicar.

   	Trabajo aquí para ganar dinero.

   3. Showing direction:  Ven para acá.

   4. Showing a time limit:  Estará listo para el lunes.

   5. Showing opinion: Para sus padres, él el el niño más listo de mundo.

Personal 'a'

   It is difficult get used to the practice of putting in an 'a'  when the object is a person. For most English speakers learning Spanish, 'Veo Juan' (I see John) sounds wonderful, but it not only sounds terrible in Spanish, but you could even be misunderstood by leaving out that little letter. You must put it in when the object is a person. Examples:

Veo a Juan. Ayudan a sus amigos. Arrestaron a los criminales.

Verbs with a fixed preposition

   Some verbs always use a certain preposition. This is not necessarily confusing (like 'por' and 'para', for example) but rather must be learned. Be sure to learn verbs of this type along with the preposition. A few common examples:

acostumbrase a comenzar a acabar de alegrarse de enamorarse de casarse con soñar con entrar en quedar en	aprender a empezar a acordarse de dejar de reirse de enfadarse con confiar en fijarse en tardar en

Related Topics

•	Adjectives

•	Contents


 	 Idioms

   The word 'idioms' also means 'sayings' or 'expressions'. This type of construction generally conveys in a few words a meaning which has little to do with the actual words expressed. For example, the English idiom 'that's water under the bridge' doen't really refer to any water or any bridge. Its real meaning is 'there's nothing we can do about it now--it's over and done with'. Sometimes, as in this case, the Spanish idiom will be similar ('es agua pasada'), but more often than not, the English idiom has nothing to do with its Spanish equivalent in a literal sense.  For example, look at the English expression 'dressed fit to kill' whose literal translation into Spanish would describe someone set on murder, and whose real translation is 'vestido de veinticinco alfileres' (dressed with twenty-five needles) which doesn't really mean a lot in English.

   The point is that these expressions must be learned by rote--exposure and repetition until eventually you can remember them and they make sense to you.

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 	 License

 SOFTWARE LICENSE FOR THE TRIAL AND REGISTERED VERSIONS OF SPANISH WHIZ

  G.B. Blanchard, the Copyright holder of this  SOFTWARE product, grants the right to the original purchaser, and the original purchaser only, to use this software by means of this software license. The licensee owns the magnetic or other physical media which contains the software, but the Copyright holder retains title to the software itself. In the TRIAL VERSION, no purchase is involved, but users of both versions must adhere to the following conditions as specified:

  1. GRANT OF LICENSE. By having registered this software, the Copyright  holder grant you, the licensee, the non-exclusive right to use and  display this software on your own personal computer system(s).

  2. COPY RESTRICTIONS. The TRIAL VERSION has no copy restrictions.

  3. COPY RESTRICTIONS. Users of the  REGISTERED VERSION must adhere to the following conditions : You may make a copy of this software for your own personal use. An example of this would be to have one copy on your home computer and another on your laptop, or a backup copy. You may NOT  make a copy for the use of any other individual or organization. You will  be held legally responsible for any Copyright infringement incurred by  failing to abide by this clause.

  3. USE RESTRICTIONS. You may not modify, adapt, translate, reverse  engineer, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works based  on this software without the express written consent of the Copyright  holder.

  LIMITED WARRANTY

 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS.  THE COPYRIGHT  HOLDER DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NEITHER THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE, EVEN IF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER  HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS.  THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE.

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 	 User support

User Support Policy

   All questions will be answered  by  Email concerning both registered or unregistered  versions of Spanish Whiz ( gbb@braser.com).  Please keep in mind, however, that  we cannot provide training and support for products we did not create. If you don't understand how to use your computer, if you are having trouble with Windows or with a program you purchased elsewhere, please contact the manufacturer of that product. If your system was set up by a friend or consultant, ask that person to explain things to you.

  Free upgrades will be given to registered users of the same major version. This means that for example, if you buy version 3.1, you will be able to get versions 3.2, and 3.3 for free from the website. Any following major version (for example, 4.1) will available to registered users for a reduced price.

   We would love to hear any suggestions that you may have. Most of the improvements in the various versions of Spanish Whiz have come about as suggestions from the users.

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