Lección 8: Gramática
1. Pretérito de verbos irregulares2. Los pronombres de complemento
directo e indirecto usados juntos3. Los verbos con cambio radical en el
pretérito4. El imperfecto de indicativo
5. La formación de los adverbios
Pretérito de verbos irregulares (1)
• The following Spanish verbs are irregular in the preterit.
Pretérito de verbos irregulares (2)
• The third-person singular of the verb hacer changes the c to z in order to maintain the original soft sound of the c in the infinitive.
• The i is omitted in the third-person plural ending of the verbs
decir traerconducir traducir
Pretérito de verbos irregulares (3)
Ejemplos:
- ¿Qué trajeron Uds. ayer?“What did you bring yesterday?”
- Trajimos las cestas.“We brought the baskets.”
Pretérito de verbos irregulares (4)
Ejemplos:- Ayer no viniste a clase. ¿Qué hiciste? “You did not come to class yesterday. What did you do?”- Tuve que trabajar. ¿Hubo un examen?“I had to work. Was there an exam?”- No.
• The preterit of hay (impersonal form of haber) is hubo.
Pretérito de verbos irregulares (5)
Los pronombres de complemento directo e indirecto usados juntos (1)
• When an indirect object pronoun and a direct object pronoun are used together, the indirect object pronoun always comes first.
Los pronombres de complemento directo e indirecto usados juntos (2)
• With an infinitive, the pronouns can be placed either before the conjugated verb or after the infinitive.
Ana is going to give it to me.
Los pronombres de complemento directo e indirecto usados juntos (3)
• With a present participle, the pronouns can be placed either before the conjugated verb or after the present participle.
She is saying it to you.
Los pronombres de complemento directo e indirecto usados juntos (4)
• If both pronouns begin with l, the indirect object pronoun (le or les) is changed to se.
Los pronombres de complemento directo e indirecto usados juntos (5)
• For clarification, it is sometimes necessary to add a él, a ella, a Ud., a Uds., a ellos, or a ellas.
—¿A quién le dio la comida Ana?“To whom did Ana give the meal?”—Se la dio a él.“She gave it to him.”
Los pronombres de complemento directo e indirecto usados juntos (6)
• A proper name may also be given for clarification.
Se la dio a Luis. She gave it to Luis.
Los verbos con cambio radical en el pretérito (1)
• As you will recall, -ar and -er verbs with stem changes in the present tense have no stem changes in the preterit.
• However, -ir verbs with stem changes in the present tense have stem changes in the third-person singular and plural forms of the preterit (e > i and o > u), as shown below.
Los verbos con cambio radical en el pretérito (2)
Los verbos con cambio radical en el pretérito (3)
• Other -ir verbs that follow the same pattern are
pedir (to order, to request) seguir (to continue, to follow) sentir(se) (to feel ) conseguir divertirse (to have fun) morir (to die)
Los verbos con cambio radical en el pretérito (4)
Ejemplos:
- ¿Qué te sirvieron en la cafetería?“What did they serve you at the cafeteria?”- Me sirvieron café y sándwiches. “They served me coffee and sandwiches.”
Los verbos con cambio radical en el pretérito (5)
Ejemplos:
- ¿Cómo durmió Ud. anoche?“How did you sleep last night?”- Dormí muy bien.“I slept very well.”
Los verbos con cambio radical en el pretérito (6)
El imperfecto de indicativo (1)
• There are two simple past tenses in the Spanish indicative: the preterit, which you have been studying, and the imperfect.
• To form the imperfect, add the following endings to the verb stem:
-AR: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban-ER/-IR: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían
El imperfecto de indicativo (2)
• Note that the endings of the -er and -ir verbs are the same.
• Observe the accent on the first-person plural form of -ar verbs: hablábamos.
• Note also that there is a written accent on the first í of the endings of the -er and -ir verbs.
El imperfecto de indicativo (3)
Ejemplos:- Tú siempre te levantabas a las seis, ¿no?“You always used to get up at six, didn’t you?”- Sí, porque mis clases empezaban a las siete y media y yo vivía lejos de allí. “Yes, because my classes started at seven-thirty and I lived far from there.”
El imperfecto de indicativo (4)
• Stem-changing verbs are regular in the imperfect.
• Only three Spanish verbs are irregular in the imperfect tense:
ser: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eranir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, ibanver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veías,
veían
El imperfecto de indicativo (5)
Ejemplos:
- Cuando yo era chica, siempre iba a acampar en el verano. “When I was little, I always went camping in the summer.”- Nosotros íbamos también. “We used to go too.”
El imperfecto de indicativo (6)
Ejemplos:
- ¿Cuándo veías a tus amigos? “When did you see your friends?”- Los veía sólo los sábados y los domingos. “I used to see them only on Saturdays and Sundays.”
El imperfecto de indicativo (7)
Uses of the imperfect• The Spanish imperfect tense is equivalent to
three English forms.
1. I used to live in Caracas 2. I was living in Caracas Yo vivía en Caracas 3. I lived in Caracas
El imperfecto de indicativo (8)
• The imperfect is used to describe actions or events that the speaker views as in the process of happening in the past, with no reference to when they began or ended.
Empezábamos a estudiar cuando él vino.We were beginning to study when he came.
El imperfecto de indicativo (9)
• It is also used to refer to habitual or repeated actions in the past, again with no reference to when they began or ended.
—¿Uds. hablaban inglés cuando vivían en Bogotá?“Did you speak English when you lived in Bogotá?”
—No, cuando vivíamos allí siempre hablábamos español.“No, when we lived there we always spoke Spanish.”
El imperfecto de indicativo (10)
El imperfecto de indicativo (11)
• It describes physical, mental, or emotional conditions in the past.
Mi casa era muy grande. My house was very big.
No me gustaba estudiar. I didn’t like to study.
Yo no me sentía bien. I wasn’t feeling well.
El imperfecto de indicativo (12)
• It expresses time and age in the past.
- ¿Qué hora era? “What time was it?”
- Eran las seis. “It was six o’clock.”
Julia tenía veinte años. Julia was twenty years old.
El imperfecto de indicativo (13)
• The imperfect is used to describe or set the stage in the past.
Mi novia era bonita. My girlfriend was pretty.
Era muy tarde. It was very late.
La formación de los adverbios (1)
• Most Spanish adverbs are formed by adding -mente (the equivalent of the English -ly) to the adjective.
General generalGeneralmente generallyReciente recentRecientemente recently
La formación de los adverbios (2)
Ejemplos:
- ¿La fiesta de bienvenida es para Olga y sus amigas? “The welcome party is for Olga and her friends?”
- No, es especialmente para Olga. “No, it’s especially for Olga.”
La formación de los adverbios (3)
• Adjectives ending in -o change the -o to -a before adding -mente.
Lento slowLentamente slowlyRápido rapidRápidamente rapidly
La formación de los adverbios (4)
La formación de los adverbios (5)
• If two or more adverbs are used together, both change the –o to –a, but only the last one in the sentence ends in -mente.Ella habla clara y lentamente.She speaks clearly and slowly.
• If the adjective has an accent mark, the adverb retains it.Fácil easyFácilmenteeasily
