The letters r and rr

Except at the beginning of a word or afterl or n, the sound of the letter r is made asyou raise the tip of your tongue and tap theroof of your mouth. The position of yourtongue is similar to the position when youpronounce the d in the English word Daddy.The sound of the rr is made as you raise thetip of your tongue and tap the roof of yourmouth several times very quickly.

The letters r and rr

Listen to and say these pairs of words:

pero ahora moro caroperro ahorra morro carro

When r is the first letter of a word or comesafter l or n, it is pronounced like the rr.

The letters r and rr

¡Compruébalo! Listen to these two verses of a popular Spanish lullaby, then try to repeat them.

Another way to talk about the past is withthe imperfect tense. Use the imperfect tenseto talk about actions that happenedrepeatedly in the past.

Rafael patinaba y Mónica corría.Rafael used to skate and Monica used to run.

Here are the regular forms of -ar, -er, and-ir verbs in the imperfect tense. Notice theaccent mark on the nosotros form of jugar:

The imperfect tense: regular verbs

The imperfect tense: regular verbs

Note that -er and -ir verbs, such as hacer andvivir, have the same endings:

The imperfect tense: regular verbs

Notice the accent mark on each ending.

As you know, in Spanish you can oftenomit the subject of a verb because thesubject is made clear in the verb ending:

Vivo en Chicago. (The subject, yo, is includedin the verb ending.)

The imperfect tense: regular verbs

However, since the yo and Ud./él/ellaforms are the same in the imperfect for-ar, -er, and -ir verbs, speakers often usethe subject pronouns to avoid confusion.

Patricia tenía un triciclo rojo pero yo teníauno azul.

The imperfect tense: regular verbs

Expressions such as generalmente, por logeneral, a menudo, muchas veces, de vez encuando, todos los días, and nunca can cueyou to use the imperfect because theyimply that something happened repeatedlyin the past.

The imperfect tense: regular verbs

The imperfect tense: regular verbs

There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense: ir,ser, and ver. Here are all the forms:

The imperfect tense: irregular verbs

The imperfect tense: irregular verbs

Notice the accent mark on the nosotros form for the verbs ir and ser.

The imperfect tense: irregular verbs

Notice the accent mark on each form of ver.

Remember that an indirect object tells towhom or for whom an action is performed.Indirect object pronouns are used to replaceor accompany an indirect object noun.

Nuestros profesores no nos permitíanbeber refrescos en clase.Sus abuelos siempre les daban regalos alos niños.

Indirect object pronouns

Indirect object pronouns

Because le and les have more than onemeaning, you can make the meaning clearby adding a + name, noun, or pronoun.

Lolita siempre les decía la verdad a sus padres.Lolita siempre les decía la verdad a ellos.

Indirect object pronouns

Like direct object pronouns and reflexivepronouns, indirect object pronouns areplaced right before the verb or attached tothe infinitive.

Siempre le quería comprar dulces a su hija.Siempre quería comprarle dulces a su hija.

Indirect object pronouns