Exercises – Grammar

Notice the doubling of the letters in the abbreviation of “Estados Unidos” (United States) as “EE. UU.” because it is a plural noun.

To form the negation in Spanish, we add “no” in front of the verb (and before any object pronoun before the verb), e.g., “No juego al fútbol” (I don’t play soccer), “No lo quiero” (I don’t want it), etc.

We use the acute accent in Spanish to distinguish between interrogative and relative pronouns, e.g., “¿Dónde vives?” (Where do you live?) vs. “No hay transporte donde vivo” (There is no transportation where I live).

To form the negation in Spanish, we add “no” in front of the verb (and before any object pronoun before the verb), e.g., “No juego al fútbol” (I don’t play soccer), “No lo quiero” (I don’t want it), etc.

We use the acute accent in Spanish to distinguish between the meaning of words that would otherwise be written in the same manner.

For example, “el” is the masculine definite article “the,” whereas “él” is the personal pronoun “he,” “mas” (formal use only) is a conjunction meaning “but,” whereas “más” means “more.”

The English word "actual" and the Spanish word "actual" look similar.

However, they are false cognates.

The English word "actual" is translated to real in Spanish, whereas the Spanish word "actual" means "current" in English.

Most words ending with a consonant other than “d” or “z” are masculine, with some exceptions such as: la miel (honey), la piel (skin), la sal (salt), la hiel (gall), la flor (flower), la coliflor (cauliflower), la labor (labor).

To form the plural, the letter “s” is added if the noun or adjective ends with a vowel, e.g. “casa” (house), “casas” (houses) and “es” is added if the noun or adjective ends with a consonant, e.g. “mujer” (woman), “mujeres” (women). Notice that adjectives in Spanish also can be in the plural, e.g. “mujeres jóvenes” (young women).

Most words ending in “-a” are feminine.
However, words ending in “-ista” can refer to masculine or feminine people performing a profession such as: el/la taxista (taxi driver), el/la artista (artist), el/la analista (analyst), el/la pianista (pianist), etc.

Most words ending in “-a” are feminine.
However, words that end with “-a” and are used to refer to professions have the same masculine and feminine forms. For example, “el/la atleta” can refer to a male or female athlete, and “el/la espía” can refer to male or female spy.

To form the plural, the letter “s” is added if the noun or adjective ends with a vowel, e.g. “casa” (house), “casas” (houses) and “es” is added if the noun or adjective ends with a consonant, e.g. “mujer” (woman), “mujeres” (women). Notice that adjectives in Spanish also can be in the plural, e.g. “mujeres jóvenes” (young women).

Most words ending in “-a” are feminine, except:
1. Words with “-ma”, “-pa”, and “-ta” endings that originate from Greek, which are masculine.
2. Words ending in “-ista” referring to masculine performing a profession such as: el taxista (taxi driver).
3. Words that end with “-a” and used to refer to professions that have the same masculine and feminine forms, e.g., “el/la atleta” (athlete).
4. Few masculine words that are learned by practice, such as: el día (day), el buda (buddha), el panda (panda).

There is no general rule. Words ending with “-e” tend to be masculine especially those ending in “-aje” or “-ambre”, but with a lot of exceptions that are feminine such as: la calle (street), la carne (meat), la gente (people), la llave (key), la fiebre (fever), la noche (night), la nube (cloud), la sangre (blood), la suerte (luck), la tarde (afternoon or evening), la fuente (source or fountain), la torre (tower), la sede (headquarter), la serpiente (snake), la corriente (current), la clave (key), la clase (class), la base (base), la madre (mother), la muerte (death), la nieve (snow), la frase (phrase).

Most words ending in “-a” are feminine.

However, some exceptions are only learned by practice, such as: el día (day), el buda (buddha), el panda (panda).

There is no general rule. Words ending with “-e” tend to be masculine especially those ending in “-aje” or “-ambre”, but with a lot of exceptions that are feminine such as: la calle (street), la carne (meat), la gente (people), la llave (key), la fiebre (fever), la noche (night), la nube (cloud), la sangre (blood), la suerte (luck), la tarde (afternoon or evening), la fuente (source or fountain), la torre (tower), la sede (headquarter), la serpiente (snake), la corriente (current), la clave (key), la clase (class), la base (base), la madre (mother), la muerte (death), la nieve (snow), la frase (phrase).

Most words ending in “-o” are masculine, with few exceptions that are feminine such as: la mano (hand), la radio (radio), la foto (photo), la moto (motorcycle), la libido (libido).

When describing items in millions or billions, one must add “de” after “millón(es)” or “billón(es),” e.g., “un millón de estudiantes” (a million students), “dos millones de habitantes” (two million inhabitants), etc.

The multiples of hundred (200-900) can have a masculine “-os” or a feminine “-as” ending depending on the nouns they describe, e.g., “doscientos libros” (200 books), “doscientas manzanas” (200 apples).

In Spanish, there are two forms of the singular “you”; the first is the informal “tú” and is used with familiar, and the second is the formal “usted” which is used with older people and with people we are not familiar with or to show respect.

In Spanish, there are two forms of the singular “you”; the first is the informal “tú” and is used with familiar, and the second is the formal “usted” which is used with older people and with people we are not familiar with or to show respect.

In Spanish of Spain, "vosotros/-as" is used instead for the informal plural “you.”

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-ir" verb. The stem of the verb "vivir" is "viv-", formed by removing the final "ir".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-ar" verb. The stem of the verb "hablar" is "habl-", formed by removing the final "ar".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-er" verb. The stem of the verb "comer" is "com-", formed by removing the final "er".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-ar" verb. The stem of the verb "hablar" is "habl-", formed by removing the final "ar".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-ar" verb. The stem of the verb "hablar" is "habl-", formed by removing the final "ar".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-ar" verb. The stem of the verb "hablar" is "habl-", formed by removing the final "ar".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-er" verb. The stem of the verb "comer" is "com-", formed by removing the final "er".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-er" verb. The stem of the verb "comer" is "com-", formed by removing the final "er".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-ar" verb. The stem of the verb "hablar" is "habl-", formed by removing the final "ar".

Regular verbs in the present indicative tense are conjugated by adding the appropriate suffix to the stem.
This is an "-ir" verb. The stem of the verb "vivir" is "viv-", formed by removing the final "ir".

Languages and nationalities in general need a definite article in Spanish.

Exceptionally, we drop the definite article in Spanish when the language name is an object of a verb, e.g., “Hablo y enseño español” (I speak and teach Spanish), “Me gustaria aprender arabe” (I would like to learn Arabic), or after the preposition “en,” e.g., “escrito en italiano” (written in Italian).

We have four definite articles in Spanish because the definite article has to agree with the noun in both gender and number:

We use the indefinite article "unas" before a plural feminine noun.

We have four definite articles in Spanish because the definite article has to agree with the noun in both gender and number:

Days of the week in general need a definite article in Spanish., e.g., “Yo trabajo el lunes” (I work on Monday), “Yo voy al gimnasio los jueves” (I go to the gym on Thursdays).

An exception is when the day name comes after the verb “to be,” e.g., “Hoy es viernes” (Today is Friday).

Use the indefinite article "un" before a singular masculine noun and "una" before a singular feminine noun.

Before a singular feminine noun that starts with “a” or “ha,” “un” is used instead of “una,” e.g., “un águila^f.”
The plural is regular, thus “unas” is used, e.g., “unas águilas^f.”

We have four definite articles in Spanish because the definite article has to agree with the noun in both gender and number:

We use the indefinite article "unos" before a plural masculine noun.

We have four definite articles in Spanish because the definite article has to agree with the noun in both gender and number:

Use the indefinite article "un" before a singular masculine noun and "una" before a singular feminine noun.

The interrogative “cuánto” has four forms depending on gender and number: “cuánto,” “cuánta,” “cuántos,”and “cuántas.”

The interrogative “cuál(es)” has two forms: singular “cuál” and plural “cuáles.”

The interrogative “cuál(es)” has two forms: singular “cuál” and plural “cuáles.”