Irregular Preterite Verbs

Te preterite is used for past actions that are seen as completed.


To conjugate regular -ar verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-ar) and add one of the following:
é
aste
ó
amos
asteis
aron


To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the preterite, simply drop the ending (-er or -ir) and add one of the following:
í
iste
ió
imos
isteis
ieron

Below are the preterite froms of some irregular verbs:
Ser and I:
fui
fuiste
fue
fuimos
fuisteis
fueron

Hacer:
the stem changes to hic-
hice
hiciste
hizo
hicimos
hicisteis
hicieron

Poder(to be able to)
the stem changes to pud-
pude
pudiste
pudo
pudimos
pudisteis
pudieron

Tener(to have)
the stem changes to tuv-
tuve
tuviste
tuvo
tuvimos
tuvisteis
tuvieron

Making Comparisons

When comparing people or things that are equal to one another, you use:
tan + adjective + como (as + adjective + as)

For example:
Pablo es tan inteligente como Jorge. (Pablo is as intelligent as George.)
El perro es tan misterioso como el gato. (The dog is as mysterious as the cat.)


To say that things are not equal you use the negative.
For example:
Pablo no es tan inteligente como Jorge. (Pablo is not as intelligent as George.)
El perro no es tan misterioso como el gato. (The dog is not as mysterious as the cat.)


To say "as much as" or "as many as" you use:
tanto, -a + noun + como (as much + noun + as)
tantos, -as + noun + como (as many + noun + as)

Remember that tanto has to agree in gender and number with what it is being compared to.

Saber vs Conocer

The verbs Saber and Conocer both mean "to know".
It depends on what the sentence is about if you need to use the verb Saber or Conocer.

* When you know a fact or just infromation about something you use the verb Saber.
* When you know a person, a place, or an object you use the verb Conocer.



Here are the conjugations for Saber:

yo sé (i know)
nosotros sabemos (we know)
tu sabes (you know)
vosotros sabéis (we know)
él sabe (he knows)
ellos saben (they know)



And here are some helpful examples:

*Sabemos cocinar. meaning We know how to cook.
* Yo sé como cocinar. meaning I know how to cook.




And here are the conjugations for Conocer:

yo conozco (i know)
nosotros conocemos (we know)
tu conoces (you know)
vosotros conocéis (we know)
él conoce (he knows)
ellos conocen (they know)

And here is an example:
*Conozco a tu padre.
I know your father.

Demonstrative Adjectives

The demonstrative adjectives are:
Singular
this- este, esta
that- ese, esa
that one over there- aquel, aquella

Plural
these- estos, estas
those- esos, esas
those over there- aquellos, aquellas


All demonstrative adjectives come before the noun. They also agree with the noun in gender (masculine or feminine) and in number (sigular or plural).


When conjugating demonstrative adjectives you should ask yourself three questions.
1.) Distance? -near(est-), or far (es-)
2.) Gender? -masculine (-e or -o) or feminine (-a)
3.) Number? -singular or plural


For examples:
this cat- este gato
that towel- esa toalla
that store(over there)- aquella tienda

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives are used to show ownership.

The main adjectives are:
*mi
*tu
*su
*nuestro
*vuestro

Here are what those words above mean:
mi(s) is my
tu(s) is your
su(s) is his, her, their, your (formal)
nuestro(-a,-os, -as) is our
vuestro(-a,-os,-as) is your (fam. pl)


There are three possessive adjectives that have two forms,they are singular and plural, they are:
mi to mis
tu to tus
su to sus


Two of the Possessive Adjectives have only four forms, and those are:
nuestro
nuestra
nuestros
nuestras

vuestro
vuestra
vuestros
vuestras

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs are used when talking about something you do to yourself.

The purpose of the reflexive object pronouns is to show that the action of the verb remains with the subject.


The reflexive pronouns are not subject pronouns; rather they are object pronouns.

me (myself)
te (yourself)
se (himself, herself, yourself)
nos (ourselves)os (yourselves)

se (themselves, yourselves)


To learn to conjugate reflexive verbs, you need to learn a different set of pronouns called "reflexive pronouns." These pronouns are positioned before the verb, while the ending "se" is dropped and the verb is conjugated normally.

lavarse
yo me lavo
I wash (myself)

tú te lavas
you wash (yourself) (informal)

él se lava
he washes (himself)

ella se lava
she washes (herself)

usted se lava
you wash (yourself) (formal)

nosotros nos lavamos
we wash (ourselves)

nosotras nos lavamos
we wash (ourselves) (feminine)

vosotros os laváis
you-all wash (yourselves) (informal)

vosotras os laváis
you-all wash (yourselves) (informal, feminine)

ustedes se lavan
you-all wash (yourselves)(formal)

ellos se lavan
they wash (themselves)

ellas se lavan
they wash (themselves) (feminine When using reflexive verbs you use the beginnings)


When a verb is reflexive, the infinitive ends in "se."
For examples:

lavarto wash (non-reflexive) lavarseto wash oneself (reflexive)
rascarto scratch (non-reflexive) rascarseto scratch oneself (reflexive)


Note that many, many verbs can be made reflexive.
All it means when a verb is reflexive is that the action remains with the subject.

wash the dog (non-reflexive)
wash your face (reflexive)
raise the book (non-reflexive)
raise your arm (reflexive)
put the baby to bed (non-reflexive)
go to bed (reflexive)
wake up your son (non-reflexive)
wake up yourself (reflexive)


You learned to conjugate reflexive verbs like this:

yo me lavo
I wash (myself)

tú te lavas
you wash (yourself) (informal)

él/ella se lava
he/she washes (him/herself)

usted se lava
you wash (yourself) (formal)

nosotros/as nos lavamos
we wash (ourselves)

vosotros/as os laváis
you-all wash (yourselves) (informal)

ustedes se lavan
you-all wash (yourselves) (formal)

ellos/as se lavan
they wash (themselves)


Here are some more helpful links:
http://spanish.about.com/od/sentencestructure/a/reflexive_verbs.htm
http://www.rocketlanguages.com/spanish/spanish_reflexive_verbs.php

The Preterite Tense of Regular Verbs

The Preterite Tense of Regular Verbs are basically words that talk about past actions that you have done. These types of verbs end with -ar, -er, and -ir.



When trying to conjugate -ar verbs all you have to do is drop the (-ar) :

for yo use the ending -e

for tu use the ending -aste

for el use the ending -o

for nosotros use the ending -amos

for ellos use the ending -aron



One important thing you need to know is the Preterite cannot be used to describe and emotional state of being. When when you have a sentence like, "She was sad" you would use a different kind of past tense. This is called the Imperfect past tense.


When you are conjugating regular -er and -ir verbs you then drop the ending (-er and -ir) and you add:

i
iste
io
imos
ieron


Here are some examples of all three verbs conjugated:

hablar: comer vivir
*hable *comi *vivi
*hablaste *comiste *viviste
*hablo *comio *vivio
*hablamos *comimos *vivimos
*hablaron *comieron *vivieron