Summary:
An overview on more irregular present tense verb conjugations and pronouns.
Repaso:
Ejercicio 1:
- Me _____ (llamar) Marta y ____ (tener) 25 años.
- _____ (ser) estudiante de periodismo y ____ (vivir) en Dinamarca pero originariamente ____ (ser) de España.
- Mi madre _____ (tener) dos hermanos. Ellos ____ (ser) mis tíos. Yo ____ (tener) una hermana. Ella se _____ (llamar) Silvia.
- Mi padre _____ (ser) cocinero y mi madre _____ (enseñar) en la escuela.
Ejercicio 2:
- Mi nombre _____ (ser) Pablo y ____ (ser) de México.
- _____ (venir) a Dinamarca para hacer un doctorado. ____ (ser) informático. Me _____ (gustar) los ordenadores y también programar.
- El invierno en Dinamarca _____ (ser) mucho más frío que en México. Aquí también _____ (llover) mucho.
- _____ (tengo) un hermano que se _____ (llamar) José. Él _____ (estudiar) derecho y ____ (ser) dos años menor. Mis padres _____ (vivir) en Guadalajara pero _____ (viajar) mucho. _____ (ser) empresarios.
Verbos irregulares:
Verbo “dar” – “to give”
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | doy |
| Tú | das |
| Él | da |
| Nosotros | damos |
| Vosotros / Ustedes | dais / dan |
| Ellos | dan |
Direct / Indirect objects and verb “dar”
As with many other Indo-European languages, Spanish has both direct and indirect objects. Direct object is the entity that is affected by the action itself. An indirect object indicates the entity that is indirectly affected or is the recipient of the result of said action. Since Spanish has no declensions, the indirect object is marked by the use of the preposition “A”. The direct object, on the other hand, does not require any grammatical tag.
Example:
- “Doy un regalo a Juan” – “I give a present to Juan”
Clitic doubling: in Spanish, however, it is possible to repeat the indirect object using the respective pronoun to emphasize and clarify the sentence. The sentence has the same meaning and this construction is much more common in the spoken language.
- “Le doy un regalo a Juan” – “I give a present to Juan”
Verbo “ir” – “to go”
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | voy |
| Tú | vas |
| Él | va |
| Nosotros | vamos |
| Vosotros / Ustedes | vais / van |
| Ellos | van |
Use of verb “ir”
The verb “ir” always requires the preposition “a” to indicate movement and direction to that location.
Examples:
- “Voy a Europa” – “I’m going to Europe”
- “Ella va a la universidad” – “She is going to the university”
The verb “ir” can also be used as an auxiliary to create future form: IR + A + VERB (INF.)
Example:
- Voy a ir al cine – “I’m going to go to the cinema”
- Voy a comer una pizza – “I’m going to eat a pizza
Verbo “decir” – “to say”
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | digo |
| Tú | dices |
| Él | dice |
| Nosotros | decimos |
| Vosotros / Ustedes | decís / dicen |
| Ellos | dicen |
Verbo “hacer” – “to make / do”
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | hago |
| Tú | haces |
| Él | hace |
| Nosotros | hacemos |
| Vosotros / Ustedes | hacéis / hacen |
| Ellos | hacen |
Verbo “querer” – “to like / want”
| Pronoun | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Yo | quiero |
| Tú | quieres |
| Él | quiere |
| Nosotros | queremos |
| Vosotros / Ustedes | queréis / quieren |
| Ellos | quieren |
Use of “querer”
The verb “querer”, as with any transitive verb, requires a direct object. Linguistically direct objects are in accusative case but, since Spanish lost most of its declensions, the usage is very straightforward as in English. The object can be both a noun or a secondary clause in infinitive form.
Examples:
- “Quiero un perro” – “I want a dog”
- “Te quiero” – “I like you”
- “Quiero ir al cine hoy” – “I want to go to the cinema today”
- “Quiero comer una tortilla” – “I would like to eat a tortilla”
Pronouns
- The Spanish language distinguishes between four types of pronouns:
- Personal
- Direct / Indirect object
- Possessive
- Reflexive
- Personal pronouns indicate the subject of the sentence
- Object pronouns describe the person that is affected by the action in the sentence
- Object pronouns are subdivided into tonic and atonic pronouns. Tonic pronouns are used to emphasize or with prepositions. Atonic pronouns are used without help of any other complement. In a sentence you can repeat the indirect object using both the tonic and atonic forms in order to put emphasis (clitic doubling).
- Possessive pronouns indicate the possession or personal relation between a noun and a person
- Reflexive pronouns are used in certain verbs that require it
The big table of pronouns
| Person | Subject | Tonic object | Atonic Ind. object | Atonic direct object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1st person | yo | mí | me | |
| 2nd person | tú | ti | te | ||
| 3rd person (polite) | usted | usted | le / se* | le | |
| 3rd person (f.) | ella | ella | la | ||
| 3rd person (m.) | él | él | lo | ||
| Plural | 1st person | nosotras/os | nosotras/os | nos | |
| 2nd person | vosotras/os | vosotras/os | os | ||
| 2nd person (polite / LA) | ustedes | ustedes | les / se* | ustedes / los | |
| 3rd person (f.) | ellas | ellas | las | ||
| 3rd person (m.) | ellos | ellos | los | ||
*Use of “se”
Se comes into use when both the indirect object and the direct object pronouns replace actual nouns.
Example:
- “Le doy un libro a Juan” -> “Le (a Juan) doy un libro” -> “Se lo doy (libro)” (I give it to him)
- “Les preparo una fiesta a mis vecinos” -> “Les preparo (a mis vecinos) una fiesta” -> “Se la (fiesta) preparo” (I prepare it for them)
The big table of pronouns 2
| Person | Subject | Possessive | Reflexive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1st person | yo | mi/s | me |
| 2nd person | tú | tu/s | te | |
| 3rd person (polite) | usted | su/s | se | |
| 3rd person (f.) | ella | |||
| 3rd person (m.) | él | |||
| Plural | 1st person | nosotros | nuestro/a/s/s | nos |
| 2nd person | vosotros | vuestro/a/s/s | os | |
| 3rd person (polite / LA) | ustedes | su/s | se | |
| 3rd person (f.) | ellas | |||
| 3rd person (m.) | ellos |
Exercise:
Complete with the appropriate (verb or pronoun)
- Yo ______ (ducharse) por la mañana.
- Él _____ (irse) a trabajar.
- Yo __ preparo a __ madre una fiesta de cumpleaños.
- Él __ _____ (hacer) algo de comer a __ mujer.
- ___ padres ____ (irse) de vacaciones. Yo __ _____ (cuidar) ___ casa.
- ___ perro __ _____ (llamarse) Fido. ___ (ser) un ovejero alemán. ___ ____ (pasear) todas las mañanas con ___ hijo Joaquín.
- ___ hermana ___ (ser) ingeniera. ____ (trabajar) para una empresa japonesa. Cuando ____ (tener) tiempo, ____ (venir) de visita.
- __ hijo ____ (estudiar) arquitectura. __ mujer y yo ____ (estar) muy orgullosos de __. ___ (ser) el mejor promedio de ___ clase.
- Nosotros ____ (ser) fanáticos del Real Madrid. ____ equipo ____ (jugar) en la Champions contra el Bayern Munich.
- A nosotros ___ _____ (gustar) ver el amanecer en la playa. ____ casa de verano en Valencia ___ (estar) cerca de la costa.