Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta grammar intervention. Mostrar todas las entradas
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miércoles, 1 de febrero de 2017

Conditional Tense - Spanishdict.com


The conditional (el condicional ) tense in Spanish is used to express what would happen in the future. It is more of a possibility, or hypothetical situation, than the future tense. The formation is very similar to that of the simple future tense in that one set of endings is added to the infinitive to create a new tense and the irregular stems are the same as those in the future tense.
Compraría esa camisa.
I would buy that shirt.
 
Sacaría la basura por ti.
He would take out the trash for you.
 
Si fuera rico, me gustaría viajar por todo el mundo.
If I were rich, I would travel all over the world.
 

Regular Conditional Forms

To form the conditional tense, simply add the correct ending to the infinitive of the verb. All verb conjugations (-AR-ER, and -ER) have the same endings for the conditional tense:

Conditional Endings: -ía-ías-ía-íamos-íais-ían

Subjectviajarconocerescribir
yo
viajaría
 
conocería
 
escribiría
 
viajarías
 
conocerías
 
escribirías
 
usted, él, ella
viajaría
 
conocería
 
escribiría
 
nosotros
viajaríamos
 
conoceríamos
 
escribiríamos
 
vosotros
viajaríais
 
conoceríais
 
escribiríais
 
ustedes, ellos, ellas
viajarían
 
conocerían
 
escribirían
 
The endings for the conditional tense are the same as those for the -er and -ir forms of the imperfect tense.
Remember that the conditional adds the endings to the infinitive while the imperfect adds them to the stem.
  • ConditionalEscribiría unas cartas. (I would write some letters.)
  • ImperfectEscribía unas cartas. (I wrote some letters.)

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Future in Spanish - Spanishdict.com

In Spanish, there are two ways to express the future. One is the simple future tense, and the other, more basic form, is the informal future. The informal future is used mostly in spoken Spanish to express future actions.
Simple FutureFuture
Estudiaré mucho mañana.
 
Voy a estudiar mucho mañana.
 
I will study a lot tomorrow.I am going to study a lot tomorrow.

Future Forms

The informal future is formed by the verb ir conjugated in the present indicative, the preposition a, and the infinitive of the action to be performed. The loose translation would be that someone is going to ___.
ir + a + infinitive
Yo voy a viajar por España.
I am going to travel through Spain.
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miércoles, 25 de enero de 2017

Preterite vs. Imperfect in Spanish

Overview - From Spanishdict.com - QUIZ


Many students have trouble knowing when to use the preterite tense or the imperfect tense since they both refer to actions in the past. There are several general rules to follow, as well as phrases to look out for. Many phrases use only one tense or the other, so memorizing them is very helpful in figuring out whether the use a verb in preterite or imperfect!

General Preterite Uses

Generally, the preterite is used for completed actions (actions that have definite beginning and end points.) These can be actions that can be viewed as single events, actions that were part of a chain of events, actions that were repeated a very specific number of times, or actions that specifically state the beginning and end of an action.

General Imperfect Uses

The imperfect tense is generally used for actions in the past that do not have a definite end. These can be actions that are not yet completed or refer to a time in general in the past. It can also be used to talk about:
  • actions that were repeated habitually
  • actions that set the stage for another past tense event
  • time and dates in the past
  • for telling a person’s age in the past
  • to describe people (characteristics) in the past
  • to communicate mental or physical states in the past

miércoles, 3 de febrero de 2016

Subjunctive: Part I

The Forms of the Present Subjunctive / Las formas del presente del subjuntivo

 present
indicative
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE
ayudar
poner
seguir
yo ayud-ø  ~
yo pong-ø  ~
yo sig-ø  ~
ayude ayudes ayude ayudemos ayudéis ayuden
ponga pongas ponga pongamos pongáis pongan
siga sigas siga sigamos sigáis sigan
In order to form the present subjunctive, use the first person singular of the present indicative –the yo form–, remove the -o, and add endings in -e for -ar verbs, and endings in -a for -er and -ir verbs. This change of vowel may involve some spelling changes:
pag-ø ~ pague busc-ø ~ busque empiez-ø ~ empiece
• Stem-changing verbs in -ar and -er change their stems in the same way and in the same cases as in the present indicative:
piense
vuelva
pienses
vuelvas
piense
vuelva
pensemos
volvamos
penséis
volváis
piensen
vuelvan
• Stem-changing verbs in -ir, whatever the change that occurs in the present indicative, change the stem of thenosotros and vosotros forms of the present subjunctive from e to i and from o to u. (see complete rules.)
muera
sienta
pida
mueras
sientas
pidas
muera
sienta
pida
muramos
sintamos
pidamos
muráis
sintáis
pidáis
mueran
sientan
pidan
Only six verbs do not follow the rules above to form the present subjunctive:
ir  →  vaya, vayas, vaya, vayamos, vayáis vayan
ser  →  sea seas sea seamos seáis sean
estar  →  esté estés esté estemos estéis estén
saber  →  sepa sepas sepa sepamos sepáis sepan
haber  →  haya hayas haya hayamos hayáis hayan (subjunctive for hay)
dar  →  dé des dé demos deis den
Subjunctive?
All the verbs we have studied so far have been in the Indicative Mood because they indicate states or actions that are presented as factual. The Subjunctive Mood is used, mostly in dependent clauses, after verbs that suggest non-factual events, such as indirect commands, doubts, subjective perception, etc. Compare the following two groups of sentences:
Presented as factual (indicative):Desired, doubted (subjunctive):
I insist that he is here.
Insisto en que está aquí.
I insist that he be here.
Insisto en que esté aquí.
I believe he did it.
Creo que lo hizo.
I demand that he do it.
Exijo que lo haga.
I know he is here.
Sé que está aquí.
I doubt he'll be here.
Dudo que esté aquí.

Expresiones con infinitivo

Acabar de + Infinitive