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Table of contents

Grammar - Questions

Like in English, yes/no questions in Spanish are formed by switching the position of subject and verb (if the subject is explicit). Unlike English, Spanish uses a reversed question mark (¿) at the beginning of a question:

Tú eres de México. You are from Mexico.
Eres de México. You are from Mexico.

become

¿Eres tú de México? Are you from Mexico?
¿Eres de México? Are you from Mexico?

For other type of questions Spanish uses the following question words (note that all of them have an accent in the word):

¿Cómo...? or ¿Qué...? How...? or What...?
¿Cuándo...? When...?
¿Cuánto...? How much...?
¿Cuántos...? How many...?
¿Dónde...? Where...?
¿Por qué...? Why...?
¿Quién...? Who...? (singular)
¿Quiénes...? Who...? (plural)

Here are some Spanish sentences where specific question words are used:

¿Cómo te llamas? What is your name? (Literally: How do you call yourself?)
¿Cuántos años tienes? How old are you? (Literally: How many years do you have?)
¿Dónde está el aeropuerto? Where is the airport?

Exercise: Spanish Exercises Questions


Grammar - Possessive Pronouns

Like English, the Spanish possessive pronouns differ depending on the person they are referring to. Unlike English, the possessive article also changes depending on the number of items that one possesses (for example: mi libro' = my book, mis libros = my books). It can also change depending on the gender of the item (for example: nuestro perro = our dog, nuestra casa = our house). The following table summarizes all Spanish possessive pronouns:

Person Singular Plural English Examples
yo mi mis my mi lápiz
tu tus your tu lápiz
él su, de él sus his su lápiz, el lápiz de él
ella su, de ella sus, de ella her su lápiz, el lápiz de ella
usted su, de usted sus, de usted your su lápiz, el lápiz de usted
nosotros/nosotras nuestro, nuestra, de nosotros nuestros, nuestras our nuestro lápiz, el lápiz de nosotros
vosotros/vosotras vuestro, vuestra vuestros, vuestras your vuestro lápiz
ellos su, de ellos sus, de ellos their su lápiz, el lápiz de ellos
ellas su, de ellas sus, de ellas their su lápiz, el lápiz de ellas
ustedes su, de ustedes sus, de ustedes your su lápiz, el lápiz de ustedes

Exercise: Spanish Exercise Possessive Adjectives


Grammar - Comparisons

Equality

Spanish uses three slightly different constructions for comparisons of equality. One for comparing verbs, one for comparing nouns and one for comparing adjectives/adverbs. The following examples show the three different possibilities:

Alberto estudia tanto como Felicitas. Alberto studies as much as Felicitas.
Yo tengo tanto dinero como mi hermano. I have as much money as my brother.
La estudiante es tan inteligente como el profesor. The student is as intelligent as the teacher.

When comparing nouns, the ending of tanto will be modified to tanta, tantos, or tantas in order to match gender and quantity of the noun. The general pattern for comparisons of equality is the following:

{verb} tanto como {verb} as much as
tanto/a/os/as {noun} como as much/as many {noun} as
tan {adjective/adverb} como as {adjective/adverb} as

Inequality

For comparisons of inequality, Spanish uses the same form for both nouns and adjectives/adverbs. There are two types of inequalities: más ... que (more than) and menos ... que (less than):

Trabajo más horas que tú. I work more hours than you.
Trabajo menos horas que tú. I work less hours than you.
Tom Hanks es más famoso que Patrick Stewart. Tom Hanks is more famous than Patrick Stewart.
Patrick Stewart es menos famoso que Tom Hanks. Patrick Stewart is less famous than Tom Hanks.

In general:

más/menos {noun/adjective/adverb} que more/less {noun/adjective/adverb} than

Superlatives

Superlatives in Spanish are similar to comparisons of inequality: They use más for the most, menos for the least. Then follows the adjective and finally there is a preposition (de):

Ricardo es el estudiante más alto de la universidad. Ricardo is the tallest student in the university.
Plutón es el planeta menos grande del sistema solar. Pluto is the smallest planet in the solar system.
Los diamantes son las gemas más caras del mundo. Diamonds are the most expensive gems in the world.
María es la más inteligente de la clase. Maria is the most intelligent one in the class.

Note that in some cases (la más inteligente) you can just write the article and omit the noun. The general pattern for Spanish superlatives is:

el/la/los/las ({noun}) más/menos {adjective} de the (most/least){adjective} {noun} in/of

Exercise: Spanish Exercise Comparisons


Vocabulario (Vocabulary) - La escuela (School)

La escuela The school
el profesor, la profesora the teacher, the professor
el maestro, la maestra the primary school teacher
el alumno, la alumna the student
el/la estudiante the student
el rector, la rectora the university president, the school principal
el colegio the primary school (Spain), the K-12 school (Chile)
la escuela the school (all senses), the primary School (Chile)
el instituto the secondary school (Spain)
el liceo the secondary school (Chile)
la preparatoria the secondary school (Mexico)
la universidad the university, the college
la biblioteca the library
la librería the book store
el libro the book
el libro de texto the text book
el curso, la clase the course, the class
el examen the final exam
los deberes, las tareas escolares the homework
   
aprender to learn
estudiar to study
leer to read
escribir to write
calcular to compute, to calculate
preguntar to ask
contestar to answer
discutir to discuss
   
fácil easy
difícil difficult
interesante interesting
aburrido, pesado boring
inteligente intelligent
estúpido, tonto stupid, dumb
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Copyright Laurent Camus (EFL teacher)

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