LA GRAMÁTICA

Why study grammar? You have a highly-developed, complex grammar. You will learn a second language (L2) more quickly by understanding grammatical terms and applying them to your language learning than by immersion (where grammar is not specifically taught, much like when a child first learns language…correction, feedback, modeling, etc. ) Knowing the terms will help in this class and others (English 111)

Subject pronouns A subject pronoun replaces the name/title of a person or thing It acts as the subject of a verb (the verb is changed/conjugated for the subject) This subject-verb relationship is extremely important otherwise the sentence will not make sense – I goes to the store (although we can comprehend the sentence, it does not sound right because the subject and verb do not agree)

Person First person – yo, nosotros/nosotras Second person – tú, usted; vosotros/vosotras; ustedes Third person – él, ella; ellos/ellas

Second person singular In Spanish, there are two subject pronouns for the second person (you). Tú is familiar, where you know a person well (family member, friend, or younger person) Usted (Ud.) is formal. It is used to address a distance, someone you don’t really know, a supervisor, older person…

Second & third person, plural In Latin America, you all is expressed using Ustedes (Uds). In Spain, it is expressed using vosotros or vosotras We is expressed using nosotros or nosotras in both hemispheres There is no Spanish equivalent of the neuter it. Generally, it is not expressed in Spanish – Es una bebida – Es un zapato feo

LOS VERBOS Y LA CONJUGACIÓN

Verbs The verb in its unconjugated form is called the infinitive. In English, the preposition to is added to the infinitive. – To be, to walk, to run, to ride, to do homework, to read, to joke, to hide, to study…. Just like in English, Spanish verbs must be conjugated to agree with its subject.

The verb SER SER (to be) is actually an irregular verb- it does not follow regular patterns that most verbs follow. SER is used to identify people and things, expresses possession and to talk about where a person is from

The forms of SER SER Singular forms SBJ Pronoun ConjugationTranslation Yo Soy I am Tú Eres You (familiar) are Ud, él, ella Es You (formal), he, she is Plural forms Nosotros/as Somos We are Vosotros/as Sois You all are (Spain) Uds, ellos, ellas son You all are (formal,Lat.Amer.), they are