When I wanted to share information about the past, I used the present tense alongside words like ayer<\/em> (yesterday) at the beginning of the sentence. Similarly, when talking about future events, I spoke in the present tense, but threw words like ma\u00f1ana<\/em> (tomorrow) or la pr\u00f3xima semana<\/em> (next week) into the mix to keep things clear.<\/p>\n Three months of speaking only in the present tense will give you the exact kind of training necessary to then tackle the many complexities of other tenses in Spanish. Plus, you’ll use the present tense so frequently that it’s great to have it mastered.<\/p>\n After three months of speaking in the present tense, I decided to invest in a series of private conversation classes to practice conjugating in the past and future tenses. The conversation classes gave me the special attention I needed to make progress in this area. Having spent so long talking in the present tense, I was also pleased to find that I grasped the use of future and past tenses a lot quicker than I\u2019d expected.<\/p>\n English nouns don\u2019t have a gender, which makes the application of gender in Spanish<\/a> that much more complex for the native English speaker. I found that when it came to gender, I had to keep a notebook with me at all times. The notebook was divided into two columns, front to back. One for masculine nouns and the other for feminine ones.<\/p>\n As time went on, I had grasped the general rules and noted down most common words. After some time had elapsed, I only used the notebook to record irregularities. In general, nouns which end in \u201ca\u201d are feminine nouns, but the Spanish language is full of exceptions to the rules. El clima<\/em> (the weather) is a perfect example. It ends in \u201ca\u201d but it\u2019s a masculine noun. My notes on the irregular nouns were what really helped me to move from basic to intermediate level Spanish grammar.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re filling in exercises from a Spanish grammar book, writing some creative prose or even contributing to a daily diary in Spanish, you must make a point of writing in Spanish every day. Start a Spanish learning blog if you like.<\/p>\n The only way to perfect Spanish grammar is to put your skills into practice and find out where your doubts lie.<\/p>\n I kept a diary in Spanish when I was learning. I came up against a brick wall of Spanish grammar doubts every day. In these moments, I had to research a little and find out how to express myself correctly before being able to continue. It was definitely one of my most successful self-help grammar tricks.<\/p>\n The only time we ever use the subjunctive in English is when we use constructions like, \u201cif it were up to me, I would tell him how much I loved him.\u201d In Spanish, the present and past forms of the subjunctive are used constantly.<\/p>\n It\u2019s really difficult for native English speakers to get a grip on this area of Spanish grammar. That’s why it\u2019s important to incorporate the help and advice of a trained professional. Intensive programs that focus on the subjunctive are the best. It\u2019s also important to have a solid grounding in the fundamentals before taking on the subjunctive.<\/p>\n Desde<\/em> (since\/from), pero<\/em> (but), sin embargo<\/em> (however), mientras<\/em> (while), de todas maneras<\/em> (anyway) and por lo tanto<\/em> (therefore) are popular connectives which can be used to help you construct longer sentences and hold down longer conversations.<\/p>\n I found that by learning which connectives could be matched with the present, the past, the future, the conditional and the subjunctive tenses, I could better remember the grammatical order of a variety of sentence structures in Spanish.<\/p>\n I began approaching Spanish grammar from a mathematical point of view.<\/p>\n 2 + 2 = 4, and in Spanish grammar, desde que<\/em> (since) is always followed by the present or past subjunctive of the verb.<\/p>\n When you read<\/strong> in Spanish, you learn how Spanish grammar works. You see the correct way to construct sentences and you can compare your writing with that of others. The only important factor to bear in mind is that source materials must be trustworthy.<\/p>\n Reading comes in all forms\u2014besides conventional literature, blogs, recipes and movie subtitles can all be used for reading practice.<\/p>\n I personally made time to read internationally recognized online magazines<\/a> and newspapers every day. Not only was I able to keep up to date with current affairs, but I was also confident that the Spanish grammar I was reading was correct.<\/p>\n Patterns are important. They act as language stepping stones towards fluency. For example, in Spanish, prepositions are followed by the base form of the verb. In English, prepositions are followed by the gerund. Despu\u00e9s de hablar<\/em> (after talking) is just one example of this pattern in practice.<\/p>\n Finding patterns helps to highlight grammatical differences between two languages. I found this kind of study very useful. When I found grammar patterns, I was able to translate correctly. Many people make the mistake of making literal translations when communicating in another language, but it\u2019s rarely a good idea. Spanglish is the product of poor translation. Make use of patterns.<\/p>\n The more Spanish content you consume, the more patterns you’ll discover along the way. Just watching Spanish videos with English subtitles can help you form associations between what you hear and the corresponding translation.<\/p>\n You can also take this a step further and embed a learning element into your Spanish video watching with FluentU<\/a>. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p> \r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n 2. Practice the Past and Future Tenses in Private Conversation Classes<\/h2>\n
3. Keep a Notebook Purely for Noting Down the Gender of Nouns<\/h2>\n
4. Write in Spanish Every Day<\/h2>\n
5. Take a Specific Course in the Use of the Subjunctive<\/a><\/h2>\n
6. Learn Which Connectives Match Which Grammar Constructions<\/h2>\n
7. Read, Read and Then Read Some More<\/h2>\n
8. Find the Patterns Between English and Spanish Grammar<\/h2>\n
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