Spanish grammar can feel like a maze of unfamiliar terms, but I’ve put together this guide to make it more manageable. Whether you’re deciphering verb conjugations, noun genders, or demonstrative adjectives, I’ve given you both concise definitions and practical examples to help you along the way.<\/p>\n
This post is designed to be a resource you can revisit whenever you need clarity, so I’ve also organized alphabetically for easy reference. No need to memorize everything\u2014just keep it handy as a go-to companion for mastering Spanish grammar.<\/p>\n
[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
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The following Spanish terms will be ordered alphabetically (in Spanish). For each you’ll see a short definition and an example showing the notion in use.<\/p>\n
The Spanish word acento<\/em> has two main meanings. On one hand, it’s the written accent mark we find in some words<\/a> (also known as tilde<\/em>). On the other hand, it means “stress,” as in the way a syllable (or a word) is pronounced with greater force.<\/p>\n No te olvides de poner el acento<\/strong> \/ la tilde.<\/em> And below in bold you’ll see\u00a0which syllables are stressed (tienen acento) <\/em>in spoken Spanish:<\/p>\n Me lla<\/strong>mo Pe<\/strong>dro. As in English, Spanish adjectives are words that are used to describe people, places and things. However, you’ll need to remember these rules<\/a> if you want to use them properly in Spanish!<\/p>\n Acabo de comprarme un coche rojo<\/strong> muy r\u00e1pido<\/strong>. Demonstrative adjectives are a set of words we use to identify the people, places or things we are referring to (i.e., this, that, these, those, etc.).<\/p>\n Este<\/strong> perro es m\u00edo y aquel<\/strong> es tuyo.<\/em> Adverbs are words that modify<\/a> a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a sentence. They answer the question “How?”<\/p>\n Esa chica habla ingl\u00e9s muy bien.<\/strong><\/em> The agent is the person, animal or thing carrying out the action of the verb. It’s normally the subject (see below) of the sentence, but it can also appear in passive structures (see the second example below), normally in the form of a by-phrase.<\/p>\n El ni\u00f1o<\/strong> lanz\u00f3 la pelota.<\/em> La pelota fue lanzada por el ni\u00f1o<\/strong>. Articles are a set of words that precede the noun and indicate whether or not it’s already known. We have definite articles (el\/la\/los\/las<\/strong>)<\/em> and indefinite articles (un\/una\/unos\/unas<\/strong>)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Although the concept is similar in Spanish and in English, Spanish articles can be a bit of a headache sometimes<\/a>, so you’d better watch out for them!<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda tiene un<\/strong> hermano. El<\/strong> hermano de Mar\u00eda es muy guapo.<\/em> El<\/strong> ordenador azul es m\u00e1s r\u00e1pido.<\/em> The comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb that we use when we want to express more or less amount, quality or degree. We use the comparative form for comparisons<\/a>.<\/p>\n Soy m\u00e1s alto<\/strong> que t\u00fa.<\/em> Direct objects are the people, places\u00a0or things affected directly by the action of the verb. They normally answer the questions “What?” or “Who?”<\/p>\n Necesito unas tijeras nuevas<\/strong>.<\/em> Ayer vi a tu hermano<\/strong>.<\/em> Simply put, indirect objects<\/a> are the people, animals or things affected by\u00a0the action of the verb. You’ll likely need the prepositions “to” or “for” to render this in English.<\/p>\n In Spanish, however, you’re most likely to find the preposition a<\/em><\/strong> with indirect objects. In case of doubt, remember to ask “To\/For what?” or “To\/For whom?” for\u00a0the verb.<\/p>\n Antonio les<\/strong> ha comprado caramelos a los ni\u00f1os<\/strong>.<\/em> What has he bought? Candy (= direct object).<\/p>\n He bought candy for\u00a0whom<\/strong>? For the children (= indirect object).<\/p>\n As its name implies, the conditional tense expresses what would happen<\/a>\u00a0if a certain condition were fulfilled. While in English you normally use “would” + [infinitive], in Spanish you need to conjugate the verbs in the conditional tense.<\/p>\n You’ll also use the conditional tense when talking about the future in reported speech (see below), when making wishes and when building conditional sentences.<\/p>\n Me gustar\u00eda<\/strong> ser rico.<\/em> Dijo que llegar\u00eda<\/strong> tarde.<\/em> Si tuviera dinero, comprar\u00eda<\/strong> una casa.<\/em> Concordancia<\/em>\u00a0is the agreement<\/a> between specific parts of the sentence. For instance, in Spanish, there is compulsory agreement between the noun and its adjective, and between the subject and the verb.<\/p>\n El gato<\/strong>\u00a0negro<\/strong>\u00a0sigui\u00f3 a la ni\u00f1a.<\/em> The noun gato<\/em> and its adjective negro<\/em>\u00a0are both\u00a0masculine singular.<\/p>\n Mis<\/strong> vecinos\u00a0fueron<\/strong>\u00a0a la playa.<\/em> The third-person plural subject mis vecinos <\/em>matches the third-person plural verb fueron<\/em>.<\/p>\n The conjugation is basically the way we classify verbs in Spanish. There are three conjugations (-ar<\/em><\/a>, -er<\/em><\/a> and -ir<\/em><\/a>), and all regular verbs within the same conjugation are conjugated in the same way.<\/p>\n You’ve probably heard this word used more often for its other meaning, though:\u00a0the different forms of a verb (each form indicating person, tense and mood).<\/p>\n Me gusta <\/strong><\/em>cantar<\/strong>.<\/em> Gusta:<\/em> -ar<\/em>, third person singular, present tense, indicative. Mi hermana no <\/em>come <\/em><\/strong>verduras.<\/em> Come:<\/em> -er<\/em>, third person singular, present tense, indicative.<\/p>\n Vosotros quer\u00edais<\/strong>\u00a0que ella viniera<\/strong>\u00a0a la fiesta.<\/em> Quer\u00edais:<\/em>\u00a0-er<\/em>, second person plural, imperfect, indicative. Conjunctions are words used to join<\/a> sentences, phrases and other words. As in English, there are different groups of conjunctions classified by meaning and by function.<\/p>\n Me gustan los perros y<\/strong> los gatos.<\/em> Me gustan los perros pero<\/strong> no los gatos.<\/em> A contraction is the fusion of two words into one<\/a>. While we have a lot of them in English, Spanish only has two contractions: al<\/em><\/strong> (a + el)<\/em> and del<\/em><\/strong> (de + el)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Queremos ir al<\/strong> parque.<\/em> Acabo de llegar del<\/strong> cine.<\/em> A copulative verb is a specific kind of verb that links<\/a> the subject to the adjective or noun that describes it. The most common Spanish copulas are ser<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em>\u00a0estar<\/em><\/strong> (to be) and parecer<\/em><\/strong> (to seem, to look like).<\/p>\n Mi hermano est\u00e1<\/strong> cansado.<\/em> Esa nube parece<\/strong> un drag\u00f3n.<\/em> Countable nouns are those that can be counted<\/a> (like one apple, two apples, three apples…), can take the indefinite article and can be preceded by a number.<\/p>\n Uncountable nouns, on the other hand, cannot be counted (like “water”, “salt,” “money,” “milk”), do not accept the indefinite article and cannot be preceded by a number.<\/p>\n For those of you who are saying “But you can count money!,” this note is for you: Words like “bottle,” “grain,” “dollar” and “gallon” are all countable nouns (i.e., three bottles of water, 50 grains of salt, 40 dollars and four gallons of milk)\u2014but uncountable nouns alone cannot be preceded by a number: And you can of course use quantifiers<\/a> such as mucho<\/em><\/strong> (a lot of), poco<\/em><\/strong> (little), suficiente<\/em><\/strong> (enough), etc. in front of nouns.<\/p>\n Tengo tres casas.<\/strong><\/em> Tienes mucho dinero<\/strong>. No tengo suficiente az\u00facar.<\/strong><\/em> Diminutives are words that express small size, affection or lesser importance. In order to form a diminutive, you need to add a diminutive suffix<\/a> to the original word in Spanish.<\/p>\n Tu casita<\/strong> me gusta mucho.<\/em> Direct speech refers to the actual words a person is uttering or that they’re writing. Indirect or reported speech<\/a> is the report of what someone else has said.<\/p>\n “Te amo,” me dijo.<\/em> Me dijo que me amaba.<\/em>
\n(Don’t forget to write the accent mark.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(My name is Pedro.)<\/p>\n2. Adjetivo<\/em>\u00a0(Adjective)<\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong><\/em>(I have just bought a very fast red car.)<\/p>\n3. Adjetivo demostrativo<\/em>\u00a0(Demonstrative adjective)<\/h2>\n
\n(This dog is mine and that one over there is yours.)<\/p>\n4. Adverbio\u00a0<\/em>(Adverb)<\/h2>\n
\n(That girl speaks English very well.)<\/p>\n5. Agente<\/em>\u00a0(Agent)<\/h2>\n
\n(The boy threw the ball.)
\nThe agent and the subject are the same.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/em>(The ball was thrown by the boy.)
\nThe agent is not the subject.<\/p>\n6. Art\u00edculo<\/em>\u00a0(Article)<\/h2>\n
\n(Mar\u00eda has a brother. Mar\u00eda’s brother is very handsome.)<\/p>\n
\n(The blue computer is faster.)<\/p>\n7. Comparativo<\/em>\u00a0(Comparative)<\/h2>\n
\n(I’m taller than you.)<\/p>\n8. Complemento directo, Objeto directo <\/em>\u00a0(Direct object)<\/h2>\n
\n(I need a new pair of scissors.)
\nWhat<\/strong> do I need? A new pair of scissors.<\/p>\n
\n(I saw your brother yesterday.)
\nWho<\/strong> did I see yesterday? Your brother.<\/p>\n9. Complemento indirecto, Objeto indirecto<\/em> (Indirect object)<\/h2>\n
\n(Antonio has bought candy for the children.)<\/p>\n10. Condicional<\/em>\u00a0(Conditional tense)<\/h2>\n
\n(I would like to be rich.) \u2014 Wish<\/p>\n
\n(He said he would be late.) \u2014 Reported speech<\/p>\n
\n(If I had money, I would buy a house.) \u2014 Conditional sentence<\/p>\n11. Concordancia<\/em>\u00a0(Concordance\/agreement)<\/h2>\n
\n(The black cat followed the girl.)<\/p>\n
\n(My neighbors went to the beach.)<\/p>\n12. Conjugaci\u00f3n<\/em>\u00a0(Conjugation)<\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong><\/em>(I like singing.)<\/p>\n
\nCantar:<\/em> -ar<\/em>, infinitive.<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(My sister doesn’t eat vegetables.)<\/p>\n
\n(You wanted her to come to the party.)<\/p>\n
\nViniera:<\/em>\u00a0-ir<\/em>, third person singular, imperfect, subjunctive.<\/p>\n13. Conjunci\u00f3n<\/em>\u00a0(Conjunction)<\/h2>\n
\n(I like dogs and cats.)<\/p>\n
\n(I like dogs, but not cats.)<\/p>\n14. Contracci\u00f3n<\/em>\u00a0(Contraction)<\/h2>\n
\n(We want to go to the park.)<\/p>\n
\n(I just came back from the cinema.)<\/p>\n15. Copulativo<\/em> (Copulative [verb])<\/h2>\n
\n(My brother is tired.)<\/p>\n
\n(That cloud looks like a dragon.)<\/p>\n16. Contable\/Incontable<\/em> (Countable\/Uncountable)<\/h2>\n
40 moneys<\/del>, 50 salts<\/del>.<\/p>\n
\n(I have three houses.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>(You have a lot of money.)<\/p>\n
\n(I don’t have enough sugar.)<\/p>\n17. Diminutivos<\/em>\u00a0(Diminutives)<\/h2>\n
\n(I love your little house a lot.)<\/p>\n18. Estilo directo\/Estilo indirecto <\/em>(Direct speech\/Reported speech)<\/h2>\n
\n(“I love you,” he said.) \u2014 Direct<\/p>\n
\n(He told me he loved me.) \u2014 Reported<\/p>\n19. Futuro<\/em>\u00a0(Future tense)<\/h2>\n