SACE Stage 2 Spanish flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Definite article: feminine plural

The feminine plural definite article is las, used with plural feminine nouns such as las casas. It contrasts with los for masculine plurals.

Hay

An invariable verb form meaning both 'there is' and 'there are'. It does not change for number: hay un libro and hay tres libros.

Ser: one key use

Ser expresses identity, origin, nationality and inherent characteristics, as in Soy estudiante or Ella es argentina. It is not used for temporary states.

Estar: one key use

Estar expresses location and temporary states or conditions, as in Estoy cansado or Madrid está en España. It also forms progressive tenses with a gerund.

Near future construction

Formed with ir conjugated in the present, plus a, plus an infinitive: voy a comer, vamos a salir. It expresses plans and immediate future events.

Regular -ar present endings

The present tense of regular -ar verbs is hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan. The stressed endings change between singular and plural forms.

Inverted question mark

Spanish opens questions with an inverted mark, ¿, and closes with ?. Both marks are required in formal written Spanish, including exam answers.

Personal a

The preposition a precedes a direct object that is a specific person or pet, as in Visito a mi abuela. It is omitted for things and non-specific people.

Numbers 21 to 29

Numbers from twenty-one to twenty-nine are written as a single word: veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve.

Gender of nouns

Spanish nouns are masculine or feminine, and the article must agree. Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine and -a usually feminine, but common exceptions exist.

Telling the time

Use son las for hours other than one and es la una for one o'clock. Minutes are added with y, and quarter and half hours use cuarto and media.

Gustar construction

Gustar agrees with the thing liked, not the person: me gusta el café, me gustan los libros. Indirect object pronouns me, te, le, nos, os, les mark the person.

Negation with no

Place no directly before the conjugated verb: No hablo inglés. Other negative words such as nunca or nada may follow the verb or replace no.

Adjective agreement

Adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number: un chico alto, una chica alta, unos chicos altos. Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant often do not change for gender.

Preterite regular endings

Regular preterite: -ar verbs hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron; -er and -ir verbs comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron.

Preterite versus imperfect

Preterite marks completed, bounded actions, while imperfect describes background, habits and ongoing states. Ayer llovió reports an event; llovía sets a scene.

Present subjunctive endings

Regular present subjunctive: -ar verbs hable, hables, hable, hablemos, habléis, hablen; -er and -ir verbs coma, comas, coma, comamos, comáis, coman.

Subjunctive triggers

Wishes, doubt, emotion and impersonal evaluations take the subjunctive: espero que vengas, dudo que sea verdad, es importante que estudies. Certainty and fact take the indicative.

Unreal conditional sentences

Si plus imperfect subjunctive plus conditional describes hypothetical situations: Si tuviera dinero, viajaría. The two clauses never both take the same tense in this pattern.

Reported speech tense shift

When reporting speech, present shifts to imperfect, preterite to pluperfect, and future to conditional. Reported yes-no questions begin with si and take no question mark.

Impersonal se

Se plus a third-person verb states general or unspecified actions: Se dice que lloverá, Aquí se habla español. There is no explicit subject.

Passive se agreement

In passive se constructions the verb agrees with the noun: Se vende la casa, Se venden las casas. The agent is usually unexpressed.

Por versus para

Por expresses cause, exchange, duration and movement through; para expresses purpose, destination, deadline and recipient. Compare Gracias por el regalo with Este regalo es para ti.

Future tense endings

Add to the infinitive: -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án, as in hablaré, hablarás. Irregular stems include tendr-, podr-, har- and dir-.

Conditional endings

Add to the infinitive: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían, as in hablaría. The same irregular stems as the future apply, including tendr- and podr-.

Perfect tense formation

Haber in the present plus a past participle: he hablado, has comido, hemos vivido. The participle stays invariable when it follows haber.

Pluperfect tense

Haber in the imperfect plus a past participle: había hablado, habíamos salido. It describes an action completed before another past action.

Relative pronoun que

Que links a clause to a noun: El libro que leí. After a preposition, use el que, la que, los que or las que rather than bare que.

Accent rule: final syllable

A word stressed on its last syllable takes a written accent if it ends in a vowel, n or s: habló, jamón, inglés. Otherwise no accent is written.

Accent rule: penultimate syllable

A word stressed on its penultimate syllable takes a written accent if it ends in a consonant other than n or s: árbol, lápiz. Vowel, n and s endings take none.

Formal register: usted

Usted takes third-person verb forms: ¿Cómo está usted? Its plural is ustedes, also third person. Tú and vosotros are the informal alternatives.

Connectors for essays

Formal writing uses connectors such as sin embargo, por lo tanto, además and en cambio to link ideas. They signal contrast, consequence and addition explicitly.