Spanish II Terms GlossaryTerms used when learning any language, with examples of Spanish counterparts.

Article (only goes before nouns)•Definite:

▫Goes before something specific. “The”

“I don’t just want any chair, I want the good one.”▫“El, La, Los, Las”

•Indefinite:▫Goes before a general term.

“A, an, some” “I need a chair.”

▫“Un, Una, Unos, Unas”

Nouns

•People, places, things▫Spanish nouns

Masculine or Feminine Singular or Plural

Adjectives/Adverbs

•Adjectives describe nouns.• Old, new, big, small, smart, silly, easy, difficult,

fast, slow, colors, etc.

•Adverbs describe verbs.▫Quietly, softly, quickly, perfectly,

continually, etc.

Possessive adjectives

•Describe who owns the noun.▫“My, your, his/her, our, their”▫“Mi, tu, su/sus, nuestro (a)(s), su(s)”

Prepositions

•Show relation or place.▫Over the river and through the woods, to

grandmother’s house we go.

To, from, of, around, between, next to, above, below, close, far, through, in, inside, etc.

Verb: Infinitive

•The most basic form of any verb, does not tell who/when. Always has “to” in front of it in English.▫“To run, to be, to go, to sneeze, to sleep”

“Correr, Ser, Ir, Estornudar, Dormir”

I want to sleep.

Verb: Conjugation

•Changing the verb to fit the subject▫The conjugation of the infinitive “To be” is:

I am, you are, he is

•Conjugation in Spanish usually requires you to find the “stem” of the verb, then add certain endings. ▫Infinitive: Estornudar▫Yo estornudo, tú estornudas, nosotros

estornudamos, etc.

Subjects

•Tell who or what does the action.▫To easily find which word is the subject:

first find the VERB and then see who/what is the one doing that.

•“Marie reads the book.”

•“The book has 400 pages.”

Subject Pronouns• Replace subjects if you don’t want to say

names over and over.▫“Marie reads the book.”

Subject = Marie▫“She has been reading it for a long time.

Subject pronoun = She• English subject pronouns:

• I, you, he, she, one, we, they, you all• Spanish subject pronouns:

▫Yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotro(a)s, ellos, ellas, ustedes

Direct Objects•Directly receive the action of the verb.

▫“John reads the book.”•Can also be replaced by pronouns. Which

ones?▫Me, you, him/her, us, them▫Me, te, lo/la, nos, los/las

• John reads the book.• John reads it.

▫“It” is the direct object pronoun that refers to “the book”

Indirect Objects

•Nouns that indirectly receive the action of the verb.▫“I throw the ball.”▫“I throw the ball to Sara.”▫“I throw the ball to her.”

Usually will have a preposition in front of it: to, for, around, from, next to, etc.

Reflexives• Verbs that only relate action done to oneself.• Test to tell: Are the subjects and objects the same?

▫ “I bathe.” Reflexive, because “I” am doing the action, and I am also the one

being cleaned.▫ “I bathe my dog.”

NOT reflexive. I’m doing the work, but the dog is getting clean.• Reflexives in Spanish always have “se” at the end of the

infinitive.▫ Acostarse, lavarse, levantarse, etc.

• When conjugating, take “se” off infinitive and add reflexive pronouns in FRONT.▫ Yo me lavo, Tu te lavas, Ella se lava, Nosotros nos lavamos,

Ellos se lavan.

In-notes practice:

•Copy the sentences in your notes, then draw arrows and label each one.

•I like to study after school.•Cuzco is the oldest city in South America.•My friend told me (that) she is happy.