Spanish III Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar

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41. Useful Expressions

hay	there is / are
había	there was / were
hay que + infinitive	it is necessary to + infinitive
tener que + infinitive	to have to / must + infinitive
tener ganas de + infinitive	to want to + infinitive
ir a + infinitive	to be going to + infinitive
acabar de + infinitive	to have just + past participle
hace + time	time + ago
volver a + infinitive	to do (infinitive) again
seguir + present participle	to go on, continue + present participle / still + infinitive

Tienen que descansar. They have to rest.
Te sigo amando. I still love you.
No lo voy a volver a ver. I'm not going to see him again.

42. Progressive Tenses

The progressive tense indicates an action that is ongoing. It is formed by using estar (in any tense) with a present participle. Present participles are formed by dropping the ending of the verb, and adding the following endings to the stem:

*Present Participles*
-ar	-ando
-er	-iendo
-ir	-iendo

Juan está hablando. Juan is talking.
Estaban cantando. They were singing.
Estuve escribiendo una carta. I was writing a letter.

A few irregular present participles are: poder - pudiendo, dormir - durmiendo, sentir - sintiendo, venir - viniendo, pedir - pidiendo, leer - leyendo, ir - yendo, reír - riendo.

43. Haber

**haber - to have** (auxiliary verb)
	present: have, has	preterite: had	imperfect: had	future: will have
(yo)	he	hube	había	habré
(tú / vos)	has	hubiste	habías	habrás
(él / ella / usted)	ha	hubo	había	habrá
(nosotros / nosotras)	hemos	hubimos	habíamos	habremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	habéis	hubisteis	habíais	habréis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	han	hubieron	habían	habrán

This verb does not mean to possess (that is tener); but it is used in perfect tenses as an auxiliary verb.

44. Present & Past Perfect

The present perfect tense is a compound tense using haber with a past participle. (Haber is only used as a helping verb; it is never used to show possession.) This tense can be translated as "have/has + past participle." Please note that the preterite tense is used more often than the present perfect when expressing the past, especially in Latin America.

Past participles are formed by dropping the infinitive ending, and adding these endings:

*Past Participles*
-ar -er -ir	-ado -ido -ido

The following verbs have irregular past participles: abrir (to open) - abierto (opened); escribir (to write) - escrito (written); morir (to die) - muerto (died); poner (to put) - puesto (put); ver (to see) - visto (seen); volver (to return) - vuelto (returned); decir (to say) - dicho (said); hacer (to do) - hecho (done).

No han vendido la casa. They have not sold the house.
Dónde ha puesto Ud. la llave? Where have you put the key?
Hemos ganado mucho dinero. We have earned a lot of money.
Qué ha dicho Ud.? What did you say?

The past perfect tense corresponds to the English "had + past participle." It indicates an event that happened prior to another event in the past. It consists of the imperfect of haber and a past participle. Sometimes the preterite of haber is used, but the imperfect is more common.

Carlos había vivido en México. Carlos had lived in Mexico.
Habíamos aprendido el español. We had learned Spanish.

45. Places

airport	el aeropuerto	inn	la posada
bakery	la panadería	lane (town)	la calleja
bank	el banco	library	la biblioteca
bar	el bar	market	el mercado
barn	el granero	ministry	el ministerio
barracks	el cuartel	monument	el monumento
bench	el banco	museum	el museo
bridge	el puente	palace	el palacio
bookstore	la librería	path	la senda
building	el edificio	pavement	la acera
butcher's	la carnicería	pharmacy	la farmacia
castle	el castillo	pier	el muelle
cathedral	la catedral	police station	la comisaría
cemetery	el cementerio	port	el puerto
church	la iglesia	prison	la prisión
cinema	el cine	restaurant	el restaurante
consulate	el consulado	road (highway)	la carretera / la vía
corner	la esquina	school	la escuela
courtyard	el patio	sidewalk	la acera
crosswalk	el cruce peatonal	square	la plaza
dock	la dársena	stable	la cuadra
dry cleaner's	la tintorería	stadium	el estadio
embassy	la embajada	stop sign	la señal de alto
factory	la fábrica	store	la tienda
farm	la granja	street	la calle
fire hydrant	la boca de agua	suburb	el barro residencial
fountain	la fuente	theater	el teatro
garage	el garaje	tower	la torre
grocery store	el supermercado	town	la ciudad
hospital	el hospital	town hall	el ayuntamiento
hotel	el hotel	traffic light	el semáforo
house	la casa	university	la universidad
hut	la cabaña	village	el pueblo

In Mexico, the square in many towns is called el zócalo.

Addresses in the Spanish-speaking world use the name of the street first, then the number of the building.

46. Transportation

by bus	en autobús
by bicycle	en bicicleta
by car	en carro / en coche
by motorcycle	en motocicleta
by subway	en metro
by taxi	en taxi
by plane	en avión
by train	en tren
by boat	en barco
on foot	a pie

El carro is used in Latin America and el coche is used in Spain. In addition, the verb to drive is manejar in Latin America but conducir in Spain.

Bus can also be la guagua (Cuba), la camioneta (Colombia and Venezuela) or el camión (Mexico) - but el camión means truck in other countries. A longer bus in Cuba is el camello and in Mexico it is el gusano.

47. To Want, to Be Able to, to Have to

querer - to want
	present: want(s)	preterite: wanted	imperfect: wanted	future: will want
(yo)	quiero	quise	quería	querré
(tú / vos)	quieres / querés	quisiste	querías	querrás
(él / ella / usted)	quiere	quiso	quería	querrá
(nosotros / nosotras)	queremos	quisimos	queríamos	querremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	queréis	quisisteis	queríais	querréis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	quieren	quisieron	querían	querrán
poder - to be able to, can
	present: am/is/are able to; can	preterite: was/were able to; could	imperfect: was/were able to; could	future: will be able to
(yo)	puedo	pude	podía	podré
(tú / vos)	puedes / podés	pudiste	podías	podrás
(él / ella / usted)	puede	pudo	podía	podrá
(nosotros / nosotras)	podemos	pudimos	podíamos	podremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	podéis	pudisteis	podíais	podréis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	pueden	pudieron	podían	podrán
deber - to have to, must
	present: has/have to; must	preterite: had to	imperfect: had to	future: will have to
(yo)	debo	debí	debía	deberé
(tú / vos)	debes / debés	debiste	debías	derberás
(él / ella / usted)	debe	debió	debía	deberá
(nosotros / nosotras)	debemos	debimos	debíamos	deberemos
(vosotros / vosotras )	debéis	debisteis	debíais	deberéis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	deben	debieron	debían	deberán

Querer and poder, as well as saber, tener and entender, are used in the imperfect when there are simultaneous actions or an interrupted action in the past. The preterite is used when an action suddenly happened.

Another form of querer that is quite useful is the imperfect subjunctive. This conjugation can translate to would like + noun or infinitive, so it is handy to know for making requests and being polite.

would like
(yo)	quisiera
(tú / vos)	quisieras
(él / ella / usted)	quisiera
(nosotros / nosotras)	quisiéramos
(vosotros / vosotras )	quisierais
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	quisieran

48. House & Furniture

alarm clock	el despertador	hook	el gancho
armchair	el sillón	house	la casa
ashtray	el cenicero	iron (flat)	la plancha
attic	el desván	kerosene	el petróleo
balcony	el balcón	key	la llave
basement	el sótano	kitchen	la cocina
basket	la cesta	ladder	la escalera
bathroom	el baño	lamp	la lámpara
bathtub	la bañera	lawn	el césped
batteries	las pilas	light bulb	la bombilla
bed	la cama	living room	la sala
bedroom	la alcoba / el dormitorio	lock	la cerradura
bell (door)	la campanilla	mailbox	el buzón
blanket	la cobija	matches	las cerillas
blinds	la persiana	mattress	el colchón
bookcase	la librería	microwave oven	el horno microondas
box	la caja	mirror	el espejo
broom	la escoba	oven	el horno
bucket	el balde	pantry	la despensa
camcorder	la cámara	picture	el cuadro
camera	la máquina de fotos	pillow	la almohada
candle	la vela	pipe (smoking)	la pipa
carpet	la alfombra	pipe (water)	el tubo
cassette	la cinta	poker	el atizador
CD player	el lector de CD	radio	la radio
ceiling	el techo	record	el disco
chair	la silla	refrigerator	el refrigerador
chimney	la chimenea	roof	el tejado
cigar	el puro / el cigarro	room	el cuarto
cigarette	el cigarrillo	rug	la alfombra
clock	el reloj	sheet	la sábana
closet	el armario	shelf	el estante
compact disc	el disco compacto	shovel	la pala
computer	la computadora	shower	la ducha
corner	el rincón	sideboard	el aparador
cupboard	la alacena	sink	el fregadero
curtain	la cortina	sink (bathroom)	el lavabo
cushion	el cojín	sitting room	la sala
desk	el escritorio	smoke	el humo
dining room	el comedor	sofa	el sofá
door	la puerta	stairs	las escaleras
drawer	el cajón	steps	los escalones
dresser	el tocador	story	el piso
driveway	la entrada del garaje	stove	la estufa
DVD player	el lector de DVD	study	el estudio
fence	la cerca	switch	el conmutador
film	la película	table	la mesa
fire	el fuego	tap (faucet)	el grifo
flame	la llama	telephone	el teléfono
flashlight	la linterna	television	el televisor
flat	el apartamento	toaster	la tostadora
floor	el suelo	toilet (WC)	el inodoro
floor (levels)	el piso / la planta	towel	la toalla
flower	la flor	vacuum cleaner	el aspirador
freezer	el congelador	vase	el jarrón
front walk	la vereda	VCR	el magnetoscopio
furniture	los muebles	wall (house)	el muro
garage	el garaje	wall (room)	la pared
garden	el jardín	window	la ventana
ground floor	la planta baja	yard	el jardín
hearth	la chimenea

49. Comparative & Superlative

Comparisons are expressed as follows:

más [adjective] que	more [adjective] than
menos [adjective] que	less [adjective] than
tan [adjective] como	as [adjective] as
tanto (-a, -os, -as) [noun] como	as much/many [noun] as

El gato es menos inteligente que el perro. The cat is less intelligent than the dog.
Mi prima tiene más discos que nadie. My cousin has more records than anyone.
No tengo tanto dinero como ustedes. I don't have as much money as you.

To form comparatives, just add más or menos before the adjective or adverb. To form the superlative, place the definite article before the comparative. Note that de is used to express in after a superlative.

más alta taller
la más alta the tallest
Rosa es la niña más alta de la clase. Rosa is the tallest girl in the class.

50. Irregular Forms

Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms. The most common are:

Adjective/Adverb		Comparative		Superlative
good	bueno	better	mejor	the best	el mejor
bad	malo	worse	peor	the worst	el peor
great	grande	greater	mayor	the greatest	el mayor
small	pequeño	less	menor	the least	el menor
well	bien	better	mejor	best	el mejor
badly	mal	worse	peor	worst	el peor
much	mucho	more	más	most	el más
little	poco	less	menos	least	el menos

Note that the bueno and malo change according to gender and number while grande and pequeño change according to gender. The adverbs (the last four) do not agree with the noun.

51. Clothing

apron	el delantal	pants	los pantalones
barrette	el pasador	pin	el alfiler
bathrobe	la bata	pocket	el bolsillo
belt	el cinturón	purse	el bolso
blouse	la blusa	raincoat	el impermeable
boot	la bota	ring	el anillo
bracelet	la pulsera	sandals	las sandalias
brush	un cepillo del pelo	scarf	la bufanda
buckle	la hebilla	shirt	la camisa
button	el botón	shoe	el zapato
cap	el gorro	shoelace	el cordón
clothes	la ropa	shorts	los pantalones cortos
coat	el abrigo	silk	la seda
collar	el cuello	skirt	la falda
comb	el peine	sleeve	la manga
cotton	el algodón	slippers	las pantuflas
dress	el vestido	soap	el jabón
earmuffs	las orejaras	sock	los calcetines
earrings	el arete	stocking	la media
fashion	la moda	suit	el traje
glasses	los lentes	sunglasses	las gafas de sol
glove	el guante	suspenders	los tirantes
handbag	el bolso	sweater	el jersey
handkerchief	el pañuelo	sweatsuit	el chándal
hat	el sombrero	swimsuit	el traje de baño
jacket	la cazadora	tie	la corbata
jeans	los vaqueros	T-shirt	la camiseta
mittens	los mitones	umbrella	el paraguas
necklace	el collar	underwear	la ropa interior
nightgown	el camisón	waistcoat	el chaleco
overcoat	el sobretodo	watch	el reloj
pajamas	los pijamas	wool	la lana

52. To Wear

llevar - to wear
	present: wear(s)	preterite: wore	imperfect: wore	future: will wear
(yo)	llevo	llevé	llevaba	llevaré
(tú / vos)	llevas	llevaste	llevabas	llevarás
(él / ella / usted)	lleva	llevó	llevaba	llevará
(nosotros / nosotras)	llevamos	llevamos	llevábamos	llevaremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	lleváis	llevasteis	llevabais	llevaréis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	llevan	llevaron	llevaban	llevarán

ponerse - to put on
	present: put(s) on	preterite: put on	imperfect: put on	future: will put on
(yo)	me pongo	me puse	me ponía	me pondré
(tú / vos)	te pones / te ponés	te pusiste	te ponías	te pondrás
(él / ella / usted)	se pone	se puso	se ponía	se pondrá
(nosotros / nosotras)	nos ponemos	nos pusimos	nos poníamos	nos pondremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	os ponéis	os pusisteis	os poníais	os pondréis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	se ponen	se pusieron	se ponían	se pondrán

Use the definite article rather than possessive pronouns when referring to parts of the body or clothing.

Llevar has many other translations in English: to carry, bring, take, bear, lead, drive, run, etc.

53. Future Tense

The future of regular verbs (will + infinitive in English) is formed by adding the following endings to the infinitive of all verbs:

(yo)	-é
(tú / vos)	-ás
(él / ella / usted)	-á
(nosotros / nosotras)	-emos
(vosotros / vosotras )	-éis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	-án

Many verbs use irregular stems in the future tense, but they still use the regular endings from above:

caber (to fit)	cabr-	cabré	I will fit
decir (to say, tell)	dir-	dirás	you will tell
haber (to have)	habr-	habrá	s/he will have
hacer (to do, make)	har-	haremos	we will do
poder (to be able)	podr-	podréis	you will be able to
poner (to put, place)	pondr-	pondrán	they will put
querer (to want)	querr-	querré	I will want
saber (to know)	sabr-	sabrás	you will know
salir (to leave, go out)	saldr-	saldrá	s/he will leave
tener (to have, to own)	tendr-	tendremos	we will have
valer (to be worth)	valdr-	valdréis	you will be worth
venir (to come)	vendr-	vendrán	they will come

54. Conditional

The conditional expresses an idea that is dependent on a something else. It can also refer to the past when it expresses probability. It is usually translated by would + infinitive in English, i.e. I would go to Mexico but I don't have enough money. Although would + infinitive is often used in English to talk about past actions as a substitute for used to (When we were young, we would/used to go to the lake every weekend), this usage is not the conditional but rather the imperfect.

To form the present conditional, add these endings to the infinitive for all verbs. Verbs that had irregular stems in the future tense also use that stem for the conditional tense. You will notice that these endings are the same as for the imperfect. The difference is that the conditional adds them to the infinitive, whereas the imperfect adds them to the stem.

(yo)	-ía
(tú / vos)	-ías
(él / ella / usted)	-ía
(nosotros / nosotras)	-íamos
(vosotros / vosotras )	-íais
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	-ían

Notice that for half of the conjugations, the -í- is the only distinguishing sound between the future and conditional: sabrá = he will know vs. sabría = he would know

Yo diría la verdad. I would tell the truth.

55. Adjectives

Adjectives must agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun they describe, and they are placed after the noun.

In general, masculine adjectives end in -o and feminine adjectives end in -a: blanco and blanca (white).

Adjectives that end in -ín, -án, -ón, -dor, -tor and -sor in the masculine will add an -a for the feminine.

Adjectives that end in -ete for the masculine will end in -eta for the feminine.

Adjectives of nationality add -a to the masculine to form the feminine: francés - francesa (French).Notice that when you add -a, the adjective is no longer written with an accent.

To form the plural of adjectives, follow the same rules for forming the plural of nouns.

Most adjectives follow the noun they describe, but the following adjectives drop the final -o if placed before a masculine noun in the singular: bueno - good; malo - bad; alguno - some; ninguno - no, any; uno - one; primero - first; tercero - third

When grande means great, it precedes the noun and drops the -de before a singular noun of either gender. Santo (saint) drops the -to before all masculine nouns, except those beginning with Do- or To-.

56. More Adjectives

large	grande	high, tall	alto
small	pequeño	low, short	bajo
long	largo	pretty	lindo, bonito
short	corto	beautiful	hermoso
good	bueno	ugly	feo
bad	malo	wide	ancho
rich	rico	narrow	estrecho
poor	pobre	heavy	pesado
strong	fuerte	light	ligero
weak	débil	hard	duro
easy	fácil	soft	blando
difficult	difícil	sweet	dulce
fat	gordo	sour	agrio
thin	delgado	bitter	amargo

When any form of the definite article is placed before an adjective, then the adjective becomes a noun.

pobre - poor; el pobre - the poor man

If the neuter article lo is placed before a singular masculine adjective, the latter becomes an abstract noun.

bueno - good; lo bueno - the good (everything that is good)

57. Sports

ball	la pelota	pool	la piscina
game	el juego	basketball	el básquetbol / el baloncesto
match	el partido	tennis	el tenis
team	el equipo	swimming	la natación
player	el jugador	boxing	el boxeo
soccer	el fútbol	wrestling	la lucha
football	el fútbol americano	hockey	el hockey
baseball	el béisbol	volleyball	el vóleibol
racket	una raqueta	net	una red
ball (small)	una pelota	cleats	unos zapatos de fútbol
bat	un bate	skis	unos esquís
glove	un guante	ski poles	unos bastones
ball	un balón	boots	unas botas
basketball hoop	una canasta	helmet	el casco

El básquetbol is used in Latin America, while el baloncesto is used in Spain.

58. Nature

air	el aire	moon	la luna
archipelago	el archipiélago	mountain	la montaña
bank	la orilla	mountain range	la sierra
bay	la bahía	mouth (river)	la desembocadura
barn	el granero	mud	el barro
beach	la playa	nature	la naturaleza
branch	la rama	north	el norte
bridge	el puente	peninsula	la península
bud	el capullo	plain	el llano
bush	el arbusto	planet	el planeta
cape	el cabo	plant	la planta
cave	la cueva	pond	el estanque
city	la ciudad	pot (for plants)	la maceta
climate	el clima	rain	la lluvia
cloud	la nube	rainbow	el arco iris
coast	la costa	river	el río
comet	el cometa	rock	la roca
constellation	la constelación	root	la raíz
country	el país	rose	la rosa
country(side)	el campo	sand	la arena
current	la corriente	sea	el mar
daffodil	el narciso	shadow	la sombra
daisy	la margarita	sky	el cielo
darkness	la obscuridad	snow	la nieve
desert	el desierto	soil	el suelo
dew	el rocío	south	el sur
dust	el polvo	spring (water)	la fuente
earth	la tierra	star	la estrella
east	el este	stem	el tallo
farm	la granja	storm	la tormenta
field	el campo	strait	el aprieto
flower	la flor	stream	el arroyo
foam	la espuma	street	la calle
fog	le niebla	sun	el sol
foliage	el follaje	sunflower	el girasol
forest	el bosque	thaw	el deshielo
frost	la helada	thunder	el trueno
grass	la hierba	tornado	el tornado
gulf	el golfo	tree	el árbol
hail	el granizo	trunk	el tronco
hay	el heno	tulip	el tulipán
high tide	la marea alta	valley	el valle
hill	la colina	view	la vista
ice	el hielo	water	el agua (f)
island	la isla	fresh water	el agua dulce
isthmus	el istmo	salt water	el agua salada
jungle	la jungla	watering can	la regadera
lake	el lago	waterfall	la cascada
leaf	la hoja	wave	la ola
light	la luz	weather	el tiempo
lightning	el relámpago	west	el oeste
lily	la azucena	wind	el viento
low tide	la marea baja	world	el mundo
meadow	el prado

59. To Say & to Go Out

decir - to say / tell
	present: say(s), tell(s)	preterite: said, told	imperfect: said, told	future: will say, tell
(yo)	digo	dije	decía	diré
(tú / vos)	dices / decís	dijiste	decías	dirás
(él / ella / usted)	dice	dijo	decía	dirá
(nosotros / nosotras)	decimos	dijimos	decíamos	diremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	decís	dijisteis	decíais	diréis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	dicen	dijeron	decían	dirán

salir - to go out
	present: go(es) out	preterite: went out	imperfect: went out	future: will go out
(yo)	salgo	salí	salía	saldré
(tú / vos)	sales / salís	saliste	salías	saldrás
(él / ella / usted)	sale	salió	salía	saldrá
(nosotros / nosotras)	salimos	salimos	salíamos	saldremos
(vosotros / vosotras )	salís	salisteis	salíais	saldréis
(ellos / ellas / ustedes)	salen	salieron	salían	saldrán

Decir also has irregular participles: dicho (said/told); diciendo (saying/telling)

60. Para vs. Por & Pero vs. Sino

Para is used to express: use or destination (for), purpose (in order to); point of future time (for, by) and to be about to (estar para + infinitive - though this is not used in all varieties of Spanish.)

La carta es para Concha. The letter is for Concha.
Estudia para aprender. He studies in order to learn.
Lo tendré para el martes. I will have it by Tuesday.
Juan está para salir. John is about to leave. (not used in all varieties of Spanish)

Por is used to express: a place through or along which; expressions of time (in, during, at); exchange, price (for); unit of measure (by, per); way or means (by); because of, on account of, for; to go for, to send for; on behalf of, for the sake of; motive, reason. It is also used after a passive verb to indicate the agent (by) and estar por + infinitive indicates what remains to be done or to be in favor of.

por el pueblo through the town
por la mañana in the morning
Pagó un peso por el libro. He paid a dollar for the book.
Se vende por libras. It's sold by the pound.
Voy por tren. I'm going by train.
Voy por Alicia. I'm going for Alice.
Voté por Juanita. I voted for Juanita.
Fue escrito por Cervantes. It was written by Cervantes.
La carta está por escribir. The letter is yet to be written.
Estoy por escribirla. I am in favor of writing it.

Pero (but) usually follows an affirmative expression, but may follow a negative statement if the verb of the first clause is repeated, or if another verb follows.

Bebe leche pero no bebe café. He drinks milk, but he does not drink coffee.

Sino (but) is only used in negative sentences of contrasting statements when the verb of the first clause is understood but not repeated.

No bebe café sino leche. He does not drink coffee, but milk.