All Spanish Grammar Rules

Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine, and the article must match: el for masculine, la for feminine. Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and most endin…

Adjectives agree with their noun in gender (-o/-a) and number (-/-s). Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant only mark number, not gender.

Some adjectives drop their final syllable before a masculine singular noun: bueno→buen, malo→mal, primero→primer, alguno→algún, ninguno→ningún. Grande→gran befo…

mi(s) / tu(s) / su(s) (my / your / his-her-their — agree only in number), nuestro/a/os/as and vuestro/a/os/as (our / your-pl — agree in gender AND number). Alwa…

del = de + el, al = a + el. Mandatory contraction whenever `de` or `a` is followed by the masculine singular definite article `el` (but NOT before `Él` the pron…

preposiciones compuestas — adverb + `de` (or `a`) form fixed multi-word prepositions: dentro de, después de, antes de, alrededor de, fuera de, encima de, debajo…

The pretérito perfecto: a present form of haber (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) + past participle (-ado/-ido). Used for past actions connected to the present …

In stressed syllables of present tense, certain verbs change their stem vowel: e→ie (querer→quiero), o→ue (poder→puedo), e→i (pedir→pido). 'Boot' shape: nosotro…

Commands. Affirmative tú commands use the él/ella present form: habla, come, escribe. Eight common verbs are irregular: di, haz, ve, pon, sal, sé, ten, ven. Neg…

Reflexive verbs use a pronoun (me/te/se/nos/os/se) referring back to the subject. Cover self-action ('lavarse'), reciprocal action ('encontrarse'), and change-o…

Both translate as 'to have'. Hay (3sg of haber) = there is/are (existence). Tener = to possess. Haber + past participle = perfect tense auxiliary.

Direction relative to the speaker. Llevar = take (away from here). Traer = bring (toward here).

Both translate as 'to ask'. Pedir is to request a thing or favor. Preguntar is to ask a question seeking information.

Both translate as 'to know'. Saber for facts, information, and learned skills (knowing how). Conocer for being acquainted with people, places, or works.

The simple future tense doubles as a marker of present probability/conjecture. 'Será mi madre' often means 'it must be my mom' rather than 'it will be my mom'.

Both translate as 'for'. Por marks cause, duration, exchange, agent, and movement-through. Para marks purpose, deadline, recipient, and destination.

Past tenses with different aspect. Preterite marks completed events with clear boundaries. Imperfect marks habitual, ongoing, or background past actions.

Both translate as 'to be'. Ser marks identity, origin, profession, time, and inherent properties. Estar marks location, temporary states, and progressive aspect…

Counterfactual statements pair imperfect-subjunctive in the si-clause with conditional in the result clause: `si + imperfect-subj, conditional`.

Coordinators (y, o, pero, sino) and basic subordinators (porque, si, aunque). Note y→e before /i/, o→u before /o/.

Common prepositions beyond por/para: de, a, en, con, sin, sobre, entre, hasta, desde, hacia, contra. Each maps to multiple English prepositions depending on con…

el / la / los / las / lo — definite articles agree with the noun in gender and number. Spanish uses them more than English (e.g. for abstract nouns, body parts,…

un / una / unos / unas — indefinite articles. Often dropped where English keeps them (after `ser` with profession, with `otro`, after negation).

muy / tan / tanto / mucho / poco / demasiado / bastante — modify adjectives, adverbs, or verbs to express degree. Some agree (mucho/mucha/muchos), others don't …

aquí / acá (here), ahí / allí / allá (there), arriba / abajo (up/down), dentro / fuera (inside/outside), encima / debajo (above/below), cerca / lejos (near/far)…

ahora (now), antes / después (before/after), ya (already), todavía / aún (still), siempre / nunca / jamás (always/never), entonces / luego (then), pronto (soon)…

más / menos (more / less) for regular comparatives, mejor / peor / mayor / menor for irregulars (better / worse / older-bigger / younger-smaller). Pattern: `más…

este / ese / aquel — three-way distance (this / that-near-you / that-over-there). Each agrees in gender and number.

además (moreover/also), así (so/thus), también / tampoco (also / neither), incluso (even), casi (almost), sólo / solo (only), aún (still/even — accented = still…

Hace + time expresses 'ago' (past): 'hace dos años' = 'two years ago'. With present tense + que: 'I have been doing X for time'. With negation: 'I haven't done …

algo / nada (something / nothing — neuter, invariable), alguien / nadie (someone / no one — invariable), alguno-a-os-as / ninguno-a (some / none — agree). Negat…

qué, cuál, cómo, dónde, cuándo, quién, por qué, cuánto — interrogative pronouns/adverbs. Always carry a written accent to distinguish from their relative counte…

Periphrastic future. Present of ir + a + infinitive expresses near-future intent. Far more common in speech than the morphological future.

Spanish allows (and requires) double negation: `no … nunca / nada / nadie / ninguno / tampoco / jamás`. Single `nunca` etc. is fine if it precedes the verb.

Both = 'but'. Pero qualifies after a positive statement. Sino contradicts a previous negative ('not X but rather Y'). Sino que before a conjugated verb.

todo / toda / todos / todas (all), algunos / algunas (some), cada (each — invariable), ambos / ambas (both), varios / varias (several). All except `cada` agree …

Both qué and cuál can translate 'what/which'. Use qué directly before a noun (¿qué libro quieres?) and to ask for a definition (¿qué es esto?). Use cuál/cuáles …

que as a relative pronoun (that / which / who). The single most-used connector in Spanish; never dropped the way `that` is in English.

yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas, ustedes — usually omitted because the verb ending shows the person. Used for emphasis or contrast.

como, cuando, donde, mientras, aunque, pues, así que — link a subordinate clause to a main clause. Note the contrast with their accented interrogative twins (cu…

Object pronouns precede a conjugated verb but attach to the end of infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives. Negative imperatives go back to before-the…

DO pronouns: lo/la/los/las (the thing affected). IO pronouns: le/les (the recipient). When stacked, IO precedes DO; le/les becomes 'se' before lo/la/los/las.

Lo is a neuter article that nominalizes adjectives ('lo bueno' = 'the good thing') AND a masculine direct-object pronoun ('lo veo' = 'I see it/him'). Context di…

Direct (me, te, lo, la, nos, os, los, las) and indirect (me, te, le, nos, os, les) object pronouns. Position: before a conjugated verb, attached to infinitives/…

When a direct object refers to a specific person (or beloved pet), Spanish marks it with the preposition a. Doesn't apply to inanimate objects or non-specific p…

The unstressed que has three roles: relative pronoun ('the book that I read'), complementizer ('I think that...'), and comparative ('more than'). Stressed qué i…

que (that — most common, both people and things), quien / quienes (who, whom — only people, mostly after preposition), cuyo/a/os/as (whose — agrees with the thi…

Verbs like gustar, encantar, doler, interesar take an indirect object as their grammatical subject. 'Me gusta el café' literally = 'coffee pleases me'. The verb…

Subjunctive in que-clauses after expressions of: doubt (dudo que), wish (quiero que), emotion (me alegra que), and impersonal expressions (es importante que).