Spanish Grammar Overview

Nouns

Nouns in Spanish have gender and number:

• Gender: Nouns are either masculine (el) or feminine (la).

• Number: Nouns can be singular or plural (e.g., el libro - los libros).

Articles

Articles in Spanish agree with the noun in gender and number:

• Definite Articles: el (masculine singular), la (feminine singular), los (masculine plural), las (feminine plural).

• Indefinite Articles: un (masculine singular), una (feminine singular), unos (masculine plural), unas (feminine plural).

Adjectives

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify:

• Example: un coche rojo (a red car), una casa roja (a red house).

Verbs

Spanish verbs are conjugated based on tense and subject:

• Regular Verbs: Follow consistent patterns (e.g., hablar, comer, vivir).

• Irregular Verbs: Do not follow standard conjugation rules (e.g., ser, ir, tener).

Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns and must agree in gender and number:

• Subject Pronouns: yo (I), tú (you), él/ella (he/she), nosotros/nosotras (we), ellos/ellas (they).

• Object Pronouns: me (me), te (you), lo/la (him/her), nos (us), los/las (them).

Sentence Structure

The typical sentence structure in Spanish is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO):

• Example: Yo como manzanas (I eat apples).

Questions

To form questions, you can invert the subject and verb or use question words:

• Example: ¿Tú comes manzanas? (Do you eat apples?)

• Question Words: qué (what), quién (who), dónde (where), cuándo (when), por qué (why), cómo (how).

Conclusion

Understanding these basic elements of Spanish grammar will help you construct sentences and communicate effectively in Spanish.