Spanish Grammar

An Introduction to Basic Spanish Grammar

The good news is that Spanish grammar is not, at its roots, enormously complicated. It doesn't suffer from quite the same degrees of irregularity as English or French, say, and so reaching a relative level of proficiency can for most language students be achieved relatively quickly.

To grasp the central tenets of basic Spanish grammar, however - and, in turn, to be proficient in the language, generally - it's essential to have a full understanding of at least the four main tenses of the indicative: the present simple, the future simple, the preterite and the imperfect.

The Present Simple Tense

The present simple (el presente) in Spanish grammar is the most basic and fundamental of all the tenses. It is used to describe a wide variety of things - from actions that are taking place at the time of speaking, to things that are generally held to be true and actions that take place habitually.

The present tense in Spanish is formed as follows:

Tomar - to take:
(yo) tomo
(tú) tomas
(él, ella, ud) toma
(nosotros/as) tomamos
(vosotros/as) tomáis
(ellos/as) toman

Aprender - to learn:
(yo) aprendo
(tú) aprendes
(él, ella, ud) aprende
(nosotros/as) aprendemos
(vosotros/as) aprendéis
(ellos/as) aprenden

Escribir - to write:
(yo) escribo
(tú) escribes
(él, ella, ud) escribe
(nosotros/as) escribimos
(vosotros/as) escribís
(ellos/as) escriben

The Future Simple Tense

The future simple tense (el futuro) in Spanish grammar is used to describe things that are going to happen in the future, and works along the same lines as the future tense in English does with 'shall' and 'will'.

The future tense in Spanish is formed as follows:

Comprar - to buy:
(yo) compraré
(tú) comprarás
(él, ella, ud) comprará
(nosotros/as) compraremos
(vosotros/as) compraréis
(ellos/as) comprarán

Beber - to drink:
(yo) beberé
(tú) beberás
(él, ella, ud) beberá
(nosotros/as) beberemos
(vosotros/as) beberéis
(ellos/as) beberán

Partir - to leave:
(yo) partiré
(tú) partirás
(él, ella, ud) partirá
(nosotros/as) partiremos
(vosotros/as) partiréis
(ellos/as) partirán

The Preterite Tense

The preterite tense (el pretérito indefinido) is used to express a single action that took place entirely in the past (and is now completed).

The preterite tense in Spanish is formed as follows:

Hablar - to speak:
(yo) hablé
(tú) hablaste
(él, ella, ud) habló
(nosotros/as) hablamos
(vosotros/as) hablasteis
(ellos/as) hablaron

Comer - to eat:
(yo) comí
(tú) comiste
(él, ella, ud) comió
(nosotros/as) comimos
(vosotros/as) comisteis
(ellos/as) comieron

Recibir - to receive:
(yo) recibí
(tú) recibiste
(él, ella, ud) recibió
(nosotros/as) recibimos
(vosotros/as) recibisteis
(ellos/as) recibieron

The Imperfect Tense

The difference between the imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) and the preterite tenses is one of the major causes of confusion for students learning Spanish grammar. Unlike the preterite tense, the imperfect is used to express actions that happen repeatedly or habitually in the past. If two actions took place at the same time in the past, the principal action will assume the preterite tense, while the one that took place over an extended or ongoing period will take the imperfect.

The imperfect tense in Spanish is formed as follows:

Andar - to walk:
(yo) andaba
(tú) andabas
(él, ella, ud) andaba
(nosotros/as) andábamos
(vosotros/as) andabais
(ellos/as) andaban

Comer - to eat:
(yo) comía
(tú) comías
(él, ella, ud) comía
(nosotros/as) comíamos
(vosotros/as) comíais
(ellos/as) comían

Abrir - to open:
(yo) abría
(tú) abrías
(él, ella, ud) abría
(nosotros/as) abríamos
(vosotros/as) abríais
(ellos/as) abrían

The ELE teacher has to use grammar in order to teach their students how to communicate in Spanish.

Grammatical competence is essential in the process of acquiring a language, as it encourages our students to express themselves in Spanish in a precise way.

When preparing the curriculum and syllabus for the ELE courses, the teacher should take into account a number of aspects in relation to teaching Spanish grammar to foreigners. In our Spanish lessons we should consider that it is not so much about teaching the grammar, but about teaching how to use the grammar in order to communicate better in Spanish.

The formulas the teacher uses to teach their students to communicate better in Spanish

These aspects include the following:

The grammatical content selection is dependant on the selection of the working content, as we follow a communication criterion.
Present the grammar of a functional form, so as to enable our students to achieve communicative objectives specified in the curriculum plan.
The teacher must have didactic and pedagogic training in order to know how to adapt the content for our students.
The grammar must be explained clearly and briefly.
The selection of grammatical issues must respond to the needs of the ELE students.
Examples and Spanish phrases should be included so as to illustrate grammar usage.
Suggestions on the recordings used should be made.
We must use key mnemonics to help learn Spanish, especially in regard to the conjugation of irregular Spanish verbs.
We have to include games in Spanish to motivate our students.
Using song lyrics in Spanish can explain the use of certain verb tenses.
The teacher must have proper teacher training and constant retraining.