Spanish Grammar Rules: 7 Tricky Topics and How to Master Them

1. Irregular Spanish Verbs in the Present Tense

Verbs, sweet verbs! You were okay as long as you stuck to the present tense with regular verbs
such as cantar (to sing), comer (to eat) or escribir (to write). And then the unthinkable
happened: You ran into a wall full of irregular verbs.

No need to give up yet! Remember we can always divide a whole into smaller parts, and that
will make our life easier. So when it comes to irregular verbs (verbos irregulares), we can divide
them into four different groups: stem-changing verbs, irregular first person, stem-
changing and irregular first person, and completely irregular verbs.

Stem-changing verbs

Many Spanish verbs change their stem in the present tense indicative mood. Unfortunately,
there is no rule of thumb as to whether a verb will change its stem or not, and we have to learn
their infinitive and their stem change together. However, stem-changing verbs can be divided
into three subgroups, which will make the task much easier.

Here you have the three different subgroups with a conjugated verb as an example, and a list of
other verbs which behave in the same way.

The first and second person plural forms, nosotros and vosotros, do not change their stem, and
the endings are regular in all forms. Easy!

e ie

Example: Preferir (to prefer)

prefiero preferimos
prefieres prefers
prefiere prefieren

Similar verbs: cerrar (to close), empezar (to begin), entender (to understand), perder (to lose),
querer (to want/love)

o ue

Example: Dormir (to sleep)

duermo dormimos
duermes dorms
duerme duermen

Similar verbs: contar (to count), morir (to die), recordar (to remember/remind), volar (to fly)

ei

Example: Pedir (to ask for)

pido pedimos
pides peds
pide piden

Similar verbs: competir (to compete), corregir (to correct), despedir (to say goodbye), rer (to
laugh), servir (to serve)

Irregular first person verbs

Sometimes only the first person singular is irregular. This group of verbs is pretty easy to learn,
because you just have to memorize the infinitive and the irregular first person.

Even inside this group we can find patterns that repeat themselves, the two most important
being zco and go.

Lets have a look at them in action:

-zco verbs

Conocer (to know)

conozco conocemos
conoces conocis
conoce conocen

Traducir (to translate)

traduzco traducimos
traduces traducs
traduce traducen

-go verbs

Hacer (to do/make)

hago hacemos
haces hacis
hace hacen

Poner (to put/place)

pongo ponemos
pones ponis
pone ponen

Irregular first person and stem-changing verbs

Here is where we have the real party! There are some verbs in Spanish which not only have an
irregular first person, but also add a stem change to that.

Fortunately, there are not many verbs that behave this way. But the ones we have are pretty
common, so lets take a look and learn them for good!

Here you have three very interesting examples:

Decir (to tell)
digo decimos
dices decs
dice dicen
(first person -go and e i stem change)

Tener (to have)

tengo tenemos
tienes tenis
tiene tienen
(first person -go and e ie stem change)

Venir (to come)

vengo venimos
vienes vens
viene vienen
(first person -go and e ie stem change)

Completely irregular verbs

There are a couple of verbs that are completely irregular, and boy do they know how to have
fun! The two most common of these verbs are ir (to go) and or (to hear). Here they are:

Ir (to go)
voy vamos
vas vais
va van

Or (to hear)
oigo omos
oyes os
oye oyen

There is another very basic and irregular verb, ser (to be), which together with its brother
estar (to be) keep making the learning road a bit bumpy for most of you. Lets have a look at
them:

2. Ser and Estar

Say what? Spanish has two different verbs that mean to be? Yes! And, well, actually there is a
third Spanish verban impersonal formthat can also be translated as to be: haber hay. Its
used to say there is/are, but more on that another day.

Ser and estar are not only irregular verbs, but using one instead of the other can drastically
change the meaning of a sentence. This is why its so important to learn when to use which to
be verb.

For a more in-depth look at these two verbs, weve written an entire post dedicated to the topic,
or continue on for a quick summary of the basics:
Use ser when identifying or describing people and things, when talking about jobs and
nationality, and when talking about belonging. Take a look at the following examples:

Nosotros somos muy guapos. (We are very handsome.)

Soy camarero. (I am a waiter.)

Mi primo es de Venezuela. (My cousin is from Venezuela.)

Este lpiz es mo. (This pencil is mine.)

On the other hand, use estar when you want to express physical or geographic location,
feelings, and states/conditions (something temporary).

Estoy en la escuela. (I am at school.)

Ellos estn cansados. (They are tired.)

Then there are times when the same adjective can be used with both ser and estar. Sometimes,
the difference is that when used with estar its more temporary, and with ser, more stable. But
many times the meaning of the sentence will change dramatically.

Heres a selection of some of the most important ones:

Ser Estar
Ser aburrido to be boring Estar aburrido to be bored
Ser bueno to be good Estar bueno to be tasty or sexually attractive
Ser cansado to be tiring Estar cansado to be tired
Ser listo to be clever Estar listo to be ready
Ser moreno to be dark-haired Estar moreno to be suntanned
Ser seguro to be safe Estar seguro to be sure
Ser vivo to be lively Estar vivo to be alive

3. Past Tense: Imperfect vs. Indefinite

As you may already know, in Spanish there are two simple past tenses: the imperfect and
the indefinite.

The good news is that the imperfect is quite easy to learn and behaves pretty well. The bad
news is that the indefinite can give you a headache from time to time, especially if you are
dealing with irregular verbs.

Were going to focus on the usage of these tenses, which is the tricky part, and not conjugation.
Besides, you can always easily look up conjugations if you dont have those down yet.

So generally speaking, use the indefinite when you are talking about completed, mostly
one-time actions that started and finished in the past. You will normally have a definite
beginning and end of the action, although they do not necessarily need to appear on the
sentence.

El nio se comi una manzana. (The boy ate an apple.)

I am looking at the action after it took place. It is finished.

Ayer visit a mi abuela. (I visited my grandma yesterday.)

Yesterday is finished, and so is my visit.

On the other hand, use the imperfect when the actions were not seen as completed, were
repeated, or if they can be translated as used to. Think about traveling to the moment in
time described by the imperfect, and you would see an action in progressnot finished. Note
that this past tense is often used for descriptions.

El nio se coma una manzana. (The boy was eating an apple.)

The action was then still in progress.

De pequeo, visitaba a mi abuela cada domingo. (I used to visit grandma every Sunday when I
was a child.)
This is a repeated action in progress for an indefinite number of years.

4. Verbs of Change (To Become)

Los verbos de cambio, or verbs of change, are a group of verbs that can be roughly translated
as to become. Each should be used in a specific context, though. The most important are:

Ponerse: used for involuntary, uncontrollable reactions

Mi vecino se puso furioso. (My neighbor became furious.)

Volverse: used for sudden and profound changes, often negative

Se ha vuelto loco. (He has gone mad.)

Hacerse: used for changes that have been accomplished thanks to ones own effort and
for ideological choices
Se ha hecho rico. (He has made his fortune.)
Se ha hecho judo. (He has become a Jew.)

Quedarse: used mainly for physical ailments and life-changing events

Mi amigo se ha quedado sordo. (My friend went completely deaf.)
Mara se ha quedado embarazada. (Mara has gotten pregnant.)

5. Spanish Prepositions: Por and Para

In general terms, prepositions are easy to understand because they practically work in the same
way both in English and in Spanish. There are, however, two Spanish prepositions which are
easily confused since they both translate to for in English: por and para.

Take into account the following guidelines, and you will never, ever confuse them again:
Use por for the following purposes:

For frequency and velocity: tres veces por semana, 30 kilmetros por hora.

With the meaning of along or through: pasear por la calle, mirar por la ventana.

With the meaning of on behalf of: Lo hice por ti.

With means of communication: por correo, por fax, por telfono.

With the meaning of because of: por el fro, por la fata de tiempo, por tu culpa.

For exchanges and sales: cambiar uno por otro, comprar una camisa por 35 dlares.

To express actions that still need to be completed: los platos por fregar, la casa por
barrer.

To express duration in time: por dos horas, por tres aos, por mucho tiempo.

Finally, there are many expression with por that you need to learn by heart. Here you have
the most common ones:

por fin (at last)

por supuesto (of course)
por lo menos (at least)
por lo visto (apparently)
por m (as far as I am concerned)
por desgracia (unfortunately)
por favor (please)
por si acaso (just in case)

Use para for the following purposes:

With the meaning of in order to: para llegar a tiempo, para ahorrar dinero, para
estar seguro.

With the meaning of intended for: para m, para ti, para la fiesta de cumpleaos.

With destination: El tren para Madrid sale en 10 minutos.

When you want to specify a future moment in time: para el lunes, para maana, para
la semana que viene.

With the meaning of to be about to: Est para llover.

Again, we have some expressions which youd better learn by heart:

para ms inri (to make matters worse)

para siempre (for good)
 para variar (just for a change)
para colmo (on top of that)
para que (so that)

6. Direct and Indirect Pronouns

Using direct and indirect pronouns alone is quite straightforward.

You may already know the direct pronoun substitutes the direct object and answers the
questions Who? or What?, while the indirect pronoun substitutes the indirect object and
answers the questions To whom? or For whom?.

Here you have a table with all the direct and indirect pronouns:

Indirect Object Direct Object

English Equivalent
Pronouns Pronouns
me me me
te te you (familiar)
le lo, la him, her, it, you (formal)
nos nos us
os os you all (familiar)
les los, las them, you all (formal)

Now lets look at the following sentence:

Antonio enva cartas

(Antonio sends letters).

If we ask What does Antonio send? the answer is cartas. There is your direct object.
According to the table above, the direct object pronoun for third person feminine plural is las, so
when you do the change in the sentence you will have the following:

Antonio las enva.

(Antonio sends them.)

Remember that we always insert the pronoun in front of the verb, unless in the case of two
exceptions explained farther down.

Now imagine the following sentence:

Antonio enva cartas a Mara.

(Antonio sends letters to Mara.)

To whom does Antonio send letters? To Mara (a Mara). Mara is your indirect object, which
according to the table will be substituted by le (third person feminine singular):
Antonio le enva cartas.
(Antonio sends letters to her.)

It can feel confusing when we need to use both direct and indirect pronouns in the same
sentence. But follow these rules and youll get it right every time:

1. The indirect pronoun always comes first.

I always remember the Spanish order of pronouns with the word RID: reflexive, indirect, direct.
As you can see, indirect pronouns always come before direct, like in this example:

Antonio se las enva.*

*Wait! I thought wed said the indirect pronoun was le, so why did it change to se? Well,
check out rule #2:

2. When we have two pronouns in a row beginning with the letter L, change the first
one (indirect) to se.

Antonio se las enva.

(Antonio sends them to her).

3. If you have a negative sentence, the negative word always comes directly before the
first pronoun.

Antonio no se las enva.

(Antonio does not send them to her).

Antonio nunca se las enva.

(Antonio never sends them to her).

4. Since se can have different meanings, it is always helpful to add a prepositional

phrase to the sentence:

Antonio se las enva a ella.

(Antonio sends them to her.)

Exceptions

There are two situations when the pronouns can act differently. If you have a conjugated verb
next to an infinitive in the sentence, you can choose if you want to put the pronouns either
before the conjugated verb or attached to the infinitive/gerund:

Antonio se las quiere enviar.

Antonio quiere envirselas.
(Antonio wants to send them to her).
Antonio se las est enviando.
Antonio est envindoselas.
(Antonio is sending them to her).

Finally, if you have an imperative form, you need to attach the pronouns to the end of it:

Envaselas! (Send them to her!)

7. Gustar: To Like

Gustar and other similar verbs constitute a group of special verbs that do not act normally.
Lets first take a look at how we use to like in English sentences:

I like dogs.
I = subject
like = verb
dogs = direct object

He likes Spanish movies.

He = subject
likes = verb
Spanish movies = direct object

So when talking about likes in English, we use the subject plus the verb (to like), followed by the
object that is liked. But this is not the case in Spanish!

Take a look at the Spanish equivalents of our first two examples, and pay special attention to
the literal English translations:

Me gustan los perros. (I like dogs.)

Literal translation: Dogs are pleasing to me.
me = indirect object
gustan = verb
los perros = subject

A l le gustan las pelculas espaolas. (He likes Spanish movies.)

Literal translation: Spanish movies are pleasing to him.
A l le = indirect object
gustan = verb
las pelculas espaolas = subject

See the difference in how the sentence is constructed? In I like dogs, I is the subject. But in
the Spanish equivalence, dogs is the subject. So our English object becomes the Spanish
subject! Now just give yourself a minute to wrap your head around that.

Once you understand the difference, its not too difficult, but initially getting used to the change
in structure can take some time.
There are two very important things that you need to remember if you want to use gustar and
other similar verbs:

1. The English subject will always correspond to the Spanish indirect object:

I like apples Me gustan las manzanas.

(Apples are pleasing to me.)

You like apples Te gustan las manzanas.

(Apples are pleasing to you.)

You (pl.) like apples Os gustan las manzanas.

(Apples are pleasing to you guys.)

2. The verb in Spanish will always have one of two possible forms: singular (gusta) or
plural (gustan). When the subject is singular (the thing that is liked), use gusta, and when the
subject is plural, use gustan.

Me gusta la manzana (I like the apple.)

The subject apple is singular.

Me gusta comer la manzana (I like to eat the apple).

When the subject is an infinitive (in this case, comer), we use the singular.

Me gustan las manzanas (I like the apples).

The subject apples is plural.

Me gusta comer las manzanas. (I like to eat the apples.)

We have an infinitive as our subject again, so we need to use the singular gusta!

There are sometimes situations when we want to emphasize who is doing the liking. In those
cases, we may add a prepositional phrase with a at the beginning of the sentence:

A m me gustan las manzanas.

A ti te gustan las manzanas.

A ellos les gustan las manzanas.

If this is the first youve seen of gustar, stick with the information above until youre comfortable
with the construction.

For curious and more advanced learners, know that there is a similar verb in Spanish,
gustarse, which is a reflexive verb. Many people use it incorrectly thinking this is the real
infinitive of the verb gustar, but it is not!

As a reflexive verb, the verb gustarse has the same direct object and subject:

Yo me gusto. (I like myself).

T te gustas. (You like yourself).

l se gusta. (He likes himself).

Finally, you may be wondering how you can say in Spanish that you like somebody. This is
probably the most complicated part of all this, but pay attention and you will be flirting in Spanish
in no time!

Just take a look at these examples and explanations to get the picture:

Me gustas (t) (I like you.)

Literally: You are pleasing to me.

Te gusta (l) (You like him.)

Literally: He is pleasing to you.

Nos gustan (ellos) (We like them.)

Literally: They are pleasing to us.

And now you are ready to go! Remember that Spanish grammar is not a monster. There may be
times when you feel lost (which is natural, by the way), but if you keep in mind the above rules,
life will be easier for you.

Heres something to try: Step away from this post, let it all sink in, practice by watching your
favorite shows and movies in Spanish, and then come back and re-read this article in a week or
two. I think youll enjoy how much clearer it all is!

And now give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back, because youre that much closer to
having tackled Spanishs trickiest grammar topics. Well done!