The Learn Spanish Live Online Network

DIMINUTIVES - DIMINUTIVOS What are DIMINUTIVES? Diminutives are suffixes (i.e. little particles that are attached  to the root of a word). By adding a diminutive suffix to a noun, adjective, adverb or even a name, we can convey ideas of smallness, affection, irony, ridicule, humor or pity. Common Spanish diminutives: -ito -cito -ecito -illo -cillo -ecillo RULES The two main diminutives are -ito and -illo, A In most cases, we just drop the final vowel and add -ito or -illo. Sara Sarah Sarita Little Sarah hijo son hijito little son pollo chicken pollito little chicken B One-syllable words that end in a consonant take -ecito or -ecillo: pan bread panecillo bread roll pez fish pececillo little fish C Those words that have more than one syllable and end in E, N, R or a stress vowel add -cito or -cillo: pobre poor probrecito poor thing mujer woman mujercita little woman mamá mother mamacita cute little mommy (sexual connotation, usually said as a complement to a. Read More...

THERE IS/ THERE ARE - HAY HAY is the Spanish equivalent for THERE IS / THERE ARE Hay un hombre detrás del árbol. There is a man behind the tree. Hay tres niñas en su clase. There are three girls in his class. Hay un problema en la oficina. There is a problem at the office. When HAY is followed by QUE, it means IT IS NECESSARY TO, or ONE HAS TO. Hay que trabajar. You have to work - It is necessary to work Hay que comprar una nueva computadora. It is necessary to buy a new computer. Hay que vender esta propiedad. It is necessary to sell this property. Back to the Grammar. Read More...

NEGATION - LA NEGACIÓN Whenever we want to make a negative statement in Spanish, we just add the word NO in front of theverb: Example: ¿No tienes cambio? Si, tengo cambio. Don't  you have change? Yes, I have change. No quiero trabajar. I do not want to work. Mis amigos no fueron a la fiesta. My friends did not go to the party. No estoy loco. I am not crazy. There are also many negative words and expressions: nunca / jamás never Enrique nunca / jamás estudia. nunca más never/ever again / no more No voy a pelear contigo nunca más. (*) I will not fight with you ever again. tampoco neither Susana no estudia tampoco. Susana does not study either. Ni.... ni /No.... ni neither.... nor Ni Juan ni Pedro trabajan... or... No trabajan Juan ni Pedro. Neither Juan nor Pedro work. nadie no one No hay nadie aquí. (*) There is no one here. en ninguna parte / en ningún lado nowhere / anywhere No puedo encontrarlo en ningúnlado(*) I cannot find it anywhere. nada nothing / anything No se nada.(*) I do not know anything. I know. Read More...

Definition: A noun is a word that represents a thing, either concrete (e.g., a computer, a sofa) or abstract (a desire, success). In Spanish, all nouns have a gender, in other words they are either masculine or feminine. Usually, the ending gives us information about the gender: ENDINGS... GENDER EXAMPLES -o masculine perro (male dog) -a feminine perra (female dog) -ión feminine meditación (meditation) -tad feminine amistad (friendship) There are some exceptions, but in over 95% of the cases these rules apply. For that reason, if you are starting to study Spanish, do not worry much about those exceptions. You will learn them as you go! Pluralizing Nouns In most cases, in Spanish we pluralize nouns by attacing "S" to the noun. Examples: casa (house)        casas perro                     perros If the noun ends in... ...add... Examples ...a vowel... ...S hombre hombres niña niñas ...any consonant except Z... ...ES mujer ... mujeres mes ...         meses ...Z, we change the Z to a C and... ...ES pez ...            peces lápiz ...      lápices If the noun ends in... ...add... Examples ...a vowel... ...S hombre hombres niña niñas ...any. Read More...

In Spanish, all nouns have a gender; they are either masculine or feminine. Usually, the ending gives us information about the gender: ENDINGS... GENDER EXAMPLES -o masculine perro (male dog) -a feminine perra (female dog) -ión feminine meditación (meditation) -tad feminine amistad (friendship) However, there are some exceptions to these rulse, but in over 95% of the cases these rules apply. Let's have a quick look at them! Note: If you are a beginning student, skip this. Focus more on the generalities of the language, rather than on the exceptions, which, in the best of cases, account for a mere 5% of the total use of the language. Masculine nouns that end in A Feminine nouns that end in O el clima el cometa el cura el drama el día el enigma el fantasma el idioma el artista el mapa el planeta el poema el problema el programa climate comet priest drama day enigma ghost language artist map planet poem problem program la dínamo la foto la mano la moto dynamo photograph . Read More...

As we have seen, In Spanish, all nouns have a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number (singular or plural) Today we will learn how to make Spanish plural nouns: RULE # 1 If the noun ends in a vowel, add S. Examples: perro~ perros niño ~ niños computadora ~ computadoras RULE #2 If the noun ends in a Z, change theZ to a C and add ES. Examples: matiz ~ matices vez ~ veces voz ~ voces RULE #3 If the noun ends in any consonant but Z, add ES. Examples: valor ~ valores compás ~ compases mes ~ meses ordenador ~ ordenadores Back to the Grammar. Read More...

Just like in English, there are two main types of questions: YES / NO QUESTIONS and INFORMATION QUESTIONS. YES/ NO QUESTIONS As the name suggests, these types of questions will get either a YES or a NO for an answer. Example: ¿Tienes cambio? ~ Si. Do you have change? ~ Yes. How to form YES/NO QUESTIONS To form a YES/ NO QUESTION, in writing, we put an opening question mark at the beginning of the sentence (¿) and a closing question mark at the end of it (?) When we speak the intonation at the end of the sentence goes up. Listen to these examples: STATEMENT YES/NO QUESTION Estás cansado. ¿Estás cansado? La niña está enferma. ¿La niña está enferma? When we want to confirm if the listener is following us and agrees with us, we use question tags in the same way as we do in English. Examples: Andrea es bonita, ¿no? Andrea is beautiful, isn't she? Tienes hambre, ¿no es así? You are hungry, aren't you? El exámen es difícil, ¿verdad? The exam is difficult, isn't it? El niño es agresivo, ¿no es verdad? The boy is agressive, isn't. Read More...

SUBJECT PRONOUNS - PRONOMBRES SUBJETIVOS What are SUBJECT PRONOUNS? The subject of a sentence is the person / thing that performs the action. John works here. => John is the subject of the sentence. This clock is not working well. => This clock is the subject of the sentence. Subject pronouns replace this person /thing. He works here. => He is replacing the word John, so he is a pronoun. It is working well. => It is replacing this clock, so it is a pronoun. Now let's look at the subject pronouns in English and in Spanish: Back to the Grammar. Read More...

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS- PRONOMBRES DEMOSTRATIVOS In English, the demonstrative pronouns are: this, that, these, those and the one(s) This is the Spanish equivalent: this that masculine singular éste ése / aquél feminine singular ésta ésa / aquélla these those masculine plural éstos ésos / aquéllos feminine plural éstas ésas / aquéllas neuter esto eso / aquello Some examples: ¡Mira los libros! ¿Te gusta éste o ése? Look at the books. Do you like this one or that one? ¿Qué niña te golpeó? ¿Ésta o aquélla? Which girl hit you? This one or that one? Hay miles de escuelas pero prefiero ésta. There are thousands of schools but I prefer this. Mira los cursos de español. Éstos son más caros pero muy efectivos.. Look at the Spanish courses. These are more expensive but very effective. Ayer vi unos cursos en Internet. Esos eran bastante accesibles. Yesterday I saw some courses on the Internet. Those were pretty. Read More...

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE - PRESENTE DEL SUBJUNTIVO Almost 90% of English and Spanish grammar structures are alike or very similar, that is why in many of the lessons in this grammar website you will find that I kept the explanations to a minimum. However, the subjunctive is completely different in use and form in English and in Spanish. I want to work. Quiero trabajar (No subjunctive here) I want YOU to work. Quiero que (tú) trabajes (Subjunctive) She hopes to pass the exam. Espera pasar el exámen. (No subjunctive here) She hopes that YOU pass the exam. Espera que (tú) pases el exámen. (Subjunctive) We want to stay here. Queremos permanecer aquí (No subjunctive here) We want THEM to stay here. Queremos que (ellos) permanezcan aquí. (Subjunctive) FORM OF THE PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE We form the Present Subjunctive tense by dropping the -ar, -er, or -ir of the infinitive form. Verbs ending in -ar , dd...-e, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en to the root of the verb. Verbs ending in -er or -ir dd...-a, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an to the root of the verb. Verbo: comprar Verbo: comer quiere que (yo) compre quiere que (yo) coma quiere que (tú). Read More...