- •Ser & estar/ to be
- •Idiomatic expressions
- •Irregular/ irregular
- •Irregular conditional forms
- •Past tense
- •Prefixes des-, in-, and re-
- •Disminutivo/ diminutive
- •Conocer & Saber/ to know
- •Verbos irregulares / Irregular Verbs
- •Gerundio/ gerund
- •Reflexivo/ reflexive
- •Preposiciones/ prepositions
- •Dif. Between pedir & preguntar
- •Hay / there is (are)
- •Imperfecto/ imperfect tense
- •Verbos irregulares/ irregular verbs
- •Subjuntivo/ subjunctive
- •Voz pasiva/ passive voice
- •Hacer/ to do, make
- •To have
- •2. The simplest way of expressing possession is by using tener/ to have.
- •3. In Spanish, tener is used for indicating age. On the other hand, in English the verb to be is used for telling age.
- •Gustar / to like
- •4. Other verbs in the same category are following:
Prefixes des-, in-, and re-
1. The prefixes des- and in- are used to indicate the opposite meaning to the word that they modify.
EXAMPLES
WORD |
ANTONYM |
Acuerdo/ agreement |
desacuerdo/ disagreement |
Hacer/ to do |
deshacer/ to undo |
Heredar/ to inherit |
desheredar/ disinherit |
Vestirse/ to get dressed |
desvestirse/ to get undressed |
Consciente/ conscious |
inconsciente/ unconscious |
Útil/ useful |
inútil/ useless |
Experto/ expert |
inexperto/ unskilled, inexpert |
Feliz/ happy |
Infeliz/ unhappy |
2. The prefix re- is used to emphasize or increase the meaning of the word that it modifies. If re- is added to a verb, it means to repeat the same action. Furthermore, if re- modifies an adjective, it means very.
NOTE: In Spanish, there are two slang prefixes, requete- and super-, that are more intense than -re, but NOT as intense as superlative forms of adjectives. They mean practically the most. Furthermore, they can modify ONLY adjectives.
EXAMPLES
WORD |
RE- |
REQUETE-; SUPER- |
Hacer/ to do |
rehacer/ to redo |
NA |
difícil/ difficult |
redifícil/ very difficult |
requetedifícil, superdifícil |
linda/ pretty |
relinda/ very pretty |
requetelinda, superlinda |
Disminutivo/ diminutive
Diminutives are used to express smallness or affection.
English has a few common diminutives, such as kitty, doggy, sonny, also some proper names have diminutive forms, such as Bobby, Vicky, etc. In Spanish, most nouns and adjectives have diminutive forms, which is the equivalent to modifying a word with little. The most common diminutive suffixes are the following:
|
SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
MASCULINE |
-ito, -cito |
-itos, -citos |
FEMININE |
-ita,-cita |
-itas, -citas |
The following diminutive suffixes are less commonly used:
|
SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
MASCULINE |
-illo |
-illos |
FEMININE |
-illa |
-illas |
1. Generally, when words end in -a , -o or -te, the vowel is dropped and -ito(s) or -ita(s) is added. For the other words -cito(s), -cita(s) are used. However, these are NOT rules. They are only guides because there are many variations.
EXAMPLES
NOUN |
DIMINUTIVE |
dedo/ finger |
dedito |
cabeza/ head |
cabecita |
elefante/ elephant |
elefantito |
peine/ comb |
peinecito |
camión/ truck |
camioncito |
mujer/ woman |
mujercita |
sol/ sun |
solcito |
lunar/ mole |
lunarcito |
solo/ alone, lonely |
solito |
NOTE: When looking up a word in a dictionary, be aware of diminutives, which are NOT listed. Therefore, try to find the base word.
2. There are many words that end in -illa(s), -illo(s), -cilla(s), -cillo(s) that are NOT diminutives:
WORD |
DIMINUTIVE |
martillo/ hammer |
martillito |
ladrillo/ brick |
ladrillito |
pocillo/ demi-tasse (small cup) |
pocillito |
platillo/ saucer or dish (food preparation) |
n/a |
bocadillo/ finger food |
bocadillito |
bolsillo/ pocket |
bolsillito |
silla/ chair |
sillita |