Spanish Grammar
Grammar rules explained with examples and tables. Pick a topic below and move on to practice.
Volver vs devolver in Spanish: go back or give back?
Use volver when the subject returns to a place or previous situation: Vuelvo a casa (I am going back home). Use devolver when the subject gives an object back to someone or takes it back to its ...
Spanish contractions al and del: the complete rule
Spanish has two standard article contractions: a + el = al and de + el = del. They are required whenever the preposition a or de comes directly before the masculine singular article el: Voy al mercado ...
Quedar vs quedarse in Spanish: meeting, fitting and staying
Use quedar without a reflexive pronoun for ideas such as arranging to meet ( Quedamos a las ocho ), being left ( Quedan dos entradas ) and fitting or looking on someone ( Te queda bien ). Use quedarse ...
Ir a + infinitive in Spanish: the near future
Build the Spanish near future with a present form of ir + a + an infinitive: Voy a estudiar (I am going to study), Vamos a salir (we are going to leave), Van a llegar (they are going to arrive) ...
Hay vs está in Spanish: existence or location?
Use hay to say that something exists or is available: Hay un banco aquí (there is a bank here). Use está or están to locate something the listener can already identify: El banco está aquí (the bank is ...
Y vs e and o vs u in Spanish: the sound rule for and/or
Spanish “and” is normally y and “or” is normally o. But each one changes to a different letter in one specific situation, purely so two identical vowel sounds do not blur into one. Y becomes e before ...
Spanish relative pronouns: que, quien, el que and lo que
Relative pronouns are the little words that join two ideas into one sentence — the Spanish equivalents of “that”, “which”, “who” and “whose”. The good news is that one word, que, covers the vast ...
Spanish diminutives: how -ito and -ita really work
A Spanish diminutive is an ending you add to a word — most often -ito or -ita — to make it mean something small, or, just as often, something dear, cute or gentle. Perro (dog) becomes perrito (little ...
Haber vs tener in Spanish: hay, tengo and the difference
Spanish has two verbs that both touch the English idea of “have”, and mixing them up is one of the most common beginner errors. Use haber — in its special form hay — to say what exists or is there ...
Spanish superlatives: el más, el menos and the -ísimo ending
A Spanish superlative says something is the most or the least of a group — the tallest building, the least expensive option. You build it with a definite article ( el, la, los, las ) plus más (most) ...
Spanish sentence structure: word order rules for beginners
Spanish sentence structure starts from the same basic pattern as English — subject, then verb, then object: María come una manzana (María eats an apple). If you build your first sentences on that ...
Gustar and verbs like it in Spanish: how to say what you like
Gustar is the verb you use to say you like something, but it does not work like English “to like”. It really means “to be pleasing”, so the thing you like is the subject of the sentence and you are ...
Spanish stem-changing verbs: e→ie, o→ue and e→i
Stem-changing verbs take the normal present-tense endings, but the vowel in their stem changes in the forms where that vowel is stressed. The change happens in every present form except nosotros and ...
Spanish present tense: how to conjugate -ar, -er and -ir verbs
To put a regular Spanish verb in the present tense, drop the infinitive ending ( -ar, -er or -ir ) to get the stem, then add the ending that matches the subject. Hablar (to speak) becomes hablo (I ...
Spanish present progressive: estar + gerund (-ando / -iendo)
The Spanish present progressive says that something is happening right now. You build it with two pieces: the verb estar conjugated for the subject, plus the gerund of the main verb. To make the ...
Spanish accent marks: á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ and ü explained
Spanish uses just three written marks, and each has one clear job. The acute accent (´) sits on a vowel — á, é, í, ó, ú — and either shows which syllable is stressed or tells two identical-looking ...
Spanish future tense: two ways to talk about the future
Spanish gives you two everyday ways to talk about the future. The first is ir a + infinitive — the same “going to” idea as in English: Voy a estudiar (I’m going to study). The second is the simple ...
Spanish c vs z pronunciation: the k, s and th sounds
The letter c has two sounds in Spanish, decided by the vowel after it. Before a, o or u it is a hard k ( casa, cosa, cuna ). Before e or i it becomes a soft sound ( cena, cine ). The letter z always ...
Hacia vs hasta in Spanish: 'toward' vs 'until'
These two prepositions look alike but point at different ideas. Use hacia for direction — moving toward something, with no promise of arriving — and, by extension, for an approximate time. Use hasta ...
Spanish si clauses: how to build conditional sentences
A Spanish conditional sentence has two halves: a si (if) clause that states a condition, and a result clause that says what happens. The tenses you pick tell the listener how real you think the ...
Spanish imperfect progressive: estaba + gerund (was doing)
The Spanish imperfect progressive is the “was/were doing” tense. You build it with the imperfect of estar ( estaba, estabas, estaba, estábamos, estabais, estaban ) plus a gerund — the -ando / -iendo ...
The silent H in Spanish: when H is not pronounced
In Spanish the letter h is silent — you write it but you do not say it. Hola sounds like “ola”, hora sounds like “ora”, and hombre sounds like “ombre”. The rule is refreshingly simple: on its own, an ...
Ni... ni in Spanish: how to say neither... nor
Ni... ni is the Spanish way to say neither… nor. It works like a stronger, paired version of the negative word ni (“nor”, “not even”). The one thing to get right is where no goes: When ni... ni comes ...
Tú vs usted in Spanish: informal and formal you
Tú is the informal singular “you.” Use it with friends, family, children, classmates, and people who invite a casual tone. Usted is the formal or polite singular “you.” Use it with strangers, older ...