Grammar definitions

Grammar definitions

• 1.
  Grammar definitions
• 2.
  Subject –the person or thing that is being described or is doing something. Ex. Mary is singing. Mary is the subject of the sentence. The pencil is blue.
• 3.
  Verb –The verb is the action word in a sentence like run or sing, or a word like “am,” “is,” or “are” that links the subject to a description.
• 4.
  Subject pronouns – In a sentence nouns can be replaced by pronouns to avoid repetition. When the subject is replaced by a pronoun you use the subject pronouns. Ex. Mary is replaced by “she.”
• 5.
  Adjectives –Words that describe nouns
• 6.
  Gender and number Gender = masculine or feminine Number = singular or plural In Spanish, adjectives and nouns must always agree in number and gender.
• 7.
  Noun –Person, place, thing or idea. In Spanish, nouns have gender and number and must agree.
• 8.
  Definite article – Words that signal the gender of a noun. There are 4 definite articles in Spanish that all translate to the word “the.”
• 9.
  Pronouns –Words that take the place of nouns. They can stand for the person talking, the person being talked to, or someone or something that has already been named. Different pronouns are used when they replace subjects, direct objects, are used with reflexive verbs, used with “gustar” and gustar-like verbs, or come after a preposition. We have 5 pronoun charts
• 10.
  Prepositions –Words that show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in the sentence. Ex. To, on, of, from, with, in, at. In Spanish, there are certain pronouns that are used after prepositions.
• 11.
  Conjugate –Changing the infinitive form to give the verb a subject. Conjugated verbs tell us the who the subject of the sentence is and when it takes place. Ex. In English, I talk, she talked, etc.
• 12.
  Infinitive –The most complete form of a verb before it is conjugated. In Spanish, there are 3 types of infinitives based on their endings. Infinitives mean “to” something. For example, “to talk”
• 13.
  Stem –The part of the infinitive without the “infinitive ending.” Ex. habl
• 14.
  Infinitive ending – The part of the infinitive after the stem that indicates which “type” of verb class it is Ex. -ar
• 15.
  Irregular verb – A verb that does not follow a clear regular pattern of conjugation.
• 16.
  Indefinite Article – Articles used to say “a” or “an” or “some” before a noun.
• 17.
  Irregular “yo” verb – A verb that is irregular only in the “yo” form of the verb.
• 18.
  Stem changing verb – A verb that has a vowel variation (or change) in the stem. In the present tense the change only occurs in “the boot” (not in 1 st and 2 nd person plural). Variations may be e – ie, e – i, o – ue, or o – u. Stem changing verbs must be memorized. Stem changing verbs in the present are not always stem changing in another tense.
• 19.
  Direct Object Pronouns – Are pronouns that take the place of the direct object in a sentence. They answer the question “who?” or “what?” Ex. Mary bought a shirt. Shirt is the direct object because it answers the question “What did Mary buy?” To use the DOP you would say “Mary bought it .” It is the DOP. DOP must match the direct object.
• 20.
  Indirect Object Pronouns – The Indirect Object tells us where the Direct Object is going. The Indirect Object answers the question "to whom?" or "for whom" the action of the verb is performed .