Spanish Grammar Essentials for Junior Cert

Grammar: The Structure That Holds Language Together

Grammar might not be exciting, but understanding Spanish grammar patterns allows you to construct correct sentences and avoid common errors. This guide covers the essential grammar you need for Junior Cert success.

Gender and Number Agreement

In Spanish, nouns have gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). Adjectives must agree:

• El chico alto (the tall boy)
• La chica alta (the tall girl)
• Los chicos altos (the tall boys)
• Las chicas altas (the tall girls)

Key rule: Most nouns ending in -o are masculine; most ending in -a are feminine. But there are exceptions to learn!

Present Tense: Regular Verbs

Spanish verbs fall into three groups based on their infinitive endings:

-AR Verbs (hablar - to speak)

• hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablais, hablan

-ER Verbs (comer - to eat)

• como, comes, come, comemos, comeis, comen

-IR Verbs (vivir - to live)

• vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivis, viven

Ser vs Estar: The Two Forms of "To Be"

This confuses many learners. Use:

SER for:

• Identity (Soy irlandes - I am Irish)
• Characteristics (Ella es inteligente - She is intelligent)
• Time (Son las tres - It is three o clock)
• Origin (Es de Madrid - He/She is from Madrid)

ESTAR for:

• Location (Estoy en casa - I am at home)
• Temporary states (Estoy cansado - I am tired)
• Feelings (Esta contenta - She is happy)
• Progressive tenses (Estoy estudiando - I am studying)

Past Tenses You Need to Know

Preterite (Simple Past)

For completed actions: "Ayer fui al cine" (Yesterday I went to the cinema)

Imperfect

For ongoing past states or habitual actions: "Cuando era joven, jugaba al futbol" (When I was young, I used to play football)

The Near Future

The easiest way to express future: IR + A + INFINITIVE

• Voy a estudiar (I am going to study)
• Vamos a comer (We are going to eat)
• Van a viajar (They are going to travel)

Key Irregular Verbs

These common verbs do not follow regular patterns. Learn them thoroughly:

• Ir (to go): voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van
• Tener (to have): tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, teneis, tienen
• Hacer (to do/make): hago, haces, hace, hacemos, haceis, hacen
• Poder (to be able): puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podeis, pueden
• Querer (to want): quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, quereis, quieren

Question Formation

In Spanish, questions often use the same word order as statements, distinguished by intonation and punctuation:

• Tu hablas espanol. (You speak Spanish.)
• Hablas espanol? (Do you speak Spanish?)

Question words: Que (what), Quien (who), Donde (where), Cuando (when), Por que (why), Como (how), Cuanto (how much/many)

Negation

Simply place "no" before the verb:

• No hablo frances (I do not speak French)
• No tengo hermanos (I do not have siblings)

Practice Tip

Do not just memorise rules - apply them. Write sentences using each grammar point. Have a tutor correct your work to catch errors before they become habits.