Spanish Grammar Elements
Nouns
A class of words with gender and number variations, forming the nucleus of a noun phrase. They can function as the subject of a sentence.
Determiners
These modify nouns, defining their scope without adding lexical meaning, unlike adjectives.
Classes of Determiners
- Definite articles (el, la, los, las, lo)
- Indeterminate articles (un, una, unos, unas)
- Demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)
- Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro, suyo)
- Indefinite adjectives (ningún, algún, demasiado, todo, cierto, cuanto)
- Numerals (uno, dos, tres, cuatro, primero, segundo)
- Interrogative and exclamatory adjectives (qué, cuál, cuán)
Adjectives
Words that describe nouns, agreeing in gender and number. They function as complements to the noun, acting as attributes or predicate complements.
Adjective Degrees
- Positive Degree: Expresses the adjective’s quality without comparison (e.g., a white flower, a polar bear).
- Comparative Degree: Compares the quality of the adjective with another. There are three types:
- Equal (e.g., Your gift is as beautiful as mine).
- Superiority (e.g., Your father is more generous than mine).
- Inferiority (e.g., Your engine has less horsepower than ours).
- Superlative Degree: Expresses the adjective’s quality in the highest degree. There are two forms:
- Absolute Superlative: Presents the quality without reference to other beings (e.g., very, extremely, super cheap). Usually formed with adverbs, prefixes, or suffixes.
- Relative Superlative: Presents a quality of a being as greater than others in its group (e.g., the most/least + adjective).
Other Noun Modifiers
- Prepositional Phrase: Introduced by prepositions (e.g., the fight against cancer, a sailboat).
- Noun Phrase in Apposition: Directly linked to the core noun (e.g., Mediterranean Sea, Ebro River, the poet Garcia Lorca).
- Relative Clause: Equivalent to an adjective (e.g., The cars that came before the finish were very fast).
- Noun Clause: Acts as a noun (e.g., It confirmed the belief that it was a killjoy).
Functions of Noun Phrases
- Subject (e.g., The festival paid tribute to a famous singer.)
- Vocative (e.g., Waiter, bring me a soda.)
- Complement of a noun (e.g., The art exhibition can be accessed.)
- Complement of an adjective (e.g., An animal that is very easy to tame.)
- Complement of an adverb (e.g., He lives away from the big city.)
- Attribute (e.g., She is the minister of finance.)
- Direct object (e.g., The new tunnel will have four lanes.)
- Indirect object (e.g., Gift a car to its employees.)
- Complement of a preposition (e.g., No longer trust this government.)
- Adverbial (e.g., On this street, pedestrians have priority.)
- Complement of the agent (e.g., This land has been acquired by an estate agent.)
- Predicative complement (e.g., Mary has chosen the mayor.)
Verb Tense
Indicates the time of the action relative to the speaker: past, present, or future.
Verb Mood
Expresses the speaker’s attitude toward the verbal action:
- Indicative Mood: Presents the action as real.
- Subjunctive Mood: Expresses a desire, doubt, fear, etc.
- Imperative Mood: Expresses a request, command, or prohibition.
Verb Aspect
Refers to the internal development of the verbal action, indicating whether it is completed (perfective) or not (imperfective).
Periphrastic Constructions
- Modal Periphrasis: Express obligation (must/have to + infinitive), conjecture, or doubt (should/may/might + infinitive).
- Aspectual Periphrasis: Expresses the beginning (be going to/be about to + infinitive), start (begin/start + infinitive), repetition (return to + infinitive), duration (be/keep/continue + gerund), completion (have + past participle, get to/finish + infinitive) of an action.