Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Subjunctive with Impersonal Expressions

To form a subjunctive, you form it the same way as usted commands. Put the verb in the yo form, drop the o, and if it's -ar, switch it to -er. If it's -er or -ir, switch it to -ar. You use the subjunctive to state the uncertain, unlike the indicative which states fact.
Ex: Es necesario que hagas ejercicio.
It is necessary that you do exercise.

Note that while it is necessary for a person to exercise, it is uncertain if they will.

Examples of subjunctives:
hablar: (hable; hables; hable; hablemos; hablen)

comer: (coma; comas; coma; comamos; coman)

escribir: (escriba; escribas; escriba; escribamos; escriban)

Don't forget about irregulars like llegar to llegue, buscar to busque, and cruzar to cruce!

Hacer with Expressions of Time

Use hacer to express periods of time.
hace + the period of time + que + the present tense

Ex: Hace muchos semanas que quiro venir a Puerto Rico.
It's been many weeks since I've wanted to come to Puerto Rico.

If you're asking how long it's been, do the same thing, but use cuánto tiempo instead:
¿Cuánto tiempo + hace + fque + the present tense?

¿Cuánto tiempo hace que quires veni al programa?
How long have you been wanting to come to the program?

If you are talking about the past, use the preterite and hace to say ago.
hace + the period of time + que + the preterite
Hace un año que fui a Puerto Rico.
I went to Puerto Rico a year ago.

To say ago, you can also put the verb first. When the verb comes first, you do not need que. Use:
the preterite + hace + the period of time
La conocí hace tres meses.
I met her three monts ago.

Nota Gramáticas

1: When you want to describe what hurts, use doler (o-ue). This is a verb like gustar. Doler is always used with the indirect oject pronouns me, te, le, nos, and les, to tell who is hurtins.
Te duele la pierna.
No, me duele el tobillo.

2: You use the subjunctive after expressions like es necesario que. These expressions come in handy to tell people about what you think is necessary, good, or important. See the difference between the present indicative and the present sujunctive.

Indicative: Ellos viven en Puerto Rico.
They live in Puerto Rico.

Subjunctive: Es bueno que ellos vivan en Puerto Rico.
It's good that they live in Puerto Rico.

Adverbs ending in -mente

In english adverbs often end in ly (quickly, slowly, reluctantly). In spanish they often end in -mente.

Add -mente to the feminine form of the adjective.
Ex: desafortunado/desafortunada - Desafrotunadamente, no.
Unfortunately, no.

If the adjective doesn't have a feminine form, then attach it to the singular form.
Ex: frecuente - Yo ablo frecuentemente.
I speak often.

And don't forget accents! They go exactly where they would without the -mente.
Fácil = fácilmente.

Affirmative and Negative tú Commands

To form the affirmative tú command, all you do is use the third person singular form of the verb in the present tense.
Ex: Rodrigo pasa la aspiradora = Por favor, pasa la aspiradora
Rodrigo vacuums - Please vacuum.

Verbs with Irregular tú command forms.
Hacer: haz
Ser: sé
Ir: ve
decir: di
poner: pon
salir: sal
tener: ten
venir: ven

*Note that on the above Go verbs, you drop the go.

Negative
To form the negative tú command, you take the yo form of the verb in the present tense and change the ending to -es for -ar verbs, and -ar for -er and -ir verbs.
Ex: Dejar - No me dejes!
Don't leave me!

Irregulars:
dar: no des
estar: no estés
ir: no vayas
saber: no sepas
ser: no seas

Pronoun Placement on Commands

In affirmative commands, put the pronoun on the end, remembering to stress the correct syllable.
Ex: Por favor, señorita Elena, escríbanos aquí su nombre.
Please, Elena, write your name for us here.

In negative commands; however, the pronoun goes before the verb.
Ex: No, no nos escriba su nombre con esa pluma.
No, don't write your autograph for us with that pen.

Give Formal Commands Using usted/ustedes

For -ar verbs, take the yo form of the verb and change the ending to -e.
Ex: siento becomes siente.
No siente al niño delante de la televisión.
Don't sit the child in front of the television.

For -er and -ir verbs, take the yo form of the verb and change the ending to -ar.
Ex: como becomes coma
Coma comidas nutritivas.
Eat nutritious foods.


For ustedes commands, use plural endings.
Ex: hablo becomes hablen
Hablen español, por favor.
Speak spanish, por favor.

Some common verbs have irregular usted commands.
dar: dé; den
estar: esté; estén
ir: vaya; vayan
saber: sepa; sepan
ser: sea; sean

Don't forget that -go verbs will have the spelling change in them! Ex; poner - pongo - ponga.

Pronoun Placement

Where do you put direct or indirect object pronouns? Sometimes they are placed before the verb, and sometimes they attach to the verb.

If the verb is conjugated then put the pronoun before the verb.
Ex: Sus consejos nos ayudaron mucho.
Your advice helped us a lot.

If there are two verbs then you can put the pronoun before the conjugated verb or attach it to the infinitive/-ndo form.
Ex: La voy a entrevistar.
I am going to interview her.

Estábamos mirándolo el sábado pasado.
We were watching it last Saturday.

*Nota Gramática:
The verb deber is used with an infinitive to say that someone should or ought to do something.
Ex: Debes tomar apuntes.
You should take notes.

Unit 3

Sorry Guys, no video yet. Just didn't plan it out well enough. I'm still thinking about it though, there's still a chance for next time. We'll see. Anyway, here we go.
Dino