Spanish grammar explained — A1 to C1
Clear explanations of Spanish grammar in English: verb tenses, ser vs estar, the subjunctive, articles, pronouns and more, with tables and examples. Practise for free at Yohana tu profe.
A1 · Beginner
Pronunciation and the alphabet
Learn the Spanish letters, sounds and stress rules — the foundation for pronouncing any word correctly.
Gender and articles
Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine — that determines which article you use.
The plural
Learn when to add -s or -es, and how words ending in -z and accents change in the plural.
Personal pronouns
Yo, tú, él, nosotros… and when to use them or leave them out.
The present tense (regular)
How to conjugate regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs in the present tense.
Ser and estar
Spanish has two verbs for 'to be' — ser for what something IS, estar for where it is or how it feels.
Tener, haber and hay
Tener for possession and age, hay for 'there is/are', and haber as an auxiliary verb.
Adjectives and agreement
Spanish adjectives agree in gender and number, and usually come after the noun.
Possessive adjectives
Mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro, su — how to say who something belongs to in Spanish.
Numbers and telling time
Counting from 0 to 100, and how to tell the time and the date in Spanish.
Question words
Qué, quién, cuál, cuándo, dónde, cómo, cuánto and por qué — and how to build a Spanish question.
Irregular verbs in the present tense
Irregular yo-forms, stem-changing verbs (e>ie, o>ue, e>i), and the fully irregular ser, ir and estar.
Gustar and similar verbs
How 'gustar' (to like) works 'backwards', and other verbs like encantar, interesar and doler that use the same construction.
The near future: ir a + infinitive
How to use 'ir a + infinitive' to say what you're going to do, and which time markers go with it.
Basic prepositions
A, de, en, con, sin, para, por, the contractions al/del, and prepositions of place.
Demonstratives
Este, ese, aquel: how Spanish distinguishes three distances, plus the neuter forms esto, eso, aquello.
A2 · Elementary
The regular preterite (pretérito indefinido)
The past tense for completed events: regular -ar, -er and -ir forms.
The irregular preterite (pretérito indefinido)
The most common verbs are irregular in the indefinido: ser/ir, tener, hacer, decir and more.
The imperfect past (pretérito imperfecto)
The past tense for habits, descriptions and background — almost always regular.
Indefinido versus imperfecto
Two past tenses, one choice: what happened (indefinido) versus what the situation was (imperfecto)?
The present perfect (pretérito perfecto)
The past tense for recent events with an effect on now: haber + past participle.
The simple future (futuro simple)
The future tense: the whole infinitive + an ending, with a fixed set of irregular stems.
The simple conditional (condicional simple)
'Would': polite requests, hypotheses and advice — with the same irregular stems as the futuro.
The affirmative imperative
Giving orders and requests: separate forms for tú, vosotros and usted/ustedes.
The negative imperative
Learn how to tell someone NOT to do something in Spanish, using 'no' + subjunctive.
Direct object pronouns
Replace the direct object with me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las.
Indirect object pronouns
Learn to use me, te, le, nos, os, les and why le becomes 'se' before lo/la.
Reflexive verbs
Verbs with me/te/se/nos/os/se like levantarse and ducharse, and changes of meaning.
Comparatives and superlatives
Compare with más/menos... que, tan/tanto... como and learn the irregular forms and -ísimo.
Estar + gerund
Describe an action in progress right now with estar + gerund, and seguir + gerund.
Por and para
The difference between por (cause, means, through) and para (purpose, destination, deadline).
Muy, mucho, tan, tanto
When to use muy or mucho, tan or tanto — and why 'muy mucho' is wrong.
B1 · Intermediate
Formation of the present subjunctive
Learn how to form the present subjunctive from the yo-form, including stem changes, spelling changes and the key irregular verbs.
Subjunctive with wishes and emotions
Discover when you need the subjunctive after verbs of wish and emotion (querer que, esperar que, ojalá, me alegro de que...).
Subjunctive with doubt and opinion
Learn the difference between creo que (indicative) and no creo que (subjunctive), and when dudar, es posible que and quizás require the subjunctive.
Subjunctive in time clauses
Learn when cuando, antes de que, hasta que, en cuanto and mientras require the subjunctive (future) and when the indicative (habit, past).
Pluscuamperfecto (past perfect)
Learn how to form the pluscuamperfecto with había + past participle, and how to use it to show that something had already happened before another point in the past.
Futuro perfecto (future perfect)
Learn how to form the futuro perfecto with habré + past participle, and how to use it for completed future actions and for guesses about the past.
The conditional perfect (condicional compuesto)
Habría + past participle: what could or should have happened, but didn't.
Reported speech (estilo indirecto)
How to report someone's words with 'decir que', including the shift in verb tenses, pronouns and time expressions.
Relative clauses (oraciones de relativo)
Que, quien, el que, lo que, donde and cuyo — and when to use the indicative or subjunctive in a relative clause.
Impersonal se and the passive se (pasiva refleja)
How to use 'se' for general statements (se vive bien) and for a passive construction without an agent (se venden pisos).
Verbal periphrases (perífrasis verbales)
Fixed combinations like empezar a, dejar de, volver a, seguir + gerundio and tener que that express a phase, repetition or obligation.
B1 connectors (conectores)
Aunque, sin embargo, por eso, ya que, para que and more: how to logically connect sentences.
B2 · Upper intermediate
The imperfect subjunctive
How to form the imperfect subjunctive and use it after past-tense main clauses, after 'como si', and in polite requests.
Conditional sentences (type 1, 2, 3 and mixed)
The three classic 'si' conditional sentence types and how to combine them into mixed conditionals.
The pluperfect subjunctive
How to form hubiera/hubiese + past participle and use it for unreal past situations and regret.
Subjunctive in concessive and purpose clauses
When 'aunque' takes the indicative or the subjunctive, and how to correctly use para que, con tal de que, a menos que and sin que.
The passive voice (voz pasiva)
The difference between ser + participle (action), estar + participle (result) and the pasiva refleja with se.
Ser and estar: advanced use
Adjectives that change meaning with ser/estar, and the fixed expressions 'estar de' and 'ser de'.
Verbs with fixed prepositions (régimen preposicional)
An overview of common Spanish verbs that are always combined with the same preposition.
Sequence of tenses (correlación de tiempos) with the subjunctive
Which subjunctive tense in the subordinate clause matches which tense in the main clause.
B2-level discourse connectors
Formal connectors to express contrast, consequence, reason and condition in written and spoken discourse.
The many uses of 'se'
Reflexive, reciprocal, se replacing le/les, impersonal se, the involuntary se and the emphatic se.
C1 · Advanced
The futuro and condicional of probability
How to use futuro, futuro perfecto, condicional and condicional compuesto to express a guess or supposition, and how to use 'deber de'.
Nuances of the subjunctive
How indicativo and subjuntivo change the meaning after aunque, cuando and quizás, and why negation often triggers the subjunctive.
Formal and informal register
How to write formal letters and emails with usted, and how colloquial Spanish, euphemisms and register shifts work.
Advanced verbal periphrases
Periphrases with venir, ir, andar, llevar sin, quedar por, dar por, tener + participle, llegar a, acabar por and echarse a.
Complex sentences and subordination
Nominalization, relative clauses with a preposition (con quien, en el que, cuyo), gerund clauses and absolute participle clauses.
Impersonal and evaluative expressions
Es lógico/normal/imprescindible que + subjunctive, es evidente/obvio que + indicative, lo + adjective + es que, 'de + infinitive' as a condition, and 'ser de + infinitive'.
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