Spanish Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Spanish grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Spanish and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Spanish and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Spanish.

Prepositions - Spanish
and y
above por encima
under por debajo
before antes
after después de
in front of delante de
behind detrás de
far from lejos de
near cerca de
in en
inside dentro de
outside fuera de
with con
without sin
about sobre
between entre
but pero
for para
from de
to a

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Spanish
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] como sin cuchillo
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] ella vive cerca de la iglesia
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] él es más alto que ella
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] llegó con su pequeño perro
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] ¿puedes venir conmigo?

Negation in Spanish

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Spanish
I understand you [affirmative form] yo te entiendo
I don't understand you [negation + verb] yo no te entiendo
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] esta no es la palabra correcta
don't leave me [imperative negation] no me dejes
no problem [negation + noun] no hay problema

Negative Sentences - Spanish
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] yo no hablo francés
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] ella no visitó alemania
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] él no nos puede ver
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] ¿ella sabe jugar al ajedrez?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] no vamos a llegar tarde

Questions in Spanish

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Spanish
how? ¿cómo?
what? ¿qué?
who? ¿quién?
why? ¿por qué?
where? ¿dónde?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Spanish
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] ¿dónde vives?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] ¿ella habla chino?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] ¿cuánto es esto?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] ¿puedo ayudarle?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] ¿cuál es tu nombre?

Adverbs in Spanish

It's time to learn the adverbs in Spanish. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Spanish
now ahora
yesterday ayer
today hoy
tonight esta noche
tomorrow mañana
soon pronto
quickly rápidamente
slowly despacio
together juntos
very muy
almost casi
always siempre
usually por lo general
sometimes a veces
rarely rara vez
never nunca

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Spanish
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] ¿me entiendes ahora?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] necesito ayuda inmediatamente
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] ella es muy inteligente
I will always love you [verb + adverb] yo siempre te amaré
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] ¿podemos aprender alemán juntos?

Pronouns in Spanish

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Spanish. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Spanish
I yo
you tu/usted
he él
she ella
we nosotros
they ellos

Object Pronouns - Spanish
me yo
you te
him le (él)
her le (ella)
us nos
them los

Possessive Pronouns - Spanish
my mi
your tu
his su (él)
her su (ella)
our nuestro
their su (ellos)

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Spanish
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] yo soy tu amigo
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] usted habla muy rápido
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] él tiene tres perros
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] ella puede hablar alemán
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] no vamos a llegar tarde
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] compraron leche y el pan

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Spanish
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] ¿me puede decir su nombre?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] yo le daré dinero
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] ella le escribió una carta
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] ellos la visitaron ayer
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] ¿ella nos puede ayudar?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] él les dio comida

Possessive Pronouns - Spanish
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] mi nombre es maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] su hermano vive aquí
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] su madre cocina para nosotros
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] su hobby es leer libros
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] nuestro sueño es visitar parís
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] su casa no está lejos

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Spanish
this is my house esta es mi casa
that restaurant is far ese restaurante está lejos
these apples are delicious estas manzanas son deliciosas
those stars are shiny esas estrellas son brillantes

I hope you learned a lot about the Spanish grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!