Spanish Grammar For Dummies

The fast and easy way to improve your Spanish grammar Do you need help with using Spanish? This hands–on, friendly guide teaches you the grammatical rules of the Spanish language, including parts of speech, sentence construction, and verb tenses and moods. Throughout the book, you get lots of practice exercises to help you retain what you′ve learned. Begin with the basics — discover how to use various parts of speech and deal with numbers, dates, and times Simple stuff — find out how to build simple sentences, express likes and dislikes, ask questions, and use exclamations Go to the next level — get the scoop on using the reflexive, employing passive voice, making comparisons, and adding negative words Don′t be so tense — grasp verb tenses you′ll use all the time: the present, the preterit, the imperfect, and the future Be moody — get up to speed in a hurry on the conditional mood and the imperative mood Open the book and find: Information on nouns, adjectives, verbs, and other basic parts of speech Guidance on dealing with numbers, dates, and times Tips for constructing simple sentences and questions The scoop on making sentences more descriptive with comparisons, negative words, and more Different verb tenses and moods Ten common grammar mistakes (and how to avoid them) Plenty of examples and practice opportunities Learn to: Grasp parts of speech, sentence construction, and verb tenses Enhance your descriptive speech with adverbs, adjectives, and prepositions Practice your grammar skills as you go

Introduction 1 Part I: Starting with the Basics 7 Chapter 1: Spanish Grammar in a Nutshell 9 Chapter 2: Sounding Out Spanish Words 19 Chapter 3: Naming Things with Nouns and Articles 29 Chapter 4: Describing Stuff with Adjectives 47 Chapter 5: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time 67 Part II: Constructing Simple Sentences and Asking Questions 81 Chapter 6: Writing in the Present Tense 83 Chapter 7: Expressing a State of Being with Ser and Estar 107 Chapter 8: Talking about Action in Progress with the Present Progressive 121 Chapter 9: Replacing Nouns with Pronouns 133 Chapter 10: Expressing Likes and Dislikes 149 Chapter 11: Handling Questions and Exclamations 163 Part III: Beefing Up Your Sentences with More Description 179 Chapter 12: Describing Action with Adverbs 181 Chapter 13: Modifying Meaning with Prepositions 195 Chapter 14: Acting on Oneself with the Reflexive 213 Chapter 15: Using the Passive Voice 227 Chapter 16: It’s All Relative: Making Comparisons 237 Chapter 17: Just Say "No": Negative Words and Expressions 249 Part IV: Talking about the Past or Future 261 Chapter 18: Looking Back with the Preterit 263 Chapter 19: Describing Ongoing Past Action with the Imperfect 281 Chapter 20: Projecting Forward with the Future Tense 295 Chapter 21: Forming Compound Tenses with the Helping Verb Haber 305 Part V: Expressing Conditions and Giving Commands 319 Chapter 22: Wondering "What If" with the Conditional Mood 321 Chapter 23: Taking Command with the Imperative Mood 329 Part VI: The Part of Tens 345 Chapter 24: Ten Common Spanish Grammar Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) 347 Chapter 25: Ten Useful Spanish Idioms 353 Index 357

Cecie Kraynak , MA, is a Spanish teacher, ESL coordinator, and author/editor of numerous Spanish books, including Spanish For Dummies. She has taught and tutored Spanish at the junior high school and college levels for more than 25 years.