FHUHS Spanish

A reflexive verb is any verb in which the doer of an action is also the receiver of the action. A perfect example of this in English is the verb used to describe what one is doing when looking in the mirror:

I see myself.

The pronoun myself is a clear indicator that the verb ‘to see’ is being used reflexively. Other reflexive pronouns in English include “yourself, himself, herself, yourselves, ourselves, themselves.”

The reflexive pronouns in Spanish are as follows:

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The indirect object of a verb (el complemento indirecto) is that person or thing which answers the questions “to who? / for whom?”, or “to what? / for what?” after the verb. For example, in the sentence:

I give the ball to Juan.

the answer to “I give to whom?” is Juan, and thus Juan is the indirect object. The indirect object pronouns, then, are those pronouns which can replace the indirect object noun itself. Thus, in the above example, we might substitute “him” for “Juan”:

I give the ball to him.

Examples of other indirect object pronouns in English include “to me, to you, to her, to us, to them, etc.”

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The direct object of a verb (el complemento directo) is that person or thing which answers the questions “who?”, or “what?” after the verb. For example, in the sentence:

I see Juan.

the answer to “I see who?” is Juan, and thus Juan is the direct object. The direct object pronouns, then, are those pronouns which can replace the direct object noun itself. Thus, in the above example, we might substitute “him” for “Juan”:

I see him.

Examples of other direct object pronouns in English include “me, you, her, us, them, etc.”

The direct object pronouns in Spanish are as follows:

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The subject pronouns in Spanish, equivalent to the English “I, you, he, she, etc.” are as follows:

Conjugation of regular -ar verbs in the imperfect indicative

Here are the regular endings–note that only the nosotros form carries an accent:

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Conjugation of regular -er & -ir verbs in the imperfect indicative

Regular -er and -ir verbs have identical suffixes in the imperfect indicative. Here are the regular endings–note that the ‘i’ carries an accent in all forms:

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The Past, or Perfect, Participles

The past participle is used almost identically in Spanish as it is in English, Many past participles in English are formed by adding -ed or -en to the infinitive, but there are a great many irregular forms as well. Some examples of the past participle in English are:

• to lift —> lifted
• to rent —> rented
• to sit —> seated
• to eat —> eaten

• to go —> gone

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The Personal ‘A’

In Spanish, whenever the direct object of a verb is a person, the direct object must be preceded by a. This marking is called the personal a

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Conjugation of regular -er & -ir verbs in the preterite indicative

Regular -er and -ir verbs have identical suffixes in the preterite indicative. Here are the regular endings:

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Conjugation of regular -ar verbs in the preterite indicative

-ar verbs are the most common of all Spanish verbs, and new verbs which enter the language are most likely to become -ar verbs as well. Here are the regular endings in the preterite indicative:

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