Essential Spanish Grammar: Teach Yourself

Juan Kattan-Ibarra

• Publisher: Teach Yourself
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781444130874
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Spanish Language
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Is this the right course for me? Essential SpanishGrammar will help you get more out of your study of Spanish. Essential Spanish Grammar is an up-to-date introduction to Spanish grammar. You don't need to know a lot about grammar before you start. Everything is explained simply and there are lots of examples to illustrate each point. Unlike more traditional grammars, Essential Spanish Grammar is structured so that you can look up language forms according to what you want to say, even if you don't know the grammatical term for them. If you already know some grammar, then you can use the 'reference grammar' section at the back of the book to look up the points you need.The course consists of 23 units illustrating the various uses to which the language can be put, for example, giving instructions or talking about the recent past. The more traditional reference grammar deals with grammatical structures, such as the imperative or the perfect tense. All grammatical terms are explained in the glossary at the back of the book. Each unit contains exercises for you to practise what you have learnt and there is a key at the back of the book for you to check your answers. The new page design in this edition means that the book is even easier to use and the main headings are in English so that you can find your way around the book quickly. This edition contains a 'taking it further' section which will direct you to further sources of real Spanish. Essential Spanish Grammar will help you to understand and manipulateSpanish grammar with confidence because:
- you need no prior knowledge of grammatical terminology to use it;
- the approach is accessible and supportive;
- the examples are clear and in context;
- exercises help you practise every point. Learn effortlessly with a new, easy-to-follow page design and interactive features: Not got much time?
One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. Author insights
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. Useful vocabulary
Easy to find and learn, to build a solid foundation for speaking. End-of-unit summaries and online tests
Summaries and tests to help you keep track of your progress. Extend your knowledge
Extra online articles to give you a richer understanding of the culture and history of Spain.

1

Asking for and giving personal information

In this unit, you will learn how to:

• say who you are
• state your nationality
• say where you are from
• say what your occupation is
• give similar information about other people
• ask for personal information

Language points

• subject pronouns
• ser in the present tense
• gender of nouns
• plural of nouns
• adjectives indicating nationality
• interrogative sentences
• negative sentences

Key sentences

The key sentences and grammar notes which follow will show you how to ask for and give simple personal information in Spanish. Look at the sentences and their English translation first then read the Grammar summary for an explanation of how the language works.

SAYING WHO YOU ARE

Soy Antonio/Ana.

I’m Antonio/Ana.

STATING YOUR NATIONALITY

Soy español/española.

I’m Spanish. (man/woman)

SAYING WHERE YOU ARE FROM

Soy de Madrid/Salamanca.

I’m from Madrid/Salamanca.

SAYING WHAT YOUR OCCUPATION IS

Soy arquitecto/a.	I’m an architect. (man/woman)
Soy estudiante.	I’m a student.

GIVING SIMILAR INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE

Él es Luis/chileno/profesor.	He’s Luis/Chilean/a teacher.
Ella es de Barcelona/Londres.	She’s from Barcelona/London.

ASKING FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION

¿Es usted Gloria?	Are you Gloria? (formal)
Usted es española, ¿no?	You are Spanish, aren’t you? (formal/fem.)
¿Eres inglés o americano?	Are you English or American? (informal/masc.)
No eres de aquí, ¿verdad?	You’re not from here, are you? (informal)

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Insight

Spanish has three words to designate an American: americano/a (male/female), norteamericano/a (male/female) North American and estadounidense (male or female) from the United States (Estados Unidos). The latter is the least frequent and it is usually found in the press. Note also that words for nationality are not written with capital letters in Spanish.

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Grammar summary

1 SUBJECT PRONOUNS (I, YOU, HE, SHE, ETC.)

To say I, you, he, she, etc. in Spanish, we use the following set of words:

Singular
yo	I
tú	you (familiar)
usted	you (polite)
él	he
ella	she

...

Plural

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Meet the author
• Only got a minute?
• Only got five minutes?
• Only got ten minutes?
• Introduction
• 1 Asking for and giving personal information
• 2 Identifying people, places and things
• 3 Describing people, places and things
• 4 Expressing existence and availability
• 5 Expressing location
• 6 Expressing possession
• 7 Expressing obligation and needs
• 8 Talking about the present
• 9 Talking about habitual actions
• 10 Stating possibility, capacity and permission
• 11 Describing processes and procedures
• 12 Expressing wants and preferences
• 13 Expressing likes and dislikes
• 14 Asking for and giving opinions
• 15 Referring to future plans and events
• 16 Making requests and offers
• 17 Referring to the recent past
• 18 Referring to past events
• 19 Describing the past
• 20 Giving directions and instructions
• 21 Expressing emotional reactions, possibility and doubt
• 22 Expressing wishes and indirect commands, requests and advice
• 23 Expressing conditions
• Congratulations
• Glossary of grammatical terms
• Grammar reference
• Irregular verbs
• Taking it further
• Key to the exercises
• Spanish-English vocabulary
• English-Spanish vocabulary
• Grammatical index
• Credits
• Copyright