Notes

It's time to start looking at how Spanish works. Because grammatical terms are often used to talk about grammar, it's important that you understand the most common terms. You may already know most of this, and it's really not critical for you to know these terms in order for you to learn Spanish, but this can be a good reference for you. So give this a quick review, and print it out, or store it somewhere you can retrieve it when you want to check on something.

Let's take a look at some basics of grammar.

The Eight Parts of Speech

In both English and Spanish, words can be grouped according to how they are used. The eight groups are Nouns, Pronouns, Articles, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, and Conjunctions. The sections below are an overview of what function each group serves in a sentence.

Nouns

A noun names a person, place, or thing.

English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.



Pronouns

A pronoun takes the place of a noun.


English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.



Articles

An article identifies and specifies a noun.

English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.



Adjectives

An adjective modifies (describes)a noun or pronoun.

English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.



Verbs

A verb indicates action or state of being.

English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.



Adverbs

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.



Prepositions

A preposition shows a relationship between nouns or pronouns and other words.

English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.



Conjunctions

Conjunctions link words, phrases, and clauses.

English Example Spanish Example

She runs quickly with a small dog or cat. Ella corre rápidamente con un perro o gato pequeño.