Spanish Grammar: Verb Tenses, Periphrasis, Adverbs
Values of Verbs
Indicates Present
- Currently: Now I see there is television – by Pedro
- Habitual: I teach economics
- Durative: Lives in that house
- Timeless: The Earth revolves around the Sun
- Historic: The Arabs reach Spain in 711
- Advance: Tomorrow we go on vacation
- Mandate: You come with me!
Indicates Imperfect Past
- Courtesy: You wanted something else?
- Imaginative: You were bad and I was the good
- Attempt: Now went out to get you
- Contrariety: Tomorrow I had to act, but the function has been suspended
- Opening: There once was…
Simple Perfect Past
Daniel painted his room 2 months ago.
Compound Perfect Past
This morning I bought a couple of novels.
Pluperfect Past
I called you to talk, but you had already left.
Imperfect Future
- Command: You will do what I say!
- Probability: They will now be 10 or 11 years old
- Courtesy: Will you please wait!
- Concessive: Will be tall, but not pretty
- Historical past: Lepanto changed the fate of Cervantes
Simple Conditional
- Courtesy: I would like to ask you another chance
- Probability: It would be around five when he appeared
- Concessive: It may rain a lot, but we do not get wet
Periphrasis of Speech: Verbs as One
Javier must act.
With Infinitive Periphrasis
- Liability: Mary has to do better – you have to leave earlier, you must get up before
- Inchoative: (Go to, start, made, lie a): Going to read – it started to rain
- Doubt: (Duty, come to) This bike should cost a lot of money, the house is about 20 years old
- Repeated: (Again, soler): Nadal won the tournament again
- Intonation: (End of, reaching): Did you just fix your computer? – Did you get to see your brother?
Gerund Periphrasis
Indicates actions and progress (be, go, go, come, go): I was calling all morning.
Participle Periphrasis
Finished action (take, take, leave): I sold all the shares in the lottery.
Adverbs
- Place: Here, there, far away…
- Time: Today, now, then, yesterday…
- Manner: Well, badly, better, worse…
- Quantity: Nothing, much, just…
- Affirmation/Negation: Yes, no, never…
- Wish: Hopefully
- Doubt: Maybe, probably
- Exclusion/Inclusion: Only, moreover, also…
Sentences
- Transitive: Object complement
- Intransitive: No additions or without a direct object
- Reflexive: Refers to the same person: Carmen gets dressed
- Reciprocal: Multiple actors, same action
- Pseudoreflexive: No personal pronouns, only verbal morphemes
- Passive: To bring the verb “to be” in the same time
- Passive reflex: Pronoun and verb in active voice: Many books are published
- Impersonal: Grammatical subject: One reads little in Spain
Values of “Se”
As a Pronoun
- Reflexive sentences (direct object): The child looks in the mirror
- Reflexive sentences (indirect object): Javier removed his gloves
- Reciprocal sentences (direct object): John and Paul were found
- Reciprocal sentences (indirect object): The rivals gave several blows
As a Verbal Morpheme
- Passive reflex with “se”: These stories were written in Italy
- Impersonal with “se”: You eat early in France
Coordinate Compound Sentences
Two or more sentences with verbs that distinguish links:
- Copulative: And, or
- Disjunctive: Or
- Adversative: But, nevertheless, however, yet
- Explanatory: That is, in other words
Phrases
- Noun phrase: Noun nucleus
- Verb phrase: Verb nucleus
- Prepositional phrase: Preposition nucleus
- Adjectival phrase: Adjective nucleus
- Adverbial phrase: Adverb nucleus