Elma Eagles  

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Grammar Summary

Spanish 1 Unidad 1 Etapa 1

Familiar and Formal Greetings

There are different ways to say "how are you?" in Spanish:

¿Cómo estás? is a "familiar" greeting, used with friends, family members, or someone younger than you (and your pets!).  It uses the "tú" form of the verb estar.  "Tú" is the familiar or informal way to say "you."

¿Cómo está usted? is a formal greeting, used with a person you don't know, someone older than you, or someone for whom you want to show respect.  It uses the "usted" form of the verb estar.  "Usted" is the formal way to say "you."

Subject Pronouns and the Verb Ser:

To discuss people in Spanish, you will often use "Subject Pronouns," which are words like "I, you, he, she."   To describe a person or explain who they are, use the verb ser.  This verb is what is called an "irregular verb," because it does not follow the pattern of conjugation used for regular verbs.

If you were to say that someone is a neighbor, you would say:  Él es un vecino ("un/una" means "a" or "an").   But if you were to say that someone is a policeman, you would say:  Él es policía.  (The word "un/una" does not appear before a profession)

Using Verbs to Talk About What You Like to Do

When you talk about what you like to do, use the phrase:

Me gusta + infinitive (the infinitive is the basic form of a verb)

Me gusta comer.         I like to eat.  (To eat pleases me)

(The expression me gusta literally means "pleases me," so the thing you like is actually the subject of the sentence and controls how the verb changes)

To talk about what other people like:

Te gusta comer        You like to eat (To eat pleases you)

Le gusta comer         He/she likes to eat (To eat pleases him/her)