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Elma Eagles

Grammar Summary

Spanish-1 Unidad 5 Etapa 2

Using Pronouns with the Present Progressive

Remember how you use the present progressive to describe actions in progress? When you use pronouns with the present participle, you can put them in one of two places:

Before the Conjugated estar	After the Present Participle
lo estoy esperando	estoy esperándolo

Remember that when you attach pronouns to the end of a verb form, you may have to add an accent mark in order to retain the original stress of the verb (as in the example above).

Some verbs you know have irregular present participle forms:

	Verb Infinitive	Irregular Present Participle
When the stem of an -er or -ir verb ends in a vowel, change the -iendo to -yendo	leer oir traer	leyendo oyendo trayendo
e-->i stem-changing verbs have a vowel change in the stem of the present participle	pedir servir	pidiendo sirviendo
Some other verbs also have a vowel change in the stem	decir dormir venir	diciendo durmiendo viniendo

Using the Verb deber to Say What You Should or Ought to Do:

Use the conjugated form of deber with the infinitive of another verb:

Yo debo barrer el suelo	Nosotros debemos ir a escuela
Tú debes estudiar	Vosotros debéis comer
Él, ella, Ud. debe venir	Ellos, ustedes deben hablar

Using Adverbs That End in -mente

To describe how something is done, use an adverb. Many adverbs in Spanish are made by changing an existing adjective and adding the ending -mente, which is the equivalent of adding -ly in English.

	Adjective	Adverb
When an adjective ends in e, l, or z, simply add -mente to the end	reciente	recientemente
	frecuente	frecuentemente
	fácil	fácilmente
	normal	normalmente
	especial	especialmente
	feliz	felizmente
For adjectives with -o or -a endings, add -mente to the feminine form	cuidadoso(a)	cuidadosamente
	rápido(a)	rápidamente
	lento(a)	lentamente
	tranquilo(a)	tranquilamente

When you use two adverbs, drop the -mente from the first one:

Ella entra en la clase lenta y tranquilamente.