Each example below has three parts: the original text, a literal gloss describing how every word works, and a natural translation. The glosses use a few shorthand labels so they stay short. Don't worry about memorising them — this is a reference you can come back to. Person and number · 1sg / 2sg / 3sg — first / second / third person singular (I, you, he/she/it) · 1pl / 2pl / 3pl — first / second / third person plural (we, you-all, they) Gender and case · m / f / n — masculine / feminine / neuter · sg / pl — singular / plural · m.sg — combined: masculine singular (and similarly f.pl, n.sg, etc.) · NOM / ACC / GEN / DAT / INS / LOC — grammatical cases (nominative/accusative/genitive/dative/instrumental/locative) — which role the word plays in the sentence Tense and aspect · PRES — present · PRET — preterite (a finished past event) · IMPF — imperfect (an ongoing or habitual past situation) · FUT — future · PERF — perfect (an action completed with present relevance) · PROG — progressive (action in progress, e.g. am eating) · COND — conditional (would…) Mood · IND — indicative (regular statement) · SUBJ — subjunctive (uncertainty, wishes, doubts) · IMP — imperative (commands) · INF — infinitive (dictionary form: to go, to eat) Other · REFL — reflexive (action on oneself: myself, yourself) · PERS — personal a (Spanish only — marks a human direct object) · HON — honorific (extra-polite form, common in Japanese/Korean) · TOP / SUB / OBJ — topic / subject / object markers (Japanese, Korean) · CL — classifier (Chinese, Japanese, Korean — a counter word for nouns) · NEG — negation
Spanish basic word order is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), the same as English. However, Spanish is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun is usually omitted because the verb ending already tells you who is performing the action. Including the pronoun adds emphasis or contrast. Word order is also more flexible than English: subjects can move after the verb for emphasis, especially with intransitive verbs or in questions. Adverbs and prepositional phrases can shift position more freely. Object pronouns, however, follow strict placement rules (usually before the conjugated verb).
Spanish articles agree with the noun in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). Definite articles ('the'): el (m.sg), la (f.sg), los (m.pl), las (f.pl). Indefinite articles ('a/an/some'): un (m.sg), una (f.sg), unos (m.pl), unas (f.pl). Spanish uses definite articles more than English: with abstract nouns, generalizations, languages after most verbs, body parts, and titles when speaking about (not to) someone. The neuter 'lo' combines with adjectives to form abstract nouns (lo bueno = 'the good thing').
Subject: yo, tú/usted, él/ella, nosotros/-as, vosotros/-as (Spain) or ustedes (LatAm), ellos/-as. Direct object: me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las. Indirect object: me, te, le, nos, os, les. Reflexive: me, te, se, nos, os, se. Object pronouns precede conjugated verbs but attach to infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative commands. When both direct and indirect appear, indirect comes first; 'le/les' becomes 'se' before lo/la/los/las. Possessives: mi(s), tu(s), su(s), nuestro/-a(s), vuestro/-a(s), su(s); they agree with the thing possessed, not the possessor.
Every noun is masculine or feminine. Most nouns ending in -o are masculine, most ending in -a are feminine, but there are exceptions (la mano, el día, el problema). Nouns ending in -ción, -sión, -dad, -tad are usually feminine; -ma (from Greek), -or are usually masculine. Adjectives must agree with their noun in gender and number. Adjectives ending in -o have four forms (-o, -a, -os, -as); those ending in -e or a consonant usually have two forms (singular/plural). Adjectives normally follow the noun, but a few common ones (bueno, malo, grande) often precede it, sometimes shortening.
Spanish verbs fall into three groups by infinitive ending: -ar (hablar), -er (comer), -ir (vivir). Each tense has six person/number endings: yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos/ustedes. Regular verbs simply drop the infinitive ending and add tense-specific endings. Key irregular verbs you must memorize: ser (to be — identity), estar (to be — state/location), tener (to have), ir (to go), haber (auxiliary 'have' for compound tenses; impersonal 'there is/are' as 'hay'). Many verbs are stem-changing (e>ie, o>ue, e>i) in stressed syllables, and many have irregular yo forms.
The present indicative covers current actions, habits, general truths, and near-future plans. Regular endings: -ar verbs take -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an; -er verbs take -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en; -ir verbs take -o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en. Spanish has no progressive auxiliary by default: 'hablo' covers both 'I speak' and 'I am speaking', though the construction 'estar + gerund' (estoy hablando) emphasizes ongoing action. Stem-changing verbs change in all forms except nosotros/vosotros.
Spanish has two simple past tenses with a crucial aspectual distinction. The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is for completed, bounded events with a clear endpoint: 'I ate', 'she arrived'. The imperfect (imperfecto) is for ongoing, habitual, or descriptive past states without a defined endpoint: 'I used to eat', 'she was arriving', 'it was raining'. Imperfect describes background, age, time, weather, and ongoing states; preterite advances the narrative with specific completed events. Both can appear in the same sentence: imperfect sets the scene, preterite introduces what happened. Endings for the imperfect are highly regular; preterite has many irregulars.
Spanish has two ways to talk about the future. The synthetic future adds endings (-é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án) directly to the full infinitive: hablaré, comerás, vivirá. A handful of verbs use irregular stems (tendré, haré, diré, pondré, saldré, vendré, podré, sabré, querré). The periphrastic future uses 'ir a + infinitive' (voy a hablar = 'I am going to speak') and is much more common in speech for near-future plans. The synthetic future can also express probability or conjecture about the present ('¿Dónde estará?' = 'I wonder where he/she is').
Both verbs mean 'to be' but are not interchangeable. Ser expresses inherent identity, characteristics, origin, profession, nationality, material, possession, and time/date: 'Soy médico', 'Es de España', 'Son las tres'. Estar expresses location, temporary states, emotions, conditions, and ongoing actions (with the gerund): 'Estoy cansado', 'Está en casa', 'Estamos comiendo'. Some adjectives change meaning depending on which verb: 'ser aburrido' = to be boring, 'estar aburrido' = to be bored; 'ser listo' = to be clever, 'estar listo' = to be ready. The contrast is essence (ser) versus state or position (estar).
Basic negation places 'no' immediately before the conjugated verb: 'No hablo francés' = 'I don't speak French'. Object pronouns stay between 'no' and the verb: 'No lo veo'. Unlike English, Spanish uses double (and triple) negatives: when a negative word like nunca, nadie, nada, ningún, tampoco follows the verb, 'no' must precede the verb. If the negative word comes before the verb, 'no' is dropped: 'Nunca como carne' = 'Nadie sabe'. This stacking is grammatically required, not emphatic. 'Ni... ni...' means 'neither... nor...'.
Yes/no questions are often formed by rising intonation alone, with the same word order as a statement: '¿Hablas español?'. Inversion (verb-subject) is also common, especially in writing: '¿Habla María español?'. Written Spanish uses an inverted question mark '¿' at the start and a normal '?' at the end. Wh-questions begin with an interrogative word, all of which carry a written accent: qué (what), quién/quiénes (who), dónde (where), cuándo (when), cómo (how), por qué (why), cuánto/-a/-os/-as (how much/many), cuál/cuáles (which). Subject pronouns may follow the verb in wh-questions.
Nouns ending in an unstressed vowel add -s: libro > libros, casa > casas. Nouns ending in a consonant or a stressed vowel add -es: papel > papeles, rey > reyes, café > cafés (some accept -s only). Nouns ending in -z change z to c and add -es: luz > luces, pez > peces. Nouns ending in -s in an unstressed final syllable do not change in the plural: el lunes > los lunes, la crisis > las crisis. Adding a plural ending may require adjusting written accents to preserve the stress pattern: examen > exámenes, joven > jóvenes.
Reflexive verbs take a pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) that refers back to the subject. The infinitive form ends in -se: llamarse, levantarse, lavarse. Many describe daily routines and changes of state: 'Me levanto a las siete' = 'I get up at seven'. Others are inherently reflexive in form (quejarse, atreverse). 'Gustar'-type verbs are not strictly reflexive but use a similar object-pronoun pattern: the thing liked is the grammatical subject, and the person is an indirect object ('Me gusta el café' literally = 'Coffee pleases me'). The reflexive pronoun precedes the conjugated verb or attaches to infinitives/gerunds.
When the direct object of a verb is a specific person (or a personified being, including pets), Spanish inserts the preposition 'a' before it. This 'personal a' has no English equivalent and is not translated. Compare: 'Veo la casa' (I see the house) vs. 'Veo a María' (I see María). It is used with specific people, named pets, and personified entities or groups; it is generally omitted with non-specific or indefinite persons after 'tener' ('Tengo dos hermanos'). Question words referring to people also take it: '¿A quién buscas?'. With 'el', 'a' contracts to 'al'.