Reading rules in Spanish table. Spanish

In 2008, I developed some great strategies for myself for dealing with tricky Spanish grammar.

Although I still stumble over certain aspects of the language from time to time, I can confidently say that I at least know how to avoid serious mistakes and difficulties that will make me not want to continue studying the language.

• Dedicate the first 3 months to present time.

Verbs in Spanish are conjugated by persons and numbers, and this makes learning grammar especially difficult for all Russian speakers. When I started learning Spanish, I just decided that I needed to make things a little easier for myself, at least at the first stage, so I concentrated on studying and simply ignored the fact that other tense forms existed.

Of course, now they are very indignant because of this “ bad advice”, but try it yourself: three months of communication in the present tense will give you a head start, which will be enough to understand - at least in theory - other tenses in Spanish. In addition, you will use the present tense so often that you will master it perfectly, and the correct one will never be in question.

• Practice past and future tenses.

After three months of talking “in the present tense,” I decided to connect - primarily to practice conjugating verbs in the past and future tense. The interactions in class gave me exactly the insight I needed to make progress in this area. After spending so much time and effort developing the habit of not making mistakes in the present tense, I was pleased to realize that I had mastered the future and past tenses much faster than I expected.

• Keep a separate notebook to write down the gender of Spanish nouns.

I carried this damn notebook with me all the time, because in Spanish, and with it the articles, and with them and, were given to me with great difficulty. The notebook had only two columns: one column for masculine nouns, the other for female.

Over time I realized general rules, patterns of determining gender and wrote down the most commonly used words. After some time, I remembered this notebook only to write exceptions there. A common rule is that nouns that end in "a" are most often feminine, but Spanish is full of exceptions to the rule. El Clima(weather, climate) - wonderful to that example: ends with “a”, but it is a masculine word. The fact that I diligently wrote down exceptions whenever I encountered them helped me move from basic level to medium.

• Write in Spanish every day.

Whether you're doing writing exercises from a textbook, writing stories, or simply journaling in Spanish, you should make it a point to do it every day. Start blogging about your Spanish learning journey, documenting your mistakes, discoveries, learning experiences, and Spanish-related events in your life.

The only sure way to understand Spanish grammar is to put it into practice and become aware of any doubts. Every time I take on new language, I keep a diary - it was the same with Spanish. Whenever I felt like I was hitting a brick wall with my Spanish grammar, I would open my journal and go through every mistake and every unclear point step by step. The ability to correctly express one’s thoughts, even with rather limited vocabulary and an arsenal of grammatical phrases is the most important skill that must be mastered before moving on to more complex vocabulary and grammar.

• Pay special attention to the subjunctive mood.

You will constantly come across verb forms in, so do not avoid it, but, on the contrary, carefully study all cases of its appearance

In principle, it is not easy for native Russian speakers to understand this aspect of Spanish grammar. , on which all attention will be concentrated on the subjunctive mood, is what you need! And in between classes, work on your exercises.

• Learn to see the logical connection between grammatical structures.

Desde(from, from, with), pero(but, however), sin embargo(however, despite, nevertheless) mientras(while, for now), de todas manners(Anyway), por lo tanto(therefore, thereby, therefore) are common logical connectives that are needed to construct longer common sentences and support more abstract conversation.

I found that by learning which conjunctions, allied words and linking words were used in the present, past, future, conditional and subjunctive moods, I learned to maintain the correct order of elements in sentences various types and pay attention to subjunctive mood.

I started approaching Spanish grammar from the mathematical side:

2 + 2 = 4, and after desde que(since then) in Spanish the verb is always in the present or past subjunctive form.

• Read, read and read again.

When you read in Spanish, you literally see with your own eyes how Spanish grammar works and how sentences are constructed correctly, and you can compare your own texts (do you remember to write at least something every day?) with a kind of standard of Spanish-speaking writers or journalists. Important factor The thing to take into account is to choose sources that are trustworthy.

I took 20 minutes every day to read news and articles on the websites of the most famous Spanish-language newspapers. I was not only aware current events, but I was also sure that the Spanish grammar that came to my attention was correct and normative.

• Avoid bad habits.

Never, ever skip in Spanish: yes, in order to put an accent, you will need to switch the layout, but this is extremely important! Do you send official letter or message to a friend, you must write correctly.

Some of my friends who started learning Spanish at the same time as me write pretty poorly. When I write in Spanish, I do it with confidence because I made my life easier by making it difficult for myself from the very beginning and paying attention to acento agudo from the very beginning.

Hablo(I say) different from habló(he spoke, she spoke, you spoke), and it is necessary to always show this difference. You will see that if you memorize from the very beginning correct positioning superscripts, it will become a habit, and you will not need to painfully look at the word, wondering whether there is an accent on the vowel or not.

• Have fun with the easy aspects of Spanish grammar.

Spanish grammar is mostly vague and confusing, but there are some topics that are very clear and simple. For example, when using conditionals, you only need to add “-ia” to the stem part of the verb.

Enjoy these moments because, despite its difficulty, Spanish grammar will make you smile, laugh and feel free to chat in a new language.

A diphthong (phonetic diphnong) is a combination of two vowels pronounced into one syllable. In Spanish, a diphthong usually consists of a combination of the so-called “strong” vowels a, o, e and the “weak” vowels i and u. In this case, the “strong” vowel is syllabic, and the “weak” vowel sounds like a short semivowel.

with final i: ai [ay], ei [hey], oi [oh]: dais [dais], peine [payne], sois [soys]

with final u: au [аў], eu [еў], ou [оў]: fauna [фаўна], deuda [де́ўДа], COU [кў]

with initial i: ia [ya], ie [ye], io [yo]: iu [yu]: piano [piano], ciela [syela], adiós [adyos], viuda [byuda]

with initial u: ua [ўа], ue [ўе], uo [ўо]: agua [а́Гўа], bueno [ўе́но], cuota [кўо́та]

At the beginning and at the end of a word, i is written as y: yo, soy

When combining two weak vowels first of them sounds briefly: iu [yu] and ui [ўи]: ciudad [съьуДаД], ruido [Рўи́До]. The exception is the word muy(very), which is pronounced [muy]

Thrifthongs

A triphthong is three vowels pronounced as one syllable.
There are 4 triplets in the Spanish language: [yay], [yey], [ўay], [ўey]. The stressed syllable-forming vowels in them are the strong vowels a and e: estudiáis [estudyays], limpiéis [limpyeys], situáis [situays], actuéis [actueys]

Place of stress

1) If a word ends in a vowel sound, a diphthong or the consonants n, s and there is no stress mark anywhere in the word, then the stress falls on the penultimate syllable:

• gato [gato] - cat
• serio [seryo] - serious
• flores [flores] - flowers
• comen [komen] - (they) eat

2) If a word ends in a consonant (except -n and -s), then the stress falls on the last syllable:

• cantar [kantar] - sing;
• animal [animal] - animal;
• universidad [uniBersiDaD] - university;

3) Words deviating from these rules are written with emphasis:

• Moscú [Moscow] - Moscow;
• estudió [estuDyo] - studied;
• frencés [frances] - French;
• estación [estasyon] - railway station;
• cantará [kantara] - (he, she) will sing;
• cámera [camera] - camera.

In Russian transcription, using capital letters and the signs ӈ and ў, sounds that are missing in the Russian language are shown:

• B - pronounced as b with lips not completely closed. It is heard as some kind of intermediate sound between [v] and [b]. There is no [v] sound in Spanish;
• L - a sound intermediate between l and l, pronounced when the tip of the tongue touches the upper alveoli (the bumps above the upper teeth);
• G - Ukrainian g, in Russian - g in “aha” and “for God’s sake”;
• R - multi-impact vibrant, rolling r;
• D - interdental fricative voiced sound similar to English the in this, but with the tip of the tongue less extended. Sounds like a weak d, weakens at the end of the word almost to the point of disappearing;
• ў - short y, pronounced like the English w in the word water;
• N - middle lingual palatal stop. Similar to Russian н, but pronounced with pressing not the front part of the tongue to the alveoli, but the middle part of the tongue to the upper palate;
• ӈ - soft palate nasal sonant, pronounced like ng in the English word sing;

Spanish reading rules - a one-way road. These are, in the full sense of the word, the rules of reading: by the appearance of a Spanish word, you can always tell, using these rules, how it is read. But the reverse procedure is not so simple. Sometimes it is impossible to determine by the sound of a word whether it is written with g or through j, through b or through v, through s, c or z, you can only find it in the dictionary - or not find it. But since I’m unlikely to ever have to parse something like that by ear, I can say with a clear conscience that the rules for reading there are simple.

1. Alphabet
Spanish uses the Latin alphabet with minor modifications. There are no letters k And w(more precisely, they occur, but only in borrowed words) and there is a letter ñ . There are also combinations of letters ll And ch. Previously, they had their own place in the alphabet (that is, a word with ch turned out to be lower in alphabetical lists than, say, a word with cu), but in the nineties this feature was removed. So when dealing with Spanish dictionaries, you need to first check whether they are in the old alphabetical order or the new one. In the new ones, each letter is counted separately.

2. Reading vowels
Single vowels are read, in general, as they are written, without any frills (at the same time, of course, we must not forget that Russian Akan for most other languages ​​is precisely a frill that they cannot afford).
Letter u not readable in combinations gue,gui. That's not what she's there for.
After q It’s also not readable, not at all.
Vowels are divided into weak vowels ( i, u) and strong ( a, e, o). When letters are written next to each other, one of which corresponds to a weak vowel and the other to a strong one (or vice versa), this means a diphthong. Diphthongs are pronounced together, but I don’t know exactly how, and, in general, I don’t need to. But you need to be able to identify them to determine the stress.
If the letters are suitable for a diphthong, but do not form it (they are read separately and belong to different syllables), this can be determined by the presence of an accent or trem above one of the letters (a trema is two dots above u they can be installed).

3. Reading consonants
Letter c reads like With before e And i And How To in all other positions (and for syllables ke, ki letter used q).
Combination ch reads like h.
Letter g reads like X before e And i And How G in all other positions. If you need to somehow write down “ge” or “gi”, an unreadable u: gue, gui.
Letter h not readable at all.
Letter j reads like X.
Letter combination ll reads like l. I mean not just like soft l, and specifically since l. If, of course, you can say so. In any case, when transmitting Spanish words in Russian letters, this is exactly the combination that corresponds to it.
Letter ñ reads like no. In the same sense.
Letter q occurs only in combination qu, and this whole thing reads like To.
Letter x seems like it can be read before consonants like With, but before vowels it is read as ks(or how gz- I'll clarify later))
Letter y usually read as th.
Letter z reads like With.
Letters b And v are read the same way: at the beginning of the word as b, in the middle as something fricative between b And V. But, unlike the previous rules, this pronunciation feature is not taken into account when writing, for example, Spanish surnames in Russian letters.
Yes, I almost forgot to say, all Spanish sounds are different from Russian ones.

4. Accent
If a word does not have an accent, then in order to determine where it falls, you must first break the word into syllables. No, it is not necessary to determine which syllable belongs to which consonant (that is, it may be necessary, but not for these purposes), but you will have to count the vowels.
Diphthongs are counted as one syllable.
Unreadable u in qu, gu before e, i, naturally, are not considered at all.
After this you need to look at the last syllable. If it is open (the word ends in a vowel), the stress will be on the penultimate syllable. Stress also falls by default on the penultimate syllable in words where the last syllable is closed by a letter s or n. As far as I understand, there is no sacred phonological meaning in this: just a huge number of words in some forms have unstressed endings of exactly this type (for example, plural nouns and adjectives usually end in -es, -as or -os), and putting correct stress on all plural words and several finite forms of the verb would be cumbersome.
In other cases - that is, when the last syllable of the word is closed and does not end in s and not on n- the emphasis falls on him.
If the emphasis is different from what should be the default, then in decently printed text it will be indicated.

Learning any language, including Spanish, is work that must begin with grammar, the basics. You can pronounce words perfectly, correctly place semantic accents and intonations, but without knowledge of tenses, declensions and conjugations, speech will be clumsy and incomprehensible. Often, students who start learning Spanish have fear in their eyes: there are so many nuances that need to be remembered. As they say, fear has big eyes. Thoughtful step-by-step immersion in grammar makes all the difference controversial issues, helps you understand the language and grasp all the key points.

It is impossible to cover a comprehensive course of Spanish grammar in one article; we tried to reveal its main aspects and focus on distinctive features with other Romance languages. Now, in order.

Basic Spanish Grammar

On initial stages It is important to gradually immerse yourself in the process. Learning grammar on your own is difficult. Much depends on the program and educational materials, which should be compiled by professionals. If you don’t like the format of the courses, work with a tutor who will teach you the basics and make a list of books and workbooks.

What you need to know about Spanish grammar:

• When composing a sentence, the subject, which is the subject, performs the action described by the verb. This ligament is found in almost all complete structures, with rare exceptions.
• Spanish has articles - function words that are used before nouns and define the subject. Thus, articles related to the masculine gender are el, and those related to the feminine gender are la.
• In the relationship between a verb and a subject as a subject, the first must be consistent in person and number - that is, in Spanish, as in Russian, conjugation rules apply: I’m in a hurry to work, he’s in a hurry to work, they’re in a hurry to work, you’re in a hurry to work.

There are exceptions - irregular verbs that cannot be conjugated.

• Spanish verbs are conjugated according to tense categories: future, past, present.

A simple sentence and its structure

• The sentence is the main part of speech, from which dialogues, monologues, articles, essays, letters (official and not so official) are made up. To interest your interlocutor, first of all, you need to learn how to express yourself competently. We'll tell you how to express your thoughts in one sentence.

Just like in Russian, the main active elements of Spanish sentences are the subject and the predicate. They act in an inextricable connection, but at the same time they may not be located nearby, in the vicinity of additions or circumstances. Here are some examples:

La casa es grande. Here the subject is La casa, the predicate is es, the modifier is grande. In Russian the predicate is omitted: the house is big. The subject performs classical functions - it is an object in relation to which the predicate performs concrete actions. In Spanish, the subject can only be expressed by a noun or pronoun, as in many other languages. The predicate is a verb.

Negative sentences are formed using the particle no:

• El perro no es bueno - The dog is not kind;
• El coche no es nuevo - The car is not new.

Structure of interrogative sentences

Everything is simple here. To make an interrogative sentence, you only need to put the verb in the subject position - swap them. To do this, you do not need to use additional articles and particles. Here's an example:

• Ésta es la puerta - This is the door;
• Es ésta la puerta? - Is this a door?

To answer a question with a statement, put yes at the beginning of the sentence:

• Es la escuela nueva? - Is the school new?
• Sí, la escuela es nueva - Yes, the school is new.

If you want to answer in the negative, instead si we use no.

Another feature of Spanish grammar is that in interrogative sentences the definitions are ahead of the predicates and come before them:

• Es bella la mujer? - Is the woman beautiful?
• Son anchas las calles? - Are the streets wide?

Structure difference English sentences from Spanish - in the absence of second auxiliary verbs (do, did, does):

• Vas al cine? - Are you going to the cinema?
• Va tu padre al cine? - Is your father going to the cinema?

Use of personal pronouns

Personal pronouns in Spanish play the same role as in Russian. They are used in a sentence as analogues of subjects in the form of nouns. Let's give an example: A girl is getting ready for school - She is getting ready for school. Here the personal pronoun She replaces the subject Girl.

Often, in context, personal pronouns replace nouns - when it is already clear who the text is talking about. This allows you to avoid repetitions and convey your thoughts more clearly without unnecessary explanations. Spanish has the same system - there is no need to constantly use personal pronouns if they were previously used in previous sentences (unlike in English). Verbs in Spanish change in conjugation according to persons; in the text it is immediately clear which pronoun they refer to.
Singular personal pronouns:

• yo- I
  tú- You
  usted- You
  el- He
  ella- she.

Personal pronouns in the plural:

• nosotros- We
  vosotros- You
  ustedes- You (politely)
  ellos- they (masculine)
  ellas- they (feminine).

One of the features of Spanish and the difference from the Russian language is the absence of the personal pronoun It.

Pronoun yo

We are talking about the pronoun I, which in Russian always acts as a predicate in a sentence. In Spanish, the yo function is the same, only it is often omitted - it is implied, but not used in the text. For example: (Yo) Me voy. - I'm leaving.

Pronouns nosotros and nosotras

These pronouns are used when talking about oneself and at the same time about someone. In Russian - We. The form nosotros speaks of the plural when there are both men and women in the group. The use of nosotras according to the rules is only possible in relation to the feminine gender:

• Jorge y yo (nosotros) jugamos al tenis. Jorge and I (we) play tennis.
• Luz y yo (nosotras) jugamos al tenis. Luce and I (we) play tennis.

Pronouns You and You (tú/usted)

We translate into Russian the scheme for using personal pronouns. When we say You, Spaniards - tú. Also, the meaning You has a respectful form - usted, which is used when addressing older people or within business ethics. It is customary to address children in Spanish as tú.

In communication between people, the usted form quickly transforms into tú - when the relationship develops into friendship. If you want to maintain subordination, keep distance between the interlocutor, it is better to use usted.

Examples of sentences with two forms:

• How about se llama usted? What is your (respectful) name?
• Vas tú con Juan en el auto? Will you go with Juan in the car?

Peculiarities of using the pronoun vosotros

This form of the personal pronoun You is used mainly in Spain. In other countries with Spanish-speaking populations, vosotros is included in the curriculum in schools, but is not used in everyday speech. So Latin Americans as you say ustedes. This trend is explained by the blurring of the boundaries between the formal and informal forms of you (plural).

This pronoun is used when in a dialogue a person addresses a group of people at once. Vosotros is the normative plural of the form tú. As mentioned above, in live speech ustedes is pronounced, which implies both a polite and a simple colloquial form:

• Adónde van ustedes dos? Where are you two going?
• Ustedes van conmigo, ¿Verdad? You guys will come with me. Fine?

Important note: If you want to use usted and ustedes as shorthand, they are always capitalized: Ud. (usted) and Uds. (ustedes). So in writing, according to the rules, it must be pronounced in full.

Dispute between ellos and ellas

The rule says: ellos (in Russian they) is used to refer to men and women in a group. The difference between the pronoun ellas is that it is used strictly in relation to a group of female persons. Here's an example:

• Juan y Jorge (ellos) escuchan. Juan and Jorge (they) are listening.
• Luz y Susana (ellas) escuchan. Luce and Susana (they) are listening.

Regular and irregular Spanish verbs

Let's start with the endings that are characteristic of the infinitive form of verbs - infinitives. In Spanish these are combinations -ar, -er or -ir. Regardless of how the infinitives end, the verb, in turn, can be either regular or irregular. The conjugation rules of both groups are different from each other.

Regular verb conjugation:

The conjugation pattern is easy to understand and remember. It is enough to learn how the verb changes to -ar, and you will be able to conjugate other words of the group expressed in the indefinite form without any problems. The same applies to verbs ending in -ir and -er. Everything is logically connected.

Conjugation of irregular verbs:

Here the situation is more complicated. Verbs often behave unpredictably. You will have to learn the forms of each of the verbs in correct form, otherwise you will make mistakes. They will understand your speech, the meaning will be preserved due to the other components of the sentence, but the sentence will sound ugly and illiterate. Therefore, try to remember all the endings well.

What you need to know about regular verbs

When conjugating Spanish verbs, their base - the root - does not change, is not shortened, and does not lose a single letter. For example: preparar (translated into Russian - to cook) is an already modified form with the ending -ar. Let's look at other conjugation options: yo preparo; él, ella, usted prepara; tú preparations; vosotros, vosotras preparáis; nosotros, nosotras preparamos; ellos, ellas, ustedes preparan.

Now let's look at how verbs are conjugated in the correct form of the present tense ending in -er using the example of comprender (translated into Russian - to understand): yo comprendo; tú comprendes; él, ella, usted comprende; nosotros, nosotras comprendemos; vosotros, vosotras comprendéis; ellos, ellas, ustedes comprenden.

And let's talk about changing verbs to -ir in the correct present tense form. Let's break down the options with the word aburrir (to bother): yo aburro; tú aburres; él, ella, usted aburre; nosotros, nosotras aburrimos; vosotros, vosotras aburrís; ellos, ellas, ustedes aburren.

If you are just getting acquainted with the Spanish language and are still “swimming” in grammar, try to construct sentences in the present tense, these forms are easier to use and easiest to remember.

Irregular Verbs

Studying the conjugation of these verbs must be taken seriously; it is more difficult to remember than the correct ones. The main thing is to follow the diagram, which describes all the forms with endings. Carry the sign with you as a hint until you have it memorized.

Let's consider an example with the word tener (translated into Russian - to have). The root is ten, changing in the present tense to the forms tien and teng. Here you can see a pattern similar to the conjugation of regular verbs ending in er.

Here are some examples:

• yo tengo; tú tienes; él, ella, usted tiene; nosotros, nosotras tenemos; vosotros, vosotras tenéis; ellos, ellas, ustedes tienen.

It is best to memorize the conjugation scheme for irregular verbs - this way you will avoid mistakes in sentence construction, combination with subject, attribute and object.

When starting to learn Spanish grammar, don’t try to grasp the immensity. This is impossible. Step-by-step immersion in the topic and practicing the material in practice will help you master the basics of the language and achieve a fluent conversational level.