More Spanish: Future Tense

article written by Kate McCarthy of ByITsizePro, York based website consultants and designers click here to check ByITSizePro's website
In Spanish the future tense is formed by adding the correct endings to the infinitive* of the verb.  This tense is easier than some as the endings are the same for -ar, -er & -ir, as follows.

	-ar	-er	-ir
Yo	hablaré	comeré	viviré
Tu	hablarás	comerás	vivirás
el/ella/usted	hablara	comera	vivira
nosotros, -as	hablaremos	comeremos	viviremos
vosotros, -as	hablaréis	comeréis	viviréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablarán	comerán	vivirán

The future tense is used:
To refer to events that will take place after the time the speaker/writer is speaking/writing
To emphasise that an action will take place
To indicate the probability
To make predictions about future events
To convey uncertainty; often expressed as questions

Be aware of course that there are irregular verbs and the best way to know these is to learn each one, or at least groups as there are some irregular verbs that follow the same pattern as other irregular verbs.

*Infinitive:  The name of the verb and the form of the verb you will find in the dictionary.  In Spanish, infinitives come in 3 flavours -ar (e.g. hablar), -er (e.g. comer) & -ir (e.g. vivir).  The infinitive is an impersonal form of the verb.

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Comparatives and Superlatives

written by Deirdre McCarthy, York Language Tuition, TEFL & CELTA qualified English Tutor based in York.
http://www.yorklanguagetuition.co.uk

What are they?

We use comparatives to compare two people, places or things  that are different: John is taller than Harry;

Harry’s more patient than John; our last house was smaller than this house.

We use superlatives to compare three or more people, places or things.

John is the tallest boy in his class; this is the biggest house I have ever lived in; Libya has the highest recorded

temperature in the world.

How we use comparative and superlatives in English – what are the rules for spelling and form.

The table below shows some of the rules and a couple of exceptions to these rules – there are always

exceptions in English! Then there are the irregular forms – some of these are shown at the end in pink. 

                                                                                                                                                                                               

type of adjective	spelling rule comparative    superlative	comparative	superlative
Most 1-syllable adjectives	add –er             add -est	older        brighter BUT  dry - drier	richest        oldest BUT dry - driest
1-syllable adjective ending In -e	add –r               add -st	nicer         safer	nicest        safest
1-syllableadjectives ending in consonant + vowel + consonant	double the last consonant and add -er                       -est	bigger      fatter wetter BUT new - newer	biggest     thinnest wettest BUT new - newest
2-syllable adjectives ending in –y	Replace –y with –i and add   -er                      -est	easier      noisier windier   heavier	happiest    funniest heaviest     prettiest
2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y	put more        put most before the adjective	more mature more patient	most boring most patient
Adjectives with 3 syllables or more	put more        put most before the adjective	more aggressive more organised	most popular most attractive

Irregular adjectives:  
good, better, best
bad, worse, worst
far, further/farther, furthest/farthest

I think it’s interesting to consider why some of these rules apply.  For instance, why do we say “more aggressive” and “most attractive” instead of aggressive and attractivest. In this instance it’s simply about how it sounds. When there are more than 3 syllables, to just add –er or –est for the comparative or superlative would sound clumsy and awkward.


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To be - Ser o Estar

by Kate McCarthy,byITsizePro  - York based website design -  http://www.byitsizepro.co.uk


One of the hardest verbs to get to grips with in Spanish is also irregular in English.  If we think how hard it must be to learn the verb "to be" in English we are probably half way to understanding how difficult it is to learn the Spanish.  In Spanish not only is "to be" and irregular verb but there are two different verbs for it SER and ESTAR.  So first we have to work out which to use and then work out the conjugations and they are both very irregular and so the easiest thing to do is to learn them in all their forms.

I'll start with a rough explanation of the English verb "to be" to give you an idea of what I mean.  In English "to be" is the most used as well as the most irregular verb.

Present forms 
I am
You are
He/she/is is
We are
They are

Past forms
I was
You were
He/she/it was
We were
They were

The above is just a simple explanation of the English verb "to be" - there is a lot more to it than that and if you keep checking back I now have a TEFL and CELTA qualified writer that is going to be doing some articles on here for me to help explain the English language a little more.

Now on to the much love Ser and Estar Spanish verbs which I will try to explain for you as simply as I can.  I am only going to go into the present tense of the verbs right now.

In simple terms the differences are as follows:  Ser would be used to say things about what something is and the nature of it's being and Estar refers more to what something does, so - I might use "soy" (first person singular of "ser" to tell you what I am but would use "Estoy" to tell you what I am being (e.g. I am at home - Estoy en casa).

Here are some examples to show you the difference:

Estoy cansado - I am tired or Soy cansado - I am a tired person
Estoy feliz - I'm happy or Soy feliz - I'm happy by nature
La mazana está verde - the apple is green (condition i.e. unripe) or La manzana es verde (essence i.e. type of apple is green)

One way to remember the difference is to think of "Estar" as referring to a temporary condition, while "Ser" frequently refers to a permanent condition.  There are as always, exceptions to the rules time expressions use "Ser" even though the time that it is is very temporary e.g. Son las tres de la tarde - It's 3pm and "Estar" is use to say somebody has died even though this is a very permanent condition e.g. Está muerto - he is dead.

As I said, they are irregular verbs - here are the conjugations for the present tense of both Ser and Estar

Pronombre	Ser	Estar
Yo	soy	estoy
Tú	eres	estás
Él/ella/usted	es	está
Nosotros	somos	estamos
Vosotros	sois	estáis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes	son	están

I hope that helps a bit with the understanding of the two.  As always, any questions please feel free to leave a comment.  If you enjoyed reading this/found it helpful then please comment at the bottom.  Many thanks.

Tenses Part one - Present Simple

by Kate McCarthy - ByITsizePro, York based website design  http://www.byitsizepro.co.uk

In language there are 3 simple tenses, Past, Present and Future - unfortunately in a lot of languages (including, English, French and Spanish) it is not as simple as this.  For now I am concentrating on the Spanish as this is the one I am trying to get to grips with on the tenses (note the word trying!).  By writing it here it will help me to understand it a little more and maybe help others at the same time.

The present tense is the most common tense of the 3 and is the first one learned in language classes. The reason for this is that it is the most used and the most similar in the way it functions, to the English present tense.

In Spanish the simple present tense is used in much the same way as it is in English:

To describe something that is happening now:  Estoy en casa - I am at home

To describe something in the near future:  El tren sale a las once y media - the train leaves at 11:30

To tell a general truth or something that is repeated habitually or regularly:  Él toca el piano - he plays the piano, Duermo mucho los domingos - I sleep a lot on Sundays, Mi hija es muy inteligente - my daughter is very intellegent

I a narrative, talking of the past:  Va al supermercado y pega un tiro al gerente.  Entonces huye a México.  - he goes to the supermarket and shoots the manager.  Then flees to Mexico.

Questioning - to get instructions:  ¿Dónde cambio de ropa? - Where do I change clothes?

Sometimes used to state conditions or hypotheses:  Often after si - meaning if.  Other verb tenses can be used in these cases but generally if in English it is the present indicative then it will be in Spanish.  Si salgo, estaré feliz - If I leave, I will be happy, Si tienes tiempo, ve al Perú - if you have time, go to Peru, Cuando nieva, no puedo trababjar - when it snows, I can't work

Hopefully this explains the present (simple) tense.  As always, any questions then please leave a comment and I will try to answer for you.  If you have enjoyed reading and found it of use then please feel free to share and all polite comments are welcomed - good to get some feedback.

Thanks for reading!