G Verbs
There are a number of Spanish verbs which are regular in all but the first person singular. These are known as “g verbs” or “yo go verbs” because the first person singular requires an unexpected g.
Mistakes and Difficulties
Spanish Mistakes and Difficulties
Errores, equivocaciones, malentendidos, confusiones
Improve your Spanish by looking out for and learning how to avoid some common Spanish mistakes.
Gender Exceptions
In general, Spanish nouns that end in -o are masculine, and those that end in -a are feminine. Here are the exceptions to this rule.
A2 - Low-Intermediate Spanish • gender
Hard and Soft Vowels
Spanish vowels are divided into two categories: hard and soft. Hard vowels (A, O, U) cause the consonant that precedes them to be pronounced with a hard sound, while soft vowels (E, I) are preceded by a soft sound.
Indirect Object Pronoun Verbs
There are about a dozen Spanish verbs which must be conjugated with an indirect object pronoun, such as gustar and importar. This grammatical construction does not exist in English, but it’s not difficult once you get used to it.
Object Pronoun Placement
Object and reflexive usually precede the verbs they modify. However, in the case of infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative commands, they often get attached to the end of the verb instead.
Por vs Para
The Spanish prepositions por and para tend to be difficult for Spanish students, because they can – but don’t always – both mean “for.” Por is considerably more common, so in theory, you might be able to get away with just memorizing the uses for para and then using por for everything else. In reality, it’s good to learn the rules, so here they are.
A2 - Low-Intermediate Spanish • lesson plans
Pretérito vs Imperfecto
The trickiest aspect of the two most important Spanish past tenses is that they often work together, juxtaposed not only throughout stories, but even within individual sentences. Understanding the contrasting relationship between the pretérrito and imperfecto is essential to communicating in Spanish.
Pronominal Verbs
The grammatical term “pronominal” means “relating to a pronoun,” so pronominal verbs require a reflexive pronoun. They’re often incorrectly referred to as reflexive verbs, when in fact the latter are just one type of pronominal verb. The defining characteristic of pronominal verbs is that their subjects are acting upon themselves. Pronominal verbs are much more common in Spanish than in English.
B1 - Intermediate Spanish • tenses moods voices
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R
The Spanish letter R is pronounced by rolling or trilling the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth – learn more.