Julie Gutin - The Everything Spanish Grammar Book : All The Rules You Need To Master Espanol

THE
EVERYTHING
Spanish Grammar Book

Dear Reader,

I started learning my first foreign language, English, in grade school and it soon became one of my favorite classes. I liked the concept of communicating in a different language, and memorization came easily to me.

However, once I found myself in the United States, acquiring fluency in English proved to be more challenging. Some of the grammar didnt make sense, and I had trouble understanding American pronunciation.

I cant tell you exactly when I realized that Id finally made English my own, but I do know that I couldnt have done it without studying English grammar. I needed to learn the basics that come naturally to native speakers of English.

This is why I consider Spanish grammar a very important part of learning Spanish. Whether youre a non-native speaker and need to figure out concepts like the subjunctive mood and the multiple past tenses or a native speaker who never had the opportunity to study Spanish in a classroom setting, learning Spanish grammar can truly help you gain full proficiency in this beautiful language.

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Visit the entire EverythingSeries at www.everything.com

THE
EVERYTHING
SPANISH
GRAMMAR
BOOK

All the rules you need to master espaol

Julie Gutin

Copyright 2005, F+W Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Media, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-59337-309-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-59337-309-2
eISBN: 978-1-44052-311-3
Printed in the United States of America.

J I H G F E D C

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gutin, Julie.
The everything Spanish grammar book / Julie Gutin.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-59337-309-0
1. Spanish languageGrammar. 2. Spanish language
Textbooks for foreign speakers--English. I. Title. II. Series: Everything series.

PC4112.G87 2005
468.2'421dc22

2004026355

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American
Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963

To my parents, who made it all possible

Contents

Top Ten Reasons
to Study Spanish Grammar

Itll help you speak Spanish and be able to understand the responses.

Itll improve your reading comprehension so that you can finally get started on Don Quixote.

Youll never be stumped by verb conjugations again.

Youll finally figure out the purpose of the subjunctive mood and how to use it correctly.

You can finally stop embarrassing yourself by addressing your teacher with the informal you, t.

It will help you improve your English grammar skills.

Youll be a lot more sympathetic to those who are learning English and are struggling with it.

You can impress native Spanish speakers with your knowledge of Spanish grammar.

Youll learn why native Spanish speakers make certain mistakes when using English grammar.

You can figure it all out, once and for all, and then finally be able to move on to all the fun stuff, like traveling abroad.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my familyNonna, Faina, and Leonid Gutin for all their love and support. To Veronica, thanks for listening and for keeping me company when I couldnt stand working anymore. And to ShihYanthanks for being there.

This project couldnt have happened without Eric Hall, my acquisitions editor, who believed in me and gave me the freedom to make this project what I wanted it to be. And I owe special thanks to Kate McBride, who supported me in this undertaking. A lot of credit for this book also goes to Gina Chaimanis, who masterfully took over this project, and to the rest of the Adams teamGary Krebs, Laura MacLaughlin, Jamie Wielgus, the production department (Michelle Roy Kelly, thanks for a great layout!), and of course fellow development editors, Karen Jacot and Christina MacDonald.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge all of my Spanish teachersyour hard work made this book possible. I couldnt have done it without you!

Introduction

SOME PEOPLE REALLY ENJOY STUDYING GRAMMAR, but for most of us, grammar is nothing more than a special torture devised by bored teachers who wish to break down a language into a myriad little rules that must all be followed without question. But is it really all that bad?

Linguists say that there are actually two types of grammar prescriptive and descriptive. Prescriptive grammar is a collection of rules about how a language should behave. Inflexible rules that the grade school teachers have instilled in usnever end a sentence with a preposition, at all costs avoid using passive verbs, never ever break up a compound verb with an adverbare prescriptive. These rules determine whats correct and then try to get everyone to follow them.

Prescriptive grammar has its benefits, up to a point. It helps us make writing and formal speaking more uniform by providing a common set of rules that we have all agreed to use. Then its up to your grade school English teacher to force you to memorize these rules and put them into practice when you write.