Gail Stein - Spanish Grammar Handbook

CONTENTS

Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook

Copyright 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the publisher upon request.

ISBN: 978-0-7645-7897-7 paperback

eISBN: 978-0-544-18901-0
v3.0315

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A million thanks to Roxane Cerda, my acquisitions editor, who was so instrumental in getting this book off the ground; to Kitty Jarrett, my production editor, whose excellent editing skills and suggestions made this book possible; to Paulette Waiser, whose technical expertise and input were invaluable; and to Christina Stambaugh, Kristie Rees, Linda Quigley, and all the other people at Wiley & Sons, for their patience and expertise.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my husband, Douglas, for his love, support, and patience; to my son Eric, for his technical help; to my son Michael and his fiance, Katherine Benson-Piscopo, for their encouragement; and to my parents, Sara and Jack Bernstein, for always being there for me.

INTRODUCTION

As our society becomes increasingly multicultural, learning a foreign language becomes more and more of a necessity for all of us. Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook is a valuable resource for those who wish to acquire proficiency in a widely spoken language whose popularity is ever-increasing. This book is for people from all walks of life: students, tourists, and businesspeople who want to be able to effectively and confidently communicate ideas, thoughts, and feelings in Spanish.

Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook is an essential, comprehensive guide that is completely user friendly and was designed to carefully and clearly present all the topics and tools necessary for a complete understanding and mastery of Spanish grammar. The book is divided as follows:

• The 15 parts present all the essential elements of Spanish grammar.
• Appendix A presents verbs charts that illustrate the conjugations of regular, stem-changing, spelling-change, and irregular verbs.
• Appendix B presents thematic vocabulary that will facilitate communication.
• The Glossary lists and defines grammatical terms.

Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook is organized in a thoughtful, logical manner, proceeding from the simpler elements to the more complex structural explanations and rules of Spanish grammar. Words, phrases, and expressions that are used on a daily basis in a wide variety of situations are presented at the very beginning. These are followed, part by part, in sequential order, by the elements needed to construct coherent sentences from start to finish: nouns and pronouns; simple verb tenses and moods; progressive tenses; compound tenses and moods; commands; verb infinitives; prepositions and conjunctions; interrogatives and exclamations; negatives, indefinites, and relative pronouns; reflexive verbs; adjectives, adverbs, and comparisons; and the passive voice. All topics are explored in depth, and all explanations are followed by clear, concise examples that illustrate each and every rule. More detailed grammatical points are highlighted in sidebars throughout the text. Exceptions to rules, irregularities, and rules unique to Spanish are noted, explored, discussed at length, and exemplified. Each part of the book is broken down into small, easily manageable divisions and subdivisions that will allow you to work as slowly or as quickly as you like. You can use Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook to develop and perfect your communicative skills at a comfortable pace, one that will permit you to use the Spanish language to its best advantage.

It is absolutely essential to make use of the appendices included in Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook. Appendix A presents a simple-to-read, comprehensive list of verb charts that will enable you to use regular, stem-changing, spelling-change, and irregular verbs with the utmost confidence and ease. Arranged by infinitives, each chart identifies the Spanish infinitive, its English meaning(s), the gerund, the past participle, and the imperative forms. Reflexive verbs, with their accompanying reflexive pronouns, are also fully illustrated. Each verb is shown in its simple and compound tenses in both the indicative and subjunctive moods.

Appendix B presents a mini-dictionary of thematic vocabulary charts that provide you with a large selection of words you can use in conjunction with the rules of grammar so that you can form creative, personalized sentences, thoughts, and ideas. These high-frequency, everyday topics include the family, the house, animals and insects, foods, quantities, parts of the body, places in town, the classroom, subjects and activities, professions, leisure time, clothing, materials, colors, jewelry, travel and transportation, car parts, countries, the continents, and weather.

Finally, the Glossary presented at the end of the book defines all the grammatical terms youll need to know to successfully learn the material in this book.

Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook explains and illustrates all that is necessary for you to successfully master the Spanish language. The rest is up to you. If you make a commitment to learn and practice a small amount each day, if you study on a regular basis, and if you persevere without getting discouraged or distracted, you will learn Spanish in a relatively short period of time. Take the time, make the effort, and before long, youll be proficient enough to chat in both social and business situations. You can do it all with Websters New World Spanish Grammar Handbook .

PART I

EVERYDAY NECESSITIES

Numbers

We use two different types of numbers on a daily basis: cardinal and ordinal numbers. Numbers are vitally important to everyday communication because they have so many applications. It is, therefore, essential to commit both sets of numbers to memory.