Spanish pluperfect: había plus past participle
Use the pluperfect to describe an action completed before a past reference point, with forms such as había salido.
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Spanish grammar
Explore essential Spanish grammar through clear explanations, contrasting examples and practical exercises.
Adventure journal
Spanish grammar
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Creo que and no creo que: indicative and subjunctive
Compare affirmative creo que with negative no creo que and practise choosing indicative or subjunctive in these Spanish statements.
Read and practiseSpanish subjunctive after es importante que
Use present subjunctive after es importante que, es necesario que and es mejor que to express an assessment of an action.
Read and practiseAffirmative vos commands in Rioplatense Spanish
Recognize common affirmative vos commands such as hablá, comé and escribí, and compare them with familiar tú forms.
Read and practiseStem changes in Spanish present subjunctive: pensar and poder
Practise e-to-ie and o-to-ue stem changes in selected -ar and -er subjunctive forms, including pienses and puedas.
Read and practiseReflexive pronouns with Spanish infinitives and gerunds
Place reflexive pronouns before a conjugated verb or attach them to an infinitive or gerund in common Spanish constructions.
Read and practiseLlevar plus duration and gerund in Spanish
Use llevar plus a duration and a gerund to say how long an activity has continued up to the present.
Read and practiseEstar plus participle and the present perfect in Spanish
Distinguish a resulting state with estar and an agreeing participle from an action expressed with haber and an invariable participle.
Read and practiseRegular usted commands in Spanish
Form affirmative and negative usted commands for regular verbs and use them in polite requests and instructions.
Read and practiseSi plus present and future: likely conditions in Spanish
Build a possible future condition with si plus present and a result in the simple future, matching each verb to its subject.
Read and practiseCuando with subjunctive for future events and indicative for habits
Contrast subjunctive after cuando for an unrealized future event with indicative for a habitual event.
Read and practiseLlevar plus time and sin: how long without doing something
Use llevar plus a duration, sin and an infinitive to say how long an action has not happened up to now.
Read and practiseOjalá with the present subjunctive: expressing a wish
Express a wish about an uncertain present or future situation with ojalá and the present subjunctive.
Read and practiseExpressing purpose with para que and the subjunctive
Use para que with the subjunctive to explain the intended purpose of someone else's action.
Read and practisePor si with present indicative for precautions
Explain a precaution with por si and a present indicative verb for a possible future situation.
Read and practiseSpanish -ísimo: very intense adjectives and spelling
Form common intensified adjectives with -ísimo and notice the spelling changes in riquísimo, larguísimo and felicísima.
Read and practiseForming the Spanish imperfect subjunctive
Past wishes and hypothetical situations call for forms built from the third-person plural preterite stem.
Read and practisePluperfect subjunctive with hubiera
Earlier unreal events and past reactions call for the Spanish pluperfect subjunctive: form it with an auxiliary and a participle.
Read and practiseThe conditional perfect in Spanish
A missed call, an unrealised journey or a different choice can be expressed with the conditional perfect.
Read and practiseWishing the present were different with ojalá
Express wishes that run against the present situation, and choose between the two imperfect subjunctive endings in Spanish.
Read and practisePast regrets with ojalá
A past event cannot be changed, but Spanish lets you express a wish that it had happened differently.
Read and practiseCompleted actions with the present perfect subjunctive
A present reaction, doubt or possibility can refer to an earlier completed action using the Spanish present perfect subjunctive.
Read and practisePast wishes and requests in Spanish
A past wish, request or reaction can introduce an imperfect subjunctive clause with a different subject.
Read and practisePast reactions to earlier actions
A past reaction can refer to an earlier action with the pluperfect subjunctive; compare its two forms and practise the sequence.
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