Estar 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.
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Regular 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.
Read and practiseTense shifts in Spanish reported speech
A past reporting verb can shift present, future and perfect forms as a speaker retells someone’s words from an earlier viewpoint.
Read and practiseReporting questions indirectly
A reported question can preserve a question word or introduce a yes-or-no question with si, while its tense follows the context.
Read and practiseReporting commands and requests
A past request or instruction can be reported with a subordinate clause; practise choosing the appropriate subjunctive form.
Read and practiseA menos que and the subjunctive
Plans often have an exception: express what could prevent an action with a Spanish conjunction and the subjunctive.
Read and practiseConditions with con tal de que
Set a condition for an outcome in Spanish and choose the subjunctive when that condition has yet to be fulfilled.
Read and practiseConditions with siempre que
A permission, plan or agreement can depend on a proviso; compare that meaning with a repeated habit in Spanish.
Read and practiseEn caso de que and the subjunctive
A contingency may never happen, but Spanish can describe the precautions taken for it with a subjunctive clause.
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