Linking sentences · Spanish grammar A2

Time, consequence and comparison: cuando, antes de, por eso, más que#

Use

Cuando (“when”) introduces a clause of time in the indicative. For a habit, both verbs are in the present: Cuando llego a casa, ceno. In the past, they are in the imperfecto or the indefinido: Cuando era niño, vivía en Bilbao; Cuando llegué, cenamos. For an event still to come (“when I have finished”), cuando takes a mood other than the indicative. Antes de (“before”) and después de (“after”) are followed by the infinitive when both actions have the same subject: Ceno antes de estudiar, Después de comer, doy un paseo. Por eso (“that is why”, “so”) and entonces (“then”, “so”) introduce a consequence. Más que, menos que and tanto como compare two actions, and como alone compares the manner: Habla como su padre.

The clause with cuando comes first in the sentence, followed by a comma, or after the main clause: Leo cuando viajo en tren. The conjunction cuando is written without an accent; cuándo is the question word.

Cuando hace buen tiempo, comemos en el jardín.When the weather is nice, we eat in the garden.
Antes de salir, cierro todas las ventanas.Before going out, I close all the windows.
Después de cenar, vemos una película.After dinner, we watch a film.
Mañana tengo un examen; por eso no salgo esta noche.I have an exam tomorrow; that's why I'm not going out tonight.
Mi hermana lee más que yo.My sister reads more than I do.

Difference from English

After a preposition, English uses the -ing form (“before going out”, “after eating”); Spanish uses the infinitive: antes de salir, después de comer. The -ando / -iendo form is never used after antes de or después de. “Before” and “after” before a verb also need de: antes de salir, not antes salir. “That's why” is por eso, with por, which gives the cause, not para. The conjunction “when” is cuando, without an accent; only the question word ¿cuándo? takes one.

Common mistakes

~~Después de comiendo, leo.~~ → Después de comer, leo.After después de, the verb is an infinitive, not an -ando / -iendo form.
~~Antes salir, desayuno.~~ → Antes de salir, desayuno.Before an infinitive, antes takes de.
~~Cuándo llego a casa, ceno.~~ → Cuando llego a casa, ceno.The conjunction cuando is written without an accent.
~~Llueve, para eso no salgo.~~ → Llueve, por eso no salgo.A consequence is introduced by por eso.
~~Trabaja tan como yo.~~ → Trabaja tanto como yo.After a verb, equality is expressed with tanto como.

Practise

“Comparing: más… que, tan… como, ¡qué bonito!”, Comparing actions and quantities: más que, tanto como “Linking sentences: cuando, si, desde, adverbs”, When: cuando + present “Verb phrases: ir a, tener que, estar + gerund”, Before and after: antes de, después de + infinitive

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.

Conditions: si + present#

Use

Si (“if”) introduces a real condition, one that can come true. The verb of the si clause and the verb of the main clause are both in the present indicative: Si llueve, me quedo en casa. The main clause can also contain poder + infinitive: Si quieres, puedes venir. The si clause comes first in the sentence, followed by a comma, or after the main clause: Te llamo si tengo tiempo.

Si (“if”) is written without an accent; sí (“yes”) takes one.

Si tienes hambre, hay pan en la cocina.If you're hungry, there's bread in the kitchen.
Si salimos ahora, llegamos a las ocho.If we leave now, we'll get there at eight.
Podéis dormir aquí si queréis.You can sleep here if you like.

Difference from English

In English, the if clause is in the present too (“if I have time”), but the main clause often has “will”: “If we leave now, we'll get there at eight.” In Spanish, both clauses are in the present: Si salimos ahora, llegamos a las ocho. After poder, the infinitive follows directly, as after “can”: puedes venir, “you can come”.

Common mistakes

~~Sí llueve, no salgo.~~ → Si llueve, no salgo.The conjunction si is written without an accent.
~~Si quieres, puedes de venir.~~ → Si quieres, puedes venir.Poder is followed by the infinitive with no preposition.

Practise

“Linking sentences: cuando, si, desde, adverbs”, Conditions: si + present

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.

Saying when and where: siempre, primero, encima de#

Use

Adverbs and phrases of time, place and sequence place the action in time, in space or in a series of steps. They usually come after the verb or at the start of the sentence.

Frequency. Siempre (“always”) and a veces (“sometimes”) usually come before the verb: Siempre desayuno café; todos los días, los lunes and a menudo come at the start or the end of the sentence. Nunca is presented in “Nothing, nobody, never: no viene nadie”.

The order of steps. Primero (“first”) opens a series of actions; luego and después (“then”, “afterwards”) introduce the next ones: Primero compro pan y luego voy a casa. Después also takes de + infinitive: después de cenar; luego de, with the same meaning, is used mainly in Latin America.

Place. Dentro (“inside”), fuera (“outside”), arriba (“upstairs”, “up”), abajo (“downstairs”, “down”), encima (“on top”), debajo (“underneath”), delante (“in front”), detrás (“behind”), cerca (“near”) and lejos (“far”) are used on their own: Los niños juegan fuera. Before a noun or a pronoun, they are followed by de: encima de la mesa, detrás de mí; de + el contracts to del: delante del cine.

On its own	Before a noun	Meaning
dentro	dentro de la caja	inside, in
fuera	fuera de casa	outside, out of
encima	encima de la mesa	on top, on
debajo	debajo de la cama	underneath, under
delante	delante del hotel	in front, in front of
detrás	detrás de la puerta	behind
cerca, lejos	cerca de aquí, lejos del centro	near, far (from)

A veces como en la oficina.Sometimes I have lunch at the office.
Primero me ducho y luego desayuno.First I have a shower, and then I have breakfast.
El gato duerme debajo de la cama.The cat sleeps under the bed.
La farmacia está detrás del mercado.The chemist's is behind the market.
Mis padres viven arriba.My parents live upstairs.

Difference from English

English “under”, “behind” and “near” take no “of” before a noun; debajo, detrás, cerca and the other adverbs of place always take de: debajo de la silla, detrás de la puerta, cerca de la estación. “In front of” and “on top of” already have “of”, like delante de and encima de. “On the table” is also en la mesa; encima de la mesa stresses the position.

Common mistakes

~~debajo la mesa~~ → debajo de la mesaBefore a noun, debajo is followed by de.
~~detrás la puerta~~ → detrás de la puerta“Behind the door” is detrás de la puerta, with de.
~~delante de el cine~~ → delante del cineDe + el contracts to del.

Practise

“Linking sentences: cuando, si, desde, adverbs”, The order of steps: primero, luego, después “Linking sentences: cuando, si, desde, adverbs”, Saying where: dentro, encima, debajo “The present: pienso, puedo, pido, salgo”, The present for habits and for the future: siempre, mañana voy

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.

Adverbs in -mente: tranquilamente, fácilmente#

Formation

An adverb of manner is formed by adding -mente to the feminine singular of the adjective: lento → lenta → lentamente; tranquilo → tranquilamente. An adjective with one form for both genders takes -mente directly: fácil → fácilmente, normal → normalmente, alegre → alegremente. The adverb keeps the written accent of the adjective: rápido → rápidamente. When two adverbs in -mente are joined by y, only the last one takes -mente; the first keeps the feminine form of the adjective: rápida y claramente.

Adjectives that form no adverb in -mente. The adverbs of bueno and malo are bien and mal. Adjectives of nationality do not normally form an adverb in -mente: there is no alemanamente.

Mi abuelo lee el periódico lentamente.My grandfather reads the newspaper slowly.
Normalmente como a las dos.I usually have lunch at two.
Mi hermana aprende idiomas fácilmente.My sister learns languages easily.
Los niños juegan tranquilamente en el parque.The children play quietly in the park.

Difference from English

-mente corresponds to English “-ly”, but it is added to the feminine form: lenta → lentamente, “slowly”. English repeats “-ly” on each adverb (“quickly and clearly”); Spanish puts -mente on the last one only: rápida y claramente. “Good” and “well” are two words in English as in Spanish: bueno → bien, malo → mal.

Common mistakes

~~lentomente~~ → lentamente-mente is added to the feminine form of the adjective.
~~rapidamente~~ → rápidamenteThe adverb keeps the written accent of the adjective.
~~rápido y claramente~~ → rápida y claramenteThe first adverb of the pair keeps the feminine form.
~~Canta buenamente.~~ → Canta bien.The adverb of bueno is bien.

Practise

“Linking sentences: cuando, si, desde, adverbs”, Adverbs in -mente: rápidamente

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.

And and or before i and o: e, u#

Formation

At A1, y and o join two words or two clauses. Before a word that begins with the sound [i], spelt i- or hi-, y becomes e: padre e hijo, Pablo e Isabel, geografía e historia. Before a word that begins with the sound [o], spelt o- or ho-, o becomes u: siete u ocho, minutos u horas. Only the word that comes straight after counts. Before hie- (hielo, hierba), the sound is not [i] and y does not change: agua y hielo.

→ See also: And and or before i and o: e, u (A1)

Tengo dos hijos: Jorge e Inés.I have two children: Jorge and Inés.
Estudio francés e inglés.I study French and English.
¿Quieres este jersey u otro?Do you want this jumper or another one?
El viaje dura siete u ocho horas.The journey takes seven or eight hours.

Difference from English

English “and” and “or” never change. In Spanish, y and o change so that two [i] sounds or two [o] sounds do not come one after the other. The change follows the sound, not the letter: hijo begins with the sound [i], so padre e hijo; hielo begins with the sound of y, so agua y hielo.

Common mistakes

~~Marta y Irene~~ → Marta e IreneBefore the sound [i], y becomes e.
~~uno o otro~~ → uno u otroBefore the sound [o], o becomes u.
~~agua e hielo~~ → agua y hieloBefore hie-, y does not change.

Practise

“Linking sentences: cuando, si, desde, adverbs”, And and or before i and o: e, u

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.

Question words: quiénes, cuánto, qué ha pasado#

Formation

A2 completes the question words of A1. Quiénes, the plural of quién, asks about several people, with a plural verb: ¿Quiénes juegan en el patio? Cuánto followed directly by a verb does not change and asks about a price, a weight or a length of time: ¿Cuánto cuesta?, ¿Cuánto dura la película? Qué also asks about an event: ¿Qué ha pasado? A question offering a choice joins the two options with o: ¿Té o café?

¿Quiénes trabajan contigo en la oficina?Who works with you at the office?
¿Cuánto cuestan estos zapatos?How much do these shoes cost?
¿Qué ha pasado? Hay mucha gente en la calle.What's happened? There are lots of people in the street.
¿Vamos en metro o en taxi?Shall we go by underground or by taxi?

Difference from English

English “who” has one form, and the verb after it is usually singular: “Who works with you?” Spanish uses quiénes when the answer is several people, with a plural verb: ¿Quiénes trabajan contigo? “How much” before a verb is cuánto, which does not change; before a noun, cuánto agrees with it, as at A1. “What happened?” or “What's happened?” is ¿Qué ha pasado?

Common mistakes

~~¿Quién juegan en el patio?~~ → ¿Quiénes juegan en el patio?For several people, the question word is quiénes.
~~¿Cuántos cuesta?~~ → ¿Cuánto cuesta?Before a verb, cuánto does not change.

In short

Point	Rule	Example
cuando	+ indicative; a habit in the present	Cuando llego, ceno.
antes de, después de	+ infinitive, never the -ando form	antes de salir
consequence	por eso, entonces	Llueve, por eso no salgo.
si	+ present, then present	Si llueve, me quedo.
steps	primero, luego, después	Primero como, luego salgo.
place	adverb; + de before a noun	encima de la mesa
-mente	feminine of the adjective + -mente	lentamente, fácilmente
two adverbs	-mente on the last one only	rápida y claramente
e, u	before [i] and [o]	padre e hijo, siete u ocho
quiénes	several people	¿Quiénes son?
cuánto + verb	does not change	¿Cuánto cuesta?

Practise

“Linking sentences: cuando, si, desde, adverbs”, More questions: cuánto, quiénes, qué ha pasado

Create an account: you will go straight to these exercises.