Spanish and English differ in that Spanish uses double or even triple negatives and the meaning stays negative. Once any one part of the sentence is in the negative the entire sentence must stay in the negative:

I do not know anybody at this party.                            No conozco a nadie en esta fiesta.

All other words appear in the following sequence: Time + Manner + Place

Time: “tomorrow” or “Wednesday of next week.”

Manner: how something is carried out “with my sister” or “on foot.”

Place: can refer to any location “Toronto” or “in the garden.”

Option A:

(Time) + (verb) + (subject) + (place)

Morgen fahre ich nach Hamburg.

Option B:

(Subject) + (verb) + (time) + (place)

Ich fahre morgen nach Hamburg.

If all three elements are present, time is always placed first.

(Time) + (verb) + (subject) + (manner) + (place)

Morgen fahre ich mit meinem Auto nach Hamburg.

In yes/no questions, verbs appear in the initial position.

Spielst du?                                       Are you playing?

Ja, ich spiele.                                   Yes, I am playing.

With two verbs the second verb always goes to the END.

Ich muss jetzt gehen.                         I must go now.

Ich habe die Pizza gekocht.               I cooked the Pizza.

Ich werde bald reisen.                       I will travel soon.

Idioms can be fun and a challenge to learn in a foreign language. Here are some great ones in German!

1. um den heißen Brei herumreden

Literally: to talk around the hot porridge
English equivalent: to beat around the bush

2. Da kannst du Gift drauf nehmen

Literally: You can take poison on that
English equivalent: You can bet your life on that

3. sich zum Affen machen

Literally: to make an ape of oneself
English equivalent: to make a fool of oneself

4. eine Extrawurst verlangen

Literally: to ask for an extra sausage
English Equivalent: to ask for special treatment

5. Da steppt der Bär

Literally: The bear dances there
English Equivalent: It will be a good party

6. Tomaten auf den Augen haben

Literally: to have tomatoes on one’s eyes
English Equivalent: to be oblivious to what is going around you

7. Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof

Literally: I can only understand “train station.”
English equivalent: It’s all Greek to me.

Adjectives-there are two kinds of adjectives: limiting adjectives and descriptive adjectives. Both kinds describe nouns. Limiting adjectives give some sense of number. Words such as some, few and four are examples of limiting adjectives. Descriptive adjective examples include: beautiful, yellow, big etc.

Adverbs-adverbs are words that tell you something about a verb, adjective or another adverb. In English, many adverbs have the ending -ly. German has lost many distinct adverb forms: good/well = ‘gut’ but sometimes we add: -erweise

Affirmative-affirmative sentences make statements that are not negative. For example, she is always happy rather than she is never happy.

Articles-there are two kinds of articles: indefinite (a, an) and definite (the). Indefinite articles refer to unspecified items whereas definite articles refer to something specific. For example, I saw a man vs. I saw the man.

Auxiliary verbs– Auxiliary verbs couple with other verb forms to create tenses. Have is a common auxiliary verb. For example, I have eaten, Ich habe gegessen.

Cognates– Words that are similar in spelling and meaning between two languages.

Conjugating-to conjugate is to take the base form of a verb and to add the appropriate ending for each person. Example, I eat but he eats. Ich esse, wir essen

Demonstratives-these words indicate proximity. Examples are: this or dieser

Gender– English does not generally have gender for inanimate objects. All German nouns however are feminine, masculine or neuter!

Imperative-imperatives are commands. For example, Get up!

Infinitives- the infinitive is the non-conjugated form of a verb. In English infinitives require the proposition ‘to’. For example: to eat, to study. In German, an infinitive always ends in -en or -n: essen, spielen.

Interrogatives-Interrogatives are question words: who, what or wer, wo etc.

Nouns-nouns are people, things, animals and concepts. For example, table, beauty and freedom. German nouns are always capitalized: Tisch, Freiheit.

Objects-there are two kinds of objects: direct and indirect. A direct object receives the action of the verb whereas the indirect object usually answers the question to/for whom something is done. For example, Tony bought a car for Maria. In this example, ‘car’ is the direct object and ‘Maria’ is the indirect object.

Object pronouns-these words take the place of a noun functioning as an object. For example, I read the book becomes I read it. The book is replaced by ‘it’ and therefore avoids repetition.

Past participles-a past participle is the part of the verb used to form a compound tense. For example, we have finished. In German, the majority of past participles are formed by taking the root of the verb and adding ge- to the beginning and –t to the end: gespielt. About 20% of past participles are irregular: gebracht.

Possessives-possessives indicate to whom something belongs. For example, it’s mine, our books. In German, possessive pronouns must agree in gender and case with the item being possessed: mein, deinem etc.

Predicate-the predicate tells you something about the subject. The predicate can be a noun, adverb or adjective. For example, he is a man or he is tall. Man and tall refer back to the subject.

Prepositions-prepositions give information such as location, time and direction. Examples: towards, with, in, under, between or mit, unter, ohne etc.

Pronouns-pronouns take the place of nouns. For example, Terry runs well. He runs well. ‘He’ is a pronoun. German examples: ich, er, sie etc. Pronouns help us to avoid repeating the names of people and things!

Reflexives-reflexive verbs use object pronouns that refer back to the subject. In English we accomplish this by saying -self. For example, I wash myself. He gave himself a massage. English does not use reflexives as much as German. Many verbs in German can be used both reflexively and not reflexively with different meanings. Ich wasche das Auto vs. Ich wasche mich.

Subject-the subject is the person(s) or thing(s) performing the action in a given. sentence. For example, He is eating the bread. Er isst das Brot.

Superlatives-formed in English with the ending ‘the -est’. For example, he is the oldest man in the village. In German, the superlative is formed by using ‘am -sten’.

Tenses-tenses are verb forms that refer to different planes of time. For example, the present, future and past.

Verbs-verbs show actions, states of being or transformations. For example, I worked. I was happy. It began to rain.

Voice-there are two kinds of voice: active and passive. In an active sentence, the doer of the action is emphasized whereas in a passive sentence it is the receiver of the action that is emphasized. For example, active: She ran over the cat. Passive: The cat was run over by her. Passive voice is commonly used in the news.

Nothing in the Spanish language can seem quite as confusing to English speakers as the subjunctive! It’s not surprising, as this is one area of grammar in which English and Spanish are very different. The use of the subjunctive in English is very limited and can often sound arcane or old-fashioned whereas it is a fundamental part of everyday Spanish being used in about 15% of everyday conversation. This is the highest among all modern romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese etc.)

MOST IMPORTANTLY: The subjunctive is not a tense; it is a mood.

A tense expresses when something is occurring ie. present, past, future. The subjunctive is a mood. It shows the probability or likelihood of something occurring.

All verb tenses in Spanish are divided into the indicative or subjunctive mood. (There is a third mood, the imperative, used for commands)

Indicative: that which is known to be fact and true, habitual events

Subjunctive: that which is open to subjectivity, unknown future events.

Common Indicative mood conjugations: present tense, imperfect, preterit, future, present perfect, past perfect

Common Subjunctive mood conjugations: present subjunctive*, imperfect subjunctive, present perfect subjunctive

*Note: About 80% of the use of the subjunctive is in the present tense so that is our focus here.

Overall, there are less subjunctive mood conjugations than indicative. Over the centuries, many subjunctive conjugations have become obsolete or relegated to legal use only.

Now that we have put the subjunctive into context let’s start looking at some specific examples.

Examples of the use of the subjunctive in English:

Long live the King!                                (live replaces lives to show a wish)

Let there be light!                                   (be replaces is show a desire)

He insists the child stay put.               (stay replaces stays for a command)

May she rest in peace.                          (rest replaces rests to show a wish)

If I were you….                                       (were replaces am as it’s not real)

Examples of the subjunctive in Spanish:

As the use of the subjunctive is much more widespread in Spanish it is useful to have an acronym:

C ~ Conjunctions                                    (cuando, para que)

O ~ Ojalá                                                    (also: quizás etc.)

W ~ Wishes/Wants                                 (desear que, querer que)

R ~ Requests/Recommendations   (pedir que, insistir que)

I   ~ Impersonal Expressions            (es posible que, es probable que)

D ~ Doubts/Denial                               (Dudo que, no estoy seguro que)

E ~ Emotions                                           (me alegro que, estoy triste que)

Each category above (COW RIDE) has a long list of verbs or expressions associated with it that must be memorized! The general concept behind the subjunctive is always the same: someone/thing wishes/insists etc. for someone/thing else to behave in a certain way.

Rosa         quiere            que         su novio   trabaje    menos.

El padre   insiste            que         su hijo      estudie     hoy.

El posible                        que          ellos        trabajen    hoy.

Formation of the present subjunctive

Forming the present subjunctive is a two-step process:

-First find the ‘yo’ form of the present indicative: vivo, tengo etc.

-Then, drop the letter ‘o’ and replace it with the ‘opposite vowel.’ That is to say, if your verb is an –ir/-er verb you replace it with an ‘a’ and for –ar verbs you use an ‘e’. Examples:

Final notes:

As the first and third person share the same form, it is more common to see the use of the personal pronouns with the present subjunctive to avoid confusion.

Take heart, as the consistent and correct use of the subjunctive often takes years to develop as a non-native speaker of the Spanish language. The true and natural use of this mood means you have ‘arrived’ as a fluent speaker of the Spanish language.

There are few things in the Spanish language more difficult for English speakers to get a grasp on than the subjunctive. One common fallacy is that students believe the subjunctive is a tense when in fact it is a mood. There are two moods in the Spanish-language: the indicative and subjunctive. The indicative mood is used to describe all that is concrete and habitual whereas the subjunctive describes that which is in any way hypothetical.

To learn to use the subjunctive one must look at the various situations in which it is used. In this blog we will focus on the uses of the subjunctive with verbs of influence, uncertainty, emotion and doubt.

In the sentence, “I hope that my brother prepares sushi,”  we find all the elements necessary to elicit the use of the subjunctive in the secondary clause:

1) one subject in the main clause (I) which is different than that of the secondary clause (my brother)

2) the use of the conjunction ‘que’

3) the use of a verb of influence (hope)

In simpler terms, just because I hope that something happens does not necessarily mean it will and this is reflected in Spanish by the use of the subjunctive mood in the secondary clause.

I hope that my brother prepares sushi.

Yo espero que mi hermano prepare sushi.

Other common verbs of influence:

desear – to desire

querer (e-ie) – to want

preferir (e-ie)  – to prefer

pedir (e-i) – to ask

prohibir – to forbid

persuadir – to persuade

rogar (o-ue) – to beg

aconsejar – to advise

insistir – to insist

exigir – to demand

mandar – to order

recomendar (e-ie) – to recommend

sugerir (e-i) – to suggest

impedir (e-i) – to prevent

Verbs of uncertainty, doubt and emotion are also triggers of the subjunctive.

I doubt Maria is working today.

Yo dudo que María trabaje hoy.

negar (e-ie) – to deny

temer – to fear

alegrarse de – to be happy

The expressions below are followed by the indicative in the affirmative but subjunctive in the negative!

no creer – to not believe

no estar convencido/a de – to not be convinced of

no estar seguro/a de – to not be sure of

no imaginarse – to not believe/imagine

no parecer – to not seem

no pensar (e-ie) – to not think

no suponer – to not suppose

• already -I already have it. = Ya lo tengo.
• already- (to express surprise) You’re eating already?  = ¿Ya comes? 
• right away: You need to work right now. = Tienes que trabajar ya.
• still, any more (especially in the negative): = No longer/Not anymore. = Ya no.
• as: As they are not here, we can leave: = Ya que no están aquí, podemos salir.
• now:  (after some effort) Now I get it. = Ya entiendo.
• to show frustration:  Enough already!  = ¡Basta ya!
• to indicate emphasis:  I believe you already! = ¡Ya te creo!
• to express irony or doubt:  Sure you have it. = Ya lo tienes.
• to offer reassurance:  You will be okay. = Ya estarás bien.

A (to, towards)

A is used with verbs of motion expressing movement towards a destination.

They are going to Cuba.                                       Van a Cuba.

I am walking towards the man.                          Camino al* hombre.

*When a is coupled with a masculine singular noun a contraction occurs (a + el = al)

De (of, from)

De is used with verbs of motion expressing movement from a destination.

I am arriving from Miami soon.                         Llego de Miami pronto.

I am from the north.                                                Soy del* norte.

*When de is coupled with a masculine singular noun a contraction occurs (de + el = del)

En (in, on, at)

En is used with verbs expressing where something is located at a given time.

I live in Boston.                                                          Vivo en Boston.

We are on the plane.                                                Estamos en el avión.

1. A syllable consists of at least one vowel sound and/or a vowel paired with one or two consonant sounds. (In the examples below the words are both Spanish and English)

animal: 3 syllables: a-ni-mal                                    Argentina: 4 syllables: Ar-gen-ti-na

2a. Words that end in a consonant other than n or s are stressed on the last syllable.

a-zul

2b. Words that end in a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the second to last syllable.

li-bro

2c. Words whose accent falls on the third to last syllable always have an accent (tilde).

rápido

2d. Rarely, words are accented on the fourth, fifth, etc. to last syllable. These are limited to verbs with pronouns attached to them.

mí-ra-me-lo

3. Spanish features both weak and strong vowels. A, E, O are strong while I, U are weak.

This affects pronunciation as two strong vowels cannot be in the same syllable. Therefore, two strong vowels found next to each other belong to separate syllables whereas a combination of a weak and strong vowel, or two weak vowels create a diphthong or a gliding sound which results in a single syllable. In order to break this diphthong, an accent may be placed on one of the vowels.

ma-es-tro

puer-to

far-ma-cia

po-li-cí-a

Prepositions are important words in sentences as they show the relation between the words. Common prepositions in English include: with, in, for, to etc. One major difference between English and German grammar is that each preposition in the German language is associated with a specific case. Here we are looking at a specific subset of prepositions called two-way prepositions which can be used with either the accusative or dative case. The following is the complete list of nine two-way prepositions:

in (into, in)                                               über (over, above)

an (to, onto, on)                                      unter (under, below)

auf (onto, on)                                           vor (in front of)

hinter (behind)                                        zwischen (between)

neben (next to) 

1. The accusative is used if there is clearly motion from point A to B. Generally verbs of motion fall into this category. Commonly used verbs include to go (gehen), to drive (fahren), to fly (fliegen), to fall (fallen) etc.

I’m going into the car.                                  Ich gehe in das Auto.

I am driving into the city.                           Ich fahre in die­ Stadt.

2. The dative is used if there is no motion, or motion occurs in a circular pattern or restricted area wherein you come back to your starting point i.e. pacing back and forth, swimming laps, jumping on the spot.

I am in the car.                                              Ich bin in dem Auto.

I am swimming in the pool.                     Ich schwimme in dem Becken.

3. Specific verbs are used in German to clearly show in what position something is placed. For example, if a book is placed flat on a table one would use a different verb than if it was placed upright in a shelf.

Accusative                                     Dative

stellen  (to place upright)                       stehen  (to be placed upright)

legen    (to place flat)                                liegen   (to be placed flat)

setzen   (to place sitting up)                  sitzen   (to be seated)

stecken (to stick somewhere)               stecken (to be stuck somewhere)

hängen  (to hang up)                                hängen (to be hanging)

Examples:

I am placing the cup on the table.         Ich stelle die Tasse auf den­­­ Tisch.

The cup is on the table.                             Die Tasse steht auf dem Tisch.

4. Wo is always used in the dative case as it shows where something is located whereas wohin indicates motion and is therefore used with the accusative case.

Where are you?                                            Wo bist du?

Where are you going (to)?                       Wohin gehst du?

5. Certain prepositions may be contracted with definite articles in both the accusative and dative. While these contractions are not mandatory, they are certainly common in both speech and writing and should be memorized. Some examples follow:

Accusative                                    Dative

auf + das = aufs                                        in + dem = im

in + das = ins                                             an + dem = am