Spanish grammar
Every grammar point AQA GCSE Spanish asks for
The 170 grammar structures prescribed by the AQA GCSE Spanish specification (8692), and the page on this site that teaches each one. Checked structure by structure against the articles themselves, not matched by keyword.
Foundation candidates are assessed on the 115 structures marked F; Higher candidates need those and the 55 marked H.
157
taught
9
thin
4
not yet
Nouns (9)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Feminine person nouns: -o → -athin"el hijo / la hija... Pick the form that matches the person" - example pair, not a stated -o→-a rule | F+H | noun-gender |
| Feminine person nouns: -or → -orathin"el señor / la señora" listed as a paired-form example, no -or→-ora rule stated explicitly | F+H | noun-gender |
| No change for nouns ending in -ante/-ente/-ista"Nouns ending in -ista and many in -e keep one form and let the article carry the gender: el estudiante..." | F+H | noun-gender |
| Plural: vowel-ending nouns add -s"Rule 1: vowel ending, add -s. If the noun ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), add -s" | F+H | noun-plurals |
| Plural: consonant-ending nouns add -es"Rule 2: consonant ending, add -es. If the noun ends in a consonant, add -es" | F+H | noun-plurals |
| Plural: -z → -c + -es"Spanish spelling does not write z before e, so the z is written as c: la vez, las veces" | F+H | noun-plurals |
| Plural: -(i)ón → -es + drop accent"Accents can drop. La canción becomes las canciones, el inglés becomes los ingleses" | F+H | noun-plurals |
| Infinitive used as noun"An infinitive can be the subject of a sentence... Fumar es malo. (Smoking is bad.)" | F+H | infinitive-uses |
| Nominalisation of masculine adjectives for languagesnot yetChecked noun-gender, articles, cohesion-style (nominalisation section is verb/adjective→noun register only), punctuation-capitalisation (passing mention of languages as adjective-or-noun, unexplained) | F+H | - |
Articles (3)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Article-noun gender/number agreement"Gender agreement... Spanish nouns are masculine or feminine. The article matches" plus Number agreement section | F+H | articles |
| Definite vs indefinite article functions"The split mirrors English: 'the' = definite... 'a / an' = indefinite" | F+H | articles |
| Contraction of el after de and a (del, al)"a + el = al (voy al cine)... de + el = del... These are not optional" | F+H | articles |
Determiners (9)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Demonstrative adjectives este, esta, ese, esaTable: "Near me: este/esta/estos/estas | Near you: ese/esa/esos/esas" | F+H | demonstrative-forms |
| Demonstratives irregular plurals estos, esosTable of forms shows masc pl "estos"/"esos" (este→estos, not the regular +s pattern) | F+H | demonstrative-forms |
| Demonstratives regular plurals estas, esasTable of forms shows fem pl "estas"/"esas"; "estas cosas - cosas is feminine plural, so estas" | F+H | demonstrative-forms |
| Indefinite adjective cada (invariant)"Cada means each or every, and unlike todo it never changes. It takes a singular noun" | F+H | quantifiers |
| Indefinite adjectives mismo, otro, todo"Todo agrees fully... Otro agrees too, and famously takes no article in front: otro café"; mismo in word-order | F+H | indefinites |
| Alguno with irregular algún"algún día (some day) - not alguno día... The accent matters; it is not optional" | F+H | indefinites |
| Ninguno with irregular ningún"ningún problema (no problem) - not ninguno problema" | F+H | indefinites |
| Possessive adjectives mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestroFull table: "yo (my): mi/mis... nuestro (our): nuestro/nuestra... vuestro: vuestro/vuestra" | F+H | possessives |
| Demonstrative aquel with gender/number agreementTable row "Far from both: aquel/aquella/aquellos/aquellas"; "Aquel is the one English speakers underuse" | H | demonstratives |
Pronouns (21)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Subject pronouns yo, tú, él, ella, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos/as, usted, ustedesFull table: yo, tú, usted, él/ella, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos/as, ustedes, with formality/regional splits | F+H | subject-pronouns |
| Invariable pronouns algo, alguien"Alguien, nadie, algo and nada are invariable. They never change for gender or number." | F+H | indefinites |
| Default subject-pronoun omission; overt use for emphasis"The rule that actually matters: leave them out" + "The four times you put the pronoun back" | F+H | subject-pronouns |
| Direct object pronouns me, te, lo, la, los, las (one- and two-verb word order)Direct pronoun table + "Attachment to infinitives, gerunds and affirmative commands" section | F+H | object-pronouns |
| Indirect object pronouns me, te, le, les (word order)"Indirect object pronouns: le, les" table plus "Position: before the conjugated verb" section | F+H | object-pronouns |
| Singular reflexive pronouns me, te, se (word order)"Pronoun position" section: "Before the conjugated verb: me levanto, te llamas, se viste" | F+H | reflexive-verbs |
| Interrogative pronouns cuál, cuánto, quién and inflected forms"Cuánto is the odd one out: it sits next to a noun and agrees with it"; quién/quiénes, cuál/cuáles covered | F+H | interrogative-pronouns |
| Relative pronoun que in subject relative clauses"Que is the workhorse relative pronoun... covers both people and things", subject examples given | F+H | relative-pronouns |
| Neuter demonstrative pronouns esto, eso"The neuter forms - esto, eso, aquello - do not replace a specific noun. They point at an idea" | F+H | demonstrative-pronouns |
| Pronouns alguno, ninguno with inflected forms"Alguno and ninguno behave like ordinary adjectives - except for one quirk" (algún/ningún apocopation) | F+H | indefinites |
| Plural object pronouns nos, os (word order)Tables list nos/os as direct+indirect forms; general "before the conjugated verb" rule applies to them | H | object-pronouns |
| Plural reflexive pronouns nos, os, se (word order)thinTable shows nos/os/se, but text says "Foundation tier focuses on the singular forms... plural forms are flagged for Higher-tier" | H | reflexive-verbs |
| Relative pronoun lo que in subject clauses"Lo que me gusta es viajar." (What I like is travelling.) - lo que as clause subject | H | relative-pronouns |
| Relative pronouns el que, el cual with agreement"el que / la que / los que / las que: the article set" + "el cual...: the formal variant", full agreement tables | H | relative-pronouns-advanced |
| Relative clauses with wh-pronouns cuando, donde, que"donde and cuando as relatives" section: "La casa donde vivo es pequeña", "El año cuando me casé" | H | relative-pronouns |
| Possessive pronouns with gender/number agreement"The long forms agree in both gender and number with the noun"; full el mío/la mía/los míos/las mías table | H | possessive-pronouns |
| Neuter demonstrative aquello"Aquello fue un desastre." (That was a disaster.) - aquello in the neuter table and worked examples | H | demonstrative-pronouns |
| Pronouns after prepositions mí, ti, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos"The set" table: mí, ti, él, ella, usted, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos/as, ustedes with examples | H | prepositional-pronouns |
| Irregular conmigo, contigo"con + mí -> conmigo (with me)", "con + ti -> contigo (with you)" under "con is special" | H | prepositional-pronouns |
| Emphatic use of pronouns after 'a'"The redundant 'a mí me gusta'... a mí adds emphasis or contrast" (a mí me gusta, pero a él no) | H | gustar-type-verbs |
| Reciprocal use of plural reflexives"Spanish...reuses the reflexive pronouns nos, os, se... only works with a plural subject" | H | reciprocal-verbs |
Negation (9)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Negation with no"To negate any Spanish sentence, put no directly before the verb. That's the entire baseline rule." | F+H | negation |
| Negation (no) nada"No tengo nada." (I have nothing.) under "The double-negative rule", nada in negative-words table | F+H | negation |
| Negation (no) nunca"No lo he visto nunca." (I have never seen it.) plus "Nunca lo he visto." pre-verbal alternative | F+H | negation |
| Negation (no) nadie"No vino nadie." (Nobody came.) under the double-negative rule, with pre-verbal "Nadie vino." alternative | F+H | negation |
| Negation (no) ninguno"No quiero ninguna." (I don't want any.) listed in the negative-words table with double-negative examples | F+H | negation |
| Negation with ya nonot yet"ya no" only appears inside unrelated worked examples (advanced.md, perfect-subjunctive.md); no article explains it | H | - |
| Negation (no) tampoco"tampoco: the negative of también" section: "Yo también. -> Yo tampoco." | H | negation-advanced |
| Negation (no) … ni …"On its own, ni means nor... 'No fui, ni quería.' (I didn't go, nor did I want to.)" | H | negation-advanced |
| Emphasis use of (no) ni… ni…"ni... ni: neither... nor" - "No tengo ni tiempo ni dinero."; pre-verb "Ni Juan ni Pedro vinieron." | H | negation-advanced |
Interrogatives (3)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Questions via intonation## Divergence 5: Questions use the same word order with rising intonation | F+H | word-order |
| Wh-questions: qué, quién, cuándo, por qué, cómo, cuál, cuánto, dónde## The full set - table of qué, quién, cuándo, dónde, cómo, cuál, cuánto, por qué with notes | F+H | question-words |
| Wh-word + subject-verb word order in questions## Word order in questions - "Question word first, verb second, subject (if present) at the end." | F+H | question-words |
Tenses (61)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Present indicative regular -ar, -er, -ir verbsTable: yo -o, tú -as, él -a, nosotros -amos... hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos | F+H | conjugating-ar-verbs-present |
| Present indicative: simple (I walk) functionTrabajo en un banco. (I work / I am working...) - a habitual fact, so plain present | F+H | present-progressive |
| Present indicative: ongoing (I am walking) functionTrabajo en un banco. (I work / I am working in a bank.) - plain present covers both | F+H | present-progressive |
| Present stem-change o → ue (encontrar cluster)o > ue table: poder puedo, dormir duermo, volver vuelvo, encontrar encuentro | F+H | stem-changing-verbs |
| Present stem-change e → ie (pensar cluster)e > ie, the biggest group: querer quiero, pensar pienso, empezar empiezo | F+H | stem-changing-verbs |
| Present stem-change e → i (pedir cluster)e > i ... confined to -ir verbs: pedir pido, servir sirvo, repetir repito | F+H | stem-changing-verbs |
| Present stem-change c → zc (conocer cluster)Group 2: the -zco verbs ... conocer conozco, parecer parezco, ofrecer ofrezco | F+H | irregular-verbs |
| Present 1st-person -g insertion (poner cluster)Group 1: the yo-go verbs ... hacer hago, poner pongo, salir salgo, traer traigo | F+H | irregular-verbs |
| Irregular present: estar, hacer, ir, ser, tenerGroup 3: irregular throughout ... ser, estar, ir, haber, tener, hacer full table | F+H | irregular-verbs |
| Tener + noun where English is BE + adjectiveWith tener the noun names a state you are in, and English usually reaches for be | F+H | set-phrases-verbs |
| Present continuous estar + present participleThe Spanish present progressive is estar in the present tense plus the gerundio | F+H | present-progressive |
| Present participle spelling for vowel-stem verbsleer -> leyendo, oír -> oyendo, traer -> trayendo, construir -> construyendo | F+H | present-progressive |
| Present participle spelling for pedir clusterpedir -> pidiendo, servir -> sirviendo, decir -> diciendo, dormir -> durmiendo | F+H | present-progressive |
| Preterite for past events at specified timesThe preterite is triggered by closed time markers and specific completed events | F+H | preterite |
| Irregular preterites ir, ser, darir and ser: identical forms ... dar takes -er/-ir endings in the preterite | F+H | preterite |
| Irregular preterite stems tuve, pude, hice, vine, estuve, puse, quise, dije, trajetable: tener tuve, poder pude, hacer hice, venir vine, estar estuve, poner puse... | F+H | preterite |
| Irregular preterite hizoHacer has one spelling shift: in the 3rd singular, hizo (not "hico") | F+H | preterite |
| Present perfect haber + past participlehaber (conjugated) + past participle ... he hablado, has comido, ha vivido | F+H | present-perfect |
| Past participle -AR + ado-ar verbs -> -ado: hablar -> hablado, trabajar -> trabajado | F+H | present-perfect |
| Past participle -ER/-IR + ido-er and -ir verbs -> -ido: comer -> comido, vivir -> vivido, salir -> salido | F+H | present-perfect |
| Irregular past participles (present perfect)The eleven irregular participles ... hacer hecho, decir dicho, ver visto... | F+H | present-perfect |
| Periphrastic future ir a + infinitiveStrategy 1: ir a + infinitive ... Voy a comer. (I'm going to eat.) | F+H | future-tense |
| Imperfect habitual (used to + verb)Habitual past actions ("I used to", "I would"): De niño jugaba al fútbol | F+H | imperfect |
| Imperfect ongoing (BE + ing)Ongoing past actions ("I was X-ing"): Mientras estudiaba, mi hermana cocinaba | F+H | imperfect |
| Irregular imperfect ser: era, erasser (to be): yo era, tú eras, él era, nosotros éramos, vosotros erais, ellos eran | F+H | imperfect |
| Irregular imperfect ir: iba, ibasir (to go): yo iba, tú ibas, él iba, nosotros íbamos, vosotros ibais, ellos iban | F+H | imperfect |
| Irregular imperfect ver: veía, veíasver (to see) - slightly irregular, keeping the e: yo veía, tú veías... | F+H | imperfect |
| Imperfect continuous estar + present participleProgressive tenses: formed with estar + gerund ... Estaba comiendo - I was eating | F+H | conjugation |
| Inflectional future regular -ar, -er, -irA single set of endings attaches directly to the full infinitive ... comeré, comerás | F+H | future-tense |
| Irregular future tener (tendr-)tener tendr- tendré I will have | F+H | future-tense |
| Irregular future hacer (har-)hacer har- haré I will do / make | F+H | future-tense |
| Irregular future poder (podr-)poder podr- podré I will be able | F+H | future-tense |
| Irregular future poner (pondr-)poner pondr- pondré I will put | F+H | future-tense |
| Future habrá (there will be)Future | habrá | there will be -- in the hay-through-every-tense table | F+H | impersonal-verbs |
| Conditional regular -ar, -er, -irThe endings are -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían ... attach to the full infinitive | F+H | conditional |
| Conditional irregular tener (tendr-)tener tendr- tendría (conditional yo form) | F+H | conditional |
| Conditional irregular hacer (har-)hacer har- haría (conditional yo form) | F+H | conditional |
| Conditional irregular poder (podr-)poder podr- podría (conditional yo form) | F+H | conditional |
| Conditional irregular poner (pondr-)poner pondr- pondría (conditional yo form) | F+H | conditional |
| Conditional habría (there would be)Conditional | habría | there would be -- in the hay-through-every-tense table | F+H | impersonal-verbs |
| Imperative affirmative 2nd singularTake the present-tense tú form and drop the final -s ... habla, come, escribe | F+H | imperative |
| Irregular tú commands sé, ve, ten, ven, haz, di, pon, salThe eight irregular tú commands: ser sé, ir ve, tener ten, venir ven, hacer haz... | F+H | imperative |
| Plural inflectional future regular formsfull table incl. nosotros comeremos, vosotros comeréis, ellos comerán | H | future-tense |
| Plural irregular future saber (sabr-)saber sabr- sabré I will know -- endings identical for all persons per stated rule | H | future-tense |
| Plural irregular future querer (querr-)querer querr- querré I will want -- same regular endings apply to plural persons | H | future-tense |
| Plural irregular future venir (vendr-)venir vendr- vendré I will come -- ¿Vendrás tú a la fiesta? exercise confirms tú form | H | future-tense |
| Plural irregular future decir (dir-)decir dir- diré I will say -- Te diré la verdad worked example | H | future-tense |
| Plural irregular future salir (saldr-)salir saldr- saldré I will leave -- Nosotros saldremos de casa exercise | H | future-tense |
| Plural conditional regular formsfull table incl. nosotros comeríamos, vosotros comeríais, ellos comerían | H | conditional |
| Plural conditional irregular saber/querer/venir/decir/salirtable lists saber sabría, querer querría, decir diría, salir saldría, and venir vendría | H | conditional |
| Plural imperfect (habitual + ongoing)full paradigm tables include nosotros hablábamos, vosotros hablabais, ellos hablaban | H | imperfect |
| Plural imperfect irregular ir, ser, verfull tables: ser éramos/erais/eran; ir íbamos/ibais/iban; ver veíamos/veíais/veían | H | imperfect |
| Spelling changes for stress preservation in verb stemsthincontinúa listed once among hiato examples (día, país, río) - not tied to a verb paradigm | H | accent-rules |
| Preterite stem-changes o → u and e → i in 3rd person -IRThe -ir stem-changers do change, but only in the third person: pidió, durmió | H | stem-changing-verbs |
| Imperative affirmative 2nd singular and pluralVosotros form: replace the -r of the infinitive with -d (hablad, comed, vivid) | H | conjugation |
| Subjunctive present singular persons onlyfull singular paradigm given: hable/hables/hable, coma/comas/coma, viva/vivas/viva | H | present-subjunctive-forms |
| Subjunctive in hacer, ser, ir, venir, tenertener -> tenga, hacer -> yo hago -> haga; six true irregulars table has ser sea, ir vaya | H | present-subjunctive-forms |
| Subjunctive after conjunction of time cuandoCuando llegues, llámame ... you have not arrived yet, subjunctive | H | subjunctive-adverbial-clauses |
| Subjunctive after verbs of wishing, command, request, emotionthinwishing/emotion covered; command (mandar que) links to non-existent subjunctive-influence page | H | subjunctive-wishes |
| Subjunctive after conjunction queWhen followed by que and a new subject, they push the next verb into the subjunctive | H | subjunctive-wishes |
| Subjunctive of purpose after para quePurpose: para que and a fin de que ... take the subjunctive every time | H | subjunctive-adverbial-clauses |
Modals (3)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Modals deber, poder, querer, tener que, saber + infinitivethin'tener que + inf... deber + inf... See obligation and necessity for the full treatment' - that page does not exist | F+H | verbal-periphrasis |
| Fixed phrase quisiera + infinitive'quisiera: the ultra-polite "I would like"' section; imperfect-subjunctive-forms.md gives '¿Quisieras venir conmigo?' | F+H | politeness-formulas |
| Fixed phrase me/te/le gustaría + infinitive'Me gustaría hablar con María. (I'd like to speak to Maria.)' under Use 1: politeness | F+H | conditional |
Reflexive verbs (1)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Reflexive verb forms (singular 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons)Full pronoun table me/te/se/nos/os/se with conjugated examples for every person | F+H | conjugating-reflexive-verbs-present |
Impersonal verbs (6)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Impersonal hay'hay: existence... stays invariable regardless of whether the following noun is singular or plural' | F+H | impersonal-verbs |
| Hay que'hay que: obligation... expresses general or impersonal obligation - one must' | F+H | impersonal-verbs |
| Impersonal se for one/you (se puede)'se + 3rd person: the generic one... No se puede fumar. (Smoking isn't allowed.)' | F+H | impersonal-verbs |
| Impersonal se for one/you (se necesita)'se alquila (to let), se necesita (wanted), se prohíbe (forbidden)' inside the fully explained se-construction rule | F+H | passive-se |
| Hace + noun for weather'hace: weather and time... Hace frío. (It's cold - lit. it makes cold)' | F+H | impersonal-verbs |
| Impersonal parece, basta, falta, hace falta, vale la penathinonly 'hace falta que' appears (in a subjunctive-trigger table); basta, falta, vale la pena, parece never explained as impersonal verbs anywhere | H | subjunctive-impersonal |
Verb constructions (7)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Syntax of interesar-type verbs (gustar-class)'The construction: the thing liked is the subject' plus full table and agreement rule | F+H | gustar-type-verbs |
| Acabar de + infinitive (have just done)'Finishing: acabar de, dejar de, llegar a... Acabo de llegar. (I have just arrived.)' | H | verbal-periphrasis |
| Passive voice ser + past participle + por'The true passive is ser in whatever tense you need, followed by the past participle... whoever did the action... comes in with por' | H | passive-with-ser |
| Passive voice se + 3rd person singular/plural'Passive se... the thing that gets acted on is promoted to subject, and the verb agrees with it... Se vende casa / Se venden casas' | H | passive-se |
| Seguir + present participle (still doing)'Continuing: seguir, continuar, andar + gerund... Sigue lloviendo. (It is still raining.)' | H | verbal-periphrasis |
| Llevar + time + present participle (have been doing for time)'Lasting: llevar for "have been -ing for"... Llevo dos horas esperando.' | H | verbal-periphrasis |
| Present + desde hace (have been -ing for time)'Pattern 2: desde hace + time... Vivo aquí desde hace dos años.' | H | hace-and-desde |
Adjectives (14)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Adjective agreement -o/-a/-os/-as'The four endings' table: rojo/roja/rojos/rojas | F+H | adjective-agreement |
| Adjective agreement -e/-es (number only)'Adjectives that don't change for gender... ending in -e or a consonant only change for number' | F+H | adjective-agreement |
| Adjective agreement -z/-ces'feliz -> felices: the -z becomes -c before -es... follows this spelling shift universally' | F+H | adjective-agreement |
| Adjective agreement -ista/-istasthin'-ista... common gender: the word does not change, only the article does' is taught for NOUNS (el/la turista), never framed as adjective agreement | F+H | noun-suffixes |
| Nationality adjective patterns'Nationality adjectives... español/española/españoles/españolas... lose the written accent' | F+H | adjective-agreement |
| Prenominal adjectives algún, ningún, primer, segundo, tercer, buen, mal, gran'The BAGS set that goes before' table: bueno->buen, malo->mal, grande->gran, primero->primer, tercero->tercer, alguno->algún, ninguno->ningún | F+H | adjective-agreement |
| Position-dependent meaning change (prenominal vs postnominal)'Adjectives that change meaning by position... un gran hombre vs un hombre grande... these aren't stylistic choices, they're semantic ones' | F+H | adjective-agreement |
| Ser vs estar with adjectives'Some adjectives change meaning depending on which "to be" you use... not stylistic choices, they're semantic ones' plus full ser/estar table | F+H | ser-vs-estar |
| Comparative menos … que'Inferiority (less than): menos + adjective + que... Juan es menos alto que María.' | F+H | comparatives |
| Irregular comparatives mejor, peor'The four irregular comparatives' table: bueno->mejor, malo->peor | F+H | comparatives |
| Neuter article lo + adjective used as noun'lo + adjective: the abstract noun... lo bueno - the good thing' | H | lo-neuter |
| Possessive adjectives as post-verbal complement'Used after ser, it states ownership: Esta casa es mía. Los libros son tuyos.' | H | possessive-pronouns |
| Regular superlatives'The basic pattern: article + más/menos + adjective... el restaurante más caro' | H | superlatives |
| Irregular superlatives el mejor, el peor'The four irregular superlatives' table: bueno->el mejor, malo->el peor | H | superlatives |
Adverbs (7)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Position of adverbs of time, manner, placeAdverb placement table: Time before verb/sentence-initial, Manner (-mente) after verb, Place after verb | F+H | word-order |
| Comparative más …que/deSuperiority (more than): más + adjective + que; que becomes de before a number | F+H | comparatives |
| Comparative menos …que/deInferiority (less than): menos + adjective + que; que becomes de before a number | F+H | comparatives |
| Equative tan… comoEquality (as... as): tan + adjective + como | F+H | comparatives |
| Irregular adverbial mejor, peorthinmejor / peor listed as 'better / worse' in the manner-adverb vocab list, no comparative rule or worked example | F+H | adverbs-advanced |
| Regular superlative adverbsnot yetChecked comparatives.md, superlatives.md, adverbs-advanced.md, intensifiers.md - no lo más/lo menos + adverb + posible pattern taught anywhere | H | - |
| Irregular superlative adverbsnot yetChecked comparatives.md, superlatives.md, adverbs-advanced.md - lo mejor/lo peor posible never taught; only one incidental example in words/lanzar.md | H | - |
Prepositions (6)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Personal aUse the personal a when the direct object is a specific human being. Veo a María vs Veo la casa | F+H | personal-a |
| De for possessionPossession / origin: el libro de María (Maria's book), soy de Inglaterra | F+H | prepositions |
| Para, sin + infinitivePreposition+infinitive table: para ganar (in order to win), sin pensar (without thinking) | F+H | infinitive-uses |
| Verb + preposition before infinitive/nounrégimen preposicional: pensar en, soñar con, depender de, aprender a - grouped by governed preposition | F+H | verbs-with-prepositions |
| Antes de, después de + infinitiveantes de salir (before leaving); después de comer (after eating), in the infinitive-after-prepositions table | H | infinitive-uses |
| Syntax of prepositions in questionsThe preposition always comes before the question word... never '¿quién hablas con?' | H | question-words |
Morphology (reading only) (6)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| -ito/-ita diminutivescasa -> casita (little house); un momentito politer than un momento; which form: -ito, -cito or -ecito | F+H | diminutives-augmentatives |
| -ísimo/-ísima intensifiersThe absolute superlative: -ísimo. Drop the final vowel and add -ísimo (with matching gender/number) | F+H | superlatives |
| -mente adverbs from invariable adjectivesIf the adjective has no separate feminine form... you just bolt -mente straight on: feliz -> felizmente | F+H | adverbs-mente |
| -mente adverbs from singular feminine adjectivesTake the feminine singular of the adjective and add -mente: rápido -> rápida -> rápidamente | F+H | adverbs-mente |
| -idad nouns from adjectives-dad and -tad: the quality of an adjective (feminine): real -> la realidad, posible -> la posibilidad | F+H | noun-suffixes |
| -able adjectives from verb stems-able and -ible: able to be done. Goes on a verb: aceptar -> aceptable, comer -> comible | F+H | adjective-suffixes |
Phonology (5)
| Structure | Tier | Taught in |
|---|---|---|
| Key stress positions and spelling rulesClassify by stressed syllable (aguda/llana/esdrújula), apply one test: vowel, n or s ending | H | accent-rules |
| Stress any vowel with a written accentThe tilde ... appears only when a word breaks the default, and it points at the precise syllable to hit | H | accent-rules |
| Final-syllable stress except for vowel/n/s endingsagudas stressed on last syllable; reloj, verdad, feliz end in other consonants and need nothing | H | accent-rules |
| Penultimate stress for vowel/n/s endingsllanas (2nd-to-last) is the default for the great majority of words; casa, examen, crisis stay bare | H | accent-rules |
| Accent rules for final/penultimate/antepenultimate stressFull aguda/llana/esdrújula table with written-accent conditions for last, 2nd-to-last, 3rd-to-last stress | H | accent-rules |
Prescribed structures taken from the AQA GCSE Spanish (8692) specification. Coverage last verified 2026-09-21. "Thin" means a structure is touched but not taught as its own rule.