THE SUBJUNCTIVE FOR "PENDING ACTIONS"
This is a way to describe what you may do in the future, or things that you plan to do that MAY occur.
First, things that you USUALLY do:
ex: Cuando llego a casa, siempre bebo un vaso de agua.
(When I get home, I always drink a glass of water.)
ex: Cuando salgo de casa por las mañanas, hago mis ejercicios.
When I leave the house in the morning, I do my exercises.
BUT...
If the action ISN'T something you normally do, the Spanish treats it as something that MAY or
MAY NOT happen. And you know what that means...SUBJUNCTIVE!
ex: Hoy, voy a preparar la cena cuando LLEGUE a casa.
(Today, I'm going to prepare dinner when I get home.)
ex: Vamos a la tienda después de que TERMINE este programa.
(Let's go to the store after this program ends.)
ex: Cuando LLEGUE el Sr. Guzmán, dígale que me espere.
(When Mr. Guzmán arrives, tell him to wait for me.)
ex: Laura va a estudiar hasta que lo ENTIENDA todo.
(Laura is going to study until she understands everything.)
ex: Vamos a jugar hasta que un equipo GANE.
(We are going to play until one team wins.)
ex: Después de que salgan los resultados del examen, voy a celebrar...o lamentar.
(After the results of the exam come out, I'm going to celebrate...or mourn.)
¿QUÉ? versus ¿CUÁL?: When do you use which one?
Basically, "QUÉ" should be used when asking for a DEFINITION of something.
"CUÁL" should be used when making a choice among a set.
The best way to get the feel of these two is to practice repetition of the following phrases,
until they feel natural:
¿Cuál es la fecha? What's the date?
¿Qué hora es? What time is it?
¿Cuáles son tus lugares favoritos? What are your favorite places?
¿Cuál de tus hermanos está trabajando? Which of your brothers is working?
¿Qué pasa? What's up? What's going on?
¿Cuál de los carros prefieres? Which of the cars do you prefer?
¿Qué es geología? What is geology?
¿Cuál de los chicos te gusta? Which of the boys do you like?
¿Qué es eso? What's that?
¿Qué está haciendo? What is she doing?
¿Cuál de tus clases es la más fácil? Which of your classes is the easiest?
¿Qué tienes en la maleta? What do you have in the suitcase?
¿Qué recibiste para tu cumple? What did you get for your birthday?
¿Qué es Ud., conservador o liberal? What are you, a conservative or a liberal?
The best way to practice these is the following:
Say each one, out loud, several times, only in Spanish.
Do this several times, through the entire list.
Get to a point at which you can cover up the English and know exactly what you're saying in Spanish.
USE OF THE "PLUPERFECT" or PAST PERFECT
If you remember the PRESENT PERFECT, the verb we make out of the
FORM OF HABER (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han)
and the
PAST PARTICIPLE (such as: trabajado, vivido, comido, visto, roto, puesto, hablado...)
then this will be easy:
HABER (in the IMPERFECT): había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían
These mean, in order: I had, you had, she had, we had, y'all had, they had...
Use this form when you want to talk about things you HAD done in the past, BEFORE
other things that you did:
ex: Nosotros ya habíamos llegado cuando la policía llamó.
(We had already arrived by the time the police called.)
ex: Yo ya había comido antes de ir a la biblioteca anoche.
(I had already eaten before going to the library last night.)
ex: Fui a España el año pasado, pero había estado allí dos veces antes.
(I went to Spain last year, but I had already been there twice before.)
COMMON PHRASES WITH "POR"
These are simple vocabulary items. (Well, simple if you put them on flash cards and
work them every day for a week or two!)
por (pura) casualidad = by (pure) chance
por eso = that's why
por lo menos = at least
por si (acaso) = (just) in case
por suerte = luckily
por supuesto = of course
Examples:
Por casualidad, tengo la clase a la misma hora que tú.
(By chance, I have the class at the same time as you.)
No tengo dinero, por eso no viajo a España este año.
(I don't have any money, that's why I'm not travelling to Spain this year.)
Necesito por lo menos tres voluntarios.
(I need at least three volunteers.)
Por si acaso, ¿me puedes dar un poco de dinero?
(Just in case, can you give me a little money?)
Por suerte, mi amigo ha llegado justo a tiempo.
(Luckily, my friend arrived just in time.)
¿Cómo que si quiero más dinero? ¡Por supuesto!
(What do you mean "do I want more money"? Of course!)
Practice, practice and more practice.
Again, repeat these over and over until they feel natural and "right" to you.
Then, say them until you know exactly what you are saying without referring to the English.
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Again, fancy grammatical term. This section deals with what we do to use
QUE, LO QUE, and QUIEN correctly:
Relative Pronouns: que
The next few lessons will cover a subject called "relative pronouns." Remember, pronouns are words that refer to a noun. "Relative" pronouns are called "relative" because they are "related" to a noun that has previously been stated.
One way to view relative pronouns is to recognize that they combine two sentences that share a common noun. In the following example, the common noun is "milk" or "leche".
¿Dónde está la leche?
Where is the milk?
Compraste leche.
You bought milk.
¿Dónde está la leche que compraste?
Where is the milk that you bought?
Another way to view relative pronouns is to recognize that they are used to introduce a clause that modifies a noun. In the following example, the clause "I finished last night" modifies the noun "book".
Terminé el libro anoche.
I finished the book last night.
El libro es muy extenso.
The book is very long.
El libro que terminé anoche es muy extenso.
The book that I finished last night is very long.
The most common relative pronoun, and the one used in the previous two examples is "que". It can be used to refer to both persons and things, in either the subject or the object position. "Que" is the Spanish equivalent of the English words who, whom, which, and that.
El hombre que es pobre ... (person, subject)
The man who is poor ...
Los libros que son extensos ... (thing, subject)
The books which are long ...
La señorita que conocí ... (person, object)
The young lady whom I met ...
La carta que leiste ... (thing, object)
The letter that you read ...
The relative pronoun is often omitted in English, but it is never omitted in Spanish.
La casa que compramos es nueva.
The house (that) we bought is new.
El programa que miraba era cómico.
The show (that) I was watching was comical.
Relative Pronouns: quien
Continuing with the subject of "relative pronouns," remember that pronouns are words that refer to a noun. "Relative" pronouns are called "relative" because they are "related" to a noun that has previously been stated.
The relative pronoun "quien" is used only to refer to people, and has a plural form "quienes". (There is no masculine/feminine distinction.)
Mi tío, quien es profesor, viene a visitarme hoy día.
My uncle, who is a professor, is coming to visit me today.
La chica, con quien fui al cine, es mi novia.
The girl, with whom I went to the movies, is my girlfriend.
Quien estudia bastante, gana buenas notas.
He who studies hard earns good grades.
When the relative pronoun refers to a person and is in the direct object position, either "que" or "a quien" may be used. Each is correct. Notice that the "personal a" is used with "quien" but in not use with "que".
La señorita que conocí anoche es la hermana de Raquel.
La señorita a quien conocí anoche es la hermana de Raquel.
The young lady whom I met last night is Raquel's sister.
When the relative pronoun occurs after a preposition and refers to a person, "quien" must be used. After a preposition, "que" is only used to refer to things.
Los chicos, con quienes fuimos a la playa, son nuestros amigos.
The boys, with whom we went to the beach, are our friends.
El libro en que pienso es extenso, no es corto.
The book I'm thinking of is long, not short.
In English, although it is technically incorrect, common usage often finds a sentence ending in a preposition. Notice that this never occurs in Spanish.
Ella es la señorita en quien estoy pensando.
She is the young lady I'm thinking about. / She is the young lady about whom I'm thinking.
Mi padre es la persona a quien envío la carta.
My father is the person I'm sending the letter to. / My father is the person to whom I'm sending the letter.
Relative Pronouns: el que, la que, los que, las que - and lo que
Continuing with the subject of "relative pronouns," remember that pronouns are words that refer to a noun. "Relative" pronouns are called "relative" because they are "related" to a noun that has previously been stated.
The relative pronoun "el que" (and it's related forms) is used to refer to both people and things. Note that there are four forms to accomodate singular and plural, masculine and feminine: el que, la que, los que, las que.
Mi tía, la que es profesora, viene a visitarme hoy día.
My aunt, the one who is a professor, is coming to visit me today.
Las mesas, las que son de plástico, son baratas.
The tables, the ones that are made of plastic, are cheap.
Mi tío, el que es taxista, llegará pronto.
My uncle, the one who is a taxi driver, will arrive soon.
Mis pantalones, los que son viejos, son muy cómodos.
My pants, the ones that are old, are very comfortable.
Another set of relative pronouns can be used in place of el que, la que, los que, and las que:
el cual
la cual
los cuales
las cuales
These are not commonly used in everyday conversation, and are generally reserved for written Spanish or formal oratory.
When the relative pronoun refers to an abstract idea, use "lo que".
Lo que quieres no existe.
That which you want does not exist.
No comprendo lo que ocurre.
I do not understand that which is happening.
(courtesy: www.studyspanish.com)