Spanish Grammar for Dummies (Paperback)

Introduction 1

Part I: Starting with the Basics 7

Chapter 1: Spanish Grammar in a Nutshell 9

Chapter 2: Sounding Out Spanish Words 19

Chapter 3: Naming Things with Nouns and Articles 29

Chapter 4: Describing Stuff with Adjectives 47

Chapter 5: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time 67

Part II: Constructing Simple Sentences and Asking Questions 81

Chapter 6: Writing in the Present Tense 83

Chapter 7: Expressing a State of Being with Ser and Estar 107

Chapter 8: Talking about Action in Progress with the Present Progressive 121

Chapter 9: Replacing Nouns with Pronouns 133

Chapter 10: Expressing Likes and Dislikes 149

Chapter 11: Handling Questions and Exclamations 163

Part III: Beefing Up Your Sentences with More Description 179

Chapter 12: Describing Action with Adverbs 181

Chapter 13: Modifying Meaning with Prepositions 195

Chapter 14: Acting on Oneself with the Reflexive 213

Chapter 15: Using the Passive Voice 227

Chapter 16: It’s All Relative: Making Comparisons 237

Chapter 17: Just Say "No": Negative Words and Expressions 249

Part IV: Talking about the Past or Future 261

Chapter 18: Looking Back with the Preterit 263

Chapter 19: Describing Ongoing Past Action with the Imperfect 281

Chapter 20: Projecting Forward with the Future Tense 295

Chapter 21: Forming Compound Tenses with the Helping Verb Haber 305

Part V: Expressing Conditions and Giving Commands 319

Chapter 22: Wondering "What If" with the Conditional Mood 321

Chapter 23: Taking Command with the Imperative Mood 329

Part VI: The Part of Tens 345

Chapter 24: Ten Common Spanish Grammar Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) 347

Chapter 25: Ten Useful Spanish Idioms 353

Index 357