Módulo 1

Construcciones de Frases
(Constructing Sentences)

OVERVIEW

This module helps you in building vocabulary and using expressions and
common phases in Spanish. It teaches you on constructing your own sentences in
either affirmative or negative sentences. Sentence building charts are used to help
you in constructing sentences and questions in Spanish. The last part of the module
expands your understanding on the use of articles.

OBJECTIVES: At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. recall vocabularies, common phrase and useful expressions in Spanish,

2. understand how to use them, and;

3. construct sentences and questions.

Vocabulary Building

la cuenta – the bill hoy – today la casa – the house

ahora – now esta noche – tonight un carro – a car
un trabajo – a job amios (as) – friend el año – the year
duro – hard una canción – a song el hombre - the man
allá –over there aquí – here la mujer – the woman
seguido – often más tarde – later un telefono – a telephone
ahora – now contigo - with you un lápiz – a pencil
barato – cheap conmigo – with me un baño – a bathroom
mucho – a lot la llave – the key la calle – the street
un baile – a dance un libro – a book el avión – the plane

Yo - I
Tu/Usted- You-singular
He- El
She- Ella
We- Nosotros/as
Vosotros/as/Ustedes - You-plural
Ellos/Ellas- They
My- mi

Common Phrases and Useful Expressions

¿Cómo te llamas? What is your name? (familiar)

¿Cómo se llama? What is your name? (formal)
Me llamo … My name is…
¡Mucho gusto! Pleased to meet you!
¡Igualmente! Likewise!
¡Hola! Hi!
Buenas dias Good morning
Buenas tardes Good afternoon
Buenas noches Good evening/night
Hasta luego See you later
Hasta mañana See you tomorrow
Adiós Goodbye
¿De donde usted? Where are you from? (form)
Soy de… I am form…
¿Cómo estás? How are you? (fam)
¿Cómo está? How are you? (form)
Bien gracias. ¿Y tú? Fine thanks. And you? (fam)
Bien gracias. ¿Y usted? Fine thanks. And you? (form)
¿Qué hay de nuevo? What’s new?
Nada. Lo de siempre. Nothing. Same old thing.
Por favor Please
Gracias Thank you
De nada You’re welcome.

Introduction

Spanish sentence structure involves the correct order of the words. Word order is
quite important in Spanish because it can be a little chaotic and can lead to
misunderstandings if you don’t keep to it. However, Spanish sentence structures are
very flexible.

Spanish and English have the same basic word order scheme, SVO (Subject, Verb,
Object), but there can be big differences between the two languages, and we do not
always use said scheme. In the following points you will learn how to master word
order not only in declarative sentences, but also in questions and in negation.

There are three (3) basic sentence types in Spanish namely affirmative statements,
negative statements, and questions.

Affirmative statement is a declarative kind of sentence. It just declares an action or

fact and usually consist of subject and verb. Then, you can add object later.

Example:

Juan lee. (Juan reads.)

Maria ama libros. (Maria loves books.)

Negative statement in Spanish is made just by adding “no” before the main verb.

Example:

Maria no ama libros. (Maria does not love books.)

Spanish questions have two types; yes-no questions and question word questions. It
will be later explained in the module.

In Spanish syntax, verbs are used to express actions. One-verb sentence

construction needs only one verb to describe an action. It is either affirmative or
negative statement. For example, Juan lee el libro (Juan reads the book) or Juan no
quiere la pelicula (Juan does not like the movie.) Sometimes, two verbs are needed to
 express an action. It is called two-verb sentence. The first verb is conjugated to
agree with the subject, and the second verb is left in its infinitive form. For example,
Juan quiere dormir. (Juan wants to sleep.) “Quiere” or wants is a conjugated (main)
verb and “dormir” remains it its infinitive form.

*In spanish, the verb is to be conjugated to agree with the subject. Below is the
example of conjugation

Sample conjugation: AMAR-to love (present indicative tense)

Singular Plural
1st person (I) amo amamos
2nd person (you-informal) amas amais
3rd person (He, She, It, ama aman
you-formal)

She loves her friends.

Ella ama sus amigas.

You may try to construct your one-verb sentences through the help of this link
providing you with conjugated verbs:

https://www.linguasorb.com/spanish/verbs/most-common-verbs/

Subject Conjugated Verb Object

Yo Tengo El dinero
(I) (I have) (the money)

Tu Necesitas Me
(You) (You need) (me)

Klay Perdio Fidel

(Klay) (She lost)

In constructing two-verb sentences, you will be provided with Sentence Building

Charts. The charts will help you immediately form your own original sentences in
Spanish by combining words across the column. In the Sentence Building Chart you
will see the I form of key verbs – queiro (I want), me gusta (I like), puedo (I can), and
tengo que (I have to) and then 16 very common infinitives. An infinitive is the basic
form of verbs and in English begins with to, for example to talk, to run, etc. You can
make basic and useful sentences by adding one of these infinitives after one of your
four key verbs.

Quiero hablar (to talk/speak) bailar (to dance)

(I want)
conseguir (to get) trabajar (to work)
Me gusta
(I like) dormir (to sleep) ir (to go)
Puedo viajar (to travel) tratar (to try)
(I am able)
salir (to go out) hacer (to do/make)
Tengo que
(I have to) dar (to give) ver (to see)

comer (to eat) escribir (to write)

caminar (to walk) aprender (to learn)

Nota Bene:

This chart uses the verb for I want, quiero, but it is important to note that the
most polite way requesting anything in Spanish is with the verb for I would like,
quisiera. Be sure to practice with their more formal version as well as quiero as you
continue this lesson.

Example:

I want to dance.
Quiero bailar.

Constructing Sentence using “You”

We add the “you” form of our four key verbs. We are also adding two new
infinitives, pagar and ordenar.

Quieres ordenar (to order)

(You want-informal)

Quiere pagar ( to pay)

(You want-formal)

Le gusta
(You like)

Puede
(You can)

Tienes que
(You have-informal)

Tiene que
(You have-formal)

Example:

You have to pay.

Tienes que pagar.
Using the Negative

Now let’s express the negative of those same four key verbs by adding “no”
before the verb. Use the sentence building chart below to create new sentences
expressing the negative. For example, I don’t want “No quiero”.

No quiero dormir (to sleep) tarde (late)

(I don’t want)
conseguir (to get) el número (the number)
No puedo
(I can’t) salir (to go out/leave) de noche (at night)

No me gusta trabajar (to work) todo el día (all day)

(I don’t like)
saber (to know) la razón (the reason)
No tengo que
(I don’t have to) conocer (to know/meet) a todos (everyone)

Usted no quiere comer (to eat) algo rico (something good)

(You don’t want)
hacer (to do/make) nada (nothing/anything)
No le gusta
(You don’t like) dejar (to leave) un recado (a message)

No tienes que mandar (to send) un fax (a fax)

(You don’t have)
ver (to see) lo que pasa (what’s wrong)

estudiar (to study) la lección (the lesson)

viajar ( to travel) en avión (by plane)

comprar (to buy) los boletos (the tickets)

vender(to sell) bastante (enough)

aprender (to learn) el idioma (the language)

terminar (to end) el proyecto (the project)

pedir (to ask for/request) ayuda (help)

pagar (to pay) en efectivo (in cash)

ir (to go) de vacaciones (on vacation)

regresar (to return) a tiempo (on time)

preguntar (to ask) al gerente (the manager)

contestar (to answer) la pregunta (the question)

 averiguar (to find out) una mentira (a lie)

caminar (to walk) solo (a) (alone)

decir (to sell/tell) la verdad (the truth)

Example:

I don’t like to know the reason.

No me gusta saber la razon.

Forming Yes or No Questions

The simplest questions to create are “yes or no” questions. They are actually much
easier in Spanish than they are in English. For example, how do you make a “yes or
no” question out of the sentence, “Erin dates Mario”? You put the word “does” in front
and change the form of the verb “to date.” Does Erin date Mario?

The helping verb “to do” is rarely used in simple English sentences, although it is
necessary for questions. An English “yes or no” question is formed using a helping
verb. This verb has different forms including “do,” “does,” and in the past tense the
form “did.” The sentences below use the helping verb forms “do” or “does”:

I do need this job. She does read a lot. Normally, it sounds funny to use a helping
verb in a sentence, but when you want to make a “yes or no” question out of a
sentence, the helping verb forms “do” or “does” are necessary. To form a question in
English, the helping verb switches places with the subject of the sentence.

Do I need this job?

Does she read a lot?

Even though you already know how to make a sentence into a “yes or no” question in
English, it's helpful to realize that part of what you do is to switch the subject with the
helping verb (“do” or “does”). The words “do” or “does,” however, do not translate in a
Spanish question because Spanish does not use helping verbs to create questions; it
simply switches the subject and the main verb. Don't, therefore, be tempted to find the
Spanish equivalent of “do” or “does” when you see a question starting with “do” or
“does” in English.

Instead, you need to apply a simple, three‐step process to create the Spanish
question.

1. Remove the “do” or “does” from the English question.

2. Translate the remaining sentence into Spanish, conjugating the verb to go with the
subject.
3. Switch the subject with the verb and add the question marks.

Here's an example: Do I need this job?

Use the three‐step process to translate this into Spanish.

Remove the “do” or “does” from the English question ( I need this job).
Translate the remaining sentence into Spanish, carefully conjugating the verb
to agree with the subject ( Yo necesito este trabajo).

Switch the subject and the verb and add the question marks (¿ Necesito yo este
trabajo?).

Practice: Try to construct the ff sentence in Spanish.

1. Do you love books?

2. Does Jose speak Tagalog?

Asking Questions: Your Basic Question Words

Remember the formula: (Preposition)+question word (5Ws;1 H)+Conjugated

Verb+(Subject)+ additional information

¿Quien? Who?
¿Cuándo? When?
¿Cuánto? How much?
¿Qué? What?
¿Cómo? How/What?
¿Dónde? Where?
¿Cuántos? How many?
¿Cuál? Which?

Common Phrases with Questions Words

¿Quién? Who is it?

¿Qué es? What is it?
¿Cuándo empieza? When does it start?
¿Cuándo termina? When does it end?
¿Cuánto cuesta?How much does it cost?
¿Qué se habla? What is spoken?
¿Cómo se dice? How do you say?
¿Dónde está? Where is it?
¿Cuál le gusta más? Which do you like more?

To write a Spanish question that begins with a question word (such as “how,” “where,”
“when”), start by pretending the question word is not there. Without the question word,
you will be able to create a simple “yes or no” question by switching the subject and
verb.

Most questions that begin with a question word are created exactly like a “yes or no”
question, with the question word in front. Take the question “Does she speak
English?” (¿Habla ella ingles?). Several question words could simply be placed in
front of the question to elicit more information than a “yes or no” answer.

How does she speak English?

¿Cómo habla ella ingles?
Where does she speak English?
¿Dónde habla ella ingles?
When does she speak English?
¿Cuándo habla ella ingles?
Why does she speak English?
¿Por qué habla ella ingles?
How much does she speak English?
¿Cuánto habla ella ingles?

All of the above questions can be created simply by first switching the subject and the
verb to create a “yes or no” question, then placing the specific question word at the
beginning of the sentence.

Some question words are used a little differently. These question words actually serve
as the subject of the question. The question “Who speaks English?” uses the pronoun
“who” as the subject. The pronoun quién is the subject of the Spanish
question: ¿Quién habla ingles?

These questions are actually created in exactly the same way in Spanish and English,
but since Spanish has both singular and plural versions of “who,” you have to think
about one extra thing in Spanish: You must conjugate the verb to agree with the
subject.

The singular pronoun quién is meant to represent one person, so use the él form of
the verb, which is the form you would use if one person were the subject of the
sentence. The plural version of who, quiénes, is meant to represent several people. It
requires you to use the ellos form of the verb with it. (Note: When the question
words quién and quiénes are preceded by a preposition such as a [ a quién]
or de [ de quién], they will not be the subject of the sentence.)

Practice: Try to construct the ff sentence in Spanish.

1. Who reads the new book?

2. When does Maria study the lesson in Spanish?

Sentence Building: Asking “Who?”

Let us practice creating your own original sentences using the sentence building chart:

¿Quién va a (is going) ir (to go) ahora? (now)

(Who)
quiere (wants) quedarse (to stay) aquí? (here)
 tiene que (has to) venir (to come) hoy? (today)

necesita (needs) comer (to eat) algo? (something)

prefiere (prefers) hablar (to speak) inglés? (English)

ordenar (to order) café? (coffee)

pagar (to pay)

Example:

Who wants to go now?

¿Quién quiere ir ahora?

Source:

Dawson, L. et.al. (2001). Dicho y hecho, beginning Spanish. U.S: John Willy & Sons, Inc.

Gutin,J.(2009). Learn Spanish in a hurry. Massachusettes: Adams Media Avon.

Nissenberg, G. (2011). Must-know Spanish. New York: Mc Graw Hill International Edition.
Pountain, C. (2007). Exporing: The Spanish language. New York: Oxford University Press,
Inc.
Prentice Hall.