Easy Spanish Step-By-Step

by Bregstein, Barbara

• ISBN13: 9780071463386
• ISBN10: 0071463380
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-21
• Publisher: McGraw Hill

Summary

El presente volumen comprueba que el aprendizaje de los fundamentos gramáticos es la llave para dominar una segunda lengua. Las reglas gramaticales y los conceptos se explican claramente y en orden de importancia, mientras que más de 300 verbos y términos importantes se introducen como parte del vocabulario nuevo. Los ejercicios numerosos y los temas de las lecturas complementarias, construyen rápidamente las capacidades de comprensión y expresión del habla hispana. Aquí no hay profundizaciones sobre temas y puntos irrelevantes, sino un acercamiento original destinado a aprender español basado en la manera en que la gente adquiere naturalmente la lengua. Te introducen a las estructuras más esenciales--permitiendo que te comuniques casi inmediatamente. Gradualmente y con una serie de "pasos interconectados," progresas de una manera lógica a conceptos más comunes sobre cómo se habla y se escribe en español.

Author Biography

Barbara Bregstein is a translator and Spanish instructor with more than thirty years' experience teaching at colleges in and around New York City.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Guide to Pronunciation	xi
The Alphabet	xvi
Greetings and Salutations	xvi
I. Elements of a Sentence
Nouns, Articles, and Adjectives	3	(11)
The Gender of Nouns and the Definite Article	3	(4)
Singular Nouns	3	(3)
Plural Nouns	6	(1)
The Indefinite Article	7	(2)
Singular Indefinite Articles	7	(1)
Plural Indefinite Articles	8	(1)
Adjectives	9	(5)
Singular Form of Adjectives	9	(3)
Plural Form of Adjectives	12	(2)
Estar, Ser, and Subject Pronouns	14	(13)
Subject Pronouns	14	(1)
Estar (to be)	15	(3)
Ser (to be)	18	(7)
Reading Comprehension La casa	25	(2)
Hay, Interrogative Words, Days, and Months	27	(13)
Hay	27	(2)
Interrogative Words	29	(3)
Prepositions	31	(1)
Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons	32	(1)
Reading Comprehension Un pueblo colonial	33	(6)
Reading Comprehension El cine	39	(1)
Numbers, Dates, and Time	40	(16)
Cardinal Numbers	40	(4)
Ordinal Numbers	44	(2)
The Date	46	(1)
Telling Time	47	(4)
Reading Comprehension El restaurante	51	(3)
Reading Comprehension El oficio de la casa	54	(2)
Regular Verbs	56	(14)
Uses of the Present Tense	56	(1)
-Ar Verbs	57	(5)
-Er Verbs	62	(2)
-Ir Verbs	64	(2)
-Ar and -er Verbs with More than One Meaning	66	(2)
Reading Comprehension Una escuela en Mexico	68	(2)
Irregular Verbs	70	(12)
-Ar Verbs	70	(2)
-Er Verbs	72	(3)
-Ir Verbs	75	(4)
Reading Comprehension El tren	79	(3)
Ir and the Future	82	(20)
Ir (to go)	82	(1)
The Future with the Verb ir	83	(2)
Idioms	85	(4)
Idioms with the Verb tener	85	(2)
Other Idioms	87	(2)
Useful Words: que and para	89	(2)
The Relative Pronoun que	89	(1)
The Conjunction que	89	(1)
The Preposition para	90	(1)
Key Vocabulary	91	(2)
Las partes del cuerpo (Parts of the Body)	91	(1)
La familia	92	(1)
Time Expressions with hacer	93	(6)
Reading Comprehension La cita	99	(3)
Adjectives and Adverbs	102	(23)
Possessive Adjectives	102	(2)
Demonstrative Adjectives	104	(1)
Neuter Demonstrative Pronouns	105	(1)
Adjectives of Nationality	105	(3)
Adjectives That Precede a Noun	108	(5)
Comparative Adjectives	113	(1)
Superlative Adjectives	114	(1)
Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives	114	(1)
Comparing Nouns	115	(1)
Comparing Verbs	115	(2)
Adverbs	117	(6)
Adverbs That Do Not Take the Suffix -mente	119	(4)
Reading Comprehension La fiesta	123	(2)
Negatives and Prepositions	125	(28)
Negatives	125	(6)
Prepositions	131	(9)
Prepositions Followed by Verbs or Nouns	132	(1)
Prepositions Followed by Nouns or Pronouns	132	(1)
Pronouns That Follow Prepositions	133	(1)
The Preposition por	134	(2)
Por and para Compared	136	(4)
Reading Comprehension El circo	140	(1)
Key Vocabulary	141	(8)
Nature	141	(1)
Weather	142	(7)
Reading Comprehension El trabajo	149	(4)
II. Objects, Reflexive Verbs, and the Present Subjunctive
The Indirect Object	153	(24)
Gustar and the Indirect Object	153	(6)
Me gusta and me gustan	153	(2)
Te gusta and te gustan	155	(1)
Le gusta and le gustan	156	(1)
Nos gusta and nos gustan	157	(1)
Les gusta and les gustan	157	(2)
Verbs Like gustar	159	(4)
The Indirect Object Pronoun	163	(11)
Position of the Indirect Object Pronoun	165	(9)
Reading Comprehension Ir de compras	174	(1)
Reading Comprehension El viaje	175	(2)
The Direct Object	177	(16)
The Personal a and the Direct Object	177	(5)
Transitive Verbs	178	(4)
The Direct Object Pronoun	182	(9)
Position of the Direct Object Pronoun	183	(1)
The Direct Object Pronoun as a Person	184	(2)
The Direct Object Pronoun as a Thing	186	(5)
Reading Comprehension La bienvenida	191	(2)
Reflexive Verbs	193	(13)
The Reflexive Pronouns	193	(1)
Some Frequently Used Reflexive Verbs	194	(1)
Reflexive Verbs Whose English Translations Do Not Necessarily Include Oneself	195	(1)
Position of the Reflexive Pronoun	195	(2)
Reflexive Verbs with Parts of the Body and Clothing	197	(1)
Reflexive Verbs That Express Emotion	197	(1)
Reflexive Verbs That Express Movement	198	(1)
Reflexive Verbs That Express ``To Become''	199	(1)
Most Frequently Used Reflexive Verbs	199	(3)
Reflexive Verbs with Reciprocal Meanings	202	(1)
Se and Impersonal Expressions	203	(1)
Reading Comprehension El encuentro	204	(2)
The Present Subjunctive	206	(29)
Formation of the Present Subjunctive	206	(6)
-Ar Verbs	207	(1)
-Er and -Ir Verbs	208	(2)
Irregular Verbs	210	(1)
Verbs with Orthographic Changes	210	(2)
Uses of the Present Subjunctive	212	(19)
After Certain Impersonal Expressions	212	(2)
After Certain Verbs	214	(6)
After Certain Conjunctions	220	(1)
After cuando	221	(2)
In Certain Dependent Adjective Clauses	223	(1)
After the Expressions por mas que and por mucho que	223	(1)
After ojala	223	(1)
After acaso, quizas, and tal vez	224	(1)
After aunque	224	(1)
After Compounds of -quiera	224	(1)
After como	224	(7)
Reading Comprehension La despedida	231	(4)
III. Preterit Tense, Imperfect Tense, and Double Object Pronouns
The Preterit Tense	235	(22)
Formation of the Preterit	235	(3)
Regular -ar Verbs	235	(1)
Regular -er and -ir Verbs	236	(2)
Uses of the Preterit	238	(2)
To Express an Action Completed in the Past	238	(1)
To Express a Series of Completed Actions in the Past	239	(1)
To Express a Condition That Is No Longer in Effect	239	(1)
Irregular Verbs	240	(8)
-Ir Verbs with Stem Changes in the Third Person	246	(2)
Verbs with Orthographic Changes	248	(5)
-Ar Verbs	248	(3)
-Er and -ir Verbs	251	(2)
Verbs with Special Meanings in the Preterit	253	(2)
Reading Comprehension En la corte (primera escena)	255	(2)
The Imperfect Tense	257	(27)
Formation of the Imperfect	257	(3)
Regular -ar Verbs	257	(1)
Regular -er and -ir Verbs	258	(1)
Irregular Verbs	259	(1)
Uses of the Imperfect	260	(5)
To ``Set the Stage'' in the Past; to Express a Narration, Situation, or Background	260	(1)
To Express Habitual, Customary, or Repeated Actions in the Past	260	(1)
To Express Continuous Actions in the Past	261	(1)
To Express a Description in the Past	261	(1)
To Express Point of Origin in the Past	261	(1)
To Express Time in the Past	262	(1)
To Express One's Age in the Past	262	(3)
Preterit and Imperfect Compared	265	(5)
Querer, poder, saber	266	(4)
Double Object Pronouns	270	(12)
Indirect Object Pronoun with Direct Object Pronoun	270	(8)
Reflexive Pronoun with Direct Object Pronoun	278	(1)
Se Plus the Indirect Object Pronoun and Unplanned Occurrences	279	(3)
Reading Comprehension El juicio (segunda escena)	282	(2)
Answer Key	284	(16)
Index	300