Grammar — CIE IGCSE Spanish Revision Notes

What you'll learn

Spanish grammar forms the foundation of all four IGCSE exam papers, particularly Writing (Paper 4) and the speaking assessment. Mastery of verb conjugations, noun-adjective agreement, pronoun placement, and sentence construction determines whether you achieve Grade 8-9 or lose marks through basic errors. This guide covers every grammatical structure examined in CIE IGCSE Spanish papers.

Key terms and definitions

Conjugation — the systematic modification of a verb to express tense, mood, person, and number (e.g., hablar → hablo, hablas, habla)

Preterite tense — the simple past tense used for completed actions at specific times in the past (e.g., ayer comí paella)

Imperfect tense — the past tense expressing habitual, ongoing, or descriptive actions without defined endpoints (e.g., cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol)

Subjunctive mood — a verb form expressing doubt, emotion, desire, or hypothetical situations, typically following specific trigger phrases (e.g., quiero que vengas)

Direct object pronoun — replaces the noun receiving the action directly: me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las (e.g., veo a Juan → lo veo)

Indirect object pronoun — replaces the noun receiving the action indirectly: me, te, le, nos, os, les (e.g., doy el libro a María → le doy el libro)

Reflexive verb — a verb where the subject performs an action on itself, using reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se (e.g., me levanto, se lava)

Noun-adjective agreement — the requirement that adjectives match the gender and number of the nouns they modify (e.g., el chico alto, las chicas altas)

Core concepts

Present tense formation and irregular verbs

The present tense describes current actions, habitual activities, and general truths. CIE papers test regular patterns and high-frequency irregulars.

Regular verb endings:

-AR verbs (hablar): hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan
-ER verbs (comer): como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen
-IR verbs (vivir): vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven

Frequently tested irregular verbs:

ser (to be permanent): soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son
estar (to be temporary/location): estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están
tener (to have): tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tenéis, tienen
ir (to go): voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van
hacer (to do/make): hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen

Stem-changing verbs appear frequently in reading and listening papers:

e→ie: querer → quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren
o→ue: poder → puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden
e→i: pedir → pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden

Past tenses: preterite vs imperfect

Distinguishing between preterite and imperfect determines Writing paper marks. Examiners specifically look for appropriate tense selection.

Preterite usage:

Completed actions with clear beginning/end: Ayer fui al cine
Specific time references: El año pasado visité Madrid
Sequential events: Me levanté, desayuné y salí

Preterite regular endings:

-AR: -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron
-ER/-IR: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -isteis, -ieron

Critical irregular preterites tested:

ser/ir: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
hacer: hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron
estar: estuve, estuviste, estuvo, estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuvieron
tener: tuve, tuviste, tuvo, tuvimos, tuvisteis, tuvieron

Imperfect usage:

Habitual past actions: Todos los días iba al colegio
Descriptions in the past: La casa era grande y bonita
Time and age: Eran las tres / Tenía diez años
Ongoing actions interrupted: Leía cuando sonó el teléfono

Imperfect regular endings:

-AR: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban
-ER/-IR: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían

Only three irregular imperfects: ser (era), ir (iba), ver (veía)

Future and conditional tenses

Both tenses use the infinitive as the stem, making them structurally simpler but frequently confused.

Future tense endings (all verbs): -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án

Examples: hablaré, comeré, viviré

Irregular future stems:

tener → tendré
hacer → haré
poder → podré
saber → sabré
salir → saldré

Conditional tense endings (all verbs): -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían

Examples: hablaría, comería, viviría

Conditional uses same irregular stems as future. Papers test conditional for polite requests (Me gustaría) and hypothetical situations.

Present perfect and pluperfect

Compound tenses use haber (to have) plus past participle.

Present perfect formation: haber (present) + past participle

he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han + -ado/-ido

Examples:

He comido (I have eaten)
Hemos visitado (We have visited)

Irregular past participles tested:

hacer → hecho
escribir → escrito
ver → visto
abrir → abierto
decir → dicho
poner → puesto
volver → vuelto

Pluperfect formation: haber (imperfect) + past participle

había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían + past participle

Example: Había comido antes de salir (I had eaten before leaving)

Subjunctive mood essentials

The subjunctive appears in higher-level writing and reading texts. Recognition matters more than production for most candidates.

Present subjunctive formation:

Take yo form of present tense
Remove -o
Add opposite endings: -AR verbs take -ER endings; -ER/-IR verbs take -AR endings

hablar → hable, hables, hable, hablemos, habléis, hablen comer → coma, comas, coma, comamos, comáis, coman

Common subjunctive triggers:

Desire: querer que, esperar que
Emotion: me alegro de que, es triste que
Doubt: no creo que, dudar que
Impersonal expressions: es importante que, es necesario que

Example: Quiero que vengas a mi fiesta (I want you to come to my party)

Pronouns and their placement

Subject pronouns (often omitted in Spanish): yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros/nosotras, vosotros/vosotras, ellos/ellas/ustedes

Direct object pronouns replace nouns receiving the action: me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las

Placement: before conjugated verbs or attached to infinitives/gerunds/affirmative commands

Lo veo (I see him/it)
Voy a verlo or Lo voy a ver (I'm going to see him)

Indirect object pronouns indicate to/for whom: me, te, le, nos, os, les

Le doy el libro (I give the book to him/her)

When using both pronouns together, indirect precedes direct, and le/les becomes se:

Se lo doy (I give it to him/her)

Reflexive pronouns with reflexive verbs:

Me lavo (I wash myself)
Se levanta (He/she gets up)

Noun-adjective agreement and position

Adjectives must match noun gender and number:

Masculine singular: el libro rojo
Feminine singular: la casa roja
Masculine plural: los libros rojos
Feminine plural: las casas rojas

Adjectives ending in -e or consonants have two forms (singular/plural):

el coche grande / los coches grandes
el examen difícil / los exámenes difíciles

Most adjectives follow the noun, but common exceptions precede it:

bueno/malo: un buen libro
grande (becomes gran): una gran ciudad
Numbers and quantities: tres días

Por vs para distinction

This distinction appears frequently in gap-fill and translation exercises.

Por uses:

Through/along: Pasamos por el parque
Duration: Estudié por dos horas
Reason/cause: Cerrado por vacaciones
Exchanges: Pagué diez euros por el libro
Rate: sesenta kilómetros por hora

Para uses:

Destination: Salgo para Madrid
Purpose: Estudio para aprobar
Deadlines: Es para mañana
Recipients: un regalo para mi madre
Comparison: Para un principiante, hablas bien

Worked examples

Example 1: Gap-fill exercise (Paper 3 style)

Question: Complete with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

El año pasado (1) ______ (ir) de vacaciones a México. (2) ______ (Hacer) mucho calor y todos los días (3) ______ (nadar) en el mar. Un día, mientras (4) ______ (caminar) por la playa, (5) ______ (ver) una tortuga enorme.

Answer:

fui — preterite of ir (specific completed action)
Hacía — imperfect for weather description
nadaba — imperfect for repeated habitual action ("todos los días")
caminaba — imperfect for ongoing action that was interrupted
vi — preterite for completed action at specific moment

Example 2: Translation (Paper 4 writing)

Question: Translate into Spanish: "My parents want me to study medicine, but I would prefer to be a teacher. I have always liked working with children."

Answer: Mis padres quieren que estudie medicina, pero preferiría ser profesor/a. Siempre me ha gustado trabajar con niños.

Mark scheme notes:

quieren que estudie — subjunctive after verb of desire (2 marks)
preferiría — conditional for preference (1 mark)
me ha gustado — present perfect with "siempre" (2 marks)
Correct agreement and word order (1 mark)

Example 3: Pronoun replacement

Question: Rewrite using appropriate pronouns: Voy a dar los regalos a mis abuelos.

Answer: Voy a dárselos or Se los voy a dar

Explanation:

los regalos → los (direct object)
a mis abuelos → les → se (indirect object, changes to se before lo/la/los/las)
Pronouns attach to infinitive or precede conjugated verb

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Confusing ser and estar — Students write "Soy aburrido" (I am boring) instead of "Estoy aburrido" (I am bored). Use estar for temporary states and emotions; use ser for permanent characteristics.

Incorrect preterite vs imperfect selection — Writing "Cuando era joven, fui al parque todos los días" mixes tenses incorrectly. Habitual past actions require imperfect: "iba al parque".

Wrong pronoun order — Students write "lo se" instead of "se lo". When combining pronouns, indirect always precedes direct, and le/les becomes se.

Forgetting noun-adjective agreement — Writing "las chicos alto" loses marks. Adjectives must match gender and number: "los chicos altos" or "las chicas altas".

Misplacing pronouns with infinitives — Writing "quiero lo ver" is incorrect. Either attach to infinitive ("quiero verlo") or place before conjugated verb ("lo quiero ver").

Using present perfect instead of preterite — English speakers write "He ido ayer" (incorrect). Specific time references like ayer require preterite: "Fui ayer".

Exam technique for Grammar

Identify tense indicators immediately — Time expressions determine required tense: ayer/el año pasado (preterite), cuando era niño/todos los días (imperfect), el año que viene (future). Mark these in reading passages before attempting gap-fills.

Check verb endings match subjects — In gap-fill exercises, identify the subject first, then apply correct person/number endings. Examiners award zero marks for wrong person even if the tense is correct.

Apply pronoun logic systematically — For pronoun questions: (1) identify if object is direct or indirect, (2) select correct pronoun, (3) determine placement based on verb form, (4) apply le→se rule if using both pronouns.

Writing Paper 4 grammar allocation — Approximately 40% of writing marks assess grammatical accuracy. Use at least three different tenses, include complex structures (subjunctive/conditional where appropriate), and verify all adjective agreements before submitting.

Quick revision summary

Spanish grammar for CIE IGCSE centres on verb conjugation accuracy across six tenses (present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, perfect), appropriate tense selection for context, correct pronoun placement and ordering, and noun-adjective agreement. Master irregular verb forms (ser, estar, ir, tener, hacer) in all tenses. Distinguish preterite (completed) from imperfect (habitual/descriptive) past actions. Position pronouns before conjugated verbs or attached to infinitives. Ensure adjectives match noun gender and number. Differentiate por (duration/reason) from para (purpose/destination). Recognition of subjunctive triggers improves reading comprehension at higher grades.