Master grammar with comprehensive explanations and examples
Subject pronouns: yo, tú, él/ella, nosotros, vosotros, ellos/ellas, usted/ustedes
Can use subject pronouns to refer to people and understand tú/usted formality
Direct object pronouns: me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las
Can replace nouns with direct object pronouns and place them correctly
Indirect object pronouns: me, te, le, nos, os, les
Can use indirect object pronouns and understand pronoun doubling
Gustar (to like) and similar inverted-structure verbs
Can express likes and dislikes with gustar and similar verbs
Interrogative pronouns: qué, quién, cuál used as pronouns
Can distinguish qué, quién, and cuál as interrogative pronouns
Indefinite pronouns: algo, nada, alguien, nadie, alguno, ninguno
Can use indefinite pronouns for people and things, including double negation
Putting the indirect and direct pronouns together, and why le becomes se
Can combine direct and indirect object pronouns in the correct order and position
ir/irse, dormir/dormirse, quedar/quedarse: when the pronoun changes the verb's meaning
Can distinguish verb pairs whose meaning changes with the reflexive pronoun
se habla español, se venden pisos: saying what people do without saying who
Can use impersonal se to describe customs, instructions and public notices
a mí, para ti, con él, conmigo: the pronoun forms that only appear after prepositions
Can use prepositional pronouns to emphasise, contrast and clarify who is meant
The gustar family in full, with all pronouns, plural agreement and the a + person clarifier
Can express likes, preferences, pains and opinions using the full gustar family
Present tense conjugation of ser, uses: identity, origin, profession
Can use ser to express identity, origin, profession, and tell the time
Present tense conjugation of estar, uses: location, temporary states
Can use estar to express location, temporary states, emotions, and health
The key distinction between ser and estar, adjective meaning changes
Can distinguish between ser and estar and understand how some adjectives change meaning
Present tense conjugation of regular -ar verbs: hablar, trabajar, estudiar
Can conjugate regular -ar verbs in the present tense for all persons
Present tense conjugation of regular -er verbs: comer, beber, leer
Can conjugate regular -er verbs in the present tense and distinguish -er from -ar endings
Present tense conjugation of regular -ir verbs: vivir, escribir, abrir
Can conjugate regular -ir verbs and identify where they differ from -er verbs
Irregular stem-change verbs tener (to have) and venir (to come): e→ie
Can conjugate tener and venir, use tener for age, sensations, and obligations
Completely irregular verbs ir (to go) and dar (to give)
Can conjugate ir and dar, use ir + a for destinations
First person -go irregular verbs: hacer (to do/make), poner (to put), salir (to go out)
Can conjugate hacer, poner, salir and other -go verbs in the yo form
Reflexive verbs: levantarse, llamarse, ducharse with reflexive pronouns
Can use reflexive verbs for daily routines and introductions
Present continuous: estar + gerund (-ando/-iendo) for actions happening right now
Can form the present continuous to describe actions happening right now
Simple past tense of regular verbs: hablé, comí, viví
Can conjugate regular verbs in the simple past tense to describe completed actions
Past tense of ser and ir: fui, fuiste, fue — identical forms for both verbs!
Can use the past tense of ser and ir and distinguish them by context
Common irregular past tense forms: tuve, hice, pude, estuve
Can use common irregular past tense forms to narrate past events
Affirmative commands for tú: habla, come, vive + common irregulars
Can give basic commands and instructions using the tú imperative
Stem-changing verbs (e>ie, o>ue, u>ue, e>i) across present, gerund, preterite and subjunctive
Can use stem-changing verbs correctly in the present, the gerund and the preterite
The imperfect tense: forms, the three irregular verbs, and what it is actually for
Can describe past habits, routines and background circumstances using the imperfect
The central A2 contrast: completed events versus background, with the verbs that change meaning
Can choose between preterite and imperfect to tell a past story with events and background
Building a coherent past narrative: mientras, de repente, entonces, al final, and how the two tenses take turns
Can tell an anecdote in the past, alternating background and events with the right connectors
Haber + participle: he hablado, and the irregular participles you actually need
Can talk about life experiences and recent events using the present perfect
Which past tense Spain uses when: hoy/esta semana versus ayer/el año pasado, plus the American difference
Can choose between the present perfect and the preterite according to the time marker used
The synthetic future (hablaré), its twelve irregular stems, and when Spaniards prefer ir a + infinitive
Can talk about future plans and predictions using both the simple future and ir a + infinitive
Would-forms for politeness, advice and wishes: me gustaría, ¿podría?, yo que tú iría
Can make polite requests, give advice and express wishes using the conditional
Completing the command paradigm beyond tú: siga, pasen, venid, and when Spain actually uses each
Can give instructions politely to one or several people using formal and plural commands
Saying don't: no hables, no comáis, no venga — the forms that differ from the affirmative
Can tell someone not to do something, at both formal and informal register
Where the pronouns go with commands: dímelo, siéntese, no me lo digas, and the accents that appear
Can attach or place object pronouns correctly with affirmative and negative commands
How the subjunctive is built, and why you already know most of it from the imperative
Can form the present subjunctive of regular, stem-changing and common irregular verbs
The first real use of the subjunctive: influencing or wishing about someone else's actions
Can express wishes and requests about other people's actions using que + subjunctive
Impersonal expressions with the subjunctive, and the ones that keep the indicative
Can give advice and evaluate situations using impersonal expressions with the subjunctive
acabar de, volver a, empezar a, dejar de, soler, seguir + gerundio: saying more with the verbs you have
Can express beginning, repetition, continuation and immediate past using common verbal periphrases
estaba haciendo versus estuvo haciendo: the progressive in the two past tenses
Can use the past progressive to describe interrupted actions and long completed activities
Beyond the A1 rule: la fiesta es en mi casa, la puerta está abierta, and estar as a change of state
Can use ser and estar in the harder A2 contexts: events, results and changes of state
Masculine and feminine nouns: -o/-a pattern, exceptions
Can identify the gender of common Spanish nouns and know key exceptions
Definite articles: el, la, los, las
Can use definite articles correctly with nouns and understand special uses with gustar, time, and body parts
Indefinite articles: un, una, unos, unas
Can use indefinite articles for first mentions and know when to omit them (professions, nationalities)
Plural formation: -s, -es, -ces rules
Can form plurals of nouns and articles correctly, including z→ces changes
Contractions: a + el = al, de + el = del
Can use the mandatory contractions al and del correctly and know when NOT to contract
Adjective agreement in gender and number with nouns
Can make adjectives agree with nouns in gender and number and place them correctly
Possessive adjectives: mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro
Can express possession using possessive adjectives and clarify ambiguous 'su'
Demonstrative adjectives: este/ese/aquel and their feminine/plural forms
Can use demonstrative adjectives for three distance levels and make them agree with nouns
Comparatives: más...que, menos...que, tan...como
Can compare things using más/menos...que and tan...como, including irregular comparatives
The four adjectives that have their own comparative form, and how to compare quantities
Can compare people and things using irregular comparatives and expressions of equality
The relative superlative (el más...de) and the absolute superlative in -ísimo
Can express the highest degree of a quality with both relative and absolute superlatives
Adjectives that lose their ending before a masculine singular noun
Can shorten adjectives correctly before masculine singular nouns
Cardinal numbers from 0 to 100
Can use cardinal numbers 0-100 for prices, ages, quantities
Ordinal numbers: primero through décimo
Can use ordinal numbers 1st-10th with correct gender agreement and shortening
Telling time: es la una, son las dos, quarter, half
Can ask and tell the time using ser, y/menos, cuarto/media
Days of the week, months, seasons — all lowercase in Spanish
Can name days, months, seasons, express dates, and discuss weekly routines
From 100 to a million, plus how to say prices, years and dates in real life
Can understand and say large numbers, prices, years and dates
hace dos años, desde 2019, desde hace tres meses, llevo diez minutos esperando
Can say how long something has been going on and how long ago something happened
Question words: qué, quién, dónde, cuándo, cómo, cuánto, por qué
Can form questions using all question words with correct accents
Impersonal existential hay: there is / there are
Can express existence with hay and distinguish hay from estar
Negation: no before verb, double negation with nada, nunca, nadie
Can negate sentences and use double negation correctly
Basic conjunctions: y, o, pero, porque, que
Can connect sentences using basic conjunctions including y→e and o→u changes
Word order: SVO basic structure, question formation, flexibility
Can construct basic sentences and questions with correct word order
Infinitive phrases: querer/poder/necesitar + infinitivo
Can express wants, abilities, and needs using verb + infinitive
Near future: ir a + infinitivo for planned actions
Can talk about future plans using ir a + infinitive
Joining two sentences into one: el chico que vive arriba, el bar donde quedamos
Can link ideas with relative clauses and define words they do not know
Si llueve, no vamos: talking about likely conditions, and the rule that si never takes the future
Can express real conditions and their consequences with si + present
porque, como, por eso, así que, es que: explaining why and what follows
Can explain reasons and consequences with a range of connectors, not just porque
When to use hay and when to use está: new information versus known information
Can distinguish hay and estar to introduce and to locate people and things
Prepositions of place: en, sobre, debajo de, delante de, detrás de
Can describe where things are using prepositions of place
Basic prepositions: a, de, en, con, para, por — core uses at A1 level
Can use basic prepositions correctly including the personal 'a' and para/por distinction
Frequency adverbs: siempre, a veces, nunca, normalmente
Can express how often actions happen using frequency adverbs
Place adverbs: aquí, allí, cerca, lejos, arriba, abajo
Can describe locations using place adverbs
Affirmative and negative agreement: también (also) and tampoco (neither)
Can agree and disagree using también and tampoco
The A2 preposition problem: cause versus purpose, route versus destination, exchange versus recipient
Can distinguish por and para for cause, purpose, route, price and recipient
Why Spanish says conozco a Marta but conozco Madrid
Can use the personal a correctly with human direct objects
pensar en, soñar con, acordarse de: verbs whose preposition must be learned with them
Can use common verbs with their fixed prepositions correctly
How to build adverbs of manner, and why Spaniards often avoid them
Can form and use adverbs of manner, and choose natural alternatives to them
muy versus mucho, and the quantifiers demasiado, bastante, poco
Can quantify correctly with muy, mucho and other common quantifiers
Time expressions for past: ayer, la semana pasada, hace...
Can use time expressions to situate events in the past
Temporal connectors: primero, después, luego, por último, al final
Can sequence events using temporal connectors
Useful exam phrases, classroom language, instruction vocabulary for DELE A1
Can use essential classroom language, exam instructions, and polite social expressions
Two verbs for one English word: knowing facts and skills versus being acquainted
Can choose between saber and conocer for facts, skills, people and places
Asking for something versus asking a question, plus the verbs that go with them
Can distinguish requesting something from asking for information
How to ask for things in a bar, a shop or an office without sounding brusque
Can make requests and ask permission at the right level of politeness in everyday situations
The phrases that get you through the speaking and writing tasks of the A2 exam
Can handle the A2 speaking and writing tasks with a repertoire of ready-made functional phrases