Cheatsheet: Sentence building

Sentence building

Questions and Negatives

Point	Rule	Example	English
Question marks	¿ opens and ? closes every question	¿Hablas inglés?	Do you speak English?
Negative	no goes right before the verb	No hablo inglés.	I don't speak English.
Answers	the first no answers, the second makes the verb negative	¿Tienes hermanos? — No, no tengo hermanos.	Have you got any brothers or sisters? — No, I haven't got any brothers or sisters.
Question words	qué / quién / dónde / cómo / cuánto / por qué open the question, with a written accent	¿Dónde vives?	Where do you live?
Agreeing	también after a statement, tampoco after a negative	No hablo francés. — Yo tampoco.	I don't speak French. — Neither do I.
Prepositions	the preposition comes first, before the question word	¿Con quién trabajas?	Who do you work with?
A2Time	cuándo asks about time	¿Cuándo empiezas las vacaciones?	When do your holidays start?
A2Choice	two options joined by o	¿Prefieres té o café?	Do you prefer tea or coffee?
A2Double negative	no before the verb, nunca / nada / nadie after it	No he estado nunca en México.	I've never been to Mexico.
A2Exclamations	qué + adjective or adverb, between ¡ and !	¡Qué bonito!	How beautiful!
B1Which	qué before a noun, cuál alone	¿Qué libro quieres? / ¿Cuál quieres?	Which book do you want? / Which one do you want?
A2Trap	nunca before the verb takes no no	Nunca como carne.	I never eat meat.

Linkers

Point	Rule	Example	English
Adding	y joins two words or two clauses	Soy americana y vivo en Los Ángeles.	I'm American and I live in Los Angeles.
Choice	o offers a choice	¿Eres americano o inglés?	Are you American or English?
Contrast	pero sets two facts against each other, after a comma	Soy alemán, pero vivo en Suiza.	I'm German, but I live in Switzerland.
Negative	after a negative, ni adds the next item	No me gusta el otoño ni el invierno.	I don't like autumn or winter.
Reason	porque gives a reason, after the main clause	Estoy en España porque me gusta.	I'm in Spain because I like it.
A2Spelling	y → e before i, o → u before o	padre e hijo / siete u ocho	father and son / seven or eight
A2Result	por eso opens the result	Está enfermo. Por eso no ha venido.	He's ill. That's why he hasn't come.
A2Time	cuando with the present for what usually happens	Cuando llueve, me quedo en casa.	When it rains, I stay at home.
A2Order	primero / luego / después put actions in order	Primero desayuno, luego me ducho y después salgo.	First I have breakfast, then I have a shower and after that I go out.
B1Reason first	como gives the reason before the main clause	Como no venías, empecé a cenar.	As you weren't coming, I started dinner.
B1Contrast	aunque / sin embargo: a fact that goes against the other	Lo entiendo todo, aunque no hablo bien.	I understand everything, although I don't speak well.
B1Result	así que joins the result to the cause	No había entradas, así que no la vimos.	There were no tickets left, so we didn't see it.

Conditional Sentences

Point	Rule	Example	English
Form	si + present, then the present	Si quieres, puedes venir.	If you want, you can come.
Use	what usually happens when the condition holds	Si como mucho, me duele el estómago.	If I eat a lot, I get a stomach ache.
Comma	a comma follows the si clause when it comes first	Si llueve, no salgo. / No salgo si llueve.	If it rains, I don't go out. / I don't go out if it rains.
Spelling	si means if, sí with an accent means yes	Si quieres, vamos. / Sí, claro.	If you want, let's go. / Yes, of course.
B1Form	si + present, then the future	Si tengo tiempo, iré.	If I have time, I'll go.
B1Form	si + present, then the imperative	Si puedes, ayúdame.	If you can, help me.
B1Trap	never the future after si in a condition	Si viene Carlota, iremos al cine.	If Carlota comes, we'll go to the cinema.

Relative Clauses

Point	Rule	Example	English
Subject	que is the subject of the clause	Tengo una amiga que vive en Lima.	I've got a friend who lives in Lima.
Object	que is the object of the clause	La profesora que tengo es muy buena.	The teacher I've got is very good.
A2Tense	the clause takes the tense it needs	El libro que compré ayer es muy bueno.	The book I bought yesterday is very good.
B1People	after a preposition, quien for people	El chico con quien trabajo es de Chile.	The boy I work with is from Chile.
B1Places	aquí / allí + es donde: pointing to a place	Allí es donde vivo.	That's where I live.
Trap	que never drops	El libro que leo es interesante.	The book I'm reading is interesting.
B1Trap	right after a noun, people take que, not quien	El médico que vino ayer es muy simpático.	The doctor who came yesterday is very nice.

Reported Speech and Passive se

Point	Rule	Example	English
Reporting now	dice que: the same tense, the person changes	Dice que tiene hambre.	She says she's hungry.
Reporting the past	dijo que: a present becomes the imperfect	Dijo que tenía sueño.	He said he was sleepy.
Orders	dice que with the present subjunctive	Dice que te sientes.	She says you should sit down.
Questions	si for yes-no questions; question words stay, with their accent	Pregunta si vienes. / Me preguntó dónde vivía.	She's asking if you're coming. / He asked me where I lived.
Passive se	se with the verb agreeing with the thing	Se vende casa. / Se venden casas.	House for sale. / Houses for sale.
Impersonal se	se with a singular verb: people in general	En este restaurante se come muy bien.	You eat very well in this restaurant.
Trap	pronouns and possessives change with the speaker	Mi casa es pequeña. → Dice que su casa es pequeña.	My house is small. → She says her house is small.
Trap	a plural thing takes a plural verb: se venden	Aquí se hablan tres idiomas.	Three languages are spoken here.

Variety

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