Reference

Spanish grammar, lesson by lesson

Every grammar point the course teaches, in the order a learner meets them rather than in the order a reference book would list them. Each one links to the lesson that explains it, and every lesson explains it inside a chapter of Don Quixote rather than in the abstract. All ninety are free to read, with no account and no sign-up.

Start with a question

The thirty questions people actually ask about Spanish, each one answered short and then linked to the lessons that build it. If you came here looking for one thing, it is probably in this list.

Ser vs estar in Spanish8 exercises
Por vs para in Spanish8 exercises
Preterite vs imperfect in Spanish8 exercises
The Spanish subjunctive, explained8 exercises
The Spanish imperfect subjunctive8 exercises
Spanish si clauses and the three conditionals8 exercises
Spanish object pronouns: lo, la, le, se lo8 exercises
Spanish reflexive verbs and the four uses of se8 exercises
How gustar works in Spanish8 exercises
The Spanish future tense8 exercises
The Spanish conditional8 exercises
Spanish commands: the imperative8 exercises
The Spanish present perfect: he hablado8 exercises
The Spanish pluperfect: había hablado8 exercises
The Spanish passive, and impersonal se8 exercises
Este, ese and aquel in Spanish8 exercises
The Spanish present tense: -ar, -er and -ir verbs8 exercises
Spanish gender, and el, la, un, una8 exercises
Spanish relative pronouns: que, quien, donde, lo que8 exercises
Spanish comparatives and superlatives8 exercises
Muy vs mucho in Spanish8 exercises
Hay, está or es: describing a place in Spanish8 exercises
Reported speech in Spanish8 exercises
Aunque with the indicative or the subjunctive8 exercises
Lo que, lo bueno, lo peor8 exercises
Spanish question words8 exercises
Spanish negation and the double negative8 exercises
Spanish possessives: mi, tu, su, nuestro8 exercises
Spanish adverbs in -mente8 exercises
Spanish diminutives and suffixes: -ito, -ón, -azo8 exercises

A1, the beginning

The first twenty lessons. Nothing is assumed. By the end of them a student can read a page of adapted Cervantes and say what happened in it.

SER + what you are. Gender and numberLesson 1The gentleman of La Mancha
UN, UNA, and when you use nothing at allLesson 2The gentleman’s house
The present tense of -AR verbsLesson 3A day in the village
The present tense of -ER and -IR verbsLesson 4The books of chivalry
Este, ese, aquel: the three distancesLesson 5The great-grandfather's armour
Mi, tu, su, nuestroLesson 6The cardboard helmet
The adjective goes after. Muy, poco, mucho, bastanteLesson 7The name of the horse
Numbers, ordinals and ageLesson 8Don Quixote of La Mancha
Reflexive verbs and seLesson 9Dulcinea of El Toboso
Negation and yes-or-no questionsLesson 10The first ride out
Question wordsLesson 11One July morning
Joining sentences: y, ni, o, peroLesson 12The castle with four towers
GUSTAR and the pronouns me / te / leLesson 13The night of the armour vigil
The affirmative imperative: tú and ustedLesson 14The innkeeper's advice
The preterite: regular verbsLesson 15The boy tied to the oak tree
Irregular preterites: the seven you cannot avoidLesson 16The merchants from Toledo
The imperfect, and when it is not the preteriteLesson 17The most beautiful woman in the world
The present perfect and the participleLesson 18The priest and the barber open the library
The relative QUE, and how to stretch a nounLesson 19A wall where the door used to be
Sentences that join up: porque, para, si, creo queLesson 20Sancho Panza and the windmills

A2, the past and the future

The two past tenses and the habit of choosing between them, then the future and the conditional.

The regular preteriteLesson 21The morning of the windmills
Irregular preterite: ser, ir, estar, tener, hacerLesson 22The Basque squire
The imperfect: the world as it used to beLesson 23The speech on the Golden Age
Preterite and imperfect: background and actionLesson 24Antonio’s song
Telling a story: preterite and imperfectLesson 25The student who died of love
Ya, todavía, aún and acabar deLesson 26Marcela defends herself
The accidental se: se me cayóLesson 27The Yanguesans
Possessives: the weak set and the strong setLesson 28The inn by night: Maritornes
Demonstratives: este, ese, aquelLesson 29That enchanted castle
The body and the verb dolerLesson 30The balm and the blanket
Impersonal se and the reflexive passiveLesson 31What you pay for at an inn
The simple futureLesson 32The two armies of sheep
The simple conditionalLesson 33The dead body and the Knight of the Sorrowful Face
Relatives: que, donde, quienLesson 34The scholar who came from Baeza
Adverbs in -menteLesson 35The night of the fulling hammers
Por and paraLesson 36Mambrino’s helmet
The present perfectLesson 37The king’s prisoners
Two pronouns togetherLesson 38Ginés de Pasamonte and the stones
Describing a place, and estar plus a participleLesson 39The suitcase in Sierra Morena
Reporting what someone else saidLesson 40Cardenio’s story
Writing a letter: tú and usted on paperLesson 41The letter to Dulcinea
The whole of A2 on one page: lessons 21 to 41Lesson 42Sancho leaves and Don Quixote is left alone

B1, the subjunctive

The subjunctive, from the first lesson of the level, and everything that hangs off it.

The present subjunctive: the form, and wantingLesson 43The Princess Micomicona
Asking, begging, ordering: the subjunctive of influenceLesson 44The Favour the Princess Asks
The subjunctive of emotion: me alegro de queLesson 45A Night at the Inn
Doubt and denial: no creo queLesson 46The Giant’s Head
Negative orders, and addressing somebody as ustedLesson 47The Reunion at the Inn
The connectors that hold a story togetherLesson 48The Battle of the Wineskins
Discourse markers and the formal registerLesson 49Arms and Letters
The pluperfect: what had already happenedLesson 50The Captive of Algiers
Reported speech in the pastLesson 51Zoraida’s Letters
Si with the present: the condition that really can happenLesson 52The Escape by Sea
Agreeing and disagreeingLesson 53Basin or Helmet
Ponerse, volverse, hacerse, quedarseLesson 54The Brawl at the Inn
The passive with ser and a participleLesson 55The Cage on the Ox Cart
Periphrases: seguir, dejar de, volver aLesson 56The Knight Back in Bed
Talking about books and what gets publishedLesson 57Their Story Is in Print
Es raro que and the subjunctiveLesson 58The Mistakes in the Book
Kitchen Spanish and proverbsLesson 59Sancho and Teresa Argue
Cuando plus the subjunctiveLesson 60The Third Sally
El que sea: relative clauses in the subjunctiveLesson 61Looking for Dulcinea’s Palace
Lo bueno, lo peor, lo queLesson 62Three Peasant Girls on the Road
Exclamations with quéLesson 63The Cart of the Players
Comparatives and superlativesLesson 64The Knight of the Mirrors
Ser and estar for describing a personLesson 65The Knight in the Green Coat
The whole of B1 in one sceneLesson 66The Adventure of the Lions

B2, everything else

The imperfect subjunctive, unreal conditions, and then register, which is where the course stops adapting Cervantes and starts quoting him.

Para que and a fin de que: the subjunctive of purposeLesson 67Camacho’s Wedding Feast
Aunque: one word, two moodsLesson 68Basilio’s Trick
The imperfect subjunctive: how it is builtLesson 69Down into Montesinos’ Cave
Si tuviera seis reales, se los daríaLesson 70Dulcinea Asks for Six Reales
Reporting what somebody orderedLesson 71Master Pedro’s Puppet Show
Set phrases and ways of exaggeratingLesson 72Paying for the Broken Puppets
Guessing: deber de, quizá and tal vezLesson 73The Enchanted Boat on the Ebro
Speaking like a duke, and what that hidesLesson 74Arrival at the Duke’s Castle
Two registers at one tableLesson 75The Duchess and Sancho
Old Spanish and how to parody itLesson 76The Countess Trifaldi’s Beard
Will have happened and would have happenedLesson 77The Flight of Clavileño
How an official document talksLesson 78Sancho Governs Barataria
Chaining reasons togetherLesson 79The Judgements of Sancho
If he had eaten, he would have been illLesson 80The Governor Goes Hungry
Hubiera outside sentences with siLesson 81Sancho Gives Up the Governorship
The subjunctive, all of it at onceLesson 82Ricote, the Exiled Neighbour
Dar por and darse porLesson 83Doña Rodríguez and the Duel
Hay, está and es for describing a placeLesson 84Arriving in Barcelona
Saying what a word means and what a book is calledLesson 85The Visit to the Printing House
Cause and consequence: how a man ends up where he isLesson 86Roque Guinart the Bandit
Resignation: what you say when nothing can be doneLesson 87Defeat on the Beach
Suffixes: how Spanish manufactures new wordsLesson 88The Plan to Become Shepherds
Que plus subjunctive, with nothing in frontLesson 89The Will of Alonso Quijano
The whole of B2, and the whole course behind itLesson 90The End of the Story