Skip to content

EveryLingua

B1

Fortgeschritten

Auf B1 hört das Sprechen auf, aus einzelnen Sätzen zu bestehen. Eine Meinung wird begründet, eine Geschichte hat einen Anfang und ein Ende, ein Missverständnis lässt sich aufklären, ohne dass jemand hilft.

Fehler passieren weiter, aber sie stören das Verstehen nicht mehr. Das ist die Stufe, ab der eine Sprache im Beruf brauchbar wird.

Noch ohne Familie39

Ser, estar and hay

1

B1Adjectives that mean different things with ser and estarser listo is clever, estar listo is ready.

The present tense

1

B1When the present means something other than nowWith a time expression it talks about tomorrow; in a story, about back then.

Nouns and articles

3

B1When two nouns belong togetherSpanish does not compound, it joins with de.B1Words whose gender is a surpriseEnding in -a and masculine anyway — and two words where the gender changes the meaning.B1Making words smaller and bigger-ito rarely means «small» and almost always says something about tone.

Adjectives

2

B1The superlative and -ísimoThe best of all — and the ending that needs no comparison.B1Adverbs in -mente — and when to leave them outFeminine form plus -mente, but only one per run.

Pronouns

2

B1Two pronouns in the same sentencePerson first, thing second — and le becomes se.B1que, quien, el que, cuyoque covers almost everything — the others come after a preposition.

Questions and negation

2

B1Indirect questionsNo question mark, but the accent stays — and «whether» is si.B1nunca, tampoco, ni — the other negatives« Me neither » and « nor do I » are one word here.

The past

5

B1Indefinido or imperfecto?Frame or event — and whoever is in the frame is not counted.B1PluscuamperfectoWhat was already over when something else happened.B1The irregular forms in the indefinidoTheir own stem, their own set of endings — and no stress on the last syllable.B1Telling a story: frame and chainThe imperfecto sets the stage, the indefinido moves the action.B1Perfecto or indefinido?If the stretch of time reaches today, the perfecto is used.

The future

3

B1CondicionalThe stems of the futuro, the endings of the imperfecto.B1The future as a guessSerán las tres is not «it will be three» but «it is probably three».B1ir a, future or present — which form when?In everyday speech nearly always ir a; the future sounds written.

Requests and commands

4

B1The negative imperativeno plus subjunctive — the affirmative form does not exist here.B1usted, ustedes and «let us»One form for affirmative and negative — and vamos a for «let us».B1Where the pronouns go with a commandAttached when affirmative, in front when negative — and the accent moves with them.B1Requests without an imperativeIn everyday speech a question is the commonest request.

Can, must, want

2

B1soler, acabar de, volver a and the restTurns of phrase where English needs an adverb.B1May, can, should — what Spanish tells apartpoder covers can and may, deber gives the advice.

Prepositions

1

B1Verbs with a fixed prepositionWhich preposition a verb wants is rarely the English one.

The subjunctive

3

B1Present subjunctive: the formsThe endings change sides; the stem comes from the yo form.B1When the subjunctive is usedWhen the main clause wishes, doubts, judges or denies.B1After wanting, feeling and judgingWhoever wants something or judges it sends the clause into the subjunctive.

Conditional sentences

2

B1The unlikely conditionsi plus imperfect subjunctive, main clause in the conditional.B1The present subjunctive never follows siThe one place in the language where it is forbidden.

The passive

4

B1The se-passiveThe everyday form — and the verb agrees with the thing.B1The third person plural instead of a passiveMe han robado el coche — with no «they» in front of it.B1The impersonal se: «one»English has three words for it and dislikes all three.B1The participle and its irregular formsInvariable after haber, agreeing after ser and estar.

Subordinate clauses

3

B1Time clausesYour -ing form after «before» and «after» is an infinitive here.B1Cause, result and concession«So» is two different things, and Spanish has two words for them.B1Reported speechThe backshift is yours already — the infinitive is not.

The finishing touches

1

B1The accent records the stressEnglish hears the difference and never writes it; Spanish writes it.