Putting It Together
Spanish Grammar 1
Chapter 11 · Putting It Together
🧩 Putting It Together — Todo junto
Chapters 1 to 10 gave you the parts: sounds, gender, plurals, articles, adjectives, comparison, possessives and demonstratives, numbers and quantifiers, pronouns and prepositions. This last chapter builds whole noun phrases from them in the right order, gives you a checklist to run through whenever you write one, and lets you practise on typical mistakes.
The noun phrase in order
| Slot | What goes there | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | preposition (Chapter 10) | con esos tres |
| 2 | article, demonstrative or short possessive (Chapters 4 and 7) | con esos tres · mis libros |
| 3 | number or quantifier (Chapter 8) | esos tres libros · muchos libros |
| 4 | short adjectives that go before: buen, gran, mucho, poco (Chapter 5) | un buen libro |
| 5 | the noun: gender and number (Chapters 2 and 3) | libros |
| 6 | adjectives after the noun: colour, nationality, shape, and anything that distinguishes (Chapter 5) | libros interesantes · un coche rojo |
| 7 | comparison (Chapter 6) | el libro más largo |
Put together: Voy con esos tres buenos amigos escoceses. (I'm going with those three good Scottish friends.) · Es la casa más grande de la calle. (It's the biggest house on the street.)
A decision procedure
When you build a noun phrase, ask these questions in this order.
- What is the noun, and what gender? Check the ending (-o usually masculine, -a usually feminine) and the exceptions: el día, el mapa, la mano, el agua (Chapter 2).
- Singular or plural? Add -s or -es; watch z → c and accents added or lost: lápiz → lápices, canción → canciones (Chapter 3).
- Which determiner? el / la / los / las, un / una, mi / tu / su, este / ese / aquel, or none (professions, languages, after sin): match gender and number (Chapters 4 and 7).
- Which adjectives, and where? Match gender and number; most go after the noun; buen / gran shorten before it (Chapter 5).
- Is it a person object? Add the personal a (Chapter 10).
- Which preposition does the verb need? pensar en, hablar de, soñar con (Chapter 10).
- Pronoun? Subject pronouns only for emphasis or contrast; mí / ti and conmigo / contigo after prepositions (Chapters 9 and 10).
Error-spotting clinic
These are the mistakes learners make most often with the material from this course. Each wrong sentence has a repaired version and the chapter it comes from.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| la problema | el problema | nouns in -ma from Greek are masculine (Chapter 2) |
| los lápizes | los lápices | z → c before -es (Chapter 3) |
| una casa blanco | una casa blanca | the adjective agrees with casa (Chapter 5) |
| un grande hombre | un gran hombre | grande shortens before a singular noun (Chapter 5) |
| más bueno que | mejor que | irregular comparatives (Chapter 6) |
| el mi libro | mi libro or el libro mío | the short possessive takes no article (Chapter 7) |
| No veo nadie. | No veo a nadie. | personal a before a person (Chapter 10) |
| Voy en Madrid. | Voy a Madrid. | a for movement (Chapter 10) |
| con mí / con ti | conmigo / contigo | special merged forms (Chapter 10) |
🗣️ In Use — En situación
Everything together: look for the gender, number and preposition choices.
① A new flat
② At the office
③ Plans
📋 Quick Reference — Resumen del curso
| Chapter | Topic | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sounds and alphabet | Spelling is regular; know the Spain th against seseo |
| 2 | Noun gender | Endings, exceptions, professions |
| 3 | Plurals | -s / -es, z → c, accents |
| 4 | Articles | el / la / un / una, al / del, el agua, lo |
| 5 | Adjectives | Agreement, position, buen / gran |
| 6 | Comparison | más … que, -ísimo, cuanto más … más |
| 7 | Possessives and demonstratives | short and long forms; este / ese / aquel |
| 8 | Numbers and quantifiers | indefinites, double negative |
| 9 | Subject pronouns | tú / usted, vosotros / ustedes, no "it" |
| 10 | Prepositions I | a, de, en, con, sin, desde, hasta, personal a |
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ejercicios
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Build: "those three good Scottish friends" (amigo, masculine).
Show answer
esos tres buenos amigos escoceses (demonstrative, number, buen before the noun, nationality after).
2. Build: "my new red car" (coche, masculine; nuevo goes before or after, rojo after).
Show answer
mi coche rojo nuevo, or mi nuevo coche rojo.
3. Correct: la problema grande.
Show answer
el problema grande (masculine) · or un gran problema.
4. Make plural: el lápiz azul, la canción española.
Show answer
los lápices azules · las canciones españolas (z → c; accent lost).
5. Say in Spanish: "I see Ana and I see the house."
Show answer
Veo a Ana y veo la casa. (personal a only for the person)
6. Say in Spanish: "Are you coming with me?" (tú)
Show answer
¿Vienes conmigo?
7. Say in Spanish: "This flat is bigger than that one." (piso, masculine)
Show answer
Este piso es más grande que ese.
8. Say in Spanish: "She is a very good doctor."
Show answer
Es una médica muy buena. (médica is feminine, so una and buena agree; una is needed because the profession is qualified by an adjective)
9. Say in Spanish: "I don't see anything and I don't see anyone."
Show answer
No veo nada y no veo a nadie. (double negative; personal a before nadie)
10. Correct all the mistakes: Voy en la casa de mi amigo con mí hermana.
Show answer
Voy a la casa de mi amigo con mi hermana. (a for movement; mi without accent is the possessive; mí with accent is the pronoun used after prepositions)