Saber vs. Conocer
Saber and Conocer are two verbs that mean ‘to know.’ They both have irregular ‘yo’ forms in the present indicative.
SABER CONOCER
sé sabemos conozco conocemos
sabes sabéis conoces conocéis
sabe saben conoce conocen
Saber = to know how to do something or to know a fact.
Examples: Yo sé coser. = I know how to sew.
Nosotros no sabemos cuándo viene la empleada. =
We do not know when the maid is coming.
Conocer = to know a place or a person (with a person always use la ‘a’
personal).
Examples: Yo conozco Europa. = I know Europe.
Vosotros conocéis a la Señora Dávila. = You know Mrs. Dávila.
The Expression hace…que
The expression hace…que is used to express an action that started in the past and continues in the present. In English we use ‘have/has been doing.’
HACE + PERIOD OF TIME + QUE + (subject) + VERB (present indicative)
Examples: Hace dos años que estudio en Shore.
I have been studying at Shore for two years.
Hace un mes que Carlos está en Madrid.
Carlos has been in Madrid for two months.
* It is important to remember that ‘hace’ will always be in the third person singular form, for it is an expression. Even if the subject after ‘que’ requires a different verb form we still use ‘hace’, though the other verb in the sentence must agree with the subject.
The Comparative
In Spanish we use the comparative to compare two things to each other. A simple formula will help us remember how to form the comparative.
SUBJECT 1 + VERB 1 + MÁS / + ADJECTIVE / + QUE+ SUBJECT 2
MENOS ADVERB
Examples: Yo estudio más que tú. I study more than you.
Anita es más alta que Juliana. Anita is taller than Juliana.
Adjectives with irregular comparative forms:
bueno mejor
malo peor
viejo mayor
joven menor
Examples: Madonna es mayor que Britney.
Madonna is older than Britney.
El calor es mejor que el frío.
Hot is better than cold.
When we compare two things that are the same we use ‘tan’ instead of ‘más’ or ‘menos’ and ‘como’ instead of ‘que.’
SUBJECT 1 + VERB 1 + TAN + ADJECTIVE / ADVERB + COMO + SUBJECT 2
Examples: Leer es tan divertido como dibujar.
Reading is as fun as drawing.
Tú corres tan rápidamente como yo.
You run as fast as I run.
To use nouns in equal comparisons we use ‘tanto’ (remember that tanto is an adjective and must agree with the noun it modifies in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine).
Examples: Tengo tantos amigos como amigas.
I have as many guy friends as girl friends.
Voy a traer tanta comida como refrescos.
I am going to bring as much food as drinks.
Más de or menos de is used with numbers.
Examples: Tengo más de cien pesetas.
I have more than one hundred pesetas.
El vendedor vende menos de veinte bicicletas por día.
The salesman sells less than twenty bicycles per day.
The Superlative
The superlative is used to say that something is the most or least of a group. ‘De’ is used in place of the ‘que’ used in the comparative, and the definite article is added before the noun in comparison.
DEFINITE ARTICLE + NOUN + MÁS / MENOS + ADJECTIVE + DE
(el, la, los, las)
Examples: Alicia es la estudiante más amable de la clase.
Alicia is the friendliest student of the class.
Ellos son los chicos menos visibles del grupo.
They are the least visible boys of the group.
Adjectives that are irregular in the comparative are also irregular in the superlative.
bueno mejor
malo peor
viejo mayor
joven menor
Adding -ísimo to an adjective expresses ‘very’ or ‘extremely.’ As with any adjective,
-ísimo must agree with the noun it modifies in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine).
Examples: gordo gordísimo
difícil dificilísimo
Adjectives ending in –co and –ca change to –qu, and adjectives ending in –go and
-ga change to –gu.
Examples: flaco flaquísimo
largo larguísimo
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