Every term in this reference, defined once and organized six ways. Read §1 first — it's the part that actually fixes the confusion.
0Why ordinary glossaries don't help§
An alphabetical glossary puts aspect, apocopation, adjective and antecedent next to each other because they start with the same letter. Those four things are not the same kind of thing, and nothing in an alphabetical list tells you that. So you learn 140 definitions and still can't answer "is a past participle a type of adjective?" — because the question is malformed and the glossary never said so.
The actual problem: grammar terminology names things at six different levels of abstraction, and the terms are shuffled together. Sort them by level and most of the fog lifts.
1The six kinds of term frequency 3 of 3, daily§
| Kind | Names… | Answers | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLASS | a category of word | What kind of word is this? | noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition |
| FORM | a specific shape a word takes | What shape is it in? | past participle, gerundio, infinitive, preterite, subjunctive, clitic |
| FUNCTION | a role played in a sentence | What job is it doing here? | subject, direct object, dative, antecedent, predicate, modifier |
| FEATURE | a dimension of meaning that gets marked | What information is encoded? | gender, number, person, tense, aspect, mood, case, definiteness |
| OPERATION | a process or change | What was done to it? | agreement, apocopation, nominalization, fronting, doubling, erosion |
| CONSTRUCTION | a recurring multi-word pattern | What template is this? | cleft, periphrasis, DOM, absolute construction, se me misfortune |
1.1The unlock: one word, five simultaneous true descriptions§
Take cerrada in la puerta cerrada. Every one of these is true at once, and none contradicts the others:
| Level | Statement |
|---|---|
| FORM | It's a past participle of cerrar |
| CLASS | It's behaving as an adjective |
| FUNCTION | It's an attributive modifier of puerta |
| FEATURE | It's marked feminine, singular |
| OPERATION | Those features arrived by agreement with puerta |
A denser example — me in se me rompió el vaso:
| Level | Statement |
|---|---|
| CLASS | pronoun |
| FORM | clitic (unstressed) |
| FUNCTION | dative — the affected party |
| FEATURE | 1st person singular |
| OPERATION | ordered by the convoy rule (se before 1st person) |
| CONSTRUCTION | the se me no-fault template |
Six labels, one syllable, zero conflict. When a term confuses you, first ask which of the six kinds it is. That question alone resolves most of it.
1.2Why textbooks blur this§
Because the same label sometimes covers two levels. "Subjunctive" is a FORM (venga) and a FEATURE-value (the mood setting). "Reflexive" is a FORM (se), a FUNCTION (acting on oneself), and a CONSTRUCTION. Traditional grammar never separated them, so the ambiguity is inherited. This document tags every entry with its kind — and where a term spans two, it says so.
2The minimum viable vocabulary frequency 3 of 3, daily§
You do not need 140 terms. You need about twenty-five to read this reference and talk about your own errors. Ranked:
The eight that carry everything (learn these first):
| Term | Kind | One line |
|---|---|---|
| noun / verb / adjective / adverb | CLASS | The four content classes |
| subject / object | FUNCTION | Who acts / what's acted on |
| tense | FEATURE | When |
| aspect | FEATURE | What shape — bounded or not |
| mood | FEATURE | Asserted or entertained |
| agreement | OPERATION | Tags copying from noun to satellites |
| clitic | FORM | The little pronouns that stick to verbs |
| finite / non-finite | FORM | Conjugated (carries person) or not |
The next seventeen:
person · number · gender · case · dative · definiteness · indicative · subjunctive · imperative · infinitive · gerundio · participle · preterite · imperfect · copula · determiner · periphrasis
That's it. Everything else in §8 is lookup, not learning.
3Family trees frequency 3 of 3, daily§
The messy families, drawn. This is the section for "what kind of pronoun is that."
3.1The word classes, from the five primitives§
- PRIMITIVE CLASS Spanish(───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ENTITY ────────► noun sustantivo ACTION/STATE ────────► verb verbo QUALITY ┬─ of an entity ► adjective adjetivo)
- is a subtype of its parentof an action ► adverb adverbio(RELATION ┬─ space/time ► preposition preposición)
- is a subtype of its parentlogic ► conjunction conjunción(REFERENCE┬─ pointing ► pronoun pronombre)
- is a subtype of its parentscope ► determiner determinante((expressive) ────────► interjection interjección)
3.2The pronoun family — the one that causes the most trouble§
- PRONOUN (pronombre) — points instead of naming
- is a subtype of its parentPERSONALpersonales
- is a subtype of its parentSubject / nominative(yo, vos, él, ella, usted, nosotros, ustedes, ellos)
- is a subtype of its parentClitic — unstressed (átonos), attach to the verb
- is a subtype of its parentAccusativedirect objectlo, la, los, lasme, te, nos
- is a subtype of its parentDativeindirect objectle, lesme, te, nos
- is a subtype of its parentReflexive(me, te, se, nos)
- is a subtype of its parentPrepositional — stressedtónicos(mí, vos, él, ella, sí, nosotros)
- is a subtype of its parentDEMONSTRATIVEdemostrativos(este, ese, aquel + neuters esto, eso, aquello)
- is a subtype of its parentPOSSESSIVEposesivos(mío, tuyo, suyo, nuestro)
- is a subtype of its parentRELATIVErelativos(que, quien, el que, el cual, cuyo, donde)
- is a subtype of its parentINTERROGATIVEinterrogativos(qué, quién, cuál, cuánto, dónde, cómo)
- is a subtype of its parentINDEFINITEindefinidos(alguien, nadie, algo, nada, alguno, ninguno)
- is a subtype of its parentNEUTERneutros(lo, esto, eso, aquello)
- is a subtype of its parentPERSONALpersonales
| As a DETERMINER (before a noun) | As a PRONOUN (standing alone) | |
|---|---|---|
| demonstrative | este libro | este (this one) |
| possessive | mi libro | el mío (mine) |
| interrogative | ¿qué libro? | ¿qué? |
| indefinite | algún libro | alguno |
3.3The verb form tree§
- VERB FORMSformas verbales
- is a subtype of its parentFINITEconjugated — carries PERSON
- is a subtype of its parentSIMPLEone word
- is a subtype of its parentIndicativepresentepretéritoimperfectofuturocondicional
- is a subtype of its parentSubjunctivepresenteimperfecto (+ extinct futuro)
- is a subtype of its parentImperative(hablá / hable / hablen)
- is a subtype of its parentCOMPOUNDhaber + participle
- is a subtype of its parenthe/había/habré/habría/haya/hubiera + hablado
- is a subtype of its parentSIMPLEone word
- is a subtype of its parentNON-FINITEno person — the "costumes"
- is a subtype of its parentINFINITIVE(hablar → behaves like a NOUN)
- is a subtype of its parentGERUNDIO(hablando → behaves like an ADVERB)
- is a subtype of its parentPARTICIPLE(hablado → behaves like an ADJECTIVE)
- is a subtype of its parentFINITEconjugated — carries PERSON
3.4The determiner tree§
- DETERMINER (determinante) — sets the scope of a noun
- is a subtype of its parentARTICLEartículo
- is a subtype of its parentDefinite(el, la, los, las)
- is a subtype of its parentIndefinite(un, una, unos, unas)
- is a subtype of its parentNeuter(lo)
- is a subtype of its parentDEMONSTRATIVE(este, ese, aquel)
- is a subtype of its parentPOSSESSIVE(mi, tu, su, nuestro)
- is a subtype of its parentQUANTIFIER(todo, mucho, poco, bastante, cada, varios)
- is a subtype of its parentINDEFINITE(algún, ningún, cualquier, otro)
- is a subtype of its parentNUMERAL(dos, primer, medio)
- is a subtype of its parentARTICLEartículo
3.5The se family§
- se
- is a subtype of its parentREFLEXIVE(se lava (acts on self))
- is a subtype of its parentRECIPROCAL(se abrazan (on each other))
- is a subtype of its parentANTICAUSATIVE(se rompió (agent deleted))
- is a subtype of its parentIMPERSONAL(se vive bien (no subject at all))
- is a subtype of its parentPASSIVE-se(se venden casas (patient promoted))
- is a subtype of its parentDATIVE-of-interest se me rompióaffected party added
- is a subtype of its parentASPECTUAL(se comió todo (completive))
- is a subtype of its parentLEXICAL(se fue (frozen into the verb))
One FORM, eight FUNCTIONS. Full derivation in 08 §2.
4Organized by primitive§
The framework view. Which document owns each term.
| Primitive | Terms that live here | Doc |
|---|---|---|
| ENTITY | noun, gender, number, plural, collective, diminutive, augmentative, nominalization, count/mass | 01 |
| REFERENCE (scope) | determiner, article, definite, indefinite, neuter lo, demonstrative, possessive, quantifier | 02 |
| REFERENCE (pointing) | pronoun, clitic, accusative, dative, proclisis, enclisis, doubling, leísmo, relative, antecedent, interrogative | 03 |
| QUALITY | adjective, adverb, agreement, apocopation, comparative, superlative, intensifier, attributive, predicative | 04 |
| ACTION — form | conjugation, finite, person, theme vowel, stem, irregular, strong preterite, paradigm, voseo | 05 |
| ACTION — aspect | aspect, perfective, imperfective, preterite, imperfect, perfect, progressive, periphrasis, boundedness | 06 |
| ACTION — mood | mood, indicative, subjunctive, imperative, assertion, sequence of tenses, counterfactual, conditional, trigger | 07 |
| Argument structure | valence, transitive, voice, passive, impersonal, reflexive, anticausative, copula, predication | 08 |
| RELATION | preposition, conjunction, government/régimen, connector, coordination, subordination | 09 |
| Costume changes | infinitive, gerundio, participle, non-finite, absolute construction | 10 |
| Linearization | word order, topic, focus, fronting, inversion, DOM, negative concord, cleft, existential | 11 |
| Register | register, voseo, sheísmo, lunfardo, vesre, discourse marker, T-V, politeness | 12 |
5Organized by kind§
The same terms sorted by §1's six levels. This is the table to scan when a term feels slippery.
CLASS — categories of word§
noun · verb · adjective · adverb · pronoun · preposition · conjunction · determiner · article · interjection · auxiliary · copula · modal
FORM — shapes a word takes§
finite · non-finite · infinitive · gerundio · participle · present · preterite · imperfect · future · conditional · perfect · pluperfect · indicative · subjunctive · imperative · simple · compound · clitic · stressed/unstressed · singular/plural · masculine/feminine · apocopated · diminutive · augmentative · superlative
FUNCTION — jobs in a sentence§
subject · direct object · indirect object · dative · accusative · predicate · complement · modifier · attributive · predicative · antecedent · topic · focus · agent · patient · experiencer · adjunct · head
FEATURE — dimensions marked§
gender · number · person · case · definiteness · tense · aspect · mood · voice · polarity · animacy · specificity · politeness/register
OPERATION — processes§
agreement (concordancia) · conjugation · declension · apocopation · nominalization · cliticization · proclisis/enclisis · doubling · fronting · inversion · dissimilation · grammaticalization · erosion · derivation · vowel raising · diphthongization
CONSTRUCTION — multi-word patterns§
periphrasis · DOM · negative concord · cleft · absolute construction · se me misfortune · gustar-class inversion · existential hay · passive se · impersonal se · progressive · counterfactual · sequence of tenses · possessive dative
6Confusion pairs frequency 3 of 3, daily§
The twenty distinctions that cause the most trouble, side by side.
| A | B | The difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | gerund (English) | gerundio (Spanish) | ⚠ False friends in the metalanguage. English gerund = verb-as-noun ("running is fun"). Spanish gerundio = verb-as-adverb (-ndo) and can never be a noun. Spanish's noun-form is the infinitive. → 10 §3 |
| 2 | tense | aspect | Tense = when (past/present/future). Aspect = what shape (bounded/unbounded). Preterite and imperfect are the same tense, different aspect. → 06 §1 |
| 3 | mood | tense | Mood = asserted or entertained (indicative/subjunctive). Tense = when. "Present subjunctive" is one of each. → 07 §1 |
| 4 | dative | indirect object | Dative is a case/FORM (le); indirect object is a FUNCTION. The dative form usually fills the IO function — but not always (dative of interest). → 03 §3 |
| 5 | clitic | pronoun | A clitic is a pronoun — the unstressed subtype that attaches to verbs. Me is a clitic; mí is the stressed form of the same pronoun. → 03 §3 |
| 6 | determiner | article | Article is a subtype. El is both; este is a determiner, not an article. → §3.4 |
| 7 | adjective | participle | CLASS vs FORM (§1.1). A participle can function as an adjective. → 10 §4 |
| 8 | reflexive | pronominal | Reflexive = genuinely acting on oneself (me lavo). Pronominal = any verb that just comes with se (quejarse). Reflexive is one of eight se jobs. → 08 §2 |
| 9 | passive | impersonal | Passive has a subject and agrees (se venden casas). Impersonal has none and stays singular (se vive bien). → 08 §2.4–2.5 |
| 10 | voice | valence | Voice = how arguments are arranged (active/passive). Valence = how many the verb wants. → 08 §1 |
| 11 | conditional | *si*-clause | Conditional is a verb FORM (hablaría). A si-clause is a CONSTRUCTION that often contains one. → 07 §6 |
| 12 | subjunctive | conditional | Two different things. Subjunctive = a mood (venga); conditional = a tense-like form (vendría). They co-occur in counterfactuals. → 07 §6 |
| 13 | preterite | present perfect | Comí vs he comido. Both past; the second links to now. Buenos Aires mostly uses the first. → 06 §5 |
| 14 | imperfect | progressive | Comía (unbounded past) vs estaba comiendo (explicitly in progress). Overlapping, not identical. → 06 §3, §6 |
| 15 | attributive | predicative | la puerta *cerrada* (inside the noun phrase) vs *la puerta está* cerrada (predicated by a verb). → 04 §2 |
| 16 | direct object | DOM | The DO is a function. DOM is the marking of certain DOs with a. → 11 §3 |
| 17 | agreement | government | Agreement = features copied (la casa blanca). Government (régimen) = a word demanding a specific preposition (depender *de***). → 04 §4, 09 §4 |
| 18 | transitive | intransitive | Takes a direct object or doesn't. Comer is both, depending. Relevant because anticausative se detransitivizes. → 08 §2.3 |
| 19 | antecedent | referent | Antecedent = the earlier word a pronoun points back to. Referent = the thing in the world. → 03 §7 |
| 20 | topic | subject | Subject = grammatical role. Topic = what the sentence is about, often fronted. They usually coincide in Spanish and diverge in Japanese. → 11 §2 |
7Three names for one thing frequency 3 of 3, daily§
You'll meet Spanish grammar terms in Argentine materials, in a tutor's explanations, and on any RAE page. This table is the Rosetta stone.
| This reference / English | Spanish (RAE) | Also called |
|---|---|---|
| noun | sustantivo | nombre |
| adjective | adjetivo | |
| adverb | adverbio | |
| pronoun | pronombre | |
| determiner | determinante | |
| preposition | preposición | |
| conjunction | conjunción | |
| subject | sujeto | |
| direct object | complemento directo (CD) | objeto directo, acusativo |
| indirect object | complemento indirecto (CI) | dativo |
| agreement | concordancia | |
| gender / number / person | género / número / persona | |
| tense / mood / aspect | tiempo / modo / aspecto | |
| clitic | pronombre átono | pronombre clítico |
| stressed pronoun | pronombre tónico | |
| preterite | pretérito perfecto simple | pretérito indefinido, el pretérito |
| imperfect | pretérito imperfecto | |
| present perfect | pretérito perfecto compuesto | antepresente |
| pluperfect | pretérito pluscuamperfecto | |
| indicative / subjunctive / imperative | indicativo / subjuntivo / imperativo | |
| infinitive / gerundio / participle | infinitivo / gerundio / participio | |
| non-finite forms | formas no personales | ⚠ literally "non-personal forms" — a better name than ours |
| verb phrase / periphrasis | perífrasis verbal | |
| copula | verbo copulativo | |
| passive with se | pasiva refleja | |
| impersonal se | se impersonal | |
| DOM / personal a | "a" personal | marcado diferencial de objeto |
| apocopation | apócope | |
| diminutive / augmentative | diminutivo / aumentativo | |
| relative clause | oración de relativo | oración subordinada adjetiva |
| subordinate clause | oración subordinada | |
| main clause | oración principal | |
| stem | raíz / lexema | |
| ending | desinencia | terminación |
| stem-changing verb | verbo con irregularidad vocálica | verbo de diptongación |
| word order | orden de palabras | |
| discourse marker | marcador del discurso | conector |
8The alphabetical glossary§
known defectmissing legend — Marked ⊘ in this reference. → §0 of 00-INDEX Actually: 00-INDEX.md does not exist. El Árbol supplies its own legend at 02-FORMS-NOMINAL.md:51.. Probably: Reuse El Árbol's wording: genuinely arbitrary; must be memorised..Format: term (Spanish) · KIND · definition · example → doc §
absolute constructionconstrucción absolutaCONSTRUCTION
Participle + noun acting as a time clause, no finite verb.
Terminada la reunión, nos fuimos.
10 §4.6
accusativeacusativo
The case of the direct object. Spanish keeps it only in clitics:
lo, la, los, las
03 §3
adjectiveadjetivoCLASS
Assigns a quality to an entity; agrees with it.
vino tinto
adverbadverbioCLASS
Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb; never agrees.
habla rápido
04 §6
agreementconcordanciaOPERATION
Copying gender/number (and person) from a noun onto its satellites. The most pervasive mechanic in Spanish.
04 §4
animacyFEATURE
Whether a referent is alive. Conditions DOM.
11 §3
antecedentantecedenteFUNCTION
The earlier word a relative pronoun refers back to.
el tipo in el tipo que vino
03 §7
anticausativeanticausativoCONSTRUCTION
Agent deleted; event presents as spontaneous.
Se rompió el vaso.
08 §2.3
apocopationapócopeOPERATION
An adjective losing its ending before a noun.
bueno → buen*, grande → *gran**
04 §3
articleartículoCLASS
A determiner marking definiteness.
el, la, un, una — plus the neuter lo
aspectaspectoFEATURE
Whether an event is presented as bounded (perfective) or unbounded (imperfective). Not duration.
06 §1
assertionFEATURE
Whether a clause is put forward as holding in the world. The real basis of mood selection.
07 §1
attributiveFUNCTION
An adjective inside the noun phrase. la puerta *cerrada***. Contrast predicative.
04 §2
augmentativeaumentativoFORM
Suffix marking largeness or force.
-azo, -ón, -ote
01 §5.3
auxiliaryauxiliarCLASS
A verb carrying grammar for another verb.
haber, estar, ir a
05 §3
boundednessFEATURE
Whether an event has edges in view. The actual content of the aspect dial.
06 §1
casecasoFEATURE
Marking of a noun's grammatical role. Spanish lost it on nouns; clitics preserve it.
03 §3
cleftoración escindidaCONSTRUCTION
Splitting a sentence to focus one part.
Lo que quiero es irme.
11 §9.1
cliticpronombre átonoFORM
An unstressed pronoun that attaches to a verb.
me, te, lo, le, se
03 §3
collectivecolectivoCLASS
A singular noun denoting a group. la gente — takes a singular verb.
01 §3.3
comparativecomparativo
Expressing more/less/equal.
más… que, mejor
04 §5
complementcomplementoFUNCTION
Anything completing a verb's or noun's meaning. Broader than "object."
compound tensetiempo compuestoFORM
haber + participle. he hablado
05 §3
concord
see agreement; and negative concord
11 §4.2
conditionalcondicionalFORM
hablaría. A form, not a construction — often appears in si-clauses but isn't one.
05 §2
conjugationconjugación
(1) Inflecting a verb for person/tense/mood. (2) One of the three verb classes (-ar/-er/-ir).
05 §1
conjunctionconjunciónCLASS
Connects clauses or phrases logically.
y, pero, porque, aunque
09 §5
connectorconector / marcador del discurso
Links turns and thoughts rather than clauses.
igual, o sea, aparte
09 §8
copulaverbo copulativoCLASS
A linking verb joining subject to a non-verbal predicate. Spanish splits it:
ser/estar
08 §4
counterfactualCONSTRUCTION
A conditional about a world explicitly not the case.
Si tuvieras… gastarías.
07 §6
dativedativo
The case of the indirect object and of affected parties.
le, les, me, te
03 §3
declensiondeclinaciónOPERATION
Inflecting nouns/adjectives for case/gender/number. Spanish declines for gender and number only.
definitenessdefinitudFEATURE
Whether the referent is identifiable to both speakers. Marked by articles.
demonstrativedemostrativo
Points by distance from speaker. este/ese/aquel. Serves as either determiner or pronoun.
02 §5
derivationderivaciónOPERATION
Making new words with affixes.
producir → producción
01 §4
determinerdeterminanteCLASS
Sets a noun's scope. Superset of articles.
differential object marking (DOM)"a" personalCONSTRUCTION
Marking specific animate direct objects with
a. Vi a María.
11 §3
diminutivediminutivoFORM
-ito/-cito. In Argentina a register device, not a size one.
01 §5
diphthongizationdiptongaciónOPERATION
Stressed stem vowel splitting. pensar → p*ie*nso. Absent in voseo.
05 §4.1
direct objectcomplemento directoFUNCTION
What the verb acts on.
03 §3
dissimilationOPERATION
Changing a sound to avoid repetition.
le lo → se lo
03 §4
doublingduplicaciónOPERATION
Clitic and full phrase both present.
Le di el libro a María.
03 §5
enclisisenclisisOPERATION
Clitic attached after the verb.
decíme
03 §3
endingdesinenciaFORM
The inflectional tail of a word.
05 §1
ergativeergativoFEATURE
A system marking the subject of transitive verbs specially. Spanish has none; Hindi does.
00-FOUNDATIONS §8
erosionOPERATION
Phonetic wearing-down that turns words into grammar.
hablar he → hablaré
00-FOUNDATIONS §13
existentialexistencialCONSTRUCTION
Asserting existence. hay, always singular.
11 §5.1
experiencerFUNCTION
The one who undergoes a sensation. The dative in
me gusta
11 §6
finiteforma personalFORM
A conjugated verb form carrying person. Can head a sentence alone.
§3.3
focusFUNCTION
The new/emphasized information. In Spanish it goes *
last*
11 §2
frontinganteposiciónOPERATION
Moving a phrase to the front for topic or contrast; requires a clitic to hold its place.
11 §2.3
futurefuturoFORM
hablaré. Retreating in speech in favour of voy a hablar
06 §8
gendergéneroFEATURE
Masculine/feminine tagging of every noun.
01 §2
gerund
English term for a verb-as-noun. Not the Spanish gerundio. Spanish uses the infinitive for this.
10 §3
gerundiogerundioFORM
The -ndo form. Behaves as an adverb. Never a noun, never modifies a noun.
10 §3
governmentrégimenOPERATION
A word demanding a specific preposition.
depender de
09 §4
grammaticalizationgramaticalizaciónOPERATION
Content words becoming grammar over time. Why the dial board is finite.
00-FOUNDATIONS §13
headnúcleoFUNCTION
The central word of a phrase. Spanish is head-initial.
00-FOUNDATIONS §7
imperativeimperativoFORM
Command mood. Voseo: hablá. Negatives borrow the subjunctive.
07 §8
imperfectpretérito imperfectoFORM
Unbounded past.
hablaba
06 §3
imperfectiveFEATURE
The unbounded aspect value.
06 §1
impersonalimpersonalCONSTRUCTION
No subject at all. Se vive bien. Always 3sg.
08 §2.4
indefiniteindefinido
Non-specific reference.
alguien, algo, alguno
02 §7
indicativeindicativoFORM
The asserting mood.
07 §1
indirect objectcomplemento indirectoFUNCTION
The recipient or beneficiary.
03 §3
infinitiveinfinitivoFORM
hablar. Spanish's only verbal noun; also the form after prepositions and modals.
10 §2
intensifier
Boosts a quality.
muy, re-, -ísimo, un montón
04 §5.5
interjectioninterjecciónCLASS
Expressive standalone.
che, uy, bueno
12 §6
interrogativeinterrogativo
Question words, accent-marked.
qué, cuál, dónde
03 §8
inversioninversiónOPERATION
Subject after verb — standard when the subject is new.
Llegó un tipo.
11 §2.2
leísmo
Using le for a masculine personal direct object. Spain yes, Argentina no.
03 §5.4
lexical
Belonging to the dictionary rather than to rules. Marked ⊘ in this reference.
§0
lunfardo
Buenos Aires slang, originally from immigrant neighbourhoods and tango.
12 §5
modalmodalCLASS
A verb expressing possibility/obligation.
poder, deber, tener que
06 §7.2
moodmodoFEATURE
Whether a clause is asserted or entertained. Indicative / subjunctive / imperative.
negative concordconcordancia negativaCONSTRUCTION
Mandatory stacking of negatives.
No vi nada.
11 §4.2
nominalizationsustantivaciónOPERATION
Turning a non-noun into a noun.
lo bueno, el poder
01 §4
non-finiteforma no personalFORM
Infinitive, gerundio, participle. No person; can't stand alone.
§3.3
numbernúmeroFEATURE
Singular/plural.
01 §3
paradigmparadigmaFORM
The full set of forms of one word.
05 §2
participleparticipioFORM
hablado. Invariable inside compound tenses; agrees when adjectival.
10 §4
passivepasiva
Patient promoted to subject. Spanish prefers pasiva refleja (se venden) over ser + participle.
08 §3
patientFUNCTION
The entity acted upon.
08 §1
perfectperfectoFORM
haber + participle. Rare in Buenos Aires speech in its present form.
06 §5
perfectiveFEATURE
The bounded aspect value.
06 §1
periphrasisperífrasis verbalCONSTRUCTION
Multi-word verb structure carrying grammar.
ir a, acabar de, volver a, estar por
06 §7
personpersonaFEATURE
1st/2nd/3rd. Fused into Spanish verb endings.
05 §1
polarityFEATURE
Affirmative vs negative.
11 §4
politeness / T-VFEATURE
The social dial. Argentina:
vos / usted
12 §2
possessiveposesivo
Marks ownership. Short forms before the noun, long after.
02 §6
predicatepredicadoFUNCTION
Everything said about the subject.
11 §1
predicativeFUNCTION
An adjective linked by a verb.
está cerrada
04 §4.2
prepositionpreposiciónCLASS
Relates a noun to the rest of the clause. Cannot be stranded in Spanish.
preteritepretérito perfecto simpleFORM
Bounded past. hablé. Dominant in Buenos Aires.
06 §2
proclisisproclisisOPERATION
Clitic before the verb.
te llamo
03 §3
progressiveprogresivoCONSTRUCTION
estar + gerundio. Narrower than English's.
06 §6
pronominal verbverbo pronominalCLASS
A verb that comes with
se lexically. quejarse, irse
08 §2.8
pronounpronombreCLASS
Points instead of naming.
§3.2
quantifiercuantificadorCLASS
Specifies amount.
todo, mucho, bastante, cada
02 §7
reciprocalrecíprocoFUNCTION
Acting on each other.
nos vemos
08 §2.2
reflexivereflexivo
Acting on oneself. One of eight se jobs.
08 §2.1
registerFEATURE
The social level of an utterance.
relative clauseoración de relativoCONSTRUCTION
A clause modifying a noun. Spanish uses pronoun-after; que is never optional.
03 §7
sequence of tensescorrelación de tiemposCONSTRUCTION
Subordinate tense anchored to the main clause's.
07 §5
sheísmo / žeísmo
Pronouncing ll/y as [ʃ]/[ʒ]. The porteño signature.
12 §4.1
specificityFEATURE
Whether a particular referent is intended. Drives both DOM and relative-clause mood.
11 §3
stemraízFORM
The part of a word carrying meaning, before endings.
05 §1
strong preteritepretérito fuerteFORM
Irregular preterite with *
stem* stress and unaccented endings. estuve, dijo
05 §4.4
subjectsujetoFUNCTION
The entity the verb agrees with. Freely omitted in Spanish.
03 §2
subjunctivesubjuntivo
The non-asserting mood.
subordinate clauseoración subordinadaFUNCTION
A clause inside another.
09 §7
superlativesuperlativoFORM
Highest degree.
el más…, -ísimo
04 §5.4
tensetiempoFEATURE
Location in time. Distinct from aspect.
theme vowelvocal temáticaFORM
The -a-/-e-/-i- declaring conjugation class. Carries no meaning.
05 §1
topictemaFUNCTION
What the sentence is about; often fronted.
11 §2
transitivetransitivoFEATURE
Takes a direct object.
08 §1
triggerCONSTRUCTION
A word or structure that forces the subjunctive.
07 §3
valencevalenciaFEATURE
How many arguments a verb requires. Se rearranges it.
08 §1
vesre
Lunfardo syllable-reversal.
café → feca
12 §5.2
voicevozFEATURE
Arrangement of arguments: active, passive, middle.
08 §3
voseo
Use of vos with its own present and imperative forms. The Argentine standard.
05 §7
vowel raisingOPERATION
-ir stem vowel raising in 3rd-person preterite and gerundio. dormir → durmió
05 §4.6
word orderorden de palabras
In Spanish, an information-structure channel rather than a role-marking one.
11 §2
9Terms you can safely ignore frequency 1 of 3, rare§
Present in academic grammars, absent from this reference, and irrelevant to speaking Argentine Spanish:
morpheme · allomorph · phoneme · syntagm · paradigm(atic)/syntagmatic · deixis · anaphora/cataphora · telicity · unaccusative/unergative · thematic role/theta role · c-command · Aktionsart · epenthesis · syncope · enclitic vs proclitic as a theoretical distinction · aorist · optative · desiderative · evidentiality (Spanish barely marks it) · ergative-absolutive alignment (not Spanish) · classifier (not Spanish) · honorific morphology (not Spanish)
10How to use this document§
When a term confuses you: ask which of the six kinds it is (§1). That single question resolves most confusion, because most confusion is comparing a FORM to a CLASS or a FEATURE to a FUNCTION.
When you can't place a word: find it in the family trees (§3). "What kind of pronoun is cuyo?" → §3.2 puts it under RELATIVE.
When a tutor uses a Spanish term: §7.
When two terms feel like the same thing: §6.
When you just need a definition: §8.
And what not to do: don't read §8 top to bottom. Twenty-five terms (§2) cover everything you'll actually discuss about your own Spanish. The other hundred-odd exist so that when one shows up, it resolves in ten seconds instead of derailing an afternoon.
Return to 00-INDEX.md00-INDEX.md for the lookup table, or 13-TRAPS.md for the error catalogue.