Spanish Grammar Practice 101: Essential Tips and Resources for Grammar Mastery

Do you need help with your Spanish grammar practice? Not sure how to improve your skills? Well, you’ve come to the right place!

We’ll kick off this article by helping you figure out your learning style and reviewing Spanish grammar basics. We’ll then give you plenty of tips and resources to help you with your Spanish grammar practice.

Discover your learning style

In this article, we’ll cover various types of Spanish grammar practice because we know not everyone learns the same way. This is why we suggest you take some time to reflect on your specific learning style, so you can focus on the strategies and resources that will best adapt to your needs.

For example, if you love reading, you can focus on some grammar textbooks (we’ll give you some examples below) and take out books in Spanish from your library if they have them.

Media and videos will work best for you if you are a visual learner. Diagrams, flashcards, and images are also helpful.

You may also be an auditory learner and learn best by listening. In this case, podcasts could be a great addition to your Spanish grammar practice.

If you are a verbal learner, you should focus on practicing your grammar orally. Speaking a new language can seem daunting at first, but listening to others and trying to interact can definitely be helpful if you’re a beginner.

Finally, you might be a kinesthetic learner who learns best through hands-on, physically active scenarios that engage all the senses. Having a mixture of different types of resources might be a good call if you are the type of learner who tends to be quite active and a little restless. Games, role-playing, and speaking practice are also great for kinesthetic learners.

Spanish grammar 101

Before we dive into tips and resources, we thought it’d be helpful to give you an overview of Spanish grammar. In this section, we’ll look at sentence structure; parts of speech; number and gender; persons, tenses, and moods. This will provide the basis for your Spanish grammar practice.

Sentence structure

Sentence structure is how you put words in a sentence together. It can work very differently in different languages and lead to misunderstandings when mistakes are made.

Spanish usually follows the same order as English: subject, verb, object. However, there are some exceptions, as Spanish tends to be more flexible regarding word order.

Let’s look at some of the contexts in which sentence structure varies:

1. Spanish verb conjugations contain the subject of the sentence, so it’s not always necessary to name the subject explicitly. The conjugation varies for each person, so you can instantly tell if it’s referring to the first, second, or third person, as well as singular or plural.

For example:

• Juegan a las escondidas. (They are playing hide and seek. – Here, we don’t need to clarify who “they” is as it is already a known fact to whom the speaker is referring.)
• Juan y María juegan a las escondidas. (Juan and María are playing hide and seek. – Here, we specify the exact people playing hide and seek.)
• Ellos juegan a las escondidas. (They are playing hide and seek. – Here, we are emphasizing they are playing hide and seek, as opposed to us or anyone else.)

2. Another thing to note is that all pronouns come before the verb, including direct and indirect object ones.

For example:

• Te las compro. (I’ll buy them for you.)
• Se cayó. (She/He/It fell.)
• Lo leímos. (We read it.)

You can take a closer look at Spanish pronouns in this article.

3. In some cases, such as passive voice, the subject may follow the verb.

For example:

• Uruguay fue conquistado por España. (Uruguay was conquered by Spain.)
• El último gol del mundial fue realizado por Pelé. (The last goal of the World Cup was made by Pelé.)

If you want to learn more about Spanish sentence structure, you can do so here.

Parts of speech

There are nine parts of speech in Spanish: nouns, articles, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Just like in English, there are countless nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, so we won’t focus too much on these. We’ll look at the other five parts of speech below.

Articles

Spanish definite articles include el (singular masculine), los (plural masculine), la (singular feminine), and las (plural feminine). For example, La casa rosada. (The pink house.)

The corresponding indefinite articles are un, unos, una, and unos. For example, Unos amigos de mi hermano. (Some friends of my brother.)

Pronouns

Spanish has many different types of pronouns, including subject, object, possessive, reflexive, and prepositional pronouns. Going over them would take us quite a bit, so we think it best to direct you to our comprehensive article on this topic.

We won’t leave you without some examples, though:

• Ellos quieren salir a bailar. (They want to go out dancing. Personal pronoun).
• Esta es mi casa. (This is my house. Possessive pronoun).
• ¿Quién se lo dijo? (Who told her? Object pronouns).

Prepositions

Here is a list of the most common Spanish prepositions:

• a (at/to)
• ante (before)
• bajo (under/below)
• con (with)
• contra (against)
• de (of/about/from)
• desde (from/since)
• durante (during/for)
• en (in/into/at/inside/within)
• entre (between/among)
• hacia (towards/around)
• hasta (until/up to)
• mediante (by means of)
• para (in order to/for/toward)
• por (because/by/through/for)
• según (according to/depending on)
• sin (without)
• sobre (on/on top of/above)
• tras (after/behind)
• vía (through/by way of)

Let’s look at some of these in action:

• Fuimos a la playa. (We went to the beach.)
• Lo compramos entre todos. (We bought it all together.)
• No quise ir sin ella. (I didn’t want to go without her.)

We understand this can be quite a bit to learn, so you can find more information and examples here.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are those words that connect other parts of speech. Some examples in Spanish are y (and), o (or), pero (but), sin embargo (however), por lo tanto (therefore), and aunque (even though).

Here are a couple of examples:

• Manuel y José juegan al fútbol. (Manuel and José play football.)
• Aunque quiero ir, no puedo. (I can’t go, even though I want to.)

Interjections

Finally, interjections are little remarks we use to react and express emotions. Some examples in English would be “oh,” “ah,” or “yikes.” In Spanish, interjections include ¡Ay! (Oops/Ouch!), ¡Dios mío! (My god!), and ¡Oye! (Hey!). You can find more examples here.

You can learn more about parts of speech in Spanish in this article.

Number and gender

In Spanish, nouns, articles, adjectives, and pronouns are declined for gender and number. That means they change depending on whether we’re referring to one or multiple items or people and whether they are male or female.

Let’s see a couple of examples to visualize this.

• La jarra es blanca. (The jug is white.): the noun here is jarra (jug), which is female and singular, so the article (la) and the adjective (blanca) will also be singular and female.
• Nuestros amigos son muy graciosos. (Our friends are very funny.): the noun here is amigos (friends), which is masculine and plural. Therefore, so will the pronoun nuestros (our) and the adjective graciosos (funny).

You can learn more about adjective agreement in this article.

Persons, tenses and moods

Just like English, Spanish has three persons in singular and plural forms.

	Spanish	English
First person singular	Yo	I
Second person singular	Tú/Vos	You
Third person singular	Él/Ella	He/She
First person plural	Nosotros	We
Second person plural	Vosotros/Ustedes	You
Third person plural	Ellos/Ellas	They

Regarding conjugation, there are three moods: indicative, subjunctive and imperative. There are 16 tenses in total: ten in the indicative mood, six in the subjunctive, and one in the imperative.

You can take a deep dive into Spanish tenses here. And if you’re particularly concerned with Spanish conjugation practice, you can refer to this article.

Tips for Spanish grammar practice

We’ve determined the kind of learner you are, and covered some Spanish grammar basics. Now it’s time to look at more specific tips for Spanish grammar practice.

Set clear goals

Before starting with your Spanish grammar practice, you should know what you’re aiming for. You should also make sure your goals are clear and attainable. Being too ambitious can cause you to lose motivation or feel down for not achieving your goals.

Set yourself small, achievable goals. This will ensure you keep motivated and feel good about your progress.

Create a study schedule

Practice, and particularly regular practice, makes perfect. Therefore, set apart time to study Spanish. Practicing every day, even if just 15-20 minutes, can make a world of difference.

Create a schedule you can commit to and strive to be consistent with your work.

Listen and read in Spanish

Spanish grammar is about more than just studying the rules; you also need to put your language to the test.

You can listen to podcasts, radio shows, music, or even TV shows. Find the content that best adapts to both your taste and proficiency level.

Reading is also a great strategy. If you’re just starting out, you can go for children’s books or short articles. If you’re a bit more advanced, you can read newspapers or even novels.

Listening and reading allow you to see grammar rules in action. You can even combine these two skills by watching your favorite Spanish show with Spanish subtitles!

Speak the language

Speaking a new language can be scary or nerve-wrecking, but this is the best way to improve your grammar skills.

Find opportunities to speak Spanish whenever you can. You may have a family member or friend who speaks the language or can look for a language exchange group on Meetup. There are also bilingual chat rooms and apps like Espanglish Chat or Tandem if that’s more your thing.

Keep a journal

Another great way to work on your Spanish grammar practice is through writing in a journal. You can make a lot of progress by just writing one or two sentences a day (or even once a week).

Memorize irregularities

Spanish is riddled with irregularities. We know these can be intimidating, but if you learn them gradually, we’re sure you’ll master them in no time.

Get feedback

It’s also important to get external feedback during your Spanish grammar practice journey. You can do this by finding native speakers that are willing to lend a helping hand. Meetups or apps like HelloTalk can be very helpful.

Resources for Spanish grammar practice

It’s finally time for some resources! Below are five online tools to help you with your Spanish grammar practice.

Language learning apps

FluentU

FluentU offers immersive learning on both its website and mobile app. This tool uses music videos, movie trailers, and commercials, among other multimedia resources, to help you learn Spanish. FluentU provides real-life context that makes the learning process much easier and entertaining, and is an excellent resource for visual and auditory learners.

The app offers a 14-day free trial before you commit. After this, monthly and annual plans are $29.99 and $11.99, respectively. They also sometimes have sales on their yearly plan, so watch out for those.

Clozemaster

Perfect for visual learners, Clozemaster turns learning Spanish into a game, making improving your Spanish grammar skills easy and fun. What sets this app apart is its focus on contextual learning that helps you build on your vocabulary and grammar skills faster and more efficiently.

The app uses a gap-fill methodology, which is how the app got its name: a “cloze test” is a type of test where you are given a sentence with one or more words missing. When it comes to Spanish grammar practice, you can focus on the Grammar Challenges, which will help you work on specific aspects of Spanish grammar.

You can sign up for Clozemaster and access a lot of features for free but, if you want to step up your Spanish grammar practice game, there is also a Pro version that can be unlocked with a monthly, annual or lifetime subscription. The app also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Duolingo

Duolingo is one of the most popular language-learning apps worldwide. The app uses gamification to help Spanish students by offering various rewards and providing automatic grading. It also includes personalized learning at the level of university courses.

This app teaches grammar through practice with activities such as sentence organization, fill-in-the-blanks, multiple choice, and reading.

Duolingo is free to download and use, but there is also a Plus version that removes ads and includes offline courses and progress quizzes, among other features. You can make use of the 14-day free trial before you decide if Super Duolingo is for you, after which plans start at $6.99 per month.

Websites

There are quite a few websites that offer Spanish grammar practice. Here are a handful we recommend.

• Hola Qué Pasa has quite a few exercises on various grammar topics for different proficiency levels.
• Conjuguemos is an extensive archive of activities and games that will test your writing, grammar, and listening skills. The site is free for students, and you can choose from a variety of fun single or multiplayer games, most of which offer three levels: easy, medium and hard. This is a great option for kinaesthetic learners!
• The Language Resource Center from the University of Milwaukee offers a lot of quizzes to help you test your Spanish grammar skills.
• The University of Texas has dozens of tasks related to Spanish grammar. They also include videos and podcasts adapting to different learning styles!
• StudySpanish.com goes over every aspect of Spanish grammar. The website also includes quizzes to test your progress.

Textbooks

If you learn better with traditional resources, you can give textbooks a try. You can find Spanish textbooks in your local library as well as online.

Here are some of the most popular textbooks for Spanish grammar practice:

• Easy Spanish Step-By-Step covers the essential Spanish grammar rules. If you want to take things a step further, you can get the premium edition.
• Living Language Spanish includes a multimedia learning program. There are audio CDS, flashcards, and quizzes.
• Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish was originally published in 1953, but still stands the test of time. The book includes illustrations by Andy Warhol and basic grammar practice.

You can find more Spanish textbook options here. If you have a textbook but are having a hard time finding the solutions, you can turn to Quizlet. This online resource has the answers for a lot of popular Spanish textbooks.

Spanish grammar practice – final thoughts

The Spanish grammar practice tips and resources that work best for you will depend on both your learning style and your personal preferences. We hope this article has given you plenty of options that meet your needs to get you started.

If you are feeling extra curious, you can find more Spanish-learning resources here, and some more info on Spanish-learning apps here.