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Spanish (Spain)

### Perceiving actions in progress

When you talk about seeing or hearing someone in the middle of doing something, use a perception verb like **ver** (to see) or **oír** (to hear) followed by the person and a gerund (an **-ando** or **-iendo** word). 

This emphasizes that the action was ongoing while you observed it. Remember to use the personal **a** before the object if you are perceiving a specific person or people.

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### Perceiving completed actions

If you witness an entire action from start to finish, or if you simply want to refer to the action as a whole rather than an ongoing process, use an infinitive instead of a gerund.

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When using the infinitive, you have some flexibility with word order. The infinitive can come after the person doing the action (as in the examples above), or it can attach directly to the perception verb.

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Notice how in the last example, the infinitive **salir** comes right after **vimos**, followed by the personal **a** and the people performing the action. Both word orders are perfectly natural in Spanish when talking about completed actions!

Perceiving actions (ver, oír)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
the melody	la melodía
I heard someone playing the melody on the piano.	Oí a alguien tocando la melodía en el piano.
the percussion	la percusión
I heard the woman playing the percussion as if she were an expert.	Oí a la mujer tocando la percusión como si fuera una experta.
the tour (concerts, promotional)	la gira
the bassist	el bajista
to hum	tararear
During the tour, I heard the bassist humming that song.	Durante la gira, oí a la bajista tarareando esa canción.
the chorus	el estribillo
We heard the crowd sing the chorus.	Oímos al público cantar el estribillo.
the chord	el acorde
I loved hearing the band play the first chord.	Me encantó oír al grupo tocar el primer acorde.
to sing out of tune	desafinar
It is horrible to hear someone sing out of tune live.	Es horrible oír a alguien desafinar en directo.
I saw the bassist jumping on the stage.	Vi a la bajista saltando en el escenario.
What I loved was seeing the boys playing the percussion.	Lo que me encantó fue ver a los chicos tocando la percusión.
the amplifier	el amplificador
Apparently, nobody saw the amplifier fall.	Al parecer, nadie vio caer el amplificador.
the acoustics	la acústica
The acoustics are so bad that we saw the people leave.	La acústica es tan mala que vimos salir a la gente.
I loved humming the melody with the band.	Me encantó tararear la melodía con el grupo.
I sang the chorus again during the tour.	Volví a cantar el estribillo durante la gira.
The musician tripped and broke the amplifier.	El músico tropezó y rompió el amplificador.
Apparently, the theater's acoustics are perfect.	Por lo visto, la acústica del teatro es perfecta.
We did not hear the last chord because of the noise.	No oímos el último acorde por el ruido.
It is clear that the singer sang out of tune again.	Está claro que la cantante volvió a desafinar.