Spa 1102
Guide for Final Exam

  1. Accents and Punctuation: Do you remember how to divide a word into its basic syllables? Where does the natural accent fall in Spanish?  Why are the "sticky" vowels so important?  (Review) 
  2. Survival Sentences: What are the most important oral survival questions at this point in your quest to learn Spanish?  How long of a conversation can you write?  Do you know how to introduce and talk about your friends and family (eg. "te/le presento a")?
  3. Question words: How many questions words have we learned (1, 2)? What is the question word for "do" in Spanish?  Can you create a question with each word?  When do you use "qué" versus "cuál"?  Can you create a question with "yo" as the subject?  Which verb conjugation accompanies "quién" or "quiénes"?
  4. Direct Object Pronouns: What are “transitive verbs” and how do they limit when you can use a “direct object pronoun”? When and why do we use “direct object pronouns”? What are the “direct object pronouns” in Spanish and where do we place them? Which questions can we use so as not to mistake which object in a sentence is the direct object?
  5. Demonstratives: Did you review the use of demonstrative adjectives? What is their relationship to the indicators of space (aquí, ahí, allá)? Did you remember that demonstratives can function as adjectives and therefore must agree in number and gender with the noun they describe? What is the difference between “ese” and “eso”? How can a demonstrative adjective be turned into a demonstrative pronoun? Where do you place the demonstrative pronoun's accent?
  6. Verbs: 

a.      Have you been reviewing your AR, ER, and IR verbs?  This is our main list.  How many irregular verbs should you know (ser, estar, ir, tener, etc.)?  

b.     How many compound verb structures can you create (for example, “tener ganas de”, “tener que”, “ir a”, “poder”, “deber”, and “necesitar”? 

c.      Do you remember how to conjugate stem-changing verbs?  Have you studied the initial list of stem changing verbs? Have you added the new list of stem changers? 

d.     Have you studied all of the idiomatic expressions you can create with the verb "tener"? 

e.      Do you know how to conjugate as well as determine when to use "ser" and "estar"? 

f.       How many GO verbs (1, 2) have we studied? Can you conjugate these verbs and use them in context? 

g.     Although "saber" and "conocer" mean the same in English, they are used in different situations in Spanish. What criteria do we use to make this distinction (1)? Do these verbs have any irregular forms? 

h.     What is a reflexive verb? What are the reflexive pronouns? How many common day routines are expressed with a reflexive verb? How many reflexive verbs are stem-changing? How do you create a reciprocally reflexive verb from a regular verb?

i.       Have you practiced generating a question/answer sequence for each verb? Can you fill-in the blanks in a cloze paragraph? What are your best strategies for completing this type of exercise?

7.     Comparisons: Are you able to construct the four different types of comparison sentences?  While we are using comparatives, when must we be careful about agreement? Which four comparative adjectives have irregular forms?  How do you create a king-of-the-hill or bottom-of-the-pile sentence (superlative comparisons)?

8.     Vocabulary:

a.      Have you studied enough adjectives and adjectives to describe your family members both in terms of physical appearance as well as personality (eg. "adjetivos" (37) and "adjetivos descriptivos" (73))? Are you able to name all of the family relationships we have studied, including the in-laws? 

b.     Have your reviewed "saludos" and "respuestas" (5)?  

c.      Could you describe your current class schedule? 

d.     Have you studied the new vocabulary related to “pastimes” and “invitations”? Can you write a dialogue in which you invite your friend/s to participate in a leisure activity? Are there more polite ways of expressing “querer” in Spanish? Do you know how to courteously reject an invitation? 

e.      How many verbs and nouns did we learn that are associated with around-the-house chores?  Could you describe your family’s daily routine in terms of “quehaceres”?  Which of these verbs are stem-changing?

9.     BONUS SECTION: How do you form the present progressive?  When do you use this form in Spanish as opposed to English?  Would you use the present progressive to translate “I am going to graduate in a year”?  If you don’t use the present progressive in Spanish to state this, what do you use?  What are three possible translations of “hablo español”?  Which one is similar to the present progressive form in English?  How is it used differently in Spanish?