Live Session 1

Review for Midterm Exam

In this session we will focus on the following Midterm sections:

 

• Section 4: present tense of the verb "ser"
• Section 7: -AR verb conjugation
• Section 9: numbers 31 and above.
   
• These 3 sections are worth 33% of the exam's points. 

 

Section 4--present tense forms of "ser"
 

1. Do not write subject pronouns as answers in this section.

• Under no circumstances should the words "yo", "tú", "él", "ella", "usted", "nosotros/nosotras", "ellos", "ellas" or "ustedes" appear as answers in this section.
   
• These words are not present-tense conjugated forms of the verb "ser". They are not verbs at all, actually.

 

2. Your answer will have to consist of one of the five following words, all of which are present-tense conjugated forms of the verb "ser": 

• soy (present-tense yo-form)
• eres (present-tense tú-form)
• es (present-tense 3rd-person-singular form)
• somos (present-tense nosotros-form)
• son (present-tense 3rd-person-plural form)

Those are the only valid responses in this section.
 

3. We do not use vosotros-forms in this course. Do not write "sois" for any answer in this section.

 

Let's practice with this using the "2 - Nosotros somos..." exercise in Supersite, which was not assigned.

Section 7--Present-tense conjugations of -AR verbs

Step-by-step review of how to conjugate regular -AR verbs in the present tense.

Let's imagine you were working with this exam question:

 

Ustedes _________(tomar) muchas clases este semestre.

To recognize and select the correct form, do this (either in your head or on a piece of paper):

 

1. Start by deriving the stem by removing the -AR ending. 

• We take the "ar" off of "tomar"
   
• Our stem is "tom".

 

How to conjugate regular -AR verbs in the present tense (con't)

 

Ustedes _________(tomar) muchas clases este semestre.

 

2. Now, look to the left of the blank to find the subject of the verb. 

• We see "ustedes", a 3rd-person-plural subject pronoun.
   
• We add the 3rd-person-plural ending, which is "AN" to the stem (tom).
   
• This gives us "toman", the correct conjugation.
   
• We select "toman" from among the options (it will be there!).

Conjugation procedures for present tense of regular -AR verbs:

• If the subject is "yo", the form is--->[stem] + "o"
   
• If the subject is "tú", the form is---->[stem] + "as"
   
• If the subject is "él", "ella", "usted" or any singular noun, the form is--->[stem] + "a"
   
• If the subject is "nosotros", "nosotras" or any person plus "y yo", the form is--->[stem] + "amos"
   
• If the subject is "ellos", "ellas", "ustedes", any other plural noun or any series of singular nouns joined by a "y" (meaning "and"), the form is--->[stem] + "an"
   
• Let's practice this via the 4-Usar los verbos exercise from Estructura 2.1, which was not assigned.

Section 9--Numbers 31 and above:

In order to be successful...

1. The most important thing is to not freak out here.

2. Begin by focusing on whether numbers from 200-900 are spelled correctly:

• 200--"doscientos"; 300--"trescientos"
• 400--"cuatrocientos"; 500--"quinientos"
• 600--"seiscientos"; 700--"setecientos"
• 800--"ochocientos"; 900--"novecientos"
• This will help you to immediately eliminate several incorrect answer choices
   

3. Remember that we use a different word for one hundred depending on the number: 

• If it's exactly 100, "cien" must be used
• If it's any number from 101-199, "ciento" must be used. 

Quick discernment practice with numbers from 31-999:

587

• A. quinientos ochenta y siete
• B. cincociento y ochenta seite
• C. quinientos y ochenta siete
• D. quintociento ocho siete

 

155

• A. cien y cincuenta cinco
• B. ciento cincuenta y cinco
• C. uno cien quinenta cinco
• D. ciento cinco cinco

Indeed, our correct answers are:

• quinientos ochenta y siete
• ciento cincuenta y cinco

4. If a number features a millions element, remember the following:

• If the number is one million, the word is "millón". 
• That's with *only one "i"* and with *an accent on the "o"*.
• So, "1.000.500" is "un millón quinientos"
   
• If the number is 2 million or above, the word is "millones".
• That's *still with only one "i"* but with *no accent on the "o"*.
• So, "2.000.500" is "dos millones quinientos"
   

5. If a number features a thousands element, the word for "thousand" is always "mil", whether it's one thousand or 999 thousand.

• So, "1.992" is "mil novecientos noventa y dos".
• Note: just "mil", not "un mil".
• And "900.992 is "novecientos mil novecientos noventa y dos".

Exam-format practice with all sorts of numbers from 31-999.999.999 (remember that Spanish uses a period where use a comma in English):

You see: 3.900.581

Your choices are:

• A. tres million novecientos miles quinientos ochenta uno
• B. tres millones nueveciento mil cincociento ochenta y uno
• C. tres millones novecientos mil quinientos ochenta y uno
• D. tres miliones nueve mil cinco ocho uno

Working left to right, 2 options can be eliminated immediately. Which ones are they?

• A and D (the "millones" element is wrong in both)
• Between B and C, how much further do we have to look to discern the correct answer?
• Just to the next word. It should be "novecientos".
• C is correct.

Exam-format practice with all sorts of numbers from 31-999.999.999

You see: 777.106 and your choices are:

• A. setecientos setenta y siete mil ciento seis
• B. sieteciento y sententa siete mil cien y sies
• C. setecientos setenta siete miles ciento y seis
• D. setecento setenta y siete mil cien seis
   

Working left to right, 2 options can be eliminated immediately. Which ones are they?

• B and D (the "setecientos" element is wrong in both)
• Between A and C, how much further do we have to look to discern the correct answer?
• Just to the expression of 77 thousand. It should be "setenta y siete mil".
• A is correct.