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26 cardsDELE Spanish Language Proficiency Exam

DELE Vocabulary and Grammatical Structures

26 essential grammatical rules, prepositions and verbal structures tested in DELE examinations.

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Por vs Para (cause vs purpose)
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1
Por vs Para (cause vs purpose)
'Por' expresses cause, reason, duration, or exchange; 'Para' expresses recipient, destination, deadline, or purpose.
2
Ojalá + subjuntivo
Expresses a wish: present subjunctive for possible future wishes; imperfect subjunctive for unlikely or unreal wishes.
3
Haber vs Estar for existence/location
'Hay' (haber) expresses existence of non-specific entities; 'Está/Están' (estar) locates specific, definite entities.
4
Ser vs Estar with adjectives
'Ser' denotes inherent or defining characteristics; 'Estar' denotes states, conditions, or changes resulting from action.
5
Acabar de + infinitivo
Aspectual periphrasis expressing recent past ('To have just done something').
6
Dejar de + infinitivo
Terminative aspectual periphrasis meaning 'To stop / cease doing something'.
7
Volver a + infinitivo
Iterative periphrasis meaning 'To do something again'.
8
Llevar + gerundio + tiempo
Expresses continuous duration of an action up to the present ('To have been doing something for...').
9
Conditional sentence Type 1 (real)
Si + presente de indicativo, presente / futuro / imperativo.
10
Conditional sentence Type 2 (hypothetical)
Si + imperfecto de subjuntivo, condicional simple.
11
Conditional sentence Type 3 (unreal past)
Si + pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo, condicional compuesto / pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo.
12
Verbs of influence (aconsejar, pedir, exigir)
Take subjunctive in the dependent clause when subjects differ (e.g., 'Te aconsejo que vayas').
13
Doubt and denial (dudar, no creer, negar)
Require subjunctive in the subordinate noun clause (e.g., 'Dudo que venga').
14
Certainty and belief (creer, pensar, es evidente)
Take indicative when affirmative, but subjunctive when negated (e.g., 'Creo que viene' vs 'No creo que venga').
15
Antes de que + subjuntivo
Always requires subjunctive, even when referring to past events ('Before...').
16
Tan pronto como + subjuntivo/indicativo
Takes subjunctive when referring to future actions; indicative when referring to habitual or past actions.
17
Cualquiera / Cualquier rule
'Cualquiera' drops the final -a ('cualquier') before any singular noun (masculine or feminine).
18
Sino vs Sino que
'Sino' introduces a contrasting word or phrase after a negative clause; 'sino que' introduces a conjugated verb clause.
19
Pronominal verb: Acordarse de vs Recordar
'Acordarse de' requires preposition 'de'; 'recordar' is transitive and takes a direct object without 'de'.
20
Pronominal verb: Darse cuenta de
Requires preposition 'de' when followed by a noun or clause ('to realize / notice').
21
Aunque + indicativo vs subjuntivo
Takes indicative for new, factual information; subjunctive for known, hypothetical, or irrelevant information.
22
Relative pronoun: Cuyo / cuya / cuyos / cuyas
Possessive relative adjective agreeing in gender and number with the possessed noun ('whose').
23
Impersonal 'se' vs Passive reflex 'se'
Impersonal 'se' takes singular verb with no agent/patient; passive reflex 'se' agrees with the patient subject in number.
24
Tener que ver con
Idiomatic expression meaning 'To have to do with / be related to'.
25
Llegar a ser vs Ponerse (change verbs)
'Llegar a ser' denotes gradual change achieved through effort; 'ponerse' denotes involuntary, temporary physical/emotional changes.
26
Hacerse vs Quedarse (change verbs)
'Hacerse' expresses voluntary or ideological transformation; 'quedarse' expresses a resulting permanent/semi-permanent state.

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