B1 Spanish Course

I. Grammar contents for level B1

Nouns
The gender of nouns. Epicene nouns.
The number of nouns. Invariable nouns.
Singularia tantum. Pluralia tantum.
The number of family names/ surnames.

Nominal syntagm
Complement: explanatory appositives and prepositional phrases.
Agreement of SN with the verb.

Adjectives
Adjective modifiers: excesivamente, demasiado…
Review of comparatives and superlatives.
Nouns of adjectives by means of determinant el.

Adjectival syntagms
Adverbial complements.
Modifiers.

Articles
Definite and indefinite articles.
Restrictions due to the presence of modifying determinants.

Pronouns
Absence / presence of subject pronouns.
Pronouns DO. Double presence.
Placement and order with the infinitive and gerund forms.
Review of the pronouns IO with verbs.
Tú / usted.
Relative pronouns que / quien.
¡Qué + adjective!
¡Qué + noun + tan/más + adjective!

Possessives
Opposite stressed and unstressed forms.
Combined with other elements.

Demonstratives
Possibility to combine with other elements.

Quantifiers
Todo el mundo / la mayoría de / algunos…

Prepositions
Revising prepositions
A + the direct object
Por / para.

Adverbs and adverbial phrases
Past and future time markers.
Connectors: de repente, de pronto, (y) entonces…
Ya no / Todavía no.
Probablemente / Seguramente / Posiblemente + Future.
Quizás, tal vez, a lo mejor.

Interjections
The interjection ¡vaya!
The interjection ¡ojalá!

Verbs
Revision of the indicative present, paying special attention to the irregularities.
Revision of the present perfect, paying special attention to the irregularities.
Revision of the past simple, paying special attention to the irregularities
Revision of the imperfect, paying special attention to the irregularities
Pto. Pluperfect indicative
Differences between past tenses.
Present subjunctive: regular and irregular.
Imperfect subjunctive.
Conditional.
Revision of the imperative; positive and negative.

Revision of ser and estar
Ser and estar with changes of meaning.

Revision of the future simple
Compound future.

Verbal periphrasis
Review of verbal periphrasis.
Conditional modal periphrasis: deberíamos / habría que + Infinitive.

Impersonal form
Infinitive: Uses. Subject functions and direct object.
Gerund: verbal and adverbial value.
Participle: predictive value.

Simple clauses
Indicative doubts introduced by a lo mejor, quizás, probablemente…
Clauses expressing desire with ¡ojalá!

Coordinated clauses
The linking word sin embargo.
Consecutive phrases with entonces, o sea que, así (es) que.

Subordinate clauses
1. Subordinate substantive clauses
1.1. Subordinate substantive infinitive clauses
– Subject function
Me cuesta / me resulta difícil + Infinitive.
Me da miedo + Infinitive.
(No) es lógico, (no) es difícil, (no) es normal… + Infinitive.
– Function DO
Querer / Esperar + Infinitive.
Te prohíbo + Infinitive.

1.2. Subordinate substantive clauses (with two conjugated verbs)
– Subject function
Me gusta + que + Subjunctive; Me gustaría que + Imperfect subjunctive.
Me cuesta / resulta difícil + que + Subjunctive.
Me da miedo + que + Subjunctive.
Me da vergüenza + que + Subjunctive.
Me encanta(n)/ Me fascina(n) + que + Present subjunctive.
(No) es lógico, (no) es difícil, (no) es normal… + que + Subjunctive.
(No) está claro, (no) es obvio, (no) es cierto.. + que + Ind. / Subjunctive.
Es probable que, tal vez, puede que + Ind. / Subjunctive.
Choosing the Subjunctive or Indicative mood
– DO object
With volitional verbs: Querer + que + Subjunctive.
With thinking verbs: Creo / pienso que + Indicative; No creo / no pienso + que + Subjunctive.
With verbs of influence: Pedir / exigir / recomendar / prohibir que + Indicative.
With verbs: Decir + que + Subjunctive / Indicative; Preguntar + si + Indicative.
Structures for indirect speech.

2. Relative clauses
Relative clause with prepositions
Differences between que / quien.
Uses of Subjunctive and Indicative in relative clauses.

3. Subordinate adverbial clauses

3.1. Time clauses
Introduced by cuando + Indicative / Subjunctive
Introduced by antes / después de + Infinitive.
Introduced by hasta + Infinitive.
Introduced by mientras + Indicative.

3.2. Place clauses
Introduced by donde. In the Indicative and with an antecedent.

3.3. How clauses
Introduced by como. In the Indicative

3.4. Causal clauses
Introduced by como and por. In the Indicative.

3.5. Consecutive clauses
Introduced by o sea que, así (es) que.

3.6. Concessive clauses
Concessive clause. aunque + Indicative/ Subjunctive.

3.7. Comparative clauses
Introduced by igual de… que, más / menos… que.
Differences between más que / más de.

3.8. Final clauses
Introduced by para. In the Indicative.
Differences between para / para que / para qué.

3.9. Conditional clauses
Si + Present + Present.
Si + Presente + Future.
Si + Present + Imperative.
Si + Imperfect subjunctive + Conditional.

II.- Conversation contents for level B1

1. Give and ask for information
Give and ask for personal information.
Give and ask for information about products and objects.
Give and ask for information about reasons and causes.
Give and ask for information about objectives.
Communicate messages.
Communicate orders, requests and advice.
Give and leave messages by phone.
Refer to what others have said in the past.
Tell and describe.
Identify objects and people.
Describe the characteristics and the functioning of something.
Speak about present habits.
Speak about past habits.
Speak about present circumstances.
Speak about past circumstances.
Speak about future actions and situations.
Speak about the beginning and the duration of an action.
Locate an action in time.
Tell past events.
Locate actions in the past and in the present.
Order actions in sequence.
Tell anecdotes.
Tell stories in the present.
Tell stories of past experiences.
Speak about past experiences and evaluate them.
Tell stories of your academic and professional life.
Summarise an argument.
Speak about relationships between people.

2. Express opinions, attitudes and knowledge
Debate.
Defend a position.
Justify opinions.
Express confidance.
Give excuses and justify them.
Show agreement and disagreement.
Counter argue.
Give opinions about objects.
Give opinions about actions and behaviours.
Express understanding and lack of.
Express impersonality.
Express need.
Express conditions.
Formulate hypotheses.
Hypothesize and conjecture.
Evoke imaginary situations.
Express consequences.
Refer to a piece of news and comment on it.

3. Express likes, desires and feelings
Express desires.
Ask for your wishes.
Express desire to do something.
React to another person’s desire.
Express and defend your skills.
Speak about skills.
Speak about difficulties.
Speak about emotions.
Assess situations and facts.
Express intentions and feelings
Express interest.
Express boredom.
Express anger and indignation.
Express fear, anxiety and preoccupation.
Express embarrassment.
Express nervousness.
Express hope.
Express surprise.
Express admiration.

4. Influence the interlocutor
Express prohibition.
Express obligatoriness.
Request and give permission.
Propose solutions.
Recommend and advise.
Give instructions.
Give advice.
Warn.
Express complaints.
Ask a favour.
Ask for help.
Ask for objects.
Reproach.
Reassure.
Make a literary use of language.

5. Socialise
Greet, introduce yourself and say goodbye.
Introduce yourself to someone (formally and informally).
Ask to be introduced.
Manage on the phone.
Show appreciation.

6. Structuring the speech
Establish communication.
Ask to start a story and react.
Introduce the topic.
Maintain the attention of the interlocutor.
Reformulate what has been said.
Interrupt.
Give the floor.
Conclude the story.

III.-Phonetic and orthographic content for level B1.

Phonetic
Phonetic accent.
Union of vowels.
Intonation in wish clauses.
Intonation according to different communicative functions and meanings.
Review of the Spanish language phonemes and their graphic transcription.
Meaning of silence and breaks.
Recognition of non-native accents (without identifying them).

Orthography
Review of the link between phonemes and letters.
Accents and written accents.
Punctuation marks.
Syllables and their correct separation when writing.
In-depth study of capitalization.
Use of punctuation marks: parentheses, quotation marks, hyphen, dash.
Acronyms and abbreviations.