Cuaderno de práctica · Mexican Spanish

Grammar Drills.

Quotes as raw material, not a comprehension test. Every unit takes one real line, pulls the grammar pattern out of it, and drills that pattern with fresh sentences — including ones about your own life.

How to use this: work through the units in order. Type your answers in the blanks, then reveal the answer key to check yourself. No plot, no character quiz — just patterns you’ll actually use.

Prefer to watch? Every unit here is taught on screen in El Mero Mero, nine episodes, a gorilla crime boss.

0 / 13 unidades

Unidad 01

Present progressive: estar + gerundio

“ ello.”

del video

Patrónestar (conjugated) + stem + -ando (-ar verbs) / -iendo (-er/-ir verbs)

Subject	estar	Example


/ /

/

Irregular gerunds to know

→
dormir →
→
pedir →

A. Conjugate

1. ___ () .

2.Vane ___ () .

3.Terry ___ () .

4. ___ () .

B. Translate

1.I'm closing deal with new account.

2.We're building house near Puerto Vallarta.

3.They're negotiating the contract right now.

Unidad 02

Deber vs. tener que (obligation)

“ , .”

“ .”

del video

PatrónBoth mean "must / have to," but deber leans moral/formal, tener que leans practical/everyday.
· deber + infinitivo → Debemos llegar a tiempo. (we should / ought to)
· tener que + infinitivo → Tengo que correr diez millas mañana. (I have to)

A. Choose deber or tener que (say why)

1.___ () .

2. , ___ () .

3.___ () .

B. Translate

1.I have to send the follow-up email today.

2.We should be honest with the client about the timeline.

Unidad 03

Estar a punto de + infinitivo (about to)

“ .”

del video

Patrónestar + a punto de + infinitivo (or noun) = to be about to / on the verge of

A. Build sentences

1.( / )

2.( / )

3.( / )

B. Translate

1.I'm about to leave for Mexico.

2.The deal is about to close.

Unidad 04

Seguir + gerundio (to keep on doing)

“No .”

del video

Patrónseguir (conjugated) + gerundio = to keep / continue doing something

A. Conjugate

1.() ___ .

2. ___ () .

3. ___ () aprendiendo .

B. Translate

1.I keep improving my Spanish every week.

2.We can't keep waiting for response.

Unidad 05

Imperatives + pronoun attachment

“ .”

del video

PatrónIn affirmative commands, object pronouns attach to the END of the verb.

Form	Example	Breakdown
	, ,	verb + pronoun
	, ,	subjunctive form + pronoun
(“let's”)	,	no pronoun in these examples

A. Attach the pronoun

1. + ( command) =

2. + ( command) =

3. + ( command) =

B. Convert tú → usted

1. .

2. .

C. Translate (“let's” form)

1.Let's forget the argument.

2.Let's sign the contract.

Unidad 06

Preterite vs. imperfect

“ .”

“ …”

del video

PatrónPreterite = a completed, one-time event. Imperfect = background, ongoing state, habitual past, or emotion.

Preterite (completed)	Imperfect (background / ongoing)
, ,	, ,

Temporal triggers

(habitual = imperfect)

A. Choose the correct form

1. ___ () , ___ () Indiana.

2. ___ (, ) IKEA.

3. ___ (), ___ () .

4. ___ (, ) .

B. Translate

1.I was living in Richmond when I met Vane.

2.Yesterday I closed the deal.

Unidad 07

Pluperfect: había + participio (had done)

Patrónhaber (imperfect) + past participle = "had done" — an event completed before another past event.

haber (imperfect)	+ participio
, , , ,	, ,

A. Combine into one sentence with "ya había…"

1. . .

2. . Terry .

B. Translate

1.When I arrived, they had already left.

2.I had already sent the email before the meeting.

Unidad 08

Iba a + infinitivo (was going to)

Patrónir (imperfect) + a + infinitivo = was/were going to do something (frequently implies it didn't happen)

	Example
, , , ,	, .

A. Complete naturally

1. , …

2. , …

3.Vane Richmond , …

B. Translate

1.I was going to email you, but I lost track of time.

2.We were going to close the deal, but the client backed out.

Unidad 09

Register: neutral vs. colloquial vs. vulgar

“No .”

“ .”

“No .”

del video

Useful idioms

= to sit idly by
+ noun = to pick the wrong ___
= everybody (Mexican)
= to fall in line, comply

Recognition-only — use with care

/ (safe, warm with family)
(coded meaning)

A. Neutralize (business Spanish)

1.No .

2. .

B. Idiom fill-in

1. — no ___ .

2.No ___ .

Unidad 10

Fast / reduced speech recognition

“ , .”

“.”

“ .”

del video

Common reductions

→ pa’
→
→ na’
→ ’tá

Discourse markers

= well…
= I mean
= come on / that's it
… = um…

A. Predict the fast-speech version

2.¿ ?

B. Match markers to meaning — pues / o sea / ándale

1.(write your best guess for each before checking)

Unidad 11

Present subjunctive: the trigger + que pattern

“ .”

ejemplo

PatrónSubjunctive endings flip the vowel: -ar verbs take -e endings, -er/-ir verbs take -a endings. It shows up after a change-of-subject + que, when the first clause is a wish, emotion, impersonal judgment, recommendation, or doubt (WEIRDO).

Subject	(-ar)	(-er)


/ /

/

Common triggers

A. Conjugate (subjunctive)

1. ___ () Terry.

2. ___ () .

3. ___ () .

4. ___ () .

B. Translate

1.I hope you () call tomorrow.

2.It's important that we finish the proposal today.

Unidad 12

Future & conditional: promises, probability, and si

“ , .”

“ , Vane .”

ejemplo

PatrónFuture and conditional both attach to the full infinitive — future adds -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -án; conditional adds -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían. Use future for predictions/promises, conditional for politeness or "would."
· Real condition: si + present → future (Si llueve, cancelaremos.)
· Hypothetical: si + imperfect subjunctive → conditional (Si tuviera el dinero, invertiría.) — worth recognizing even before you drill it.

Subject	(future)	(conditional)


/ /

/

Irregular stems (both tenses)

→ tendr-
→ har-
→ podr-
→ querr-
→ dir-

A. Conjugate (future or conditional, as marked)

1.( / , future) .

2.( / , conditional) .

3.( / , future) .

4.( / , conditional) , ¿?

B. Translate

1.If the deal closes on Friday, we'll celebrate this weekend.

2.I would call you, but I don't have your new number.

Unidad 13

Ser vs. estar, and stacking object pronouns

“ Terry .”

“ Vane — no .”

ejemplo

PatrónSer = identity, origin, time, permanent traits (Terry es puntual). Estar = location, temporary states, condition, and progressive tenses (Terry está en la oficina). Some adjectives flip meaning entirely: ser aburrido (boring) vs estar aburrido (bored); ser listo (clever) vs estar listo (ready).

Object pronoun stacking: when an indirect pronoun (le/les) meets a direct pronoun (lo/la/los/las), le/les becomes se — never "le lo." Se lo dije = I told it to him/her/you/them.

Use for	Use estar for
identity, origin, time, permanent traits	location, temporary states, progressive

Meaning-flip adjectives

= boring / estar = bored
= clever / estar = ready
= wealthy / estar = delicious
= bad (character) / estar = sick

A. Ser or estar?

1.Terry ___ ; ___ Puerto Vallarta.

2. ___ , Vane ___ .

3. ___ , no ___ — .

B. Replace the direct object with a pronoun (watch le/les → se)

1. Terry. →

2. . →

Referencia rápida.

Vocabulario maestro

· · · · · · · · · · / · · · · · · · · · · · · · estar ·

Índice gramatical

1. estar + gerundio · 2. deber vs. tener que · 3. estar a punto de + inf. · 4. seguir + gerundio · 5. imperativos + pronombres · 6. pretérito vs. imperfecto · 7. pluscuamperfecto (había + participio) · 8. iba a + infinitivo · 9. registro / modismos · 10. reconocimiento de habla rápida · 11. subjuntivo presente · 12. futuro / condicional + si · 13. ser vs. estar + pronombres combinados

Calendario sugerido

2 , 3x/ ≈ 2 . B () — .