Key learning points

1. When a word has a stress on the antepenultimate syllable, it always has a written accent to show where the stress falls.
2. To say what is happening right now, Spanish uses the present continuous which is a form of 'estar' + present participle.
3. To form -er/-ir verb present participles, remove -er/-ir from the infinitive and add -iendo, e.g. 'están traduciendo'.
4. The verb 'querer' is a modal verb and means 'to want' or 'to love'. To say 'they want', we use 'quieren'.
5. 'Querer' is commonly used before an infinitive, to mean 'to want to', e.g. 'quieren conducir' ('they want to drive').

Keywords

• Modal verbs - verb of necessity or possibility used with a 2nd verb in the infinitive, e.g. 'must', 'can', 'want'

• Querer - Spanish modal verb meaning 'to want' or 'to love'

• Present continuous - describes events happening right now, e.g. 'I am doing'

• Estar - Spanish verb meaning 'to be', also the auxiliary verb for the present continuous

Common misconception