A-a B-, I J- - P- Q- R- W- ,

-, L- RR- X-

CH- LL- S- Y-

D- E- F- - N- T- U- Z-theta, zeta

G- H-a - - V-,

Las preposiciones
A to, at / Voy a Madrid- I'm going to Madrid, Voy a comer - I'm going to eat / CON with / Voy con Carlos-I'm going with Carlos, chile con carne- chili with meat/ DE from, of, about / Es de Paris-He is from Paris, el vaso de leche- glass of milk, el libro de poesa- book of poetry, la historia de amor - story about love, la clase de espaol- Spanish class, el pao de cocina - dishcloth, teacloth, el libro de historia- history book, el libro de Juan- Juan's book / EN in, on / Estoy en la clase- I'm in the class, Vamos en 10 minutos- We're going in 10 minutes, El libro en la mesaThe book on the table/ SIN without / Leo sin gafas- I read without glasses, Quiero un libro sin fotos- I want a book without pictures/ Por Location/Movement: General vs Specific General location or movement: by (way of), through, via, around, near Hay mucha gente por aqu. Voy a Madrid por Bilbao. Sal por esta puerta. Est por el norte. There are a lot of people here. I'm going to Madrid via Bilbao. Go out through this door. It's to the north. Para

Specific destination: to, toward Van para el colegio. Voy en tren para Madrid. They're going to(ward) school. I'm going by train to Madrid.

Time: Duration/Point in time vs Deadline Duration, inexact point in time: for, in, around Estudi por 3 horas. por la maana por la tarde por la noche Te ver por Navidad. I studied for three hours. in the morning in the afternoon in the evening I'll see you around Christmastime.

Deadline, time by which: by, before, for Lo har para maana. Termnelo para el lunes. I'll do it by tomorrow. Finish it before Monday.

Reasons: Cause vs Purpose Cause, Motive: out of, for (the sake of), because (of), due to, in support of Lo hizo por necesidad. Lo hizo por t. No me qued por el calor. Lo hago por gusto. Vot por el partido socialista. Gracias por el regalo. He did it out of necessity. He did it for your sake. I didn't stay because of the heat. I do it because I like to. He voted for the Socialist party. Thank you for the gift. Purpose, Benefit: for, in order to Estudio para abogado. El libro es para t. No me qued para comer. Lo hago para ganar dinero. Es un mercado para touristas. una taza para caf I'm studying to be a lawyer. The book is for you. I didn't stay to eat. I do it to earn money. It's a shop for tourists. coffee cup

Relationship: Exchange vs Comparison Exchange/Payment/Substitution (in exchange/payment) for, on behalf of Me di 2 lpices por mi pluma.

Comparison/Contrast/Differences for For a child, he listens well. For generous people, there's no one like Moroccans.

He gave me 2 pencils for my Para nio, escucha bien. pen. Para generosos, los marroqus.

Pagu mucho por los libros. I paid a lot for the books. Escrib la carta por Lupe. I wrote the letter for (on behalf of) Lupe.

Quin es Ud. para hablarme Who are you to talk to me as? like that?

Viewpoints: Say so vs Opinion Say so, Attitudes according to, from por lo que dice... por los sondeos... Additional uses of por Means/Agent: By, on, with Le habl por telfono. Lo hizo por su propia mano. Viaj por tren. Por trabajar todos los das, gan mucho dinero. Fue decidido por el presidente. (passive voice) from what he says... according to the polls...

Opinion in one's opinion, for para m... para l... in my opinion... in his opinion, for him...

I talked to him by/on the phone. He did it with his own hand. I went by train. By working every day, I earned a lot of money. It was decided by the president.

Math: Multiplication and Division 2 por 3 son 6 6 dividido por 2 son 3 Divid la clase por la mitad. Appearance, Consideration: As Me tienen por experto. tener a alguien por amigo, tenerlo a uno por amigo Frequency, Proportion: Per Paga 10 Euros por hora. tres veces por semana por ciento 2 times 3 is 6 6 divided by 2 is 3 I divided the class in half. They see me as an expert. to consider someone a friend

He pays 10 Euros per hour. three times per week percent

Something which is yet to be completed: Por + Infinitive Los platos estn por fregar. The dishes are yet to be done.

Saludos - Spanish Greetings

Hi - Hola Hello - Buenos das Good afternoon Buenas tardes Good evening Buenas noches How are you? singular plural familiar Cmo ests? Cmo estis? formal Cmo est Ud.? Cmo estn Uds.? How's it going? Qu tal? I'm... Estoy...* Good Bien Great Muy bien Adis Good-bye See you later Hasta luego Hasta pronto Hasta la vista

Lo - Neuter Article
In addition to the definite and indefinite articles, Spanish has what is called a neuter article. This article, lo, is invariable and is used in front of just about any adjective in order to express something abstract or a quality. lo fcil the easy thing, part lo bueno the good thing

lo bello lo justo

what's beautiful what is just

lo mejor the best part Lo + adjective is usually translated in English as The adjective thing/part/one/style or What is adjective. For example, Lo difcil es que no comprendo la diferencia. The hard thing is that I don't understand the difference. No viste lo mejor de la pelcula. Lo importante es que estamos juntos. Me gusta lo azl. You didn't see the best part of the movie. What's important is that we are together. I like the blue one.

Vests a lo americano. You dress in the American style/like Americans. The construction lo + adjective + que means How adjective: No sabes lo feliz que estoy. You don't know how happy I am. Veo lo importante que es. Olvid lo bello que eres. I see how important it is. I forgot how beautiful you are.

Comprendes lo fcil que es? Do you understand how easy it is?

Nombres - Spanish Nouns

-o -a -in -tad masculine feminine feminine feminine

Artculo definido
Singular Masculine
el

Artculo indefinido
Singular un un libro un hombre una una mesa una mujer Plural unos unos libros unos hombres unas unas mesas unas mujeres

Plural
los

el hombre

los hombres

Feminine

la

las

la mujer

las mujeres

a + el

al

de + el del

Ello - Spanish neuter subject pronoun, used to mean "it" when referring to something non-specific.
Ello can also be the neuter object of a preposition

Spanish Verbs - Regular -AR Verbs

Singular 1st person 2nd person 3rd person HABLAR 1st person 2nd person 3rd person yo -o t l -as -a Plural nosotros -amos vosotros -is ellos Plural nosotros hablamos vosotros hablis ellos hablan -an

Singular yo hablo t l hablas habla

Spanish Verbs - Regular -ER Verbs

Singular 1st person 2nd person 3rd person APRENDER 1st person 2nd person 3rd person yo -o t -es l -e Singular yo aprendo l aprende Plural nosotros -emos vosotros -is ellos Plural nosotros aprendemos ellos aprenden -en

t aprendes vosotros aprendis

Spanish Verbs - Regular -IR Verbs

Singular 1st person 2nd person 3rd person ABRIR 1st person 2nd person 3rd person yo t l -o -es -e Plural nosotros -imos vosotros -s ellos Plural nosotros abrimos vosotros abrs ellos abren -en

Singular yo t l abro abres abre

Pronombres sujetos - Spanish Subject Pronouns

Singular 1st person yo1 I Plural nosotros we

nosotras5 2nd person 3rd person t you2 vosotros you2 vosotras5 ellos ellas5 Uds.4 they you2

l he, it3 ella she, it3 Ud.4 you2

Hay - there is, there are

Hay is a very common Spanish expression. It is equivalent to the English expression there is or there are: Hay un libro en la mesa. There's a book on the table. Hay tres hombres en la clase. There are three men in the class. Hay muchas cosas a hacer.
conditional future imperfect habra habran habr habrn haba haban present perfect ha habido pretrito subjunctive there would be there would be there will be there will be there was there were there have been there was there were that there is/are

There's a lot to do (There are lots of things to do).

han habido there have been hubo hubieron que haya

que hayan that there are

Ir - To Go - Spanish Verb
Ir - to go - is one of the most common irregular Spanish verbs. yo nosotros voy t vas vosotros l, ella, Ud. va Yo voy al mercado. Quieres ir conmigo? I'm going to the store. Do you want to go with me? vamos vais

ellos, ellas, Uds. van

Ir + a is used to talk about things that are going to happen - el futuro prximo:

Voy a estudiar maana. Van a comer a las ocho.

I'm going to study tomorrow. They're going to eat at 8 o'clock.

Calendar - El Calendario
los das de la semana days of the week lunes Monday martes mircoles jueves viernes sbado domingo las estaciones la primavera el verano el otoo el invierno Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday seasons spring summer autumn winter los meses del ao months of the year enero January febrero marzo abril mayo junio julio agosto septiembre octubre noviembre diciembre February March April May June July August September October November December

Notes 1. The Spanish week starts on Monday. 2. Days and months are not capitalized in Spanish.

Dates in Spanish - La Fecha

Talking about the date in Spanish is a little bit tricky. There are two things to keep in mind: the definite article is often used and (attn: American English speakers) the number always precedes the month. To ask What's the date? say Cul es la fecha? or A cunto estamos hoy? Use the following construction to respond:
Es el Hoy es el Estamos a date + de + month }+ (+ de + year)

Es el 8 de abril. Estamos a 30 de octubre de 1977. Hoy es el 2 de enero de 2000. On the first day of the month, most speakers use the ordinal number primero (first) or 1o (1st) rather than the cardinal number uno. It's April 1st - Es el primero de abril, Hoy es el 1o de abril. but It's July 4th - Es el 4 de julio. To write the short form of the date, it is essential to remember that the date goes first, and then the month. This can be very confusing for American English speakers!

American English April 4, 2000 = 4/8/00 Spanish Es Hoy es Estamos a el 8 de abril 2000 = 8-4-00 day, + date + de + month }+ (+ de + year)

If you want to answer with the day of the week, use the following construction:

Es sbado, 8 abril de 1977. Hoy es martes, 25 de diciembre de 2000. Estamos a lunes, 3 de agosto. To ask What day (of the week) is it? say Qu da es hoy? To answer, simply use (Hoy) Es + the day of the week. Hoy es sbado. Es jueves. Related Vocabulary + Lessons: Calendar Numbers To be Hacer in expressions of time Hacer, which literally means "to do" or "to make," is found in a number of idiomatic expressions. One of this verb's most important uses has to do with expressing time.

C - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter C can be pronounced in two different ways.
Examples 1. 2. When the C precedes an E or an I, it is a soft C and is pronounced like a TH (in Spain)* or an S (in Latin America). When the C precedes an A, O, U, or a consonant it is a hard C and is pronounced like a K. once diciembre como cuatro octubre

*This is what you will hear in the sound files. Also see lessons on CH, Cu, and hard/soft vowels Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

CH - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

In Spanish, CH is considered a single letter.* The Spanish CH is pronounced like the ch in the English words chat and chess. Examples: chico ocho mucho fecha *It's very important to be aware of this when looking something up in a Spanish dictionary. The CH section is between the C and D sections. For example, chico is located after como, ocho follows octubre, etc. Also see lessons on C and H

Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

l Tiempo - Weather
Learn how to talk about the weather in Spanish. How's the weather? Qu tiempo hace? It's... Hace... hot cold cool nice out bad weather windy sunny foggy cloudy It's... raining pouring snowing Est... lloviendo lloviendo a cntaros nevando calor fro fresco buen tiempo mal tiempo viento sol neblina nublado

Note that in Spanish, you use the verb hacer when talking about the weather. You cannot talk about the temperature or condition of the sky using the verbs ser or estar. You do, however, use estar with verbs like llover (to rain) and nevar (to snow), in the construction known as the present progressive.

Tener - To Have - Spanish Verb

Tener - to have - is one of the most common irregular Spanish verbs. yo nosotros tengo t tienes vosotros tenemos tenis

l, ella, Ud. tiene ellos, ellas, Uds. tienen In the simple present tense, it is used just like the English verb to have. Tengo dos hermanos. I have two brothers. Tienes un diccionario? No tenemos dinero. Do you have a dictionary? We don't have any money. Tener in idiomatic expressions Test on tener

Verbs conjugated like tener:

y y y y y y

contener - to contain detener - to detain, stop mantener - to maintain obtener - to obtain retener - to retain

La Tilde - Acute Accent - Spanish Pronunciation

Accents may look strange to anyone whose native language doesn't have any, but they are extremely important in Spanish. Leaving off the accent on a word is a spelling mistake, and may cause confusion. The Spanish acute accent or tilde (, , , , ) serves two purposes: 1. It indicates that the normal rules of word stress are being overridden. The following table lists the normal rules and has examples of words that follow them as well as words that need accents because they break the rules.
Exceptions a. Words that end in a consonant other than N and S have stress on the last syllable. calor estoy salud abril agosto nosotros seora rbol lpiz

b. Words that end in a vowel, S, or N have stress on the penultimate syllable.

sbado jess perdn

c. Most two-vowel combinations diphthong* unless one of them has an accent (exceptions and additional info) *Are pronounced as a single syllable

cuarto medioda diciembre mircoles junio fro

2. Acute accents are also used to distinguish between otherwise identical words, such as s (yes) vs si (if) - learn more. 3. Acute accents are added to verbs with attached object pronouns - learn more. Note: The tilde over the letter n () is something else entirely

Preguntas - Spanish Questions

Asking questions in Spanish is pretty straightforward. There are two main kinds of questions: General questions Sometimes called yes/no questions, general questions are a simple request for verification or denial. There are 3 ways to ask these questions:
1. Form a sentence and put question marks around it (when writing) or raise the intonation of your voice at the end (when speaking). (T) tienes hambre?* Mara est aqu? 2. Invert the subject and verb. Tienes (t) hambre? Est Mara aqu? 3. With a question that you're pretty sure will get a yes answer, you can use one of the following tags at the end:

no? verdad? no es verdad? no es cierto? Tienes hambre, verdad? Mara est aqu, no? You're hungry, right? Maria is here, isn't she?

Information questions Information questions are more complicated; they ask for more information, such as who, what, when, where, why, how, which, for what, etc. Some common information question words:
quin qu who what

cundo when dnde where

por qu why cmo how

Click on the Spanish word to hear it pronounced. Note that all question words have an accent. In order to make a question with quin, simply use it to replace the subject of the sentence and use the third person singular form of the verb.
T tienes hambre. You're hungry. Quin tiene hambre? Who is hungry? Maria est aqu. Quin est aqu? Maria is here. Who is here?

Making a question with the other question words is similar to #2 in general questions: Say the question word, then invert the subject and verb.
Dnde ests? Qu hacen ellos? Where are you? What are they doing?

Cundo vamos a comer? When are we going to eat?

* Note that Spanish has a two-part question mark: an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the question and ? at the end. See my accents page to learn how to type this. * Also note that the subject pronoun is optional.

D - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter D can be pronounced in two different ways.
Similar English sound 1. When the D is at the beginning of a word or after L or N, it is pronounced like dog Spanish examples dos

an English D.

had

diez cundo dnde falda adis nublado perdn sbado salud

2. When the D follows a vowel or any consonant except L or N, it sounds like a voiced English TH. At the end of a word, it may be pronounced more softly or this not at all. bathe

F - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter F is pronounced just like the English letter F.
Spanish examples falda fecha fro por favor caf rosbif

Food - Los Alimentos

tener hambre comer tener sed beber, tomar to be hungry to eat to be thirsty to drink

la comida el desayuno el almuerzo la cena el bocadillo

meal breakfast lunch dinner snack

el aperitivo la sopa

appetizer soup

el plato principal main course la ensalada salad

el postre

dessert

la cocina el comedor el restaurante

kitchen, cooking dining room restaurant

Spanish Negation
To make a Spanish statement or question negative, place no in front of the verb. No tengo un lpiz. I don't have a pencil. Elena no est aqu. Elena is not here. No tienes hambre? Aren't you hungry? There are a number of negative expressions that work with no. no... nunca never no... jams no... nunca ms no... tampoco no... nada no... nadie ya no* todavi no* These negative words may be used in two different ways.
1. Two part usage: Place no in front of the verb and the negative word after it. No hay nadie a la fiesta. Juan no trabaja nunca los sbados. No tengo tampoco un gato. Todava no puedo salir. There's no one at the party. Juan never works on Saturday. I don't have a cat either. I can't go out yet.

never again neither, not either nothing no one no more not yet

no... en/por ninguna parte nowhere

2. One part usage: Place the negative word in front of the verb and drop the no (the negative expressions with * cannot be used this way). Nadie est a la fiesta. Juan nunca trabaja los sbados. Tampoco tengo un gato. No one is at the party. Juan never works on Saturday. I don't have a cat either.

Nada va a pasar.

Nothing is going to happen.

Venir - To Come - Spanish Verb

Venir - to come or to happen - is a common irregular Spanish verb.
yo t vengo vienes nosotros vosotros venimos vens

l, ella, Ud. viene

ellos, ellas, Uds. vienen

Venir is used just like its English equivalent to come:

l viene a las dos. Venimos de Per. Una idea me viene.

He's coming at two. We come from (we're from) Peru. An idea is coming to me.

Venir can also mean to happen or occur.

Me vienen muchas desgracias. Qu viene despus?

A lot of mishaps happen to me/I have a lot of mishaps. What happens next?

Venir can also be the helping verb for the Spanish present progressive in order to mean "to have been doing." Qu vienes diciendo? Vengo estudiando. What have you been doing? I've been studying.

H - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter H is silent. When you see an H, pronounce the word as if it weren't there.* Examples: hola hablar hace *Also see CH and silent letters

K - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter K is pronounced just like the English letter K, but is extremely rare; it's found mainly in foreign words. kilmetro Kenia

M - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter M is pronounced just like the English letter M.

Spanish examples madre martes almuerzo como hambre pimienta

Body - El Cuerpo
hair head face eye nose cheek mouth lip tooth ear neck chest back stomach arm shoulder elbow wrist hand finger thumb leg el pelo la cabeza la cara el ojo la nariz la mejilla la boca el labio el diente la oreja el cuello el pecho la espalda el estmago el brazo el hombro el codo la mueca la mano el dedo el pulgar la pierna

fingernail la ua

knee ankle foot toe

la rodilla el tobillo el pie el dedo del pie

En el Restaurante - In the Restaurant

Essential vocabulary (also see Food) Qu le gustara? Me gustara... Quisiera... Cunto cuesta...? Soy vegetariano/a Tengo alergia a... No puedo comer... poco hecho medio hecho muy hecho el/la camarero/a el/la cocinero/a la cuenta la carta la propina servicio incluido Cuidado! Buen provecho! Prohibido fumar What would you like? I would like... How much does ... cost? I am a vegetarian I'm allergic to... I can't eat... rare medium well done waiter/waitress cook check/bill menu tip tip included Watch out! enjoy your meal no smoking

No se permite llevar animales no pets allowed

Possessive De
The Spanish preposition de (of) is used to express possession, in place of the 's or s' found in English. To say that someone or something belongs to someone or something else, invert the possessor and the thing possessed and put de between them.

el libro de Juan la idea de los nios

Juan's book (literally, the book of Juan) the kids' idea

la abuela de Ana y Pablo Pablo and Ana's grandmother la iglesia de Madrid Madrid's church Note that you must include the definite article in front of the thing possessed.

Spanish Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs must be used with a reflexive pronoun in order to indicate that the subject is performing the action of the verb upon itself. Reflexive verbs exist in English, but they are much more common in Spanish. Reflexive verbs usually have to do with parts of the body, clothing, or one's state of mind. Here are some common reflexive verbs:
aburrirse acostarse afeitarse alegrarse animarse arreglarse asustarse baarse calmarse caerse cansarse cepillarse colocarse cortarse decidirse despedirse despertarse divertirse dormirse ducharse enfermarse enojarse lastimarse to get bored to go to bed to shave to be happy to cheer up to get ready to get scared to bathe to calm down to fall (down) to get tired to brush (hair, teeth) to get a job to cut (hair, nails) to make up one's mind to say goodbye to to wake up to have a good time to fall asleep to take a shower to get sick to get angry to hurt oneself

lavarse levantarse maquillarse peinarse pintarse ponerse preocuparse probarse quebrarse quedarse quemarse quitarse romperse sentarse

to wash (up) to get up to put on makeup to comb (hair) to put on makeup to put on (clothes) to worry to try on to break (arm, leg) to stay, remain to burn (oneself, one's body) to take off (clothes) to tear (clothes); to break (arm, leg) to sit down

sorprenderse to be surprised vestirse to get dressed

G - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter G can be pronounced in two different ways.
Similar English sound 1. When the G precedes A, O, U, or a consonant, it is pronounced like a hard English g. It may also be softened to something approaching 2, below. gave go gum glow None. Similar to the Parisian R, or the CH in loch. Spanish examples agosto agua galleta guisantes grande gente gigante

2. When the G precedes an E or I, it is pronounced like a Spanish J.

Also see lesson on hard/soft vowels

J - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter has a single pronunciation.
Spanish examples The Spanish J is a harsh, throaty sound, similar to the Parisian R or the CH in the Scottish word loch. jugo jamn jueves

jess

Ropa - Spanish Clothing

un abrigo un impermeable una chaqueta un suter una camiseta unos pantalones un traje de bao unos calcetines unos zapatos unos deportivos unas botas unas sandalias un pijama coat raincoat jacket sweater T-shirt pants bathing suit socks shoes sneakers boots sandals pajamas

unos pantalones cortos shorts

Las Tiendas - Spanish Stores

la tienda de ultramarinos grocery store el mercado la panadera la pastelera la confitera la lechera la carnicera la chacinera la pescadera el estanco (informal) la droguera la farmaca la lavandera outdoor market bakery pastry shop candy store dairy butcher pork butcher fish market tobacco shop drugstore pharmacy laundromat

la tintorera la ropera los grandes almacenes

dry cleaner clothing store department store

Adjetivos posesivos - Spanish Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are the words used in place of articles to indicate to whom or to what something belongs. Their usage is similar to English, but there are some differences in form. In Spanish there are different forms of possessive adjectives depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural. There are also two different sets of possessive adjectives: short/unstressed forms (explained in this lesson) and long/stressed forms. The following table shows the short forms of Spanish possessives. Don't worry - I'll explain them all below.
Singular masc my your (t) his, her, your (Ud.) our your (vosotros) their, your (Uds.) mi tu su fem Plural masc mis tus sus vuestros vuestras vuestro vuestra sus su fem

nuestro nuestra nuestros nuestras

Spanish has many more possessives than English. For 2nd and 3rd person plural subjects (nosotros, vosotros), there are four forms of the possessive. The gender and number of the noun possessed determine which form to use.
OUR masc sing: pencil fem sing: pen fem plural: tables MY sing: pencil mi lpiz nuestro lpiz nuestra pluma YOUR vuestro lpiz vuestra pluma

masc plural: books nuestros libros vuestros libros nuestras mesas vuestras mesas YOUR tu lpiz HIS/HER/THEIR su lpiz

Singular subjects (I, you, he) and third person plural (they) have only two forms: singularand plural.

plural: tables mis mesas tus mesas sus mesas

An important difference between Spanish and English is in the third person. In English you have to choose between his, her, its, and their, whereas in Spanish there is no distinction by gender, only by number. Su and sus can each mean his, her, its, your, or their depending on the context. Su cama can mean his bed, her bed, its bed (e.g., the dog's), your bed, or their bed. In order to clarify, the possessive de may be used. Tengo su libro. De quin? El libro de Ana. When describing two or more nouns, a possessive adjective must be used in front of each one. his brother and sister = su hermano y su hermana

L - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter L is pronounced just like the English letter L.
Spanish examples leche lima lpiz hola falda pulgar

Also see LL page.

LL - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The pronunciation of the Spanish letter LL varies depending on where you are in the Spanish-speaking world. On this site, as in most of Latin America and parts of Spain, it is pronounced like an English Y. Not demonstrated here but for your reference, it can also sound like an English Y with a hint of an L in front of it (softer than in the English words million or scallion), or in other places, notably Argentina, it is pronounced like the soft g in mirage.
Examples lloviendo cuello mejilla rodilla

Also see L page. In Spanish, LL is considered a single letter. It's very important to be aware of this when looking something up in a Spanish dictionary. The LL section is between the L and M sections. For example, llama is located after luz.

COLORS - LOS COLORES

Colors, like other Spanish adjectives, must change in gender and number to agree with the nouns that they modify. However, there are a few exceptions: 1. Violeta is invariable. 2. Azul, verde, and gris have only singular and plural forms; they are the same for masculine and feminine. You can listen to the pronunciation for each color by clicking on the underlined masculine singular color. masc sing. fem sing. masc plural fem plural red purple blue green yellow orange black rojo violeta azul verde amarillo negro roja violeta azul verde amarilla negra rojos violeta azules verdes amarillos negros rojas violeta azules verdes amarillas negras

anaranjado anaranjada anaranjados anaranjadas

white grey brown pink light blue dark red

blanco gris marrn rosado azul claro

blanca gris marrn rosada azul clara

blancos grises marrones rosados

blancas grises marrones rosadas

azules claros azules claras

rojo oscuro roja oscura rojos oscuros rojas oscuras

Todo, Toda, Todos, Todas

Todo is a very common and versatile word in Spanish. It can be used as an adjective or as a pronoun. Like other Spanish adjectives and pronouns, todo has to be "conjugated" so that it agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies or replaces: singular plural masculine todo todos feminine toda todas Todo is usually followed by a definite article or possessive adjective + noun and means things like all, every, or the whole. Todos los libros All the books / Every book Todo el mundo Toda la clase Todos los das Everyone (lit. "all the world") The whole class Every day

Todas las chicas Every girl / All the girls Todos mis perros All my dogs When todo is used as a pronoun, it means everyone or everything. Todo es importante. Everything is important. Todos estudian. Everyone is studying. Quiero comprar todo! I want to buy everything!

Spanish Past Tense - Pretrito

The pretrito is the Spanish simple past tense, used to talk about things that were completed in the past. Compr una chaqueta. I bought a jacket. Comimos a las ocho. Fueron al banco. We ate at 8. They went to the bank.

Hiciste tu tarea? Did you do your homework? The pretrito and imperfecto are often confusing for Spanish students - learn the difference. Conjugating the pretrito: Regular verbs

Most regular Spanish -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs are conjugated with a standard root (found by dropping the infinitive) plus the appropriate endings.
Hablar - to talk yo habl l habl nosotros hablamos ellos hablaron t hablaste vosotros hablasteis

Comer - to eat yo com l comi nosotros comimos ellos comieron t comiste vosotros comisteis

Vivir - to live yo viv t viviste l vivi nosotros vivimos vosotros vivisteis ellos vivieron

Note that the pretrito endings are identical for -ER and -IR verbs. There are also, however, a number of verbs which are irregular in the pretrito. These can be broken into two categories: stem-changing verbs and irregular verbs. Use the links below to learn how to conjugate these verbs in the pretrito, then take the test.

N - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter N is pronounced just like the English letter N.
Spanish examples nariz anillo cinturn mano lloviendo pinza

Also see page.

- Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The ~ accent (called a tilde) on the Spanish letter indicates that the word used to be spelled with two Ns but now the tilde stands in for the second one. It's very important to include the tilde when writing or typing, because N and are two different letters. There are words that mean different things depending on whether the word is spelled with an N or an . For example, una = one while ua = nail. Also, the section of the dictionary comes after the entire N section. is pronounced like the ni in onion.
Examples ua bao mueca

pauelo

Also see N page.

At Home in Spanish - En la casa

Mi casa es su casa! - Make yourself at home! (Literally, My house is your house) el cuarto house room la casa la pieza at my house en mi casa hall stairway porch balcony patio el pasillo la escalera la veranda el balcn el patio kitchen dining room bathroom office, study bedroom basement attic la cocina el comedor el bao el despacho el dormitorio el stano el desvn

den, living room el saln

yard, garden el jardn

Introductions - las Presentaciones

English What's your name? Spanish Cmo se llama? (formal) Cmo te llamas? (familiar) Reponse Me llamo... English My name is...

I'd like to introduce you to... Permtame presentarle a... (formal) Mucho gusto. Nice to meet you. This is... His/Her name is... Este es... (familiar) Se llama... " " " "

Politeness - Spanish Vocabulary

please thank you (very much) I can't thank you enough! por favor (muchas) gracias cunto te lo agradezco!

you're welcome, don't mention it de nada it was my pleasure bless you! (after a sneeze) no hay de qu Jess! or Salud!

pardon me excuse me won't you please excuse me I'm (very) sorry cheers enjoy your meal Sir, Mr. Ma'am, Mrs. Miss

perdn con permiso tenga a bien disculparme lo siento (mucho) salud (y pesetas) buen provecho seor seora seorita

Family - La Familia
In order to talk about your family, you need to know Spanish family vocabulary. Man/Boy father brother son baby husband Hombre/Chico el padre el hermano el hijo el nio el marido el esposo el nieto el primo el to el sobrino Woman/Girl Mujer/Chica mother la madre sister daughter baby wife grandmother cousin aunt niece la hermana la hija la nia la mujer la esposa la abuela la prima la ta la sobrina

grandfather el abuelo grandson cousin uncle nephew

granddaughter la nieta

Languages + Nationalities in Spanish ~ Idiomas y nacionalidades

As much as I would like to list every language and nationality in the world, it's simply not possible. Without meaning any offense to anyone whose country/language is not listed, here are some you should definitely know. :-) Nationality* Language** Country/Continent Africa africano America (North + South) americano***

Argentina Asia Australia Brazil Canada China Colombia Egypt England Europe France Germany India Italy Japan Mexico Poland Portugal Russia Spain Switzerland

argentino asitico australiano brasileo canadiense chino colombiano egipcio ingls europeo francs alemn indio italiano japons mejicano polaco portugus ruso espaol suizo

el espaol el ingls el portugus el francs, el ingls el chino el espaol el rabe el ingls el francs el alemn el hindi (plus many others) el italiano el japons el espaol el polaco el portugus el ruso el espaol el alemn, el francs, el italiano

United States estadounidense el ingls * Nationalities, which are both adjectives and proper nouns, are not capitalized in Spanish. When feminine and/or plural, they follow the same agreement rules as other adjectives. ** This is just a guide. Obviously some languages have speakers in many countries, but here they are listed in the countries where they are primarily spoken. Note that the names of languages are masculine and not capitalized, and that, as in English, most are identical to the masculine adjective of their primary nationality (e.g., espaol = Spanish language and Spanish person). *** This refers to anyone from either North or South America; to talk about someone from the United States, use estadounidense

Professions ~ Spanish for Beginners

What's your job? Learn to talk about what you do with this list of some common professions in Spanish.

An indefinite article indicates that the noun is always that gender, no matter what the gender of the person it is referring to. Un/a indicates that the noun is spelled the same for both men and women. No article indicates that the noun is made feminine by replacing the final o with a (cajero -> cajera), or by adding a after or (director -> directora). actor un actor actress una actriz artist baker butcher carpenter cashier civil servant cook doctor electrician employee engineer flight attendant maid manager mechanic nurse pilot plumber police officer receptionist secretary student teacher waiter/waitress writer un/a artista panadero carnicero carpintero cajero funcionario cocinero mdico un/a electricista empleado ingeniero un(a) auxiliar de vuelo una criada director mecnico enfermero el piloto un plomero un polica una recepcionista secretario un/a estudiante profesor camarero escritor

lawyer (barrister) abogado

To Be - Ser and Estar

There are two Spanish verbs that mean to be.* Each of these verbs is used to express a different type of being - they are not interchangeable. SER Present tense:
yo t soy eres nosotros vosotros somos sois

l, ella, Ud. es

ellos, ellas, Uds. son

All tenses Ser is used to describe permanent or long-term attributes like y origin y nationality y what something is made of y physical characteristics y personality y religion y relationships y professions
Soy de Espaa. Eres francs? La casa es de adobe. Somos grandes. Sois inteligentes! Son catlicos? I'm from Spain. Are you French? The house is made of adobe. We are tall. You guys are smart! Are they Catholic?

Soy la esposa de Juan. I'm Juan's wife. Eres profesor? Are you a teacher?

ESTAR Present tense:

yo t estoy ests nosotros estamos vosotros estis ellos, Ud. estn

l, ella, Ud. est

All tenses Estar is used to describe the current state of a noun - temporary, changeable attributes like y location** y attitude y mental / physical state
Estoy en Marruecos. I'm in Morocco. San Jos est en Costa Rica.** San Jos is in Costa Rica. Ests enfrente de la casa? Est contento hoy! Are you in front of the house? He's happy today!

Cmo estis? Estmos enfermos.

How are you? We're sick.

*Note: There are a number of idiomatic expressions in which the verb tener means to be. ** In the second example, estar is used even though the location of San Jos will never change. For locations, whether temporary or permanent, estar is always the verb to use

Pronombres sujetos - Spanish Subject Pronouns

The subject of a sentence is the person or thing which performs the action. Subject pronouns replace this person or thing. You must understand subject pronouns before you begin conjugating Spanish verbs, as the form of verbs changes for each one. Spanish is what linguists call a "pro-drop" language, which simply means that the pronoun can be dropped. It's not necessary for comprehension, the way it is in English, because the subject of the verb is evident from the conjugated verb. "I go" can be translated by "yo voy" or simply "voy" (from the verb ir - to go).
Pronombres de sujeto Singular 1st person 2nd person 3rd person yo t
1

Plural nosotros we nosotras5 vosotros you2 vosotras5 ellos ellas5 Uds.4 they you2

I you2

l he, it3 ella she, it3 Ud.4 you2

Notes 1. Yo is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, unlike its English counterpart I. It is pronounced differently in Argentina. 2. There are four words for you in Spanish.
singular plural familiar t formal Ud. vosotros Uds.

3. Vosotros is used only in Spain. In Latin America, Uds. is the only plural "you," used to refer to both familiar and formal groups. The formal "yous" are used to show respect or to indicate the the person is unknown to the speaker. In Argentina and some other Spanish-speaking countries, there is an additional pronoun: vos. 4. In Latin America, since all Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, the 3rd person subject pronouns which correspond to the gender may sometimes be used. Thus l can refer to a male (he) or a masculine noun (it) and ella can refer to a female (she) or a feminine noun (it).* 5. Ud. and Uds. are short for usted and ustedes, respectively, and may also be written Vd. and Vds. Note that they use the third person conjugations. 6. Nosotras, vosotras, and ellas means we, you, and they respectively when all of the nouns (both people and things) referred to are feminine. If there are any masculine nouns, the subject pronoun defaults to the masculine nosotros, vosotros, or ellos. *Spanish also has a neuter subject pronoun (ello).

Spanish Verbs - Stem-Changing Verbs

Stem-changing verbs | Spelling change verbs Spanish has two kinds of verbs that undergo spelling changes during conjugation. Spelling change verbs undergo consonant changes in certain conjugations, while stem-changing verbs are characterized by changes in vowels. Stemchanging verbs are those that have a vowel spelling change in the stem of all forms except nosotros and vosotros. The endings for stem-changing verbs are the same as for regular -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs, so you should make sure that you understand those conjugations before working on this lesson. Spanish has three different stem-changing patterns: 1. E changes to IE
QUERER - to want yo quiero l quiere advertir ascender atravesar cerrar comenzar descender despertarse divertirse empezar entender mentir pensar perder preferir quebrar querir recomendar sentarse sentir nosotros queremos ellos quieren to warn to go up to cross to close to begin to go down to wake up to have fun to begin to understand to lie to think to lose to prefer to break to want to recommend to sit down to feel t quieres vosotros queris

Similarly-conjugated verbs (note that there are -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs in this category):

2. O changes to UE
PODER - can, to be able to yo puedo nosotros podemos

t puedes vosotros podis l puede ellos pueden to go to bed to eat lunch to count to cost to hurt to sleep to find to play to die to show to smell to try to remember to be used to to fly to return

Similar verbs (there are -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs in this category):
acostarse almorzar contar costar doler dormir encontrar jugar* morir mostrar oler** probar recordar soler volar volver

* In jugar, the U changes to UE (juego, juegas...) ** In oler, the O changes to HUE (huelo, hueles...) 3. E changes to I
REPETIR - to repeat yo repito l repite nosotros repetimos ellos repiten t repites vosotros repets

Similar verbs (only -IR verbs in this category):

despedirse to say good-bye gemir impedir medir pedir rer seguir servir to moan, groan to prevent to measure to ask for to laugh to follow, continue to serve

sonrerse vestirse

to smile to dress

Basic Vocabulary
Hablo (un poco de) espaol. Habla ingls? Qu quiere decir ----? Repita, por favor. Ms despacio Otra vez No comprendo. No s. Tengo una pregunta. Tengo un problema. Cmo? s no de acuerdo y/o quin qu cundo dnde por qu cmo I speak (a little) Spanish. Do you speak English? What does ---- mean? Repeat, please. More slowly One more time I don't understand. I don't know. I have a question I have a problem What? yes no OK and / or (lesson) who what when where why how

Cmo se dice ---- en espaol? How do you say ---- in Spanish?

Politeness - Spanish Vocabulary

please thank you (very much) I can't thank you enough! por favor (muchas) gracias cunto te lo agradezco!

you're welcome, don't mention it de nada

it was my pleasure bless you! (after a sneeze) pardon me excuse me won't you please excuse me I'm (very) sorry cheers enjoy your meal Sir, Mr. Ma'am, Mrs. Miss

no hay de qu Jess! or Salud! perdn con permiso tenga a bien disculparme lo siento (mucho) salud (y pesetas) buen provecho seor seora seorita

Nmeros - Spanish Numbers

Learn to count in Spanish in this lesson on Spanish numbers with sound files. 1 uno, una 21 veintiuno/veintiuna 2 dos 22 veintids 3 tres 23 veintitrs 4 cuatro 24 veinticuatro 5 cinco 25 veinticinco 6 seis 26 veintisis 7 siete 27 veintisiete 8 ocho 28 veintiocho 9 nueve 29 veintinueve 10 diez 30 treinta 11 once 31 treinta y uno/una 12 doce 32 treinta y dos 13 trece 40 cuarenta 14 catorce 41 cuarenta y uno/una 15 quince 42 cuarenta y dos 16 diecisis 50 cincuenta 17 diecisiete 60 sesenta 18 dieciocho 70 setenta 19 diecinueve 80 ochenta 20 veinte 90 noventa Notes on Spanish numbers

Uno changes to un when used in front of a masculine noun: un hombre, veintin hombres. Una is used to refer to a feminine noun: una mujer, treinta y una mujeres. Uno is used only when counting (uno, dos, tres) or when it refers to a masculine noun but does not precede that noun: Cuntos libros tienes? - Uno. Spanish numbers 21-29 are usually a single word composed as follows: y take veinte y drop the final e y add i (meaning "and") y add the digit 21-29 can also be written as three words, just as the 30's through 90's are: y take veinte, treinta, cuarenta, etc. y add y (and) y add the digit

Nmeros ordinales y fracciones - Spanish Ordinal Numbers and Fractions

Ordinal numbers are used to express rank or position, while fractions express a portion or part of a whole. Ordinal numbers Fractions first primero 1st 1 second segundo 2nd 2 third tercero 3rd 3 fourth cuarto 4th 4 fifth sixth quinto sexto 5th 6th 5 6 7 8 1/2 (half) una mitad 1/3 un tercio 1/4 1/5 1/6 1/7 1/8 1/9 1/10 2/3 3/4 un cuarto un quinto un sexto un sptimo un octavo un noveno un dcimo dos tercios tres cuartos

seventh sptimo 7th eighth octavo 8th ninth tenth

noveno 9th 9 dcimo 10th 10

Notes All ordinal numbers have feminine forms - just change the o to a: la segunda (2), la sptima (7) Fractions may also be used with parte: una tercia parte - a third una octava parte - an eighth tres dcimas partes - three tenths When primero and tercero precede a masculine noun, they change to the short adjectives primer and tercer Beginning with fifth, Spanish ordinal numbers and fractions are the same word; only the article distinguishes them: the fifth = el quinto, a fifth = un quinto The ordinal numbers up to tenth usually precede the noun. After tenth, however, ordinal numbers are commonly expressed with just the cardinal number after the noun:

el segundo piso - the second floor el piso veinte - the twentieth floor

Time - La Hora
What time is it? It's one o'clock Es la una. It's two o'clock It's 3:30 It's 4:15 It's 4:45 It's 5:10 It's 6:50 It's 7am It's 3pm It's 6pm It's noon It's midnight Son las dos. Son las tres y media. Son las tres y treinta. Son las cuatro y cuarto. Son las cuatro y quince. Qu hora es? 01:00 h. 02:00 h. 03:30 h. 04:15 h.

Son las cinco menos cuarto. 04:45 h. Son las cinco menos quince. Son las cuatro y cuarenta y cinco. Son las cinco y diez. Son las siete menos diez. Son las seis y cincuenta. Son las siete de la maana. Son las tres de la tarde. Son las quince. Son las seis de la noche. Son las dieciocho. Es medioda. Son las doce de da. Es medianoche. Son las doce de la noche. 05:10 h. 06:50 h. 07:00 h. 15:00 h. 18:00 h. 12:00 h. 00:00 h.

Note Spanish doesn't have perfect equivalents for am and pm. You can use de la maana for am, de la tarde from noon until 6pm, and de la noche from 6pm until midnight, but time is usually expressed on a 24-hour clock. Thus 3pm would be translated as las quince or 15:00 h. Hacer, which literally means "to do" or "to make," is found in a number of idiomatic expressions. One of this verb's most important uses has to do with expressing time.

Ir - To Go - Spanish Expressions
Ir is used in a number of common expressions. ir a caballo ir al grano ir a lo suyo to ride horseback to go right to the point to go one's own way, to act selfishly

ir a medias ir a pie ir bien ir con tiento ir con uno ir de brazo ir de compras ir de juerga ir delante ir de mal en peor ir para los 30 ir por ir sobre ruedas ir tirando ir + present participle irse irse de prisa a eso voy si vamos a eso Qu va! Vaya! Vaya con Dios

to go halves to walk, go on foot to get along well to go quietly to agree with someone to walk arm in arm to go shopping to go out on a spree to go ahead to go from bad to worse to be going on 30 (years old) to go for to go smoothly to get by to start/be gradually doing something (present progressive) to go away to rush away I'm coming to that for that matter Nonsense! You don't say! God be with you, good-bye.

Furniture - Los Muebles - Spanish for Beginners

Spanish vocabulary related to furniture and appliances. in the Study/Office desk chair lamp computer printer un escritorio una silla una lmpara un ordenador una impresora bed in the Living Room couch un canap dresser in the Bedroom una cama un aparador stove oven sink in the Kitchen un hornillo un horno un fregadero

refrigerator un frigorfico

(book)shelf una estantera

alarm clock un despertador

table stereo telephone poster television

una mesa un estreo un telfono un cartel una televisin

closet

un ropero Miscellaneous

door window carpet rug curtain wall floor ceiling

una puerta una ventana una moqueta un tapete una cortina una pared el suelo el techo

in the Bathroom shower bathtub mirror sink una ducha una baera, un bao un espejo un lavabo

Imperfecto - Spanish Imperfect

The imperfect tense is used to talk about a past action or state of being without specifying when it began or ended. It is often equivalent to "was ___-ing" in English. The Spanish imperfect can also express repeated actions in the past equivalent to "used to" in English. Dnde estabas ayer? Where were you yesterday? Quera ir al cine. Ella lea el peridico. Partais? Llova anoche? I wanted to go to the movies. She was reading the newspaper. Were you leaving? Did it rain last night?

No tenan tiempo de estudiar. They didn't have time to study. Bailbamos todos los das. We used to dance every day. The imperfecto and pretrito are often confusing for Spanish students - learn the difference. Conjugating the imperfecto The imperfecto is relatively easy, because all regular and all but three irregular Spanish verbs are conjugated with the standard root (found by dropping the infinitive) plus the appropriate endings.
Hablar - to talk yo hablaba nosotros hablbamos t hablabas vosotros hablabais l hablaba ellos hablaban

Comer - to eat yo coma t comas l coma nosotros comamos vosotros comais ellos coman

Vivir - to live yo viva t vivas l viva nosotros vivamos vosotros vivais ellos vivan

Note that the yo and l forms are identical; if the context leaves ambiguity as to which person was doing the action, be sure to use the pronoun. Ir, ser, and ver are the only irregular verbs in the imperfecto.
Ir - to go yo iba t ibas l iba nosotros bamos vosotros ibais ellos iban

Ser - to be yo era l era nosotros ramos ellos eran t eras vosotros erais

Ver - to see yo vea l vea nosotros veamos ellos vean t veas vosotros veais

P - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter P is pronounced just like the unaspirated English letter P, as in spell or gasp.
Spanish examples pelo pie pimienta deportivos septiembre sopa

Q - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter Q is pronounced like the English letter K.
Spanish examples que queso quien requeson biquini

To make the [kw] sound that the English Q makes, Spanish uses cu.

Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

A la escuela - At School
desk chalkboard chalk map teacher student pen pencil eraser calculator un escritorio una pizarra una tiza un mapa* book un/a profesor/a un/a estudiante una pluma un lpiz un borrador una calculadora course homework test una clase la tarea un examen dictionary notebook paper un libro un diccionario un cuaderno el papel school high school college classroom una escuela un colegio una universidad una aula student desk un pupitre

piece of paper una hoja de papel

backpack una mochila *Although mapa ends in an A, it is masculine

Office - La Oficina

Learn office vocabulary like desk, email, computer, and more. office una oficina computer desk chair pen pencil stapler staple paper clip mail un escritorio una silla una pluma un lpiz una grapadora una grapa un clip el correo briefcase paper piece of paper filing cabinet printer copy machine fax machine typewriter calculator

un ordenador una impresora una copiadora una telecopiadora una mquina de escribir una calculadora un maletn el papel una hoja de papel un fichero

adding machine una sumadora

highlighter un marcador

email telephone

el correo electrnico un telfono

file folder secretary

una carpeta un/a secretario/a

cell phone un telfono celular

Adjetivos demostrativos - Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) are words which indicate a specific noun. Spanish demonstrative adjectives are more complicated than their English counterparts, because there are three different sets, as explained below. Remember that all Spanish adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. The three sets of Spanish demonstrative adjectives are este (this - something near the speaker), ese (that - something near the listener), and aquel (that - something far from both the speaker and listener). this that that masculin singular este feminine singular esta masculin plural ese esa aquel aquella

estos esos aquellos

feminine plural estas esas aquellas Because both ese and aquel mean "that," I've added phrases into the English translations in order to clarify the difference between these two demonstrative adjectives. Este profesor habla mucho. This teacher talks a lot. Esa camisa es bonita. Esta chica est lista. Esos libros son estpidos. Me gusta aquella casa. That shirt (you're wearing) is pretty. This girl is ready. Those books (you just picked up) are stupid. I like that house (on the other side of the street). Aquellos estudiantes no comprenden. Those students (over there) don't understand.

Each set of Spanish demonstrative adjectives corresponds with at least one place word. este aqu or ac - here ese ah - there aquel all or all - over there

Saber vs Conocer - Spanish Verbs "To Know"

Saber and conocer can both be translated by the English verb to know, but they are used in completely different situations. Saber means to know a fact or to know how to do something. It is often followed by an infinitive or a subordinate clause. No s la respuesta. I don't know the answer.

Sabis francs? Sabemos cocinar. In the pretrito, saber means to learn or to find out: Supe el secreto ayer. Expressions with saber Present Tense Conjugations for Saber yo s tu sabes l sabe Saber conjugations

Do you know French? We know how to cook.

I learned/found out the secret yesterday.

nosotros sabemos vosotros sabis ellos saben

Conocer means to know someone or to be familiar with someone, something, or somewhere. It can only be followed by the a direct object, never by an infinitive or a subordinate clause. Remember that if the direct object is a person, the preposition a must be used. Conozco a tu padre. No conocen la obra de Cervantes. Ud. conoce Barcelona? I know your father. They're not familiar with Cervantes' work. Are you familiar with Barcelona?

In the pretrito, conocer means to meet someone for the first time. Juan conoci su novia en Costa Rica. Present Tense Conjugations for Conocer yo conozco tu conoces l conoce nosotros conocemos vosotros conocis ellos conocen Juan met his girlfriend in Costa Rica.

R - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The pronunciation of the Spanish letter R can be difficult for students. It is pronounced by rolling or trilling the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth: 1. Open your mouth about as wide as you would to say "oh," but don't purse your lips.

2. Position your tongue so that it lies straight, touching neither the top nor the bottom of your mouth. 3. Bend the front half of your tongue and place the tip slightly behind where you would put it to pronounce T or N. The tip of your tongue should be lightly touching the back of what linguists call the "alveolar ridge" - the flat "plane" between your teeth and the "canyon" where your tongue usually sits. 4. Tense your tongue, but only let it touch this spot lightly. 5. Exhale through your mouth, allowing your tongue to vibrate against the your mouth. It is essential for your tongue to be tensed, but for it to touch your mouth only lightly. If you are touching this spot too hard, you'll end up saying something like "D, D." Too loose, and you'll just whistle.
Examples abrigo brazo cara farmaca tenedor

When R is at beginning of a word, it is pronounced like RR (see RR page).

Examples reloj rojo ropera rosado

If you have other tips on pronouncing the Spanish R, please post them on the forum. Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

RR - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The pronunciation of the Spanish letter RR can be difficult for students. It is the same sound as the R (see R page), but twice as long.
Examples arretes arroz esprragos marrn

Note that when R is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced like RR. In Spanish, RR is considered a single letter. It's very important to be aware of this when looking something up in a Spanish dictionary. When words have RR in the middle, they will be after words with R + any other letter. For example, carro is located after cartel. Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

Personality ~ Spanish for Beginners

Learn how to describe your friends and family in Spanish with this list of common personality traits. Note that I only listed the masculine singular form of these adjectives. For information on making them feminine and/or plural, please see the adjective lesson. athletic atltico

brave friendly funny interesting kind nice outgoing patient patriotic smart strong studious

valiente amistoso divertido interesante amable simptico

cowardly cobarde serious lazy boring mean serio perezoso aburrido mezquino

hard-working trabajador

open-minded imparcial abierto paciente patritico inteligente fuerte estudioso

snobbish esnob shy tmido impatient impaciente stupid naive weak playful estpido ingenuo dbil guasn

sophisticated sofisticado

l Pasado - Pretrito vs Imperfecto - Spanish Past Tenses

One of the most striking differences between Spanish and English is in verb tenses. For English speakers, learning how to use the various past tenses in Spanish can be very tricky (and vice versa), because English has several tenses which either do not exist or do not translate literally into Spanish. Anyone who has studied Spanish is aware of the troublesome relationship between the pretrito and imperfecto. The imperfecto (yo hablaba) translates to the English imperfect (I was talking) while the pretrito (yo habl) literally translates to the English simple past (I talked) but can also be translated as the English present perfect (I have talked) or the emphatic past (I did talk). It is extremely important to understand the distinctions between pretrito and imperfecto in order to use them correctly and thus express past events accurately. The pretrito indicates I. A single event Fui a Espaa el ao pasado - I went to Spain last year. Visit Barcelona el sbado - I visited Barcelona on Saturday. II. One or more events or actions that began and ended in the past Fui a Espaa - I went to Spain. Visit unos museos - I visited some museums.

III. An event that occurred, interrupting another action (see imperfecto III below) ...cuando me dijeron la verdad - ... when they told me the truth. ...cuando mi hija naci - when my daughter was born. IV. Changes in an existing physical or mental state at a precise moment or for a particular isolated cause Tuve miedo cuando vi el perro - I was scared when I saw the dog. The imperfecto is used for I. A habitual or repeated action Iba a Espaa cada ao - I went (used to go) to Spain every year. Visitaba mucho la Sagrada Familia - I often visited la Sagrada Familia. II. An ongoing action with no specified completion Iba a Espaa - I was going to Spain. Visitaba unos museos - I was visiting museums. III. Description/background information; set the scene of how things were or what was happening when there was an interruption (see pretrito III above) Viva en Costa Rica cuando... - I was living in Costa Rica when... Estaba en mi cama cuando... - I was in bed when... IV. General description of physical or mental states of being Tena miedo de perros - I was afraid of dogs. V. Expression of the time of day or age in the past Eran las cinco de la maana - It was five a.m. Era sus cumpleaos; tena doce aos - It was his birthday; he was twelve. Thus the imperfecto is normally used for descriptions of the past, while the pretrito narrates specific events. In addition, the imperfecto often sets the stage for an event expressed with the pretrito. Compare the following passages: Imperfecto: Cuando tena dieciocho aos, quera ser arquitecto. Me gustaba mucho la obra de Antoni Gaud y esperaba comprender su genio. When I was eighteen, I wanted to be an architect. I really liked Antoni Gaud's work and I hoped to understand his genius.

Pretrito: Decid estudiar en Espaa e hice los formularios de inscripcin, pero las universidades no me admitieron. Conoc a un pintor y comenc a estudiar con l. I decided to study in Spain and filled out the application forms, but the universities did not admit me. I met a painter and started studying with him. The following list of key words and phrases may help you figure out whether to use imperfecto or pretrito. Imperfecto: normalmente - usually, de vez en cuando - from time to time, antes - formerly, todos los das - every day, los lunes - on Mondays. Pretrito: una vez - once, dos veces - twice, tres/cuatro/etc. veces - three/four/etc. times, muchas veces - several times, ayer - yesterday, un da - one day, el lunes - on Monday, bruscamente - suddenly, de repente - all of a sudden. There are a few verbs in Spanish which have a different meaning depending on which past tense is used. Verb With pretrito With imperfecto Conocer Poder Querer Saber Tener to meet to try to learn, find out to receive to know to want, love to not want to know to have could (was able to, succeeded) could (a possibilty - no indication as to whether it happened)

No querer to refuse

Tener* to get, become to be *When used in expressions where it means "to be."

S - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The pronunciation of the Spanish letter S is pretty straightforward. As in English, there are two pronunciations.
Sound Notes Examples camisa escuela gris sombrero mismo desde

[s]

The S is usually "soft," like the English S in words like house and some.

[z]

When the S precedes a voiced consonant (b, d, g, l, m, n), it is a "hard" sound, like the S in rose and cause.

Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

T - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

T is one of the easiest Spanish letters to pronounce. It is pronounced just like the English letter T, but without the slight aspiration that exists in English.
Spanish examples tarea traje violeta estmago cartel brazalete

Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

Mood ~ Spanish for Beginners

A list of some common Spanish adjectives related to mood - practice this new vocabulary by describing your friends and family. These adjectives are all used with the verb estar - to be. Note that I only listed the masculine singular form of these adjectives. For information on making them feminine and/or plural, see adjective lesson. angry enojado bored calm confident confused delighted exhausted happy impatient nervous rushed, in a hurry tired sad scared sorry worried aburrido tranquilo seguro perplejo encantado agotado feliz impaciente nervioso de prisa cansado triste asustado arrepentido inquieto

embarassed, ashamed avergonzado

Spanish Direct Objects ~ Objetos directos

Just like English, the Spanish language has direct object pronouns, words that replace the direct object. This is so that we don't say things like "Maria was at the bank today. When I saw Maria I smiled." It's much more natural to say "Maria was at the bank today. When I saw her I smiled." The direct object is the person or thing that receives the action of the verb in a sentence. To find the direct object in a sentence, ask the question Who? or What? I have a book - Tengo un libro. Lo tengo. = I have it. What do I have? A book. He knows Maria - Conoce a Maria. La conoce. = He knows her. Who does he know? Maria. The Spanish direct object pronouns are as follows:

1st person 2nd person

me te

me you him, you, it

nos us os you los them, you

3rd person masc. lo

3rd person fem. la her, you, it las them, you Note: Lo is also a neuter object pronoun. The most difficult thing to remember about direct object pronouns is this: they usually go in front of the verb in Spanish. I'm eating it. - Lo como. He knows her. - La conoce. I love you. - Te quiero. You love me. - Me quieres. For infinitives, present participles, and affirmative commands, pronouns can get attached to the end - learn more. Lo voy a hacer OR Voy a hacerlo - I'm going to do it. Los quiero comer OR Quiero comerlos - I want to eat them. Note: When deciding between direct and indirect objects, the general rule is that if the person or thing is preceded by a preposition, that person/thing is an indirect object. If it is not preceded by a preposition, it is a direct object. In Spanish, the preposition a must be used between every verb (except tener) and the person that follows, thus all verbs except tener take an indirect object (even though some might take a direct object in English).

G Verbs - Spanish Verbs

There are a number of Spanish verbs which are regular in all but the first person singular. These are known as G verbs, because the first person singular requires an unexpected G. Click on the links for conjugations, uses, and idiomatic expressions. caer - to fall hacer - to do, make poner - to put salir - to go out traer - to bring valer - to be worth

Spanish Imperative - Imperativo

The imperative is a verb mood used to give a command, either affirmative (Go!) or negative (Don't go!). The Spanish imperative exists for 5 different grammatical people: t, Ud., nosotros, vosotros, and Uds. Espera a tu hermano. Wait for your brother. No escriba en su libro. Hablemos de otra cosa. No gritis! Don't write in your book. Let's talk about something else. Don't shout!

Contesten las preguntas. Answer the questions. Conjugations The imperative for all commands for Ud., Uds., and nosotros and for negative commands for t and vosotros are formed as follows: Regular -AR verbs: Take the present tense of the verb and change the A at the beginning of the suffix to E. Present tense Imperative(s) t estudias no estudies

Ud. estudia nosotros estudiamos vosotros estudiis

estudie, no estudie estudiemos, no estudiemos no estudiis

Uds. estudian estudien, no estudien Regular -ER verbs: Change the E at the beginning of the suffix to A. t bebes no bebas Ud. bebe nosotros bebemos vosotros bebis beba, no beba bebamos, no bebamos no bebis

Uds. beben beban, no beban Regular -IR verbs: y For t, Ud., and Uds., change the E at the beginning of the suffix to A. y Nosotros: Change the I at the beginning of the suffix to A. y Vosotros: Change to I. t abres no abras Ud. abre nosotros abrimos vosotros abrs abra, no abra abramos, no abramos no abris

Uds. abren abran, no abran Notes: y The imperative endings for -ER and -IR verbs are identical. y Spanish imperative conjugations are the same as subjunctive conjugations. Affirmative commands with t and vosotros are conjugated a bit differently. y T: Take the present tense and drop the final S: estudias --> estudia, bebes --> bebe, abres --> abre. y Vosotros: Take the infinitive and replace the final R with a D: estudiar --> estudiad, beber --> bebed, abrir --> abrid.

W - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

y

The letter W is only found in words borrowed from other languages, and its pronunciation is not standardized. Below are the most common Spanish words with W and their pronunciation.
W pronounced like.. English Spanish B or English W watt Spanish B English W English W Spanish B water closet, lavatory pitching wedge (golf) weekend welterwight

Spanish wat wter wedge weekend wlter

whiskey windsurf y

English W or GW English W

whiskey windsurfing

Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation. In Spain, the letter Y is pronounced like the English Y in yes. In Latin America, it is quite different - learn more.
Examples y yo yogur mayo desayuno

Y - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

y

Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation. Indirect objects are the people or things in a sentence to whom/what or the action of the verb occurs. I'm talking to os. - Hablo a Jos. To whom am I talking? Jos. He gives books to the students - Da unos libros a los estudiantes. To whom does he give books? - The students. Indirect object pronouns are the words that replace the indirect object, which is usually a person. The Spanish indirect object pronouns are as follows: 1st person me me nos us 2nd person te you os you 3rd person le him, her, you, it les them, you Like direct object pronouns, Spanish indirect object pronouns are placed in front of the verb. I'm talking to him. - Le hablo. He writes to them - Les escribe. I'm giving the bread to you. - Te doy el pan. She answered me - Ella me contest. For infinitives, present participles, and affirmative commands, pronouns can get attached to the end - learn more. Le voy a decir OR Voy a decirle - I'm going to tell him. Les quiero traer el regalo OR Quiero traerles el regalo - I want to bring the gift to them. Note: When deciding between direct and indirect objects, the general rule is that if the person or thing is preceded by a preposition (with the exception of the personal a) that person/thing is an indirect object. If it is not preceded by a preposition, it is a direct object.

Objetos indirectos - Spanish Indirect Objects

y y y y y

y y

y y y

Spanish Verbs - Indirect Object Pronoun Verbs

There are about a dozen Spanish verbs which must be conjugated with an indirect object pronoun. This grammatical construction does not exist in English, but it's not difficult once you get used to it.

The following verbs require an indirect object pronoun (the le represents the pronoun in the infinitive):
convenirle encantarle entusiasmarle faltarle fascinarle gustarle hacerle falta importarle interesarle quedarle sobrarle tocarle to suit, be good for to love something to be excited about something to be missing something, to not have to fascinate, to be fascinated by to like to need something to care about something, to mind to be interested in to have something left to have more than enough of something to be one's turn

OK, so here's how it works. The indirect object precedes the verb. The verb can only be conjugated in the third person singular or plural, depending on the grammatical number of the subject which follows. For example: I care about school. School is singular, so the verb, importar, will be in the third person singular, and we end up with Me importa la escuela (literally School is important to me). In the sentence I like books, the subject is plural, so the verb will be conjugated in the third person plural: Me gustan los libros (literally Books are liking to me). This construction can also be used with an infinitive as the subject: We like to read - Nos gusta leer. The following table shows conjugations for indirect object pronoun verbs.
GUSTAR - to like me te le nos os les gusta el libro. gusta el libro. gusta el libro. gusta el libro. gusta el libro. gusta el libro. me te le gustan los libros. gustan los libros. gustan los libros.

nos gustan los libros. os les gustan los libros. gustan los libros.

Note: Le can refer to him, her, it, or you (Ud.) and les can refer to them or you (Uds.), so to clarify, you can add a + person at the beginning of the sentence. (Remember that the preposition a must be used whenever a verb is followed by a person - more information): He likes art - A l le gusta el arte. Ana has 100 pesos left - A Ana le quedan 100 pesos. They are excited about traveling - A ellos les entusiasma viajar.

X - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

y

The Spanish letter X has two different pronunciations, just like its English counterpart. There is no real rule as to which X's are pronounced which way; it's just something to memorize for each word.
Sound Similar English sound Examples

[ks] [gz] y

axe, mix exact, example

xito, excepto exacto, exigir

Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

Z - Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter Z is pronounced like the soft C (the letter C in front of E and I); that is, it is pronounced like a TH (in Spain)* or an S (in Latin America).
azul arroz brazo cabeza calzones zapatos

*This is what you will hear in the sound files. Note: The letter Z can never precede an E or an I in Spanish; it is replaced by the letter C. (Why is this?) For example: y lpiz -> lpices y yo comienzo -> yo comenc Please note that this explanation is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

Los Pasatiempos ~ Hobbies, Sports, Games ~ Spanish for Beginners

Here are the Spanish names of some common hobbies, sports, and games. You can use these words with verbs like gustarse and detestar, or if you want to say that you do or play that item, use it with the verb in the third column. The fourth column has verbs that can be used alone to talk about doing that item, e.g., cocinar - to cook. Note: Regional variations in vocabulary are particularly strong in this topic; as always, remember that this vocabulary is Castilian Spanish, and that there may be other words used in Latin America and different parts of Spain. English biking chess cooking dancing fishing football Spanish el ciclismo el ajedrez la cocina el baile la pesca ir de hacer el ftbol americano jugar trabajar en el jardn Use with Or use jugar hacer jugar hacer cocinar bailar pescar ir en bicicleta

basketball el baloncesto

gardening la jardinera

hiking hunting jogging a movie music reading sailing skiing soccer

el excursionismo la caza el footing una pelcula la msica la lectura la vela el esqu el ftbol

hacer ir de hacer ver

ir de excursin cazar ir al cine leer

escuchar tocar a un instrumento hacer jugar hacer ver jugar hacer luchar nadar navegar esquiar

swimming la natacin television la televisin tennis wrestling el tenis la lucha

Spanish Double Object Pronouns

A Spanish sentence can have both a direct and an indirect object pronoun. These "double object pronouns" cannot be separated, and the indirect pronoun always precedes the direct pronoun. He's giving it to us. - Nos lo da. What is he giving? - It. To whom? - Us. I'm showing it to you. - Te lo muestro. What am I showing? - It. To whom? - You. Double object pronouns usually precede the verb(s) they modify. In the case of infinitives, present participles, and affirmative commands, they can get attached to the end - learn more. Double object pronoun replacements When a third person indirect object pronoun (le or les) precedes a third person direct object pronoun (lo, la, los, or las), the indirect pronoun must be changed to se. Context will let you know whether the se is replacing le or les. le + les + lo se lo la = se la los se los

las

se las

He's giving it to them. - Se lo da. I'm showing it to her. - Se lo muestro. This replacement is not optional; native Spanish speakers would never say "le lo" or "les lo." However, when se stands for les and is followed by the neuter pronoun lo, Spanish speakers in Latin America will often replace lo with los for clarification. Nadie se los dijo - No one told them. (In Spain: Nadie se lo dijo) Es verdad, se los aseguro [a Ustedes] - It's true, I assure you. (In Spain: Se los aseguro)

Futuro - Spanish Future Tense

The future is one of the simplest Spanish tenses. There is only one set of endings and most verbs - even those which are irregular in the present tense - use their infinitive as the root of the conjugation. To form the future tense of -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs, add the appropriate ending to the infinitive. Singular 1st person 2nd person 3rd person yo t l ella Ud. - -s - Plural nosotros -emos vosotros -is ellos Uds. -n

Some verbs have irregular future stems, but they still use the same endings as regular verbs. The following table lists verbs with irregular future stems (note that the stem always ends in R, and that these are the exact same as the irregular conditional stems): Verb caber decir hacer or Future stem Similarly-conjugated verbs cabrdirharoir- *

haber habr-

poder podr-

poner pondrquerer querrrer saber salir tener valer venir reir- * sabrsaldrtendrvaldrvendr-

componer, disponer, imponer, proponer, reponerse, suponer sonrer

contener, detener, mantener, obtener, retener

* These verbs lose their accent when used as future stems. Here are examples of -AR, -ER, -IR, and irregular verbs in the future tense: hablar yo t nosotros vosotros hablar hablars comer comer comers comer comeris comern partir partir partirs partir partiris partirn saber sabr sabrs sabr sabris sabrn ir ir irs ir iris irn

l/ella/Ud. hablar hablaris

hablaremos comeremos partiremos sabremos iremos

ellos/Uds. hablarn

Pronunciacin - Spanish Pronunciation

Spanish pronunciation is fairly straight-forward, because there are regular rules for the pronunciation of each letter and letter combination, with very few exceptions. Most letters represent a single sound, although the pronunciation of some letters depends on the location of the letter in the word and the letters beside it.

Spanish Quantities, Weights, and Measures

Learn how to talk about quantities so that you can go shopping and follow recipes in Spanish. una botella una caja una cucharada una cucharadita un kilogramo bottle box tablespoon teaspoon kilogram

un kilo una lata una libra un litro una milla un pie un pote una pulgada una taza un vaso can, tin pound liter mile foot jar, pot, jug inch cup glass

Spanish Comparatives and Superlatives

Spanish comparatives and superlatives are fairly simple. Comparatives are the comparison of one person or thing to another (more, less, or as... as), while superlatives indicate that one person/thing is the most, best, least, or worst of all. I. Comparatives come in three varieties: Superiority Inferiority Equality ms... (que) tan... como tanto... como Notes 1. With ms and menos, the que + noun/pronoun construction is (optional). With tan and tanto como, however, the noun/pronoun is required. 2. In comparatives of equality, tan is used with adjectives (tan guapo como) and adverbs (tan rpidamente como), while tanto (tanta, tantos, tantas) is used with nouns (tanto dinero como) and verbs (trabajamos tanto como). 3. Bueno and malo have irregular comparative forms (see III, below). T eres ms interesante (que nosotros). You are more interesting (than we are). Ana es ms grande (que Lucas). Soy tan guapo como Jos. Ana is taller (than Lucas). I'm as handsome as Jos. Sevilla es menos caro (que Barcelona). Sevilla is less/not as expensive (than/as Barcelona). more... than or ____er than as... as as much/many as

menos... (que) less/fewer... than

Tengo tanto dinero como Uds.

I have as much money as you.

II. Superlatives are formed with the definite article + noun + ms or menos + adjective. Note that when the superlative uses "in" (e.g., the tallest in the world, the happiest in the house), "in" is translated by de. Carlos es la persona ms inteligente que trabaja aqu. Carlos is the most intelligent person who works here. Es la ciudad menos interesante del mundo. Es el profesor ms amable de la escuela. It's the least interesting city in the world. He is the nicest teacher in the school.

III. Exceptions: Bueno and malo have irregular forms for the comparative and superlative. Comparative Superlative Bueno mejor(es) Malo peor(es) lo(s)/la(s) mejor(es) lo(s)/la(s) peor(es)

In the superlative, they are placed in front of the noun they modify. Mi restaurante es mejor (que esto). El libro es peor (que la pelcula). Es la peor idea del mundo. My restaurant is better (than this one). The book is worse (than the movie). It's the worst idea in the world.

Son los mejores profesores de la escuela. They are the best teachers in the school.

Spanish Present Participle - Gerundio

The English present participle is the -ing form of the verb. In Spanish, it's the -ndo form.
Formation Regular verbs

I.

-AR verbs

Drop the infinitive ending and add -ando. hablar tomar mirar hablando tomando mirando

II.

-ER verbs, -IR verbs

Drop the infinitive ending and add -iendo. aprender comer aprendiendo comiendo

poner abrir describir escribir

poniendo abriendo describiendo escribiendo

Formation

Irregular Verbs

I.

Verbs with stem that ends in vowel - Drop the infinitive and add -yendo. caer leer traer cayendo leyendo trayendo

II.

-IR verbs with stem-change in third person preterite - Same stem-change in the present participle. decir dormir pedir poder venir diciendo durmiendo pidiendo pudiendo viniendo

III.

Ir (to go)

--> yendo

Escuch los pjaros cantando. Usage - The Spanish present participle has two main uses. I. Gerund - An impersonal verb form which is used as an adjective or adverb to express an action in progress. It is used to refer to an action which is simultaneous with or prior to the action of the other verb in the sentence. Caminando por la plaza, vi a mi abuelo. Pas todas sus vacaciones esperando una sorpresa. Aprendo mucho estudiando con ellos. II. Progressive / Continuous Tenses Present Estoy leyendo. I am reading. While walking in the plaza, I saw my grandfather. He spent his entire vacation waiting for a surprise. I learn a lot by studying with them.

Imperfect Past Future

Estaban estudiando. Estuve leyendo. Estar trabajando.

They were studying. I was reading. He will be working.

Note The Spanish gerund cannot be used as a noun, the way it is in English and French. This is a common mistake, even for native Spanish speakers. X Me gusta leyendo. X Trabajando es importante. X --> Escuch los pjaros cantar. --> Me gusta leer. --> Trabajar es importante.

Spanish Present Progressive ~ Present Continuous

The Spanish present progressive, or present continuous, is very similar to its English counterpart (to be + -ing). In both languages, the present progressive expresses an in-progress action, with an emphasis on its current, temporary aspect. No estamos mirando la televisin. Estoy trabajando; no puedo salir. Por qu no ests haciendo caso del profesor? We're not watching television. I'm working; I can't go out. Why aren't you paying attention to the teacher?

In English, the present progressive can also be used for something that will happen in the future. Not so in Spanish. This use of the English present progressive is expressed in Spanish with the simple present, future, or near future. I'm going to the bank later. Voy Ir Voy a ir Sale Saldr Va a salir

} al banco ms tarde. } maana.

He's leaving tomorrow.

The Spanish present progressive is usually formed with the present tense of estar + present participle of the action verb. Estoy leyendo Ests hablando I am reading You are speaking

Est llorando

He is crying

There are five other verbs which can replace estar and add a different nuance to the present progressive: andar to be (in the process of) doing something Anda buscando sus llaves. ir to start/be gradually doing something Voy comprendiendo la verdad. llevar I'm starting to understand the truth. He's looking for his keys.

to have been doing something (English present perfect progressive) Llevo dos aos trabajando aqu. I've been working here for two years.

seguir

to go on/keep/continue doing something Sigue lloviendo. It's still raining.

venir

to have been doing something (English present perfect progressive) Es lo que vengo diciendo. That's what I've been saying.

Vocales - Hard and Soft Spanish Vowels

Spanish vowels are divided into two categories: hard and soft. Hard vowels (A, O, U) cause the consonant that precedes them to be pronounced with a hard sound, which I've abbreviated in this lesson as [HS], while soft vowels (E, I) are preceded by a soft sound [SS]. (Note that consonants - R, L, etc. - are always preceded by the hard sound.) The consonants affected by this hard/soft distinction are C, G, and, to a lesser extent, Z.* C HS A O U [k] cama cmo G [g] gafas abogado Z [s] zapatos perezoso

cuchara mucho gusto zumo

Cons. clase SS E I [th] cebolla

gris [j] gente

n/a n/a*

cinturn gigante

*The letter Z is a hard consonant, meaning that it Z has no "soft" pronunciation and, with very few exceptions, cannot precede an E or an I; it must be replaced by the letter C (as explained below). *** Some Spanish words need a hard sound in front of a soft vowel, or a soft sound in front of a hard vowel. This is the reason behind many Spanish spelling changes in plurals and irregular verb conjugations (mostly in the preterite and subjunctive). For certain plurals and verb conjugations, it is necessary to change the spelling in order to maintain a hard sound in front of a soft vowel or a soft sound in front of a hard vowel. To make a hard sound in front of a soft vowel: C --> QU G --> GU Z --> C sacar --> yo saqu buscar --> yo busqu pagar --> yo pagu jugar --> yo jugu comenzar --> yo comenc lpiz --> lpices To make a soft sound in front of a hard vowel: C --> Z G --> J Learn more about spelling change verbs Please note that this lesson is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation. hacer --> l hizo coger --> yo cojo

Pronombres posesivos ~ Spanish Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are the words which replace nouns modified by possessive adjectives. In Spanish there are different forms of possessive pronouns depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

Masculine mine yours (t) el mo los mos el tuyo los tuyos

Feminine la ma las mas la tuya las tuyas la suya las suyas

his/hers/its/yours (Ud.) el suyo los suyos ours yours (vosotros) theirs/yours (Uds.)

el nuestro la nuestra los nuestros las nuestras el vuestro la vuestra los vuestros las vuestras el suyo los suyos la suya las suyas

Note that the Spanish possessive pronouns for third person singular (l, ella, Ud.) and plural (ellos, Uds.) are identical. There are two important things to know about Spanish possessive pronouns: 1. The possessive pronoun must match the noun being replaced in gender and number. 2. The appropriate definite article must be used. Otherwise, Spanish and English possessive pronouns are very similar. Mi hermano est aqu; dnde est el tuyo? Me gustan mis libros y ella prefiere los suyos. Tus ideas son buenas, pero las mas son mejores. Estas plumas, son las vuestras o las nuestras? My brother is here; where's yours? I like my books and she prefers hers. Your ideas are good, but mine are better. These pens, are they yours or ours?

When the masculine singular possessive pronoun is preceded by the preposition a or de, the preposition contracts with the definite article (el): Habla a tu padre; yo hablar al mo. l disfruta de su curso, pero yo no disfruto del mo. Talk to your dad; I'll talk to mine. He's enjoying his class, but I'm not enjoying mine.

Note that Spanish possessive pronouns are identical to stressed form possessive adjectives, but their usage is different: possessive pronouns replace nouns, while possessive adjectives modify nouns. There is also a neuter possessive pronoun which is used when the possessed thing is abstract or unspecific, in the sense of one's part, share, things, task, etc.

The Spanish neuter possessive pronoun is formed with the neuter article lo plus the masculine singular possessive pronoun (mo, to, suyo, nuestro, vuestro). No quieren lo mo? Perdi lo suyo. Cunto es lo nuestro? Don't you want mine (my work, my share...)? He lost his (his stuff, his things). How much is ours (our share)?

Potencial - Spanish Conditional

The conditional is one of the simplest Spanish verb forms. There is only one set of endings and most verbs - even those which are irregular in the present tense - use their infinitive as the root of the conjugation. To form the conditional of -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs, add the appropriate ending to the infinitive. Singular 1st person 2nd person 3rd person yo t l ella Ud. -a -as -a Plural nosotros -amos vosotros -ais ellos Uds. -an

Some verbs have irregular conditional stems, but they still use the same endings as regular verbs. The following table lists verbs with irregular future stems (note that the stem always ends in R, and that these are the exact same as the irregular future stems): Verb caber decir hacer or Conditional stem Similarly-conjugated verbs cabrdirharoir- * componer, disponer, imponer, proponer, reponerse, suponer sonrer

haber habr-

poder podrponer pondrquerer querrrer saber reir- * sabr-

salir tener valer venir

saldrtendrvaldrvendrcontener, detener, mantener, obtener, retener

* These verbs lose their accent when used as conditional stems. Here are examples of -AR, -ER, -IR, and irregular verbs in the conditional: hablar yo t nosotros vosotros hablara hablaras comer comera comeras comera comerais comeran partir partira partiras partira partirais partiran saber sabra sabras sabra sabrais sabran ir ira iras ira irais iran

l/ella/Ud. hablara hablarais

hablaramos comeramos partiramos sabramos iramos

ellos/Uds. hablaran

Diptongos e hiato - Spanish Diphthongs and Hiatus

When a Spanish word has two vowels side by side, various pronunciation issues come into play: syllable division, diphthongs, and hiatus. In terms of syllable division, Spanish vowels are divided into two categories: strong vowels (A, E, O) and weak vowels (I, U). To pronounce Spanish correctly, you need to understand strong and weak vowels and how they affect pronunciation. 1. Two strong vowels Pronounced as a hiatus* with normal rules of word stress (see lesson) empleado estreo europeo impermeable abierto australiano baile estudioso fuerte guasn ingenuo

2. Strong vowel + weak vowel (most common) Pronounced as a diphthong* with emphasis on the strong vowel.

3. Two weak vowels

Pronounced as a diphthong with emphasis on the second vowel. 4. Exceptions When the pronunciation of a word does not follow these rules, an acute accent is placed on the stressed vowel.

suizo cuidado asitico fro jardinera mircoles natacin patritico polica televisin

*Notes Hiatus - Two vowels pronounced as two distinct syllables. Diphthong - Two vowels pronounced as a single syllable. When this happens, the unstressed weak vowel has a special sound: the letter I sounds like Y (as in yet) and U sounds like W (as in will). The letter U - When U's purpose in a word is to make a consonant hard rather than soft (see lesson) as in portugus and guisantes, it does not count as a vowel and thus the above rules do not apply.

Please note that this lesson is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

On the Phone in Spanish ~ Por telfono

The telephone has its own special vocabularly - here are some useful phrases to know when making or receiving phone calls in Spanish. Al! Diga! Bueno! (Mexico) Quisiera hablar con ___. De parte de quin? Quin llama? Soy ___. No cuelgue, por favor. La lnea est ocupada. Est comunicando.

Hello? I'd like to speak to___. Who is calling? I'm / It's ___. Please hold. The line is busy.

un telfono un telfono celular una llamada un nmero de telfono una gua telefnica un tono de marcar una cabina de telfono un contestador automtico llamar por telfono marcar descolgar desconectar dejar un mensaje/recado colgar sonar

telephone cell phone phone call phone number phone book dial tone phone booth answering machine to call to dial to pick up (the phone) to cut off to leave a message to hang up to ring

una llamada a cobro revertido collect / reversed charge call

Adverbios ~ Spanish Adverbs

An adverb is an invariable word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs can provide additional information about manner, quantity, frequency, time, or place. Adverbs explain when, how, where, how often, or to what degree something is done. Some common Spanish adverbs: MANNER bien mal mejor peor alto well poorly better worse loudly bastante mucho poco demasiado muy QUANTITY quite, enough a lot few, little too much very

bajo -mente*

softly -ly

tanto ms menos

so/as much/many more less TIME

FREQUENCY a veces siempre raramente nunca sometimes hoy maana ayer ahora tarde PLACE aqu all all todas partes alguna parte here there over there everywhere somewhere temprano ya por fin actualmente pronto entonces always rarely never frecuentemente often today tomorrow yesterday now late early already finally currently soon next, then

*Nearly every Spanish word that ends in -mente is an adverb, usually of manner. Its English equivalent ends in -ly:
y y y

rpidamente - rapidly posiblemente - possibly tristemente - sadly

The placement of Spanish adverbs can be difficult. Whereas in English their placement is sometimes arbitrary (they might be found before or after the verb, or even at the beginning or end of the sentence), the placement rules for Spanish adverbs are much stricter. 1. When a Spanish adverb is modifying a verb, it is placed after the verb. Comimos bien este maana. We ate well this morning.

Los libros llegaron afortunadamente. Fortunately the books arrived. OR The books arrived, fortunately. 2. An adverb cannot be placed in between two verbs or between an auxiliary verb and main verb; it is placed after both of them. Vamos a comer bien. We're going to eat well.

Has aprendido rpidamente. You have learned quickly OR You have quickly learned.

3. When an adverb is modifying an adjective or another adverb, is is placed in front of the word it is modifying. Comimos muy bien. We ate very well.

Sus ideas son completamente locas. His ideas are completely crazy. There are more rules to the placement and uses of Spanish adjectives, but these three apply to the majority of situations. An upcoming lesson will have more details.

Subjuntivo - Spanish Subjunctive - Conjugations of Regular Verbs

The subjunctive is usually considered the most difficult Spanish verb form for students, but hopefully this lesson will simplify matters for you. In Part I, we will learn how to form the present subjunctive of regular verbs. In Part II, we will learn the present subjunctive of irregular verbs. In Parts III, IV, and V, we'll take an in-depth look at using the Spanish subjunctive. Regular -AR verbs: Take the present tense of the verb and change the A (or O, in yo form) at the beginning of the suffix to E. HABLAR ...que yo ...que t ...que l/ella/Ud. ...que nosotros ...que vosotros ...que ellos/Uds. Present hablo hablas habla hablis hablan Subjunctive hable hables hable hablis hablen

hablamos hablemos

-ER verbs: Take the present tense and change the E (or O) to A. COMER ...que yo ...que t ...que l/ella/Ud. ...que nosotros ...que vosotros ...que ellos/Uds. Present como comes come comis comen Subjunctive coma comas coma comis coman

comemos comamos

-IR verbs: The conjugation rules for -IR verbs are a bit more complicated.

y y y y

yo form - change O to A t, l, and ellos forms - change E to A nosotros form - change I to A vosotros form - change to I

If this seems too complicated, try this: take off the present tense ending and add the subjunctive ending. ABRIR ...que yo ...que t ...que l/ella/Ud. ...que nosotros ...que vosotros ...que ellos/Uds. Present Subjunctive Subj. ending abro abres abre abrs abren abra abras abra abris abran -a -as -a -amos -is -an

abrimos abramos

Stem-changing verbs: Stem-changing -AR and -ER verbs follow the above rules; they use the same stem as in the present tense and thus maintain their stem changes in the subjunctive. PENSAR ...que yo ...que t ...que l/ella/Ud. ...que nosotros ...que vosotros ...que ellos/Uds. PODER ...que yo ...que t ...que l/ella/Ud. ...que nosotros ...que vosotros ...que ellos/Uds. Present pienso piensas piensa pensis piensan Present puedo puedes puede podis pueden Subjunctive piense pienses piense pensis piensen Subjunctive pueda puedas pueda podis puedan

pensamos pensemos

podemos podamos

Notes:
y y y

Stem-changing -IR verbs are irregular and are thus explained on the irregular conjugations page. In the subjunctive, the first and third person singular conjugations are identical. Spanish subjunctive conjugations are the same as imperative conjugations.

Spanish Dieresis - La Diresis -

y When the letter G precedes a U plus a hard vowel, the U and the vowel are both pronounced. The U is pronounced like an English W: y guasn y guapo In order to obtain this W sound in front of a soft vowel, the comes into play. The two dots over the U are called a dieresis and indicate that two adjacent vowels both need to be pronounced as a diphthong: y vergenza y lingstica Note: In Spanish, the dieresis is only found on the U, and it can only precede an E or I. When a U is followed by a hard vowel, as in guapo, the W sound is automatic. Remember that a U without dieresis + E or I just makes the G hard (lesson on hard/soft vowels); the dieresis is what indicates that the U has its own sound. Please note that this lesson is only a guideline for the Spanish that I know, which is Castilian Spanish. There are many regional variations in Spanish pronunciation.

y y

Love and Friendship in Spanish ~ Amor y amistad

y

Spanish is a Romance language, which means it must be romantic, right? Here's the most romantic Spanish vocabulary of all. :-) I love you Will you marry me? to date to get engaged to be engaged to get married kiss hug engagement marriage wedding Te quiero Te amo Quieres casarte conmigo? citar salir con prometirse estar prometido casarse un beso un abrazo el compromiso el matrimonio la boda las bodas

wedding anniversary honeymoon St. Valentine's Day (card) present flowers candy clothes perfume jewelry engagement ring wedding ring husband fiance lover boyfriend* friend

el aniversario de bodas la luna de miel (la tarjeta del) da de San Valentn el regalo las flores el dulce la ropa el perfume las joyas el anillo de prometida el anillo de boda

el marido wife el esposo el novio un amante el novio el amigo girlfriend

la mujer la esposa la novia una amante el novia la amiga querida (mi) amor

dear, sweetheart querido (mi) amor

y y y

*Novio and novia can be used for boy/girlfriend as well as for fianc, so you need to pay attention to the context in order to know which one the speaker means

Spanish Past Participle

The English past participle is the -ed form of the verb. In Spanish, it's the -do form.
Formation Regular verbs

I.

-AR verbs

Drop the infinitive ending and add -ado. hablar tomar mirar hablado tomado mirado

II.

-ER verbs, -IR verbs

Drop the infinitive ending and add -ido. aprender aprendido

comer salir

comido salido

Formation

Irregular Verbs

I.

Verbs with stem that ends in vowel - Drop the infinitive and add -do. caer leer traer cado ledo trado

II.

Completely irregular past participles: abrir cubrir decir describir escribir hacer ir morir poner romper ser ver volver abierto cubierto dicho descrito escrito hecho ido muerto puesto roto sido visto vuelto

Usage - The Spanish past participle is used mainly in perfect tenses. Present perfect Past perfect Future perfect He comido. Haban llegado. Habrs trabajado? I have eaten. They had arrived. Will you have worked?

Pluscuamperfecto - Spanish Pluperfect

The Spanish pluperfect (aka past perfect) is used to indicate an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past. The latter can be either mentioned in the same sentence or implied.

Ya haba salido (cuando t llamaste). No haban comido (antes de hacer su tarea).

I had already left (when you called). They hadn't eaten (before doing their homework).

Fui al mercado por la maana; ya haba ido al banco. I went to the store this morning; I had already gone to the bank. Conjugating the Spanish Pluperfect The pluperfect is a compound verb formed with the imperfect of the auxiliary verb haber + the past participle of the main verb. HABLAR yo t haba hablado nosotros habamos hablado ellos ellas Uds. SALIR yo t haba salido habas salido nosotros habamos salido vosotros habais salido ellos ellas Uds. haban salido habas hablado vosotros habais hablado haban hablado

l ella haba hablado Ud.

l ella haba salido Ud.

Physical Descriptions ~ Spanish for Beginners

Spanish vocabulary used to describe someone physically - you can practice it by describing your friends and family. Note that in the first section, the masculine singular form of the adjectives is listed (except for pretty, which is normally used to describe women), while in the second section, the adjectives are plural with eyes but singular with hair. For information on changing adjectives to agree with the word they are modifying, see my adjective lesson. What's s/he like? Cmo es? Qu tal es? S/He is... tall short fat l/Ella es... alto bajo gordo

thin handsome pretty ugly tanned

delgado guapo bonita feo bronceado

S/He has... l/Ella tiene... blue eyes ojos azules green hazel brown grey dark black brown red blond straight curly wavy short long hair verdes garzos morenos canas pelo moreno negro marrn rojo rubio liso rizado ondulado corto largo melena freckles dimples pecas hoyuelos

Spanish Coordinating Conjunctions - Conjunciones de coordinacin

Coordinating conjunctions | Subordinating conjunctions Coordinating conjunctions provide a link between similar words or groups of words, such as nouns, verbs, people, etc. Jos y Ana hablan francs. Quiero un taco o una enchilada. Jos and Ana speak French. I want a taco or an enchilada.

Espera a tu hermano, entonces abre la puerta. Wait for your brother, then open the door. Voy a Madrid pero no tengo mucho dinero. I'm going to Madrid but I don't have much money.

Note that in each example, the conjunction is joining similar parts of speech. For this reason, these are called coordinating conjunctions:
y y y y

Jos and Ana are both people Taco and enchilada are both things Wait for your brother and open the door are both commands I'm going and I don't have are both current actions/states of being

The most common Spanish coordinating conjunctions are: entonces o o... o pero sea... sea y so, then or either... or but either... or and

no... ni... ni neither... nor

Imperfecto de Subjuntivo - Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect tense of the subjunctive mood is used to express the same subjectivity as the present subjunctive, but in the past. The imperfect subjunctive has three main uses: 1. Express subjectivity in the past after the same verbs, impersonal expressions, and conjunctions as the present subjunctive. For the imperfect subjunctive to be needed, the verb in the main clause has to be in one of the following tenses/moods: preterite, imperfect, conditional, or pluperfect. Quera que lo hicieras. Fue una lstima que no pudiera venir. Yo ira al banco para que tuviramos dinero. I wanted you to do it. It was too bad that he couldn't come. I would go to the bank so that we'd have money.

2. Make a very polite request or suggestion (only with the verbs deber, poder, and querer). Quisiera dos libros, por favor. I'd like two books, please.

Pudiera Ud. ayudarnos?

Could you (possibly) help us?

3. In conditional sentences (si clauses) and with the conjunction como si. Si tuviera dinero, ira contigo. Me escucha como si fuera su profesor. Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugations To conjugate the imperfect subjunctive, take the third person plural preterite form of any regular, irregular, or stemchanging verb, drop the -RON ending to find the radical, and add the appropriate ending: -RA conjugation yo -ra t -ras l -ra Notes:
y y y

If I had money, I would go with you. He listens to me as if I were his teacher.

-SE conjugation yo -se t -ses l -se nosotros -semos vosotros -seis ellos -sen

nosotros -ramos vosotros -rais ellos -ran

The yo and l forms of the imperfect subjunctive are identical. In the nosotros form of both conjugations, an acute accent is added to the last vowel in the radical. There are two complete sets of conjugations for the Spanish imperfect subjunctive. Although you only need to memorize and use one or the other, you still need to be able to recognize both. The -RA set of conjugations is more colloquial than the -SE set.

For example... HABLAR - ellos hablaron yo hablara t hablaras l hablara yo hablase t hablases l hablase nosotros hablramos vosotros hablarais ellos hablaran

nosotros hablsemos vosotros hablaseis ellos hablasen

TENER - ellos tuvieron

yo tuviera t tuvieras l tuviera yo tuviese t tuvieses l tuviese

nosotros tuviramos vosotros tuvierais ellos tuvieran

nosotros tuvisemos vosotros tuvieseis ellos tuviesen

Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo - Spanish Pluperfect Subjunctive

The pluperfect tense of the subjunctive mood is used to express the same subjectivity as the present subjunctive, but, like the pluperfect indicative, at a point before another action in the past. The pluperfect subjunctive is used in three main ways: 1. To express subjectivity in the past after the same verbs, impersonal expressions, and conjunctions as the present subjunctive. For the pluperfect subjunctive to be needed, the verb in the main clause has to be in one of the following tenses/moods: preterite, imperfect, or conditional. Quera que t lo hubieras hecho. Fue una lstima que no hubiera podido venir. Estaba triste de or que su padre hubiera muerto. I wanted you to do it. It was too bad that he couldn't come. It was sad to hear that his father had died.

2. To express a wish, after ojal que, that something had happened differently in the past. Ojal que hubiera ido. Ojal que hubiramos podido verlo. 3. In conditional sentences (si clauses). Si hubiera sabido, hubiera ido contigo. Hubieras comprado el libro si te hubiera dicho? Pluperfect Subjunctive Conjugations The pluperfect subjunctive is a compound verb formed with the imperfect subjunctive of the auxiliary verb haber + the past participle of the main verb. Remember that the imperfect subjunctive has two sets of conjugations, thus the pluperfect subjunctive has two sets of conjugations. If I had known, I would have gone with you. Would you have bought the book if I had told you? I wish he had come. If only we could have seen it.

-RA conjugation of TENER yo hubiera tenido t hubieras tenido l hubiera tenido nosotros hubiramos tenido vosotros hubierais tenido ellos hubieran tenido

-SE conjugation of TENER yo hubiese tenido t hubieses tenido l hubiese tenido nosotros hubisemos tenido vosotros hubieseis tenido ellos hubiesen tenido

Spanish Toiletries - Artculos de tocador

Do you know the Spanish vocabulary related to washing, putting on make-up, and shaving? This lesson will teach you how to talk about toiletries in Spanish. to wash soap deodorant bubble bath to wash one's hair shampoo conditioner to brush one's hair hairbrush comb to shave shaving shaving cream razor shaver lavarse el jabn el desodorante el bao de espuma lavarse la cabeza el champ el suavizante de cabello cepillarse el pelo el cepillo para el pelo el peine afeitarse el afeitado la crema de afeitar la maquinilla de afeitar la afeitadora (elctrica)

to put on make-up make-up make-up remover tweezers foundation eyeshadow mascara blusher lipstick moisturizer to do one's nails nail polish nail file nail polish remover nail clippers to brush one's teeth toothbrush toothpaste mouthwash

maquillarse el maquillaje el desmaquillador las bruselas el maquillaje de fondo la sombra de ojos el rmel el colorete el rojo de labios la crema hidratante arreglarse las uas el esmalte (para las uas) la lima (para las uas) el quitaesmalte los cortauas cepillarse los dientes el cepillo de dientes el dentfrico el enjuague

Spanish Prepositional Pronouns ~ Pronombres en funcin de complemento con preposicin

Spanish prepositional pronouns are used after prepositions, logically enough, often in order to emphasize the noun they replace, and are thus a sort of subcategory of the disjunctive or stressed pronouns found in other languages. There are 12 forms of prepositional pronouns in Spanish: Singular me you m ti us you Plural nosotros vosotros

him, it l her, it you it ella Ud. ello

them ellos them ellas you Uds.

oneself s Most of the above probably look familiar, since the third person singular and all of the plurals are identical to Spanish subject pronouns. The new pronouns are m, ti, and ello. M and ti are pretty easy - they are simply the prepositional form of the first and second singular pronoun. Take a look at these examples. Tengo un regalo para ti. Vienes con nosotros? Estoy al lado de ellas. Quiero ir con l. I have a present for you. Are you coming with us? I'm next to them. I want to go with him.

A m, no me gusta el pescado. (Me,) I don't like fish.

As you can see, it's pretty simple - you just use the prepositional pronoun to replace a noun after a preposition. Now let's learn about the tricky ones - ello and s. Ello is the neuter prepositional pronoun, used when talking about something non-specific or abstract (it). Remember that when talking about something specific, even if it means "it" in English, the pronoun you use in Spanish depends on the noun's gender - learn more. No estoy listo para ello. I'm not ready for this.

Tengo fro, y por ello no puedo ayudarte. I'm cold, and that's why I can't help you. Lesson on ello

Notes: 1. Con + m, ti, and s contract into the new words conmigo, contigo, and consigo: Voy contigo - I'm going with you. 2. In certain situations, subject pronouns are used instead of prepositional pronouns:

After the prepositions como (like), entre (between), excepto (except), incluso (including), menos (except), salvo (except), and segn (according to). When paired with another pronoun: - para t y yo - por ella o yo

y y y

Spanish Conditional Perfect / Past Conditional - Condicional perfecto

The Spanish past conditional (aka conditional perfect) is used to indicate an action that would have occurred in the past if a certain condition had been met. The latter can be stated or implied. The conditional perfect is used in two main ways:

1. To express something that would have happened, often in conditional sentences (si clauses): l lo habra dicho. Si yo hubiera sabido, habra ido contigo. He would have said it. If I had known, I would have gone with you.

Habras comprado el libro si te hubiera dicho? Would you have bought the book if I had told you? 2. To express probability or supposition in the past: Lucas habra comido antes de salir. Habran sido las dos cuando llegamos.
y y

Lucas had probably already eaten. It must have been 2 o'clock when we arrived.

Conjugating the Spanish Conditional Perfect The conditional perfect is a compound verb formed with the conditional of the auxiliary verb haber + the past participle of the main verb. HABLAR yo t habra hablado nosotros habramos hablado ellos ellas Uds. SALIR yo t habra salido habras salido nosotros habramos salido vosotros habrais salido ellos ellas Uds. habran salido habras hablado vosotros habrais hablado habran hablado

l ella habra hablado Ud.

l ella habra salido Ud.

Si Clauses - Spanish If-Then Clauses - Spanish Conditionals

Many students of Spanish have a hard time with si clauses (also known as conditionals or conditional sentences), but they are really quite simple. Study the lessons on each of the main types and then take the quiz. There are three main types of si clauses: 1. First conditional: Likely situations (present + present, future, or imperative) 2. Second conditional: Unlikely situations (imperfect subjunctive + conditional) 3. Third conditional: Impossible situations (pluperfect subjunctive + pluperfect subjunctive or conditional perfect) The first verb tense listed is the one that follows si (if), while the second tense is the "result clause" - the event that is dependent on the first. In English, the "result clause" is often preceded by then.

Directions in Spanish
Basic Spanish vocabulary related to asking for and understanding directions. Where is (the)...? Dnde est...? bank el banco bathroom church hospital hotel movie theater museum park police station post office restaurant school theater It's... left right straight ahead el bao la iglesia el hospital el hotel el cine el museo el parque la comisara la oficina de correos el restaurante la escuela el teatro Est... a la izquierda a la derecha todo seguido

currency exchange el cambio de moneda

next to in front of in back of up down near (to) far (from) north south east west

junto a enfrente de detrs de arriba abajo cerca (de) lejos (de) norte sur este oeste

Spanish Demonstrative Pronouns ~ Pronombres demostrativos

Demonstrative pronouns (this one, that one, the one[s], these, those) refer to a previously-mentioned noun in a sentence. Spanish demonstrative pronouns are more complicated than their English counterparts, because there are different sets and because they must agree in gender and number with the noun they replace. The three sets of Spanish demonstrative pronouns are ste (this one - something near the speaker), se (that one something near the listener), and aqul (those - something far from both the speaker and listener). Note that Spanish demonstrative pronouns are the same as demonstrative adjectives with the addition of an accent over the stressed vowel. There is also a neuter demonstrative pronoun in each set, which does not have an accent. this masculin singular ste feminine singular sta masculin plural feminine plural neuter that that se sa aqul aqulla

stos sos aqullos stas sas aqullas esto eso aquello

Demonstrative pronouns are used to replace a demonstrative adjective + noun, or simply refer back to a previouslymentioned/implied noun without repeating its name. For example...

Qu chica lo hizo, sta o sa? Estoy leyendo so. Quiero mirar esta pelcula, no me gusta aqulla. stos son ms caros que sos.

Which girl did it, this one or that one? I'm reading this (one). I want to see this movie; I don't like that one.

Todos los perros son lindos, pero prefiero ste. All the dogs are cute, but I prefer this one. These are more expensive than those.

ste can mean "latter," while aqul can mean "former." Lus y Ana van a ayudarnos. Aqul ya est aqu, y sta llegar a las dos. Lus and Ana are going to help up. The former (Lus) is already here, and the latter (Ana) will arrive at 2 o'clock.

Neuter pronouns / Indefinite demonstrative pronouns Neuter pronouns, also known as indefinite demonstrative pronouns, refer to unspecified or unknown nouns, situations, and ideas. Note that these never have an accent. Qu es esto? Eso es imposible. Por eso, no puedo hacerlo. Aquello no es necesario. What is this? That is impossible. Therefore (because of that), I can't do it. That's not necessary.

Each set of Spanish demonstrative pronouns corresponds with a different place word: ste se aqu - here ah - there

aqul all - over there

Spanish Infinitive ~ Infinitivo

The infinitive is the basic, unconjugated form of a verb, sometimes called the name of the verb. In English the infinitive is to + verb: to talk, to eat, to leave, etc. The Spanish infinitive is a single word with one of the following endings: -ar, -er, or -ir: hablar, comer, salir, etc. We usually learn Spanish verbs in the infinitive, since that is what you start with in order to conjugate them. The Spanish infinitive is often translated to the English present participle, as you'll see in the examples below.

El infinitivo can be used several different ways without any conjugation. I. As a noun - the subject or object of a sentence Mentir no es buena idea. Aprender es importante. II. After a conjugated verb, the infinitive can be used A. With a preposition Vamos a estudiar. Acabo de salir. Salgamos depus de comer. La biblioteca es perfecta para estudiar. B. Without a preposition Me gusta bailar. Prefieren venir con nosotros. Los vi jugar. C. With que Tienes que comer. Hay mucho que hacer. III. In place of the subjunctive when the main clause has A. the same subject as the subordinate clause Tiene miedo que llegu tarde* ==> Tiene miedo de llegar tarde. Estoy contenta que tenga razn* ==> Estoy contenta de tener razn. B. an impersonal subject (if the subject is implied) Es importante que trabajes ==> Es importante trabajar. No es necesario que vengan ==> No es necesario venir. It's important to work. It's not necessary that they come (They don't need to come). He's afraid of arriving late. I'm happy to be right. You have to eat. There's a lot to do. I like dancing. They prefer coming with us. I saw them play. We're going to study. I just left. Let's leave after eating. The library is perfect for studying. Lying is not a good idea. Learning is important.

*These are grammatically incorrect. When the subject is the same, you *must* use the infinitive.

Spanish Mood - El modo

Mood refers to the verb forms that express the attitude of the speaker toward the action/state of the verb - how likely or factual the statement is. The Spanish language has six or seven moods, depending on how you look at it. Personal moods Modos personales Personal moods make a distinction between grammatical persons: they are conjugated. I. II. III. IV. Indicative Subjunctive Conditional* Imperative Indicativo Subjuntivo Potencial Imperativo Indicates a fact - the most common mood. Expresses subjectivity, doubt, or unlikelihood. Describes a condition or possibility. Gives a command.

Impersonal moods V. VI. Infinitive Participle

Modos impersonales Infinitivo Participio Gerundio Name of the verb. Adjectival form of the verb. Adverbial form of the verb.

Impersonal moods are not conjugated: they have a single form for all grammatical persons.

VII. Gerund

*Some grammarians include the potencial (aka condicional) with the indicativo. I consider it a different mood. What do you think? There is some confusion over the difference between tense and mood, but it is really very simple. Tense is the when of the verb: whether the action takes place in the past, present, or future. Mood indicates the feeling of the verb; more specifically, the speaker's attitude or feeling toward the action. Is s/he saying that the action is true or uncertain? Is it a possibility or a command? These nuances are expressed with different moods. Moods and tenses work together to give verbs a precise meaning. Each mood has at least two tenses. The indicative mood is the most common - you might call it the "normal" mood - and has the most tenses. When you conjugate a verb, you do so by first choosing the appropriate mood and then adding a tense to it. Coming soon: a verb timeline to help you understand how tenses and moods fit together.

Spanish Relative Pronouns ~ Pronombres relativos

Just like in English, a Spanish relative pronoun links a dependent/relative clause (i.e., a clause that cannot stand alone) to a main clause. This lesson is a comparative summary of the Spanish relative pronouns que, quien, el que, el cual, and donde. Depending on context, the English equivalents are who, whom, that, which, whose, or where. Note: In Spanish, relative pronouns are required, whereas in English, they are sometimes optional. Quien can only refer to people, while que can refer to people or things. Other than that, they are interchangeable in the subject and direct object position.

Quien and que can replace the subject: El profesor va a ayudarnos. l vive en Barcelona. El profesor, quien / que vive en Barcelona, va a ayudarnos. The teacher, who lives in Barcelona, is going to help us. Las chicas quieren trabajar juntas. Ellas son hermanas. Las chicas, quienes / que son hermanas, quieren trabajar juntas. The girls, who are sisters, want to work together. Voy a comprar el libro. l tiene cien pginas. Voy a comprar el libro que tiene cien pginas. I'm going to buy the book that has 100 pages. A quien or que can replace the direct object: Ana quiere al hombre. Yo lo vi. Ana quiere al hombre que / a quien yo vi. Ana loves the man (that) I saw. Perd la pluma. Mi hermano la compr. Perd la pluma que mi hermano compr. I lost the pen (that) my brother bought. Quien can replace the object of a preposition (que cannot be used here; if the object is not a person, el que/cual may be used). La mujer es muy inteligente. Vivo con ella. La mujer, con quien vivo, es muy inteligente. The women, with whom I live, is very smart (or The woman I live with is very smart). Los estudiantes estn aqu. Hablaba de ellos. Los estudiantes, de quienes hablaba, estn aqu. The students about whom I was talking are here (or The students I was talking about are here). El cual and el que may refer to people or things. El que and el cual are nearly always* interchangeable and have two uses: 1. In nonrestrictive clauses (where the relative pronoun does not limit the person or thing it replaces), el que/cual can be both the subject and the object: El profesor va a ayudarnos. l vive en Barcelona. El profesor, el que / cual vive en Barcelona, va a ayudarnos. The teacher, who lives in Barcelona, is going to help us.

Las chicas quieren trabajar juntas. Ellas son hermanas. Las chicas, las que / cuales son hermanas, quieren trabajar juntas. The girls, who are sisters, want to work together. 2. El que/cual can simultaneously replace a human antecedent and be the object of a preposition: Ana quiere al hombre. Yo lo vi. Ana quiere al hombre al que / cual yo vi. Ana loves the man (that) I saw. Las chicas no han llegado. Mi hermano trabaja con ellas. Las chicas con las que / cuales mi hermano trabaja no han llegado. The girls with whom my brother works haven't arrived. Los estudiantes estn aqu. Hablaba de ellos. Los estudiantes de los que /cuales hablaba estn aqu. The students about whom I was talking are here (or The students (who) I was talking about are here). *There are a few situations where cual must be used - see my lesson on el cual. Donde means where and joins a main clause to a dependent or relative clause. It is usually preceded by a preposition. Es la escuela donde estudi. That's the school where I studied (or That's the school I studied at). Busco la puerta por donde podemos salir. I'm looking for the door through which we can leave. Es a donde vamos. That's where we're going. No s el pas de donde viene. I don't know the country (where) he's from (or I don't know which country he's from).

Spanish Voice ~ La voz

Voice is one of the five inflections involved in conjugating Spanish verbs. It indicates the relationship between the subject and verb. There are three voices in Spanish: Active voice The subject performs the action of the verb. This is the most common, "normal" voice. Lavo la ropa. Rompi la taza. I wash the clothes. He broke the cup.

Es profesor de espaol Passive voice

He's a Spanish teacher.

The action of the verb is performed on the subject by an agent (less common in Spanish). La ropa es lavada. La taza fue rota por el perro. El carro fue vendido. The clothes are washed. The cup was broken by the dog. The car was sold.

Pronominal (reflexive) The subject performs the action on itself (considerably less common in English). Me lavo. Se rompi la pierna. Quiero mirarme en el espejo. I'm washing (myself). He broke his leg. I want to look at myself in the mirror.

Present Tense ~ El Presente

The Spanish present tense, called el presente, is quite similar in usage to the English present tense. El presente is used to express: I. Current actions and situations Estoy listo. Vamos al mercado. II. Habitual actions Voy a la escuela todos los das. I go to school every day Veo una pelcula los sbados. I see a movie on Saturdays. III. Absolute and general truths La tierra es grande. La escuela es importante. Voy al mercado lunes. Ana llega a las dos. V. Conditions in si clauses Si puedo, ir contigo. If I can, I will go with you. The earth is big. School is important. I'll go to the store Monday. Ana's arriving at two. I am ready. We are going to the market.

IV. Actions which will occur in the near future

El presente has three different English equivalents. The English helping verbs to be and to do are not translated into the Spanish present tense.

I eat I am eating I do eat If you want to emphasize the fact that something is happening right now, you can use the present progressive: I am eating (right now) I'm in the process of eating

Yo como.

Estoy comiendo.

Tricky Spanish Pronunciation

Spanish pronunciation is what I like to call phonetic, meaning that according to the pronunciation rules, in a given use, each letter is always pronounced a certain way. Many Spanish letters have only one pronunciation, making them especially easy to learn. But certain consonants have two pronunciations depending on where/how they are used. That's what this lesson is about. Take a look at this summary of "dual-pronunciation" letters, and then click on the individual letters for more in-depth explanations. Letter Sound B, V [b] Usage Similar Eng. sound Examples bien rbol vosotros invierno hablar problema nueve noventa once diciembre como cuatro octubre dog had this bathe dos cundo falda adis perdn salud

beginning of word or after consonant boy

bilabial fricative everywhere else

n/a

[th] [k]

preceding E or I preceding A, O, U, or consonant

[d]

beginning of word or after L or N

[TH]

everywhere else

[g]

preceding A, O, U, or consonant

gave go gum glow ch in loch

agosto agua galleta grande gente gigante mismo desde escuela gris sombrero

[kh]

preceding E or I

[z] [s]

preceding B, D, G, L, M, N everywhere else

rose cause house some

[ks] [gz]

n/a n/a

axe mix exact example

xito excepto exacto exigir

Also see lesson on hard/soft vowels.

Spanish Negative Pronouns ~ Pronombres negativos

Spanish negative pronouns, sometimes called indefinite negative pronouns, negate, refuse, or cast doubt on the existence of the noun that they replace. Nadie lo quiere. No vi nada. No one wants it. I didn't see anything.

Ninguno de los libros me interesa. None of the books interests me. The Spanish negative pronouns are: (no...) ninguno (de) none (of), not any (of) (no...) nadie (no...) nada no one nothing, not... anything

Negative pronouns have one or two parts, depending on their placement in the sentence: before the verb (as the subject), Spanish negative pronouns are one part, while after the verb (as the direct or indirect object), they have two parts. Nadie lo quiere. No vi a nadie. Nada va a pasar. No hay nada en el coche. No one wants it. I didn't see anyone. Nothing is going to happen. There's nothing in the car.

Ninguno de los libros me interesa. None of the books interests me. No tengo ninguna de la ropa. I don't have any of the clothes.

Note that ninguno changes to agree with the noun that it modifies: singular plural masculine ninguno ningunos feminine ninguna ningunas

Spanish Capitalization - Las maysculas

Spanish and English capitalization are quite different, as it is much less common in Spanish. Many words that must be capitalized in English cannot be in Spanish, so read through this lesson to make sure that you're not over-capitalizing your Spanish. 1. First person singular subject pronoun (lesson) He said, "I love you." 2. Days of the week, months of the year (lesson) Monday, Tuesday... January, February...

Dijo yo te amo.

lunes, martes... enero, febrero...

3. Titles Only capitalize the first word (and proper names, if any). One Hundred Years of Solitude Cien aos de soledad Like Water for Chocolate Como agua para chocolate I'll Always Come Back to San Juan Volver siempre a San Juan

4. Languages (list of languages) Spanish, French, English... 5. Nationalities (list of nationalities) I'm American. He bought a Spanish flag. She married a Mexican. I saw an Australian.

espaol, francs, ingls...

Soy americano. Compr un libro espaol. Se cas con un mexicano. Vi a un australiano.

6. Religions The name of most religions, their adjectives, and their adherents (proper nouns) are not capitalized in Spanish. Religion Adjective Proper Noun Christianity el cristianismo Christian cristiano Christian un cristiano Judaism el judasmo Jewish judo Jew un judo Hinduism el hinduismo Hindu hind Hindu un hind Buddhism el budismo Buddhist budista Buddhist un budista Islam * Muslim musulmn Muslim un musulman *Exception Islam - el Isla

Spanish Present Perfect ~ Pretrito perfecto

The Spanish present perfect is used just like its English counterpart: to express that something has happened at some point before now, at an unspecified time in the past. It cannot be used with specific times, dates, days, or years, unless it indicates a repetition of actions during that period of time. Has comido? Ya he comido aqu. Have you eaten? I have already eaten here.

Lo hemos visto tres veces esta noche. We have seen him three times tonight. Conjugating the Spanish Present Perfect The present perfect is a compound verb formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verb haber + the past participle of the main verb. HABLAR yo t he hablado nosotros hemos hablado ellos ellas has hablado vosotros habis hablado han hablado

l ha hablado ella

Ud.

Uds. SALIR

yo t

he salido has salido

nosotros hemos salido vosotros habis salido ellos ellas Uds. han salido

l ella ha salido Ud.

The present perfect progressive is formed with the verb llevar: Llevo dos das buscando el perro - I've been looking for the dog for two days.

Spanish Future Perfect ~ Futuro perfecto

The Spanish future perfect is used just like its English counterpart: to indicate an action that will have taken place before another action or point in the future. Habr comido antes de salir. Ya habrs terminado para las ocho? I will have eaten before leaving (before I leave). Will you have finished by eight o'clock?

Cuando llames esta noche, ella habr llegado. When you call, she will have arrived.

In Spanish, the future perfect can also express probability or supposition about events or situations in the past. Algo habr ocurrido. Something probably happened.

Se habr olvidado Jos? Could Jos have forgotten?

Conjugating the Spanish Future Perfect The future perfect is a compound verb formed with the future of the auxiliary verb haber + the past participle of the main verb. HABLAR yo t l habr hablado habr hablado nosotros habremos hablado ellos habrn hablado habrs hablado vosotros habris hablado

ella Ud.

ellas Uds. SALIR

yo t

habr salido habrs salido

nosotros habrmos salido vosotros habris salido ellos ellas Uds. habrn salido

l ella habr salido Ud.

Spanish Stressed A - Feminine nouns with el or un

There's an interesting phenomenon in Spanish regarding feminine nouns that begin with a stressed A sound (which can be written either a or ha). When these nouns are singular and preceded directly by a definite article,* the masculine article is used instead of the feminine article you might expect. Some common feminine stressed A words: el acta el agua el guila el ala el alba el alga el alma el arca el arma el aspa el aula el ave el hacha el hada act, record water eagle wing dawn seaweed woman, soul chest, box weapon cross classroom bird axe fairy

el hambre hunger

Notes: *When dealing with an indefinite article, Spanish speakers will often use the masculine form in front of these words, but this is considered incorrect. It's only with the definite article that you should use the masculine form. 1. Despite the masculine article, these nouns are feminine, which means that everything but the singular article must agree with them, including:
y y

plural article adjectives (including descriptive, possessive, demonstrative, etc.) I want to see the blue water. Where are the birds? I don't like this classroom.

Quiero ver el agua azul. Dnde estn las aves? No me gusta esta aula.

Tengo un arca muy bonita. I have a very pretty box.

2. When there is an adjective between the article and noun, the article is feminine: Es la ltima arma. It's the last weapon.

Es una buena hada? Is it a good fairy?

Spanish-English Spelling Equivalents

Because Spanish and English both have a lot of Latin influence, there are a number of spelling tricks that can help you to: 1. Recognize Spanish words (cognates) 2. Spell Spanish words (common spelling equivalents) But be careful - this chart is just a guideline. As always, there are thousands of exceptions. In addition, you need to watch out for falsos amigos. SUFFIXES Spanish English -ado -ido -al -ando -iendo -ed -al -ing Spanish ex. hablado asistido personal infernal entrando ocurriendo English talked helped personal infernal entering occurring Present participle Lesson Past participle

-ano/ana -an -ante -ar -er -ir -arqua -cin -cracia -dad -dor -encia -ente -eza -filo/a -fobo/a -ica -ico -ificar -ismo -isma -ista -ivo -izar -ant

americano mejicano militante

American Nationalities Mexican militant to enter to depend Infinitives to occur anarchy monarchy nation tradition democracy theocracy finality nationality educator narrator dependence violence apparent permanent sadness frankness Hispanophile Hispanophobe music lyrical identify verify modernism schism list purist votive pensive idealize/idealise realize/realise

entrar to + verb depender ocurrir -archy -tion -cracy -ty -tor -ence -ent -ness -phile -phobe -ic -ical -ify -ism -ist -ive -ize [a] -ise [b] anarqua monarqua nacin tradicin democracia teocracia finalidad nacionalidad educador narrador dependencia violencia aparente permanente tristeza franqueza hispanfilo hispanfobo msica lrico identificar verificar modernismo cisma lista purista votivo pensativo idealizar realizar

-mente

-ly

rpidamente posiblemente

rapidly possibly

Adverbs

-mento -ment -miento -no -or(a) -oria -orio -osa -oso -ro -sin -tud -nal -er -or -ory -ous -er [a] -re [b] -sion -tude

pavimento pavement adelantamiento advancement nocturno eterno cantor jugador autor obligatorio memoria nervioso famoso metro teatro conclusin tensin plenitud latitud nocturnal eternal singer player author obligatory memory nervous famous meter/metre theater/theatre conclusion tension plenitude latitude Professions

PREFIXES esinmtranstrassimmtransespecial estupendo inmediato inmigrar special stupendous immediate immigrate

transportacin transportation trasplantar transplant

ANYWHERE IN WORD -c-qu-cu-f-k-qu-phquiosco ecuador cuantificar telfono fotografa kiosk equator quantify telephone photograph

-tSymbol key: (x) /xx [a] [b]

-th-

teatro mito

theater myth

The letters in (parentheses) indicate extra letter needed for the feminine form of the Spanish suffix. The letters after the /slash indicate that the feminine noun or adjective has a different suffix. Applies mainly to American English. Applies to British English.

Spanish Indefinite Adjectives ~ Adjetivos indefinidos

Affirmative indefinite adjectives are used to modify nouns in a unspecific sense. Todos los libros son buenos. Cada estudiante debe hablar. Hay otras posibilidades. Quiero varias cosas. All of the books are good. Each student must speak. There are other possibilities. I want several things.

The Spanish indefinite adjectives are Notes algn/alguna some, a few cada cierto diverso mucho otro poco tal todo varios each certain various many, much, a lot other few, a little some, any all several, some 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 4

Notes:

1 These pronouns have four different forms and agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Veo a algunos hombres. Tiene mucha libertad. I see some men. He has a lot of freedom.

2 Cada is invariable - it is followed by a singular noun and the third personal singular verb form. Cada pas tiene sus proprias tradiciones. Quiero mirar cada coche. 3 Tal has only singular and plural forms: tal, tales No hay tal cosa. Tales ideas nos ayudarn. There's no such thing. Such ideas will help us. Each country has its own traditions. I want to look at each car.

4 Varios has only masculine and feminine plural forms: varios, varias Tengo varios libros. Compr varias flores. I have several books. I bought several flowers.

5 Unlike most Spanish adjectives, indefinite adjectives precede the noun they modify. 6 The Spanish indefinite article + noun can be replaced with the indefinite pronoun (lesson coming soon).

Decir - To Say, Tell - Spanish Verb

Decir - to say or to tell - is an irregular Spanish verb.
yo t digo dices nosotros vosotros decimos decs

l, ella, Ud. dice

ellos, ellas, Uds. dicen

Decir is used just like its English counterparts.

Dicen que es importante. No puedo decir. Qu me dices? Digo la verdad. They say it's important. I can't say. What are you telling me? I'm telling the truth.

Decir is also used in many idiomatic expressions

Or - To Hear - Spanish Verb

Or - to hear - is an irregular Spanish verb.
yo t oigo oyes nosotros vosotros omos os

l, ella, Ud. oye

ellos, ellas, Uds. oyen

Or is used just like its English counterpart.

Puedes or eso? Le oigo abrir la puerta. No oye lo que no quiere or. Me os? Can you hear that? I hear him opening the door. He doesn't hear what he doesn't want to hear. Do you hear me?

Spanish Imperfect Progressive ~ Imperfect Continuous

The Spanish imperfect progressive - el imperfecto progresivo - is very similar to its English counterpart (was + -ing). In both languages, the imperfect progressive expresses an action that was in progress in the past when it was interrupted by another event. Estaba estudiando cuando llamaste. Lo vi cuando estbamos caminando. Estabas leyendo ahora mismo? l estaba trabajando a las siete. I was studying when you called. I saw him when we were walking. Were you reading just now? He was working at seven o'clock.

The imperfect progressive is similar in usage to the imperfect, but with an emphasis on the fact that the action was in progress at the moment it was interrupted. The Spanish imperfect progressive is formed with the imperfect of estar + present participle of the action verb.

Enlace - Encadenamiento - Spanish Linking

Enlace or encadenamiento is the phenomenon in Spanish whereby each word seems to run into the next, as if there are no boundaries between them. In fact, this is exactly the case: there are no phonetic boundaries in Spanish, and words do

run together, in three different ways.

1. Vowel + vowel a) When a word ending with a vowel is followed by a word beginning with the same vowel, the two vowels are combined into a single, slightly elongated sound. la escuela abra la puerta a las siete la escue la bra la puer ta la sie te

b) When a word ending with a vowel is followed by a word beginning with a different vowel, the two vowels diphthong into a single syllable. tengo una idea interesante 2. Consonant + consonant When a word ending with a consonant is followed by a word beginning with the same consonant, the two consonants are combined into a single, slightly elongated sound. los seores son nerviosos 3. Consonant + vowel When a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, the consonant sound at the end of the first word is transfered to the beginning of the second word. un actor es un artista Notes:
y y

ten gou nai deain te re san te

lo se o re so ner vio sos

u nac to re su nar ti sta

When the second word begins with an H, the word acts as if the H doesn't exist, so the rules above still apply. Basically, the Spanish language doesn't like to have syllables begin with vowels or end in consonants, so whenever possible the final consonant is tacked onto the word that follows it. The end result of enlace is that most syllables begin with a consonant sound and end with a vowel sound. This also increases the musicality of the language.

y y y

Spanish in English
The Spanish language has contributed numerous terms to English. Spanish is a Latin language, so many of these terms come ultimately from Latin, while others are from various Native American or African languages. Most Spanish words in English can be grouped into the following categories: food, animals, people, buildings, drugs, nature, and war.

Animals alligator alpaca armadillo barracuda bronco cockroach condor coyote iguana jaguar llama mosquito mustang pinto puma tuna from el lagarto (the lizard) from Aymara word allpaca diminutive of armado (armored), past participle of armar (to arm), from Latin armare (to arm), from arma (arms) from barraco (overlapping tooth) (wild) from cucharacha, from cuca (caterpillar) from cndor, from Quechua cuntur from Nahuatl cyotl from Arawak iwana from Guarani jagu or yaguar (dog) from Quechua diminutive of mosca (fly), from Latin musca from American Spanish mesteo or mestengo (stray animal), from Old Spanish, from mesta (association of livestock owners), from Medieval Latin mixta (assorted) (piebald, spotted), from Vulgar Latin pinctus (painted) from Quechua from atn, from Arabic at-tun (the tuna), from Latin thunnus

Buildings and Places Spanish adobe alcove barrio cafeteria hoosegow mosque patio silo Notes, (Literal meaning) from Arabic atuba (the brick) from French alcve, from Spanish alcoba, from Arabic al-qubba (the vault) from Arabic barri (of an open area), from barr (open area) from cafetera (coffee shop), from caf (coffee), from Turkish qahveh from juzgado (courtroom, past participle of juzgar [to judge]), from Latin iudicare from French mosque, from Old French mousquaie, from Old Italian moschea, from moscheta, from Old Spanish mezquita, from Arabic masjid (courtyard) ~unknown origin

Drugs cigar cigarette cocaine marijuana mescal peyote sherry tobacco cigaro, poss. from Maya sik'ar, from sik (tobacco) (small cigar), French diminutive of cigar, from cigaro, etc. French cocane, from Spanish coca, from Quechua kka marihuana American Spanish, from Nahuatl mexcalli (mescal liquor) American Spanish, from Nahuatl peyotl alteration of sherris, from Spanish city of Xeres (Jerez) tobaco

Food Terms alfalfa banana burrito chocolate cilantro con carne enchilada lime nacho oregano potato rusk salsa Spanish, from Arabic al-fashfasha, variant of fishfisha, from Persian aspist (clover) from African languages Wolof, Mandingo, and Fulani diminutive of burro (donkey) from Nahuatl xocolatl (bitter water) from Late Latin coliandrum, from Latin coriandrum (with meat) ("chile peppered") Spanish lima, from Arabic lima possible diminutive of Ignacio or alteration of ato (pug-nosed, ugly, poor) from organo (wild majoram) from patata, from Taino word batata (sweet potato), influenced by Quechua word papa (white potato) Spanish/Portuguese rosca (coil, rusk), perhaps diminutive of Latin rota (wheel) (sauce)

chile, chili type of pepper, from Nahuatl word chilli

guacamole from Nahuatl ahuacamolli (avocado paste) mole sauce from Nahuatl molli (sauce, paste)

sarsaparilla zarzaparilla, from zarza (bramble), from Arabic sharas, variation of shirs, from sharasa (to be vicious) + parrilla, diminutive of parra (vine)

taco tamale tomato tortilla vanilla Nature balsa barranca canyon hurricane llano mesa talc tornado tornillo

(plug, wad of money) from tamales, plural of tamal (tamale), from Nahuatl tamalli from tomate, from Nahuatl word tomatl diminutive of torta (cake) from vainilla, diminutive of vaina (sheath) due to the shape of vanilla pods

(raft) (gorge) caon, augmentative of caa (tube, cane), from Latin canna (reed) huracn, from Taino hurkan (plain), from Latin planum, from planus (level) (table), from Old Spanish, from Latin mensa French, from Old Spanish talco and Medieval Latin talcum, both from Arabic talq, from Persian talk alteration of tronada (thunderstorm) [poss. influenced by tornar (to turn)], from tronar (to thunder), from Latin tonare American Spanish, from Spanish (small lathe, screw), diminutive of torno (lathe), from Latin tornus, from Greek tornos

People aficionado past participle of aficionar (to cause a liking for), from aficin (liking), from Latin affectio/affection booby cannibal matador War armada barrack comrade Spanish, from medieval Latin armata, from Latin feminine past participle of armare (to arm), from arma (arms) from French baraques, from Spanish barracas (soldiers' tents, huts) from French camarade, from Old French (roommate), from old Spanish camarada (barracks company, roommate), from camara (room), from late Latin camera (chamber), from Latin (vault), from Greek probably from bobo (silly, stupid), from Latin balbus (stammering) from Canbalis (name of the allegedly cannibalistic Caribs of Cuba and Haiti as recorded by Christopher Columbus), from Carib karibna (person, Carib) from matar (to kill)

kamara desperado guerrilla junta renegade vigilante desesperado (desperate person), past participle of desesperar (to despair), from Latin desperare (little war, raiding party), diminutive of guerra (war) Spanish/Portuguese (conference), perhaps from Vulgar Latin past participle of iungere (to join) renegado, from Medieval Latin renegatus, past participle of renegare (to deny) (watchman), from Latin vigilans, vigilant-, present participle of vigilare (to be watchful), from vigil (watchful)

Miscellaneous bonanza bravado cargo embargo guitar hammock lariat lasso peccadillo ranch rodeo savvy siesta sombrero stampede vamoose Spanish, from Medieval Latin bonancia (calm sea), from Latin bonus (good) + Medieval Latin malacia (calm sea) French bravade and Old Spanish bravada (swagger, bravery), both from Vulgar Latin brabus from cargar (to load), from Late Latin carricare, from Latin carrus (type of wagon) from embargar (to impede), from Vulgar Latin imbarricare (to barricade) French guitare, from Spanish guitarra, from Greek kithara (cithara) hamaca, from Taino la reata, from reatar (to tie again) lazo, from Vulgar Latin laceum (noose) pecadillo, diminutive of pacado (sin) + Italian paccadiglio, diminutive of peccato (sin), both from Latin peccatum, from peccare (to sin) American Spanish rancho (small farm), from Spanish (hut, group of people who eat together), from Old Spanish rancharse (to be billeted), from Old French se ranger (to be arranged) (corral), from rodear (to surround), from rueda (wheel), from Latin rota from [Ud.] sabe (you know), from saber (to know), from Old Spanish, from Vulgar Latin sapere, from Latin sapere (to be wise) Spanish, from Latin sexta (sixth hour, midday) Spanish, possibly from sombra (shade), from sombrar (to shade), from Late Latin subumbrare (to cast a shadow) estampida (uproar, stampede), from Provenal, from estampir (to stamp), ultimately from German from vamos (let's go), from Latin vadamus, subjunctive conjugation of vadere (to go)

Spanish Interrogative Pronouns ~ Pronombres interrogativos ~ Quin Qu Cul Cunto Dnde

Quin, qu, cul, cunto, and dnde are Spanish interrogative pronouns. A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun, and interrogative means questioning, so interrogative pronouns are pronouns used to ask the questions who, what, which, how much/many, and where. Note that all of these words have accents.

Quin means who or whom; it is used when asking about people. It has the plural form quines. Quin est aqu? Quin viene conmigo? Quines han ganado? Quin can also follow a preposition. A quin hablis? De quin es este libro? To whom are you speaking? Whose book is this? Who is here? Who's coming with me? Who won?

Qu means what and is used to refer to ideas or things. Qu quiere? Qu piensas del libro? Qu es eso? What does he want? What do you think of the book? What is this?

Cul means what or which - it is used when distinguishing between two or more things. It has the plural form cules. Cul quieres - la pluma o el lpiz? Hay muchas ideas. Cules prefieres? Which do you want - the pen or the pencil? There are a lot of ideas. Which ones do you prefer?

Cunto means how much and its plural cuntos means how many. Tienes dinero? Cunto? Cuntos estn en el coche? Dnde means where. Dnde vives? Dnde ests? Where do you live? Where are you? Do you have any money? How much? How many are in the car?

Spanish Compound Tenses ~ Tiempos compuestos

Spanish verb conjugations can be divided into two categories: simple tenses and compound tenses. Simple tenses have only one part (yo como) whereas compound tenses have two (yo estoy comiendo). Spanish compound tenses can be subdivided into two categories: progressive tenses and perfect tenses. Compound tenses are obviously more complicated than simple tenses - this lesson will explain what you need to know about them. But first, a chart of the three kinds of Spanish tenses. The simple tense on the left is the conjugation for the auxiliary verb of the compound tenses in the middle and right columns: Simple Tenses Perfect Tenses Present Imperfect Preterite Future Conditional Subjunctive Present perfect Pluperfect Preterite perfect Future perfect Conditional perfect Present perfect subjunctive Compound Tenses* Progressive Tenses Present progressive Imperfect progressive Past progressive Future progressive Conditional progressive

Imperfect subjunctive Pluperfect subjunctive Future subjunctive Infinitive Perfect infinitive

*Note: For the sake of simplicity, I've lumped all the compound conjugations together. Subjunctive and conditional are actually moods, not tenses, but they follow the exact same conjugation rules as compound tenses. Characteristics of Spanish compound tenses 1. Compound tenses are always made up of two parts: the conjugated auxiliary verb and a participle. In the chart above, the tense in the simple column is the tense used as the auxiliary verb for the compound tenses listed next to it. There are two types of compound tenses:
y y

Perfect tenses are conjugated with haber as the auxiliary verb + the past participle. Progressive tenses have estar as the auxiliary verb + the present participle.

Yo como. I eat. l vendr.

Yo he comido. I have eaten. l habr venido.

Yo estoy comiendo. I am eating. l estar viniendo.

He will come. He will have come. He will be coming.

2. Object pronouns always precede the auxiliary verb in perfect tenses (except for the perfect infinitive): Lo he visto. I've seen it.

Me habas mentido? Have you lied to me? However, they may either precede the auxiliary or be attached to the participle in progressive tenses - learn more. Te estoy hablando/ I'm talking to you. Estoy hablndote. Lo estar mirando/ He will be watching it. Estar mirndolo.

Spanish Accents
The Spanish acute accent (la tilde) has two main uses: 1. To indicate that the normal rules of word stress are being overridden - learn more. 2. To distinguish between otherwise identical words.
aun even, including adverb de el of, about the preposition definite article conjunction possessive adjective conjunction reflexive pronoun conjunction pronoun vs an still d l adverb

he gave from dar (subjunctive) he subject pronoun quantity pronoun (when used with numbers: 2 3) from saber from ser (imperative) adverb pronoun noun

mas but mi o se si te my or oneself if you, yourself

ms more m s s t me or I know be yes oneself tea

tu

your

possessive adjective

you

subject pronoun

In addition to the above are all interrogative words. When they are used in a question, they have an accent. When used to answer a question or make a statement, they don't. Compare the following:
Dnde ests? Estoy donde quiero estar. Where are you? I'm where I want to be.

Cundo vas a hacerlo? Cuando tenga tiempo.

When are you going to do it? When I have time.

como cual

how which

cmo cul cundo cunto dnde qu quin

how? which? when? how much/many? where? what? who?

cuando when cuanto how much/many donde que quien where what who