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1. Basic Phrases
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Mucho gusto. / Encantado. Señor / Señora / Señorita
Igualmente.
moo-choh goo-stoh / en- sayn-yor / sayn-yor-ah /
ee-guahl-mehn-tay
cahn-tah-doh sayn-yor-ee-tah
Same here. / Same to you.
Nice to meet you. Mister / Mrs. / Miss
¿Entiende usted? /
¿Entiendes?
(No) Entiendo. Yo (no lo) se.
ehn-tyen-deh oo-sted / ehn-
noh ehn-tyen-doh yoh noh loh seh
tyen-dehs
I (don't) understand. I (don't) know.
Do you understand?
(formal / informal)
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Spanish?
Te amo.
Te toca a ti. ¡Callate!
tay ah-moh
teh toh-kah ah tee kah-yah-teh
I love you. (informal and
It's your turn. (informal) Shut up!
singular)
Notice that Spanish has informal and formal ways of speaking. This is because there is
more than one meaning to "you" in Spanish (as well as in many other languages.) The
informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The
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formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone
for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.)
Encantado, cansado, enfermo, and aburrido are the masculine forms of the words. If
the words refer to a woman or are spoken by a woman, then the final o changes to a:
encantada, cansada, enferma, and aburrida
In Spain, as well as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela,
the Spanish language is called castellano instead of español.
2. Pronunciation
The five vowels in Spanish are all pure vowels: [a], [e], [i], [o], [u] Be sure that you do
not pronounce a diphthong as we do in English (the extra yuh or wuh sound at the end).
Stress: Just as in English, Spanish stresses a certain syllable in a word. If a word ends in
a consonant, except s or n, the stress is on the last syllable. If a word ends in a vowel, or s
or n, the stress is on the second-to-last syllable. For words that do no follow these rules,
an accent is written over the vowel so that you will know to stress that syllable, as in el
pájaro (bird).
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Please keep in mind that because Spanish is spoken in many countries, there are several
regional dialects and accents so pronunciation rules may not apply to all countries. This
tutorial is mostly concerned with thelanguage that is spoken in Mexico and Spain.
3. Alphabet
a ah j hoh-tah r air-ay
b bay k kah rr airr-ay
c say l ay-lay s ay-say
ch chay ll ay-yay t Tay
d day m ay-may u Oo
e ay n ay-nay v bay chee-kah
f ay-fay ñ ayn-yay w vay doh-blay
g hey o oh x ah-kees
h ah-chay p pay y ee-gree-ay-gah
i ee q koo z say-tah
The Spanish language academy no longer considers the ch, ll or rr to be separate letters in
dictionaries, but they are still separate letters in the alphabet. In Spain, you can say oo-
bay for v, but in Latin America most dialects just use bay and an adjective, such as chica
(Mexico and Peru) or corta (Argentina and Chile).
Masc. Fem.
Masc. Plural Fem. Plural
Singular Singular
the el (ail) la (lah) the los (lohs) las (lahs)
una (oon- unos (oon- unas (oon-
a, an un (oon) some
ah) ohs) ahs)
this este esta these estos estas
that ese esa those esos esas
that aquel aquella those aquellos aquellas
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El is also used with feminine nouns beginning with a or ha when the accent is on the first
syllable. Words that end in -o and -or are generally masculine, with a few exceptions: la
mano (hand), la foto (photo). Words that end in -a are generally feminine, with a few
exceptions: el mapa (map), el problema (problem). Other feminine words end in -ción,
-tad, -dad, or -tud.
Use the ese forms to mean that when what you are talking about is near the person you
are addressing. Use the aquel forms when what you are talking about is far from both
you and the person you are addressing. Esto and eso are the neuter forms of this and that.
They can be used in general and abstract ways. Demonstrative adjectives (listed above)
are used before a noun; if you want to use the demonstrative pronouns, which are used
before a verb, add an accent on all of the first e's: éste, ésta, éstos, éstas, ése, ésa, ésos,
ésas, aquél, aquélla, aquéllos, aquéllas.
5. Subject Pronouns
noh-soh-
nosotros /
yo yoh I trohs / noh- we
nosotras
soh-trahs
boh-soh-
vosotros /
tú too you (informal) trohs / boh- you all
vosotras
soh-trahs
ail / ay- ay-yohs / ay-
él / ella / he / she / it / ellos / ellas / they / they /
yah / oo- yahs / oo-
usted you (formal) ustedes you (plural)
sted sted-ays
Vosotros is used only in Spain when speaking to more than one person with whom you
know well. Nosotras and vosotras refer to a group of all females, as well as ellas.
Ustedes is almost always used for saying "you all" in all Spanish speaking countries.
Usted can be abbreviated to Ud. Ustedes can also be abbreviated to Uds. Please note that
the subject pronouns are rarely used before verbs.
6. To Be & to Have
ser - to be
present past future
soy I am fuí I was seré I will be
eres you are fuiste you were serás you will be
es he/she/it is fué he/she/it was será he/she/it will be
somos we are fuimos we were seremos we will be
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sois you are fuisteis you were seréis you will be
son they are fueron they were serán they will be
estar - to be
present past future
estoy I am estuve I was estaré I will be
estás you are estuviste you were estarás you will be
está he/she/it is estuvo he/she/it was estará he/she/it will be
estamos we are estuvimos we were estaremos we will be
estáis you are estuvisteis you were estaréis you will be
están they are estuvieron they were estarán they will be
tener - to have
present past future
tengo I have tuve I had tendré I will have
tienes you have tuviste you had tendrás you will have
tiene he/she/it has tuvo he/she/it had tendrá he/she/it will have
tenemos we have tuvimos we had tendremos we will have
tenéis you have tuvisteis you had tendréis you will have
tienen they have tuvieron they had tendrán they will have
Ser is used to identify or describe. It tells what something is, its basic characteristics, or
its origin. Estar is used to tell the location of something or how someone feels.
Uses of Ser
Uses of Estar
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Sometimes changing the verb can completely change the meaning: ser aburrido means
to be boring, while estar aburrido means to be bored. Others include: ser bueno - to be
nice, estar bueno - to be in good health; ser callado - to be discrete, estar callado - to be
silent; ser moreno - to have brown hair, estar moreno - to be tan.
Many common expressions using the verb "be" in English use the verb "tener" in Spanish
(but not all):
7. Question Words
0 cero say-roh
1 uno oo-noh first primero
2 dos dohs second segundo
3 tres trays third tercero
4 cuatro kuah-troh fourth cuarto
5 cinco seen-koh fifth quinto
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6 seis says sixth sexto
7 siete see-ay-tay seventh séptimo
8 ocho oh-choh eighth octavo
9 nueve new-ay-vay ninth noveno
10 diez dee-ays tenth décimo
11 once ohn-say eleventh undécimo
12 doce doh-say twelfth duodécimo
13 trece tray-say thirteenth décimo tercero
14 catorce kah-tor-say fourteenth décimo cuarto
15 quince keen-say fifteenth décimo quinto
16 diez y seis dee-ays ee says sixteenth décimo sexto
17 diez y siete dee-ays ee see-ay-tay seventeenth décimo séptimo
18 diez y ocho dee-ays ee oh-choh eighteenth décimo octavo
19 diez y nueve dee-ays ee new-ay-vay nineteenth décimo noveno
20 veinte bayn-tay twentieth vigésimo
21 veinte y uno bayn-tay ee oo-noh twenty-first vigésimo primero
22 veinte y dos bayn-tay ee dohs twenty-second vigésimo segundo
30 treinta trayn-tah thirtieth trigésimo
40 cuarenta kuar-ain-tah fortieth cuadragésimo
50 cincuenta seen-kuain-tah fiftieth quincuagésimo
60 sesenta say-sain-tah sixtieth sexagésimo
70 setenta say-tain-tah seventieth septuagésimo
80 ochenta oh-chain-tah eightieth octogésimo
90 noventa noh-bain-tah ninetieth nonagésimo
100 cien(to) see-ain-(toh) hundredth centésimo
1000 mil meel thousandth milésimo
If you are just saying 100, you use cien. If it's over 100, you use ciento. So 101 is ciento
uno and 156 would be ciento cincuenta y seis. Also you can use dieciséis, diecisiete,
dieciocho, and diecinueve for 16, 17, 18, and 19, respectively. They are pronounced the
same but are combined into one word. Additionally, 21-29 can be written as one word
(veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, etc.), but you need to use y for the rest of the numbers.
Primero and tercero drop the final -o when used directly before a noun.
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Tuesday martes mar-tays
Wednesday miércoles mee-air-coh-lays
Thursday jueves hway-bays
Friday viernes bee-air-nays
Saturday sábado sah-bah-doh
Sunday domingo doh-ming-oh
day el día dee-ah
week la semana say-mahn-ah
weekend el fin de semana feen day say-mahn-ah
today hoy oy
tonight esta noche es-tah noh-chay
last night anoche ah-noh-chay
yesterday ayer eye-yair
tomorrow mañana mahn-yahn-ah
my birthday mi cumpleaños mee coom-play-ahn-yohs
next próximo / próxima prok-see-moh / mah
last pasado / pasada pah-sah-doh / dah
day before yesterday anteayer ahn-teh-eye-yair
day after tomorrow pasado mañana pah-sah-doh mahn-yahn-ah
the following day el día siguiente dee-ah see-gwee-ehn-teh
the day before la víspera vees-peh-rah
Days of the week are all masculine in gender and they are not capitalized in writing. The
definite article is not used after the verb ser, but at all other times it is required and there
is slight change in meaning if it is singular or plural: el lunes = on Monday but los lunes
= on Mondays
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July julio hoo-lee-oh
August agosto ah-gohs-toh
September septiembre sayp-tee-aim-bray
October octubre ohk-too-bray
November noviembre noh-bee-aim-bray
December diciembre dee-see-aim-bray
month el mes mais
first of [a month] el primero de [month] pree-mair-oh day _____
year el año ahn-yoh
decade la década deh-kah-dah
century el siglo see-gloh
millennium el milenio mee-leh-nee-oh
The preposition en is used with months: en abril = in April. Also notice that primero is
used for the first of the month, but the rest of the days are referred to using the regular
cardinal numbers: el primero de junio but el dos de julio. Months of the year are also all
masculine and not capitalized in writing.
11. Seasons
12. Directions
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west el oeste southwest el suroeste
All adjectives in Spanish are placed after the noun that they describe and they agree in
gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun. Notice
that some colors do not change for gender (marrón) or number (gris). To change an
adjective to the feminine form, you usually just change the final -o to -a. To make an
adjective plural, simply add an -s.
14. Time
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Son las cinco y cinco. It's 5:05
Son las ocho y cuarto. It's 8:15
Son las diez menos cuarto. It's 9:45
Son cuarto para las diez It's 9:45 (common in Mexico)
Son las nueve menos diez. It's 8:50
Son diez para las nueve It's 8:50 (common in Mexico)
Son las tres y media / treinta. It's 3:30
de la mañana in the morning / AM
de la tarde in the afternoon / PM
de la noche in the evening / PM
en punto exactly / sharp
¿A qué hora? At what time?
15. Weather
16. Prepositions
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a at, to al lado de beside, alongside of
con with alrededor de around
contra against cerca de near, close to
de of, from lejos de far from
en in, on delante de in front of
entre between, among debajo de below, under
hacia towards, about en frente de opposite
para for, in order, by detrás de behind
por for, through, along, via encima de above, on top of
sobre on, over hasta till, until
sin without desde from, since
There are two prepositional contractions with definite articles. A and el combine to form
al, and de and el combine to form del.
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(f)
la carpa
kid / boy el muchacho cousins los primos gold fish
dorada
kid / girl la muchacha relatives los parientes horse el caballo
el medio
half-brother stepfather el padastro goat la cabra
hermano
la media
half-sister stepmother la madrastra pig el cerdo
hermana
el
father-in-law el suegro stepbrother cow la vaca
hermanastro
mother-in- la
la suegra stepsister rabbit el conejo
law hermanastra
brother-in-
el cuñado stepson el hijastro turtle la tortuga
law
sister-in-law la cuñada stepdaughter la hijastra mouse el ratón
son-in-law el yerno godfather el padrino deer el ciervo
daughter-in-
la nuera godmother la madrina duck el pato
law
1. If a singular noun ends in a vowel, just add -s to make it plural: la casa → las
casas
2. If a singular noun ends in a consonant, a vowel with an accent, or y, add -es to
make it plural: el papel → los papeles
3. Singular nouns that end in -z change the z to c and add -es to form the plural: la
luz → las luces
4. A few nouns that have an accent in the singular will lose it in the plural: el lápiz
→ los lápices
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20. Possessive Adjectives
Remember that vuestro forms are only used in Spain (just as the vosotros subject
pronoun & verb conjugations are only used in Spain).
Because su and sus can have so many meanings, the definite article may be used instead
of su with these expressions following the noun: de Ud., de él, de ella, de Uds., de ellos
and de ellas.
The terminal forms are placed after the noun, and the noun must be preceded by the
definite article, except in direct address. When used with the indefinite article, it
corresponds to the English "of mine, of yours," etc.
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