Spanish Grammar

A-a B-бэ, белларга С-фэй, сэй CH-чэй D-дэ E-эй F-эфэй G-ххай H-aчэй
I – и J-ххота К-к L-элэй LL-эйэй М-эмэй N-энэй Ň-эньэй О-өү

P-пэй Q-кү R-эрэй RR-эррэй S-эсэй T-тэй U-ү V-үвэй, бэ куарто
W-үвэй доблэй, доблэй бэ X-экис Y-игри эга Z-theta, zeta
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 poesía- book of poetry,
la historia de amor - story about love, la clase de español- Spanish class, el paño 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 mesa-
The 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 Para

Location/Movement: General vs Specific
General location or movement: Specific destination:
by (way of), through, via, around, near to, toward
There are a lot of people Van para el colegio. They're going to(ward)
Hay mucha gente por aquí.
here. school.
Voy a Madrid por Bilbao. I'm going to Madrid via I'm going by train to Madrid.
Voy en tren para Madrid.
Bilbao.
Sal por esta puerta. Go out through this door.
Está por el norte. It's to the north.

Time: Duration/Point in time vs Deadline
Duration, inexact point in time: Deadline, time by which:
for, in, around by, before, for
Estudié por 3 horas. I studied for three hours. Lo haré para mañana. I'll do it by tomorrow.
por la mañana in the morning Termínelo para el lunes. Finish it before Monday.
por la tarde in the afternoon
por la noche in the evening
Te veré por Navidad. I'll see you around
Christmastime.

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

Relationship: Exchange vs Comparison
Exchange/Payment/Substitution Comparison/Contrast/Differences
(in exchange/payment) for, on behalf of for
Me dió 2 lápices por mi He gave me 2 pencils for my Para niño, escucha bien. For a child, he listens well.
pluma. pen.
Pagué mucho por los libros. I paid a lot for the books. Para generosos, los For generous people, there's
marroquís. no one like Moroccans.
Escribí la carta por Lupe. I wrote the letter for (on ¿Quién es Ud. para Who are you to talk to me
behalf of) Lupe. hablarme así? like that?

Viewpoints: Say so vs Opinion
Say so, Attitudes Opinion
according to, from in one's opinion, for
por lo que dice... from what he says... para mí... in my opinion...
por los sondeos... according to the polls... para él... in his opinion, for him...

Additional uses of por

Means/Agent: By, on, with
Le hablé por teléfono. I talked to him by/on the phone.
Lo hizo por su propia mano. He did it with his own hand.
Viajé por tren. I went by train.
Por trabajar todos los días, gané mucho dinero. By working every day, I earned a lot of money.
Fue decidido por el presidente. (passive voice) It was decided by the president.
Math: Multiplication and Division
2 por 3 son 6 2 times 3 is 6
6 dividido por 2 son 3 6 divided by 2 is 3
Dividí la clase por la mitad. I divided the class in half.
Appearance, Consideration: As
Me tienen por experto. They see me as an expert.
tener a alguien por amigo, to consider someone a friend
tenerlo a uno por amigo

Frequency, Proportion: Per
Paga 10 Euros por hora. He pays 10 Euros per hour.
tres veces por semana three times per week
por ciento percent

Something which is yet to be completed: Por + Infinitive
Los platos están por fregar. The dishes are yet to be done.
Saludos - Spanish Greetings

Hi - Hola
Hello - Buenos días
Good afternoon Buenas tardes
Good evening Buenas noches
How are you? singular plural
familiar ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo estáis?
formal ¿Cómo está Ud.? ¿Cómo están Uds.?
How's it going? ¿Qué tal?
I'm... Estoy...*
Good Bien
Great Muy bien
Good-bye Adiós
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 fácil the easy thing, part
lo
the good thing
bueno
lo bello what's beautiful
lo justo 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 difícil es que no comprendo la diferencia. The hard thing is that I don't understand the difference.
No viste lo mejor de la película. You didn't see the best part of the movie.
Lo importante es que estamos juntos. What's important is that we are together.
Me gusta lo azúl. I like the blue one.
Vestís 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. I see how important it is.
Olvidé lo bello que eres. I forgot how beautiful you are.
¿Comprendes lo fácil que es? Do you understand how easy it is?
Nombres - Spanish Nouns
-o masculine
-a feminine
-ión feminine
-tad feminine
Artículo definido Artículo indefinido

Singular Plural Singular Plural
un unos
el los
Masculine un libro unos libros
el hombre los hombres
un hombre unos hombres
una unas
la las
Feminine una mesa unas mesas
la mujer las mujeres
una mujer unas mujeres
a + el al
de +
del
el
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 Plural
1st person yo -o nosotros -amos
2nd person tú -as vosotros -áis
3rd person él -a ellos -an
Singular Plural

HABLAR
nosotros
1st person yo hablo hablamos
2nd person tú hablas vosotros habláis

3rd person él habla ellos hablan
Spanish Verbs - Regular -ER Verbs

Singular Plural
1st person yo -o nosotros -emos
2nd person tú -es vosotros -éis
3rd person él -e ellos -en
Singular Plural

APRENDER
nosotros
1st person yo aprendo aprendemos
2nd person tú aprendes vosotros aprendéis

3rd person él aprende ellos aprenden
Spanish Verbs - Regular -IR Verbs

Singular Plural
1st person yo -o nosotros -imos
2nd person tú -es vosotros -ís
3rd person él -e ellos -en
Singular Plural

ABRIR
1st person yo abro nosotros abrimos
2nd person tú abres vosotros abrís
3rd person él abre ellos abren
Pronombres sujetos - Spanish Subject Pronouns

Singular Plural
1st person yo1 I nosotros we
nosotras5
2nd tú you2 vosotros you2
person vosotras5
3rd person él he, it3 ellos they
ella she, it3 ellas5
Ud.4 you2 Uds.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. There's a lot to do (There are lots of things to do).
conditional habría there would be

habrían there would be
future habrá there will be
habrán there will be
imperfect había there was
habían there were
present ha habido there have
perfect been
han there have
habido been
pretérito hubo there was
hubieron there were
subjunctive que haya that there
is/are
que hayan that there are

Ir - To Go - Spanish Verb
Ir - to go - is one of the most common irregular Spanish verbs.
yo voy nosotros vamos
tú vas vosotros vais
él, ella, Ud. va ellos, ellas, Uds. van

Yo voy al mercado. I'm going to the store.
¿Quieres ir conmigo? Do you want to go with me?

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

Voy a estudiar mañana. I'm going to study tomorrow.
Van a comer a las ocho. They're going to eat at 8 o'clock.
Calendar - El Calendario

los meses del
los días de la semana days of the week months of the year
año
lunes Monday enero January
martes Tuesday febrero February
miércoles Wednesday marzo March
jueves Thursday abril April
viernes Friday mayo May
sábado Saturday junio June
domingo Sunday julio July
agosto August
las estaciones seasons septiembre September
la primavera spring octubre October
el verano summer noviembre November
el otoño autumn diciembre December
el invierno winter
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 ¿Cuál es la fecha? or ¿A cuánto estamos hoy?
Use the following construction to respond:
Es el
Hoy es el
Estamos } +(+date + de + month
de + year)
a
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
April 4, 2000 = 4/8/00
English
Spanish el 8 de abril 2000 = 8-4-00
If you want to answer with the day of the week, use the following construction:
Es
Hoy es
Estamos } +(+day, + date + de + month
de + year)
a
Es sábado, 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 ¿Qué día es hoy?
To answer, simply use (Hoy) Es + the day of the week.
Hoy es sábado.
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 - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter C can be pronounced in two different ways.
Examples
1. 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 once
(in Latin America). diciembre
2. When the C precedes an A, O, U, or a consonant it is a hard C and is pronounced like a K. 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 - Pronunciación - 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
l Tiempo - Weather

Learn how to talk about the weather in Spanish.
How's the weather? ¿Qué tiempo hace?
It's... Hace...
hot calor
cold frío
cool fresco
nice out buen tiempo
bad weather mal tiempo
windy viento
sunny sol
foggy neblina
cloudy nublado

It's... Está...
raining lloviendo
pouring lloviendo a cántaros
snowing nevando

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 tengo nosotros tenemos
tú tiene vosotros tenéis
s
él, 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? Do you have a dictionary?
No tenemos dinero. We don't have any money.
Tener in idiomatic expressions Test on tener

Verbs conjugated like tener:
 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 (á, é, í, ó, ú) 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.
Exception
s
a. Words that end in a consonant other than N and S have stress on the last syllable. calor árbol
estoy lápiz
salud
abril
b Words that end in a vowel, S, or N have stress on the penultimate syllable. agosto sábado
. nosotros jesús
señora perdón
c. Most two-vowel combinations diphthong* unless one of them has an accent cuarto mediodía
(exceptions and additional info) diciembre miércoles
junio frío
*Are pronounced as a single syllable
2. Acute accents are also used to distinguish between otherwise identical words, such as sí (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 (ñ) 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).
¿(Tú) tienes hambre?*
¿María está aquí?
2. Invert the subject and verb.
¿Tienes (tú) hambre?
¿Está María aquí?
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? You're hungry, right?
María está aquí, ¿no? 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:
quién who
qué what
cuándo when
dónde where
por
why
qué
cómo 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 quién, simply use it to replace the subject of the sentence and use the third person
singular form of the verb.
Tú tienes hambre. You're hungry.
¿Quién tiene hambre? Who is hungry?
Maria está aquí. Maria is here.
¿Quién está aquí? 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.
¿Dónde estás? Where are you?
¿Qué hacen ellos? What are they doing?
¿Cuándo 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 - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter D can be pronounced in two different ways.
Similar
Spanish
English
examples
sound
1 When the D is at the beginning of a word or after L or N, it is pronounced like dos
. an English D. diez
dog
cuándo
had
dónde
falda
2 When the D follows a vowel or any consonant except L or N, it sounds like a adiós
. voiced English TH. At the end of a word, it may be pronounced more softly or nublado
this
not at all. perdón
bathe
sábado
salud
F - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation
The Spanish letter F is pronounced just like the English letter F.
Spanish examples
falda
fecha
frío
por favor
café
rosbif
Food - Los Alimentos

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

la comida meal
el desayuno breakfast
el almuerzo lunch
la cena dinner
el bocadillo snack

el aperitivo appetizer
la sopa soup
el plato principal main course
la ensalada salad
el postre dessert

la cocina kitchen, cooking
el comedor dining room
el restaurante restaurant

Spanish Negation
To make a Spanish statement or question negative, place «no» in front of the verb.
No tengo un lápiz. I don't have a pencil.
Elena no está aquí. 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... jamás
no... nunca más never again
no... tampoco neither, not either
no... nada nothing
no... nadie no one
no... en/por ninguna parte nowhere
ya no* no more
todaviá no* not yet

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. There's no one at the party.
Juan no trabaja nunca los sábados. Juan never works on Saturday.
No tengo tampoco un gato. I don't have a cat either.
Todavía no puedo salir. I can't go out yet.

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 está a la fiesta. No one is at the party.
Juan nunca trabaja los sábados. Juan never works on Saturday.
Tampoco tengo un gato. 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 vengo nosotros venimos
tú vienes vosotros venís
él, ella, viene ellos, ellas, Uds. vienen
Ud.

Venir is used just like its English equivalent to come:

Él viene a las dos. He's coming at two.
Venimos de Perú. We come from (we're from) Peru.
Una idea me viene. An idea is coming to me.

Venir can also mean to happen or occur.

Me vienen muchas desgracias. A lot of mishaps happen to me/I have a lot of mishaps.
¿Qué viene después? What happens next?

Venir can also be the helping verb for the Spanish present progressive in order to mean "to have been
doing."
¿Qué vienes diciendo? What have you been doing?
Vengo estudiando. I've been studying.
H - Pronunciación - 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 - Pronunciación - 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.
kilómetro
Kenia
M - Pronunciación - 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 el pelo
head la cabeza
face la cara
eye el ojo
nose la nariz
cheek la mejilla
mouth la boca
lip el labio
tooth el diente
ear la oreja
neck el cuello
chest el pecho
back la espalda
stomach el estómago
arm el brazo
shoulder el hombro
elbow el codo
wrist la muñeca
hand la mano
finger el dedo
fingernail la uña
thumb el pulgar
leg la pierna
knee la rodilla
ankle el tobillo
foot el pie
toe el dedo del pie
En el Restaurante - In the Restaurant

Essential vocabulary (also see Food)
¿Qué le gustaría? What would you like?
Me gustaría...
I would like...
Quisiera...
¿Cuánto cuesta...? How much does ... cost?

Soy vegetariano/a I am a vegetarian
Tengo alergia a... I'm allergic to...
No puedo comer... I can't eat...

poco hecho rare
medio hecho medium
muy hecho well done

el/la camarero/a waiter/waitress
el/la cocinero/a cook

la cuenta check/bill
la carta menu
la propina tip
servicio incluido tip included

¡Cuidado! Watch out!
¡Buen provecho! enjoy your meal
Prohibido fumar no smoking
No se permite llevar
no pets allowed
animales
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 Juan's book (literally, the book of Juan)
la abuela de Ana y Pablo Pablo and Ana's grandmother
la idea de los niños the kids' idea
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 to get bored
acostarse to go to bed
afeitarse to shave
alegrarse to be happy
animarse to cheer up
arreglarse to get ready
asustarse to get scared
bañarse to bathe
calmarse to calm down
caerse to fall (down)
cansarse to get tired
cepillarse to brush (hair, teeth)
colocarse to get a job
cortarse to cut (hair, nails)
decidirse to make up one's mind
despedirse to say goodbye to
despertarse to wake up
divertirse to have a good time
dormirse to fall asleep
ducharse to take a shower
enfermarse to get sick
enojarse to get angry
lastimarse to hurt oneself
lavarse to wash (up)
levantarse to get up
maquillarse to put on makeup
peinarse to comb (hair)
pintarse to put on makeup
ponerse to put on (clothes)
preocuparse to worry
probarse to try on
quebrarse to break (arm, leg)
quedarse to stay, remain
quemarse to burn (oneself, one's body)
quitarse to take off (clothes)
romperse to tear (clothes);
to break (arm, leg)
sentarse to sit down
sorprenderse to be surprised
vestirse to get dressed
G - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation
The Spanish letter G can be pronounced in two different ways.
Spanish
Similar English sound
examples
1 When the G precedes A, O, U, or a consonant, it is pronounced like gave agosto
. a hard English g. It may also be softened to something go agua
approaching 2, below. gum galleta
glow guisantes
grande
2 When the G precedes an E or I, it is pronounced like a Spanish J. None. Similar to the gente
. Parisian R, or the CH in gigante
loch.
Also see lesson on hard/soft vowels
J - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter J 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 jugo
word loch. jamón
jueves
jesús
Ropa - Spanish Clothing

un abrigo coat
un impermeable raincoat
una chaqueta jacket
un suéter sweater
una camiseta T-shirt
unos pantalones pants
unos pantalones cortos shorts
un traje de baño bathing suit
unos calcetines socks
unos zapatos shoes
unos deportivos sneakers
unas botas boots
unas sandalias sandals
un pijama pajamas
Las Tiendas - Spanish Stores
la tienda de ultramarinos grocery store
el mercado outdoor market
la panadería bakery
la pastelería pastry shop
la confitería candy store
la lechería dairy
la carnicería butcher
la chacinería pork butcher
la pescadería fish market
el estanco (informal) tobacco shop
la droguería drugstore
la farmacía pharmacy
la lavandería laundromat
la tintorería dry cleaner
la ropería clothing store
los grandes almacenes 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 Plural
masc fem masc fem
my mi mis
your (tú) tu tus
his, her, your
su sus
(Ud.)
our nuestro nuestra nuestros nuestras
vuestros vuestras
your (vosotros) vuestro vuestra
their, your (Uds.) su sus
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 YOUR
masc sing: pencil nuestro lápiz vuestro lápiz
fem sing: pen nuestra pluma vuestra pluma
masc plural: books nuestros libros vuestros libros
fem plural: tables nuestras mesas vuestras mesas
Singular subjects (I, you, he) and third person plural (they) have only two forms: singularand plural.
MY YOUR HIS/HER/THEIR
sing: pencil mi lápiz tu lápiz su lápiz
plural:
mis mesas tus mesas sus mesas
tables
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 quién?
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 - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish letter L is pronounced just like the English letter L.
Spanish examples
leche
lima
lápiz
hola
falda
pulgar
Also see LL page.
LL - Pronunciación - 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 rojo roja rojos rojas
purple violeta violeta violeta violeta
blue azul azul azules azules
green verde verde verdes verdes
yellow amarillo amarilla amarillos amarillas
anaranjad
orange anaranjado anaranjados anaranjadas
a
black negro negra negros negras
white blanco blanca blancos blancas
grey gris gris grises grises
brown marrón marrón marrones marrones
pink rosado rosada rosados rosadas
light
azul claro azul clara azules claros azules claras
blue
dark red 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 Everyone (lit. "all the world")
Toda la clase The whole class
Todas las chicas Every girl / All the girls
Todos los días Every day
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
I want to buy everything!
todo!
Spanish Past Tense - Pretérito
The pretérito is the Spanish simple past tense, used to talk about things that were completed in the past.
Compré una chaqueta. I bought a jacket.
Comimos a las ocho. We ate at 8.
Fueron al banco. They went to the bank.
¿Hiciste tu tarea? Did you do your homework?
The pretérito and imperfecto are often confusing for Spanish students - learn the difference.
Conjugating the pretérito: 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
y
hablé nosotros hablamos
o
tú hablaste vosotros hablasteis
él habló ellos hablaron

Comer - to eat
y
comí nosotros comimos
o
tú comiste vosotros comisteis
él comió ellos comieron

Vivir - to live
y
viví nosotros vivimos
o
tú viviste vosotros vivisteis
él vivió ellos vivieron
Note that the pretérito endings are identical for -ER and -IR verbs.
There are also, however, a number of verbs which are irregular in the pretérito. 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
pretérito, then take the test.
N - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation
The Spanish letter N is pronounced just like the English letter N.
Spanish examples
nariz
anillo
cinturón
mano
lloviendo
pinza
Also see Ñ page.
Ñ - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

The ~ accent (called a tilde) on the Spanish letter Ñ 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 Ñ are two different letters. There are
words that mean different things depending on whether the word is spelled with an N or an Ñ. For example, una = one
while uña = nail. Also, the Ñ section of the dictionary comes after the entire N section.
Ñ is pronounced like the ni in onion.
Examples
uña
baño
muñeca
pañuelo
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 la casa room
la pieza
at my house en mi casa kitchen la cocina
dining room el comedor
hall el pasillo bathroom el baño
stairway la escalera office, study el despacho
den, living
porch la veranda el salón
room
balcony el balcón bedroom el dormitorio
patio el patio basement el sótano
yard,
el jardín attic el desván
garden
Introductions - las Presentaciones

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

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

please por favor
thank you (very much) (muchas) gracias
I can't thank you enough! ¡cuánto te lo agradezco!
you're welcome, don't mention it de nada
it was my pleasure no hay de qué
bless you! (after a sneeze) ¡Jesús! or ¡Salud!
pardon me perdón
excuse me con permiso
won't you please excuse me tenga a bien disculparme
I'm (very) sorry lo siento (mucho)
cheers salud (y pesetas)
enjoy your meal buen provecho
Sir, Mr. señor
Ma'am, Mrs. señora
Miss señorita
Family - La Familia

In order to talk about your family, you need to know Spanish family vocabulary.

Man/Boy Hombre/Chico Woman/Girl Mujer/Chica
father el padre mother la madre
brother el hermano sister la hermana
son el hijo daughter la hija
baby el niño baby la niña
el marido la mujer
husband wife
el esposo la esposa
grandfather el abuelo grandmother la abuela
grandson el nieto granddaughter la nieta
cousin el primo cousin la prima
uncle el tío aunt la tía
nephew el sobrino niece la sobrina
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. :-)
Country/Continent Nationality* Language**
Africa africano
America (North +
americano***
South)
Argentina argentino el español
Asia asiático
Australia australiano el inglés
Brazil brasileño el portugués
Canada canadiense el francés, el inglés
China chino el chino
Colombia colombiano el español
Egypt egipcio el árabe
England inglés el inglés
Europe europeo
France francés el francés
Germany alemán el alemán
India indio el hindi (plus many others)
Italy italiano el italiano
Japan japonés el japonés
Mexico mejicano el español
Poland polaco el polaco
Portugal portugués el portugués
Russia ruso el ruso
Spain español el español
Switzerland suizo el alemán, el francés, el italiano
United States estadounidense el inglés
* 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., español = 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 un/a artista
baker panadero
butcher carnicero
carpenter carpintero
cashier cajero
civil servant funcionario
cook cocinero
doctor médico
electrician un/a electricista
employee empleado
engineer ingeniero
flight attendant un(a) auxiliar de vuelo
lawyer
abogado
(barrister)
maid una criada
manager director
mechanic mecánico
nurse enfermero
pilot el piloto
plumber un plomero
police officer un policía
receptionist una recepcionista
secretary secretario
student un/a estudiante
teacher profesor
waiter/waitress camarero
writer escritor
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 soy nosotros somos
tú ere vosotros sois
s
él, ella, es ellos, ellas, Uds. son
Ud.
All tenses
Ser is used to describe permanent or long-term attributes like
 origin
 nationality
 what something is made of
 physical characteristics
 personality
 religion
 relationships
 professions
Soy de España. I'm from Spain.
¿Eres francés? Are you French?
La casa es de adobe. The house is made of adobe.
Somos grandes. We are tall.
¡Sois inteligentes! You guys are smart!
¿Son católicos? Are they Catholic?
Soy la esposa de Juan. I'm Juan's wife.
¿Eres profesor? Are you a teacher?

ESTAR
Present tense:
yo estoy nosotros estamos
tú estás vosotros estáis
él, ella, está ellos, Ud. están
Ud.
All tenses
Estar is used to describe the current state of a noun - temporary, changeable attributes like
 location**
 attitude
 mental / physical state
Estoy en Marruecos. I'm in Morocco.
San José está en Costa San José is in Costa Rica.
Rica.**
¿Estás enfrente de la casa? Are you in front of the house?
¡Está contento hoy! He's happy today!
¿Cómo estáis? How are you?
Estámos enfermos. 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 José 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 Plural
1st person yo1 I nosotros we
nosotras5
2nd tú you2 vosotros you2
person vosotras5
3rd person él he, it3 ellos they
ella she, it3 ellas5
Ud.4 you2 Uds.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
familia
tú vosotros
r
formal Ud. 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 él 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. Stem-
changing 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
y
quiero nosotros queremos
o
tú quieres vosotros queréis
él quiere ellos quieren
Similarly-conjugated verbs (note that there are -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs in this category):
advertir to warn
ascender to go up
atravesar to cross
cerrar to close
comenzar to begin
descender to go down
despertarse to wake up
divertirse to have fun
empezar to begin
entender to understand
mentir to lie
pensar to think
perder to lose
preferir to prefer
quebrar to break
querir to want
recomendar to recommend
sentarse to sit down
sentir to feel
2. O changes to UE
PODER - can, to be able to
y nosotros
puedo podemos
o
tú puedes vosotros podéis
él puede ellos pueden
Similar verbs (there are -AR, -ER, and -IR verbs in this category):
acostarse to go to bed
almorzar to eat lunch
contar to count
costar to cost
doler to hurt
dormir to sleep
encontrar to find
jugar* to play
morir to die
mostrar to show
oler** to smell
probar to try
recordar to remember
soler to be used to
volar to fly
volver to return
* 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
y nosotros
repito repetimos
o
tú repites vosotros repetís
él repite ellos repiten
Similar verbs (only -IR verbs in this category):
despedirse to say good-bye
gemir to moan, groan
impedir to prevent
medir to measure
pedir to ask for
reír to laugh
seguir to follow, continue
servir to serve
sonreírse to smile
vestirse to dress
Basic Vocabulary

Hablo (un poco de) español. I speak (a little) Spanish.
¿Habla inglés? Do you speak English?
¿Qué quiere decir ----? What does ---- mean?
¿Cómo se dice ---- en español? How do you say ---- in Spanish?
Repita, por favor. Repeat, please.
Más despacio More slowly
Otra vez One more time
No comprendo. I don't understand.
No sé. I don't know.
Tengo una pregunta. I have a question
Tengo un problema. I have a problem
¿Cómo? What?
sí yes
no no
de acuerdo OK
y/o and / or (lesson)
quién who
qué what
cuándo when
dónde where
por qué why
cómo how
Politeness - Spanish Vocabulary

please por favor
thank you (very much) (muchas) gracias
I can't thank you enough! ¡cuánto te lo agradezco!
you're welcome, don't mention it de nada
it was my pleasure no hay de qué
bless you! (after a sneeze) ¡Jesús! or ¡Salud!
pardon me perdón
excuse me con permiso
won't you please excuse me tenga a bien disculparme
I'm (very) sorry lo siento (mucho)
cheers salud (y pesetas)
enjoy your meal buen provecho
Sir, Mr. señor
Ma'am, Mrs. señora
Miss señorita
Números - 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 veintidós
3 tres 23 veintitrés
4 cuatro 24 veinticuatro
5 cinco 25 veinticinco
6 seis 26 veintiséis
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 dieciséis 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, veintiún 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:
¿Cuántos libros tienes? - Uno.
Spanish numbers 21-29 are usually a single word composed as follows:
 take veinte
 drop the final e
 add i (meaning "and")
 add the digit
21-29 can also be written as three words, just as the 30's through 90's are:
 take veinte, treinta, cuarenta, etc.
 add y (and)
 add the digit
Números 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 1º
1/2
second segundo 2nd 2º una mitad
(half)
third tercero 3rd 3º 1/3 un tercio
fourth cuarto 4th 4º 1/4 un cuarto
fifth quinto 5th 5º 1/5 un quinto
sixth sexto 6th 6º 1/6 un sexto
seventh séptimo 7th 7º 1/7 un séptimo
eighth octavo 8th 8º 1/8 un octavo
ninth noveno 9th 9º 1/9 un noveno
tenth décimo 10th 10º 1/10 un décimo

2/3 dos tercios
3/4 tres cuartos
Notes
All ordinal numbers have feminine forms - just change the o to a: la segunda (2ª), la séptima (7ª)
Fractions may also be used with parte:
una tercia parte - a third
una octava parte - an eighth
tres décimas 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? ¿Qué hora es?
It's one o'clock Es la una. 01:00 h.
It's two o'clock Son las dos. 02:00 h.
Son las tres y media.
It's 3:30 03:30 h.
Son las tres y treinta.
Son las cuatro y cuarto.
It's 4:15 04:15 h.
Son las cuatro y quince.
Son las cinco menos cuarto.
It's 4:45 Son las cinco menos quince. 04:45 h.
Son las cuatro y cuarenta y cinco.
It's 5:10 Son las cinco y diez. 05:10 h.
Son las siete menos diez.
It's 6:50 06:50 h.
Son las seis y cincuenta.
It's 7am Son las siete de la mañana. 07:00 h.
Son las tres de la tarde.
It's 3pm 15:00 h.
Son las quince.
Son las seis de la noche.
It's 6pm 18:00 h.
Son las dieciocho.
Es mediodía.
It's noon 12:00 h.
Son las doce de día.
Es medianoche.
It's midnight 00:00 h.
Son las doce de la noche.
Note
Spanish doesn't have perfect equivalents for am and pm. You can use de la mañana 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 to ride horseback
ir al grano to go right to the point
ir a lo suyo to go one's own way, to act selfishly
ir a medias to go halves
ir a pie to walk, go on foot
ir bien to get along well
ir con tiento to go quietly
ir con uno to agree with someone
ir de brazo to walk arm in arm
ir de compras to go shopping
ir de juerga to go out on a spree
ir delante to go ahead
ir de mal en peor to go from bad to worse
ir para los 30 to be going on 30 (years old)
ir por to go for
ir sobre ruedas to go smoothly
ir tirando to get by
ir + present to start/be gradually doing something (present progressive)
participle
irse to go away
irse de prisa to rush away

a eso voy I'm coming to that
si vamos a eso for that matter
¡Qué va! Nonsense!
¡Vaya! You don't say!
Vaya con Dios God be with you, good-bye.

Furniture - Los Muebles - Spanish for Beginners
Spanish vocabulary related to furniture and appliances.
in the Study/Office in the Kitchen
desk un escritorio stove un hornillo
chair una silla oven un horno
lamp una lámpara refrigerator un frigorífico
(book)shel
una estantería sink un fregadero
f
computer un ordenador
printer una impresora in the Bedroom
bed una cama
in the Living Room dresser un aparador
couch un canapé alarm clock un despertador
table una mesa closet un ropero
stereo un estéreo
telephone un teléfono Miscellaneous
poster un cartel door una puerta
television una televisión window una ventana
carpet una moqueta
in the Bathroom rug un tapete
shower una ducha curtain una cortina
una bañera, un
bathtub wall una pared
baño
mirror un espejo floor el suelo
sink un lavabo ceiling el techo
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.
¿Dónde estabas ayer? Where were you yesterday?
Quería ir al cine. I wanted to go to the movies.
Ella leía el periódico. She was reading the newspaper.
¿Partíais? Were you leaving?
No tenían tiempo de estudiar. They didn't have time to study.
¿Llovía anoche? Did it rain last night?
Bailábamos todos los días. We used to dance every day.
The imperfecto and pretérito 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
y
hablaba nosotros hablábamos
o
tú hablabas vosotros hablabais
él hablaba ellos hablaban

Comer - to eat
y
comía nosotros comíamos
o
tú comías vosotros comíais
él comía ellos comían

Vivir - to live
y
vivía nosotros vivíamos
o
tú vivías vosotros vivíais
él vivía ellos vivían
Note that the yo and él 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
y
iba nosotros íbamos
o
tú ibas vosotros ibais
él iba ellos iban

Ser - to be
y
era nosotros éramos
o
tú eras vosotros erais
él era ellos eran

Ver - to see
y
veía nosotros veíamos
o
tú veías vosotros veíais
él veía ellos veían
P - Pronunciación - 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 - Pronunciación - 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.
A la escuela - At School
desk un escritorio school una escuela
student desk un pupitre high school un colegio
chalkboard una pizarra college una universidad
chalk una tiza classroom una aula
map un mapa*
book un libro
teacher un/a profesor/a dictionary un diccionario
student un/a estudiante notebook un cuaderno
paper el papel
pen una pluma piece of una hoja de papel
paper
pencil un lápiz
eraser un borrador course una clase
calculator una calculadora homework la tarea
backpack una mochila test un examen
*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 un ordenador
desk un escritorio printer una impresora
chair una silla copy machine una copiadora
fax machine una telecopiadora
pen una pluma typewriter una máquina de escribir
pencil un lápiz adding machine una sumadora
highlighter un marcador calculator una calculadora
stapler una grapadora
staple una grapa briefcase un maletín
paper clip un clip paper el papel
piece of paper una hoja de papel
mail el correo filing cabinet un fichero
email el correo electrónico file folder una carpeta
telephone un teléfono
cell phone un teléfono celular secretary un/a secretario/a
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 este ese aquel
singular
feminine singular esta esa aquella
masculin plural 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. That shirt (you're wearing) is pretty.
Aquellos estudiantes no Those students (over there) don't understand.
comprenden.
Esta chica está lista. This girl is ready.
Esos libros son estúpidos. Those books (you just picked up) are stupid.
Me gusta aquella casa. I like that house (on the other side of the street).

Each set of Spanish demonstrative adjectives corresponds with at least one place word.
este aquí or acá - here
ese ahí - there
aque
allí or allá - over there
l
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 sé la respuesta. I don't know the answer.
¿Sabéis francés? Do you know French?
Sabemos cocinar. We know how to cook.

In the pretérito, saber means to learn or to find out:
Supe el secreto ayer. I learned/found out the secret yesterday.

Expressions with saber

Present Tense Conjugations for Saber
yo sé nosotros sabemos
tu sabes vosotros sabéis
él sabe ellos saben
Saber conjugations

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. I know your father.
No conocen la obra de Cervantes. They're not familiar with Cervantes' work.
¿Ud. conoce Barcelona? Are you familiar with Barcelona?

In the pretérito, conocer means to meet someone for the first time.
Juan conoció su novia en Costa Rica. Juan met his girlfriend in Costa Rica.

Present Tense Conjugations for Conocer
yo conozco nosotros conocemos
tu conoces vosotros conocéis
él conoce ellos conocen
R - Pronunciación - 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
farmacía
tenedor
When R is at beginning of a word, it is pronounced like RR (see RR page).
Examples
reloj
rojo
ropería
rosado
If you have other tips on pronouncing the Spanish R, please post them on the forum.

RR - Pronunciación - 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
espárragos
marrón
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.

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 atlético
brave valiente cowardly cobarde
friendly amistoso
funny divertido serious serio
hard-
trabajador lazy perezoso
working
interesting interesante boring aburrido
kind amable mean mezquino
nice simpático
open-minded imparcial snobbish esnob
outgoing abierto shy tímido
patient paciente impatient impaciente
patriotic patriótico
smart inteligente stupid estúpido
sophisticated sofisticado naive ingenuo
strong fuerte weak débil
studious estudioso playful guasón
l Pasado - Pretérito 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 pretérito and imperfecto. The
imperfecto (yo hablaba) translates to the English imperfect (I was talking) while the pretérito (yo hablé) 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 pretérito and imperfecto in order to use them correctly
and thus express past events accurately.
The pretérito indicates
I. A single event
Fui a España el año pasado - I went to Spain last year.
Visité Barcelona el sábado - I visited Barcelona on Saturday.

II. One or more events or actions that began and ended in the past
Fui a España - I went to Spain.
Visité 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 nació - 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 España cada año - 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 España - 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 pretérito III above)
Vivía 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
Tenía 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 mañana - It was five a.m.
Era sus cumpleaños; tenía doce años - It was his birthday; he was twelve.

Thus the imperfecto is normally used for descriptions of the past, while the pretérito narrates specific events. In
addition, the imperfecto often sets the stage for an event expressed with the pretérito.
Compare the following passages:
Imperfecto: Cuando tenía dieciocho años, quería ser arquitecto. Me gustaba mucho la obra de Antoni Gaudí y
esperaba comprender su genio.
When I was eighteen, I wanted to be an architect. I really liked Antoni Gaudí's work and I hoped to understand his
genius.
Pretérito: Decidí estudiar en España e hice los formularios de inscripción, pero las universidades no me admitieron.
Conocí a un pintor y comencé a estudiar con él.
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 pretérito.
Imperfecto: normalmente - usually, de vez en cuando - from time to time, antes - formerly, todos los días - every day,
los lunes - on Mondays.
Pretérito: una vez - once, dos veces - twice, tres/cuatro/etc. veces - three/four/etc. times, muchas veces - several times,
ayer - yesterday, un día - 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 pretérito With imperfecto
Conocer to meet to know
Poder could (was able to, succeeded) could (a possibilty - no indication as to whether it happened)
Querer to try to want, love
No to refuse to not want
querer
Saber to learn, find out to know
Tener to receive to have
Tener* to get, become to be
*When used in expressions where it means "to be."
S - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation
The pronunciation of the Spanish letter S is pretty straightforward. As in English, there are two pronunciations.
Soun
Notes Examples
d
camisa
escuela
[s] The S is usually "soft," like the English S in words like house and some.
gris
sombrero
When the S precedes a voiced consonant (b, d, g, l, m, n), it is a "hard" sound, like the S in mismo
[z]
rose and cause. desde
T - Pronunciación - 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
estómago
cartel
brazalete
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 aburrido
calm tranquilo
confident seguro
confused perplejo
delighted encantado
embarassed, ashamed avergonzado
exhausted agotado
happy feliz
impatient impaciente
nervous nervioso
rushed, in a hurry de prisa
tired cansado
sad triste
scared asustado
sorry arrepentido
worried inquieto
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 me me nos us
2nd person te you os you
3rd person
lo him, you, it los them, you
masc.
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 valer - to be worth
bring
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: tú, Ud., nosotros, vosotros, and Uds.
Espera a tu hermano. Wait for your brother.
No escriba en su libro. Don't write in your book.
Hablemos de otra cosa. Let's talk about something else.
¡No gritéis! Don't shout!
Contesten las
Answer the questions.
preguntas.
Conjugations
The imperative for all commands for Ud., Uds., and nosotros and for negative commands for tú 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)
tú estudias no estudies
Ud. estudia estudie, no estudie
nosotros estudiamos estudiemos, no estudiemos
vosotros estudiáis no estudiéis
Uds. estudian estudien, no estudien
Regular -ER verbs: Change the E at the beginning of the suffix to A.
tú bebes no bebas
Ud. bebe beba, no beba
nosotros
bebamos, no bebamos
bebemos
vosotros bebéis no bebáis
Uds. beben beban, no beban
Regular -IR verbs:
 For tú, Ud., and Uds., change the E at the beginning of the suffix to A.
 Nosotros: Change the I at the beginning of the suffix to A.
 Vosotros: Change Í to ÁI.
tú abres no abras
Ud. abre abra, no abra
nosotros abrimos abramos, no abramos
vosotros abrís no abráis
Uds. abren abran, no abran
Notes:
 The imperative endings for -ER and -IR verbs are identical.
 Spanish imperative conjugations are the same as subjunctive conjugations.
Affirmative commands with tú and vosotros are conjugated a bit differently.
 Tú: Take the present tense and drop the final S: estudias --> estudia, bebes --> bebe, abres --> abre.
 Vosotros: Take the infinitive and replace the final R with a D: estudiar --> estudiad, beber --> bebed, abrir -->
abrid.
W - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

 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.
Spanish W pronounced like.. English
wat Spanish B or English W watt
wáter Spanish B water closet, lavatory
wedge English W pitching wedge (golf)
weekend English W weekend
wélter Spanish B welterwight
whiskey English W or GW whiskey
windsurf English W 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.
Y - Pronunciación - 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
Objetos indirectos - Spanish Indirect Objects
 Indirect objects are the people or things in a sentence to whom/what or the action of the verb occurs.
 I'm talking to José. - Hablo a José.
To whom am I talking? José.
 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
te you os you
person
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 contestó.
 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.
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 to suit, be good for
encantarle to love something
entusiasmarle to be excited about something
faltarle to be missing something, to not have
fascinarle to fascinate, to be fascinated by
gustarle to like
hacerle falta to need something
importarle to care about something, to mind
interesarle to be interested in
quedarle to have something left
sobrarle to have more than enough of something
tocarle 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 gusta el libro. me gustan los libros.
te gusta el libro. te gustan los libros.
le gusta el libro. le gustan los libros.
nos no
gusta el libro. gustan los libros.
s
os gusta el libro. os gustan los libros.

les gusta el libro. les 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 él 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 - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation
 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] axe, mix éxito, excepto
[gz] exact, example exacto, exigir
Z - Pronunciación - 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:
 lápiz -> lápices
 yo comienzo -> yo comencé
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 Spanish Use with Or use

basketball el baloncesto jugar
biking el ciclismo hacer ir en bicicleta
chess el ajedrez jugar
cooking la cocina hacer cocinar
dancing el baile bailar
fishing la pesca ir de pescar
football el fútbol americano jugar
gardening la jardinería hacer trabajar en el jardín
hiking el excursionismo hacer ir de excursión
hunting la caza ir de cazar
jogging el footing hacer
a movie una película ver ir al cine
music la música escuchar tocar a un instrumento
reading la lectura leer
sailing la vela hacer navegar
skiing el esquí esquiar
soccer el fútbol jugar
swimmin
la natación hacer nadar
g
television la televisión ver
tennis el tenis jugar
wrestling la lucha hacer luchar
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.
lo se lo
{
le + la se la
=
les + 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 Plural

1st person yo -é nosotros -emos
2nd person tú -ás vosotros -éis
él
ellos
3rd person ella -á -án
Uds.
Ud.
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 Future stem Similarly-conjugated verbs

caber cabr-
decir dir-
haber habr-
hacer har-
oír oir- *
poder podr-
poner pondr- componer, disponer, imponer, proponer, reponerse, suponer
quere
querr-
r
reír reir- * sonreír
saber sabr-
salir saldr-
tener tendr- contener, detener, mantener, obtener, retener
valer valdr-
venir vendr-
* 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 comer partir saber ir
yo hablaré comeré partiré sabré iré
tú hablarás comerás partirás sabrás irás
él/ella/Ud. hablará comerá partirá sabrá irá
hablaremo sabremo
nosotros comeremos partiremos iremos
s s
vosotros hablaréis comeréis partiréis sabréis iréis
ellos/Uds. hablarán comerán partirán sabrán irán
Pronunciación - 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 bottle

una caja box
una cucharada tablespoon
una
teaspoon
cucharadita
un kilogramo
kilogram
un kilo
una lata can, tin
una libra pound
un litro liter
una milla mile
un pie foot
un pote jar, pot, jug
una pulgada inch
una taza cup
un vaso 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 más... (que) more... than or ____er than

Inferiority menos... (que) less/fewer... than
Equality tan... como as... as
tanto... como as much/many as
Notes
1. With más 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 rápidamente 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).
Tú eres más interesante (que nosotros). You are more interesting (than we are).
Ana es más grande (que Lucas). Ana is taller (than Lucas).
Sevilla es menos caro (que Barcelona). Sevilla is less/not as expensive (than/as Barcelona).
Soy tan guapo como José. I'm as handsome as José.
Tengo tanto dinero como Uds. I have as much money as you.

II. Superlatives are formed with the definite article + noun + más 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 más inteligente que trabaja aquí. Carlos is the most intelligent person who works here.
Es la ciudad menos interesante del mundo. It's the least interesting city in the world.
Es el profesor más amable de la escuela. He is the nicest teacher in the school.

III. Exceptions: Bueno and malo have irregular forms for the comparative and superlative.
Comparative Superlative
Buen
mejor(es) lo(s)/la(s) mejor(es)
o
Malo peor(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). My restaurant is better (than this one).

Son los mejores profesores de la escuela. They are the best teachers in the school.
El libro es peor (que la película). The book is worse (than the movie).
Es la peor idea del mundo. It's the worst idea in the world.
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 hablando
tomar tomando
mirar mirando

II. -ER verbs, -IR verbs Drop the infinitive ending and add -iendo.
aprender aprendiendo
comer comiendo
poner poniendo
abrir abriendo
describir describiendo
escribir escribiendo

Formation Irregular Verbs

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

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

III. Ir (to go) --> yendo

Escuché los pájaros 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. While walking in the plaza, I saw my grandfather.
Pasó todas sus vacaciones esperando una sorpresa. He spent his entire vacation waiting for a surprise.
Aprendo mucho estudiando con ellos. I learn a lot by studying with them.

II. Progressive / Continuous Tenses
Present Estoy leyendo. I am reading.
Imperfect Estaban estudiando. They were studying.
Past Estuve leyendo. I was reading.
Future Estará trabajando. He will be working.

Not The Spanish gerund cannot be used as a noun, the way it is in English and French. This is a common mistake,
e even for native Spanish speakers.
X Me gusta leyendo. --> Me gusta leer.
X Trabajando es importante. --> Trabajar es importante.
X --> Escuché los pájaros cantar.
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 televisión. We're not watching television.
Estoy trabajando; no puedo salir. I'm working; I can't go out.
¿Por qué no estás haciendo caso del profesor? 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
Iré } al banco más tarde.
Voy a ir
He's leaving tomorrow. Sale
Saldrá } mañana.
Va a salir

The Spanish present progressive is usually formed with the present tense of estar + present participle of the action verb.

Estoy leyendo I am reading
Estás hablando You are speaking
Está 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. He's looking for his keys.

ir to start/be gradually doing something
Voy comprendiendo la verdad. I'm starting to understand the truth.

llevar to have been doing something (English present perfect progressive)
Llevo dos años trabajando aquí. 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 G Z
HS
[k] [g] [s]
A
cama gafas zapatos
O
cómo abogado perezoso
U
cuchara mucho gusto zumo
Cons
clase gris n/a
.

SS [th] [j] n/a*
E cebolla gente
I cinturón 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 sacar --> yo saqué
buscar --> yo busqué
G --> GU pagar --> yo pagué
jugar --> yo jugué
Z --> C comenzar --> yo comencé
lápiz --> lápices

To make a soft sound in front of a hard vowel:
C --> Z hacer --> él hizo
G --> J coger --> yo cojo
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.
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 Feminine
mine el mío la mía
los míos las mías
yours (tú) el tuyo la tuya
los tuyos las tuyas
his/hers/its/yours (Ud.) el suyo la suya
los suyos las suyas
ours el nuestro la nuestra
los nuestros las nuestras
yours (vosotros) el vuestro la vuestra
los vuestros las vuestras
theirs/yours (Uds.) el suyo la suya
los suyos las suyas
Note that the Spanish possessive pronouns for third person singular (él, 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 está aquí; ¿dónde está el tuyo? My brother is here; where's yours?
Me gustan mis libros y ella prefiere los suyos. I like my books and she prefers hers.
Tus ideas son buenas, pero las mías son mejores. Your ideas are good, but mine are better.
Estas plumas, ¿son las vuestras o las nuestras? 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 hablaré al mío. Talk to your dad; I'll talk to mine.
Él disfruta de su curso, pero yo no disfruto del mío. 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 (mío, tío, suyo, nuestro, vuestro).
¿No quieren lo mío? Don't you want mine (my work, my share...)?
Perdió lo suyo. He lost his (his stuff, his things).
¿Cuánto es lo nuestro? 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 Plural

1st person yo -ía nosotros -íamos
2nd person tú -ías vosotros -íais
él
ellos
3rd person ella -ía -ían
Uds.
Ud.
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):
Conditional
Verb Similarly-conjugated verbs
stem
caber cabr-
decir dir-
haber habr-
hacer har-
oír oir- *
poder podr-
poner pondr- componer, disponer, imponer, proponer, reponerse, suponer
querer querr-
reír reir- * sonreír
saber sabr-
salir saldr-
tener tendr- contener, detener, mantener, obtener, retener
valer valdr-
venir vendr-
* These verbs lose their accent when used as conditional stems.
Here are examples of -AR, -ER, -IR, and irregular verbs in the conditional:
hablar comer partir saber ir

yo hablaría comería partiría sabría iría
tú hablarías comerías partirías sabrías irías
él/ella/Ud. hablaría comería partiría sabría iría
nosotros hablaríamos comeríamos partiríamos sabríamos iríamos
vosotros hablaríais comeríais partiríais sabríais iríais
ellos/Uds. hablarían comerían partirían sabrían irían
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 empleado

estéreo
Pronounced as a hiatus* with normal rules of word stress (see lesson) europeo
impermeable
2. Strong vowel + weak vowel (most common) abierto

Pronounced as a diphthong* with emphasis on the strong vowel. australiano
baile
estudioso
fuerte
guasón
ingenuo
3. Two weak vowels
Pronounced as a diphthong with emphasis on the second vowel. suizo

cuidado
4. Exceptions asiático

frío
When the pronunciation of a word does not follow these rules, an acute accent is placed on the jardinería
stressed vowel. miércoles
natación
patriótico
policía
*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 portugués
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 teléfono
The telephone has its own special vocabularly - here are some useful phrases to know when making or receiving phone
calls in Spanish.
¡Aló!
¡Diga! Hello?
¡Bueno! (Mexico)
Quisiera hablar con ___. I'd like to speak to___.
¿De parte de quién?
Who is calling?
¿Quién llama?
Soy ___. I'm / It's ___.
No cuelgue, por favor. Please hold.
La línea está ocupada.
The line is busy.
Está comunicando.

un teléfono telephone
un teléfono celular cell phone
una llamada phone call
una llamada a cobro
collect / reversed charge call
revertido
un número de teléfono phone number
una guía telefónica phone book
un tono de marcar dial tone
una cabina de teléfono phone booth
un contestador automático answering machine

llamar por teléfono to call
marcar to dial
descolgar to pick up (the phone)
desconectar to cut off
dejar un mensaje/recado to leave a message
colgar to hang up
sonar to ring
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 QUANTITY
bien well bastante quite, enough
mal poorly mucho a lot
mejor better poco few, little
peor worse demasiado too much
alto loudly muy very
bajo softly tanto so/as much/many
-mente* -ly más more
menos less
FREQUENCY
a veces sometimes TIME
frecuentement often hoy today
e
siempre always mañana tomorrow
raramente rarely ayer yesterday
nunca never ahora now
tarde late
PLACE temprano early
aquí here ya already
allí there por fin finally
allá over there actualmente currently
todas partes everywhere pronto soon
alguna parte somewhere entonces next, then
*Nearly every Spanish word that ends in -mente is an adverb, usually of manner. Its English equivalent ends in -ly:
 rápidamente - 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 mañana. We ate well this morning.

Los libros llegaron
Fortunately the books arrived. OR The books arrived, fortunately.
afortunadamente.
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
You have learned quickly OR You have quickly learned.
rápidamente.
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
His ideas are completely crazy.
locas.
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 Present Subjunctive

...que yo hablo hable
...que tú hablas hables
...que él/ella/Ud. habla hable
...que nosotros hablamos hablemos
...que vosotros habláis habléis
...que ellos/Uds. hablan hablen
-ER verbs: Take the present tense and change the E (or O) to A.
COMER Present Subjunctive

...que yo como coma
...que tú comes comas
...que él/ella/Ud. come coma
...que nosotros comemos comamos
...que vosotros coméis comáis
...que ellos/Uds. comen coman
-IR verbs: The conjugation rules for -IR verbs are a bit more complicated.
 yo form - change O to A
 tú, él, and ellos forms - change E to A
 nosotros form - change I to A
 vosotros form - change Í to ÁI
If this seems too complicated, try this: take off the present tense ending and add the subjunctive ending.
Subjunctiv
ABRIR Present Subj. ending
e
...que yo abro abra -a
...que tú abres abras -as
...que él/ella/Ud. abre abra -a
abrimo
...que nosotros abramos -amos
s
...que vosotros abrís abráis -áis
...que ellos/Uds. abren abran -an
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 Present Subjunctive

...que yo pienso piense
...que tú piensas pienses
...que él/ella/Ud. piensa piense
...que nosotros pensamos pensemos
...que vosotros pensáis penséis
...que ellos/Uds. piensan piensen

PODER Present Subjunctive
...que yo puedo pueda
...que tú puedes puedas
...que él/ella/Ud. puede pueda
...que nosotros podemos podamos
...que vosotros podéis podáis
...que ellos/Uds. pueden puedan
Notes:
 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 Diéresis - Ü
 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:
 guasón
 guapo
 In order to obtain this W sound in front of a soft vowel, the Ü 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:
 vergüenza
 lingüística
 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.
Love and Friendship in Spanish ~ Amor y amistad
 Spanish is a Romance language, which means it must be romantic, right? Here's the most romantic Spanish
vocabulary of all. :-)
I love you Te quiero

Te amo
Will you marry me? ¿Quieres casarte conmigo?

to date citar
salir con
to get engaged prometirse
to be engaged estar prometido
to get married casarse

kiss un beso
hug un abrazo
engagement el compromiso
marriage el matrimonio
wedding la boda
las bodas
wedding anniversary el aniversario de bodas
honeymoon la luna de miel

St. Valentine's Day (card) (la tarjeta del) día de San Valentín
present el regalo
flowers las flores
candy el dulce
clothes la ropa
perfume el perfume
jewelry las joyas
engagement ring el anillo de prometida
wedding ring el anillo de boda

husband el marido wife la mujer
el esposo la esposa
fiance el novio la novia
lover un amante una amante
boyfriend* el novio girlfriend el novia
friend el amigo la amiga
dear, querido querida
sweetheart (mi) amor (mi) amor
 *Novio and novia can be used for boy/girlfriend as well as for fiancé, 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 hablado
tomar tomado
mirar mirado

II. -ER verbs, -IR verbs Drop the infinitive ending and add -ido.
aprender aprendido
comer comido
salir salido

Formation Irregular Verbs

I. Verbs with stem that ends in vowel - Drop the infinitive and add -ído.
caer caído
leer leído
traer traído

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

Usage - The Spanish past participle is used mainly in perfect tenses.

Present perfect He comido. I have eaten.
Past perfect Habían llegado. They had arrived.
Future perfect ¿Habrás trabajado? 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 había salido (cuando tú llamaste). I had already left (when you called).
No habían comido (antes de hacer su tarea). They hadn't eaten (before doing their homework).
Fui al mercado por la mañana; ya había 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
nosotro
yo había hablado habíamos hablado
s
vosotro
tú habías hablado habíais hablado
s
él
ellos
ella
había hablado ellas habían hablado
Ud
Uds.
.

SALIR
nosotro
yo había salido habíamos salido
s
vosotro
tú habías salido habíais salido
s
él
ellos
ella
había salido ellas habían salido
Ud
Uds.
.
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 ¿Cómo es?
like? ¿Qué tal es?

S/He is... Él/Ella es...
tall alto
short bajo
fat gordo
thin delgado
handsome guapo
pretty bonita
ugly feo
tanned bronceado

S/He has... Él/Ella tiene...
blue eyes ojos azules
green verdes
hazel garzos
brown morenos

grey hair canas
dark pelo moreno
black negro
brown marrón
red rojo
blond rubio
straight liso
curly rizado
wavy ondulado
short corto
long largo
melena

freckles pecas
dimples hoyuelos
Spanish Coordinating Conjunctions - Conjunciones de coordinación
Coordinating conjunctions | Subordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions provide a link between similar words or groups of words, such as nouns, verbs, people,
etc.
José y Ana hablan francés. José and Ana speak French.

Quiero un taco o una enchilada. I want a taco or an enchilada.
Espera a tu hermano, entonces abre la Wait for your brother, then open the door.
puerta.
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:
 José 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 so, then

no... ni...
neither... nor
ni
o or
o... o either... or
pero but
sea... sea either... or
y and
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.
Quería que lo hicieras. I wanted you to do it.
Fue una lástima que no pudiera venir. It was too bad that he couldn't come.
Yo iría al banco para que tuviéramos dinero. 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, iría contigo. If I had money, I would go with you.
Me escucha como si fuera su profesor. He listens to me as if I were his teacher.
Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugations
To conjugate the imperfect subjunctive, take the third person plural preterite form of any regular, irregular, or stem-
changing verb, drop the -RON ending to find the radical, and add the appropriate ending:
-RA conjugation -SE conjugation

y - nosotro
-ra nosotros yo -se -´semos
o ´ramos s
vosotro
tú -ras vosotros -rais tú -ses -seis
s
él -ra ellos -ran él -se ellos -sen
Notes:
 The yo and él 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

nosotro
yo hablara habláramos
s
vosotro
tú hablaras hablarais
s
él hablara ellos hablaran

nosotro
yo hablase hablásemos
s
vosotro
tú hablases hablaseis
s
él hablase ellos hablasen

TENER -» ellos tuvieron
nosotro
yo tuviera tuviéramos
s
vosotro
tú tuvieras tuvierais
s
él tuviera ellos tuvieran

nosotro
yo tuviese tuviésemos
s
vosotro
tú tuvieses tuvieseis
s
él tuviese 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.
Quería que tú lo hubieras hecho. I wanted you to do it.
Fue una lástima que no hubiera podido venir. It was too bad that he couldn't come.
Estaba triste de oír que su padre hubiera muerto. It was sad to hear that his father had died.

2. To express a wish, after ojalá que, that something had happened differently in the past.
Ojalá que hubiera ido. I wish he had come.
Ojalá que hubiéramos podido verlo. If only we could have seen it.

3. In conditional sentences (si clauses).
Si hubiera sabido, hubiera ido contigo. If I had known, I would have gone with you.
¿Hubieras comprado el libro si te hubiera dicho? Would you have bought the book if I had told you?
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.
-RA conjugation of TENER

y nosotro
hubiera tenido hubiéramos tenido
o s
hubieras vosotro
tú hubierais tenido
tenido s
él hubiera tenido ellos hubieran tenido

-SE conjugation of TENER
y nosotro
hubiese tenido hubiésemos tenido
o s
vosotro
tú hubieses tenido hubieseis tenido
s
él hubiese tenido ellos hubiesen tenido
Spanish Toiletries - Artículos 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 lavarse
soap el jabón
deodorant el desodorante
bubble bath el baño de espuma
to wash one's hair lavarse la cabeza
shampoo el champú
conditioner el suavizante de cabello

to brush one's hair cepillarse el pelo
hairbrush el cepillo para el pelo
comb el peine

to shave afeitarse
shaving el afeitado
shaving cream la crema de afeitar
razor la maquinilla de afeitar
shaver la afeitadora (eléctrica)

to put on make-up maquillarse
make-up el maquillaje
make-up remover el desmaquillador
tweezers las bruselas
foundation el maquillaje de fondo
eyeshadow la sombra de ojos
mascara el rímel
blusher el colorete
lipstick el rojo de labios
moisturizer la crema hidratante

to do one's nails arreglarse las uñas
el esmalte (para las
nail polish
uñas)
nail file la lima (para las uñas)
nail polish
el quitaesmalte
remover
nail clippers los cortauñas

to brush one's teeth cepillarse los dientes
toothbrush el cepillo de dientes
toothpaste el dentífrico
mouthwash el enjuague
Spanish Prepositional Pronouns ~ Pronombres en función de complemento con preposición
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 Plural
me mí us nosotros
you ti you vosotros
him, it él them ellos
her, it ella them ellas
you Ud Uds.
you
.
it ello
oneself sí
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 mí, ti, and ello. Mí 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. I have a present for you.

¿Vienes con nosotros? Are you coming with us?
A mí, no me gusta el pescado. (Me,) I don't like fish.
Estoy al lado de ellas. I'm next to them.
Quiero ir con él. I want to go with him.
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 sí.
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 frío, y por ello no puedo ayudarte. I'm cold, and that's why I can't help you.
Lesson on ello

Notes:
1. Con + mí, ti, and sí 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 según (according to).

 When paired with another pronoun:
- para tú y yo
- por ella o yo
 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):
Él lo habría dicho. He would have said it.
Si yo hubiera sabido, habría ido contigo. If I had known, I would have gone with you.
¿Habrías 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 habría comido antes de salir. Lucas had probably already eaten.
Habrían sido las dos cuando llegamos. 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 habría hablado nosotros habríamos hablado
tú habrías hablado vosotros habríais hablado
él
ellos
ella
habría hablado ellas habrían hablado
Ud
Uds.
.

SALIR
yo habría salido nosotros habríamos salido
tú habrías salido vosotros habríais salido
él
ellos
ella
habría salido ellas habrían salido
Ud
Uds.
.
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)...? ¿Dónde está...?

bank el banco
bathroom el baño
church la iglesia
currency
el cambio de moneda
exchange
hospital el hospital
hotel el hotel
movie theater el cine
museum el museo
park el parque
police station la comisaría
post office la oficina de correos
restaurant el restaurante
school la escuela
theater el teatro

It's... Está...
left a la izquierda
right a la derecha
straight ahead todo seguido
next to junto a
in front of enfrente de
in back of detrás de
up arriba
down abajo
near (to) cerca (de)
far (from) lejos (de)

north norte
south sur
east este
west 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 éste (this one - something near the speaker), ése (that one -
something near the listener), and aquél (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 that that

masculin éste ése aquél
singular
feminine singular ésta ésa aquélla
masculin plural éstos ésos aquéllos
feminine plural éstas ésas aquéllas
neuter esto eso aquello
Demonstrative pronouns are used to replace a demonstrative adjective + noun, or simply refer back to a previously-
mentioned/implied noun without repeating its name.
For example...
¿Qué chica lo hizo, ésta o ésa? Which girl did it, this one or that one?
Estoy leyendo éso. I'm reading this (one).
Quiero mirar esta película, no me gusta I want to see this movie; I don't like that one.
aquélla.
Todos los perros son lindos, pero prefiero éste. All the dogs are cute, but I prefer this one.
Éstos son más caros que ésos. These are more expensive than those.

Éste can mean "latter," while aquél can mean "former."
Luís y Ana van a ayudarnos. Aquél ya está Luís and Ana are going to help up. The former (Luís) is already here,
aquí, y ésta llegará a las dos. 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.
¿Qué es esto? What is this?
Eso es imposible. That is impossible.
Por eso, no puedo hacerlo. Therefore (because of that), I can't do it.
Aquello no es necesario. That's not necessary.

Each set of Spanish demonstrative pronouns corresponds with a different place word:
éste aquí - here

ése ahí - there
aquél allí - 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. Lying is not a good idea.
Aprender es importante. Learning is important.

II. After a conjugated verb, the infinitive can be used
A. With a preposition
Vamos a estudiar. We're going to study.
Acabo de salir. I just left.
Salgamos depués de comer. Let's leave after eating.
La biblioteca es perfecta para estudiar. The library is perfect for studying.
B. Without a preposition
Me gusta bailar. I like dancing.
Prefieren venir con nosotros. They prefer coming with us.
Los vi jugar. I saw them play.
C. With que
Tienes que comer. You have to eat.
Hay mucho que hacer. There's a lot to do.

III. In place of the subjunctive when the main clause has
A. the same subject as the subordinate clause
Tiene miedo que llegué tarde* ==> Tiene miedo de
He's afraid of arriving late.
llegar tarde.
Estoy contenta que tenga razón* ==> Estoy contenta de
I'm happy to be right.
tener razón.
*These are grammatically incorrect. When the subject is the same, you *must* use the infinitive.
B. an impersonal subject (if the subject is implied)
Es importante que trabajes ==> Es importante trabajar. It's important to work.
It's not necessary that they come (They don't need
No es necesario que vengan ==> No es necesario venir.
to come).
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. Indicative Indicativo Indicates a fact - the most common mood.
II. Subjunctive Subjuntivo Expresses subjectivity, doubt, or unlikelihood.
III. Conditional* Potencial Describes a condition or possibility.
IV. Imperative Imperativo Gives a command.

Impersonal moods Modos impersonales
Impersonal moods are not conjugated: they have a single form for all grammatical persons.
V. Infinitive Infinitivo Name of the verb.
VI. Participle Participio Adjectival form of the verb.
VII. Gerund Gerundio Adverbial form of the verb.

*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. Él 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. Él tiene cien páginas.
Voy a comprar el libro que tiene cien páginas.
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.
Perdí la pluma. Mi hermano la compró.

Perdí la pluma que mi hermano compró.
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 están aquí. Hablaba de ellos.

Los estudiantes, de quienes hablaba, están aquí.
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. Él 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 están aquí. Hablaba de ellos.

Los estudiantes de los que /cuales hablaba están aquí.
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 estudié.

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 sé el país 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. I wash the clothes.
Rompió la taza. He broke the cup.
Es profesor de español He's a Spanish teacher.

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

Pronominal
The subject performs the action on itself (considerably less common in English).
(reflexive)
Me lavo. I'm washing (myself).
Se rompió la pierna. He broke his leg.
Quiero mirarme en el espejo. 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. I am ready.
Vamos al mercado. We are going to the market.
II. Habitual actions
Voy a la escuela todos los días. I go to school every day
Veo una película los sábados. I see a movie on Saturdays.
III. Absolute and general truths
La tierra es grande. The earth is big.
La escuela es importante. School is important.
IV. Actions which will occur in the near future
Voy al mercado lunes. I'll go to the store Monday.
Ana llega a las dos. Ana's arriving at two.
V. Conditions in si clauses
Si puedo, iré contigo. If I can, I will go with you.
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 } Yo como.
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 } Estoy comiendo.
eating
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.
Lette
Sound Usage Similar Eng. sound Examples
r
B, V [b] beginning of word or after boy bien
consonant árbol
vosotros
invierno
bilabial fricative everywhere else n/a hablar
problema
nueve
noventa

C [th] preceding E or I once
diciembre
[k] preceding A, O, U, or consonant como
cuatro
octubre

D [d] beginning of word or after L or N dog dos
had cuándo
falda
[TH] everywhere else this adiós
bathe perdón
salud

G [g] preceding A, O, U, or consonant gave agosto
go agua
gum galleta
glow grande
[kh] preceding E or I ch in loch gente
gigante

S [z] rose mismo
preceding B, D, G, L, M, N
cause desde
[s] everywhere else house escuela
some gris
sombrero

X [ks] n/a axe
éxito excepto
mix
[gz] n/a exact example 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 one wants it.

No vi nada. I didn't see anything.
Ninguno de los libros me
None of the books interests me.
interesa.
The Spanish negative pronouns are:
(no...) ninguno
none (of), not any (of)
(de)
(no...) nadie no one
(no...) nada 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 one wants it.
No vi a nadie. I didn't see anyone.

Nada va a pasar. Nothing is going to happen.
No hay nada en el coche. There's nothing in the car.

Ninguno de los libros me
None of the books interests me.
interesa.
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
ningun
masculine ningunos
o
ningun
feminine ningunas
a
Spanish Capitalization - Las mayúsculas
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." Dijo «yo te amo».

2. Days of the week, months of the year (lesson)
Monday, Tuesday... lunes, martes...
January, February... enero, febrero...

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

4. Languages (list of languages)
Spanish, French, English... español, francés, inglés...

5. Nationalities (list of nationalities)
I'm American. Soy americano.
He bought a Spanish flag. Compró un libro español.
She married a Mexican. Se casó con un mexicano.
I saw an Australian. 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 judaísmo Jewish judío Jew un judío
Hinduism el hinduismo Hindu hindú Hindu un hindú
Buddhism el budismo Buddhist budista Buddhist un budista
Islam * Muslim musulmán Muslim un musulman
*Exception Islam - el Isla
Spanish Present Perfect ~ Pretérito 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? Have you eaten?

Ya he comido aquí. I have already eaten here.
Lo hemos visto tres veces esta
We have seen him three times tonight.
noche.
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 he hablado nosotros hemos hablado
tú has hablado vosotros habéis hablado
él ha hablado ellos han hablado
ella
ellas
Ud
Uds.
.

SALIR
yo he salido nosotros hemos salido
tú has salido vosotros habéis salido
él
ellos
ella
ha salido ellas han salido
Ud
Uds.
.
The present perfect progressive is formed with the verb llevar:
Llevo dos días 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.
Habré comido antes de salir. I will have eaten before leaving (before I leave).
Cuando llames esta noche, ella habrá llegado. When you call, she will have arrived.
¿Ya habrás terminado para las ocho? Will you have finished by eight o'clock?
In Spanish, the future perfect can also express probability or supposition about events or situations in the past.
Algo habrá ocurrido. Something probably happened.

¿Se habrá olvidado José? Could José 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 habré hablado nosotro habremos hablado
s
vosotro
tú habrás hablado habréis hablado
s
él
ellos
ella
habrá hablado ellas habrán hablado
Ud
Uds.
.

SALIR
nosotro
yo habré salido habrémos salido
s
vosotro
tú habrás salido habréis salido
s
él
ellos
ella
habrá salido ellas habrán salido
Ud
Uds.
.
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 act, record

el agua water
el águila eagle
el ala wing
el alba dawn
el alga seaweed
el alma woman, soul
el arca chest, box
el arma weapon
el aspa cross
el aula classroom
el ave bird
el hacha axe
el hada 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:
 plural article
 adjectives (including descriptive, possessive, demonstrative, etc.)
Quiero ver el agua azul. I want to see the blue water.

¿Dónde están las aves? Where are the birds?
Tengo un arca muy
I have a very pretty box.
bonita.
No me gusta esta aula. I don't like this classroom.
2. When there is an adjective between the article and noun, the article is feminine:
Es la última 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 Spanish ex. English Lesson
-ado hablado talked
-ed Past participle
-ido asistido helped
personal personal
-al -al
infernal infernal
-ando entrando entering
-ing Present participle
-iendo ocurriendo occurring
- americano American
-an Nationalities
ano/ana mejicano Mexican
-ante -ant militante militant
-ar entrar to enter
-er to + verb depender to depend Infinitives
-ir ocurrir to occur
anarquía anarchy
-arquía -archy
monarquía monarchy
nación nation
-ción -tion
tradición tradition
democracia democracy
-cracia -cracy
teocracia theocracy
finalidad finality
-dad -ty
nacionalidad nationality
educador educator
-dor -tor
narrador narrator
dependencia dependence
-encia -ence
violencia violence
aparente apparent
-ente -ent
permanente permanent
tristeza sadness
-eza -ness
franqueza frankness
-filo/a -phile hispanófilo Hispanophile
-fobo/a -phobe hispanófobo Hispanophobe
-ica -ic música music
-ico -ical lírico lyrical
identificar identify
-ificar -ify
verificar verify
-ismo modernismo modernism
-ism
-isma cisma schism
lista list
-ista -ist
purista purist
votivo votive
-ivo -ive
pensativo pensive
-ize [a] idealizar idealize/idealise
-izar
-ise [b] realizar realize/realise
rápidamente rapidly
-mente -ly Adverbs
posiblemente possibly
-mento pavimento pavement
-ment
-miento adelantamiento advancement
nocturno nocturnal
-no -nal
eterno eternal
cantor singer
-er
-or(a) jugador player Professions
-or
autor author
-oria obligatorio obligatory
-ory
-orio memoria memory
-osa nervioso nervous
-ous
-oso famoso famous
-er [a] metro meter/metre
-ro
-re [b] teatro theater/theatre
conclusión conclusion
-sión -sion
tensión tension
plenitud plenitude
-tud -tude
latitud latitude

PREFIXES
especial special
es- s-
estupendo stupendous
inmediato immediate
inm- imm-
inmigrar immigrate
trans- transportación transportation
trans-
tras- trasplantar transplant

ANYWHERE IN WORD
-c-
-k- quiosco kiosk
-qu-
ecuador equator
-cu- -qu-
cuantificar quantify
teléfono telephone
-f- -ph-
fotografía photograph
teatro theater
-t- -th-
mito myth
Symbol key:
(x) The letters in (parentheses) indicate extra letter needed for the feminine form of the Spanish suffix.
/xx The letters after the /slash indicate that the feminine noun or adjective has a different suffix.
[a] Applies mainly to American English.
[b] 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. All of the books are good.
Cada estudiante debe
Each student must speak.
hablar.
Hay otras posibilidades. There are other possibilities.
Quiero varias cosas. I want several things.

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

Notes:
1 These pronouns have four different forms and agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.
Veo a algunos hombres. I see some men.
Tiene mucha libertad. 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 país tiene sus proprias tradiciones. Each country has its own traditions.
Quiero mirar cada coche. I want to look at each car.

3 Tal has only singular and plural forms: tal, tales
No hay tal cosa. There's no such thing.
Tales ideas nos ayudarán. Such ideas will help us.

4 Varios has only masculine and feminine plural forms: varios, varias
Tengo varios libros. I have several books.
Compré varias flores. 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 digo nosotros decimos

tú dices vosotros decís
él, ella, dice ellos, ellas, Uds. dicen
Ud.
Decir is used just like its English counterparts.
Dicen que es They say it's important.

importante.
No puedo decir. I can't say.
¿Qué me dices? What are you telling me?
Digo la verdad. I'm telling the truth.
Decir is also used in many idiomatic expressions
Oír - To Hear - Spanish Verb
Oír - to hear - is an irregular Spanish verb.
yo oigo nosotros oímos

tú oyes vosotros oís
él, ella, oye ellos, ellas, Uds. oyen
Ud.
Oír is used just like its English counterpart.
¿Puedes oír eso? Can you hear that?

Le oigo abrir la puerta. I hear him opening the door.
No oye lo que no quiere He doesn't hear what he doesn't want to hear.
oír.
¿Me oís? 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. I was studying when you called.
Lo vi cuando estábamos caminando. I saw him when we were walking.
¿Estabas leyendo ahora mismo? Were you reading just now?
Él estaba trabajando a las siete. 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 ten gou nai deain te re san te

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 señores son nerviosos lo se ño re so ner vio sos

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 u nac to re su nar ti sta
Notes:
 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.
 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 from el lagarto (the lizard)
alpaca from Aymara word allpaca
armadillo diminutive of armado (armored), past participle of armar (to arm), from Latin armare (to arm), from
arma (arms)
barracuda from barraco (overlapping tooth)
bronco (wild)
cockroach from cucharacha, from cuca (caterpillar)
condor from cóndor, from Quechua cuntur
coyote from Nahuatl cóyotl
iguana from Arawak iwana
jaguar from Guarani jaguá or yaguar (dog)
llama from Quechua
mosquito diminutive of mosca (fly), from Latin musca
mustang from American Spanish mesteño or mestengo (stray animal), from Old Spanish, from mesta (association of
livestock owners), from Medieval Latin mixta (assorted)
pinto (piebald, spotted), from Vulgar Latin pinctus (painted)
puma from Quechua
tuna from atún, from Arabic at-tun (the tuna), from Latin thunnus

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

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

Food Terms
alfalfa Spanish, from Arabic al-fashfasha, variant of fishfisha, from Persian aspist (clover)
banana from African languages Wolof, Mandingo, and Fulani
burrito diminutive of burro (donkey)
chile, chili type of pepper, from Nahuatl word chilli
chocolate from Nahuatl xocolatl (bitter water)
cilantro from Late Latin coliandrum, from Latin coriandrum
con carne (with meat)
enchilada ("chile peppered")
guacamole from Nahuatl ahuacamolli (avocado paste)
lime Spanish lima, from Arabic lima
mole sauce from Nahuatl molli (sauce, paste)
nacho possible diminutive of Ignacio or alteration of ñato (pug-nosed, ugly, poor)
oregano from orégano (wild majoram)
potato from patata, from Taino word batata (sweet potato), influenced by Quechua word papa (white potato)
rusk Spanish/Portuguese rosca (coil, rusk), perhaps diminutive of Latin rota (wheel)
salsa (sauce)
sarsaparill zarzaparilla, from zarza (bramble), from Arabic sharas, variation of shirs, from sharasa (to be vicious) +
a parrilla, diminutive of parra (vine)
taco (plug, wad of money)
tamale from tamales, plural of tamal (tamale), from Nahuatl tamalli
tomato from tomate, from Nahuatl word tomatl
tortilla diminutive of torta (cake)
vanilla from vainilla, diminutive of vaina (sheath) due to the shape of vanilla pods

Nature
balsa (raft)
barranca (gorge)
canyon cañon, augmentative of caña (tube, cane), from Latin canna (reed)
hurricane huracán, from Taino hurákan
llano (plain), from Latin planum, from planus (level)
mesa (table), from Old Spanish, from Latin mensa
talc French, from Old Spanish talco and Medieval Latin talcum, both from Arabic talq, from Persian talk
tornado alteration of tronada (thunderstorm) [poss. influenced by tornar (to turn)], from tronar (to thunder), from
Latin tonare
tornillo 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 afición (liking), from Latin affectio/affection
booby probably from bobo (silly, stupid), from Latin balbus (stammering)
cannibal from Caníbalis (name of the allegedly cannibalistic Caribs of Cuba and Haiti as recorded by Christopher
Columbus), from Carib karibna (person, Carib)
matador from matar (to kill)

War
armada Spanish, from medieval Latin armata, from Latin feminine past participle of armare (to arm), from arma
(arms)
barrack from French baraques, from Spanish barracas (soldiers' tents, huts)
comrade 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
kamara
desperado desesperado (desperate person), past participle of desesperar (to despair), from Latin desperare
guerrilla (little war, raiding party), diminutive of guerra (war)
junta Spanish/Portuguese (conference), perhaps from Vulgar Latin past participle of iungere (to join)
renegade renegado, from Medieval Latin renegatus, past participle of renegare (to deny)
vigilante (watchman), from Latin vigilans, vigilant-, present participle of vigilare (to be watchful), from vigil
(watchful)

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

Spanish Interrogative Pronouns ~ Pronombres interrogativos ~ Quién Qué Cuál Cuánto Dónde

Quién, qué, cuál, cuánto, and dónde 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.
Quién means who or whom; it is used when asking about people. It has the plural form quiénes.

¿Quién está aquí? Who is here?
¿Quién viene conmigo? Who's coming with me?
¿Quiénes han ganado? Who won?

Quién can also follow a preposition.

¿A quién habláis? To whom are you speaking?
¿De quién es este libro? Whose book is this?

Qué means what and is used to refer to ideas or things.

¿Qué quiere? What does he want?
¿Qué piensas del libro? What do you think of the book?
¿Qué es eso? What is this?

Cuál means what or which - it is used when distinguishing between two or more things. It has the plural form
cuáles.

¿Cuál quieres - la pluma o el lápiz? Which do you want - the pen or the pencil?
Hay muchas ideas. ¿Cuáles prefieres? There are a lot of ideas. Which ones do you prefer?

Cuánto means how much and its plural cuántos means how many.
¿Tienes dinero? ¿Cuánto? Do you have any money? How much?
¿Cuántos están en el coche? How many are in the car?

Dónde means where.
¿Dónde vives? Where do you live?
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 Compound Tenses*
Perfect Tenses Progressive Tenses
Present Present perfect Present progressive
Imperfect Pluperfect Imperfect progressive
Preterite Preterite perfect Past progressive
Future Future perfect Future progressive
Conditional Conditional perfect Conditional progressive
Subjunctive Present perfect subjunctive
Imperfect Pluperfect subjunctive

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:
 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 estoy
Yo como. Yo he comido.
comiendo.
I eat. I have eaten. I am eating.

Él vendrá. Él habrá venido. Él estará viniendo.
He will
He will have come. He will be coming.
come.

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

¿Me habías 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 hablándote.
Lo estará mirando/ He will be watching it.
Estará mirándolo.
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 vs aún still adverb

de of, about preposition dé he from dar (subjunctive)
gave
el the definite article él he subject pronoun
ma but conjunction má more quantity
s s
mi my possessive adjective mí me pronoun
o or conjunction ó or (when used with numbers: 2 ó 3)
se oneself reflexive pronoun sé I know from saber
be from ser (imperative)
si if conjunction sí yes adverb
oneself pronoun
te you, yourself pronoun té tea noun
tu your possessive adjective tú 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:

Estoy donde quiero estar. I'm where I want to be.

¿Cuándo vas a hacerlo? When are you going to do it?
Cuando tenga tiempo. When I have time.

como how cómo how?
cual which cuál which?
cuand
when cuándo when?
o
cuanto how much/many cuánto how much/many?
donde where dónde where?
que what qué what?
quien who quién who?

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A-a B-бэ, белларга С-фэй, сэй CH-чэй D-дэ E-эй F-эфэй G-ххай H-aчэй

I – и J-ххота К-к L-элэй LL-эйэй М-эмэй N-энэй Ň-эньэй О-өү

Saludos - Spanish Greetings

Artículo definido Artículo indefinido

Spanish Verbs - Regular -AR Verbs

Singular Plural

2nd person tú hablas vosotros habláis

Spanish Verbs - Regular -ER Verbs

Singular Plural

2nd person tú aprendes vosotros aprendéis

Spanish Verbs - Regular -IR Verbs

Singular Plural

Pronombres sujetos - Spanish Subject Pronouns

Hay - there is, there are

conditional habría there would be

Dates in Spanish - La Fecha

C - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

2. When the C precedes an A, O, U, or a consonant it is a hard C and is pronounced like a K. como

CH - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

Preguntas - Spanish Questions

D - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

K - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

M - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

J - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

Ropa - Spanish Clothing

L - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

LL - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

Todo, Toda, Todos, Todas

Ñ - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

At Home in Spanish - En la casa

Politeness - Spanish Vocabulary

Spanish Verbs - Stem-Changing Verbs

Números ordinales y fracciones - Spanish Ordinal Numbers and Fractions

W - Pronunciación - Spanish Pronunciation

os gusta el libro. os gustan los libros.

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

English Spanish Use with Or use

Spanish Double Object Pronouns

He's giving it to us. - Nos lo da.

I'm showing it to you. - Te lo muestro.

Double object pronoun replacements

He's giving it to them. - Se lo da.

I'm showing it to her. - Se lo muestro.

Futuro - Spanish Future Tense

Singular Plural

Verb Future stem Similarly-conjugated verbs

* These verbs lose their accent when used as future stems.

Spanish Quantities, Weights, and Measures

una botella bottle

I. Comparatives come in three varieties:

Superiority más... (que) more... than or ____er than

Mi restaurante es mejor (que esto). My restaurant is better (than this one).

Formation Regular verbs

Spanish Present Progressive ~ Present Continuous

To make a hard sound in front of a soft vowel:

Learn more about spelling change verbs

Pronombres posesivos ~ Spanish Possessive Pronouns

Otherwise, Spanish and English possessive pronouns are very similar.

Potencial - Spanish Conditional

Singular Plural

* These verbs lose their accent when used as conditional stems.

hablar comer partir saber ir

1. Two strong vowels empleado

2. Strong vowel + weak vowel (most common) abierto