Spanish Greetings

HOW TO SAY "HELLO" AND "GOODBYE" IN SPANISH

You probably already know that "hello" in Spanish is "hola", right?

But Spanish greetings and pleasantries don't stop there. Just like in English,
there are a bunch of ways you can say "hi", "how are you?" and "goodbye",
depending on the situation.

How to say "hello"

We'll start with the greetings you'll probably see in a Spanish phrase book.
There's a good chance you've probably already learned these, but here's a quick
refresher:

Play
¡Hola!
Hi!
Play
Buenos días
Good morning
Play
Buenas tardes
Good afternoon
Play
Buenas noches
Good evening
Note that Spanish greetings are always in the plural ("Good days"), but you might
occasionally hear the singular "buen día" instead of "buenos días". 

Play
Buen día
Good day
"Buen día" is not very commonly used. So if in doubt, stick to "buenos días". 
 How to say "how are you?"
Just like in English, it's nice to follow up with "how are you?" (Although just like
in English, don't always expect to get an answer.)

Play
¿Cómo está?
How are you? (formal)
Play
¿Cómo está usted?
How are you? (also formal)
Play
¿Cómo estás?
How are you? (informal)
For casual, everyday conversations you can take your pick from any of the
following. They all mean "how are you?", "what's up?" "how's it going?" "how
you doin'?" etc. Which one you pick depends on which Spanish-speaking country
you come from, or your own personal preference.

Play
¿Qué tal?
Play
¿Cómo andas?
Play
¿Cómo va?
Play
¿Qué haces? *
how are you? / what's up? / how's it going? how you doin'? (very casual)
* Note that ¿Qué haces? can also mean "what do you do?" or "what are you doing?",
depending on the context.

How to say "good, thanks!"

Yup, just as you do in English, if someone asks you "How are you?" you will
usually say "good, thanks!" Although just like in English, often the person
blurting out a quick "¿Qué tal?" isn't really expecting a response.

Play
Bien, gracias, ¿y usted?
Good, thanks, and you? (formal)
Play
Bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
Good, thanks, and you? (informal)
If things are a little better than "good" in your world, you can use one of these
instead:

Play
Todo bien
Everything's good
Play
Muy bien
Very good
If things are a bit more so-so, you could also use one of these:

Play
Aquí estamos
Play
Acá andamos
Literally "here we are", but it's usually used like "I'm hanging in there", or "I'm
alive".
Play
Bien...¿o te cuento?
Good... or shall I really tell you about it?
Even if you're feeling really terrible, it's bad form to ever come straight out and
say "mal" ("bad").

In some Spanish-speaking countries (eg, Argentina) people will often only say
that they're "very good" when they're being ironic. If you hear someone say
"¡Mejor imposible!" ("it doesn't get any better than this!") — there's a good
chance they're probably not having a very good day.

How to say "goodbye"

When it's time to say goodbye, again you've got some polite options, and some
more casual options.

Play
Adiós
Goodbye
Play
Chau
Bye! (casual)
Play
Nos vemos
See you (casual)
Play
Hasta mañana
See you tomorrow
Play
Hasta luego
See you later
Play
Hasta la próxima semana
See you next week
Play
Hasta el próximo lunes
See you next Monday

Question words in Spanish

WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? AND HOW?

Asking questions in Spanish is quite similar to asking questions in English. It's

really just a matter of learning the vocabulary.

Spanish question words

Here are the words to help you solve all the world's mysteries. (At least the
mysteries in the Spanish-speaking world.)

The words in square brackets like [this] are optional. (More about that later!)

Play
¿Quién?
Who? (one person)
Play
¿Quién eres [tú]?
Who are you?
Play
¿Quiénes?
Who? (more than one person)
Play
¿Quiénes son [ellos]?
Who are they?
Play
¿Qué?
What?
Play
¿Qué quiere [él]?
What does he want?
Play
¿Dónde?
Where?
Play
¿Dónde está el teatro?
Where is the theater?
Play
¿Cuándo?
When?
Play
¿Cuándo es la fiesta?
When is the party?
Play
¿Cuál?
Which?
Play
¿Cuál quieres [tú]?
Which one do you want?
Play
¿Por qué?
Why?
Play
¿Por qué están [ellos] aquí?
Why are they here?
Play
¿Cómo?
How?
Play
¿Cómo sabes [tú] mi nombre?
How do you know my name?

Asking questions without question words!

Just like in English, you can ask a question without using any question words. All
you need to do is say it with a rising intonation at the end. (Consider the
difference between saying, "He finished it." and saying "He finished it?")

You'll usually find that if the question includes one of those personal pronouns
(you, me, he, she, they, etc) the question will make it move to after the verb, but
either way is fine.

Play
Tu tienes mi lápiz.
You have my pencil.
Play
¿Tú tienes mi lápiz?
Do you have my pencil?
Play
¿Tienes [tú] mi lápiz?
Do you have my pencil?
Play
Tú sabes como llegar ahí.
You know how to get there.
Play
¿Tú sabes cómo llegar ahí?
Do you know how to get there?
Play
¿Sabes [tú] cómo llegar ahí?
Do you know how to get there?
 Differences between Spanish and English
questioning
You might have noticed, there are a few differences between asking questions in
English and asking questions in Spanish. These are the main differences between
Spanish and English:

No auxiliary verbs (hoorah!)

In Spanish you don't need to use words like "do" or "will" (auxiliary verbs). So
there's no "will she come?", it's just "she comes?"

The important part is your intonation: Rise at the end of the question, so it
doesn't sound like you're just affirming "yes, she comes."

You can usually leave out the personal pronoun (yay!)

As you saw in the examples above, in Spanish you can often leave the he / she /
you / me (personal pronoun) out of the question. So instead of "You stole my
iPod?" you'd just say "Stole my iPod?".

Of course this doesn't make much sense in English, but in Spanish each verb (like
"to steal") changes to agree with the personal pronoun (he, she, they, etc).

So you can tell who it's talking about just by looking at the verb, and you don't
actually need to say "you". There are a few exceptions to this, and you may need
to clarify in some instances, but this is true a lot of the time.
Different word order
In Spanish you'll put a verb immediately after the question word. So instead
of "How do you know?" it would be more like "How know you?". 

Or you could even just say "How know?" since the "you" isn't really necessary
either.

Formal vs. Informal "You"

WHEN TO "TÚ" AND WHEN TO "USTED"

In Spanish there are two ways of saying "you": There's the informal form, tú and
the more formal usted (often abbreviated as Ud.)

Whether you use tú or usted depends on a variety of different factors, but it can

be a bit intimidating for English speakers used to addressing everybody as "you".
Remember the basic difference is how intimate you are with the person.

Here are a few basic rules to help you avoid causing offence or embarrassment:

Use "usted" when...

 The other person is older than you
  The other person is in a position of authority (teacher, professor, boss,
government official)

Use "tú" when...

 Talking to family members or friends
 Talking to someone the same age as you (who is not in a position of
authority relative to you.)
 When someone asks you to! (They might say "Puedes tutearme" —
which means they give you permission to use tú. It usually happens
because your relationship has gotten closer, or because the other person
simply wants you to feel at ease.)

What difference does it make when speaking

Spanish?
The form of "you" that you use will change your verb endings. When you're
learning your conjugations you'll learn both the formal and informal forms.

See the differences between tú and usted in these examples. 

Do you know where the house is?

Play
¿Sabes tú dónde está la casa?(informal)
Play
¿Sabe usted dónde está la casa?(formal)
You don't have to pay
Play
Tú no tienes que pagar (informal)
Play
Usted no tiene que pagar (formal)
Have a nice day!
Play
¡Que tú tengas un buen día!(informal)
Play
¡Que usted tenga un buen día! (formal)
Note: We've included the words tú and usted in the examples above, but it's
very common for Spanish speakers to just leave them out. So make sure you pay
attention to those verb endings!

Spanish Plurals
WHAT TO DO WHEN THERE'S MORE THAN ONE

Spanish is fairly similar to English when it comes to making plurals — which will
come as a relief for anyone still reeling from the idea of formal and informal
forms of address.

In English we tend to just slap an -s on the end of a word.

Boom! Monkey becomes monkeys, and banana becomes bananas. Easy as pie.
Or pies.

But for some words we need to add -es to the end. Tomato becomes tomatoes.
Bus becomes buses.

In Spanish the rules are very similar. Sometimes there will just be an -s.
Sometimes there will be an -es.

Any word ending in a vowel: Use -s

For any word ending in a vowel (that's A, E, I, O, U) all you have to do is a slap an
S on the end. Simple.

JUST ONE

Play
cabeza
(head)
Play
parte
(part)
Play
taxi
(taxi cab)
Play
mono
(monkey)
MORE THAN ONE

Play
cabezas
(heads)
Play
partes
(parts)
Play
taxis
(taxi cabs)
Play
monos
(monkeys)
 Any word ending in a consonant: Use -es
When the word doesn't end in a vowel (i.e., it ends in a consonant) then you'll
usually add -es instead.

JUST ONE

Play
ciudad
(city)
Play
botón
(button)
Play
factor
(factor)
Play
jardín
(garden)
Play
color
(color)
Play
inglés
(English person)
MORE THAN ONE

Play
ciudades
(cities)
Play
botones
(buttons)
Play
factores
(factors)
Play
jardines
(gardens)
Play
colores
(colors)
Play
ingleses
(English people)

Words that end in S: Use -es, or it doesn't

change
Here we're getting a little tricky: There are two situations for words ending in an
S.

If the stress is on the syllable that contains the S, you add -es

JUST ONE

Play
autobús
(bus)
Play
obús
(howitzer)
MORE THAN ONE

Play
autobuses
(buses)
Play
obuses
(howitzers)
But if the stress is on any other syllable, the word doesn't change. (But you still
need to change articles, adjectives and verbs accordingly.)

JUST ONE

Play
crisis
(crisis)
Play
tesis
(thesis)
Play
análisis
(analysis)
MORE THAN ONE

Play
crisis
(crises)
Play
tesis
(theses)
Play
análisis
(analyses)

Words that end in Z: use -ces

Just like in English, there are a few special cases. When a word in English ends in
an F (like loaf or leaf or calf) we sometimes use a V when making it a plural (like
loaves, leaves and calves).

In Spanish a similar thing happens with words that end in Z. It turns into a c,
followed by -es.

JUST ONE

Play
lápiz
(pencil)
Play
capataz
(foreman)
Play
raíz
(root)
Play
lombriz
(earthworm)
MORE THAN ONE

Play
lápices
(pencils)
Play
capataces
(foremen)
Play
raíces
(roots)
Play
lombrices
(earthworms)
 Bonus points: Words ending in a stressed í
and ú: Use -es
Words ending in a stressed -í or -ú should technically be written with an -
es rather than just -s, even though they're vowels.

This is considered more "educated", but don't worry if you forget... adding an -s is
a perfectly fine and common practice for everyday situations... even among native
Spanish speakers.

JUST ONE

Play
tabú
(taboo)
MORE THAN ONE 
(CORRECT)

Play
tabúes
(taboos)
MORE THAN ONE 
(ALSO ACCEPTABLE)

Play
tabús
(taboos)

The definite and indefinite

articles
HOW TO SAY "THE" AND "A" IN SPANISH

In English there's a pretty big difference between "my kid brought the dog home

from the park" and "my kid brought a dog home from the park."
In the first situation you're talking about a specific dog — probably your dog. In
the second situation it's just a general, non-specific dog — possibly a stray. (And
your child is likely to get a telling off.)

Definite dog: "My kid brought the dog home from the park."

Indefinite dog: "My kid brought a dog home from the park."

That's the difference between the definite and indefinite article. In English we use
"the" when the thing we're talking about is familiar to us. We use "a" or
occasionally "some" when we're talking about less specific things.

Spanish also makes the distinction between definite and indefinite articles, but
with an extra twist: They change according to the gender of the noun you're
talking about, and how many of them there are. 

Let's see how it works.

How to say "the" (definite articles)

First let's meet the definite articles. Remember these are the equivalents of "the",
and you use them when you're talking about a specific thing, rather than a
general kind of thing. (E.g., you're driving the car, vs driving a car.)
 Masculine noun / singular
Play
el
Play
Yo firmaré el contrato mañana.
I will sign the contract tomorrow.
Here the word "contract" is masculine, and we're only talking about one of them.
So we use the masculine, singular article: el.

Warning: Be very careful not to confuse the definite article "el" (the) with the
pronoun "él" (he). So close, but so different! They are pronounced exactly the
same, they just differ in the written form.

Masculine noun / plural

Play
los
Play
Nadie firmará loscontratos
No one will sign the contracts.
We're still talking about that masculine noun, "contract", but now there is more
than one contract. Busy day at the office! So we use the
masculine plural article: los. Our contratoalso turns into a plural, so it gains
an -s. (If you're not sure how to make plurals, see our lesson on making plurals in
Spanish.)

Feminine noun / singular

Play
la
Play
Juan compró la botella de vino
Juan bought the bottle of wine
"Bottle" is a feminine noun in Spanish, and here we're only talking about one
bottle of wine. So we use the feminine singular article: la.

Feminine noun / plural

Play
las
Play
él rompió las botellas de vino
He broke the bottles of wine
More than one bottle of wine broke in this upsetting example, so we use the
feminine pluralarticle: las. Our botella also gains an -s because it's now plural.

How to say "a" and "some" (indefinite articles)

Now let's meet the indefinite articles. Remember these are the equivalents
of "a" or "some", and you use them when you're talking about a general kind of
thing. (E.g., you're eating abanana, rather than eating the banana.)

Masculine noun / singular

Play
un
Play
Yo imprimí un contrato ayer
I printed a contract yesterday.
We're talking about those contracts again. Remember a "contract" is a masculine
noun in Spanish. Again, there's just one of them, so we're going to use the
masculine, singular indefinite article: un.

Masculine noun / plural

Play
unos
Play
María encontró unoscontratos en la mesa
María found some contracts on the table.
Now there's more than one contract. It's still masculine (even though we've
thrown in the confusingly female María), so we use the masculine plural
indefinite article: unos.

Feminine noun / singular

Play
una
Play
Sofía bebió una botella de vino
Sofía drank a bottle of wine.
Back to the wine! Here we've got Sofía drinking a whole bottle of wine, which is a
feminine noun. Luckily she only drank one bottle, so we're going to use the
feminine singular article: una.

Feminine noun / plural

Play
unas
Play
Ellos trajeron unas
botellas de vino
They brought some bottles of wine.
And here we've got some good friends who brought multiple bottles of wine to
add to our wine collection. There's more than one bottle, and it's still a feminine
noun, so we use the feminine plural article: unas.

Negating in Spanish
HOW TO SAY "NOT", "DON'T", AND OTHER (NEGATIVE)
THINGS
This is going to be one of the easiest rules you learn in Spanish. (You actually
probably already know it.)

This is one of the instances where the Spanish is simpler than the English, and
it'll make you look at the English and think: "Shucks. I know that? I must be a
freakin' genius."

In English, when you go from saying "Yes, I will take out the trash" to "No, I will
not take out the trash" (aside from being a jerk) you're negating the auxiliary
verb: will. Will becomes "will not" or "won't". Nothing to do with the trash at all
— it's all about that auxiliary verb.

But don't worry if you don't know what that all means, because in Spanish you
don't need it.

In Spanish all we have to do is put a "no" in front of the main verb.

AFFIRMATIVE

Play
Yo tengo planes para mañana
I (do) have plans for tomorrow.
NEGATIVE

Play
Yo no tengo planes para mañana
I don't have plans for tomorrow.
 AFFIRMATIVE

Play
Ellos saben lo que están haciendo
They (do) know what they're doing.
NEGATIVE

Play
Ellos no saben lo que están haciendo
They don't know what they're doing

Answering questions with a negative

If you need to answer a question with a "no", you can either answer simply with a
"no", or follow it up with a negation like what we did above.

(Although note that there's a good chance the verb might need to be conjugated
depending on who you're talking about... it might not be quite as simple as
repeating the question back to the asker with a "no" sandwiched in there.)

Play
¿Sabes cómo conducir?
Do you know how to drive?
Play
No, no sé.
No, I don't know.
Play
¿Estás en casa de tu amigo?
Are you at your friend's house?
Play
No, no estoy ahí.
No, I am not there.
Play
¿Vendrás mañana?
Will you come tomorrow?
Play
No, no vendré.
No, I won't come.

Adjectives in Spanish
WHERE TO PUT THEM, AND HOW TO USE THEM

Adjectives are describing words. (Or to be more technical: They are words placed
next to a noun to modify or affect its meaning.) They're what turn a weekend into
a sunny weekend, a cake into a decadent chocolate cake.

(They can also turn your chocolate cake into their chocolate cake, and then

you'll have to share it. Adjectives giveth, and they taketh away.)

If you like sunny weekends and chocolate cake then there are just a couple of
slight tricks to getting these adjectives right in Spanish.

Where to put Spanish adjectives

In English, adjectives always come before the thing they're describing, like this:

 I met a tall boy

In Spanish, however, they usually come after the thing they're talking about.

Tall boy
Play
chico alto
I met a tall boy
Play
Conocí a un chico alto
Pretty simple, right? There's just one extra thing to remember...

Gender and quantity

Our old friends, gender and quantity, pop up again to meddle in our affairs.
Depending on whether a noun is masculine or feminine, and whether you're
talking about one thing or lots of things, your adjectives might also undergo a
slight alteration.

Adjectives that end in -a or -o

The general rule is that if your adjective ends in an -o or an -a, it will change to
match the gender and quantity of the thing it's talking about. That means adding
an -o to describe masculine nouns, or switching to an -a for feminine nouns. And
whenever there's a plural, chuck on an -s as well.

Take our tall boy from earlier...

I met a tall boy

Play
Conocí a un chico alto
I met some tall boys
Play
Conocí a unos chicos altos
I met a tall girl
Play
Conocí a una chica alta
I met some tall girls
Play
Conocí a unas chicas altas
(Note that you could put a personal pronoun "Yo" at the start of the sentences
above, but it's not really necessary. In most situations, people will leave it out.)

Adjectives that end something else

The pattern above applies to almost all adjectives. If an adjective doesn't end in
an -o or -a(probably because it ends in an -e), then it doesn't need to change to
match the noun.

Play
José compró una corbata verde
Jose bought a green tie
Play
Ana compró un abrigo verde
Ana bought a green coat
See what happened there? The adjective is verde (green). It ends in an -e, so it
doesn't change to match the feminine corbata (tie), nor the
masculine abrigo (coat).

“Ser” or “Estar”?
THE TWO WAYS OF SAYING “TO BE” IN SPANISH, AND
WHEN TO USE EACH ONE
Unlike English, Spanish has two forms of the verb "to be".

("To be" is the really common verb that lets us say that "he is in the hot air
balloon", or "they are fantastic socks", or "I am a snappy dresser".)

The two forms of "to be" in Spanish are Ser and Estar. 

I'll explain when to use each one in a moment, but first let's see what they look
like. Here's how to say "I am...", "you are...", "they are..." etc, using
both ser and estar.

I am
Play
yo soy
(ser)

Play
yo estoy
(estar)

you are
Play
tú eres
(ser)

Play
tú estás
(estar)

he / she / it is
Play
él es
(ser)

Play
él está
(estar)

we are
Play
nosotros somos
(ser)

Play
nosotros estamos
(estar)

you all are
(Latin American Spanish)

Play
ustedes son
(ser)

Play
ustedes están
(estar)

you all are
(European Spanish)

Play
vosotros sois
(ser)

Play
vosotros estáis
(estar)
they are
Play
ellos son
(ser)

Play
ellos están
(estar)

When to use "ser"

You'll use words from the "ser" column when you're talking about permanent
states or characteristics.

Play
María es inteligente
Maria is intelligent
Play
Yo soy muy alto
I am very tall
Play
Nosotros somos hermanos
We are brothers
Our girl María is smart. Not just today, but all the time. So we use ser, because
we're talking about a permanent characteristic.

Likewise, Jose is going to stay an architect, I'm going to continue to be tall, and I
will always be brothers with my brother. So in all these cases you would use ser

But when I'm talking about my friend who is in the hot air balloon (a distinctly
non-permanent situation) I would use estar instead.
 When to use "estar"
Estar (and its various forms) is used when talking about something that is a non-
permanentstate or location.

Play
María está enferma
María is ill
Play
Juan está en su casa
Juan is at his house
Play
Los perros están en mi casa
The dogs are at my house
All of these situations are not permanent states or characteristics, so we
use estar. Maria has been well in the past and will hopefully get better, so that's
not permanent. Juan isn't nailed to his floorboards, so that's not permanent
either.

In particular, you would always use estar when you're talking about someone

being at a particular location — since people can and do move around!

Play
Mi amigo está en la oficina
Correct. "My friend is at the office"
Play
Mi amigo es en la oficina
Nope. This loosely translates to "my friend exists at the office" which is a weird
thing to say.
A good way to see the difference is to pay another visit to Maria:

Play
María es bonita
Maria is pretty
Play
María está bonita
Maria looks pretty today / at this particular moment
If you use ser, then Maria is a pretty girl in general. If you use estar, it might be
because she's dressed up for a party. One is a permanent characteristic, and the
other is a temporary state.

Spanish weather vocabulary

FOR THE MOST INTERESTING CONVERSATION YOU'LL
HAVE ALL DAY

The ultimate icebreaker. The smallest of the smalltalk.

The weather is something that everyone knows about, and everyone has an

opinion on, which makes it a great conversation topic when you're first learning
Spanish.

Awkward in an elevator? Trying to be genial in a store? Just talk about the

weather!
Spanish weather-related expressions can be broadly broken into three main
categories: Times when the weather does, times when the weather is, and times
when there is some kind of weather.

Keep reading, it'll all become clear.

Times when the weather "does"

For some weather phrases you're going to use the verb hacer, which usually
means "to do" or "to make".

In this case, it's used to describe what the weather "does":

Play
Hace calor
It is hot
Play
Hace frío
It is cold
Play
Hace fresco
It is cool
Sometimes you can sum it all up with something like this:

Play
Hace buen tiempo
The weather is nice
Play
Hace mal tiempo
The weather is bad
 Times when the weather "is"
For the following weather conditions we need to use the verb estar instead.
(Which you might remember means "to be", and is used to talk about a non-
permanent state. If there's anything non-permanent in this world, it's the
weather!)

Play
Está nublado
It is cloudy
Play
Está soleado
It is sunny
Play
Está despejado
It is clear
Play
Está ventoso
It is windy
Play
Está tormentoso
It is stormy
Play
Está lloviendo
It is raining
Play
Está nevando
It is snowing
 Times when "there is" some weather
Lastly there are times we'll use the verb form "hay" to indicate that there is some
kind of exciting weather.

Play
Hay viento
It's windy (literally "there is wind")
Play
Hay niebla
It is foggy (literally "there is fog")

Hace, hay or está? What's the rule?

Hace is usually used to describe the general "feel" of the weather — like it's
warm, or cold, or windy. Hay and está are generally more specific.

You could spend a lot of time trying to figure out the specific situations, but it's
best to simply remember each delicious piece of weather vocabulary as a phrase.
That way you'll never be stuck on whether to use hace or hay.

Exciting Spanish weather expressions!

We've got some pretty colorful expressions in English concerning the weather
("raining cats and dogs" for prime example), and the same is true in Spanish.

Here are a few to tuck up your sleeve for when it's raining really hard:

Play
¡Llueve a cántaros!
Literally: "It's raining pitchers/buckets!"
Play
¡Llueve a mares!
Literally: "It's raining oceans!"
If all that rain is getting you down (or if someone is simply having a hard time in
life), this rain-phrase means "this too will pass":

Play
Siempre que llovió, paró
Literally: "Whenever it rained, it stopped"
A couple of phrases when it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey:

Play
¡Hace un frío que pela!
Literally: "It's so cold it burns your skin!"
Play
¡Me estoy congelando!
Literally "I'm freezing!"
And when it's a little warmer...

Play
¡Ay, qué calor!
Literally: "What heat!"
Play
¡Es un horno!
Literally: "It's an oven!"

Feelings and moods in

Spanish
THE 3 STEPS TO FEELING IN SPANISH
Step 1: Choose whether you want to be or feel
To talk about how someone is feeling, there are two main verbs you can use. (I
won't go through their full conjugations in this lesson, so click these links if
you're not familiar with these verbs.)

 Estar (which is "to be" for temporary states)

 Sentirse (which is "to feel")

Play
Pedro está enojado
Pedro is angry
Play
Pedro se siente enojado
Pedro feels angry
Can you use estar and sentirse interchangeably? 

Kind of.

It's like the difference in English between "Amanda feels sick",

and "Amanda is sick". 
When Amanda feels sick, she might have a horrible bout of gastro. But she
might also have a headache because she hasn't had her coffee this morning. It's
more about how she feels rather than whether she actually has some affliction.

When Amanda is sick, it sounds a bit more definite. It sounds more like a proven
fact. 

Sometimes you can use either to be or to feel and it'll mean exactly the same
thing. (E.g., I feelannoyed vs I am annoyed), but sometimes it can subtly change
the meaning of what you're saying.

The same is true with estar and sentirse. Often you can use them

interchangeably, but sometimes there's a subtle difference
between feeling and being.

Once you've decided if you're feeling or being, move onto the next step.

Step 2: Choose your feeling adjective (and

modify it if necessary)
Once you've chosen your verb, it's time to pick your feeling adjective.

(Angry, happy, annoyed, etc.)

I'll have an array of feelings you can feel shortly, but the important thing to note
is that these are adjectives. That means they behave like other adjectives, and
need to change depending on the gender of the person who is feeling the feeling.

For example, if I'm talking about someone else (Pedro, who is male):

Play
Pedro está enojado
Pedro is angry
And if I'm talking about myself (and I happen to be female, despite the manliness
of the audio here... )

Play
Estoy enojada
I am angry
See how the ending is -o for Pedro (male) and -a for me (female)? If you're a bit
confused by the gender-matching idea, go and take a look at this lesson on
adjectives first. That'll clear things up.

But once you've got all those tricks sorted, here are a tremendous array of moods
and feelings you could try today!

Play
Felipe está contento
Felipe is happy
Play
Mía está triste
Mía is sad
Play
Patricia está tranquila
Patricia is calm
Play
Daniela está nerviosa
Daniela is nervous
Play
Mariano está sorprendido
Mariano is surprised
Play
Andrés está preocupado
Andrés is worried
Play
Pedro está borracho
Pedro is drunk
Play
Víctor está serio
Víctor is serious
Play
Horacio está aburrido
Horacio is bored
Play
Cristina se siente enferma
Cristina feels sick
Play
Araceli está confundida
Araceli is confused
Play
Estoy cansado
I am tired
Play
Eugenia está ocupada
Eugenia is busy

Step 3: Decide if you're a little or a lot

If you're just "a little" worried, or "a tiny bit" drunk, or you're not just "happy" but
"VERY happy", here's how to do that.

Play
Andrés está un poco preocupado
Andrés is a little worried
Play
Pedro está un poquito borracho
Pedro is a tiny bit drunk
Play
Felipe está muy contento
Felipe is very happy

When you have feelings
In English we say that we are hungry, but in Spanish you say that
you have hunger.

There are a few feelings like this: These use the verb tener (to have) together with
a noun, rather than an adjective like we used above.

And because we're dealing with nouns here, you don't need to change the end to
agree with the gender of the person you're talking about.

Play
Isabel tiene sed
Isabel is thirsty (Literally: Isabel has thirst)
Play
Omar tiene hambre
Omar is hungry (Literally: Omar has hunger)
Play
Liliana tiene sueño
Liliana is sleepy(Literally: Liliana has sleepiness)
Play
Luis tiene calor
Luis is hot (Literally: Luis has hot)
Play
Marisa tiene frío
Marisa is cold (Literally: Marisa has cold)
Play
Ciro tiene prisa
Ciro is in a hurry (Literally: Ciro has hurry)
Play
Fabio tiene miedo
Fabio is afraid (Literally: Fabio has fear)

And when you have a lot of feelings?

To be very hungry, or a little sleepy, it's just a tiny bit different.

Because we're talking using nouns, we just need to say that we have "a lot" of that
feeling, or "a little bit of" that feeling.

Play
Isabel tiene un poco de sed
Isabel is a little thirsty(Literally: Isabel has a little thirst)
Play
Omar tiene muchahambre
Omar is very hungry(Literally: Omar has a lot of hunger)
Play
Fabio tiene un poquito de miedo
Fabio is a tiny bit afraid(Literally: Fabio has a tiny bit of fear)
Vocabulary
The days of the weekLos días de la semana
MondayLunes
TuesdayMartes
WednesdayMiércoles
ThursdayJueves
FridayViernes
SaturdaySábado
SundayDomingo
YesterdayAyer
TodayHoy
TomorrowMañana

Vocabulary
The months of the yearLos meses del año
JanuaryEnero
FebruaryFebrero
MarchMarzo
AprilAbril
MayMayo
JuneJunio
JulyJulio
AugustAgosto
SeptemberSeptiembre
OctoberOctubre
NovemberNoviembre
DecemberDiciembre
Vocabulary
What time is it?¿Qué hora es?
At what time?¿A qué hora?
It is (for time)Son las
It is 1:00pmEs la una de la tarde
It is 9:45amSon las nueve y cuarenta y cinco de la mañana
NoonMediodía
MidnightMedianoche