Spanish 101 - Basic Skills |

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Jan 15 2008, 4:44 PM EST	Anonymous	85 words added, 85 words deleted

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1. Some Basic Phrases

Notice that Spanish has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is more than one meaning to “you” in Spanish (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) There are also two ways to say you in the plural, used when speaking to more than one person.
Encantado, cansado, enfermo, and aburrido are the masculine forms of the words. If the words refer to a woman or are spoken by a woman, then the o changes to a.

2. Pronunciation


3. Alphabet
Note: The Spanish language academy no longer considers the ch, ll or rr to be separate letters of the alphabet.
4. Definite and Indefinite Articles and Demonstratives
Note: El is also used with feminine nouns beginning with a or ha when the accent is on the first syllable. Use the ese forms to mean that when what you are talking about is near the person you are addressing. Use the aquel forms when what you are talking about is far from both you and the person you are addressing. Esto and eso are the neuter forms of this and that. They can be used in general and abstract ways.
5. Subject Pronouns
Note: Vosotros is used only in Spain when speaking to more than one person with whom you know well. Nosotras and vosotras refer to a group of all females, as well as ellas. Ustedes is almost always used for saying “you all” in all Spanish speaking countries. Usted can be abbreviated to Ud. Ustedes can also be abbreviated to Uds. Please note that the subject pronouns are rarely used before verbs.
6. To Be and to Have
Note: Ser is used to identify or describe. It tells what something is, its basic characteristics, or its origin. Estar is used to tell the location of something or how someone feels. Uses of Ser
Uses of Estar
Common Expressions with “to be”
to be afraid - tener miedo
to be against - estar en contra
to be at fault - tener la culpa
to be careful - tener cuidado
to be cold - tener frío
to be curious - ser curioso (a)
to be happy - estar contento (a)
to be hot - tener calor
to be hungry - tener hambre
to be in a hurry - tener prisa, estar de prisa
to be jealous - tener celos
to be lucky - tener suerte
to be patient - tener paciencia
to be successful - tener éxito
to be thirsty - tener sed
to be tired - estar cansado (a)
7. Question Words
8. Numbers / Ordinals
Note: If you are just saying 100, you use just cien. If it’s over 100, you use ciento. So 101 is ciento uno. And 156 would be ciento cincuenta y seis. Also you can also use dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, and diecinueve for 16, 17, 18, and 19, respectively. They are pronounced the same but are combined into one word.
9. Days of the Week
10. Months of the Year
11. Seasons
Note: To say in the summer, spring, etc. use en and the season. En verano means in the summer.
12. Directions
13. Colors
14. Time
15. Weather
16. Prepositions
Note: There are two prepositional contractions with definite articles. A and el combine to form al, and de and el combine to form del.
17. Family and Animals
18. To Know People and Facts
19. Formation of Plural Nouns If a word ends in an -ción, -tad, -dad, or -tud, it’ll be feminine. Also, if you are talking about a female, you will use the feminine articles (la señora). Words ending in an -o are masculine. Days of the week are also masculine. And if you’re talking about a male, use the masculine articles. There are some exceptions to these rules and you just have to memorize them. To make words ending in a vowel plural, add an -s (libro = libros). Add an -es to make words ending in a consonant plural (papel = papeles). If a word ends in a -z, change the z to a c and add -es (cruz = cruces). After making the word plural, you must make the articles plural also. There are very few exceptions to making words plural.
20. Possessive Adjectives
Because su and sus can have so many meanings, the definite article may be used with the definite article may be used instead of su with the following forms: de Ud., de él, de ella, de Uds., de ellos and de ellas. los libros de ellos their books The terminal forms are placed after the noun, and must be preceded by the definite article, except in direct address. When used with the indefinite article, it corresponds to the English “of mine, of yours,” etc. el libro mío my book
Qué haces, hijo mío? What are you doing, my son?
un amigo mío a friend of mine
21. To Do or Make
22. Work and School
23. Countries and Nationalities
24. To / In and From
Remember to use the prepositional contractions when a noun with an article follows the preposition.
25. To Come and to Go
26. Misc. Words
27. Conjugating Regular Verbs Verbs in Spanish end in -ar, -er or -ir. Before a verb is conjugated, it is called the infinitive. Removing the last two letters gives you the stem of the verb (cantar is to sing, cant- is the stem.) To conjugate regular verbs in the present tense, add these endings to the stems:
Remember that verbs do not require the subject pronouns, so just canto means I sing. Here are some more regular verbs:

To make sentences negative, simply put no in front of the verb.
28. Reflexive Verbs
The subject and the object are the same with reflexive verbs - the subject acts upon itself. A reflexive verb in Spanish will be marked with se attached to the end of the infinitive. These verbs are conjugated like regular verbs, except the reflexive pronoun agrees with case and gender and precedes the verb when not used in the infinitive form. Reciprocal verbs are the same as reflexive except the action passes from one person to another. It can only be used in the first and third person plural forms. Reflexive verbs sometimes use the “-self” forms in English, while the reciprocal verbs use “each other.”
Some common reflexive verbs:
acostarse - to go to bed
bañarse - to bathe oneself
casarse - to get married
despertarse - to wake up
irse - to go away
levantarse - to rise
sentarse - to sit down
vestirse - to dress oneself
atreverse - to dare
quejarse - to complain
29. Irregular Conugations
Some verbs have vowel changes in the present tense for all forms except first and second person plural. After dropping the endings (-ar, -er, or -ir), the e of the last syllable changes to ie, and o in the last syllable changes to ue. Some -ir verbs change the e to i.

30. Impersonal “a”
When the object of a verb (except tener) is a definite person, it is preceded by a. It isn’t used if a number precedes the object though. The pronouns alguien (somebody), alguno (someone), nadie (nobody), and ninguno (no one) require a as well, when used as the direct object. It is also used before geographical names that are not already preceded by an article.
Veo a Juan. I see John.
Veo a alguien. I see somebody.
Describe a Chile. Describe Chile.
31. Preterite Tense
The preterite tense expresses an action in the past. It is used to describe events that are finished or complete. It is formed by adding these endings to the infinitive stem.
Viví en España dos años. I lived in Spain for two years.
Ellos hablaron con los niños. They spoke with the children.
Quién comió la fruta? Who ate the fruit?
32. Irregular Preterite Tense
A few verbs are irregular in the preterite tense. The following are the most common:
Ir and ser have the same forms in the preterite tense. Context will make the meaning clear.
33. Imperfect Tense
The imperfect is another past tense that is used to express an action as going on in the past, as repeated or habitual. It is also used with mental and physical conditions and for descriptions. The preterite tense is used much more often than the imperfect tense though, except with these verbs: querer, creer, pueder, esperar, tener, and saber. It is formed by adding these endings to the infinitive stem.
Yo vivía en España. I used to live in Spain.
Luisa estaba triste. Louise was sad.
El vendía radios. He was selling radios.
Only a few verbs are irregular in the imperfect tense:
34. Food and Meals
35. Gustar Gustar plus a noun means to like something. Literally, it means to please and takes an indirect object, so the construction of the sentence will be different than that of English.
Gusta is used with singular nouns, while gustan is used with plural nouns. With le and les, you can add a Ud., a él, a ella, a Uds., a ellos and a ellas to make the meaning clear.
Me gustan las flores. I like the flowers. (Literally: To me are pleasing the flowers or the flowers are pleasing to me.)
Nos gusta la casa. We like the house.
No me gusta. I don’t like it.
Le gusta a Ud.? Do you like it?
Le gustan a ella. She likes them.
36. Fruits, Vegetables and Meats
37. To Take or Drink

When tomar means to drink, it usually refers to alcohol. In Mexico, tomar can be intransitive, as beber is almost never used. In Spain, tomar is always transitive, such as tomar una copa- to have a drink and tomar un café - to have a coffee.
38. Commands To form familiar commands, regular -ar verbs end in -a, and -er and -ir verbs end in -e for the tú form. Change the final -r to -d for the vosotros form. Negative familiar commands use the subjunctive forms, so -ar verbs end in -es and -éis, while -er and -ir verbs end in -as and -áis for the tú and vosotros forms.
Habla! = Speak! (tú form)
Comed! = Eat! (vosotros form)
No comáis! = Don’t eat! (negative vosotros form)
To form formal commands of verbs, drop the -o ending of the yo form, and add the opposite vowel ending. This means -ar verbs will add -e for the Usted form and -en for the Ustedes form; while -er and -ir verbs will add -a for Usted and -an for Ustedes. To make a command negative, just add no before it.
Beba! = Drink! (Usted form)
Coman! = Eat (Ustedes form)
No beban! = Don’t drink! (negative Ustedes form) Ir and ser have irregular forms as formal commands: vaya and vayan for ir and sea and sean for ser. Verbs that end in -car, -gar and -zar have the following changes in commands as well: c becomes qu, g becomes gu, and z becomes c.
39. More Negatives
To make sentences negative, you place no before the verb. Other negatives may precede or follow the verb, but if they follow, they must follow a negative verb (a double negative). The word order is no + verb + negative.
Nunca means ever when it follows a comparative; jamás means ever when it follows an affirmative verb.
40. Holiday Phrases
Spanish National Anthem: Marcha Real
Viva España !
Alzad los brazos hijos del pueblo español
que vuelve a resurgir
gloria a la patria que supo seguir sobre el azul del mar
el caminar del sol.
Mexican National Anthem: Mexicanos, al Grito de Guerra
by Francisco González Bocanegra

	Mexicanos, al grito de guerra El acero aprestad y el bridón; y retiemble en sus centros la tierra Al sonoro rugir del cañón. Ciña ¡oh patria! tus sienes de oliva De la Paz el arcángel divino, Que en el cielo tu eterno destino Por el dedo de Dios se escribió. Mas si osare un extraño enemigo Profanar con su planta tu suelo, Piensa ¡oh patria querida! que el cielo Un soldado en	Mexicans, cadaat hijothe tecry dio.of battle ¡Guerra, guerra sin tregua al que intente De la patria manchar los blasones! ¡Guerra, guerra! Los patrios pendones En las olas de sangre empapad. ¡Guerra, guerra! En
El elacero monte,aprestad eny el valle Los cañones horrísonos truenen Y los ecos sonoros resuenen Con las voces de ¡Unión! ¡Libertad! bridón; Antes, patria, que inermes tus hijos Bajo el yugo su cuello dobleguen, Tus campiñas con sangre se rieguen, Sobre sangre se estampe su pie. Y	lend tusyour templos,swords palaciosand bridle;
y torres Se derrumben con hórridoretiemble estruendo, Yen sus ruinas existan diciendo: De mil héroescentros la patria aquí fue. tierra ¡Patria! ¡patria! Tus hijos te juran Exhalar en tus aras su aliento, Si el clarín con su bélico acento Los convoca a lidiar con valor. ¡Para ti las guirnaldas de oliva! ¡Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria! ¡Un laurel para ti de	and victoria! ¡Unlet sepulcrothe paraearth ellostremble deat honor!its center Mexicanos, al grito de guerra El acero aprestad y el bridón, y retiemble en sus centros la tierra
Al sonoro rugir del cañón.	Mexicans, at	upon the cryroar of battle lend your swords and bridle; and let the earth tremble at itscannon. center upon
Ciña the¡oh roarpatria! oftus thesienes cannon.de oliva	Your forehead shall be girded, oh fatherland, with olive garlands
De la Paz el arcángel divino,	by the divine archangel of peace,
Que en el cielo tu eterno destino	For in heaven your eternal destiny
Por el dedo de Dios se escribió.	has been written by the hand of God.
Mas si osare un extraño enemigo	But should a foreign enemy
Profanar con su planta tu suelo,	Profane your land with his sole,
Piensa ¡oh patria querida! que el cielo	Think, beloved fatherland, that heaven
Un soldado en cada hijo te dio.	gave you a soldier in each son.
¡Guerra, guerra sin tregua al que intente