You are on page 1of 18

Basic Phrases Buenos das! bway-nohs dee-ahs Hello! / Good morning! Hola! /Chao! oh-lah / chow Hi! / Bye!

Hasta la vista / Hasta luego. ah-stah lah vees-tah / ah-stah loo-ay-go See you / See you later. (Muchas) Gracias. (moo-chahs) grah-see-ahs Thank you (very much). Buenas tardes! bway-nahs tard-ays Good afternoon! Adis. ah-dee-ohs Good bye. Buenas noches! bway-nahs noh-chays Good evening! / Good night! Por favor. por fah-bor Please.

Hasta pronto. ah-stah prohn-toh See you soon. De nada. day nah-dah You're welcome. Con permiso / Perdn / Disculpe kohn pehr-mee-soh / pehrdohn / dees-kool-peh Excuse me / Pardon me Cmo ests? koh-moh ay-stahs How are you? (informal) Mal / Muy mal / Ms o menos mahl / moy mahl / mahs oh may-nohs Bad / Very bad / OK Cmo te llamas? koh-moh tay yah-mahs What is your name? (informal)

Hasta maana. ah-stah mahn-yahn-ah See you tomorrow. Bienvenidos byen-veh-nee-dohs Welcome

Lo siento loh see-ehn-toh I'm sorry

Vamos! bah-mohs Let's go!

Cmo est usted? koh-moh ay-stah oo-sted How are you? (formal)

Qu tal? kay tahl How's it going?

Bien / Muy bien bee-ehn / moy bee-ehn Good / Very good

S / No see / noh Yes / No

Cmo se llama usted? koh-moh say yah-mah oo-sted What is your name? (formal)

Me llamo... / Mi nombre es... may yah-moh / mee nohmbreh ess My name is...

Mucho gusto. /Encantado. moo-choh goo-stoh / en-cahntah-doh Nice to meet you. De dnde es usted? day dohn-day ehs oo-sted Where are you from? (formal) Cuntos aos tiene usted? quahn-tohs ahn-yohs tee-aynay oo-sted How old are you? (formal) Habla usted espaol? ah-blah oo-sted eh-spahn-yol Do you speak Spanish? (formal) Entiende usted? / Entiendes? ehn-tyen-deh oo-sted / ehntyen-dehs Do you understand? (formal / informal) Puede ayudarme? pweh-deh ah-yoo-dar-meh Can you help me? (formal) Dnde est / Dnde estn... ? dohn-deh eh-stah / dohn-deh eh-stahn Where is ... / Where are ... ? Cmo se dice ____ en espaol? koh-moh seh dee-seh ___ en eh-spahn-yol How do you say ____ in Spanish?

Igualmente. ee-guahl-mehn-tay Same here. / Same to you. De dnde eres? day dohn-day eh-rehs Where are you from? (informal) Cuntos aos tienes? quahn-tohs ahn-yohs teeayn-ays How old are you? (informal) Hablas ingls? ah-blahs een-glehs Do you speak English? (informal)

Seor / Seora / Seorita sayn-yor / sayn-yor-ah / sayn-yor-ee-tah Mister / Mrs. / Miss Yo soy de... yoh soy day I'm from... Yo tengo _____ aos. yoh tayn-goh _____ ahnyohs I am _____ years old. (No) Hablo... noh ah-bloh I (don't) speak...

(No) Entiendo. noh ehn-tyen-doh I (don't) understand.

Yo (no lo) se. yoh noh loh seh I (don't) know.

Claro / Claro que s klah-roh / klah-roh keh see Sure / Of course

Cmo? koh-moh What? Pardon me?

Aqu / Ah ah-kee / ah-ee Here / There

Hay / Haba... eye / ah-bee-ah There is / are... / There was / were...

Qu es esto? keh ehs ehs-toh What is that?

Qu te pasa? keh teh pah-sah What's the matter (with you)?

No importa. noh eem-por-tah It doesn't matter. No tengo ninguna idea. noh tehn-goh neen-goo-nah ee-deh-ah I have no idea. Estoy cansado / enfermo. eh-stoy kahn-sah-doh / ehnfehr-moh I'm tired / sick. Estoy aburrido. eh-stoy ah-boo-ree-doh I'm bored. Est bien. ehs-tah bee-ehn That's alright. / It's ok. Listo? lees-toh Ready? Qu chistoso! keh chees-toh-soh How funny! Salud! sah-lood Bless you! Te toca a ti. teh toh-kah ah tee It's your turn. (informal)

Qu pasa? keh pah-sah What's happening? Buena idea! bweh-nah ee-deh-ah Good idea!

Sin novedad. seen noh-veh-dahd Nothing much. Pase! pah-seh Go ahead!

Tengo hambre / sed. tehn-goh ahm-breh / sed I'm hungry / thirsty. No me importa. noh meh eem-por-tah I don't care. Me olvid. meh ohl-vee-deh I forgot. Quizs / Depende. kee-sahs / deh-pehn-deh Maybe / It depends. Que le vaya bien! keh leh vah-yah bee-ehn Have a nice day! Felicitaciones! feh-lee-see-tah-see-oh-nehs Congratulations! Callate! kah-yah-teh Shut up!

Tengo calor / fro. tehn-goh kah-lohr / free-oh I'm hot / cold. No se preocupe. noh seh preh-oh-koo-peh Don't worry Tengo que ir ahora. tehn-goh keh eer ah-oh-rah I must go now. Todava no. toh-dah-vee-ah noh Not yet. Nos vemos! nohs veh-mos We'll see you! Buena suerte! bweh-nah swehr-teh Good luck! Te amo. tay ah-moh I love you. (informal and singular)

Notice that Spanish has informal and formal ways of speaking. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in Spanish (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) Encantado, cansado, enfermo, and aburrido are the masculine forms of the words. If the words refer to a woman or are spoken by a woman, then the final o changes to a: encantada, cansada, enferma, and aburrida In Spain, as well as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, the Spanish language is called castellano instead of espaol.

2. Pronunciation Spanish Letter a e i o u ll v r rr d j g qu ai / all / ay z z, ce, ci English Sound ah ay ee oh oo y b at beginning of word, real soft b between 2 vowels ny (as in canyon) almost like a d when in between 2 vowels r with a roll of the tongue almost like a th when in between 2 vowels hard h g, sometimes a h k eye s th (in northern Spain only)

The five vowels in Spanish are all pure vowels: [a], [e], [i], [o], [u] Be sure that you do not pronounce a diphthong as we do in English (the extra yuh or wuh sound at the end). Stress: Just as in English, Spanish stresses a certain syllable in a word. If a word ends in a consonant, except s or n, the stress is on the last syllable. If a word ends in a vowel, or s or n, the stress is on the second-to-last syllable. For words that do no follow these rules, an accent is written over the vowel so that you will know to stress that syllable, as in el pjaro (bird). Please keep in mind that because Spanish is spoken in many countries, there are several regional dialects and accents so pronunciation rules may not apply to all countries. This tutorial is mostly concerned with the language that is spoken in Mexico and Spain.

3. Alphabet

a b c

ah bay say

j k l ll

hoh-tah kah ay-lay ay-yay

air-ay

rr airr-ay s t u v
ay-say tay oo bay chee-kah vay doh-blay ah-kees ee-gree-ay-gah say-tah

ch chay d e f g h i
day ay ay-fay hey

m ay-may n o
ay-nay

ayn-yay w oh pay koo

x y z

ah-chay p ee

The Spanish language academy no longer considers the ch, ll or rr to be separate letters in dictionaries, but they are still separate letters in the alphabet. In Spain, you can say oo-bay for v, but in Latin America most dialects just use bay and an adjective, such as chica (Mexico and Peru) or corta (Argentina and Chile).

4. Articles & Demonstratives Masc. Singular the a, an this that that el (ail) un (oon) este ese aquel Fem. Singular la (lah) una (oon-ah) esta esa aquella the some these those those Masc. Plural los (lohs) unos (oon-ohs) estos esos aquellos Fem. Plural las (lahs) unas (oon-ahs) estas esas aquellas

El is also used with feminine nouns beginning with a or ha when the accent is on the first syllable. Words that end in -o and -or are generally masculine, with a few exceptions: la mano (hand), la foto (photo). Words that end in -a are generally feminine, with a few exceptions: el mapa (map), el problema (problem). Other feminine words end in -cin, -tad, -dad, or -tud. Use theese forms to mean that when what you are talking about is near the person you are addressing. Use the aquel forms when what you are talking about is far from both you and the person you are addressing. Esto and eso are the neuter forms of this and that. They can be used in general and abstract ways. Demonstrative adjectives (listed above) are used before a noun; if you want to use the demonstrative pronouns, which are used before a verb, add an accent on all of the first e's: ste, sta, stos, stas, se, sa, sos, sas, aqul, aqulla, aqullos, aqullas.

5. Subject Pronouns yo t l / ella / usted yoh too I you (informal) nosotros / nosotras vosotros / vosotras ellos / ellas / ustedes noh-soh-trohs / noh-soh-trahs boh-soh-trohs / boh-soh-trahs we you all

ail / ay-yah he / she / it / you / oo-sted (formal)

ay-yohs / ay-yahs they / they / / oo-sted-ays you (plural)

Vosotros is used only in Spain when speaking to more than one person with whom you know well. Nosotras and vosotras refer to a group of all females, as well as ellas. Ustedes is almost always used for saying "you all" in all Spanish speaking countries. Usted can be abbreviated to Ud. Ustedes can also be abbreviated to Uds. Please note that the subject pronouns are rarely used before verbs.

6. To Be & to Have ser - to be past fu fuiste fu fuimos fuisteis fueron I was you were he/she/it was we were you were they were estar - to be past estuve estuviste estuvo estuvimos estuvisteis estuvieron I was you were he/she/it was we were you were they were tener - to have past I have you have he/she/it has we have you have they have tuve tuviste tuvo tuvimos tuvisteis tuvieron I had you had he/she/it had we had you had they had tendr tendrs tendr tendremos tendris tendrn estar estars estar estaremos estaris estarn ser sers ser seremos seris sern

present soy eres es somos sois son I am you are he/she/it is we are you are they are present estoy ests est estamos estis estn present tengo tienes tiene tenemos tenis tienen I am you are he/she/it is we are you are they are

future I will be you will be he/she/it will be we will be you will be they will be future I will be you will be he/she/it will be we will be you will be they will be future I will have you will have he/she/it will have we will have you will have they will have

Highlighted forms are only used in Spain.

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

Identify person/object Inherent characteristics or qualities Nationality/Occupation Telling time Express ownership Impersonal expressions Passive voice

El edificio es un templo. La casa es grande. Carlos es pobre. Es carpintero. Son las tres. Los libros son de Juan. Es necesario. El telfono fue inventado por Bell. Uses of Estar

The building is a temple. The house is large. Charles is poor. He is a carpenter. It's three o'clock. The books are John's. It is necessary. The telephone was invented by Bell.

Location/position Temporary condition/state State of health Form progressive tense

El libro est en la mesa. La ventana est abierta. Juan est enfermo. Miguel est estudiando.

The book is on the table. The window is open. John is sick. Michael is studying.

Sometimes changing the verb can completely change the meaning: ser aburrido means to be boring, while estar aburrido means to be bored. Others include: ser bueno - to be nice, estar bueno - to be in good health; ser callado - to be discrete, estar callado - to be silent; ser moreno - to have brown hair, estar moreno - to be tan.

Many common expressions using the verb "be" in English use the verb "tener" in Spanish (but not all): to be afraid to be against to be at fault to be careful to be cold to be curious to be happy to be hot to be hungry tener miedo estar en contra tener la culpa tener cuidado tener fro ser curioso/a estar contento/a tener calor tener hambre to be in a hurry to be jealous to be lucky to be patient to be sleepy to be successful to be thirsty to be tired to be ___ years old tener prisa, estar de prisa tener celos tener suerte tener paciencia tener sueo tener xito tener sed estar cansado/a tener ___ aos

7. Question Words what who how when where why qu quin(es) cmo cundo dnde por qu which how much how many whom whose cul(es) cunto (-a) cuntos (-as) a quin(es) de quin(es)

8. cardinal& ordinal Numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 cero uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve diez once doce trece catorce quince diez y seis diez y siete say-roh oo-noh dohs trays kwah-troh seen-koh says see-ay-tay oh-choh new-ay-vay dee-ays ohn-say doh-say tray-say kah-tor-say keen-say dee-ays ee says first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh eighth ninth tenth eleventh twelfth thirteenth fourteenth fifteenth sixteenth primero segundo tercero cuarto quinto sexto sptimo octavo noveno dcimo undcimo duodcimo dcimo tercero dcimo cuarto dcimo quinto dcimo sexto dcimo sptimo dcimo octavo dcimo noveno

dee-ays ee see-ayseventeenth tay dee-ays ee new-ay- nineteenth

diez y ocho dee-ays ee oh-choh eighteenth diez y

nueve 20 21 22 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 veinte veinte y uno

vay bayn-tay twentieth vigsimo vigsimo primero vigsimo segundo trigsimo cuadragsimo quincuagsimo sexagsimo septuagsimo octogsimo nonagsimo centsimo milsimo

bayn-tay ee oo-noh twenty-first twentysecond thirtieth fortieth fiftieth sixtieth seventieth eightieth ninetieth hundredth thousandth

veinte y dos bayn-tay ee dohs treinta cuarenta cincuenta sesenta setenta ochenta noventa trayn-tah kuar-ain-tah seen-kuain-tah say-sain-tah say-tain-tah oh-chain-tah noh-bain-tah see-ain-(toh) meel

100 cien(to) 1000 mil

If you are just saying 100, you use cien. If it's over 100, you use ciento. So 101 isciento uno and 156 would be ciento cincuenta y seis. Also you can use diecisis, diecisiete, dieciocho, and diecinueve for 16, 17, 18, and 19, respectively. They are pronounced the same but are combined into one word. Additionally, 21-29 can be written as one word (veintiuno, veintids, veintitrs, etc.), but you need to use y for the rest of the numbers. Primero and tercero drop the final -o when used directly before a noun.

9. Days of the Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday day lunes martes mircoles jueves viernes sbado domingo el da loo-nays mar-tays mee-air-coh-lays hway-bays bee-air-nays sah-bah-doh doh-ming-oh dee-ah

week weekend today tonight last night yesterday tomorrow my birthday next last day before yesterday day after tomorrow the following day the day before

la semana el fin de semana hoy esta noche anoche ayer maana mi cumpleaos prximo / prxima pasado / pasada anteayer pasado maana el da siguiente la vspera

say-mahn-ah feen day say-mahn-ah oy es-tah noh-chay ah-noh-chay eye-yair mahn-yahn-ah mee coom-play-ahn-yohs prok-see-moh / mah pah-sah-doh / dah ahn-teh-eye-yair pah-sah-doh mahn-yahn-ah dee-ah see-gwee-ehn-teh vees-peh-rah

Days of the week are all masculine in gender and they are not capitalized in writing. The definite article is not used after the verb ser, but at all other times it is required and there is slight change in meaning if it is singular or plural: el lunes = on Monday but los lunes = on Mondays

10. Months of the Year January February March April May June July August September enero febrero marzo abril mayo junio julio agosto septiembre ay-nair-oh fay-bray-roh mar-soh ah-breel mi-oh hoo-nee-oh hoo-lee-oh ah-gohs-toh sayp-tee-aim-bray

October November December month first of [a month] year decade century millennium

octubre noviembre diciembre el mes el primero de [month] el ao la dcada el siglo el milenio

ohk-too-bray noh-bee-aim-bray dee-see-aim-bray mais pree-mair-oh day _____ ahn-yoh deh-kah-dah see-gloh mee-leh-nee-oh

The preposition en is used with months: en abril = in April. Also notice that primero is used for the first of the month, but the rest of the days are referred to using the regular cardinal numbers: el primero de junio but el dos de julio. Months of the year are also all masculine and not capitalized in writing. Cual es la fecha de hoy? What is today's date? Hoy es el primero de agosto. Today is August 1st.

11. Seasons spring summer winter autumn la primavera el verano el invierno el otoo in spring in summer in winter in autumn en primavera en verano en invierno en otoo

12. Directions to the right to the left straight ahead north south el norte el sur a la derecha a la izquierda todo derecho northeast northwest el noreste el noroeste

east west

el este el oeste

southeast southwest

el sureste el suroeste

13. Colors & shapes red pink orange yellow green blue light blue purple violet brown black gray white golden silver rojo / roja rosado / rosada anaranjado / anaranjada amarillo / amarilla verde azul celeste morado / morada violeta marrn negro / negra gris blanco / blanca dorado / dorada plateado / plateada dark light oscuro / oscura claro / clara circle square rectangle triangle oval cube sphere cylinder cone octagon box pyramid el crculo el cuadrado el rectngulo el tringulo el valo el cubo la esfera el cilindro el cono el octgono la caja la pirmide

All adjectives in Spanish are placed after the noun that they describe and they agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun. Notice that some colors do not change for gender (marrn) or number (gris). To change an adjective to the feminine form, you usually just change the final -o to -a. To make an adjective plural, simply add an -s. ared house = una casa roja

14. Time Qu hora es? Es la una. What time is it? It's one.

Son las dos/tres/cuatro... Es medioda. Es medianoche. Son las cinco y cinco. Son las ocho y cuarto. Son las diez menos cuarto. Son cuarto para las diez. Son las nueve menos diez. Son diez para las nueve. Son las tres y media / treinta. de la maana de la tarde de la noche en punto A qu hora?

It's two/three/four... It's noon. It's midnight. It's 5:05 It's 8:15 It's 9:45 It's 9:45 (common in Mexico) It's 8:50 It's 8:50 (common in Mexico) It's 3:30 in the morning / AM in the afternoon / PM in the evening / PM exactly / sharp At what time?

15. Weather Qu tiempo hace? Hace buen tiempo. Hace mal tiempo. Hace fro. Hace calor. Hace sol. Hace viento. Hace fresco. Est nublado. Hay niebla. Hay neblina. Hay humedad. Hay granizo. What's the weather like? The weather's nice. The weather's bad. It's cold. It's hot. It's sunny. It's windy. It's chilly. It's cloudy. It's foggy. It's misty. It's humid. It's hailing.

Llueve. Nieva. Truena. Llovizna.

It's raining. It's snowing. It's thundering. It's sprinkling.

16. Prepositions a con contra de en entre hacia para por sobre sin at, to with against of, from in, on between, among towards, about for, in order, by for, through, along, via on, over without al lado de alrededor de cerca de lejos de delante de debajo de en frente de detrs de encima de hasta desde beside, alongside of around near, close to far from in front of below, under opposite behind above, on top of till, until from, since

There are two prepositional contractions with definite articles. A and el combine to form al, and de and el combine to form del.

17. Family & Animals family parents husband wife father / dad mother / mom son la familia los padres la mujer / la esposa el padre / el pap la madre / la mam el hijo cousin (m) cousin (f) relatives stepfather stepmother stepbrother el primo la prima los primos los parientes el padastro la madrastra el hermanastro

el marido / el esposo cousins

daughter children brother sister brothers & sisters only child (m) only child (f) kid / boy kid / girl half-brother half-sister father-in-law mother-in-law brother-in-law sister-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law grandfather grandmother grandparents grandson granddaughter grandchildren uncle aunt aunts & uncles nephew niece nieces & nephews

la hija los hijos el hermano la hermana los hermanos el hijo nico la hija nica el muchacho la muchacha el medio hermano la media hermana el suegro la suegra el cuado la cuada el yerno la nuera el abuelo la abuela los abuelos el nieto la nieta los nietos el to la ta los tos el sobrino la sobrina los sobrinos

stepsister stepson stepdaughter godfather godmother baby teenager boy girl boys & girls man woman adult twins (m) twins (f) dog cat bird fish gold fish horse goat pig cow rabbit turtle mouse deer duck

la hermanastra el hijastro la hijastra el padrino la madrina el beb el adolescente el nio la nia los nios el hombre la mujer el adulto los gemelos las gemelas el perro el gato el pjaro el pez la carpa dorada el caballo la cabra el cerdo la vaca el conejo la tortuga el ratn el ciervo el pato

18. To Know People & Facts

conocer - to know people conozco conoces conoce conocemos conocis conocen

saber - to know facts s sabes sabe sabemos sabis saben

19. Formation of Plural Nouns 1. If a singular noun ends in a vowel, just add -s to make it plural: la casa las casas 2. If a singular noun ends in a consonant, a vowel with an accent, or y, add -es to make it plural: el papel los papeles 3. Singular nouns that end in -z change the z to c and add -es to form the plural: la luz las luces 4. A few nouns that have an accent in the singular will lose it in the plural: el lpiz los lpices

20. Possessive Adjectives Initial Forms singular my your mi tu plural mis tus sus nuestros / nuestras vuestros / vuestras sus singular mo / ma tuyo / tuya suyo / suya nuestro / nuestra vuestro / vuestra suyo / suya Terminal Forms plural mos / mas tuyos / tuyas suyos / suyas nuestros / nuestras vuestros / vuestras suyos / suyas

your/his/her/its su our your your/their nuestro / nuestra vuestro / vuestra su

Remember that vuestro forms are only used in Spain (just as the vosotros subject pronoun & verb conjugations are only used in Spain). Because su and sus can have so many meanings, de + a pronoun may be used following the noun: de Ud., de l, de ella, de Uds., de ellos and de ellas. los libros de ellos their books

The terminal forms are placed after the noun, and the noun must be preceded by the definite article, except in direct address. When used with the indefinite article, it corresponds to the English "of mine, of yours," etc. el libro mo my book Qu haces, hijo mo? What are you doing, my son? un amigo mo a friend of mine

You might also like