Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course - Chapter 7

In the last lesson, you learnt that the Spanish language has three
types of regular verbs - -ar, -er, and –ir verbs – as in:
hablar
comer
vivir

You also learnt how to conjugate –ar verbs in the present indicative
tense using hablar as the example.

In this lesson, we'll concentrate on regular verbs ending in –er,
taking comer (to eat) as the example, and learn how to conjugate that
in the present tense.

First of all, we'll take the infinite (to eat) – comer – and find the
root of the verb by knocking off the –er ending:
com ( = comer – er)

To this root, we'll add the endings for the present tense of regular
–er verbs, as follows:
-o
-es
-e
-emos
-éis
-en

Consequently, the present indicative tense of the verb comer would be:

Singular
yo como .............................. I eat
tú comes ............................. you (familiar) eat
él/ella/Vd come ................... he/she/you (polite) eat/s

Plural
nosotros/as comemos ......... we eat
vosotros/as coméis .............. you (familiar) eat
ellos/ellas/Vds comen .......... they/you (polite) eat
These same endings do not just apply to comer but to all regular –er
verbs.

Regular –ir Verbs
You know how to conjugate regular –ar and –er verbs in the present
indicative tense. Now let´s look at the last group – the verbs ending
in – ir. We´ll take vivir (to live) as our example.

Once again, find the root of the verb by removing the ending which, in
this case, will leave:
viv
Then, depending on the person you wish to speak in, add the endings:
o
es
e
imos
ís
en

In other words, the full present tense of the verb vivir would be:

Singular
yo vivo ....................................... I live
tú vives ...................................... you (familiar) live
él/ella/Vd vive ............................ he/she/you (polite) live/s

Plural
nosotros/as vivimos ................... we live
vosotros/as vivís ........................ you (familiar) live
ellos/ellas/Vds viven ................... they/you (polite) live
Again, the above rules apply to any regular verb ending in –ir.

You now know how to decline all regular verbs in the present indicativetense!

Using Verbs

Because verb endings vary so much more in Spanish than they do in
English, it's not always necessary to use the personal pronoun with
the verb.
For example, you could say:

Hablas español .............You speak Spanish

Como mucha fruta ..........I eat a lot of fruit

Vivimos en España ........We live in Spain

None of the above sentences need personal pronouns because it's
obvious from the ending of the verb who the subject is.
It is, however, sometimes necessary to include the personal pronoun in
order to clarify who it is we are talking about, as in the case of
vive. If left on its own, it could mean he/she lives or you live.
Therefore you'd include the personal pronoun:
él vive
ella vive
Vd vive
Nevertheless, very often in conversation, it's obvious who the subject
is and, if this is the case, the personal pronoun is not included.
Sometimes, personal pronouns are included purely to add emphasis:
Yo como carne y tú comes pescado
I eat meat and you eat fish

When using two verbs in a row, the first is conjugated and the second
comes in the infinitive:

Deseo comer paella ..... I wish to eat paella

In Spanish, if you wish to imply negation, you place the word no
before the verb:

El niño no come .................... The boy doesn´t eat

No hablo español ................... I don´t speak Spanish

If you wish to use the interrogative form and ask a question, you have
to remember to place a reversed question mark at the beginning of the
sentence.If using the verb alone, without the personal pronoun, this
is all you have
to do to form a question in the present tense. For example:
Hablas español? ............... Do you speak Spanish?
When including the personal pronoun, you just reverse the normal
position of the verb and the pronoun. For example:

Habla Vd español? ............ Do you speak Spanish?
(as opposed to "Vd habla español", which would mean "You speak Spanish.)

Common –ar Verbs
You know how to decline the present tense of regular –ar verbs so,
here´s a list of 25 for you to practise with!

alquilar ..................... to rent

ayudar ..................... to help

bailar ........................ to dance

buscar ...................... to look for

comprar .................... to buy

contestar ................... to answer

dejar .......................... to allow, to leave

entrar (en) ................. to enter (into)

enviar ........................ to send

esperar ...................... to hope, to wait/for

ganar ......................... to earn, to win

gastar ........................ to spend

llegar ......................... to arrive

llevar ......................... to wear, to carry

mirar .......................... to look at, to watch

necesitar .................... to need

olvidar ........................ to forget

pagar ......................... to pay/for

preguntar ................... to ask

preparar ..................... to prepare

regresar ..................... to return

tomar ......................... to take, to drink

trabajar ...................... to work

viajar .......................... to travel

visitar .......................... to visit

Common –er Verbs
Here 's a list of 25 regular –er verbs.

aprender .................... to learn

beber ......................... to drink

ceder .......................... to give in

comer ......................... to eat

cometer ...................... to commit

comprender ................ to understand

correr .......................... to run

creer ........................... to believe

deber .......................... to have to, to owe

depender (de) ............. to depend (on)

esconder ..................... to hide

exceder ....................... to exceed

leer .............................. to read

meter (en) ................... to put (into)

ofender ........................ to offend

poseer ......................... to possess

proceder ...................... to proceed, to come from

prometer ...................... to promise

proveer ........................ to provide

responder .................... to reply

romper ......................... to break

sorprender ................... to surprise

suceder ........................ to happen

temer ........................... to fear

vender .......................... to sell

Common –ir Verbs
And, to finish off with, here's a list of 25 regular –ir verbs.

abrir .................... to open

admitir ................. to admit

asistir a ................ to attend

confundir ............. to confuse

cubrir ................... to cover

decidir .................. to decide

describir ............... to describe

descubrir .............. to discover

discutir ................. to argue, to discuss

dividir ................... to divide

escribir ................. to write

evadir ................... to evade

existir ................... to exist

fundir .................... to melt

hundir ................... to sink

imprimir ................ to print

ocurrir .................. to happen, to occur

omitir .................... to omit

partir ..................... to leave, to divide

permitir ................. to allow, to permit

recibir ................... to receive

subir ..................... to climb

sufrir ..................... to suffer

unir ....................... to unite

vivir ....................... to live

Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course -Chapter 6

So far, you've learnt all about nouns, can describe them using
adjectives, and know how to explain how many there are with the use of
cardinal numbers.

Let's now expand your ability to talk about nouns by using the Spanish
for there is and there are.

This is very easy to do in Spanish, for there is just one word which
can be used for either of these two expressions.
That word is:hay
(pronounced like the English word "eye")
To recap, the word hay has two meanings:

there is

there are
For example:

Hay una chica bonita en la calle.
There is a pretty girl in the street.

Hay dos libros grandes en la mesa.
There are two big books on the table.

Hay can also be used in questions.
(By the way, the Spanish use two question marks – a reverse one at the
start of the phrase/sentence plus a normal one at the end.)

Hay?
can mean two things:
Is there?
Are there?
For example:

Hay una chica bonita en la calle?
Is there a pretty girl in the street?

Hay dos libros grandes en la mesa?
Are there two big books on the table?
Hay can also be used to answer questions: ¿Hay una chica bonita en la
calle?
Sí. Sí hay. (Yes. Yes there is.)

Hay dos libros grandes en la mesa?
No. No hay. (No. No there aren´t.)
So, depending on whether the answer is positive or negative, you just
answer:
Sí hay.
or
No hay.
Simple, isn´t it?!

25 Common Words – Part I
Below, you'll find twenty-five commonly-used words.

a ............................. to/at

agua (el) ................. water

ahora ...................... now

año (el) ................... year

antes ...................... before/earlier

aquí ........................ here

bien ........................ well

buen (o) ................. good

cada ....................... each

comida (la) ............. food/meal

como ...................... as/like

Cómo? ................. How?

con ......................... with

corto .......................short

cosa (la) ................. thing

cuando ................... when

Cuándo? .............. When?

de .......................... of/from/by

después ................. after/later

día .......................... day

diferente ................. different

donde ..................... where

Dónde? ................ Where?

en ........................... in/on/into

entre ....................... between/among

25 Common Words – Part II
And, here you have twenty-five more!

gente (la) ................... people

lugar (el) .................... place

mal (o) ....................... bad

más ............................ more

menos ........................ less

mismo ........................ same

mucho ........................ much/many (pl)

muy ............................ very

no ............................... no, not

noche (la) ................... night

nombre (el) ................. name

nuevo .......................... new

número (el) .................. number

o ................................... or

otro ............................... other/another

pequeño ........................ small

pero ............................... but

por ................................. for/by/along

porque ........................... because

si .................................... if

sí (with accent) .............. yes

también ......................... also

tan ................................. so

viejo ............................... old

y ..................................... and

Accent
When speaking or reading Spanish words, how do we know which syllable
of the word should be emphasized?
With the exception of words which end in –mente, all Spanish words
have just one syllable that is stressed or emphasized.

In words where there is no written accent, you can work out which
syllable should be stressed by looking at the ending of the word:

1. Words which end in a consonant, EXCEPT –n or –s have the
emphasis placed on the last syllable. For example:
español ..... Spanish
español (emphasis placed on last syllable)

2. Words which end in a vowel, -n or –s are stressed on the
penultimate syllable (ie last but one). For example:
diferente ..... different
diferente (emphasis placed on last-but-one syllable)
Occasionally, the above rules are not followed.
When this happens, the word is given an acute accent to show which
syllable should be stressed. For example:

árbol .......... tree (árbol)

número ...... number (número)

The written accent is also used for other reasons, outlined below.
1. To differentiate certain words, as in:

sí .......... yes (with a written accent on the "i")

si ........... if (with no written accent)

2. An accent is placed on certain words in interrogative or
exclamative sentences, such as the word donde, when it is used as a
question:

Dónde? .......... Where?

3. An accent is placed on the word o (or) when it comes between figures
so that it's not confused with the figure for zero:

3 4 .......... 3 or 4

4. An accent occurs when i or u is preceded or followed by another vowel:

baúl .......... trunk

Personal Pronouns
What are Personal Pronouns?
Personal Pronouns are words like I, you, he, she, we, they. They are
the words we use to replace nouns and it is useful to know them before
starting on verbs and verb conjugations.
A complete list of the Spanish Personal Pronouns follows:
Singular yo ............. I
tú .............. you (familiar)
él ............... he
ella ............. she
usted .......... you (polite)
Plural nosotros ..... we (masculine or mixed group)
nosotras ..... we (feminine)
vosotros ..... you (familiar, masculine or
mixed group)
vosotras ..... you (familiar, feminine)
ellos ............ they (masculine or mixed
group)
ustedes ....... you (polite)

Spanish Personal Pronouns are a little more complicated than their
English equivalent. Some have feminine and masculine forms and there
are a variety of ways of saying the English you. Let´s look at some of
them a little closer.

The word nosotros – meaning we – is used either by an entirely male
group or by a group containing at least one male.

If the group contains ONLY females, nosotras would be used.

So, in Spanish, there are two ways to say we:

nosotros .......... we (masculine or mixed group)

nosotras ...........we (purely female group)
The same rules apply to the Spanish equivalent of they:

ellos .................. they (when referring to a masculine or mixed group)

ellas ................... they (when referring to a purely female group)
Now, let´s take a look at the various ways of saying you.
Firstly, the Spanish language has polite and familiar forms of the word you.

Usted is the polite (singular) form and would be used for addressing
strangers/older people/bosses etc, in order to show respect.
Tú is the familiar (singular) form and would be used when talking to
family/friends/work companions etc.

These two ways of saying you also have plural forms.
If addressing more than one person to whom you should show respect,you
would use ustedes (ie the plural of usted):

ustedes .......... you (polite, plural, masculine or feminine)
If the people you are addressing are family/friends/acquaintances, you

would use the plural form of tú.
The plural form of tú also has masculine and feminine versions:

vosotros .......... you (familiar, plural, masculine or mixed group)

vosotras ........... you (familiar, plural, purely female group)

To recap on "you":

one friend/family member – tú

one stranger/older person – usted

more than one friend/family member – vosotros/vosotras

more than one stranger/older person – ustedes
In the written form, usted can be abbreviated to Ud or Vd.
Similarly, ustedes can be abbreviated to Uds or Vds.
This book concentrates on Castilian Spanish (ie the Spanish spoken in
Spain) and you will find that the rules relating to vosotros/vosotras do not
apply in Latin American countries.

Chapter 18
Regular –ar Verbs
As with English, Spanish verbs are either regular or irregular.There
are three types of regular verbs in Spanish: those ending in –ar;
those ending in –er; and those ending in –ir.Examples of the
infinitives of verbs in these three categories are:

hablar .......... to speak

comer .............. to eat

vivir ................. to live

Today, we will concentrate on the first group – regular verbs ending
in – ar such as hablar – and learn how to conjugate it in the present
indicative tense.

If you were to conjugate the verb "to speak" in the present tense in
English, it would be like this:
to speak (infinitive)
I speak
you (singular) speak
he/she speaks
we speak
you (plural) speak
they speak

You've already learnt about Spanish personal pronouns and how to use
them in the previous lesson. Now, you just need to know the verb
endings.

The present tense of hablar and all regular verbs ending in –ar would
be as follows:

Singular
yo hablo ................................I speak
tú hablas ............................... you (familiar) speak
él/ella/Vd habla ..................... he/she/you (polite) speak/s

Plural
nosotros/as hablamos ........... we speak
vosotros/as habláis ................ you (familiar) speak
ellos/ellas/Vds hablan ............ they/you (polite) speak
You conjugate regular –ar verbs by taking the infinitive (ie to speak)

which, in this case, is:hablar
And remove the –ar ending in order to get the root, which would be
habl (= hablar – ar)
To this root, you then add the following endings:
-o
-as
-a
-amos
-áis
-an
This results in the full conjugation of the present tense, as you saw
above. Although we have used hablar as our example, the same rule
would apply to any regular verbs which end in –ar.

Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course - Chapter 5

What is an adjective?
An adjective is a word used to describe or add information about a
noun or pronoun, as in:
the white cat
In Spanish, most adjectives are variable and change form depending on
whether the word they describe is masculine, feminine, singular or
plural,as in:

el gato blanco ............... the white (male) cat

la gata blanca ............... the white (female) cat

los gatos blancos .......... the white (male) cats

las gatas blancas .......... the white (female) cats

Many Spanish adjectives end in –o and, as we can see from the above
example of blanco (white), this type of adjective has four forms:

blanco ....... masculine/singular form

blanca ....... feminine/singular form

blancos ..... masculine/plural form

blancas ..... feminine/plural form

Adjectives that end in –e, however, do not change form for the
masculine and feminine but remain the same for both:

el chico pobre .......... the poor boy

la chica pobre .......... the poor girl

However, they do change form from the singular to the plural by adding – s:

los chicos pobres ....... the poor boys

las chicas pobres ....... the poor girls

Similarly, most adjectives which end in a consonant do not change form
for the masculine and feminine, but they do change form for the plural
by adding –es:

el hombre fiel .......... the faithful man

la mujer fiel ............. the faithful woman

los hombres fieles ... the faithful men

las mujeres fieles .... the faithful women

Some adjectives of nationality which end in a consonant do not,
however, follow this rule but add an –a to the feminine forms:

el hombre español .......... the Spanish man

la mujer española ........... the Spanish woman

los hombres españoles ... the Spanish men

las mujeres españolas .... the Spanish women

Adjectives which end in –or, -án, ón and –ín also have a feminine form:

el hombre hablador ............ the talkative man

la mujer habladora ............. the talkative woman

los hombres habladores ..... the talkative men

las mujeres habladoras ...... the talkative women

Adjectives – Part II
You'll have probably noticed from the previous chapter that, as a
general rule, in Spanish the adjective comes after the word it
describes – unlike English where it comes before.

However, adjectives which express quantity (ie how much or how many)
tend to be placed before the noun, for example:

mucho trabajo .......... much work

poco dinero .............. little money

There are also occasions when a descriptive adjective can precede the
noun, for example, when it refers to a quality which is inherent and
usually taken for granted, as in:

la blanca nieve .......... the white snow

In Spanish, there are also just a few adjectives which have a
different meaning depending on whether they are placed before or after
the noun.
For example:

un hombre pobre ... a poor man (in the sense of unfortunate)

un pobre hombre ... a poor man (in the sense of little money)

Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course Chapter -4

You've already learnt how to refer to a noun using either the definite
or indefinite article.

But what happens if you want to specify a number?
For this, you will need to know your cardinal numbers.
The cardinal numbers one to ten are as follows:
1 - uno
2 - dos
3 - tres
4 - cuatro
5 - cinco
6 - seis
7 - siete
8 - ocho
9 - nueve
10 - diez

If you just look over the previous chapter on the Indefinite Article,
you'll realize that the number one changes from uno to un before a
masculine noun and from uno to una before a feminine noun.

For example:

un niño .......... one boy

una niña ........ one girl

Use uno when counting generically, as in:

one, two, three, four, etc

uno, dos, tres, cuatro, etc

Use un or una when counting specifically, as in:

one banana, one apple, etc

un plátano, una manzana, etc

Cardinal Numbers 11-20
Following on from the last chapter, the cardinal numbers eleven through
to twenty are as follows:
11 – once
12 – doce
13 – trece
14 – catorce
15 – quince
16 – dieciséis
17 – diecisiete
18 – dieciocho
19 – diecinueve
20 – veinte

In Spanish, the numbers 16 through to 19 are actually contractions.
For example, the Spanish for 16 – dieciséis – literally means ten and
six, but joined together, as shown below:

dieciséis = diez y seis

diecisiete = diez y siete

dieciocho = diez y ocho

diecinueve = diez y nueve

Cardinal Numbers 21-99
The cardinal numbers twenty-one to thirty are:
21 – veintiuno
22 – veintidós
23 – veintitrés
24 – veinticuatro
25 – veinticinco
26 – veintiséis
27 – veintisiete
28 – veintiocho
29 – veintinueve
30 – treinta

You'll notice that, like the cardinal numbers 16 to 19, the numbers 21
to 29 are contractions of the Spanish for twenty and one etc:

veintiuno = veinte y uno

veintidós = veinte y dos, etc

Numbers between 40 and 100 are not usually done as contractions but
add y uno ... y dos etc.
40 – cuarenta
50 – cincuenta
60 – sesenta
70 – setenta
80 – ochenta
90 – noventa

Consequently, the Spanish for sixty-two would be sesenta y dos.
Other examples are:
79 ...... setenta y nueve
86 ...... ochenta y seis
93 ...... noventa y tres

Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course -Chapter 3

There are various rules to follow when making nouns into the plural.

1. Nouns which end in a vowel just add –s:

libro + s = libros (books)

casa + s = casas (houses)

debate + s = debates (debates)

2. Nouns which end in a consonant add –es:

pared + es = paredes (walls)

profesor + es = profesores (teachers)

3. Nouns which end in –ión drop the written accent and add –es:

conversación + es - ´ = conversaciones (conversations)

televisión + es - ´ = televisiones (televisions)

4. Nouns which end in –z change the z to c and add –es:

luz .......... luces (lights)

voz ......... voces (voices)

5. Nouns ending in –s and –x which do NOT have the spoken
emphasis placed on the last syllable keep the same singular and
plural:

lunes .......... Monday(s)

tórax ........... thorax(es)

6. However, nouns ending in –s which have the spoken emphasis
placed on the last syllable follow the general rule and add –es:

mes + es = meses (months)

interés + es = intereses (interests)

Definite Article – Part I
What is the definite article?
In English, the definite article is the word "the". The English
definite article is invariable. In other words, it is the same
regardless of whether the noun it introduces is masculine or feminine
(although we do not really differentiate between masculine and
feminine nouns in the English language), singular or plural.
On the other hand, the Spanish definite article is variable.
It is made to agree with the noun and therefore has four forms,
depending on whether the noun it introduces is:

masculine singular

feminine singular

masculine plural

feminine plural

The four forms of the Spanish definite article are as follows:

el is used for masculine singular nouns

la is used for feminine singular nouns

los is used for masculine plural nouns

las is used for feminine plural nouns

Examples of their use would be:

el niño ............... the boy

la niña ............... the girl

los niños ............ the boys

las niñas ........... the girls

Definite Article – Part II

we learnt that the definite article in Spanish is variable, and agrees
with the noun, depending on whether the latter is masculine,
feminine, singular or plural.
There are, however, exceptions to this rule ...
With feminine nouns beginning with –a or –ha which have the spoken
emphasis placed on the first syllable, the masculine definite article is used:

el agua ............... the water

el hambre ........... the hunger
This is - basically - because it sounds better.

Indefinite Article
What is the indefinite article?
The indefinite article is used when not referring to a specific thing.
The definite article is used when you are referring to a specific thing.
In English, the indefinite article can be:

a

an

some
Like the definite article, the indefinite article is variable and has four
forms.
These are:

un ............... the masculine singular form

una ............. the feminine singular form

unos ........... the masculine plural form

unas ............ the feminine plural form
Un and una can mean a, an or one.

Examples of the indefinite article in use are:

un niño .......... a boy/one boy

una niña ......... a girl/one girl

unos niños ...... some boys

unas niñas ...... some girls
Unos niños could, in fact, be referring to a mixed group of boys and girls.

This is because, with mixed groups, as long as there is at least one
male member, the masculine plural noun is used.

Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course Chapter -2

we said that Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, that
nouns ending in –o tend to be masculine, whilst those
ending in –a tend to be feminine.

There are, however, some exceptions to this rule.

Common examples of nouns ending in –a which are masculine are:

clima .................... climate

día ........................ day

idioma ................... language

mapa .................... map

planeta .................. planeta

poema ................... poem

problema ............... problem

programa ............... programme

sistema .................. system

sofá ........................ sofa

telegrama ............... telegramme

tema ....................... theme, subject

In the same way, some nouns which end in –o are classed as being
feminine, although there are not so many of them. Examples are:

mano ....................... hand

radio ........................ radio

Singular Nouns – Part III

Unfortunately, not all Spanish nouns end in –o or –a.

1. Nouns ending in –d and –z tend to be feminine, as in:

edad .................... age

paz ...................... peace

2. Nouns ending in –ión tend to be feminine, as in:

canción ............... song

religión ................ religion

3. Nouns ending in –e tend to be masculine, as in:

aceite ................. oil

diente ................. tooth

4. Nouns ending in –n tend to be masculine, as in:

andén ................ pavement/sidewalk

corazón .............. heart

5. Nouns ending in –r tend to be masculine, as in:

azúcar ................ sugar

lugar ................... place

6. Nouns ending in –l tend to be masculine, as in:

ángel .................. angel

hotel ................... hotel

7. Singular nouns ending in –s tend to be masculine, as in:

autobús .............. bus

interés ................ interest

Added to that, masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a
corresponding feminine form that ends in –a:

profesor/a ................ teacher

doctor/a ................... doctor

Learn the basics of Spanish with this easy-to-understand course -Chapter 1

What is a noun?

A noun is a word used to denote a:
person
place
thing

All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine.
Usually - although not always - masculine nouns end with –o and
feminine nouns end with –a

Examples of masculine nouns which end in –o would be:

vaso ..........glass
plato ......... plate
cuchillo ..... knife
libro .......... book

Examples of feminine nouns ending in –a would be:

taza .......... cup
mesa ........ table

cuchara .... spoon

cabeza ...... head

Sometimes, with nouns relating to persons or animals, the –o or –a at
the end will change, depending on whether it relates to male or
female.

Some examples of this are:

gato .......... male cat

gata .......... female cat

abuelo ...... grandfather

abuela ...... grandmother

tío ............. uncle

tía ............. aunt

chico ......... boy

chica ......... girl