Gram Espanhol
Gram Espanhol
Greetings:
Hi! ¡Hola!
Good Morning! ¡Buenos Días!
Good Evening! ¡Buenas Tardes!
Welcome! (to greet someone) ¡Bienvenido!
How Are You? ¿Cómo Estás?
I'm Fine, Thanks! Estoy Bíen ¡Gracias!
And You? ¿Y Tú?
Good/ So-So. Bíen/ Más o menos
Thank You (Very Much)! ¡(Muchas) Gracias!
You're Welcome! (answering ¡De Nada!
"thank you")
Hey! Friend! ¡Eh! ¡Amigo!
I Missed You So Much! ¡Te Extraño Mucho!
What's New? ¿Qué Hay De Nuevo?
Nothing Much Nada
Good Night! ¡Buenas noches!
See You Later! ¡Hasta luego!
Good Bye! ¡Adiós!
Misunderstanding:
I'm Sorry! (if you don't hear something) ¡Discuple!
Sorry (for a mistake) ¡Lo Siento!
No Problem! ¡No Problema!
Can You Say It Again? ¡Puede Repetirlo!
Can You Speak Slowly? ¡Puedes Hablar Más Despacio!
Write It Down Please! ¡Escríbalo, Por Favor!
I Don't Understand! ¡No Entiendo!
I Don't Know! ¡No (Lo) Sé!
I Have No Idea. ¡No Tengo Ni Idea!
What's That Called In Spanish? ¿Cómo Se llama a Esto En Español?
What Does "gato" Mean In English? ¿Qué Quiere Decir "gato" En Inglés?
How Do You Say "Please" In Spanish? ¿Cómo Se Dice "please" En Español?
What Is This? ¿Qué Es Esto?
My Spanish Is Bad. Mi Español Es Malo
I need to practice my Spanish me falta práctica en Español
Don't Worry! ¡No Te Preocupes!
In general, to form the plural of nouns and adjectives in Spanish we add -s to words ending in a
vowel and -es to words ending in a consonant, the way of making the Spanish plural is close to the
one of doing it in English: el libro (the book) = los libros (the books) el profesor (the professor) =
los profesores (professors).
In General if a word ends with anything except a z you can add an s or es (if it's ending with a
consonant). But exceptions always exist, like the ones below:
Plural in Spanish
When a word is ending in an unstressed vowel add the letter s. like in: la casa - las
casas, la picina - las picinas.
When a word is ending in a consonant add the letters es. el señor - los señores, la ciudad
- las ciudades.
When a word is ending in s preceded by an unstressed vowel generally the plural stays
the same in both singular and plural:
el lunes (Monday) - los lunes (Mondays), la crisis (the crisis), las crisis (the crises).
When a word is ending in z change the ending zes to ces. el pez (fish) - los peces(fish), el
juez (the judge) - los jueces (judges), la luz ( the light) - las luces (the lights).
When a word is ending with a y the plural will need -es even if the y is a vowel, due to
the phonetic nature of the word: el rey (the king) - los reyes (kings).
Don't get confused to see all these exceptions, 95 % of the Spanish words follow the first rule,
which is simply: add -s to a word ending in a vowel, and -es to a word ending in a consonant.
Summery:
It’s easy to make the plural out of singular, from both masculine and plural, the table below will
refresh what you just learned, note that these rules can be applied on adjectives as well.
Nouns in Spanish
When a noun ends in a vowel, add -s. libro libros
coche coches
radio radios
When a noun ends in any consonant except –z. señor señores
ley leyes
mes meses
When a noun ends in a -z, change the -z to a -c and add - luz luces
es. juez jueces
vez veces
Adverbs (adverbios) are invariable words that modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Adverbs can provide additional information about manner, quantity, frequency, time, or place.
Many adverbs are formed from adjectives, by adding the suffix -mente to the feminine singular
form, the same way we add (-ly) to an adjective in English. Adverbs explain when, how, where,
how often, or to what degree something is done. There is a list of the most common adverbs at
the bottom of this page.
- If a Spanish adverb is modifying a verb, we place the adverb after the verb: jugas bien (you play
well)
- No adverb can be put between two verbs like in English, it should be placed after the two verbs:
vamos a jugar aquí (let's play here)
- When an adverb is modifying another adverb or an adjective, the adverb will be placed before
the adverb/ adjective it modifies:
- escribes muy bien (you write very well) - yo estoy siempre orgulloso de mi país (I'm always
proud of my country)
So the easiest part is to change adjectives into adverbs by simply adding ~mente. Here is an
example of how to change an adjective to an adverb:
- Su herida está grave (her wound is serious) becomes - Ella está gravemente herida (She is
seriously wounded.)
In a series of adverbs, only the last one takes the -mente suffix, while the other adverbs have the
form of feminine adjectives:
El intérprete debe pensar clara, rápida y correctamente. (The interpreter should think clearly,
quickly and correctly.)
Summery of Spanish Adverbs:
To form an adverb from an adjective in Spanish we simply add (~mente) to the Spanish adjective,
just like how we add (~ly) to the adjective in English.
Adjective lento (slow) becomes adverb lentamente (slowly): puedes hablar lentamente? (Can you
speak slowly?)
There are adverbs that don't have anything to do with adjectives, like aquí (here), bien (well),
despacio (slowly)... if you scroll down you will see a long list of adverbs related & non related to
adjectives, they’re used very often, so it would be very helpful to memorize them! Good luck!
List of Adverbs:
SPANISH ADVERBS
MANNER ADVERBS QUANTITY ADVERBS
además moreover
aún still, yet
tambien also, too
An adjective (adjetivo) in Spanish or in English is a word used to describe a noun (like size, color,
shape...). If you already have an idea about adjectives you can scroll down to the Summery to
refresh your memory, otherwise you can start with us from here:
An adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Similar to nouns, an adjective
usually end in (~o) for masculine (plural ~os), and (~a) for feminine (plural ~as):
Spanish Adjectives
singular plural singular plural
masculine blanco blancos alto altos
feminine blanca blancas alta altas
-Un hombre alto (a tall man) -Unos hombres altos ( tall men) -Muchos libros (many books)
-Una casa pequeña (a small house) - Unas chicas peligrosas (some dangerous girls) - Muchas cosas
(many things)
There are also some adjectives whose masculine singular ends in a consonant and form the feminine
by adding -a:
Some other adjectives ending in a consonant take the same form for both masculine and feminine:
un chico joven (a young boy)
una chica joven (a young girl)
unos cantantes populares (some popular singers)
unas canciones populares (some popular songs)
But the tricky part is that Spanish adjectives are different from English adjectives, in English
adjectives are found before the noun they modify, while in Spanish usually they're found after the
noun they modify. And also because in Spanish the adjectives agree in gender and number with
the noun they modify.
When they precede the noun, such adjectives change meaning, acquiring a less literal sense:
El mendigo es un hombre pobre. (A beggar is a poor man.)
But: El pobre hombre tiene muchos problemas (The poor guy has many problems)
See how the position can define the meaning intended in the sentence. The first “pobre” means
someone who doesn’t have money, but the second “pobre” means someone who deserve pity, and
has nothing to do with money.
In most cases adjectives precede the nouns they modify whenever they:
- Express an essential quality:
la dulce miel (the sweet honey)
las verdes hojas (the green leaves)
- Point out, limit or quantify:
este perro (this dog)
su hija (his/ her daughter)
menos caliente (less hot)
tres manzanas (three apples)
Adjectives can be used as nouns, in that case they take a definite article:
Los pobres tienen muchos problemas. (Poor people have many problems.)
So in short these are some rules to follow about the Spanish Adjectives:
Most Spanish adjectives end in (-o), and in order to make them feminine, change the o to an (-a), to
make them plural, add -os (plural masculine); or -as (plural feminine).
When the adjective ends in (-a) or (-e), no difference will be made between the masculine and
feminine form, and the plural is created by adding (–s).
- pobre ( for both masc & fem singular) - pobres ( for both masc & fem plural)
- egoísta ( for both masc & fem singular) - egoístas ( both genders in plural)
When an adjective ends in any consonant except r, or z, there will be no difference between the
masculine and feminine forms, and the plural can be created by adding -es.
- débil (for both genders in singular) - débiles (for both genders in plural).
When an adjective ends with z, no difference will be made to both genders in singular, but in the
plural we have to switch z to c and then add the usual -es.
When an adjective ends in r, the feminine is formed by adding an (-a), the masculine plural by
adding -es and the feminine plural by adding -as.
At the end of this page you will find a list of the most used 101 adjectives.
This is basically what you need to remember about adjectives, and the four forms they take:
Most Spanish adjectives end in o. To make them feminine, change the o to an a. To make them
plural, add -os (plural masculine) or -as (plural feminine).
Spanish Adjectives
singular plural singular plural
masculine blanco blancos alto altos
feminine blanca blancas alta altas
Unlike English, which has only one definite article, which is “the", Spanish has 4 definite articles:
Spanish Definite Articles
Singular Plural
Masculine el los
Feminine la las
Generally you can use the Spanish definite articles the same way you use it in English, however
there are some exceptions when definite articles are used in Spanish but not in English and vice
versa, here are some examples:
President Juan Carlos lives in Madrid = el presidente Juan Carlos vive en Madrid.
The exceptions are not very common, and they can be learnt with practice, so no worries!
In general, whenever un or una are used in Spanish, you need to use "a" or "an" to say the
equivalent in English.
Un libro = a book
The table below shows when they should be used according to the gender and number:
Masculine un unos
Sometimes Spanish seems to avoid using the indefinite articles in many places while English does
like in occupations, affiliation, religion, before otro (other), after con (with) and sin (without),
usually after tener (have)/ llevar (wear)...etc here are some examples:
Es artista = he is an artist
Definite Articles:
Masculine el los
Feminine la las
Indefinite Articles:
Masculine un unos
In Spanish there are regular, semiregular and irregular verbs. We already know regular verbs.
Semiregular verbs are verbs having slight modifications in their spelling, just so that they can
sound phonetically easy to pronounce, like the verb pagar (to pay) yo pago (I pay), in the past
instead of writing yo pagé, we added a (u) after the g so that it would still sound [g] like in pago I
bought= yo pagué, and not like [j] if we wrote pagé. Irregular verbs are verbs which don't follow
standard rules of conjugation in the different verb tenses. The bad news is that they're the most used
verbs. So you need to focus on them more, the good news is that you can become familiar with
them easily. We will deal with semiregular and irregular as a one subject, because semiregular
verbs are considered somehow irregular too.
-First person singular present with g: decir (to say), I say= digo. caer (to fall), I fall= caigo. hacer (to
do), I do= hago. salir (to go out), I go out= saglo...
-First person present g changes to j: escoger (to choose), I choose= escojo. corrigir (to correct), I
correct= corrijo.
-Stem changes in the third person singular present (e -> ie): negar (to deny), he denies= niega.
cerrar (to close), he closes= cierra. pensar (to think), he think=piensa
-Stem changes in the third person singular present (o -> ue): jugar (to play), he plays= juega.
mostrar (to show), he shows= muestra. dormir (to sleep),he sleeps=duerme
-Stem changes in the third person singular present (e -> i): decir (to say), he says= dice. medir (to
measure), he measures= mide.
-When we add an e to the last letter of the stem c then (c -> qu): platicar (to chat), I chatted=
platiqué. bloacar (to block), I blocked= bloqué.
-When we add an e to the last letter of the stem z then (z-> c): lanzar (to throw) I threw= lancé.
-When we add an a or o to the last letter of the stem c then (c ->zc): conocer (to know) I know=
conozco.
Click Here to see a list of about 200 irregular verbs, and the pattern they follow.
These are some common irregular verbs in Spanish (check the table below to see how they are
conjugated): abrir, andar, caer, cerrar, conocer, creer, dar, decir, dormir, empezar, encontrar,
escoger, estoy, hacer, ir, jugar, leer, llegar, mirar, oír, olvidar, pagar, pedir, pensar, perder, poder,
poner, quedar, querer, saber, sacar, salir, seguir, sentir, ser, tener, traer, valer, venir, ver, volver.
This list contains most of the common modifications that occur to verbs, it may seem confusing, but
this is the easiest way to learn how a verb is modified, especially once you get used to the table.
-Underlined words: refer to the stem of a verb; the root of the verb that you should keep, and
modify only what comes after that stem.
-Words in bold: means that the word is conjugated in an irregular way and maybe that was the
reason why it was put in this irregular list.
-Abbreviations: (pr part= present participle), (pa part= past participle), (Imperative has two
conjugations in this table the first one is for tú, the second word is for él)
Spanish Irregular Verbs
Verb Pr Part * Pa Part * Present Preterite Imperfect Future Imperative *
abrir abriendo abierto abro,es,e,imos,en abrí,iste,ió,imos,ieron abría,s,-,mos,n abriré,ás,á,emos,án abre,abra
andar andando andado ando,as,a,amos,an anduve,iste,o,imos,ieron andaba,s,-,mos,n andaré,ás,á,emos,án anda,andad
caer cayendo caído caigo,caes,-,mos,n caí,ste,cayo,mos,cayeron caía,s,-,mos,n caeré,ás,á,emos,án cae,caiga
cerrar cerrando cerrado cierro,as,a,cerramos,an cerré,aste,ó,amos,aron cerraba,s,-,mos,n cerraré,ás,á,emos,án cierra,cierre
conocer conociendo conocido conozco,es,e,mos,en conocí,iste,ió,imos,ieron conocía,s,-,mos,n conoceré,ás,á,emos,án conoce,zca
creer creyendo creíndo creo,es,e,emos,en, creí,ste,creyó,mos,creyeron creía,s,-,mos,n creeré,ás,á,emos,án cree,crea
dar dando dado doy,das,a,mos,n di,ste,o,mos,eron daba,s,-,mos,n daré,ás,á,emos,án da,dad
decir diciendo dicho digo,dices,-,decimos,n dije,iste,o,imos,eron decía,s,-,mos,n diré,ás.á,emos,án di,decid
dormir durmiendo dormido duermo,es,e,o-imos,en dormí,iste,durmió,imos,u-ieron dormía,s,-,mos,n dormiré,ás,á,emos,án duerme,dormid
empezar empezando empezado empiezo,as,a,ezamos,n empecé,empezaste,ó,amos,aron empezaba,s,-,mos,n empezaré,ás,á,emos,án empieza,ce
escoger esogiendo escogido escojo,ges,e,gemos,gen escogí,iste,ió,imos,ieron escogía,s,-,mos,n Escogeré,ás,á,emos,án Escoge,escoja
encontrar encontrando encontado encuentro,as,a,o-mos,an encontré,aste,ó,amos,aron encontaba,s,-,mos, encontré,ás,á,emos,án encuentra,e
n
escribir escribiendo escrito escribo,es,e,imos,en escribí,iste,ió,imos,ieron escribía,s,-,mos,n escribiré,ás,á,emos,án escribe,escriba
estoy estando estado estoy,as,a,amos,an estuve,iste,o,imos,ieron estaba,s,-,amos,an estaré,ás,á,emos,án esta,estad
hacer haciendo hecho hago,haces,-,mos,n, hice,iste,hizo,imos,ieron hacía,s,-,mos,n haré,ás,á,emos,án haz,haced
ir yendo ido voy,vas,a,mos,n fui,iste,e,imos,eron iba,s,-,mos,n iré,ás,á,emos,án ve,id
jugar jugando jugado juego,as,a,jugamos,an jugué,aste,ó,amos,aron jugaba,s,-,mos,n jugaré,ás,á,emos,án juega,juegue
leer leyendo leído leo,es,e,emos,en leí,ste,leyó,mos,leyeron leía,s,-,mos,n leeré,ás,á,emos,án lee,lea
llegar llegando llegado llego,as,a,amos,an llegué,llegaste,ó,amos,aron llegaba,s,-,mos,n llegaré,ás,á,emos,án llega,llegue
mirar mirando mirado miro,as,s,amos,an miré,aste,ó,amos,aron miraba,s,-,mos,n miraré,ás,á,emos,án mira,mire
oír oyendo oído oigo,oyes,-,oímos,n oí,ste,oyo,mos,oyeron oía,s,-,mos,n oiré,ás,á,emos,án oye,oíd
olvidar olvidando olvidado olvido,as,a,amos olvidé,aste,ó,amos,aron olvidaba,s,-,mos,n olvidaré,ás,á,emos,án olvida,olvide
pedir pidiendo pedido pido,es,e,pedimos,piden pedí,iste,pidió,imos,pidieron pedía,s,-,mos,n pediré,ás,á,emos,án pide,pida
pagar pagando pagado Pago,as,a,amos,an Pagué,aste,ó,amos,aron Pagaba,s,-,mos,n Pagaré,ás,á,emos,án Paga, pague
pensar pensando pensado pienso,as,a,pensamos,an pensé,aste,ó,amos,aron pensaba,s,-,mos,n pensaré,ás,á,emos,án piensa,piense
perder perdiendo pedrido pierdo,es,e,perdemos,en perdí,iste,ió,imos,ieron perdía,s,-,mos,n perderé,ás,á,emos,.án pierde,pierda
poder podiendo podido puedo,es,e,podemos,en pude,iste,o,imos,ieron podía,s,-,mos,n podré,ás,á,emos,án puede,pueda
poner poniendo puesto pongo,pones,-,mos,en puse,iste,o,imos,ieron ponía,s,-mos,n pondré,ás,á,emos,án pon,poned
quedar quedando quedado quedo,as,a,amos,an quedé,aste,ó,amos,aron quedaba,s,-,mos,n quedaré,ás,á,emos,án queda,quede
querer queriendo querido quiero,es,e,queremos,en quise,iste,o,imos,ieron quería,s,-,mos,n querré,ás,á,emos,án quiere,quered
saber sabiendo sabido sé, sabes,-,mos,en supe,iste,o,imos,ieron sabía,s,-,mos,n sabré,ás,á,emos,án sabe,sabed
sacar sacando sacado saco,as,a,amos,an saque, sacaste,ó,amos,aron sacaba,s,-,mos,n sacaré,ás,á,emos,án saca,saque
salir saliendo salido salgo, sales,e,imos,en salí,iste,ío,imos,ieron salía,s,-,mos,n saldré,ás,á,emos,án sal,salga
seguir siguiendo seguido sigo,ues,ue,seguimos,uen seguí,iste,siguió,imos,siguieron seguía,s,-,mos,n seguiré,ás,á,emos,án sigue,siga
sentir sintiendo sentido siento,es,e,sentimos,en sentí,iste,sintió,imos,sintieron sentía,s,-,mos,n sentiré,ás,á,emos,án siente,sienta
ser siendo sido soy,eres,es,somos,son fui,iste,e,imos,eron era,s,-,mos,n seré,ás,á,emos,án sé, sed
tener teniendo tenido tengo,tienes,-,tenemos,n tuve,iste,o,imos,ieron tenía,s,-,mos,n tendré,ás,á,emos,án ten,tened
traer trayendo traído traigo,traes,-,mos,n traje,iste,o,imos,ieron traía,s,-,mos,n traeré,ás,á,emos,án trae,traed
valer valiendo valido valgo,vales,e,emos,en valí,iste,ió,imos,ieron valía,s,-,mos,n valdré,ás,á,emos,án vale/val,valga
venir viniendo venido vengo,vienes,-,venimos,n vine,iste,o,imos,ieron venía,s,-,mos,n vendré,ás,á,emos,án ven,venga
ver viendo visto veo,s,-,mos,n vi,ste,o,mos,eron veía,s,-,mos,n veré,ás,á,emos,án ve,vea
volver volviendo vuelto vuelvo,es,e,volvemos,en volví,iste,ió,imos,ieron volvía,s,-,mos,n volveré,ás,á,emos,án vuelve,vuelva
In Spanish there are three categories of verbs:
In regular verbs the ending is identical and you can simply follow a specific rule to conjugate them
all, we will take the present indicative as an example of conjugating regular verbs, since it's the
tense used most, for example hablar (to talk), comer (to eat), and vivir (to live), the present
indicative forms are made by removing the infinitive ending of the verb (-ar, -er or -ir) and
replacing it with an ending that indicates who is performing the action of the verb:
Spanish Verbs
Stem +(-o, -as,-a, -amos, -áis, -an ) for verbs ending in -ar.
Stem +(-o, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en) for verbs ending in -ir.
The best thing about regular verbs is that you can apply the above rules (endings) to all regular
verbs, it's important to know the stem of the verb so that you can add the endings to it, like the stem
of hablar is habl, comer: com, vivir: viv. I speak = yo + habl+o = yo hablo. You can have a look at
the table below and see the endings of each verb, it includes a list of: present participle, past
participle, present indicative, preterit indicative, Imperfect indicative, future indicative,
imperative (Commands).
Spanish
Regular
Verbs
Verb P Pa Part Present Preterite Imperfect Future I
r m
p
P e
a r
r a
t t
i
v
e
Reg (-ar) h hablado hablo,as, hablé,aste,ó, hablaba,s, hablaré,ás,á, habla,
a a,amos,a amos,aron -,mos,n emos,án hablad
b n
l
a
n
d
o
Reg (-er) c comido como,es,e comí,iste,ió, comía,s,-, comeré,ás,á, come,comed
o ,emos,en imos,ieron mos,n emos,án
m
i
e
n
d
o
Reg (-ir) v vivido vivo,es,e, viví,iste,ió, vivía,s,-, viviré,ás,á, vive,vivid
i imos,en imos,ieron mos,n emos,án
v
i
e
n
d
o
The tables below are more detailed, and treat each tense separately; we will start with the present
tense:
Another tense which is very easy is the future tense, you don’t have to worry about the stem here,
you can take the whole Spanish verb and add the future endings to it and that would be it:
Now we will see the Imperative in Spanish, which is also very easy, because it has only two
different categories of endings, look at the table below:
Spanish Imperfect
Imperfect yo tú Ud./él/ella Nosotros/as Vosotros/as Uds./ellos/ellas
indicative
(Imperfecto de
indicativo):
hablar: -aba,- hablaba hablabas hablaba hablábamos hablabais hablaban
abas,-aba
-ábamos,-
abais,ablan
comer: -ía,-ías,- comía comías comía comíamos comíais comían
ía,
-íamos,-
íais,-ían
vivir: -ía,-ías,- vivía vivías vivía vivíamos vivíais vivían
ía,
-íamos,-
íais,-ían
The present perfect is another Spanish tense which is very important, and used often as well, the
good news is that it’s easy to form, have a look at the table:
Spanish Present
Perfect
Present perfect yo tú Ud./él/ella Nosotros/as vosotros/as Uds./ellos/ellas
indicative
(Presente
perfecto de
indicativo):
hablar: he – he has ha hemos habéis han hablado
ado,has –ado, hablado hablado hablado hablado hablado
ha –ado
hemos –ado,
habéis –ado,
han -ado
comer: he – he has ha comido hemos habéis han comido
ido,has –ido, ha comido comido comido comido
–ido
hemos –ido,
habéis –ido, han
-ido
vivir: he – he has ha vivido hemos habéis han vivido
ido,has –ido, ha vivido vivido vivido vivido
–ido
hemos –ido,
habéis –ido, han
-ido
And finally the imperative or commands in Spanish, a fun to learn mood, and can be very useful,
especially if you like giving orders to others, try to memorize it, it’s tricky, because you will have to
do some switching, examine the table below, and write down the endings that each verbs category
take:
I hope you have learned from this page to deal with the Spanish verbs in different tenses, especially:
the regular verbs, present tense, past tense, Spanish future tense, imperfect, Spanish present perfect,
and the imperative. Good luck with the rest of the pages!
This is a list of about 200 common irregular verbs in Spanish, and the rules they follow, you will
also find some verbs that don't follow any pattern, usually they're the most used verbs, for more
explanations please check the irregular verbs page.
When we add an e to the last letter of the stem c then (c -> qu)
Traer family
Tener family
Venir family
A Pronoun in Spanish as well as in English is like a shortcut to refer to a noun, a word that stands
for or represents a noun or noun phrase, a pronoun is identified only in the context of the sentence
in which they are used. So you must have a prior idea about who "he or she" "él or ella" is. In
English we find "me, her, what, that, his", In Spanish they're used pretty much the same way, the
main difference is that in Spanish most pronouns have a gender, masculine or feminine and rarely
neuter to unknown objects or ideas.
Types of pronouns include personal pronouns (refer to the persons speaking, the persons spoken
to, or the persons or things spoken about), indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns (connect parts
of sentences) and reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is being acted on
by verb's subject).
Spanish Pronouns
Type of Use Examples in Spanish (English)
Pronouns
Subject Replaces the subject of a sentence Yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she),
nosotros (we), ellos (they), ellas (they)
Possessive Refers to something owned or Mío (mine), mía (mine), míos (mine),
possessed by someone. usually mías (mine), tuyo/a (yours), suyo/a (his,
preceded by el/la/los/las hers, theirs), nuestro/a (ours), Vuestro/a
(yours)
Reflexive Used when the direct object and Me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself,
indirect object of a verb refer to the herself, themselves), nos (ourselves), os
same person. Used more often in (yourselves)
Spanish.
Indefinite Used to refer to nonspecific people Algo (something), alguien (anybody),
or things nadie (nobody), todo (all), todas (all), uno
(one), unos (some), ninguno (none),
mucho (many), poco (little)
Relative Introduces a clause that gives more Que (that, which, who, whom), quien
information about a noun or pronoun (who, whom), el cual (which, that which)
cuyo (whose), cuyas (whose), donde
(where), el que (that, which)
Interrogative Used in questions Qué (what), quién (what), cuándo (when),
cuánto (when)
Demonstrative Replaces a noun while also pointing Éste (this one), ésta (this one), ésa (that
to it one), aquéllos (those ones), aquél (that
one over there)
Function as the object of a verb or Mi (me), ti(you), él, nosotros, vosotros...
Prepositional preposition, used after prepositions, (except mi and ti, the rest is the same as in
often in order to emphasize the noun subject pronouns)
they replace
Indirect They’re words that replace the Me (me), te(you), le (him, her, you
Object indirect object, which is usually a (formal), nos (us), vos (you), les (them)
Pronoun person. Me da gusto ( it gives me pleasure). Te
quiero (I love you)
Subject pronouns:
Subject pronouns replace the subject of the sentence, they're very easy to use, and this is a complete
list of them with their English equivalent:
Plural
Yours (formal), his, hers= el suyo / la suya /los suyos / las suyas.
Below, are examples of pronoun adjectives, compare them to the possessive pronoun shown on the
table above,
mi(s)= my, mi coche (my car) mis amigas (my friends), tu(s)= your (singular) tu hermano (your
brother) tus amigos, su(s)= his, her, your (formal), their
su dinero (his money), sus plumas
nuestro(-a, -os, -as)= our, nuestro plato (our plate), nuestras casas, vuestro(-a, -os, -as)= your
(fam. pl.), vuestro radio, vuestras plumas .
Possessive adjective (short/unstressed form): mi, tu, su, nuestro/a, vuesto/a , nuestra casa (our
house).
Possessive adjective (long/stressed form): mío, tuyo , es un amigo tuyo ( he is a friend of yours).
Spanish prepositional pronouns are used after prepositions, often in order to emphasize the noun
they replace. There are 11 forms of prepositional pronouns, The only difference between
prepositional pronouns and subject pronouns is the first and second person in the singular, (mí and
ti instead of yo and tú), plus we have a neuter form ello in the prepositional pronoun.
Prepositional Pronouns
Singular Plural
Me mí Us nosotros
You ti You vosotros
Him, it él Them ellos
Her, it ella Them ellas
You Ud. You Uds.
It ello
Examples:
But we also have ello which is for neuter, No tengo tiempo para ello = I don't have time for that.
estoy occupado, y por ello no puedo ir al cine= I'm busy, that's why I can't go to the movies.
Exceptions: We use subject pronouns after the prepositions como (like), entre (between), excepto
(except), incluso (including), menos (except), salvo (except), and según (according to). Example:
necesito un amigo como tú = I need a friend like you.
And also when paired with another pronoun: - para él y ella - por tú o yo.
I wash myself: me baño. What’s your name? (What do you call yourself?) cómo te llamas. So all
pronouns ending in -self (-selves) are considered reflexive pronouns, in Spanish there're (me, te, se,
nos, os, se), see table below for more detail.
Indefinite pronouns are those pronouns that typically refer to no particular person or thing. In
Spanish as in English, most of the words used as indefinite pronouns sometimes they function as
other parts of speech, often as adjectives and sometimes as adverbs. In Spanish, some of the
indefinite pronouns exist in both masculine and feminine forms as well as singular and plural forms,
so they must agree with the nouns they refer to.
Relative pronouns are used to refer to another expression or concept that preceded it. In English
we have (that, which, or who). In Spanish we find (que, quien, quienes, el que, el cual) Note that
these pronouns are not accents like the interrogative ones. So relative pronouns are pronouns that
are used to introduce a clause that provides more information about a noun. Thus in the sentence
"The lady who is talking is my teacher," the relative pronoun is "who"; the clause "who is talking"
provides more information about the sentence's subject, "the lady." In the Spanish equivalent, la
mujer que habla es mi profesora, the relative pronoun is que.
Not also that we can omit relative pronouns in English, but not in Spanish: I like the song (that)
you’re singing, (that) is not necessary in this sentence, but in Spanish it cannot be omitted: me gusta
la canción que estas cantando.
It seems that they all mean the same thing!! So how do we know which one in specific cases? A
general rule is the longer the distance between the antecedent and the relative pronoun, the longer is
the relative pronoun to be used, knowing that the shortest one is (que) with three characters and
longest is el cual (6 characters).
Que: must be used when the relative pronoun comes immediately after the antecedent, when there
is nothing between the two.
Me gusta la casa que tienes. (I like the house that you have).
Quien: is used when the antecedent is a person and there is some distance between the antecedent
and the relative pronoun (a comma or a short (one- or two-syllable) preposition):
Roberto es el hombre con quien salgo. (Robert is the person who I’m going out with).
El que and the other forms (la que, los que, las que): are typically used when there is some
distance between the relative pronoun and the antecedent, for example after a comma or a one-word
preposition. This includes one-syllable prepositions often used with que (like en) and especially
those which que might cause confusion if used with que, for example:
El pueblo en el que nací (the village where I was born).
El cual and the accompanying forms la cual, los cuales, and las cuales, are used when there is
greater distance between the antecedent and the relative pronoun. The most typical examples is after
compound prepositions such as acerca de (about, concerning), al lado de (beside), antes de
(before), cerca de (near), debajo de (underneath), delante de (in front of), dentro de (inside),
después de (after), detrás de (behind), and por encima de (on top of). As with el que, the
numerous forms for el cual make it useful to distinguish between more than one possible
antecedent.
Interrogative pronouns are quién, qué, cuál, and cuánto . A pronoun is a word that replaces a
noun, and interrogative means questioning, so interrogative pronouns are pronouns used to ask the
questions like who, what, which, and how much/many. Note that all of these words have accents.
Quién can also follow a ¿A quién habláis? To whom are you speaking? ¿De quién
preposition. es este libro? Whose book is this?
Qué (what) ¿Qué quiere? What does he want? ¿Qué piensas del libro?
What do you think of the book? ¿Qué es eso? What is this?
Cuál (what, which) plural ¿Cuál quieres - la pluma o el lápiz? Which do you want -
cuáles the pen or the pencil? Hay muchas ideas. ¿Cuáles
prefieres? There are a lot of ideas. Which ones do you
prefer?
Cuánto (how much) plural ¿Tienes dinero? ¿Cuánto? Do you have any money? How
cuántos (how many). much? ¿Cuántos están en el coche? How many are in the
car?
Spanish has three demonstrative pronouns where English only has two. In English, we say "this" or
"that" depending upon whether the object is close to us or not. In Spanish, we also say "this" and
"that," but there is another extra word used to mean "that one over there." This form is used when
the object is more than just a short distance away, for example, on the other side of the room. Here
are the three forms for "this" "that" and "that one over there".
Remember, the demonstrative pronouns are the same as the demonstrative adjectives, except that
the pronouns have a written accent.
Each demonstrative pronoun also has a neuter form. They do not change for number or gender, they
do not have a written accent, and they are used to refer to abstract ideas, or to an unknown object.
Indirect object pronouns are words that replace the indirect object, which is usually a person.
Like direct object pronouns, Spanish indirect object pronouns are placed in front of the verb.
Pronouns can get attached to the end in the case of infinitives, present participles, and affirmative
commands:
Summery:
Spanish Pronouns
Type of Use Examples in Spanish (English)
Pronouns
Subject Replaces the subject of a sentence Yo (I), tú (you), él (he), ella (she),
nosotros (we), ellos (they), ellas (they)
Possessive Refers to something owned or Mío (mine), mía (mine), míos (mine),
possessed by someone. usually mías (mine), tuyo/a (yours), suyo/a (his,
preceded by el/la/los/las hers, theirs), nuestro/a (ours), Vuestro/a
(yours)
Reflexive Used when the direct object and Me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself,
indirect object of a verb refer to the herself, themselves), nos (ourselves), os
same person. Used more often in (yourselves)
Spanish.
Indefinite Used to refer to nonspecific people Algo (something), alguien (anybody),
or things nadie (nobody), todo (all), todas (all), uno
(one), unos (some), ninguno (none),
mucho (many), poco (little)
Relative Introduces a clause that gives more Que (that, which, who, whom), quien
information about a noun or pronoun (who, whom), el cual (which, that which)
cuyo (whose), cuyas (whose), donde
(where), el que (that, which)
Interrogative Used in questions Qué (what), quién (what), cuándo (when),
cuánto (when)
Demonstrative Replaces a noun while also pointing Éste (this one), ésta (this one), ésa (that
to it one), aquéllos (those ones), aquél (that
one over there)
Function as the object of a verb or Mi (me), ti(you), él, nosotros, vosotros...
Prepositional preposition, used after prepositions, (except mi and ti, the rest is the same as in
often in order to emphasize the noun subject pronouns)
they replace
Indirect They’re words that replace the Me (me), te(you), le (him, her, you
Object indirect object, which is usually a (formal), nos (us), vos (you), les (them)
Pronoun person. Me da gusto ( it gives me pleasure). Te
quiero (I love you)
Prepositions are a vital part of a language and it's hard to build a sentence without them. In Spanish
prepositions are easy to understand, since they are used the same way as in English, the only tricky
part is how to use them, especially because one preposition in Spanish can mean many prepositions
in English. Like the preposition "en" which means not only (in, on) but also (at, about, by, on top
of, upon, inside of...) let’s first understand what a preposition is.
A preposition is a type of little word that is placed in front of an object usually a noun in order to
indicate a relationship between that noun and the verb, adjective, or noun that follows and used to
form a clause; the clause in turn functions as an adjective or adverb. The object also can be a
pronoun or verb that functions as a noun. You will understand prepositions better when you go
through the types and examples.
These are some common prepositions used in a sentence to understand their meaning and the
position they take better:
Preposition + noun: Sin corazón (without heart). Sobre la mesa (on the table).
Preposition + infinitive: para variar (just for a change). para empezar (first...)
Verb + preposition: trabajé hasta las ocho (I worked until 10). trabajo para la embajada (I work for
the embassy)
Sometimes it's hard to pick which preposition to use in certain cases, that's why we're going to go
through examples of prepositions that you may have hard time to chose, like (por and para), they
both mean the same thing in English, but still in Spanish each one of them is used in a certain
situation.
A: -connects a verb of motion + infinitive: voy a bailar (I'm gonig to dance) -joins any verb (except
tener) + a person: busco a mi hijo (I'm looking for my son).
De: descriptively links two nouns: el héroe de la historia (the hero of the story) expresses
possession: el perro de perdo (Pedro’s dog).
En (in, on): Estoy en Madrid. (I'm in Madrid). empeczo en 30 minutos. (I'll start in 30 minutes). la
tarjeta en la mesa (the letter on the table).
Para vs Por: por is more common than para, so to make it easy, try to learn the rules of para and for
the rest you can just use por. In most cases para refers to a goal or destination.
Para: (in order to + infinitivo): Para aprender, hay que practicar (in order to learn, we must
practice). (For: for the benefit of, to be given to): eso es para tí (this is for you). (For: by (deadline):
Hay que hacerlo para el jueves (it must be done by thursday). (for: towards, in the direction of): voy
para la escuela (I'm going to school). (For: to be used for): una taza para café. (For: in one's
opinion, compared to others): Para mí, no me gusta el jamón (I don´t like pork) (for: like to work
for): Trabajo para Lingualogy Inc.
Por: (by, via, by means of):Viajé por tren.(I traveled by train) (through, along): Voy a NY por
Washington DC ( I go to NY through DC). (Because of, due to): no lo hice por dinero (I didn´t do it
for money). (During, in (time of day). estudio por la mañana. (For: in exchange for): Pagué 40
dólares por el libro. (For: for a period of time: estudié por 6 horas. (For: for the sake of, on behalf
of) Lo hizo solo por ella (I only did it for her).
Por is also used in idiomatic expressions; here are the most common ones:
Spanish Idioms
¡por supuesto! Of course!
¿por qué? Why? For what reason?
día por día Day by day
estar por To be in the mood to
palabra por palabra Word for word
por adelantado In advance
por ahora For now
por allí Around there, that way
por amor de Dios For the love of God
por aquí Around here, this way
por casualidad By chance
por ciento Percent
por cierto Certainly
por completo Completely
por correo By mail/post
por dentro Inside
por desgracia Unfortunately
por Dios For heaven's sake
por ejemplo For example
por eso Therefore, that's why
por favor Please
por fin Finally
por la mañana, tarde In the morning, afternoon
por la noche At night
por las buenas o por las malas Whether you like it or not
por lo común Usually
por lo demás Furthermore
por lo general Generally, in general
por lo menos At least
por lo mismo For that very reason
por lo que a mí me toca As far as I'm concerned
por lo tanto Therefore
por lo visto Apparently
por medio de By means of
por mi parte For my part
por motivo de On account of
por ningún lado Nowhere
por orden In order
por otra parte On the other hand
por poco Almost
por primera/última vez For the first/last time
por separado Separately
por si acaso Just in case
por su propio mano By one's own hand
por suerte Fortunately
por supuesto Of course
por teléfono On the phone, by phone
por todas partes Everywhere
por todos lados On all sides
por último Finally
por un lado, por otro On one hand, on the other hand
una vez por todas Once and for all
Preposition para:
estar para To be about to
para entonces By that time
¿para qué? Why? For what purpose? What for?
para siempre Forever
para variar Just for a change
Summery:
A preposition is a type of little word that is placed in front of an object usually a noun in order to
indicate a relationship between that noun and the verb, adjective, or noun that follows and
used to form a clause; the clause in turn functions as an adjective or adverb. The object also can be
a pronoun or verb that functions as a noun, this is a table showing the most common prepositions
with their translation into English.
Spanish Tenses
Conjugations Simple Tenses Compound Tenses Moods
Types
-First Conjugation -Present Tense (presente): -Present Perfect -Indicative (indicativo): To expr
hablo (I speak) (préterito perfecto): fact:
-ar: hablar (to he comido (I have Estoy en el restaurante. (I’m in th
speak) -Future Tense (futuro): eaten) restaurant.)
hablará (he will speak)
-Second -Future Perfect -Subjunctive (subjuntivo): To
Conjugation -Imperfect Tense (pretérito (futuro perfecto): express a wish, an emotional atti
imperfecto): habrá comido (he will or a doubt:
-er: comer (to eat) hablaba (he used to speak) have eaten) Quiero que Ud. venga. (I want yo
come.)
-Third Conjugation -Pluperfect or Past Siento que no venga Ud. (Sorry
Perfect (pretérito you're not coming.)
-ir: vivir (to live) -Preterit/ Past Tense: pluscuamperfecto): Dudo que venga Ud. (I doubt tha
habló (he spoke) había hablado (I had you'll come.)
spoken)
-Conditional (potencial or
-Preterit Perfect or condicional):
Past Anterior Expressing the idea of (would):
(pretérito anterior): Juan no lo haría así. (Juan would
hubo comido (he had do it that way.)
eaten)
-Imperative (imperativo):
Expressing a direct command:
¡Venga Ud! (Come!)
The present tense (presente) of regular verbs is formed by removing the infinitive ending (-ar, -er
or -ir) and adding personal endings to the verb stem, it's the most used tense, and it functions quite
similarly to the present tense in English.
Present Tense in Spanish
Present (regular)
hablo,as,a,amos,an
como,es,e,emos,en
vivo,es,e,imos,en
Present (Irregular)
conozco,es,e,mos,en
doy,das,a,mos,n
digo,dices,-,decimos,n
empiezo,as,a,ezamos,n
encuentro,as,a,o-mos,an
estoy,as,a,amos,an
hago,haces,-,mos,n,
voy,vas,a,mos,n
The present tense is used to describe something that is happening right now: (yo hablo) I speak.
To refer to habitual actions: corro 5 km todos los días (I run 5 km every day). It’s also used to
describe something happening in the near future: empiezo la semana que viene (I start next
week). Also note that the present tense is sometimes used in literature to replace the preterit, also
called the vivid present used in a narrative, to tell of the past (we will see that later).
The future tense (futuro) of regular verbs is formed by adding personal endings to the infinitive of
the Spanish verb, which makes it one of the easiest tenses to conjugate. The endings are the same
for all three conjugations.
The future tense is often used in discussing things that will happen & expressing future time: Iré a
la oficina mañana (I will go to the office tomorrow). The future tense can express also uncertainty
or probability in the present: Tendrá hambre (he must be hungry).
The imperfect tense (pretérito imperfecto) of regular verbs in Spanish is formed by removing the
infinitive ending (-ar, -er or -ir) and adding personal endings to the verb stem. The good news is that
there is one set of endings for the first (-ar) conjugation and a second set of endings for both verbs
with (-er) and third (-ir). And not many irregularities, In English it’s usually the equivalent of
"was ...-ing" or sometimes "used to".
The imperfect tense is used to describe a situation in the past, or an action, which occurred
repeatedly: corría 5 km cada día (I used to run 5 km everyday).
It is also used to refer to an action in the past that occurred over an extended period of time.Yo
bebía frecuentemente té (I used to drink tea frequently).
The imperfect is used to express time or age in the past: era las nueve de la noche (it was 9 pm),
tenía 3 años cuando su padre murió (he was 3 when his father died).
It is also used to describe a scene in the past: el palacio era maravilloso (the palace was gorgeous).
The preterite tense or past tense (pretérito indefinido) of regular verbs is formed in Spanish by
removing the infinitive ending (-ar, -er or -ir) and adding personal endings to the verb stem. As with
the imperfect tense, there is one set of endings for the first (-ar) conjugation and a second set of
endings for both verbs with (-er) and third (-ir) Conjugations.
Spanish Past Tense
Preterit (Regular)
hablé,aste,ó,amos,aron
comí,iste,ió,imos,ieron
viví,iste,ió,imos,ieron
Preterite (Irregular)
anduve,iste,o,imos,ieron
di,ste,o,mos,eron
dije,iste,o,imos,eron
dormí,iste,durmió,imos,u-
ieron
empecé,empezaste,ó,amos,aron
estuve,iste,o,imos,ieron
hice,iste,hizo,imos,ieron
fui,iste,e,imos,eron
oí,ste,oyo,mos,oyeron
pude,iste,o,imos,ieron
puse,iste,o,imos,ieron
quise,iste,o,imos,ieron
supe,iste,o,imos,ieron
tuve,iste,o,imos,ieron
traje,iste,o,imos,ieron
vine,iste,o,imos,ieron
vi,ste,o,mos,eron
The preterit tense is used for the past actions that are seen as completed, with a definite beginning
or ending in the past or has a verb which refers to an action that has a clear end: yo hablé con él (I
spoke with him). Maria salío con él anoche (Maria went out with him last night). Fui ayer a la
oficina (I went to the office yesterday).
It is also used to indicate an event or action that took place while another action (usually in the
imperfect tense) was still ongoing: Cantaba cuando llegué. (He was singing when I got there). Also
we use the preterit when we use a word referring to the time of the past: (ayer, anoche, el lunes, el
año pasado).
The preterit tense is used more often than the imperfect tense; there are some exceptions though
with the verbs: querer, pueder, tener, saber, creer, and esperar. We will see examples of some of
them and how their meaning change by changing the tense:
The compound tenses (tiempos compuestos) are formed in Spanish with the auxiliary verb "haber"
and the past participle of the main verb. The past participle in compound tenses is invariable in form
and keeps the same endings in both singular & plural.
-The present perfect (pretérito perfecto) uses the present tense of the auxiliary verb haber: (he, has,
ha, hemos, habéis, han) + (stem+ado or ido). -ado for -ar ending verbs, -ido for -er and -ir ending
verbs. he hablado, has comido, he vivido. It's used almost the same way English does. To express
that something has happened at a certain point just before now, at an undetermined time in the past.
It cannot be used with specific times, dates, days, or years, only if it indicates a repeated action
during that same period of time. Ya he estado aquí (I have already been here).
He, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han + (one of the examples in the table).
-The future perfect (futuro perfecto) uses the future tense of the auxiliary verb haber, not used that
often to indicate an action that will have taken place before another action in the future. (habré,
habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) + (stem +ado or ido), -ado for -ar ending verbs, -ido for -
er and -ir ending verbs.
habrás comido (you will have eaten). habrán visto (they will have seen).
Future tense of haber (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) + (one of the examples in
the table).
-The pluperfect or past perfect (pretérito pluscuamperfecto) uses the imperfect tense of haber. It's
used to refer to an action in the past which happened before another action in the past: cuando
llegué a la casa, mi familia ya había dormido (when I got home, my family was already sleeping).
había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían + (one of the examples in the table)
Examples: había comido (I had eaten). habíamos dicho (we had said). habían visto (they had seen)
-The preterit perfect or past interior (pretérito anterior) is formed with the preterit of haber + past
participle, and it has the same meaning as the past perfect. But this tense is usually used only after
conjunctions of time, such as así que, luego que, tan pronto como (as soon as); cuando (when);
después (de) que (after); and hasta que (until). apenas (scarcely) or luego que (as soon as), so it's
strictly a literary tense; in conversation: Después que hube escrito la tarjeta, salí por la oficina de
correos. (After I had written the letter, I went out to the post office).
The preterit of haber (hube, hubiste, hubo, hubimos, hubisteis, hubieron) + (one of the examples in
the table)
Examples: hube comido (I had eaten), hubiste dicho (you had said), hubieron puesto (they had put).
-The perfect infinitive (infinitivo compuesto) is composed of the infinitive of haber and the past
participle of the verb: haber comido (to have eaten). haber visto (to have seen), haber comido (to
have eaten). It indicates interiority to a given moment: de haber sabido, lo habría hecho (having
known, I would have done it).
-The perfect participle (gerundio compuesto) is composed of the present participle of haber and
the past participle of the verb: habiendo comido (having eaten).
It refers to an action, which ended before the one of the principal verb: Habiendo visto eso, salió
llorando (Having said that, she left crying).
Hopefully you learned something about Spanish tenses, like the present tense, past tense in Spanish,
future tense, Spanish imperfect, present perfect tense. If you have any question, my e-mail is below.
Good luck!!
The conditional mood (modo potencial) is used to expresses a future uncertainty; usually a “but”
or “if” expressing the reason for the uncertainty; it also expresses the idea of would, and it is one of
the simplest Spanish moods. It’s formed by combining the Infinitive+ …-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais,
-ían. This set of endings is compatible with all kind of verbs (-ar, -er, -ir).
Note that like the future tense, some verbs may take an irregular stem before the endings, like the
verb (decir which becomes dir + the endings above).
Spanish Conditional
Conditional: Regular verbs
hablaría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
comería,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
viviría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
Conditional: Irregular verbs
diría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
encontría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
haría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
podría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
pondría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
querría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
sabría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
saldría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
tendría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
vendría,ías,ía,íamos,íáin, ían
Te dije que vendría (I told you he would come). Yo pensaba que vendría (I thought he would
come).
-It can also be used to express doubt in the past: Sería las diez (It was probably 10 o'clock).
-Also note that the verb querer is used in the conditional to express a polite request: Quería saber
(I would like to know)
-The verb gustarse is used to express a polite desire or wish: Me gustaría salir contigo (I would
like to go out with you). me gustaría salir, pero estoy resfriado (I wish I can go out, but I have a
cold).
-Also used with si (if) clauses. Si tuviera una galleta, la comería (if I had a cake, I would eat it)
The conditional perfect (potencial perfecto) is a compound tense using the conditional of the
auxiliary verb haber and the past participle of the main verb:
habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían + (past participle, examples on the table
below)
habrías comido (you would have eaten), habría dicho (he/she would have said), habrían puesto
(they would have put).
The conditional perfect refers to events which would have been completed had the situation
been different, Note that this tense is generally used with the forms "hubieras/hubiese":
- Si no hubiera nevado habríamos terminado de decorar la casa (If it hadn’t snowed, we would
have finished decorating the house).
- Si no hubiera estado tan enfermo , habría terminado el trabajo (If I had not been so sick, I would
have finished the job).
Note: The conditional is often treated as though it was a tense rather than a mood; strictly
conversational, however, the conditional is a mood which has two tenses: a simple tense used when
referring to present possibilities and a compound tense used when referring to possibilities in the
past.
Spanish Imperative
The imperative or positive familiar Cammands (mandatos) are used when you are telling (not just
asking!) somebody to do something or giving him an order. They’re expressed by means of the
imperative mood. The Spanish imperative exists for 5 different grammatical persons: tú, Ud.,
nosotros, vosotros, and Uds. Most often we find the formal form Ud. (You polite) Ud: ¡hable
usted más despacio! por favor.(speak slowly, please!). Tú: ¡espera a tu madre! (wait for your
mother). nosotros: ¡Hablemos de otras cosas! (Let’s talk about other things!). vosotros (only in
Spain): ¡dormid vosotros! (Go to sleep, you all!). Uds: ¡hablen ustedes más despacio! por favor.
(you poeple) speak slowly, please!)
Now we will see how to form an imperative sentence with these five grammatical persons:
-To use the imperative for Ud, add an a to the stem of verbs ending with (-er, and -ir), and an e to
the stem of verbs ending with (-ar). examples ¡hable usted! (talk!), ¡viva usted! (live!) ¡coma usted¡
(eat!), but remember there are some irregularities, you will see them in the table below.
-The second person singular (tú) forms are identical to the third person singular of the present
tense: El profesor habla. (The professor is talking.) ¡Habla tú! (Talk!)
-The first person plural (nosotros) is formed, by changing the letter before -mos to either e or a
depending on if the original verb is ending with (-ar, -er, or -ir): -ar: e ¡hablemos¡ ! estudiemos. -er:
a like in (¡comamos!) -ir: a like in (¡abramos!)
-The second person plural (vosotros) forms are based on the infinitive, with a -d substituted for the
final -r: ¡Dormid vosotros! (Go to sleep, all of you!)
-The third person plural (ustedes) for -ar: e ¡hablen ustedes! For –er, -ir: a ¡vivan ustedes! ¡coman
ustedes!
In general these are the variations, which occur to the ending of verbs including the Negative
familiar commands, both singular and plural, are expressed by the present subjunctive:
Regular -ar ending verbs: Take the present tense of the verb and change the (a) at the beginning of
the suffix to (e).(for all the 5 grammatical persons)
Regular -er ending verbs: Change the (e) at the beginning of the suffix after the stem to (a).( for all
the 5 grammatical persons)
Regular -ir ending verbs: For tú, Ud., and Uds., change the (e) at the beginning of the suffix after
the stem to (a).
Nosotros: Change the (i) at the beginning of the suffix to (a). Vosotros: Change (í) to (ái).
-The present subjunctive is used for formal commands, both positive and negative: Duerma Ud.
(Please go to sleep). It is also used for indirect commands (introduced by the conjunction que): Está
cansado; que se acueste. (He's tired; let him go to bed.)
-For impersonal commands given in a general sense (directions on a bottle or an examination paper,
for instance) the impersonal pronoun se is attached to the subjunctive:
Agítese antes de usar. (Shake before using.). Escríbase en español. (Write in Spanish.)
Hortatory commands can be expressed either with the subjunctive or with the phrase vamos a and
an infinitive:
Durmamos. (Let's go to sleep.). Vamos a dormir. (Let's go to sleep.)
Object pronouns are attached to affirmative commands, but they precede negative and indirect
commands:
Tráigamelo Ud.. (Bring it to me.) No me lo traiga Ud. (Don't bring it to me.) Que lo traiga Juan.
(Let Juan bring it.)
This table shows how commands change, note the negative form:
Spanish Imperative
Commands tú Vosotros/as usted ustedes
(Mandatos):
hablar: -a,-ad,-e,-en ¡Habla! ¡Hablad! ¡Hable! ¡Hablen!
No –es,-éis,-e,-en ¡No hables! ¡No habléis! ¡No hable! ¡No hablen!
comer: -e, -ed, -a, -an ¡Come! ¡Comed! ¡Coma! ¡Coman!
No –as,-áis,-a,-an ¡No comas! ¡No comáis! ¡No coma! ¡No coman!
vivir: -e, -ed, -a, -an ¡Vive ¡Vivid! ¡Viva! ¡Vivan!
No –as,-áis,-a,-an ¡No vivas! ¡No viváis! ¡No viva! ¡No vivan!
These are irregular verbs in the imperative form, which can be used in commands in Spanish:
Spanish Commands
Verb Imperative tú / él
abrir abre,abra
andar anda,andad
caer cae,caiga
cerrar cierra,cierre
conocer conoce,zca
creer cree,crea
dar da,dad
decir di,decid
dormir duerme,dormid
empezar empieza,ce
escoger escoge,escoja
encontrar encuentra,e
escribir escribe,escriba
estoy esta,estad
hacer haz,haced
ir ve,id
jugar juega,juegue
leer lee,lea
llegar llega,llegue
mirar mira,mire
oír oye,oíd
olvidar olvida,olvide
pedir pide,pida
pagar paga, pague
pensar piensa,piense
perder pierde,pierda
poder puede,pueda
poner pon,poned
quedar queda,quede
querer quiere,quered
saber sabe,sabed
sacar saca,saque
salir sal,salga
seguir sigue,siga
sentir siente,sienta
ser sé, sed
tener ten,tened
traer trae,traed
valer vale /val,valga
venir ven,venga
ver ve,vea
volver vuelve,vuelva
One of the most confusing aspects of Spanish for beginners is the subjunctive mood. You might
already be familiar with the most common verb mood "the indicative" mood which is considered a
normal verb form, indicating both action and state of being. You also might know "the imperative"
mood used to give commands. Now you're going to learn about the subjunctive mood, which is
very essential to Spanish, and even many simple types of statements cannot be made properly
without it.
In general, the subjunctive is a verb mood that is used to express an action or state of being in the
context of the speaker's reaction to it. Mostly (although not always), the subjunctive mood is used
in dependent clauses introduced by que (which, that, who) when the main clause expresses a wish, a
strong emotional attitude, or an uncertainty. Frequently, the sentences that contain a subjunctive
verb are used to express doubt, uncertainty, denial, desire/wish, commands, reactions or a
strong emotional attitude to the clause containing the subjunctive verb. Compare the following
two sentences: Indicative: María duerme. (María is sleeping) Subjunctive: wish= Espero que
María duerma. (I hope that María is sleeping), desire= Te ruego que duermas (I beg you to go to
bed). Doubt= Dudo que duerma (I doubt that she is sleeping).
Another example: Indicative (statement of fact): María duerme. (Maria is sleeping) Indicative
(statement of fact): Sé que María duerme. (I know that Maria is sleeping) Subjunctive (doubt):
No es cierto que María duerma. (It is uncertain that María is sleeping.) Subjunctive (denial): No es
verdad que María duerma. (It is not true that Maria is sleeping) Subjunctive (reaction): Estoy feliz
que María duerma. (I am happy that María is sleeping) Subjunctive (wish): Espero que María
duerma (I hope that Maria is sleeping) Subjunctive (desire/wish): Prefiero que María duerma (I
prefer that Maria is sleeping).
The subjunctive is also used for formal commands: ¡Tenga Ud eso! (Have this!) For the negative
of informal commands: ¡No duermas! (don´t sleep) For hortatory commands: ¡Durmamos! (Let's
sleep!). And after impressional expressions: es necesario que/ insisto que María duerma... (I insist
that Maria is sleeping).
The subjunctive has four tenses: present subjunctive, present perfect subjunctive, imperfect
subjunctive, and past perfect (or pluperfect) subjunctive.
So, which form to use depends on two factors: the tense of the verb in the main clause & the time
relationship between the verb in the dependent clause and the subjunctive verb.
The Present subjunctive is regularly formed by adding one set of personal endings to the stem of -
ar verbs and a second set of endings to verbs of the -er and -ir conjugations, and is used to
indicate an action viewed as occurring at the same time or in the future when the governing
verb is in the present.
Irregular Estar / jugar –ar = e Ser / saber –er = a Ir / mentir -ir = iera
yo esté - juegue sea - sepa vaya - mienta
tú estés - juegues seas - sepas vayas - mientas
él, Ud esté - juegue sea - sepa vaya – mienta
nosotros estemos - juguemos seamos - sepamos vayamos - mintamos
ellos, Uds estén - jueguen sean - sepan vayan - mientan
Note that some other irregular verbs have different irregularities not listed in the table above.
The Imperfect subjunctive is formed by adding a set of endings terminating in either -ra or -se
(with no difference in usage or meaning) to the verb stem, with one set of endings for first
conjugation (-ar) verbs and another set of endings for second (-er) and third (-ir) conjugation verbs,
and is used in the same type of situations in which the present subjunctive is used, except that
the governing verb is typically in a past tense (e.g., the preterit, imperfect, past perfect,
conditional, conditional perfect, or one of the past subjunctives): Esperaba que él dormiera (or
dormiese) pronto (I was expecting him to sleep soon).
The perfect subjunctive is a compound tense formed by the present subjunctive of haber and the
past participle of the main verb. And is normally used to indicate the action as completed with
governing verbs in the present or future tense or command forms. Examples: Me alegro de que él
haya llegado (I’m glad he has arrived):
The Pluperfect subjunctive is a compound tense formed by the imperfect subjunctive of haber and
the past participle of the main verb. Similar to the past perfect indicative, this tense is may be used
to indicate an action or state that occurred prior to something in the past (usually expressed
by the imperfect or preterit indicative, or by the past subjunctive): Dudábamos que hubieran
dormido (We doubted that they had slept).
tú hubieras hablado
vosotros/vosotras hubierais
ellos/ellas/ustedes hubieran
The following is a list of clauses commonly associated with the use of the Spanish subjunctive
(about 80 expressions):
Subjunctive in Spanish
a menos que (unless) gustar que (to like that)
aconsejar(le) que (to advise that) gustaría que (would like that)
alegrarse de que (to be happy that) hace falta que (to be necessary that)
antes (de) que (before) hasta que (until)
con tal (de) que (so that) importar(le) que (to matter)
conviene que (it is advisable that) insistir en que (to insist that)
cuando (when) mandar que (to order that)
dar(le) miedo de que (to be afraid that) más vale que (it's better that)
decir(le) que (to tell someone to do something!) mientras que (while)
dejar que (to allow someone to do something) molestar(le) que (to bother)
después (de) que (after) negar que (to deny that)
dudar que (to doubt that) no creer que (not to believe that)
en caso de que (in case) no es cierto que (it's not certain that)
en cuanto (as soon as) no es verdad que (it's not true that)
es (una) lástima que (it's a pity that) no estar convencido de que (not be convinced
that)
es aconsejable que (it's advisable that) no estar de acuerdo con (to not agree with)
es bueno que (it's good that) no estar seguro de que (to not be sure that)
es difícil que (it's difficult for) no imaginarse que (to not imagine that)
es dudoso que (it is doubtful that) no parecer que (to not seem that)
es fácil que (it's easy for) no pensar que (to not think that)
es fantástico que (it's fantastic that) no suponer que (to not suppose that)
es importante que (it's important that) ojalá que (if only he would)
es improbable que (it's unlikely that) para que (in order that)
es incierto que (it's uncertain that) parecer(le) bien/mal que (to seem right/wrong
that)
es increíble que (it's incredible that) pedir(le) que (to ask someone to do something!)
es malo que (it's bad that) perdonar que (to ask forgiveness for)
es mejor que (it's better that) preferir que (to prefer that)
es menester que (it's necessary that) prohibir que (to prohibit that)
es necesario que (it's necessary that) puede ser que (it may be that)
es posible que (it's possible that) querer que (imperative: to want that)
es preciso que (it's necessary that) recomendar(le) que (to recommend that)
es preferible que (it's preferable that) rogar que (to plead/ beg that)
es probable que (it's probable that) sentir que (to regret that)
es raro que (it's rare that) sin que (without)
es ridículo que (it's ridiculous that) sugerir que (to suggest that)
es terrible que (it's terrible that) tan pronto como (as soon as)
esperar que (to hope/hope that) temer que (to fear that)
estar contento que…(to be happy that) tener miedo de que (to be afraid that)
estar en contra de que (to be against) vale/merece la pena que (to be worthwhile to)
This time we are going to learn the comparative in Spanish, which is composed basically of:
equality, inferiority, superiority, superlative, irregular comparatives and finally the
diminutive.
In general comparative clauses are used simply to compare things. They tell us how one thing is in
quality or quantity related to another thing. They can be superior, inferior or equal. A comparison
can be done with adjectives and adverbs or nouns.
To form equality in Spanish we use tan…como (as...as) especially when comparing adjectives and
adverbs, tan never changes in the comparison or contrast of qualities.
Ella corre tan rápida como mi hermana. (She runs as fast as my sister).
When comparing nouns, tanto…como (as much as, as many as) is used. Note that tanto changes to
tanta, tantas, tantos to agree with the noun's gender and number.
Maria tiene tanto dinero como su hermana. (Mary has as much money as her sister)
No tengo tantos amigos como tú (I don't have as many friends as you do).
When comparing adjectives, adverbs and nouns, we normally use menos…que (less...than) for
inferiority and más...que (more...than) for superiority. Note that menos and más don’t change
with gender or number.
El jardín de mi vecino es menos atractivo que el mio. (The garden of my neighbor is less attractive
than mine).
El habla más idiomas que su padre (he speaks more languages than his father).
Note: when dealing with expressions of quantity or amount we use de instead of que:
Tengo que ahorrar más de 100 dollares para comprarme una enciclopedia. (I have to save more
than 100 dollars to buy an encyclopedia)
Esperé menos de 20 minutos para el autobús. (I waited less than 20 min for the bus).
Mi hija tiene menos de 18 años. (My daughter is less than 18 years old).
The superlative indicates the quantitative or qualitative superiority of one object in comparison to a
certain group. In other words, Superlatives express the highest or lowest degree of comparison
when comparing two or more things. The difference between superlative and comparative is that
the superlative goes one step further. It compares one fact not to only one other fact but to all other
facts. There are 2 main ways to express a superlative idea. Its construction is similar to that of the
comparative form. Spanish superlatives are formed by placing the definite article before the noun
being compared, and note that the words más and menos do not change with gender or number. In
these instances, only the article determines the gender and the number of the subject. The table
below shows how the superlative is formed:
Spanish Superlative
Gender Singular Plural
Superiority Masculine el más (the most) los más (the most)
Feminine la más/ (the most) las más (the most)
Inferiority Masculine el menos (the least) los menos (the least)
Feminine la menos (the least) las menos (the least)
Estos árboles son los más antiguos del aldea. (These trees are the oldest in the village).
Las Islas Canarias son las más atractivas en España. (Canary Islands are the most attractive in
Spain).
Superlatives are also formed by simply adding the suffix -ísimo (-a, -os, -as) to an adjective or an
adverb after taking the adjective ending -o/-a away:
Spanish Superlatives
Gender Singular Plural
Masculine -ísimo altísimo (very tall) -ísimos
Feminine -ísima viejísima (very -ísimas
old)
Note that the (o) of alto and viejo is omitted because of the í of ísimo since the í has priority. And
also note that this kind of superlatives agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies.
Maria es guapísima. (Mary is extremely cute). Mario es altísimo. (Mario is very tall).
Gloria y Mona son inteligentísimas. (Gloria and Mona are extremely intelligent)
In English we say good- better- the best. gooder or the goodest are not correct, same thing in
Spanish, there are some irregularities. The following are adjectives and adverbs with irregular
comparative and superlative forms:
Spanish Diminutive
There are only a few diminutives in English like kitty, doggy... while in Spanish most of nouns and
adjectives have diminutive form. In English to avoid this gap we add the word "little”. The most
common Spanish diminutive suffixes are -ito and -cito (-ita and -cita for feminine) mi plantita
(my little plant). The rules aren't hard and the tendency is that words ending in -a, -o or -te form the
diminutive by dropping the final vowel and adding -ito or -ita, while -cito or -ecito are added to
other words ending in e. We find also the diminutive suffix -illo and -cillo (-illa, -cilla for the
feminine), -ico, -cico, -uelo, -zuela, -ete, -cete, -ín and iño (-ica, -cica, -uela, -zuela, -ete, -cete, -ína
and iña for the feminine).
In Spanish the diminutive suffixes such as -ito is used not only to indicate size but also to indicate
affection. In English little friend doesn’t necessary mean small, often indicate more about the
speaker's feelings toward the person or object than to its size. Note that the diminutive suffixes tend
to be used in spoken Spanish more than in the written one. So in general Diminutives are used to
express smallness or affection.
Spanish Diminutive
This is a list of the most common ways the diminutive suffixes are used in Spanish: mi abuelita
(my dear grandmother), casita (little house, cottage), perrito (puppy, little dog), rosita (little rose),
papito (daddy), ahorita (right now), un cochecito (a cute little car), cerquita (right next to),
gordito (chubby), Un momentito, por favor. (Just a moment, please), camisita (shirt), tontito
(silly), vaquita (cowie), dolorito (tiny ache).
Also in Spanish there is a way to form a new word not necessarily a diminutive of the original
word, nor an affectionate way to talk about something like: mantequilla (butter), panecillo
(bread roll), martillo (hammer), bolsillo (pocket), cajetilla (packet), bolsillo (pocket), ventanilla
(ticket office), carbonilla (cinder), cabellitos (merry-go-round), cabecilla (ringleader), vaquilla
(heifer), silla (chair). And even these words ending with illo/illa ito/ita …. Still can have a
diminutive form:
Note: The diminutive -ito ending should not be confused with the -ito ending in some past
participles such as frito (fried) and maldito (cursed).
Comparison forms are equality, inferiority, superiority, and the superlative. They’re simply used to
compare things, either in quantity or quality, they can be superior, inferior or equal, and a
comparison can be done with adjectives and adverbs or nouns. The diminutive form is used to
express size or affection.
This table will show you all kind of Spanish comparatives & some forms of Spanish diminutive:
Spanish Comparative
Superlative El más... The most… or the ~est.
Superiority más...(que) more...than or ~er than
Equality tan...como as...as (for adjectives & adverbs)
tanto...como as much/many as ( for nouns)
Inferiority menos...(que) less/fewer...than
Irregular Bueno/mejor (good,better). Malo/peor (bad, worse)
Viejo/mayor (old, older). Joven/menor (young, younger)
Diminutive Ito/ita, itos/itas. (dedo/dedito, little finger). illo/illa, illos/illas.
(bolso/bolsillo, pocket)
the date (at the top, write the day first, then the month, then the year)
the name and address of the addressee
a greeting
an introduction
body information
closing remarks
your signature
your return address (including your country).
On the top of the page, either on the left or the right hand side start writing your name, without a
title, when writing your own address place commas at the ends of lines, but when writing the
address of your Hispanic addressee in a formal letter or on the envelope, it is worth remembering in
the letter layout that the end of line commas or dots may be regarded as a mistake. The addressee’s
name and address should be inserted on the left hand side of the sheet above the opening greeting.
In a letter to someone with a title, in a business for instance, this is placed after the addressee’s full
name.
The full forms are given for information only and are not normally used in ordinary
correspondence:
To a man: Sr. D García or Señor Don Garcia (Mr. Garcia: formal) or simply Sr. Garcia or Señor
García (Mr. Garcia: formal)
To a woman: Sra. Dña. Lopez or Señora Doña Lopez (Ms or Mrs. Lopez: formal) or simply Sra.
Lopez or Señora Lopez (Ms or Mrs. Lopez: formal).
Addresses in Latin America and Spain look a little bit like this:
Sr. Roberto Carlos Melendez
48470 Algorta
Vizcaya España
When writing an informal letter it is enough to write the name of the place you're writing from and
the date, both your address and and addressee's address is not required:
To start your greeting to a person you already know by name use: Estimado Señor José or
Estimada Señora Miguel.
If you don’t know the person by name, you can simply write: Muy Señor mío, Muy Señora mía.
Su Excelencia (Your excellence: to some high rank personnel) or Estimado Señor / Estimada
Señora which is less formal. There is also a rare greeting form De mi consideración which is very
formal.
An informal greeting would be: Querido José (dear Jose), Querida Miguel, Queridos José y Miguel.
Querido amigo:
58 Freedom road,
Washington DC 20022.
48470 Algorta
Vizcaya España
Break your text into paragraphs, preferably with one idea per paragraph, you should have that in
mind as a start in writing a letter in Spanish.
Punctuation: questions begin with ¿ and end with ? like in ¿qué pasó? (What happened?),
exclamation forms start with ¡ and end with! which is a unique thing to Spanish. Abbreviations are
preceded by a dot in Spanish, like in Sr. or p.ej (meaning for example), however some names of
organizations are not preceded by a dot, like the ONU (Organización de las Naciones Unidas), use
colons (dos puntos : ) commas (coma , ) Capital and lower case letters, like in proper names,
capitals and languages, however the residents of a country are not capitalized (American :
Americano. Moroccan: marroquí) also religions and their followers (Islam: islam, Christian:
cristiano), names of days of the week & months (Monday: lunes, January: enero)
ensure the spelling, punctuation, and accent marks are correct and add the necessary accent marks
and tildes such as (á, é, í, ó, ú, ü, ñ).
A Letter Sample in Spanish: (Job application)
48470 Algorta
Vizcaya España
Greeting Estimado Señor:
En respuesta al anuncio publicado en el periódico “El Mundo” de fecha 12 de junio
Introduction en el que solicitan secretaria trilingüe, quisiera ser considerada al realizarse la
selección de candidatas.
Como se desprende del currículum vitae que adjunto, estoy soltera con un
Body ciudadano americano y acabo de regresar a España después de haber vivido durante
Information seis años en los EE.UU., donde trabajé como secretaria de dirección en una empresa
multinacional. Tengo perfecto dominio del idioma inglés, sólidos conocimientos de
francés y amplia experiencia en procesamiento de textos.
Washington DC 20022.
Below is some samples of letters in Spanish, it will just give you an idea on how general letters can be
written, especially letters sent to and received from penpals…
Hola Hi!!
¿Cómo estas? Espero que todo esté bien. Hace How're you? I hope everything is ok with you,
bastantes años que estoy muy interesado en la I've been interested in Spanish for many years,
lengua española, me gusta mucho ese idioma, por and I like it very much. I decided to write and
eso, decidí empezar a escribir y mantener have simple conversations with native people;
conversaciones sencillas con personas nativas, He I thought it would be a good way to make my
pensado que esto podría ser una buena manera de Spanish better. I'm looking for someone who
mejorar mi nivel de español, Busco a alguien que can help me with my Spanish, but also
me pueda ayudar con español, más importante,
alguien que necesite buena gente, sincera y con someone who needs sincere and good people
ganas de hablar de mil cosas distintas. to talk to about thousand things.
Bueno me llamo (your name), tengo (your age) Well, my name is James, I'm 19 years old, I
años y vivo en (your city), que es una ciudad muy live in New York, and it’s a very nice city. I'm
bonita. Soy alto, rubio/a, tengo los ojos marrones tall, fair, brown eyes; I'm open minded and
(brown eyes)...Soy de personalidad abierta y sincere. I work for an Airline Agency
directa. Trabajo como (your job: profesor, In my free time I like to listen to music, go to
carpintero) the gym, and watch documentaries about many
En mi tiempo libre me gusta (what you like to do issues. I like to travel and meet new
in your free time, like: escuchar música, ir al people...and much more.
gimnasio, ver documentales sobre asuntos Apart from English I speak French, German
distintos. me encanta viajar y conocer gente...y and a little bit of Spanish.
muchas más cosas).
Aparte de inglés hablo francés, alemán, y un poco Now it's your turn, tell me about you, your life,
de español. your culture.....Do you like writing letters via
Ahora te toca a tí, cuéntame cosas sobre tí, tu vida, e-mail or regular mail? I have no problem with
tu cultura.... ¿te gusta escribir cartas vía correo o both of them, you pick!
e-mail? me da igual uno u otro, ¡decide tú! I hope that you know a little bit about me, you
Espero que sabes un poco de mí, puedes can always ask me about everything.
preguntarme sobre cualquier cosa. Ok tengo que Ok, I have to end now, it's getting late. Take
terminar ahora, se está haciendo tarde. Cuídate care and I hope to hear from you soon. Have a
mucho y espero tener pronto noticias tuyas. ¡Que nice day!!
tengas un buen día!
Hola Hello
Me ha alegrado mucho recibir tu e-mail, he I was happy to receive your e-mail, I've
aprendido mucho por medio de tus cartas, no sólo learned a lot from your letters, not only
el español, sino también cosas de tu país, a través Spanish, but also about your country, through
de ti he logrado conocer mucho de su espíritu y su you I learned a lot about its spirit, culture...I'm
cultura...te estoy eternamente agradecido, y sobre grateful to you and happy to have your
todo, me alegro de contar con tu amistad. friendship :)
Bueno, ¿cómo te encuentras hoy? ¿Qué hay de Well, how're you doing today? What’s new?
nuevo? por aquí lo mismo, como siempre, ¡la Here, everything is the same as usual, what a
rutina puede ser fatal! por suerte tengo la moral bad thing the routine is!! Luckily I have high
alta. spirit!!
Here, it's Fall (autumn) it looks so romantic
Aquí es otoño, y el logar donde vivo se ve muy where I live, golden tree leaves falling. I live
romántico con las hojas doradas que caen de los next to a big lake full of life, fish and ducks
árboles. Vivo al lado de un gran lago lleno de living in harmony, I can watch their
vida, los peces viven en armonía con los patos movements from a small bridge. What a
salvajes. Puedo observar sus movimientos desde wonderful view!!
un pequeño puente. ¡Una vista maravillosa! Washington DC as you know apart from being
Washington DC, como sabes, aparte de ser la the capital, has also a special elegance,
capital, tiene una elegancia especial, diferente a different from New York. Washington DC has
Nueva York; Washington DC tiene edificios bajos low buildings but very nice, less noisy than
pero maravillosos, y es menos ruidosa que Nueva New York, if you want I can send you
york. Si quieres te mando tarjetas postales de mi postcards of the city,
ciudad. How is the weather in your city these days?
Here it's a little bit chilly today. It seems that
¿Qué tiempo tienen en tu ciudad estos días? aquí winter is coming soon (....drrrrr). For me I like
hoy hace fresquito, parece que el invierno está winter more than summer, I prefer cold
llegando (....brrrrrr!). A mí me gusta más el weather, because I feel very good when it's
invierno que el verano; prefiero el frío, porque me cold, you think it’s weird!! lol, in winter I feel
siento muy bien cuando hace frío, ¿piensas que es full of life... and you.. What do you like?
raro? jejeje. En el invierno me siento lleno de What do you think to do in your Vacation? My
vida....y a ti ¿qué te gusta? summer plan is to visit Spain, France, and
¿Qué piensas hacer en tus vacaciones? mi plan Germany, three countries in 6 weeks, I've
para el verano es visitar España, Francia y never been to these countries before, and I
Alemania, tres países en 6 semanas, nunca he can't wait for summer to come.
estado en esos países, ¡no puedo esperar hasta el Now I'm listening to Turkish music, before I
verano! was listening to Greek music, in fact I listen to
all type of international music, I have songs
Ahora estoy escuchando música turca, antes
from 45 countries, and you, what type of
escuché música griega, de hecho escucho todo tipo
music do you listen to?
de música internacional, tengo canciones de 45
Well, I like to write and receive e-mails from
países, y tú, ¿qué género de música escuchas más?
you, but I have to end this for right now, take
Bueno, me encanta escribirte y recibir e-mails care and hope to hear from you soon.
tuyos, pero tengo que terminar por el momento. Bye :)
Cuídate mucho y espero pronto tener noticias
tuyas.
Saludos
Hola Hi!!
Disculpa que haya tardado tanto en contestar tu Sorry for being late to answer back your e-mail,
mensaje, pero tenía mucho trabajo y estuve muy I had a lot of work to do and was too busy, but
ocupado, sin embargo hoy tengo bastante tiempo now I have enough free time, I hope you're not
libre, espero que no estés molesta conmigo y que mad at me and hope we keep writing each
nos sigamos escribiendo regularmente. other.
¿Qué hay de nuevo? espero que todo esté bien. So what's new? I hope everything is ok.
He estado muy ocupado pero animado. Aparte de Here, I'm very busy but have high spirit, apart
mis ocupaciones todo esta bien. from that everything is fine.
Talking about Washington DC, as I already
Por cierto, te comento que no vivo en el centro de noted, I don't live in downtown DC, for that
Washington DC, es por eso que donde está mi reason where I live is more green than
casa es una área más verde, aunque en el centro
hay más lugares interesantes para visitar y downtown. but downtown DC has more
también distracciones: museos y monumentos attractions like museums, monuments like the
como el Capitolio, la Casa Blanca, el Triángulo Capitol, The White House, Liberty
de Libertad, etc. Mi museo preferido es el Triangle...My favorite museum is The
"Smithsonian Museum of Natural History", se Smithsonian Museum Of Natural History, you
puede encontrar de todo en este museo: can find anything in that museum, diamonds of
diamantes de toda clase, vida marina, cuerpos de all kinds, meteorites...marine life, mummified
animales momificados, vestimentas de varios bodies of animals, insects, costumes and
países, meteoritos y monedas antiguas... A dresses of many countries, meteorites and
propósito, colecciono meteoritos y monedas ancient coins…by the way, I collect meteorites
antiguas de todo el mundo especialmente & ancient coins of the whole world, especially
romanas y griegas… tres días paseando por el roman and Greek coins….3 days walking in the
museo no sería suficiente para conocerlo museum are not enough to visit it all, I really
completo. Como puedes notar me gusta mucho like visiting museums...and you, what kind of
visitar museos... ¿y a ti? ¿Qué tipo de atracciones attractions do you like? Where do you go when
te gustan? ¿Adónde vas cuando hace buen it’s nice outside?
tiempo?
Háblame más de ti ¿Cuál es tu objetivo en la Tell me more about you, what's your objective
vida? ¿Piensas que cada persona debe tener uno? in life? Do you believe that every person should
yo creo que una persona sin objetivo se puede have an objective in life? I think if otherwise, a
sentir descarriada. Mucha gente piensa que la person would feel astray, many people think
vida es sólo para divertirse. Yo pienso que una that life is just for fun,
persona productiva debe tener un objetivo en su but I think that a productive person should have
vida personal y profesional, ¿tú qué piensas al a real objective in his personal and professional
respecto? life. What do you think?
Hablando de mi español, hace una semana que Talking about my Spanish, It's been a week
empecé a escuchar estaciones de radio como la now that I've started listening to radio stations
radio de España y otras de América del sur en like Radio España and other stations of south
Internet, me parece un medio muy útil para America through the internet. It seems a very
mejorar mi español....por cierto, no me has dicho useful to make my Spanish better. You never
si hablas otro idioma aparte del español. told me what other language you speak.
¿No piensas que sería mejor si todo el mundo
hablara la misma lengua? Me parece muy Don't you think that it would be better if the
interesante la idea de implantar una lengua world spoke the same language, it sounds
internacional para así comunicarnos más interesting the idea of implanting an
fácilmente, o ¿piensas que la lengua forma parte international language so that we can
de las distintas culturas y no debemos cambiarla communicate more easily, or do you think that
por una lengua internacional? a language is a form of culture and we shouldn't
change it for an international language?
Mi religión, yo soy musulmán y a propósito,
¿qué sabes del Islam y de los musulmanes? ¡Sé My religion, I’m Moslem, and by the way, what
sincera! aquí hay una gran comunidad do you know about Islam? Tell the truth! There
musulmana la cual vive en armonía con otras is a big Islamic community here, which lives in
religiones, espero que nada rompa esta armonía. harmony with other religions; I hope nothing
¿Has escuchado hablar de Ramadan? estoy would happen to break that harmony.
ayunando, durante un mes no se puede comer ni Do you know anything about Ramadan? We
beber desde el amanecer hasta la puesta de sol. fast for a whole month, it's not allowed to eat or
Éste mes se llama Ramadan y es un poco duro, drink from dawn to sunset, the month is called
pero eso nos ayuda a mantener un estomago Ramadan, a little bit tough, but this helps us
sano. maintain a healthy stomach.
Bueno, cuídate mucho y estoy en espera de tu Ok, take care now and hope you write me soon,
respuesta. ¡Que tengas un bonito día y te portas and wish you have a great day and be safe.
bien! Your friend
Tu amigo
¡Buenos Días! ¿Como te ha ido el día? Por aquí todo Hi, how was your day so far? here everything is goo
bien.
Disculpa que haya tardado tanto en contestar tu mensaje, Sorry, I was late for answering your message
Espero que al recibir este e-mail te encuentres muy bien I hope that this e-mail reaches you in good health
de salud
Espero que te encuentres bien y que tu moral esté súper I hope you're in good health and high spirit
alta
Espero que te encuentres muy bien de salud en compañía I hope you're good health you and your family
de tu familia
Espero que tu también estés bien, I hope that you're fine as well
Gracias por escribir ¡que bueno recibir un mail en thanks for writing, how nice it is receiving a mail in
español! Spanish!
Me dio gusto que me hayas escrito, I'm glad you wrote me
Me dio mucha alegría recibir tu correo y me encantaría I was glad getting your e-mail and I appreciate being
ser tu amiga/o. your friend
¡Me dio mucho gusto leer tu correo! I'm glad to read your e-mail.
Me gustaría que fuéramos amigos I'm glad that we're be friends
Me ha alegrado mucho recibir tu e-mail y estoy I'm so happy to receive your e-mail, and glad to know
encantada de conocerte you
pero he estado algo ocupada/o con la universidad. but I was a bit busy with school
por aquí todo esta muy bien y espero que a ti también te Here everything is just fine, hopefully with you as w
vaya todo bien
yo también estoy muy contenta/o de recibir tu e-mail y I'm very happy to receive an e-mails from you and to
de conocerte cada vez más. know you more
Puedo escribir y mantener conversaciones sencillas. I can write and make simple conversations
Soy un chico de 28 años y hablo español. I'm a 28 years old young man and I speak Spanish
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que vives en los Estados Unidos? how long have u been living in the U.S?
¿Has estado alguna vez en España? ¿Conoces algo de mi Have you ever been to...? you know anything about m
país? country
A mí me encanta la naturaleza, sencillamente no me to me I like nature, simply I just don't like the city
gusta la ciudad.
A mí me gusta más escribir cartas que e-mails porque es I like ... more than…., it’s more personal, what you
más personal ¿Qué opinas? think?
Ahora es otoño y el tiempo ha cambiado, pero hasta la It’s fall & time changed a lot, but till last week it wa
semana pasada hacía calor. cold
Ahora estoy buscando trabajo. now I'm looking for a job
No recuerdo si ya te lo conté. Now I don't remember if I told you...
Al parecer la memoria me juega malas pasadas... y eso it seems that my memory's playing tricks on me & I'
que sólo tengo 22 años. just 22
Aparte del español hablo el... que es el segundo idioma Apart from.., i speak.., the 2nd language spoken en..
que se habla en mi país .
Aparte de mi idioma materno, hablo..., y también estoy Apart from my mother tongue, I speak …., & also
aprendiendo italiano este año. learning...
Bueno la verdad es que no tengo preferencia entre well the reality is I have no preferences between them
ninguna.
Bueno yo me llamo... tengo 18 años y vivo en..., que es Well, my name is…., I’m... And live in…it’s a
una ciudad muy bonita. beautiful city!!
Busco a alguien que me pueda ayudar con el... y que I need someone who can help me with…and needs h
necesite ayuda con el español. with…
Como debes saber, mi nombre es Maria. as you should know my name is…..
Como tú debes saber, me encanta tener amigos de todo el as u should know I like having friends worldwide
mundo.
Como tu sabes mi nombre es Teresa, y tengo 19 años. as u know my name is …., I'm 19 years old
¿Cómo ves tú España? Quiero decir, si alguien te how do you see..? I mean, if u were asked or thinkin
pregunta sobre...o estás pensando. about it
Con gusto te ayudaría a mejorar tu nivel del idioma... I would help you make your level in the language
better
Creo que estoy preguntando mucho ¡es que soy bastante I think I'm asking a lot,I'm just curious, hope I'm not
curiosa/o, espero no te moleste. bothering u
¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? When is your birthday?
¿Cuántos hermanos tienes? How many brothers do you have?
Déjame hablar sobre mí: Me puedes llamar Carmen. let me talk about myself, you can call me Carmen
Déjame presentarme: Me llamo José tengo 24 años soy Let me introduce myself, my name is…I’m 24 from.
de Perú y vivo en Lima. live in...
Desafortunadamente no tengo mucho tiempo libre. Unfortunately i don't have much time
Desde chiquita tuve un enorme interés por las culturas Since childhood, I had huge interests for foreign
extranjeras, su ambiente, . culture...
¿Desde cuando vives en Madrid? How long have you been living in DC?
Desde hace bastantes años que estoy muy interesado en I've been interested in countries like Chile for many
países como Chile... years
Me interesa mucho sus tradiciones, la gastronomía, y por …it's traditions, the gastronomy, and of course it's
supuesto el idioma. language
Deseo intercambiar correspondencia. I'd like to exchange letters and mail
Detesto las discriminaciones. I hate discrimination
Me gusta disfrutar de la vida a mi manera. I enjoy life in my own way
El próximo 15 de Junio cumplo 29 años. the next June the 15th I will be 29
El año pasado empecé a estudiar...me gustaba mucho, Last year I started studying…I liked it, but decided t
pero decidí dejarlo temporalmente. leave it…
El árabe me parece algo complicado porque tiene una Arabic seems complicated cuz it has different alphab
grafía/tipo de letra diferente.
Mi cumpleaños/ el mío es el 12 de Diciembre. mine is December the 12
El paso del tiempo es mi peor enemigo. time is my worst enemy
En mi tiempo libre me gusta ir de compras, ir a la playa, In my free time I like to..,go to.., listen to…and bein
estar con mis amigos/ amigas. with..
Es que creo que mucha gente cuando piensa en... ya se because they think that Spain is only Toros and the O
imagina los toros, el ole...
¿qué es lo primero que te viene a la cabeza? ¡Sé sincero! What’s the first thing that comes to your mind? be
honest!
Es un país muy soleado, con mucho turismo y con mucha It’s a sunny country, with a lot of tourism & night lif
vida nocturna.
Espero algún día poder pagarme ese viaje. I hope i can afford this trip one day
Espero me disculpes. I hope you forgive me
Espero realmente poder ayudarte con el español. I really wish I can help with Spanish
Estoy empezando a estudiar aprender japonés. I started learning Japanese
Estoy (buscando, suena mejor) en busca de I'm looking for a job
empleo/trabajo.
Estoy en los EE.UU. I'm in the Us
Estoy estudiando inglés. I'm learning the English language
Estoy interesado en aprender inglés para que me sirva de I'm interested to learn English, for my daily life
ayuda en mi vida diaria.
Estoy interesado en mejorar mi nivel de inglés, I want to make my level in…better, basically for ….
básicamente por motivos profesionales. reasons
Hace 1 año estudié computación e informática. I've been studying computer science for one year
Hace 6 años que no hablo habitualmente el inglés. It's been 6 years that I haven't spoken... in a daily bas
Hay muchos platos distintos y todos deliciosos. there are a lot of different dishes and all are delicious
He estado en Rumania durante 7 meses. I've been in Mexico for 7 months
He pensado que esto podría ser una buena manera de I thought that this might be a good way to do it
hacerlo.
Estoy interesada/o en conocer diferentes ideas, puntos de interested to know about different ideas, points of vi
vista, culturas y costumbres.
La comida.... es muy buena, yo creo que es una de las The Spanish meal is very good; I think it's one of the
mejores cosas que tenemos aquí. best…
Lima, la capital de Perú, es una ciudad grande de Lima, the capital of Peru, a very big city of about 8
aproximadamente 8 millones de habitantes million…
Llevo algo más de dos años bailando danza del vientre. I had been belly dancing for more than two years
Quizá exagero. may be I’m exaggerating
Me encanta viajar y conocer gente. I like to travel and know other people
Me encantan las letras árabes, son muy artísticas. I like Arabic letters, they're very artistic
Me encantaría conocer extranjeros para motivar mis I'd like to know foreigners ,to motivate me with my
estudios. studies
Me falta poco más de un año para concluir la carrera. I only have less than a year left to end my career
Me gusta aprender todos los días algo nuevo. I like to learn everyday something new
Me gusta estudiar otros idiomas como el inglés y el I like learning other languages like English and Fren
francés.
Me gusta mucho ese/este idioma. I like this Language very much
Me gusta pasear con mis amigos. I like to walk with my friends
Me gustan las actividades al aire libre. I like outdoors activity
Me gustaría conocer a alguien nuevo y divertido. I'd like to know someone new and funny
Me gustaría mejorar mi francés hablado. I'd like to make my speaking French better
Me gustaría practicar y aprender más con una persona I'd like to practice/learn from a person in the UK
de... (Preferiblemente). (preferably)
Me gustaría practicarlo con personas nativas. I'd like to practice it with native people
Me gustaría recibir una foto tuya. I'd like to get a picture of you
Me preguntas que qué cocino. You asked me what I cook.
Me presento, Mi nombre es… I introduce myself, my name is Teresa
Mi sueño es vivir en Australia. My dream is to live in Australia
Mis intereses son muy variados: viajar, los libros, la My Interests are various: travel, books, politics,
política, la sociedad society...
Mis intereses son: la naturaleza (pájaros, plantas, etc.). My interests are: nature (birds, plants, etc .....)
Necesito aprender inglés para mi trabajo. I need to learn English for my Job
Necesito refrescar mi inglés. I need to refresh my English
No sé qué preguntarte... I don't know what to ask you,
No sólo porque... sino porque... not only… but also
No te lo vas a creer. I'm not going to believe
No tengo objeciones porque es verdad. I have no objection because it's true
O algo así. or something like that
Ó sea que soy mexicana.
Platícame/ háblame más de ti. Tell me about yourself?
Platícame/háblame más de ti ¿eres soltero/a, casado/a? Tell me more about you? are you single or married?
Poco más sobre la cultura...en general. Bueno, espero no A bit more about Spanish culture, I hope you're not
haberte aburrido con esto. bored…
Podría describirme también como una persona de I can describe myself as an open minded person...
personalidad abierta.
Por cierto. of course/ for sure
Por una cosa u otra llevo dos años sin salir de Barcelona. For a reason or an other it took me 2 years without
travel..
Primeramente/de entrada he de decirte que hablas muy first of all, I want to tell u that you speak Spanish ve
bien francés. well
Primero que nada. first of all
¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre? What do you do in your free time?
¡Que la rutina es muy mala! What a bad thing is the Routine!!
Quiero conocer gente de todo el mundo. I'd like to know people from all over the world
Quiero hacer intercambio de chino, mi nivel es I'd like to language exchange of ..., my level is
elemental. elementary
Sabes, algunas de mis metas y sueños es hablar varios one of my goals & dreams is to speak several
idiomas. languages
Seamos realistas, el inglés es el idioma que más se usa en Let's be honest, it's the language the most used
todo el mundo. worldwide
Si alguien quiere ayudarme y aprender español conmigo, If anyone wants to help me& learn…., I would be
estaría encantado. grateful
Si me preguntas qué prefiero más entre el correo aéreo y if you ask me what I like more between e-mail or sna
el e-mail. mail
Sí quieres podemos cambiar direcciones ¿OK? If you want we can exchange e-mails
Si tienes alguna buena canción para recomendarme, if you have a nice song to record for me, go ahead
¡adelante!
Sobre las comidas típicas peruanas hay una gran about typical Peruvian dishes there is a big variety
variedad.
Sólo tengo que practicarlo con nativos ya que tengo un I only need to practice it with natives, I have basics
gran conocimiento. already
Soy abierto, amigable, y me gusta/encanta la diversión I'm open-minded, friendly and looking for fun
Soy curioso y además tal vez podríamos aprender mucho I'm just curious, but also we may learn a lot from eac
el uno del otro. other
Soy de personalidad abierta y directa. I have an open and direct personality
Soy español/a, vivo en Valencia, y estudio francés e I'm…., I live in …., I study ... and ... in languages
inglés en la escuela de idiomas. school
Soy rubio/a, tengo los ojos marrones y soy más o menos I'm fair, brown eyes, little bit tall,
alto/a...
Soy tranquilo pero divertido, y se podría decir que soy I'm a calm person, with sense of humor, I can say I’m
leal. faithful
Estoy muy orgullosa de ser mexicana I'm proudly a Mexican girl
Soy una chica simpática, bastante tímida y amiga de mis I'm a cool girl, very shy, and the friend of my friends
amigos.
Soy una persona que está en busca de expandir sus I'm a person who tries to expand his knowledge & fi
conocimientos/encontrar nuevas amistades new….
Te cuento que nunca he visitado USA pero me gustaría ir did I tell u that I've never been to the U.S, but I woul
por allá alguna vez. like to
¿Te gusta el trabajo que haces? cuéntame sobre tu Do you like your job? Tell me about it?
trabajo.
¿De qué se trata? ¿Y cómo llegaste a elegirlo? What is it about? And how did you end choosing it?
Tengo 25 años y como te decía… I'm 25 years old, and like I told you...
Tengo dos hermanas: la mayor de 28 años y la menor de I have 2 sisters, eldest is 28, youngest is 21, my fathe
21. Mi padre es arquitecto, mí madre... is..
Me gusta jugar a voleibol en la playa I like beach volleyball
Tengo los ojos verdes, la piel clara, y el pelo I have green eyes, fair skin, brown hair,
castaño/color café.
Tengo un nivel medio, no muy avanzado, y sobretodo My level is... not very...moreover, long time i didn't
hace tiempo que no practico el... practice it
Tienes un nombre muy bonito. Me encanta tu nombre. you have a very nice name
Una persona tranquila, con bastante imaginación; adoro a quite person, with a lot of imagination, I like giving
escuchar/dar opiniones. advices
Trato de ser, sobre todas las cosas, una persona sincera. I try to be after all a sincere person
Vine a los Estados Unidos hace dos años. I came to the United States 2 years ago
Vivo en Valencia, que es una ciudad muy bonita. I live in Valencia; it's a very nice city!
Y la verdad ya veo que aspiras a más, eso es bueno. and the truth is that you're aspiring to more, that's go
Ya he aprendido bastante inglés y ahora deseo recordar Now that i have learned English i want to refresh my
mi francés. …
Yo le puedo enseñar español y así podemos practicar I can teach …. and this way we can speak both
ambas lenguas. languages
¡Cuéntame tú lo que quieras, lo que te apetezca! Tell me what you like and enjoy!
Yo vivo a 10 minutos de Madrid. I live 10 minutes away from Madrid
Ya me despido, porque tengo un largo día de trabajo por ok I have to go now, I have a long day of work ahead
delante
Bueno amigo, me despido por ahora, cuídate mucho y I wish you a good day and being well, see you!
espero que me escribas muy pronto.
Bueno, aquí me despido porque me tengo que ir, Well, now I have to end this because I have to go
Bueno, hasta aquí te la dejo, a ver que me cuentas en tu ok, I have to let you go now & see what you will wri
próximo mail. Ten un buen día next
Bueno, me tengo que ir. Nos vemos pronto, Ok gotta go, see you!
Bueno, no te quiero aburrir well , now that I don't wanna bore you,
Bueno, ya no sé qué más contarte well I just don't know what to say anymore
Creo que he escrito bastante, ¡espero no haberte I think I wrote too much, I hope I didn't bore you
aburrido!
Cuídate mucho y espero pronto tener noticias tuyas take care and hope to hear news from you soon
Encantado/a de conocerte nice to meet you
Me agrada mucho recibir noticias tuyas, escríbeme I hope to hear news from you soon
pronto
Es bueno recibir e-mails de nuevos amigos it's nice to receive more letters from new people
Espero que entiendas porque a veces me demoro un poco I hope u understand, because many times I'm late to
en escribir reply
Espero que en tu próximo mail me cuentes más de ti y de I hope you will tell me more in the next e-mail
lo que te gusta hacer,
y que me cuentes sobre Washington DC, y de todo lo que about what you like to do, about Dc & all u like to ta
me quieras contar about
Espero que tengas un bonito día y que te portes bien, nos wish you a good day and well being, see u
vemos
Espero recibir pronto noticias tuyas I hope to receive news from you soon
Espero saber pronto de ti. Un abrazo I hope to hear from you, Hug
Lo dejo aquí por el momento. I think I will end it here,
Me dio mucho gusto leer tu correo. I like reading your e-mail
Me despido Gotta go!
Muchas gracias por escribirme thanks you very much for writing me
Muchos Besos many kisses
¡Que tengas un buen día! Have a nice day!
En espera de tu respuesta, me despido. looking forward to hearing from you
Estoy a tus órdenes. I’m at your service
Agradezco de antemano tu atención a mi mail, y quedo a I thank you in advance for your attention in my letter
tus órdenes.
Antes de aburrirte, me despido. I got to split before you get bored,
Es un placer estar en contacto contigo. ¡ Cuídate! It’s a pleasure staying in touch with you, take care!
Some of the translations from the Spanish to the English texts are not literal but just a general idea
of what has been said.
A direct object is the noun or pronoun that the verb acts directly on. And an indirect object is the
person affected by the action but not acted directly upon. If you're learning Spanish, the distinction
can be important to make because Spanish, unlike English, sometimes uses different pronouns for
direct and indirect objects. The only difference between direct object pronouns and indirect object
pronouns is the third person of the singular and plural, you will notice that in the table below, so it's
easy to memorize them, but the trick is how to use them in a sentence, since they take different
positions.
Spanish Direct Object
DO English Equivalent
Pronouns
me me
te you (familiar)
lo, la him, her, it, you (formal)
nos us
os you-all (familiar)
los, las them, you-all (formal)
When you have both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun in the same sentence,
the indirect object pronoun comes first.
Ella me los da (she gives them to me) Indirect Object Pronoun: me, Direct Object Pronoun: los.
Whenever both pronouns begin with the letter "l" change the first pronoun to "se."
le lo becomes se lo, le la becomes se la, le los becomes se los, le las becomes se las, les lo becomes
se lo, les la becomes se la, ,les los becomes se los, les las becomes se las.
In negative sentences, the negative word comes directly before the first pronoun. No te la compro (I
didn't buy it for you).
In sentences with two verbs, there are two options regarding the placement of the pronouns. Place
them immediately before the conjugated verb or attach them directly to the infinitive or present
participles. “You could buy it for me” can be formed either like this: Tú me la puedes comprar. (or)
tu puedes comprármela. Note the accent on the final syllable of the infinitive, it should be added
each time a pronoun is attached to the infinitive.
When the pronouns are attached to the infinitive, make the sentence negative by placing the
negative word directly before the conjugated verb. And when the pronouns come before the
conjugated verb, make the sentence negative by placing the negative word directly before the
pronouns.
In commands, direct & indirect objects are attached to affirmative commands but precede negative
commands.
Háblame de tu país! (tell me about your country), but in negative: no me hables de las mujeres!
(don’t tell me about women).
Summery:
A direct object is the noun or pronoun that the verb acts directly on. And an indirect object is the
person affected by the action but not acted directly upon.
Whenever both pronouns begin with the letter "l" change the first pronoun to "se." le lo becomes se
lo, le la = se la, le los = se los, le las = se las, les lo = se lo, les la = se la, ,les los = se los, les las = se
las . When you have both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun in the same
sentence, the indirect object pronoun comes first.
Ser vs Estar
Ser and estar may be the most confusing verbs for Spanish students, both mean “to be”, and it's
hard to know which one to use if you're not familiar with the rules. Ser is used to express what
something is, while estar expresses where or how it is.
This table will show the difference between the two:
Ser vs Estar
Ser is used: Estar is used:
-To show possession: la casa es de José (the house
belongs to José) -To express location or position of things
& people (not events) whether it’s
-To show origin: yo soy de Mexico (I´m from Mexico) permanent or temporary: Ella está en su
-To show what material things are made of: casa (she is in her house).
La falda es de seda, The skirt is (made of) silk
-To describe a temporary condition or
-To express religious or political affiliation: feeling of a person or thing: Tú estás
¿eres Musulmán? (Are you Muslim?) enfermo (You are sick) La escuela está
cerrada (The school is closed) Luis (Luis
-To express dates, days, seasons, time, events: Son las
is tired). La ventana está abierta (The
tres (It is 03:00) Es el segundo de enero (It’s the second
window is open)
of January)
-To express physical conditions and civil
-To tell a profession: es profesor (he is a teacher)
status: su padre está muerto (his father is
-To express characteristic: mi hermana es muy dead), ella está cansada (she is tired), está
inteligente (my sister is very intelligent) casada (she is married)
-To express size: Nueva York es grande (NY is big)
-Used with the present participle to form
-To express length: el texto es largo (The text is long) the progressive tenses, present and past:
-To refer to colors: el cielo es azul (The sky is blue) -Mi hijo está jugando. (My son is
In general we use Ser to describe a person, place or playing) -Te estaba esperando. (I was
thing (possession, origin, essence of things, waiting for you)
affiliation, characteristic, size, length, color,
personality, profession, etc.). This description is
something that does not change at all in some cases,
or the change is gradual and slow. Estar in short is used for: location of
things or people (not events!), moods,
temporary feelings & physical
conditions.
The use of ser or estar can determine the meaning of the sentence.
El profesor es aburrido (The teacher is boring (personality) El profesor está aburrido (He is bored
just in that moment (temporary).
El profesor es nervioso (The teacher is a nervous person). El profesor está nervioso (The teacher is
nervous at this moment).
La chica es guapa (the girl is cute). La chica está guapa (the girl looks and only looks cute).
Los pescados son buenos (in general fish is good) Los pescados estan bien (this fish is good
meaning tastes good right now).
So if you are talking about what something is, use ser; if you are talking about how something is,
use estar. In general we say estar bien /alegre /triste /de mal humor /aquí /sentado / de pie /muerto
and Ser alto/a /guapo/a /inteligente / hombre/mujer / joven/ de San Antonio/ delgado/a /
simpático /fuerte.
Verb Tener:
In Spanish the verb tener is used more widely than the verb “to have’ in English, and it’s not only
used to express possession but also to help express many other idioms of emotions and state of
being. tengo 20 años (I´m 20 years old), tengo hambre (I’m hungry) ¿Qué tienes? (What's up with
you? what’s it to you?)...
Hay is used in both singular and plural to express "there is " or "there are" it's used extensively. It
is also used in interrogative sentences where it translates as is there? or are there? Hay una casa
grande en la esquina (there is a big house in the corner). Hay dos árboles en nuestro jardín (there
are two trees in our garden).
Hay que + infinitive is used to express the idea of "one must do something" or, "it is necessary to
do something." It is a more general expression and since there is no subject, the verb form hay is
always used. hay que estudiar, para tener éxito (one must study to succeed).
So don’t confuse between hay (there is/are) and hay que (one must/have to...).
The verb tener is used to mean (to have) in the sense of possession. Tengo una casa muy grande (I
have a very big house). ¿tiene él dinero? (Does he have money?)
But tener que + infinitive means "have to": me tengo que ir ahora (I have to go now). no tienes
que hacerlo (you don't have to do it).
Hay que + infinitive vs Tener que+ infinitive: they both mean almost the same thing, but tener is a
verb while hay is not, therefore tener should be conjugated according to the subject of the sentence.
Hay que is more general than tener que, so when we say hay que estudiar para tener éxito (we
mean in general we should study to succeed, which may apply for all people, when we say tengo
que estudiar para tener éxito (it means only me if i study I will succeed).
Summery:
Ser vs Estar: Ser is used to express what something is, while estar expresses where or how it is. In
general we use Ser to describe a person, place or thing (possession, origin, essence of things,
affiliation, characteristic, size, length, color, personality, profession, etc.). This description is
something that does not change at all in some cases, or the change is gradual and slow. Estar in
short is used for: location of things or people (not events!), moods, temporary feelings & physical
conditions.
Tener: In Spanish the verb tener is used more widely than the verb to have in English, and it’s not
only used to express possession but also to help express many other idioms of emotions and state of
being. tengo 20 años (I´m 20 years old), tengo hambre (I’m hungry) ¿Qué tienes? (What's up with
you? what’s it to you?)...
Hay: means there is/are and cannot be conjugated, because it’s not a verb, Hay una casa grande en
la esquina (there is a big house in the corner).
Hay que + infinitive is used to express the idea of "one must do something" hay que estudiar, para
tener éxito (one must study to succeed)
Tener que + infinitive means "have to": me tengo que ir ahora (I have to go now).
Generally we use the passive voice to indicate what happened to the subject of the sentence without
saying who or what carried out the action, meaning that in the passive voice (voz pasiva), the
subject is acted upon by an outside agent. When the agent is specified, the passive voice is
expressed by:
subject + ser + past participle + por + agent: for example: La mezquita fue construida por el
Sultán Hassan (The mosque was built by the Sultan Hassan).
From active to passive voice: Mis amigos quieren a mi perro becomes Mi perro es querido por mis
amigos.
Since the past participle acts as an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the subject. If the
passive subject is a thing and the agent is not mentioned, the passive reflexive (pasiva reflexiva)
construction is used, with the reflexive pronoun se preceding the verb and the passive subject
following it:
Allí se hablan muchos idiomas (many languages are spoken there). No se permite hacer
modificaciones (making modifications is not allowed).
Note that the Spanish past participle has to agree with the subject in gender and number, just the
way it does withadjectives
Impersonal Constructions in Spanish
Se is also used to form impersonal construction, with se used as an indefinite subject pronoun in
Spanish similar to the English "one" or the impersonal "you" and "they", like: Se habla español
(Spanish is spoken / One speaks Spanish). There are two main criteria to be met: the verb must be
in the singular, since se is singular when used as a subject pronoun, and se should be easily
translated as one or you:
Gerund in Spanish
The present participle or gerund (gerundio) is formed in Spanish by adding the suffix -ando to
the stem of the first conjugation (-ar) verbs and -iendo to the stem of second (-er) and third (-ir)
conjugation verbs (or -yendo if the stem ends in a vowel).
hablar (to talk) hablando (talking)
comer (to eat) comiendo (eating)
vivir (to live) viviendo (living)
leer (to read) leyendo (reading)
The present participle is used with the verb estar to form the progressive tenses (tiempos
progresivos), which express an ongoing action: Estoy hablando con ellos (I’m talking to them)
Estaba leyendo el libro (he was reading the book). The same construction is used with seguir and
continuar: Sigue peleando (he keeps fighting); Continuan riendo (They continue laughing). The
present participle is also used with the verb ir to express an action which is gradual: La economía
China Va Mejorando (Chinese economy is getting better).
Gerund in Spanish
(-ar) verbs (stem of verb)+ando
(-er) and (-ir) verbs (stem of verb)+iendo
Note that the progressive construction is never used for estar, venir and ir.
The past participle (participio pasivo) is formed in Spanish by adding the suffix -ado to the stem
of -ar verbs, and -ido to the stem of -er and -ir verbs (or -ído if the stem ends in a vowel).
hablar (to speak) hablado (spoken) becomes el español hablado en canarias…(the Spanish spoken
in the canaries island…)
perder (to lose) perdido (lost) la chica perdida (the lost girl)
incluir (to include) incluido (included) el desayuno está incluido en el precio (breakfast is included
in the price)
caer (to fall) caído (fallen) caído del cielo (fallen from the sky)
When used with the auxiliary verb haber to form compound tenses, the past participle has an
invariable ending:
Hemos cerrado la escuela. (We have closed the school.)
Habrá perdido el pasaporte. (He will have lost the passport.)
Habías recibido un regalo. (You had received a gift.)
Entraron después de que hubo caído. (They entered after he had fallen down.)
When used adjectivally, however, Spanish past participles agree in gender and number with the
nouns they modify:
La escuela está cerrada. (The school is closed.)
Las chicas están perdidas. (The girls are lost.)
In Spanish there are 4 ways of asking a question to get a yes or no answer, and they are the
following:
-Verb + pronoun: Unlike English, the auxiliaries do and does are not used. ¿Tiene ella tiempo
libre? (Does she have free time?)
Note: The interrogative questions have an opening (¿) question mark, Spanish is unique in using
that symbol and, also a closing one (?).
-Pronoun + verb: Only the intonation makes the sentence interrogative: ¿Ella tiene tiempo libre?
(Does she have free time?)
-Verb +...+ pronoun. The pronoun goes last ¿Tiene tiempo libre ella? (Does she have free time?)
-Finally you can also make a question by adding a tag question to the end of a statement. Ella tiene
tiempo libre ¿no?
Ella tiene tiempo libre, ¿verdad? (She has free time, doesn’t she)
Possible answer would be Sí, Ella tienes tiempo libre. (or) No, Ella no tiene tiempo libre.
Note that when only part of a sentence is a question, the question marks are placed around only the
portion that's a question starting with (¿): Y eso, ¿no te gusta? (And this one, you don't like it?).
Interrogative pronouns are usually used to form a question. Note that these words are always
graphically accentuated, whether they are used to formulate a direct or indirect question:¿Qué hora
es? (What time is it?) ¿Qué es la capital de Marruecos? (What is the capital of Morocco?) (Direct).
Dime qué hora es. Tell me what time it is. (Indirect).
Spanish Interrogative
¿A qué hora...? (What time...?) ¿Dónde? (Where?) ¿De dónde? (From where?) ¿Por
dónde? (Which direction?) ¿A dónde? (To where?) ¿Cómo? (How?) ¿Cuál/-es? (Which
one/-s?) ¿Cuándo? (When?) ¿Cuánto/-a? (How much?) ¿Cuántos/-as? (How many?)
¿Qué? (What?) ¿Para qué? (For what reason?) ¿Por qué? (Why?) ¿Quién/-es? (Who?)
¿A quién? (To whom?) ¿Para quién? (For whom) ¿De quién/-es? (Whose?).
As you may have noticed in these examples several of them can be preceded by prepositions: de
dónde (from where), de qué (of what), a quíen (to whom), de quién (of whom), ¿para quién? Etc.
Note that Spanish doesn't require auxiliary verbs the way that English does to form questions. The
same verb forms as are used in questions as in statements.
Negation in Spanish:
Negation can be made simply by placing "No" before the main verb in Spanish. However
sometimes it's not that easy, because sometimes a double negative is required. "No" is the most
common negative, used either as an adverb or adjective. When it's used as an adverb, it should be
placed before the verb.
No quiero hacerlo (I don't like to do it). No tienes nada que hacer (this example is Spanish double
negative, you don't have anything to do). No lo quiero (I don't like it)
Spanish also has many other negative words that are used along with "No" or without it, like nada
(nothing), nadie (nobody, no one), ninguno (none), nunca (never), and jamás (never). Ninguno (no
one).
Nadie entiende. (Nobody understands.) Ninguna tienda tiene lo que quiero. (No store has what I
want.) Nunca bebí la cerveza. (We never drink beer). Jamás te olvidaré. (I will never forget you.)
The use of the double negative is an aspect unusual to English speakers, but it exists in Spanish. If
one of the negative words listed above is used after the verb, a negative (often no) also must be
used before the verb. Here is a list of double negatives:
Note how these pronouns change from the affirmative to the negative form:
Spanish Negation
Affirmative Negative
alguien (someone) nadie (no one)
o (or) ni (nor)
Double No: when the answer to a question is negative, the word no appears twice. It appears at the
beginning of the sentence and also in front of the verb. ¿hablas Inglés? No, no hablo Inglés, solo
Español (Do you speak English. I Don´t speak English, only Spanish).
Exclamation in Spanish
Exclamatory words (exclamaciones) as well as interrogative expressions have written accents. The
most common one is (¡!) and ¡Qué...! Used in front of an adjective, adverb or noun:
¡Caramba! (My goodness!) ¡Claro! (Of course!) ¡Socorro! (Help!) ¡Qué delicioso! (How delicious!)
¡Lo siento mucho! (I'm so sorry!) ¡Qué casa! (What a house!) ¡Qué barbaridad! (How aweful!) ¡Qué
lástima! (What a shame!) ¡Qué lío! (What a mess!) ¡Qué fácilmente lo haces tú! (How easily you do
it!)
In literary usage, ¡Cuán...! may replace ¡Qué...!: ¡Cuán fácilmente lo haces tú!
When an adjective follows a noun in this construction, it is preceded by más (most) or tan (so):
¡Qué casa más bonita! (What a pretty house!) ¡Qué niños tan alegres! (What happy children!)
Summery:
-Verb + pronoun ... ¿Tiene ella tiempo libre? (Does she have free time?)
-Pronoun + verb... ¿Ella tiene tiempo libre? (Does she have free time?)
-Verb +...+ pronoun. ¿Tiene tiempo libre ella? (Does she have free time?)
-Add a tag question... Ella tiene tiempo libre, ¿no? Ella tiene tiempo libre ¿verdad? (She has free
time, doesn’t she)
Possible answer would be Sí, Ella tienes tiempo libre. (or) No, Ella no tiene tiempo libre.
Interrogative pronouns are usually used to form a question: ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?) ¿Qué
es la capital de Marruecos? (What is the capital of Morocco?)
¿A qué hora...? (What time...?) ¿Dónde? (Where?) ¿De dónde? (From where?) ¿Por dónde? (Which
direction?) ¿A dónde? (To where?) ¿Cómo? (How?)
Negation: Negation can be made by placing "No" before the main verb, there are other words that
are used along with "No" or without it to form negation in Spanish, like nada (nothing), nadie
(nobody, no one), ninguno (none), nunca (never), and jamás (never). Ninguno (no one).
Nadie entiende. (Nobody understands). No conozco a nadie aquí. (I don't know anybody here.)
Exclamation: Exclamatory words in Spanish also have written accents. The most common one is
¡Qué...! Used in front of an adjective, adverb or noun:
¡Qué delicioso! (How delicious!). When an adjective follows a noun in this construction, it is
preceded by más (most) or tan (so): ¡Qué mujer tan guapa! (What a beautiful woman!) ¡qué chico
más amable! (What a nice (kind) guy!).
Spanish Contraction
There are only two contractions (contracciones) in Spanish: al and del: al is a contraction of the
preposition a + el (a means: to, for, at, by), and the masculine singular definite article el: voy al rio.
(I'm going to the river). So al means to the, but also means upon: al salir de la casa, abro mis
paraguas. (Upon leaving the house, I open my umbrella.)
Del is a contraction of the preposition de+ el: de (of, from, with) plus the masculine singular
definite article el: el palacio del rey (the place of the king)
Don't confuse between contracting a+ el (definite article) and a+ él (personal pronoun ‘he”) because
a and él cannot be contracted, hablo a él (I talk to him).
Spanish Contraction
a + el al
de + el del
Spanish Conjunctions
Conjunctions (conjunciones) join words, phrases and clauses together. In other words,
conjunctions provide a link between similar words or groups of words, such as nouns, verbs,
people, etc. The most commonly used conjunction in Spanish is “y” (and): salgo con Mario y José
(I go out with Mario and José).
Other commonly used conjunctions are: o (or), ni (nor), pero (but), entonces (then):
Mi amigo es alto, pero es muy delgado.(my friend is tall, but very skinny).
¿sale ella a las nueve o las diez? (is she going out at 9 or 10).
Ni a favor ni en contra , Sino todo lo contrario!!! (Not for, nor against, but quite the opposite).
Spanish Conjunctions
y o
pero ni…ni
Ví el accidente (I saw the accident), but ví a la hermana de Juan (I saw Juan’s sitster). la policía
busca a la niña perdida (the police are looking for the missing girl).
The personal "a" is not used, however, with the verb tener (to have), or with collective nouns, and
with nouns referring to unspecified people:
Tengo un hermano (I have a brother), and not tengo a un hermano. necesito médico (I need a
doctor, it doesn’t matter who).
Saber vs Conocer
At a first glance, saber and conocer both mean the same thing, and that is "to know". So choosing
the right verb depends on the context in which it is used. We use saber to express knowledge or
ignorance of a fact or information about something or to know how to do something. It is often
followed by an infinitive or a subordinate clause. ¿Sabes Alemán? (do you know German?) él sabe
donde está su perro (he knows where his dog is). Also used to say that you know something by
heart, el sabe las capitales de todo el mundo (he knows the capitals of the world “by hear”t). Also
used For skills: Ella sabe cocinar (she knows how to cook). sabes nadar ¿verdad? (you know how
to swim, right?)
We use conocer to say that one is familiar with a person, a place, or an object. It can only be
followed by a direct object, never by an infinitive or a subordinate clause. Remember that if the
direct object is a person, the preposition "a" must be used. no conozco a nadie en la escuela (I don't
know anyone at school). Jose conoce Marruecos (José knows Morocco).
You can also use both in some cases, for examples use saber or conocer to express knowledge or
ignorance of a subject or learning discipline: pienso que él no sabe nada de ruso. (I think he
doesn’t know a thing about Russian), no conoce/ sabe nada de la geografia (he doesn’t know
anything about geography).
So in short these are some reasons which help you decide which to choose:
Saber vs Conocer
Saber to know (facts, information, how to Conocer to know (to be familiar with a
do something, something by heart). person, places, things)
Note that the preterit of saber means to find out: Supe la realidad la semana pasada. (I found out
the reality last week).
Pedir vs Preguntar
The two Spanish verbs pedir and preguntar both mean "to ask", but saber & conocer are not
interchangeable, their rules are easy to learn however:
Pedir vs Preguntar
Pedir to ask for something, or Preguntar to ask a question, or request information (followed
request an object, service or favor by si, donde, cuando, de quien, a qué hora, etc.) Pregunté a
(followed by a noun): me pidió qué hora llega el tren (I asked what time does the train
dinero (he asked me for mone “ to arrive). Me preguntó por el dinero (he asked me about the
give him”). money “what have I done with it”).
In short: pedir: to ask (for an object or a service), preguntar: to ask (a question, request
information).
Verb Gustar
Spanish sometimes places the subject after the verb, which is the case with the verb gustar:
Me gusta la playa (I like the beach). Nos gustan los pescados (we like fish) Le gustan las verduras
(he likes salad).
Note: Nos gusta el fútbol (we like soccer) and not: nos gustan el fútbol, which is a common
mistake Spanish learners make. In other words, gustar follows what comes after it, and not what
comes before, same thing when using the pronoun le or les: A Juán le gusta el carne (John like
meat). A Miguel le gustan las verduras (Miguel likes salad). Note that it’s incorrect to say: A
Miguel les gustan las verduras. the -an of gustan refers to the plural verduras.
Summery:
Contractions: There are only two contractions (contracciones) in Spanish: al and del, al is a
contraction of the preposition a + el, and del is the one of: de+ el.
Conjunctions: they provide a link between similar words or groups of words, such as nouns, verbs,
people, etc. The most common are y (and).o (or) ni (nor) pero (but) entonces (then)
Personal "a": used when the direct object of a verb is a person or a domestic animal: no conozco
a nadie aquí (I don’t know anyone here) except with tener, the “a” shouldn’t be used in that case:
Tengo un hermano (I have a brother)
Saber vs Conocer: saber: to know (facts, information, how to do something, something by heart).
conocer: to know (to be familiar with a person, places, things)
Pedir vs Conocer: pedir: to ask (for an object or a service), preguntar: to ask (a question, request
information)
The verb Gustar: gustar is one of the exceptions where the subject is placed after the vebs, Me
gusta la playa (I like the beach) me gustan las frutas (I like fruits).
This is a list of 2000 English to Spanish expressions, you can go through all of them if you want,
you will realize that I listed only commonly used expressions, I hope these Spanish phrases will
help, try to examine how sentences are made, and the order they follow. If you’re looking for a
specific expression just go to the toolbars on the top of this page and click on “Edit” then click
on “Find (on this page)”, type the phrase you’re looking for, once you hit “enter” the word
will be highlighted for you! This list is following an alphabetical order.
This page will only have sentences in Spanish with main words from A-G in order minimize the
loading time, for the rest of the list click here: H-Z
Spanish Phrases
A
He is very able Tiene mucho talento
I'm able to do this work soy capaz de hacer este trabajo
Round about En los contornos
What’s it all about? ¿De qué se trata?
to dream about something soñar con algo
I'm about to estoy en camino de
Absence of mind Distracción
In accordance with De acuerdo con
According to Según
He is accused of... El es acusado de....
she lives across the street vive al otro lado de la calle
To act the fool Hacer el tonto
In addition to Fuera de, además
two adjoining rooms dos habitaciones contiguas
To adjourn the meeting Suspender la sesión
A piece of advice Un buen consejo
give someone an advice dar un consejo a alguien
take someone's advice seguir el consejo de alguien
I advice you to leave te aconsejo que te vayas
take advantage of ... Aprovecharse de.../ sacar ventaja
I'm afraid of (things /to do things) tengo miedo a/de
I'm afraid of cats tengo miedo a los gatos
he's afraid of the dark Le da miedo la oscuridad
I´m afraid she won´t come Me temo que no venga
Not your affair (business) No es cosa tuya
Your affectionate niece Su afectuoso sobrina
I cannot afford it Es superior a mis recursos
after passing the bridge después de pasar el puente
after...turn to...keep straight on Después de…gire a...siga todo recto...
The day after. el día siguiente
After all Después de todo
The after life La vida futura
Never again Nunca jamás
I never saw him again no lo volví a ver
What do you have against her? ¿Qué tienes contra de ella?
At the age of ten... A los diez años...
10 minutes ago hace 10 minutos
long time ago hace mucho tiempo
I agree with you estoy de acuerdo
in the open air al aire libre
all at once A la vez
All but menos
All the better Tanto mejor
he is allergic to el es alérgico a
it's not allowed no está permitido
Talking not allowed No se permite hablar
Almighty God El todopoderoso
it will be alright saldrá bien
Is it alright to leave now? ¿Puedo irme ahora?
What do you do for amusement? ¿Qué haces para entretenerte?
to be angry with someone estar enojado con alguien
Why don't you answer? ¿Por qué no contestas?
Do you have any idea at all? ¿Tienes alguna idea?
Anyone wants to chat with me? ¿Alguien que quiera hablar conmigo?
if I can help you anyhow, let me know si puedo ayudarte de alguna manera, dímelo
make an appointment with the Dr pedir hora con el doctor
I would like to make an appointment me gustaría hacer un apunte
he is as tall as John el es tan alto como Juan
I work full time as a ... trabajo a tiempo completo como manager
to be ashamed of estar apenado de, estar avergonzado de
I asked him for money le pedí dinero
I asked him where he lives le pregunté dónde vivía
Can I ask you something? ¿Puedo hacerte una pregunta?
she is an asset to our company es un gran valor para la compañía
be good/bad at something ser bueno/malo haciendo algo
I don't like dogs at all no me gustan nada los perros
be aware of something ser consiente de algo
Do you have rooms available? ¿Tienes habitaciones disponibles?
B
she will be back tomorrow volverá mañana
I'll be right back regreso en un momentito
When are you coming back? ¿cuándo volverás?
they wrote back (letters) contestaron a la carta/la llamada
I'm bad at math se me dan mal las matemáticas
he is going bald se está quedando calvo
go bankrupt ir a la quiebra
language barrier barrera lingüística
Don’t be sad! ¡No estés triste!
to beat someone up dar una paliza a alguien
go to bed ir a la cama
I've never been to Spain no he estado en España
I've been studying Spanish for... tengo tres años estudiando Español
I don't believe you No te creo. Me crees ¿verdad?
you will have to do without te las tendrás que arreglar
do one's best hacer todo lo posible
All the best! ¡buena suerte! Que te vaya bien!
I bet he doesn't come apuesto a que no viene
I'm getting better estoy haciendo progresos
you had better ask for permission sería mejor que pidieras permiso
The bill please! la cuenta por favor
The land of my birth... Mi tierra natal...
Date of birth? ¿Fecha de nacimiento?
Happy birthday! ¡Feliz cumpleaños!
let's chat for a bit platicamos un rato/ ratito
I'll be there in a bit estaré allí dentro de un rato
blame someone for something culpar a alguien de algo
Bless you! ¡Jesús! qué ¡Dios te bendiga!
in cold blood a sangre fría
Bon appétit! ¡Qué aproveche! ¡Buen provecho!
I booked a room tengo una habitación reservada
I'm bored me aburro, estoy aburrido
Where were you born? ¿Dónde naciste?
I was born in 1979 nací en mil novecientos setenta y nueve
I was born in Italy, but go often to Mex yo nací en Italia pero voy muy seguido a Méx
I was born in France but live in the US yo nací en Francia pero vivo en los EU
Does it bother you if I smoke? ¿Te molesta si fumo/ si mi siento aquí?
at the bottom of the screen en la parte inferior de la pantalla
Please, bring us..! ¡Nos trae (más pan)!
I'm just browsing sólo estoy mirando
be on a budget tener un presupuesto limitado
I'm here for business estoy aquí por razón de trabajo
it's none of your business no es asunto/cosa tuyo/a
buy a ticket sacar una entrada
Where can I buy...? ¿dónde venden tarjetas telefónicas?
I did it by myself lo hice yo solito
by the way a propósito
C
long distance call una llamada interurbana
What’s that called? ¿Cómo se llama a esto en español?
we must call for an ambulance debemos telefonear a una ambulancia
I will call back later/tomorrow le volveré a llamar más tarde/mañana
there is a call for u tienes una llamada, te llaman
I'll give you a call tomorrow te llamaré mañana
he called him a liar le llamó mentiroso
they called you gay te dijeron maricón de mierda
this stupid calls me bitch ese estúpido me llama perra
but they call me John pero me llaman Juan
And who's calling? ¿De parte de quién?
Calm down! ¡Cálmate!
I came from work estoy llegando del trabajo
Can you call again later? ¿Puede volver a llamar más tarde?
Can you hear me? ¿Me oyes?
that can't be right debe haber un error
Can I...? ¿Puedo...?
Take care! ¡Cuídate! ¡Cuidados!
Be careful! ¡Ten Cuidado!
in that case en ese caso
pay in cash pagar en efectivo
catch up on one's sleep recuperar sueño
I'm not taking any chances no voy a correr ningún riesgo
for a change para variar
Will that be cash or charge? ¿Pagará en efectivo o con tarjeta?
Cheer up! ¡Anímate!
Cheers! ¡Salud!
it's chilly today hace fresquito hoy
I had no choice no tuve alternativa
Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz navidad!
Is it close? ¡está cerca?
no clue no tengo ni idea
I'm cold tengo frío
I have a cold estoy resfriado, tengo un resfriado
Come here! ¡venga aquí! ¡ven acá!
How come? ¿Cómo es eso? ¿Por qué? ¿y eso?
Come in! ¡entre! ¡adelante!
come on, you're exaggerating ¡vamos, hombre! estás exagerando
Come on! tell me ¡anda! Dime.
have something in common tener algo en común con alguien
Compared with... comparado con
we're not compatible no somos compatibles
Concerning... Por lo que toca....
I have a confession to make tengo algo que confesar
congratulations on felicidades por
It’s considered to be... Se considera que es.........
take something into consideration tomar algo en consideración
I'm a good cook soy un buen cocinero
Is it correct to say...? ¿Es correcto decir....?
you're correct tienes razón
it costs too much cuesta demasiado
I'd like to visit your country one day Me gustaría visitar algún día tu país
Of course! ¡Claro! ¡Claro que si! ¡Por supuesto!
Do you accept credit card? ¿Aceptas tarjetas de crédito?
I was cut off se me ha cortado la comunicación
I had my hair cut me he cortado el pelo/dedo
we were cut off se ha cortado
it looks really cute on u eso te queda muy mono
Spanish Phrases D-E
D
you're damaging your health estás perjudicando tu salud
I don't give a damn! ¡Me importa un pimiento!
damn it ¡Maldita sea!
How dare you! ¡Cómo te atreves!
Yes my darling! sí cariño
out of date pasado de moda (ropa), caducado (passport)
What’s today's date? ¿Qué fecha/día es hoy?
day after day Día tras día....
it's a good deal es una ocasión
dear Rosa querida rosa
there will be a 5 min delay habrá una demora de 5 minutos
the meal was delicious la comida estuvo deliciosa
you're deluding yourself te estás engañando a ti mismo
I don't deny it, I'm proud of being ... no lo niego, soy muy orgulloso de ser latino
that depends depende
it depends on the weather depende del tiempo
deprive someone of something privar a alguien de algo
Dial the number ....for... Marque el numero...para...
it doesn't make any difference no cambia nada
with difficulty con dificultades
a four digit number un número de 4 dígitos
Is there any discount on... Haces descuento a...
I find it disgusting me da asco
do not disturb no molestar
I don't know what to do no sé qué hacer
That will do! ¡Ya vale!
Well done! ¡bien hecho!
with double bed con dos camas
I'm going downtown voy al centro
it's drafty here hace mucha corriente aquí
she is a good drawer dibuja muy bien
I dreamt about you last night anoche soñé contigo
I don't drink no bebo
You’re driving me crazy Me vuelves loco
he is driving me mad Él me está volviendo loco.
10 minutes driving diez minutos en carro
E
we love each other nos queremos
take it easy ¡Tranquilízate!
I can't eat food that have pork no consumo alimentos que contienen jamón
effective May 1 a partir del 1 de mayo
you speak in an elegant way hablas con cierta elegancia
Anything else? ¿algo más? no eso es todo, gracias
I was embarrassed to ask me daba vergüenza preguntar
to encourage someone dar ánimo a alguien
When does it end? ¿a que hora termina?
at the end of July a finales de julio
Do you enjoy it? ¿te gusta?
Enjoy the meal! ¡Comer con gusto!
goodbye and enjoy your time adiós y que disfruten su tiempo
hope you enjoy the meal espero que disfruten la comida
I don't have enough money no tengo suficiente dinero
Enough talk! That's enough! Esto es. Basta ya
I've had enough! ¡estoy harto!
envy someone something envidiar a alguien por algo
you envy Cubans tú lo que tienes envidia de los cubanos
the word escapes me no consigo recordar la palabra
even if he begged me aunque me suplicara
in the evening por la tarde
Have you ever been to NY? ¿Has estado alguna vez en Nueva York?
take an exam hacer un examen
with the exception of a excepción de
excuse me (to pass by) ¡disculpe! ¡Oiga! ¡perdone! (for attention)
take exercise hacer ejercicio, ejercitar
at the company's expense a cargo de la empresa
could you explain that please puedes explicarlo, por favor
to a certain extent hasta cierto punto
keep an eye on esta pendiente de
at a thirtieth trigésimo
above encima de thousandth milésimo
against contra till, until hasta
around alrededor de time + ago Hace + time
as much/many... as tanto(a, os, as)...como To go to + inf. Ir a + inf.
as... as tan...como To have just + past Acabar de + inf.
participle
behind detrás de To have to + inf. Tener que + inf.
below, under debajo de towards, about hacia
beside al lado de twelfth duodécimo
between, among entre twentieth vigésimo
eighteenth décimo octavo twenty-first vigésimo primero
eighth octavo twenty-second vigésimo segundo
eightieth octogésimo Us Nos
eleventh undécimo We Nosotros
far from lejos de with con
fifteenth décimo quinto without sin
fifth quinto You Te
fiftieth quincuagésimo You Tú
first primero You (formal) Le,La
for, in order, by para You (formal) Usted
for, through por You (plural) Os
fortieth cuadragésimo You (plural) Vosotros
fourteenth décimo cuarto your tu
fourth cuarto your vuestro (a)
from, since desde your/his/her/its su
He Él your/their su
Body Parts
abdomen el abdomen knee la rodilla
ankle el tobillo leg la pierna
arm el brazo lip el labio
back la espalda mouth la boca
buttocks las nalgas neck el cuello
calf la pantorrilla nipple el pezón, la mamila
cheek la mejilla nose la nariz
chest el pecho shin la espinilla
ear la oreja shoulder el hombro
elbow el codo shoulder el hombro
eye el ojo stomach el estómago
face la cara thigh el muslo
finger el dedo throat la garganta
fingernail la uña thumb el pulgar
foot el pie toe el dedo del pie
hair el cabello tongue la lengua
hand la mano tooth el diente
head la cabeza waist la cintura
hip la cadera wrist la muñeca