When visiting a country I always try to learn the basic words of the language. Because I spend so much time in Spain, I decided to study the language more seriously. After 300 hours of Spanish classes I am ready to share what I have learned about this wonderful language.
https://twitter.com/margaritaevna95/status/1201733976068636675
Spanish is one of the most widely spoken Romance languages, alongside Italian, French, Portuguese, and Romanian. Speakers of those languages may recognize much of its vocabulary and grammar. As a native speaker of Dutch, a Germanic language, I found the pronunciation and grammar more challenging.
The language is also called castellano (Castilian), after the region where it developed. As the Spanish Empire expanded (read Sapiens if you want to know more about that), the language spread and became one of the world's biggest languages, with many regional varieties.
This guide covers:
Pronouns
Personal pronouns can often be omitted because the verb ending already identifies the subject. The verb changes with the subject. For example, you can say yo quiero (I want) or simply quiero (I want), or eres (you are) rather than tú eres (you are). Using the pronoun is not wrong; it may add emphasis or clarity.
- Singular:
- First person: yo (I)
- Second person: tú (you)
- Third person: él/ella/usted (he/she/you)
- Plural:
- First person: nosotros (we)
- Second person: vosotros (you)
- Third person: ellos (they)
Other useful question words are:
- Dónde (where)
- Qué (what)
- Quién (who)
- Cuál (which)
- Cómo (how)
- Cuánto (how much)
Syntax
The word order in basic Spanish sentences can vary with the context.
- One-verb sentences: Spanish word order is very similar to English word order, following the SVO (subject-verb-object) pattern.
- Positive: Juan come un bocadillo (Juan eats a sandwich).
- Negative: Juan no come un bocadillo (Juan doesn't eat a sandwich).
- Two-verb sentences: When using two verbs, the first is conjugated for the subject and the second remains in the infinitive.
- Positive: Diego necesita comprar una camiseta (Diego needs to buy a t-shirt).
- Negative: Diego no necesita comprar una camiseta (Diego doesn't need to buy a t-shirt).
- Questions: Questions can change the usual word order or rely on intonation and question words.
- ¿Cuándo es el cumpleaños de Carolina? (When is Carolina's birthday?).
- ¿Cómo te llamas? (What's your name?).
- Commands: There are formal and informal commands, as well as affirmative and negative commands.
- Affirmative, formal: ¡Corra! (Run!)
- Affirmative, informal: ¡Corre! (Run!)
- Negative, formal: No coma tanto (Don't eat so much.)
- Negative, informal: No comas tanto (Don't eat so much.)
- Reflexive verbs: These examples show how a pronoun can mark the person who experiences an action or feeling.
- Me gusta el fútbol (I like football).
- Nos encanta viajar (We love traveling).
Verb conjugation
Regular present-tense conjugation follows a pattern. Regular infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir, and their endings determine the pattern. Here is a spreadsheet with 500 conjugated Spanish verbs that I made in 2015.
-er (e.g. beber - to drink)
- Yo -o (bebo - I drink)
- Tú -es (bebes - you drink)
- Él -e (bebe - he drinks)
- Nosotros -emos (bebemos - we drink)
- Vosotros - éis (bebéis - you drink)
- Ellos -en (beben - they drink)
- Gerundive: -iendo (bebiendo - drinking)
-ir (e.g. sufrir - to suffer)
- Yo -o (sufro - I suffer)
- Tú -es (sufres - you suffer)
- Él -e (sufre - he suffers)
- Nosotros -imos (sufrimos - we suffer)
- Vosotros - ís (sufrís - you suffer)
- Ellos -en (sufren - they suffer)
- Gerundive: -iendo (sufriendo - suffering)
-ar (e.g. hablar - to speak)
- Yo -o (hablo - I speak)
- Tú -as (hablas - you speak)
- Él/ella -a (habla - he speaks)
- Nosotros -amos (hablamos - we speak)
- Vosotros - áis (habláis - you speak)
- Ellos -an (hablan - they speak)
- Gerundive: -ando (hablando - speaking)
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs do not follow these patterns exactly. Examples you will hear often are ser (to be, yo soy/tú eres/nosotros somos), tener (to have, yo tengo) and ir (to go, yo voy/tú vas/nosotros vamos). Practice will make the common ones familiar.
Also note that verbs do not always translate word for word. To state your age, Spanish uses “to have” (tengo 36 años - I'm 36 years old) and English “to be” can correspond to either ser and estar. Ser is broadly used for permanent things (soy un hombre - I'm a man) and estar for temporary ones (estoy enfermo - I'm sick).
Past tense
Spanish has several past-tense forms, which can be challenging for learners. I would start with the participle because the participle stays the same for each subject; you conjugate the auxiliary verb haber (to have) + the participle.
- Verbs ending in -er: -ido
- He bebido (I have drunk)
- Has bebido (you have drunk)
- Ha bebido (he has drunk)
- Hemos bebido (we have drunk)
- Habéis bebido (you have drunk)
- Han bebido (they have drunk)
- Verbs ending in -ir: -ido
- He sufrido (I have suffered)
- Has sufrido (you have suffered)
- Ha sufrido (he has suffered)
- Hemos sufrido (we have suffered)
- Habéis sufrido (we have suffered)
- Han sufrido (they have suffered)
- Verbs ending in -ar: -ado
- He hablado (I have spoken)
- Has hablado (you have spoken)
- Ha hablado (he has spoken)
- Hemos hablado (we have spoken)
- Habéis hablado (you have spoken)
- Han hablado (they have spoken)
Future tense
The regular future tense follows a simple pattern. You add an ending to the infinitive according to the subject.
- Yo -é (comeré - I will eat)
- Tú -ás (comerás - you will eat)
- Él -á (comerá - he will eat)
- Nosotros -emos (comeremos - we will eat)
- Vosotros - éis (comeréis - you will eat)
- Ellos -án (comerán - they will eat)
There are 12 irregular verbs in this tense, like tener (to have) - tendré (I will have) and poner (to put) - pondrás (you will put).
https://twitter.com/EdLatimore/status/1215626691378208770
Prepositions
Here are some common Spanish prepositions. You can check Wikipedia for a longer list.
- A (to)
- Ante (before)
- Alrededor (around)
- Bajo (under)
- Con (with)
- Contra (against)
- De (from, of, with)
- Desde (from)
- En (in, by)
- Entre (between)
- Encima (above)
- Frente (in front)
- Fuera (outside)
- Hacia (towards)
- Hasta (until)
- Por (for, by, through, because of)
- Detrás (behind)
- Según (according to)
- Sin (without)
- Sobre (about, on, over)
- Para (for, to)
Vocabulary
Spanish and English share many recognizable words, even when they sound different.
Pareto's principle applies here, a relatively small set of common words can help you navigate many everyday conversations.
Here is a list of common words to get started:
- Hola (hello)
- ¿Cómo estás? (how are you?)
- Me llamo (my name is)
- Buenos días (good morning)
- ¿Qué tal? (what's up?)
- Sí (yes)
- No (no)
- Tal vez (maybe)
- Siempre (always)
- Nunca (never)
- No lo sé (I don't know)
- ¿Qué hora es? (what's the time?)
- Feliz cumpleaños (happy birthday)
- Buen provecho (enjoy your meal)
- Bienvenido (welcome)
- Adiós (goodbye)
- Hasta luego (see you later)
- Buen viaje (have a good trip)
- Salud (cheers)
- Bien (good)
- Mal (bad)
- Derecha (right)
- Izquierda (left)
- Aquí (here)
- Gracias (thank you)
- De nada (you're welcome)
- Por favor (please)
- Todo (all)
- Tiempo (time/weather)
Quirks
- Spanish developed from varieties of Vulgar Latin and has more than 4,000 words with Arabic influences because of the Al-Andalus era, like hasta (until), ojalá (I hope) and aceite (oil).
- Spanish has a lot of subtlety in it. The subjunctive grammatical mood is used to express various states of unreality such as wish, emotion, possibility, judgement, opinion, obligation or action that has not yet occurred. Other languages use this mood differently or less often. E.g. quiero que sepas (I want you to know) uses the subjunctive mood because it expresses a wish about what another person will know.
- Spanish offers several ways to say “maybe,” each with its own nuance, like tal vez, a lo mejor, puede ser, quizás and es posible. Native speakers use them in different ways, which can be confusing at first.
- Combined with the past tenses, the subjunctive gives speakers many ways to express uncertainty and perspective.
- A noun’s grammatical gender affects many other words in its sentence. Number matters too: several words change between singular and plural. E.g. El chico lindo camina en la calle (the nice boy walks on the street), la chica linda camina en la calle (the nice girl walks on the street), los chicos lindos caminan en la calle (the nice boys walk in the street), las chicas lindas caminan en la calle (the nice girls walk in the street); subject, adjective and verb all change.
- Spanish varies widely, particularly between Spain and Latin America. Beginners can still learn a common foundation before focusing on regional differences.