You Too Can Learn Spanish

8/2/2019 You Too Can Learn Spanish

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You too can learn Spanish!Disclaimer

This page is being provided by me, Tyler Jones, to hopefully be of value to people using theWeb.

Introduction

My name is Tyler Jones, and I will be your instructor of basic Spanish for this Web-course. I dnot purport to know everything about Spanish, or its dialects, but I do know enough to be givithese basic lessons.

I will introduce the new words, along with definitions and also audio clips of what the wordsshould sound like. Click on the word in the "This Week's New Words" section to hear the wordspoken.

Lesson 1

This Week's New Words:

adis - goodbye bien - good, well l - he, him ella - she, her ellas - they (female)

ellos - they (male) hola - hello gracias - thank you lo siento - I'm sorry nosotros - us, we (plural) seor - sir, mister seora - madame seorita - miss t - you (informal) usted - you (formal) ustedes - you (plural, formal) yo - I

Numbers 1-10

0 cero 1 uno 2 dos
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3 tres 4 cuatro 5 cinco 6 seis 7 siete 8 ocho 9 nueve 10 diez

Pronunciation

The Spanish alphabet is fairly similar to our own (English, or depending on where you're fromAmerican). Each lesson will explain a few more letters. This week, I'll explain the interestingletters (or combinations thereof) from this week's words (above).ll

Thell in Spanish is always pronounced like the English y in yes . Thus, the Spanish wordella (she, her) is pronounced likeeh-ya . The is the same sound as theny pair in the wordcanyon . Thus,seor is pronounced likesen-yor .

h The Spanishh is always silent. Thus,hola is pronouncedola (as incola without the c).

a, e, i, o, u The Spanish vowels each have only one sound, regardless of what letters they precede ofollow, or accent marks on the vowel. Thea is always pronounced as in the English wordcar . Thee has the sound of the e inbed . The Spanishi is the same as the English long eor ee as insee . Theo is always pronounced as the o in the wordcold . The Spanishu hasthe sound of the Englishoo as intoo or the Englishue as inblue .r As opposed to the English r, which is formed in the back of the mouth with the back of the tongue, the Spanishr is formed using the tip of the tongue on the upper palatte,behind the front teeth, more like the Englishd .

Being the first lesson, this week you're just learning some of the basics. The main emphasis is pronouns ( yo, usted ) andnumbers (cero throughdiez ). Also, you're being introduced to some of the most common greeting and short phrases, such ashola ("hello") andlo siento ("I'm sorry").

Without knowing any verbs, there aren't many sentences to be made with the words we have, bhere are some (short) examples with what we know:

Hola, seorita. - Hello, miss. Lo siento, seor. - I'm sorry, sir.And yes, that's about all we can do right now, but these are still good examples of Spanishgrammatical structure. Notice how similar the above sentences are to English -hola comes first,and then the subject,seorita . You can form the same kinds of sentences usingadis and
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gracias , andseora , in addition to the example sentences above.However, you can't make asentence like this:

Hola, usted. What the above sentence literally says is "hello, you", and while it may be possible to think oftimes in English when you might say that, in Spanish the sentence is meaningless, and people

willlook at you funny if you say Hola ustedes! in the middle of a group of Spanish-speakingpeople.

Numbers.Numbers, as you should all know, are important. That's why I've included some in thfirst lesson. For the moment, you only know the numbers between 0 (cero ) and 10 (diez ), but thatwill change. What can you do with the numberscero throughdiez? Count your toes!Uno, dos,tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez. . Recite your phone number!cinco, cinco, cinco,ocho, seis, cero, dos (555-8602). Tell someone how many sisters you have (dos ). What youcan't do with the numberscero throughdiez is make numbers bigger thandiez by stringing themtogether. Dos cero is not the same as 20, although if you were in a pinch, you might be able tomake someone understand that 20 was what you meant. Don't worry, we'll get to the rest of the

numbers (1-1000) in the next few lessons.Pronouns.Pronouns ( yo, t, usted, l, ella, nosotros, ustedes, ellos, andellas ) aren't anythingthat you can actuallyuse yet, because I haven't given you any verbs. But as we progress,pronouns will be very important, so I'm introducing them now. The Spanish pronouns are usedalmost always exactly the same way they are in English. In English, you would say

I went to the store.In Spanish, you would just substitute yo for I in the sentence above (we'll pretend that the rest of the sentence is really in Spanish) and end up withYo went to the store.

Trust me, how one uses these pronouns will make much more sense when we learn some verbLearning any foreign language requires alot of memorization, and unfortunately this course isno different. One thing that I find helpful is to mix in Spanish words in my everyday English, long as the situation can handle it (i.e. don't start calling the businesspeople in your boardmeetingustedes next time you get together). So try and memorize the new words for this lessonand how to pronounce them. Now, you can return to the Spanish Lessons Homepage.

Tyler Jones, 4-15-94Copyright Tyler Jones 1994.

Spanish Lesson 2Welcome to the second installment of my Web-course in Spanish. If this is your first time visiting theSpanish Lessons, be sure to check out the first Lesson for an introduction to the course and to Spanish.Aiding me with Lesson 2 is Jennifer Chambers, also of Willamette University.

Lesson 2 now has audio! It's a different form than lesson 1 - instead of getting apronunciation of a particular word, you select the audio clip that accompanies a particular
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section (such as the Nouns or the Colors). It's a much larger audio clip to download, butshould be simpler to use once it has been transferred.

Lesson 2 - La Casa (the house)

This week's new words:Click here to hear these words spoken NOUNS

la casa - house

la cocina - kitchen

el cuarto - room

el cuarto de bao - bathroom

la mesa - table

la pared - wall

la puerta - door

la silla - chair

el telfono - telephone

la televisin - television

la ventana - window

VERBS

estar - to be

ser - to be

PREPOSITIONS

de - from (or belonging to)

en - in (something)

ADJECTIVES

antiptico(-a) - unpleasant
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bonito(-a) - pretty

bueno(-a) - good/well

cmodo(-a) - comfortable

contento(-a) - happy/glad

enfermo(-a) - sick, ill

feo(-a) - ugly

grande - big

limpio(-a) - clean

malo(-a) - bad

nervioso(-a) - nervous

simptico(-a) - pleasant, nice

sucio(-a) - dirty

tranquilo(-a) - calm

viejo(-a) - old

Numbers 11-99

Click here to hear these numbers spoken

11 once

12 doce

13 trece

14 catorce

15 quince

16 diecisis

17 diecisiete

18 dieciocho

19 diecinueve


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20 veinte

21 veintiuno

22 veintids

23 veintitrs

24 veinticuatro

25 veinticinco

26 veintisis

27 veintisiete

28 veintiocho

29 veintinueve

30 treinta

40 cuarenta

50 cincuenta

60 sesenta

70 setenta

80 ochenta

90 noventa

Colors

Click here to hear these colors spoken

blanco(-a) - white

amarillo(-a) - yellow

anaranjado(-a) - orange

rosado(-a) - pink

rojo(-a) - red


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azul - blue

verde - green

caf, marrn - brown

gris - grey

negro(-a) - black

Pronunciation

Most of the Spanish alphabet is exactly like the English alphabet. Here are some exceptions from wordsin this lesson.

c

The Spanish c has 2 possible sounds, just like English. It can sound like the s in some , or like the k in kite. Unlike English, there are very strict rules about when the Spanish c sounds like an s or ak. If the c precedes (comes before) an e or an i, the c will have an s sound. For example, once. If the c precedes any other letter (a, o, u, or a consonant), then it will have a k sound, as in cuarto .The word cocina has both types of c in it - the first c makes the k sound, and the second c makesthe s sound.

j

The Spanish j has no exact English equivalent. It is like a strong English h as in happy , madefurther back in the throat and with more sound, much like one were clearing their throat. Listento the pronunciations for rojo, anaranjada , and viejoabove.

rr

In Lesson 1 you learned how to pronounce the Spanish r . The Spanish rr is pronounceddifferently than the single r - it is made by rolling the r on the upper palate, to produce a quickseries of the Spanish r sounds. If a single r occurs at the beginning of a word (as in rojo), it ispronounced as a double-r ( rr ). Otherwise, only the rr is pronounced this way, as in marrn . If you are old enough, you might remember the "R-r-r-r-ruffles have r-r-r-r-r-ridges" commercials -this is the sound you are trying to make. It takes practice to do it well.

v

The Spanish v is very short and quick, and almost sounds like the English b in bed . It is neverdrawn out like the English word very .

z


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The Spanish z is pronounced as an s, or an s-sounding c. Thus, azul is pronounced like"assule"(one word). In Spain, the z is pronounced like the English th in this. Azul would bepronounced "ath-ule". Use whichever pronunciation you prefer.

Two confusing verbs - ser and estar

If you have already read the New Words section, you probably noticed that the two verbs introducedthis week both mean the same thing - to be, or to exist. These are two of the most confusing verbs forpeople learning Spanish, because there is a difference between when you use ser, and when you useestar. Hopefully, introducing them now and practicing them throughout the rest of the lessons will makethem a little bit easier to comprehend.

Verb Conjugation

As in English, verbs are conjugated, or take various forms, in Spanish. In the present tense, there are 6

verb forms, depending on who the subject of the verb is. Here are the conjugations for ser and estar :

ser - to be

yo soy ("I am")

t eres ("you are")

usted/l/ella es ("you (formal)/he/she is")

nosotros somos ("we are")

*vosotros sois ("you (familiar plural) are")

ustedes/ellos/ellas son ("you (formal plural)/they (male)/they (female) are")

estar - to be

yo estoy ("I am")

t ests ("you are")

usted/l/ella est ("you (formal)/he/she is")

nosotros estamos ("we are")

*vosotros estis ("you (familiar plural) are")

ustedes/ellos/ellas estn ("you (formal plural)/they (male)/they (female) are")

Audio of conjugations of ser and estar .
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Note that the conjugations forusted (you),l (he), andella (she) use the same form of the verb.The same goes for their plurals (though the singular and the plural use different forms).

* - thevosotros form is shown only to describe all 6 conjugations forser andestar . Vosotros isthe familiar plural form of t , and is not used in Latin America. Because my own instructors

have ignored thevosotros forms of verbs, I do not use that verb form myself, and will not use itin examples. I will include it with all verb conjugations for those who are interested, however.

Now that you have this pretty little conjugation, what does one do with it? Make sentences, ofcourse. The conjugation of a verb tells you which form of the verb to use depending on who isthe subject of the verb. In English we conjugate without thinking about it - I am, you are, he isetc. You don't (normally) say "I are" or "you is", because it's gramatically incorrect. Likewise Spanish, you don't say " yo eres ", because it's just plain wrong. Here are some examples of usingser andestar :

Yo soy viejo. ("I am old.")

T eres bonita. ("You are pretty.")

Nosotros estamos nerviosos. ("We are nervous.")

Ella est en la silla. ("She is in the chair.")

Ellos estn sucios. ("They (the males) are dirty.")

Now it's time to explain the differences between ser and estar , before we go any further. While bothverbs mean "to be" or "to exist", there are very distinct rules as to when you use one or the other. Therules are summarized here:

ser is used to indicate more permanent aspects of people or things, such as -

1. Identity - Yo soy Carla.("I am Carla")2. Profession - l es un profesor. ("He is a teacher.")3. Origin - Nosotros somos de Costa Rica.("We are from Costa Rica.")4. Religious or political affiliation - T eres catlico? ("You are Catholic?")5. Time of day or date - Son las ocho. ("It is 8 o 'clock.")6. Posession - La casa es de Juana. ("It is Juana's house.")7. Nationality - Soy de Mxico.("I am from Mexico.")8. Physical aspects or characteristics of something - Las sillas son verdes.("The chairs are green.")9. Essential qualities of something or someone - Soy viejo. Eres antiptico.("I am old. You are

unpleasant.")

estar is used to indicate more temporary aspects of people or things, such as -

1. Location - La silla est en la cocina.("The chair is in the kitchen.")2. Condition or emotion that is subject to change - Estoy enfermo. ("I am sick.")


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3. Personal observations or reactions, how something "seems" or "feels" - La cocina est limpia. ("The kitchen is (seems) clean.")

Notes: Notice that the verb form used for things like la silla is the l/ella/usted form. A chair is an "it"(below, you'll see that it's actually a "she"), which uses the el/ella/usted form of the verb. Also notice

that you can make sentences like Soy de Mxico, without including the pronoun. To English speakers thismay seem like saying "Am from Mexico", which we would never do, but in Spanish, because the subjectcan be figured out by the form of the verb used (since the sentence used soy , the subject must be yo, orI), there is no confusion about who the subject of the sentence is and the pronoun can be left out. If itwould be unclear what the subject of the sentence is, then the pronoun has to be included.

The above lists of when to useser andestar have to be memorized - using them incorrectlymeans you will be less likely to be understood, and people will definitely know you are not anative speaker. The same goes for the conjugations of ser andestar . Every Spanish verb has aconjugation, and memorizing them just goes along with learning the language.

El, la, un and una (definite and indefinite articles)

In Spanish, as well as all the other Romance languages (French, Italian, etc), all nouns have a genderassociated with them. "Chair" is feminine, "telephone" is masculine. The way to tell whether a noun ismasculine or feminine is to look at the el or la that precedes the noun in the New Words section of these lessons. El (differing than l , which means "he", by the accent mark over the "e") is the definitearticle that corresponds to masculine nouns - el cuarto, el telfono . La is the definite article thatcorresponds to feminine nouns - la casa, la mesa, la ventana . Whether a noun is considered feminine ormasculine is generally based on the last letter of the noun. If the noun ends with an "a", as in sillaorcocina, or with "-sin" ( televisin), "-cin", "-tad", "-dad", or "-umbre", then it is probably a femininenoun. If it ends with an "o" or a consonant, such as cuarto or reloj (wristwatch), then it is probably amasculine noun. Exceptions do exist to this rule - mapa (map) is masculine, and pared (wall) is feminine -but the majority of Spanish nouns behave normally. The exceptions just have to be memorized as youcome across them.

When using nouns, you must make sure that you use the correct gender and number when usinan identifier. The identifiers areel, la, los, las, un, una, unos, andunas . El andla are singulardefinite articles, which means you are talking about a specific thing. La silla means "the chair" -you are talking about a specific chair.Un anduna are singular indefinite articles, which meansyou are taking about any member of a group of things.Una silla means "a chair" - you are

talking about any chair in general. The use of these identifiers is identical to the way you woulsay it in English - if you want to say "a table", useuna , and if you want to say "the table", usela . Los is the plural of el, andlas is the plural of la . You use these plural definite articles when youare talking about several specific members of a group -las mesas means "the tables".Unos andunas are plural forms of un anduna , respectively, and translate to "some" when used insentences -unas mesas means "some tables". These are plural indefinite articles, which meansthey don't refer to any specific objects but to a class of them, such as tables or chairs.


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Here are some examples using these 8 articles:

Los cuartos son grandes. ("The rooms are big.")

Unas sillas estn en la cocina. ("Some chairs are in the kitchen.")

El telfono es verde. ("The telephone is green.")

La pared es fea. ("The wall is ugly.")

De and en

De is Spanish for of or from. La casa de Theresa means "Theresa's house" (literally, "the house of Theresa"). Soy de Mexicomeans "I am from Mexico". De is used most often to show possession ororigin, as per the preceding examples. When de is followed by an el , as in la casa de el profesor , the de and el are combined into del . So the correct way to say "The (male) teacher's house" would be la casa

del profesor .

En is Spanish for in, as in inside something (not necessarily inside a physical object). It can beused to mean that something is inside something else, as inla silla est en la cocina ("the chair isin the kitchen"), or that someone is somewhere, Marcos est en Espaa ("Mark is in Spain").

Adjectives

Agreement

Adjectives are words that describe things, words like "red", "fast", and "pretty". In English, there isn'tmuch to using adjectives because they never change - "the fast car" or "the cars are fast". In Spanish, theadjective has to agree, in both gender and number, with whatever it is describing. If the adjectivemodifies a feminine noun, then the adjective uses a feminine ending. If the adjective modifies amasculine plural noun, then the adjective uses a masculine plural ending. Here are some adjectives withtheir various endings:

bonito - pretty

singular masculine - bonito

singular feminine - bonita

plural masculine - bonitos

plural feminine - bonitas

cmodo - comfortable

singular masculine - cmodo


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singular feminine - cmoda plural masculine - cmodos plural feminine - cmodas

feo - ugly

singular masculine - feo singular feminine - fea plural masculine - feos plural feminine - feas

sucio - dirty

singular masculine - sucio singular feminine - sucia plural masculine - sucios plural feminine - sucias

blanco - white

singular masculine - blanco singular feminine - blanca plural masculine - blancos plural feminine - blancas

negro - black

singular masculine - negro singular feminine - negra

plural masculine - negros plural feminine - negras

The above rules are good for any adjective that ends in an -o or -a. Adjectives like azul and verde, thatend in a consonant or an -e, do not have separate masculine and feminine forms. So, you would say el cuarto es azul ("the room is blue"), and la casa es azul ("the house is blue"), as well as las sillas sonazules ("the chairs are blue"). There are exceptions to this rule, but that will be addressed in anotherlesson.

Placement of adjectives

In Spanish, adjectives generally go after the noun they are describing. For example, el telfono rojo ("thered telephone"), and las profesoras viejas ("the old (female) professors"). If you want to say that"something is something", then the sentence structure is the same as in English, using the correct formsof ser or estar : el telfono es rojo ("the telephone is red"); las profesoras son viejas ("the (female)professors are old").


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Numbers 11-99

The numbers 11-15, like the numbers 1-10 in Lesson 1, have irregular forms - memorize them. From 16on, however, numbers start following some patterns, much like they do in English. Sixteen is diecisis,which is actually a contraction (shortening) of diez y seis, or "10 and 6". Seventeen is diecisiete, or "10

and 7", and so on. Much like the "teens" in English - fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, etc.

Twenty in Spanish isveinte . Twenty-one isveintiuno (a contraction of veinte y uno or "twentyand one"), 22 isveintids ("twenty and two"), and so on. Twenty (veinte ) is the only number thatallows this contraction. Starting at thirty (treinta ), all numbers are made by combining the 10'sand the 1's words via y, like this: 31 istreinta y uno , 38 istreinta y ocho (literally "thirty and 8").This pattern holds for all of the numbers 31 through 99. Here are some examples:

33 - treinta y tres 45 - cuarenta y cinco 51 - cincuenta y uno 66 - sesenta y seis 72 - setenta y dos 89 - ochenta y nueve 94 - noventa y cuatro

Examples

Here are some examples of sentences you can now make, using the words and grammar from these 2lessons:

Soy de Mxico. Tim est en la cocina. La seorita es bonita. T eres antiptico. La silla es cmoda. San Juan est en Puerto Rico. El profesor viejo est enfermo. El telfono verde es sucio. El cuarto de bao est en la casa. La casa de Mara es anaranjada.

Here are the translations for these sentences.

That's the end of Lesson 2. As always, feel free to mail me questions, comments, or corrections on thisor any of the Lessons. Believe me, I'm starting to get a new appreciation for teachers through my workwith this.

Return to the Spanish Lessons Homepage.
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(FORM)Send a note to Tyler. Tyler Chambers, 6-27-94Copyright Tyler Chambers 1994.

Introduction

The emphasis for this lesson is school, either gradeschool, secondary school, or at a universityand what you do or find there. The numbers from 100 to 999999 are covered, regular -ar verbconjugation is introduced, you'll learn some question-and-answer words, and you'll find out hoto tell time in Spanish.

If you're new to the Spanish lessons, you might want to check out the first 2 lessons at theSpanish Lessons Homepage.

Spanish Lesson 3 -en la escuela (at school)

This week's new words:NOUNS Click here to hear these words spoken

la biblioteca(bib-lee-o-tek-a) - library la biologa(bee-o-lo-ghee-a)1 - biology el amigo/la amiga(ah-mee-go, ah-mee-ga) - friend el borrador (bor-ra-dor) - chalkboard eraser el cuaderno(kwa-der-no) - notebook la clase(klah-say) - class el diccionario(dik-see-o-nar-eeo) - dictionary el dinero(dee-ner-oh) - money la economa(eeko-nom-eeka)- economics el espaol(es-panyohl) - Spanish el/la estudiante(estoo-dee-ahn-tay) - student el escritorio(eskree-tor-eeo) - desk la escuela(esk-way-la) - school la geografa(geeo-gra-fee-a) - geography la hora (or-a) - hour el ingls(eeng-layss) - English el lpiz(la-peess)- pencil

el libro(lee-bro) - book las matemticas(mat-ay-mat-ee-kass) - math la pgina(pa-ghee-na)1 - page el papel(pah-pel) - paper la pizarra (pee-ssara) - chalkboard la pluma(ploo-ma) - pen el reloj(ray-lojh)2 - clock/watch la sala de clase(sah-la-day-kla-say) - classroom
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102ciento dos 103ciento tres 110ciento diez 120ciento veinte 199ciento noventa y nueve 200doscientos(dohs-see-en-tohs)201doscientos uno 255doscientos cincuenta y cinco 282doscientos ochenta y dos 300trescientos(tray-see-en-tohs)400cuatrocientos(kwa-troh-see-en-tohs)500quinientos(keen-ee-en-tohs)600seiscientos(say-see-en-tohs)700setecientos(set-ay-see-en-tohs)800ochocientos(oh-cho-see-en-tohs)

900novecientos(no-bay-see-en-tohs)1.000mil (mill)1.001mil uno 1.010mil diez 1.100mil cien 1.538mil quinientos treinta y ocho 1.999mil novecientos noventa y nueve 2.000dos mil 3.000tres mil 9.000nueve mil 10.000diez mil 15.000quince mil 27.000veintisiete mil 76.000setenta y seis mil 99.999noventa y nueve mil novecientos noventa y nueve 100.000cien mil 210.005doscientos diez mil cinco 305.111trescientos cinco mil ciento once 500.000quinientos mil 860.789ochocientos sesenta mil setecientos ochenta y nueve 911.222novecientos once mil doscientos veintids

Pronunciation Notes

1. Theg in biologa and pgina is a soft, throatal g sound. It does not have an Englishequivalent, but it is very much like the English h in "help", except made further back inthe throat, like one was softly clearing their throat.

2. The j in reloj andtrabajar is pronounced in a similar manner as theg in Note 1.
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3. There are two very similar-sounding words in this lesson - por qu , and porque . Theaccenton por qu tells you that the stress is on that syllable (qu ). In porque , the stress ison the second-to-last syllable, which is por- ; when speaking, you must make sure youpronounce these words correctly becuase your pronunciation and the context of the worare the only clues others will have about what you are saying.

Regular -ar verbs

All Spanish verbs fall into one of three categories - they either end inar , er , or ir . Within eachcategory, there areregular andirregular verbs. Regular verbs all conjugate with a similarpattern - all the new verbs in this lesson are regular (as you'll see soon). Irregular verbs don'tfollow a pattern, and each verb's conjugation has to be memorized separately - the two verbs ylearned in Lesson 2,ser andestar are irregular.

Here are the new verbs for this lesson:amar , escuchar , estudiar , hablar , necesitar , regresar ,trabajar . These are allregular -ar verbs. Here are the present-tense (present indicative)

conjugations of them all:yohablo ("I speak")t hablas ("you speak")usted, l, ellahabla ("you (formal), he, she speaks")nosotroshablamos("we speak")vosotroshablis ("you (familiar plural) speak")ustedes, ellos, ellashablan ("you (formal plural), they (male), they (female) speak")

Regular verbs are made up of a body (habl ), and a suffix (ar ). To conjugate regular verbs,replace the infinitive suffix (ar , er , ir ) with the correct conjugation suffix from the exampleconjugation forhablar above. For example, takeamar , and conjugate it:

yoamo ("I love")t amas ("you love")usted, l, ellaama ("you (formal), he, she loves")nosotrosamamos("we love")vosotrosamis ("you (familiar plural) love")ustedes, ellos, ellasaman ("you (formal plural), they (male), they (female) love")

Click here to hear the spoken conjugations of hablar andamar

All verbs can be split into a body/suffix pair, but only regular verbs follow these patterns. Therare 3 different regular-verb patterns - one for-ar verbs, one for-ir verbs, and one for-er verbs.(In the next lesson, we'll learn the rules for regular-er and-ir verbs.) In summary, to conjugateany regular-ar verb in the present (present indicative) tense, remove the-ar suffix, and add oneof the following (depending on who is thesubjectof the verb):

yo,-o t, -as usted, l, ella,-a nosotros,-amos
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vosotros,-is ustedes, ellos, ellas,-an

Here are complete conjugations of 2 more verbs from this lesson:trabajar

yo trabajo , t trabajas , usted, l, ella trabaja , nosotros trabajamos , vosotros trabajis ,ustedes, ellos, ellas trabajan regresar

yo regreso , t regresas , usted, l, ella regresa , nosotros regresamos , vosotros regresis ,ustedes, ellos, ellas regresan

Now that we have the conjugation for these regular-ar verbs, we can make sentences with them,like this:

Amo a Tanya. ("I love Tanya") l trabaja en la universidad. ("He works at (in) the university") Nosotros escuchamos a la profesora. ("We listen to the teacher") Ellos estudian a las ocho. ("The men study at 8")

Ellas hablan espaol. ("The women speak Spanish") Yo regreso a la universidad a las tres. ("I return to the university at 3 o'clock") Estudias matemticas? ("Do you study math?") Necesita dinero ella? ("Does she need money?")

A - At or To, and the Personal A

In a few of the sentences above, the prepositiona is used, as in Ellos estudian a las ocho . Thepreposition a translates to the English "at" or "to", depending on the sentence. The preceedingsentence ("ellos estudian... ") is an example of a meaning "at". The sentencenosotros ecuchamosa la profesora is an example of a meaning "to". When thea comes before anel, as innosotrosescuchamos "a el" profesor , thea and theel combine to formal . So the correct way to write thepreceeding sentence is: Nosotros escuchamos al profesor .

Note that the English "at" may translate to eithera or en in Spanish, depending on the sentence. En is usually used to refer to something beingat something else, such asestoy en la universidad - "I'm at the university". A usually refers to a state or condition (sort of) of something, such as "atgreat speed", or when referring to time, such asa la una ("at one o'clock").

In one sentence above,amo a Tanya , thea isn't either of the above two meanings. When a personor name of a place is thedirect objectof a verb (with the exception of the verbtener , "to have"),an a is placed before the object, as inamo a Tanya . This is known as the "personal a", and itis

required. Some more examples of the personal a: La profesora llama a los estudiantes. ("The teacher calls the students") Ella ama a l. ("She loves him")

Numbers 100 to 999.999


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If you've looked at the numbers in the New Words section, you may already have seen somepatterns developing in Spanish numbers. First, the numbers 100, 200, 300, etc., all have a simiform -ciento , doscientos , trescientos ... If you look carefully, and remember the numbers 2through 9, you'll see that each hundred above 100 is just "two hundreds" (doscientos ), "threehundreds" (trescientos ), and so on. There are three exceptions, for pronunciations' sake -

quinientos (500),setecientos (700), andnovecientos . To form numbers in between the hundreds,you use the numbers 1-99 you learned in the last 2 lessons, but add the hundreds on to the fronEleven isonce , 111 isciento once . Three-hundred and twenty istrescientos veinte , and so on.

Mil is Spanish for1.000 . No, this isn't "onepoint zero zero zero zero", this is one-thousand.English uses a comma to separate thousands, millions, etc., in a number. Spanish uses the peri(".") instead. In English, we would expect to see this number: 12,399,100. In Spanish, the samnumber is written: 12.399.100. In much the same way, where English uses the period to denotnumbers between whole numbers (as in "12.99"), Spanish uses a comma ("12,99"), but this wibe discussed in another lesson.

Multiples of 1000 are treated as such - 2000 isdos mil , literally "two thousand". Three thousandis tres mil , and so on. This pattern is the same for thousands up to 999.000 (that's nine-hundredninety-nine thousand), so that 50.000 iscincuenta mil , and 231.000 isdoscientos treinta y unomil . Combining these two rules for numbers, we can read numbers like 123.456 (ciento veintitresmil cuatrocientos cincuenta y seis ) and 784.675 (setecientos ochenta y cuatro mil seiscientossetenta y cinco ). So now, practice saying things like:

The current year. (mil novecientos noventa y tres)How many miles are on your car. (cien mil cuatroscientos treinta y dos)The number of pages in the book you're reading. (trescientos ochenta)The number of CDs and tapes you own. (doscientos cinco)

Your yearly salary. (diez mil)Telling Time

Yo regreso a la universidad a las tres. Telling time in Spanish uses only 2 forms of the verbser :es andson . Spanish for "it is one o'clock" ises la una . Times are always given in the feminineform becausela hora ("hour", or "the time") is feminine. Es la is onlyused if you are talkingabout one o'clock, since "one" is singular. For all other hours, you useson las , as inson las seis ("It's 6 o'clock"). Minutes are expressed as numbers after the hour, using either y or menos torepresent after or before the hour, respectively. At 15 minutes before or after the hour,cuarto ("afourth") is used instead of quince ("fifteen"). Likewise, at 30 minutes after an hour,media ("half") is used instead of treinta ("thirty"). Media is never used withmenos Here are someexapmles:

Es la una y veinte. ("It's twenty after one", literally "it's one and twenty") Son las dos menos diez. ("It's ten before two", literally "it's two minus ten") Son las cuatro y cuarto. ("It's a quarter after four.") Son las cuatro menos cuarto. ("It's a quarter before four.") Son las diez y media. ("It's half past ten.")


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Es la una menos cinco. ("It's five (minutes) to one.")

To say that something is "at" a certain time, usea la or a las :

A qu hora es la clase? ("At what time is the class?")

La clase es a las nueve. ("The class is at 9 o'clock.") La clase es a la una. ("The class is at one o'clock.")

To ask for the time in Spanish, useQu hora es? ("What time is it?"). To ask what timesomething happens at, useA qu hora...? ("At what time...?") as inA qu hora es la clase? , orA qu hora regresas a la universidad? ("What time do you return to the university?").

To differentiate between AM and PM when telling time, Spanish usesde la maana ("in themorning"),de la tarde ("in the afternoon"), andde la noche ("in the night") to describe what timeof day being referred to. So 9 o'clock PM becomesson las nueve de la noche , while 9AM issonlas nueve de la maana , and 5PM isson las cinco de la tarde .

Questions and Question Words

Asking a yes or no question

There are many ways to ask questions in Spanish. The simplest form of a question is to use aregular sentence but either add question marks (when written) or change the inflection (whenspoken). Look at these 2 sentences:

Marisa estudia. ("Marisa studies.") Marisa estudia? ("Does Marisa study?")

When writing a question in Spanish, question marks occur at both the beginning and the end othe question. The beginning question mark is always inverted, i.e. upside-down (), to specifythebeginningof a question. Question marks do not need to surround the entire sentence if theentire sentence is not a question - see the example below. When speaking, you can't draw littlequestion marks to let the other person know you're asking a question, so you must change theinflection of the sentence. A normal Spanish sentence ends on a low inflection, as in "maRIsaesTUdia", with capital letters denoting syllable emphasis. When asking a question, the sentencends with a high inflection, as in "maRIsa estudIA", much the same as English questions.

It is also possible to change the word order when asking a question. Look at these sentences:

Marisa estudia espaol? Estudia Marisa espaol? Estudia espaol Marisa?

All three of these sentences say the same thing, "Is Marisa studying Spanish?" Thesubjectof thesentence, namely Marisa, can be placed at the beginning of the sentence, after the verb, or at thend of the sentence, for questions only. The same rules of inflection apply as above. It is
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important to note that, the second form above (Estudia Marisa espaol? ), with the subject afterthe verb, is the most "question-like", and is the preferred form for asking questions of this kindIn the section above, the proper way to ask "does Marisa study" would beEstudia Marisa?

One other common way of asking a question is to addno? or verdad? ("right?") to the end of a

sentence. So the question above could also be written: Marisa estudia espaol, verdad? ("Marisa is studying Spanish, isn't she?" or "Marisa is studying Spanish, right?").

Question words

All of these questions have implied either a yes or no answer - "Is Marisa studying?", "Is shestudying Spanish?" To ask questions that require more than a yes or no answer, you generallyhave to use a question word. Here is a list of some English question words and their Spanishequivalents:

1. What -qu

2.

Who -quin 3. When -cundo 4. Why - por qu ,5. Which -cul 6. How much -cunto(-a) 7. How many -cuntos(-as) 8. Where -dnde

Each question word, or interrogatve, works similarly to its English counterpart. Perhaps theeasiest way to explain how to use them is through example sentences. Take a look at these:

1.

Quin es Roberto? ("Who is Roberto?")2. Cundo regresa? ("When is s/he returning?")3. Dnde estudia? ("Where does s/he study?")4. Qu hora es? ("What time is it?")5. A qu hora es la clase? ("At what time is the class?")6. Cul es la tarea? ("What is the homework (assignment)?")7. Quin est en la casa? ("Who is in the house?")8. Dnde est el lpiz? ("Where is the pencil?")9. Por qu regresa a la escuela? ("Why do you return to school?")10. En cul universidad estudias? ("At which university do you study?")11. Cuntos estudiantes estan en la clase? ("How many students are in class?")

Notice the similarity between English and Spanish? Try making your own questions bytranslating the following English sentences (note that not all of them need a question word).Type in your answer in the text box after each sentence, then press theTranslationsbutton tocompare what you typed to what the right answers are.(Answers for users without formssupport.)

1. What is in the book?
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2. Where does s/he work?3. Who is it?4. Is it 2 o'clock?

5.

What do you(informal) need?6. Why do you love him?

Test yourself

Here's your chance to see how much you know. All of these sentences you should be able totranslate either from or to Spanish, if you've gone through all three lessons. Type in your answin the text box after each sentence, then press theTranslationsbutton to compare what youtyped to what the right answers are.(Answers for users without forms support.)

English to Spanish

1. Hello, miss, are you in school?2. You're the teacher, aren't you?3. The class is long and difficult.4. Is the television in the kitchen?5. The green chair is big.6. I listen to the teacher in (the) class.7. Are the students unpleasant?

8. The chalkboard is dirty.9. I'm sorry, I don't speak English.10. They're Tim's papers.

Spanish to English

1. Es la tarea difcil?2. Cundo est la clase?3. Hablo ingls y espaol bueno.4. Est ella bonita?5. La sala de clase es grande y limpia.6. Dnde estudias geografa?7. Quin llamas en la cocina?8. Cundo trabaja en la escuela?
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9. Es un libro de matemticas.10. Necesito una pluma azul.

Spanish Lesson 3 copyright Tyler Jones, 1994. Written by Tyler Jones, with help from FernandGarca-Loygorri. Proofreading by Fanny Fierro and Fernando Garca-Loygorri. October 21,1994.

(FORM) Send a note to Tyler

Subject Pronouns

Notes: 1. The written lesson is below.2. Links to quizzes, tests, etc. are to the left.

A verb is an action word.

runsit

eatsinkswimstudy

The main form of a verb is called the infinitive. In English, infinitives include the word "to."

to runto sit

to eatto sinkto swimto study
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The infinitive is the pure form of a verb. The infinitive is like a lump of clay that can be moldeto match the subject of the sentence it is used in:

I speakyou speak

he/she speakswe speakyou-all* speak

they speak

Note:The above forms are calledconjugations of the infinitive "to speak."

Regarding the form"you-all" -- this usage is not considered to be standard English. In standardEnglish, the same word is used for both the singular you and the plural you. That is, each of thfollowing is correct:

You have a tail light out, ma'am.You (kids) have soccer practice at four.

In the first sentence, "you" refers to the singular "ma'am." In the second sentence, "you" refersthe plural "kids." To avoid confusion between you (singular) and you (plural), we will employ

the non-standard English usage "you-all" to indicate you (plural). This will be very beneficial y'all, particularly at the beginning of your studies.

The words "I" "you" "he" "she" "we" "you-all" and "they" are called subject pronouns. Spanishhas corresponding subject pronouns. Here's a list of the English subject pronouns and theirSpanish equivalents:

yo

I

usted

you

l

he


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ella

she

nosotros

we

ustedes

you-all

ellos

they

Spanish subject pronouns are both similar to and different from their English counterparts. Letexamine some of the differences. Look more closely at the English word "you."

You have just seen that this can be translated into Spanish as "usted." But there is also a seconway it can be translated. There are two ways the English word "you" can be expressed inSpanish:

usted

you

t

you

Spanish has a formal and an informal form of the word "you." "Usted" is more formal and isgenerally used to express respect. "T" is more familiar and is used among friends, coworkersrelatives, or when addressing a child.

Speaking to your boss:usted

Speaking to your daughter:t Speaking to your teacher:usted Speaking to your friend:t

usted = you formal

t = you informal (familiar)


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This same distinction with regard to degree of formality occurs in the plural form as well. Whreferring to "you-all," there are two choices in Spanish:

ustedes you-all formal

vosotros you-all familiar

Once again, the difference lies in the degree of formality conveyed by the speaker. However, tvosotros form is used primarily in Spain. Throughout Latin America, "ustedes" is generally usin both formal and informal situations to refer to "you-all."

Speaking to a group of children(in Spain):vosotros

Speaking to a group of children(in Latin America):ustedes

Speaking to a group of strangers(in Spain):ustedes

Speaking to a group of strangers

(in Latin America):ustedes Note:usted can be abbreviatedUd.or Vd. ; ustedes can be abbreviatedUds.or Vds.

In many ways, Spanish is more gender-specific than English. We find evidence of this in thesubject pronouns. First, look at the word "nosotros." This means "we" in the sense of a groupcontaining at least one male. If the group contains only females, the word "nosotras" is used. Sin Spanish, there are two ways to say "we":

nosotros we (masculine or mixed group)

nosotras we (feminine)


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This same idea applies to the English word "they":

ellos they (masculine or mixed group)

ellas they (feminine)

This same idea also applies to the "vosotros" form:

vosotros you-all familiar (masculine or mixed group)

vosotras

you-all familiar (feminine)Note:These forms are used primarily in Spain, not Latin America.

Finally, don't get confused over the difference between talkingto a group or talkingabout agroup. Consider the following statement, which could have been made by your Spanish teachewhile standing before the class:

"You-all need to study your Spanish. Those students in the other class don't need to study

Spanish. They are studying French. You-all can practice Spanish in Spain. They can practiceFrench in France."

The teacher is talking to the Spanish students and about the French students.

Talking to a group, use "you-all":

ustedesvosotrosvosotras Talking about a group, use "they":

ellosellas


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Here's the complete list of Spanish subject pronouns:

Singular

yo - I

t - you (familiar)l - heella - sheusted - you (formal)

Plural

nosotros

we (masculine or mixed gender)

nosotras

we (feminine)

vosotros

you-all (familiar, Spain, masculine or mixed gender)

vosotras

you-all (familiar, Spain, feminine)

ellos

they (masculine or mixed gender)

ellas

they (feminine)

ustedes

you-all (formal in Spain, formal and familiar in Latin America)

Regular Verbs: Part I

Notes:

1. The written lesson is below.2. Links to quizzes, tests, etc. are to the left.


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All Spanish verbs are either "regular" or "irregular." In this lesson we will look at threecompletely regular verbs:

hablar (to speak)comer(to eat)vivir(to live)

Notice the last two letters of each verb.

hablar (to speak)comer (to eat)vivir (to live)

There are three categories of verbs:

-ar verbs (like hablar)-er verbs (like comer)-ir verbs (like vivir)

All three categories are infinitives. You will recall from a previous lesson that infinitives are thbase form of the verb, equivalent in English to: to speak, to eat, to live, etc. In Spanish, allinfinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir.

-ar verb hablar (to speak)

-er verb comer (to eat)

-ir verb vivir (to live)

Remember what it means to conjugate a verb:

to speak


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I speakyou speakhe speaksshe speakswe speak

you-all speakthey speak

In this lesson, you will learn to conjugate our model verbs for I, you (formal), we, and you-all(formal).

hablar - to speak

yo hablo

I speak

usted habla

you speak

nosotros/as hablamos

we speak

ustedes hablan

you-all speak

comer - to eat

yo como

I eat

usted come

you eat

nosotros/as comemos

we eat


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ustedes comen

you-all eat

vivir - to live

yo vivo

I live

usted vive

you live

nosotros/as vivimos

we live

ustedes viven

you-all live

Look for a pattern in the yo form.

yo habloyo comoyo vivo

If the subject is I (yo), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -o.

yo hablo(hablar - ar + o = hablo) yo como(comer - er + o = como) yo vivo(vivir - ir + o = vivo)

Look for a pattern in the usted form.

usted hablausted comeusted vive


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If the subject is you formal (usted) drop the ending and add either -a or -e. If the verb is an -arverb, add -a. If it is an -er or -ir verb, add -e.

usted habla(hablar - ar + a = habla) usted come(comer - er + e = come) usted vive(vivir - ir + e = vive)

Look for a pattern in the nosotros/as form.

nosotros/as hablamosnosotros/as comemosnosotros/as vivimos

If the subject is we (nosotros/as), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -amos, -emos, or -imos.

Notice that the ending of the infinitive determines which is used: -ar verbs add -amos, -er verbadd -emos, -ir verbs add -imos.

nosotros/as hablamos(hablar - ar + amos = hablamos)

nosotros/as comemos(comer - er + emos = comemos)

nosotros/as vivimos(vivir - ir + imos = vivimos)

Look for a pattern in the ustedes form.

ustedes hablanustedes comenustedes viven

If the subject is you-all (ustedes), conjugate by dropping the ending and add -an or -en. If theverb is an -ar verb, add -an. If it is an -er or an -ir verb, add -en.


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ustedes hablan(hablar - ar + an = hablan)

ustedes comen(comer - er + en = comen)

ustedes viven(vivir - ir + en = viven)

Present tense (indicative) in Spanish means three things.

1. Yo hablo ingls:

I speak English.

I do speak English.I am speaking English.

2. Yo como pan:

I eat bread.I do eat bread.I am eating bread.

3. Yo vivo en Buenos Aires:

I live in Buenos Aires.

I do live in Buenos Aires.I am living in Buenos Aires.

It is vital that you continue with your collection of verb flashcards. This will be your key tosuccess in mastering the Spanish verbs. Continue by creating 4 additional cards, writing thewords inboldon one side and the conjugations on the other side:

Verb FlashcardsComplete List Present Indicative

I speakI do speakI am speaking
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hablar (to speak)

hablohablahablamos

hablancomer (to eat)

comocomecomemoscomen

vivir (to live)

vivovivevivimosviven

Spanish Demonstrative Pronouns ~ Pronombresdemostrativos

Demonstrative pronouns(this one, that one, the one[s], these, those) refer to apreviously-mentioned nounin a sentence.

Spanish demonstrative pronouns are more complicated than their English counterparts, becausthere are different sets and because they must agree in gender and number with the noun theyreplace.

The three sets of Spanish demonstrative pronouns areste(this one - something near thespeaker),se(that one - something near the listener), andaqul (those - something far from boththe speaker and listener). Note that Spanish demonstrative pronouns are the same asdemonstrative adjectives with the addition of an accent over the stressed vowel. There is also aneuter demonstrative pronoun in each set, which does not have an accent.

this that that masculin singularste se aqul feminine singularsta sa aqulla masculin plural stos sos aqullos feminine plural stas sas aqullas neuter esto eso aquello
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Demonstrative pronouns are used to replace a demonstrative adjective + noun, or simply referback to a previously-mentioned/implied noun without repeating its name.

For example...

Qu chica lo hizo, sta o sa? Which girl did it, this one or that one?Estoy leyendo so. I'm reading this (one).Quiero mirar esta pelcula, no megusta aqulla.

I want to see this movie; I don't like that one.

Todos los perros son lindos, peroprefiero ste.

All the dogs are cute, but I prefer this one.

stos son ms caros que sos. These are more expensive than those.

ste can mean "latter," while aqul can mean "former."Lus y Ana van a ayudarnos. Aqul yaest aqu, y sta llegar a las dos.

Lus and Ana are going to help up. The former (Lus) isalready here, and the latter (Ana) will arrive at 2 o'clock.

Neuter pronouns / Indefinite demonstrative pronouns Neuter pronouns, also known as indefinite demonstrative pronouns, refer to unspecified orunknown nouns, situations, and ideas. Note that these never have an accent.Qu es esto? What is this?

Eso es imposible. That is impossible.Por eso, no puedo hacerlo. Therefore (because of that), I can't do it.Aquello no es necesario. That's not necessary.

Each set of Spanish demonstrative pronouns corresponds with a different place word:

ste aqu - herese ah - thereaqul all - over there

panish Indefinite Pronouns ~ Pronombres indefinidos


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Spanishindefinite pronouns, sometimes called affirmative indefinite pronouns, are unspecificand are used in place of nouns. They can be thesubjectof a sentence, theobjectof a verb, or theobject of apreposition.

Todo el mundo est aqu. Everyone is here.

Compr algo. He bought something.Tengo un regalo para alguien. I have a gift for someone.

The Spanishindefinite pronounsare

Notes algo something 1alguien someone 1alguno, alguna a certain one 1, 2algunos, algunas some, a few 2, 3cada uno each one 1, 2, 3cualquiera anyone, whoever 1mucho(a)(s) a lot, much, many 3un otro, una otra another one 1, 2otros, otras others 2s (mismo, misma) one(self) 4todo everything 1todo el mundo everyone 1uno one 1, 3, 5varios, varias some, several 2, 3

Notes:

1 These pronouns take thethird person singularform of the verb.

Todo est bien? Is everything ok?Alguien debe saber. Someone must know.

2 These pronouns must always have anantecedent(something they refer to in the same or apreceding sentence).Perd mi pluma, entonces tengo que comprar una I lost my pen, so I have to buy another
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otra. one.

Tiene 50 libros y quiero leer cada uno. He has 50 books and I want to read eachone.

3 These pronouns can be modified withde + ellos, ellas, nosotros, vosotros, Uds., or anoun.Uno de vosotros tiene que ayudarme. One of you has to help me.Algunos de los estudiantes estn aqu. Some of the students are here.

4 S is the indefinite reflexive prepositional pronoun.

5 Uno is the indefinite subject pronoun.

Spanish Interrogative Pronouns ~ Pronombres interrogativos ~ Quin Qu CulCunto Dnde

Quin, qu, cul, cunto, anddndeare Spanishinterrogative pronouns. A pronoun is a wordthat replaces a noun, and interrogative means questioning, so interrogative pronouns arepronouns used to ask the questions who, what, which, how much/many, and where. Note that of these words have accents.

Quinmeanswhoorwhom; it is used when asking about people. It has the plural formquines.

Quin est aqu? Who is here?Quin viene conmigo? Who's coming with me?Quines han ganado? Who won?

Quincan also follow a preposition.

A quin hablis? To whom are you speaking?De quin es este libro? Whose book is this?

Qu meanswhat and is used to refer to ideas or things.

Qu quiere? What does he want?
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Qu piensas del libro? What do you think of the book?Qu es eso? What is this?

Cul meanswhat orwhich- it is used when distinguishing between two or more things. It has

the plural formcules.

Cul quieres - la pluma o el lpiz? Which do you want - the pen or the pencil?Hay muchas ideas. Cules prefieres? There are a lot of ideas. Which ones do you prefer?

Cunto meanshow muchand its pluralcuntosmeanshow many.Tienes dinero? Cunto? Do you have any money? How much?Cuntos estn en el coche? How many are in the car?

Dndemeanswhere.Dnde vives? Where do you live?Dnde ests? Where are you?

Spanish Negative Pronouns ~ Pronombres negativos

Spanishnegative pronouns, sometimes calledindefinite negative pronouns, negate, refuse, orcast doubt on the existence of the noun that they replace.

Nadie lo quiere. No one wants it.No vi nada. I didn't see anything.Ninguno de los libros me interesa. None of the books interests me.

The Spanishnegative pronounsare:

(no...) ninguno(de) none (of), not any (of)(no...) nadie no one(no...) nada

nothing, not... anything

Negative pronouns have one or two parts, depending on their placement in the sentence: beforthe verb (as thesubject), Spanish negative pronouns are one part, while after the verb (as thedirect or indirect object), they have two parts.

Nadie lo quiere. No one wants it.


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No vi a nadie. I didn't see anyone.

Nada va a pasar. Nothing is going to happen.

No hay nada en el coche. There's nothing in the car.

Ninguno de los libros me interesa. None of the books interests me.No tengo ninguna de la ropa. I don't have any of the clothes.

Note thatningunochanges to agree with the noun that it modifies:

singular pluralmasculine ninguno ningunos feminine ninguna ningunas

Pronombres posesivos ~ Spanish Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronounsare the words which replace nouns modified by possessive adjectives. InSpanish there are different forms of possessive pronouns depending on whether the noun ismasculine or feminine, singular or plural.

Masculine Feminine

mine el molos mos la malas mas yours (t) el tuyo

los tuyos la tuyalas tuyas

his/hers/its/yours (Ud.)el suyolos suyos

la suyalas suyas

ours el nuestrolos nuestros

la nuestralas nuestras

yours (vosotros) el vuestrolos vuestros

la vuestralas vuestras

theirs/yours (Uds.) el suyolos suyos

la suyalas suyas

Note that the Spanish possessive pronouns for third person singular (l, ella, Ud.) and plural(ellos, Uds.) are identical.
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There are two important things to know about Spanish possessive pronouns:

1. The possessive pronoun must match the noun being replaced ingenderandnumber.2. The appropriate definite article must be used.

Otherwise, Spanish and English possessive pronouns are very similar.Mi hermano est aqu; dnde est el tuyo? My brother is here; where's yours?Me gustan mis libros y ella prefiere los suyos. I like my books and she prefers hers.Tus ideas son buenas, pero las mas son mejores. Your ideas are good, but mine are better.Estas plumas, son las vuestras o las nuestras? These pens, are they yours or ours?

When the masculine singular possessive pronoun is preceded by the preposition a orde, theprepositioncontractswith the definite article (el):

Habla a tu padre; yo hablar al mo. Talk to your dad; I'll talk to mine.l disfruta de su curso, pero yo no disfruto delmo.

He's enjoying his class, but I'm not enjoyingmine.

Note that Spanish possessive pronouns are identical to stressed form possessive adjectives, buttheir usage is different: possessive pronouns replace nouns, while possessive adjectives modifnouns.

There is also a neuter possessive pronoun which is used when the possessed thing is abstract o

unspecific, in the sense of one's part, share, things, task, etc.The Spanish neuter possessive pronoun is formed with the neuter article lo plus the masculinesingular possessive pronoun (mo, to, suyo, nuestro, vuestro).

No quieren lo mo? Don't you want mine (my work, my share...)?Perdi lo suyo. He lost his (his stuff, his things).Cunto es lo nuestro? How much is ours (our share)?Pronombres sujetos - Spanish Subject Pronouns

Thesubjectof a sentence is the person or thing which performs the action.Subject pronouns replace this person or thing. You must understandsubject pronounsbefore you beginconjugating Spanish verbs, as the form of verbs changes for each one.

Spanish is what linguists call a "pro-drop" language, which simply means that the pronoun canbe dropped. It's not necessary for comprehension, the way it is in English, because the subject
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the verb is evident from the conjugated verb. "I go" can be translated by "yo voy" or simply"voy" (from the verb ir - to go).

Pronombres de sujeto

Singular Plural

1st person yo 1 I nosotros nosotras 5

we

2nd person t you 2 vosotros vosotras 5

you 2

3rd person l ella

he, it 3 she, it 3

ellos ellas 5

they

Ud. 4 you 2 Uds. 4 you 2

Notes

1.

Yo is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, unlike its English counterpartI. It ispronounced differently in Argentina.

2. There are four words foryou in Spanish.

singular plural

familiar t vosotros

formal Ud. Uds.

3. Vosotrosis used only in Spain. In Latin America,Uds. is the only plural "you," used torefer to both familiar and formal groups. The formal "yous" are used to show respect orindicate the the person is unknown to the speaker. In Argentina and some other Spanishspeaking countries, there is an additional pronoun: vos.

4. In Latin America, since all Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, the 3rdperson subject pronouns which correspond to the gender may sometimes be used. Thusl can refer to a male (he) or a masculine noun (it) andellacan refer to a female (she) or afeminine noun (it).*

5. Ud. andUds. are short forusted andustedes, respectively, and may also be writtenVd.andVds. Note that they use the third person conjugations.

6. Nosotras, vosotras, andellasmeans we, you, and they respectively whenall of thenouns (both people and things) referred to arefeminine. If there areany masculinenouns, the subject pronoun defaults to the masculinenosotros, vosotros, orellos.

*Spanish also has a neuter subject pronoun (ello).
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Lesson on ello

Notes:

1. Con+ m , ti, ands contract into the new wordsconmigo , contigo , andconsigo :

Voy contigo - I'm going with you.

2. In certain situations, subject pronouns are used instead of prepositional pronouns:

After the prepositionscomo (like),entre (between),excepto (except),incluso (including),menos (except),salvo (except), andsegn (according to).

When paired with another pronoun:

- para t y yo- por ella o yo Pronombres reflexivos - Spanish Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronounsare used with pronominal verbs. They always agree with the subjectof the sentence and are usually placed directlyin frontof the verb. However, forinfinitives, present participles, and affirmative commands, pronouns can get attached tothe end - learn more.

The Spanishreflexive pronounsare as follows:

yo me

t te

lellaUd.

se

nosotros nos

vosotros os

ellosellasUds.

se

Spanish Reflexive Prepositional Pronouns Spanish reflexive prepositional pronounsare pronouns which refer back to the subject

and occur after prepositions, often in order to emphasize the noun they replace. There are 5 forms of reflexive prepositional pronouns in Spanish:
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Singular Plural myself m ourselves nosotros yourself ti yourselves vosotros

himself herself itself yourself

s yourselvesthemselves s

The first and second person singular and plural reflexive prepositional pronouns are thesame as the non-reflexive prepositional pronouns. However, the reflexive pronoun for allof the third person singular and plural forms iss .

Compr un regalo para m. I bought a present for myself.

Hablas nunca de ti. You never talk about yourself.Vamos a construir la casa para nosotros. We're going to build the house for ourselves.Lo quieren todo para s. They want it all for themselves.

All of the reflexive prepositional pronouns can be followed by the adjectivemismo(ormisma/mismos/mismas - depending on the gender and number of the subject) in order temphasize the reflexive aspect.

Quiero hacerlo para m mismo. I want to do it for myself.

Ellas hablan mucho de s mismas. They talk a lot about themselves. S can mean yourself (with Ud.), yourselves (with Uds.), himself, herself, itself,

themselves, or oneself.

Uds. deben hacerlo por s. You have do you it yourselves.l lo quiere todo para s mismo. He wants it all for himself.Debe que mirar por s. One has to look out for oneself.

Notes:

1. Con + s combine intoconsigo : Est contento consigo - He's happy with himself. 2. If the subject and pronoun do not refer to the same person, use non-reflexive

prepositional pronouns.

Spanish Reflexive Pronoun Se with Unplanned Occurrences
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The reflexive construction, used mainly with pronominal verbs, can also be used to describeaccidental and unplanned occurrences.

Se me olvid el libro. I forgot the book.Se le cay la pluma. He dropped the pen.

In this type of construction, the reflexive pronounse precedes an indirect object pronoun thatindicates the subject, and the verb, rather than being conjugated to agree with the subject, agrewith whatever noun follows the verb.

Se me olvidaron los libros. I forgot the books.Se te perdieron las llaves? Did you lose the keys?S, se me cayeron ayer. Yes, I dropped them yesterday.

The accidental reflexive construction indicates that the action was unintentional. In addition,because the subject is only referred to by an indirect object pronoun, this construction gives thsense that the subject is not to blame - he or she had nothing to do with the accident.

Literal meaning Se le cay la pluma. The pen got dropped by him.Se me olvidaron los libros. The books got forgotten by me.Se te perdieron las llaves? Did the keys get lost on you?

S, se me quedaron. Yes, they got left behind on me.Compare this to the passive voice:

Se cay la pluma. The pen fell.Se perdieron las llaves. The keys got lost.Se quedaron los libros. The books got left behind.

The following verbs are commonly used in the accidental reflexive construction. Note that som

of them have a somewhat different meaning depending on whether they are used normally orreflexively:

Normal meaning Meaning in this construction acabar to finish, completeacabarse to run out of caer to fall caerse to drop
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ocurrir to occur, happen ocurrirse to dawn on, occur to, get the ideaolvidar to forget olvidarse to forgetperder to lose perderse to lose

quedar to remain, be left quedarse to leave behindromper to break romperse to break

More about Spanish pronominal verbs:

Introduction to pronominal verbs Reflexive pronouns Reflexivese with unplanned occurrences Reflexive prepositional pronouns Spanish Relative Pronouns ~ Pronombres relativos Just like in English, a Spanish relative pronoun links adependent/relativeclause (i.e., a

clause that cannot stand alone) to amain clause. This lesson is a comparative summaryof the Spanish relative pronounsque , quien , el que , el cual , anddonde . Depending oncontext, the English equivalents are who, whom, that, which, whose, or where.

Note: In Spanish, relative pronouns are required, whereas in English, they are sometimeoptional.

Quien can only refer topeople, while que can refer topeople or things. Other than that,they are interchangeable in the subject and direct object position.

Quienandque can replace thesubject: El profesorva a ayudarnos.l vive en Barcelona.

El profesor,quien / que vive en Barcelona, va a ayudarnos.The teacher,wholives in Barcelona, is going to help us.

Laschicasquieren trabajar juntas.Ellasson hermanas.Las chicas,quienes/ que son hermanas, quieren trabajar juntas.The girls,whoare sisters, want to work together.

Voy a comprar ellibro. l tiene cien pginas.Voy a comprar el libroque tiene cien pginas.I'm going to buy the bookthat has 100 pages.

A quienorque can replace thedirect object: Ana quiere alhombre. Yo lo vi.

Ana quiere al hombreque / a quienyo vi.Ana loves the man (that) I saw.

Perd lapluma. Mi hermanola compr.Perd la plumaque mi hermano compr.I lost the pen (that) my brother bought.

Quiencan replace theobject of a preposition(que cannot be used here; if the object isnot a person, el que/cual may be used).
http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/verb/pronominalverbs.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/verb/pronominalverbs.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/reflexivepronouns.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/reflexivepronouns.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/reflexiveprepositionalpronouns.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/reflexiveprepositionalpronouns.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/quien.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/quien.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/que.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/que.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/que.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/que.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/quien.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/reflexiveprepositionalpronouns.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/pronouns/reflexivepronouns.htmlhttp://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/verb/pronominalverbs.html


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Lamujer es muy inteligente. Vivo conella.La mujer, conquien vivo, es muy inteligente.The women, withwhomI live, is very smart (or The woman I live with is very smart).

Losestudiantesestn aqu. Hablaba deellos.Los estudiantes, dequieneshablaba, estn aqu.

The students aboutwhomI was talking are here (or The students I was talking about arehere).

El cual and el que may refer topeople or things. El queandel cualare nearly always*interchangeable and have two uses:

1. In nonrestrictive clauses (where the relative pronoun does not limit the person or thinit replaces),el que/cualcan beboth the subject and the object:

El profesorva a ayudarnos.l vive en Barcelona.El profesor,el que / cualvive en Barcelona, va a ayudarnos.The teacher,wholives in Barcelona, is going to help us.

Laschicasquieren trabajar juntas.Ellasson hermanas.

Las chicas,las que / cualesson hermanas, quieren trabajar juntas.The girls,whoare sisters, want to work together. 2. El que/cualcan simultaneouslyreplace a human antecedent and be the object of a

preposition: Ana quiere alhombre. Yo lo vi.

Ana quiere al hombreal que / cualyo vi.Ana loves the man (that) I saw.

Laschicasno han llegado. Mi hermano trabaja conellas.Las chicas conlas que / cualesmi hermano trabaja no han llegado.The girls withwhommy brother works haven't arriv

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