Spanish
Overview
Spanish spelling is an exact reflection of the pronunciation of the language. There are a few general rules for knowing which syllable of a word to stress:
- Words that end in a vowel or the consonants n or s have their natural stress on the penultimate syllable.
- E.g. hablo, triste, tomates, volumen
- Words ending in a consonant other than n or s have their natural stress on the final syllable.
- E.g. cantar, mujer, nariz, salud
- Exceptions to the above rules have a written accent on the syllable that is stressed.
- E.g. lámpara, teléfono, difícil, canción, música
- If an accent is placed on a word that does not affect its pronunciation, there is another word in the language with the same spelling but with a different meaning.
Alphabet
There are 27 letters in the Spanish alphabet. In alphabetical order, they are:
| Letter | Name in Spanish | Pronounced Like |
|---|---|---|
| a | a | - The a in father |
| b | be | - The b in boat at the beginning of a breath group, or following l, m, or n - Softer elsewhere, produced through slightly opened lips |
| c | ce | - The c in cat before a, o, u, or before a consonant - The s in sail before e or i |
| d | de | - The d in dog when it occurs at the beginning of a breath group, or following l or n - The th in other elsewhere |
| e | e | - The e in café when final - The e in set elsewhere |
| f | efe | - The English f |
| g | ge | - The g in game before a, o, u, or before a consonant - The h in hat before e or i |
| h | hache | - Silent |
| i | i | - The i in machine |
| j | jota | - The English h |
| k | ka | - The English k |
| l | ele | - The English l, but with the tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth - The ll sounds like the y in beyond |
| m | eme | - The English m |
| n | ene | - The English n |
| ñ | eñe | - The ny in canyon |
| o | o | - The o in hope - The o in for if followed by r |
| p | pe | - The English p, but not explosive (without a puff of air) |
| q | cu | - The k in key - Found only in the combinations que and qui) |
| r | erre | - The dd in ladder (a single tongue flap) - Trilled at the beginning of a word or after l, n, r, or s. |
| s | ese | - The English s |
| t | te | - The English t, but not explosive (with the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth) |
| u | u | - The u in rule - Written as ü when pronounced in güe and güi - Silent in gue and gui elsewhere |
| v | uve | - The Spanish b (there is no v sound in Spanish) |
| w | doble uve | - The letter w exists in Spanish only in words of foreign origin and is not considered part of the Spanish alphabet. |
| x | equis | - The English x |
| y | i griega | - The Spanish ll |
| z | zeta | - The s in sail |
Basic Concepts
Salutations
Commonly used expressions include the following:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Adiós. | Good-bye. |
| Bien, gracias, ¿y usted? | Fine, thanks. And you? |
| Buenos días. | Good morning. |
| Buenos noches. | Good evening. |
| Buenos tardes. | Good afternoon. |
| ¿Cómo está usted? | How are you? |
| ¿Cómo se llama usted? | What is your name? |
| De nada. | You're welcome. |
| Hasta luego. | So long. |
| Hasta mañana. | Until tomorrow. |
| Hasta pronto. | See you soon. |
| Hola. | Hello. |
| Me llamo ---. | My name is ---. |
| Menos mal. | Thank goodness. |
| Mucho gusto. | Pleased to meet you. |
| No pasa nada. | Don't worry about it. |
| ¿Qué pasa? | What's happening? |
Durations
The article el is used before a day of the week to indicate e.g. Monday, on Monday. If the day of the week is plural, article los is used instead. Days of the week, months, and seasons should not be capitalized.
| Weekday | Month | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunes | Monday | Enero | January | Verano | Summer |
| Martes | Tuesday | Febrero | February | Otoño | Autumn |
| Miércoles | Wednesday | Marzo | March | Invierno | Winter |
| Jueves | Thursday | Abril | April | Primavera | Spring |
| Viernes | Friday | Mayo | May | ||
| Sábado | Saturday | Junio | June | ||
| Domingo | Sunday | Julio | July | ||
| Agosto | August | ||||
| Septiembre | September | ||||
| Octubre | October | ||||
| Noviembre | November | ||||
| Diciembre | December |
Dates
Spanish uses the cardinal numbers
Telling Time
To express time in the sense of telling time, Spanish uses la hora. Telling time uses the third-person singular or plural of ser. To indicate something is happening at a certain time, Spanish uses preposition a.
An exact hour is emphasized with exactamente or en punto. An approximate hour is emphasized with a eso de or más o menos.
To express a time after the hour, state the hour + y + the number of minutes. If a quarter after the hour, one can use cuarto instead of quince. If half past the hour, one can use media instead of treinta.
To express a time before the hour, state the hour + menos + the number of minutes. Alternatively, state the number of minutes + para + the hour.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Es mediodía. | It is noon. |
| Es medionoche. | It is midnight. |
| Es temprano. | It is early. |
| Es tarde. | It is late. |
Idioms
Many Spanish idioms use the verb tener:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| acabar de + infinitive | to have just (done something) |
| dejar de + infinitive | to stop (doing something) |
| empezar a + infinitive | to begin (doing something) |
| tener ___ años | to be ___ years old |
| tener calor | to be hot |
| tener celos | to be jealous |
| tener cuidado | to be careful |
| tener la culpa | to be at fault |
| tener dolor de (e.g. cabeza) | to have a e.g. (head)ache |
| tener envidia | to be envious |
| tener espera | to be patient |
| tener éxito | to be successful |
| tener frío | to be cold |
| tener ganas de | to want, to desire |
| tener hambre | to be hungry |
| tener la palabra | to have the floor |
| tener lugar | to take place |
| tener miedo de | to be afraid of |
| tener prisa | to be in a hurry |
| tener que ver con | to have to do with |
| tener rabia | to be in a rage |
| tener razón | to be right |
| tener sed | to be thirsty |
| tener sueño | to be sleepy |
| tener suerte | to be lucky |
| tener vergüenza | to be ashamed |
| tratar de + infinitive | to try to (do something) |
| volver a + infinitive | to do (something) again |
Obligation
"Deber + infinitive" is used to express someone has a personal obligation framed around duty or expectation. "Tener que + infinitive" is used to express a personal obligation framed around requirement or circumstance. "Haber que + infinitive" is used to express an impersonal obligation.
| Example | Translation | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Debo estudiar. | I must study. | Implies a personal sense of responsibility. |
| Tengo que estudiar. | I must study. | Implies studying is a requirement of some sort. |
| Hay que estudiar. | One must study. | Impersonal. |
How Long
Spanish uses the present tense to ask how long someone has been doing something. The idea is the action begins in the past but continues into the present:
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que + present tense verb.
To answer the question of how long someone has been doing something, Spanish uses the following expression:
Hace + length of time + que + present tense verb.