酷兔英语

 

Spanish Basics

  • Spanish (Español) is a Romance language originally from the northern area of Spain. Currently, 21 nations (Spain and most Latin American countries) use Spanish as their primary language.

Consonant and Vowel letters (Click sample word to listen)

The traditional Spanish alphabet had 29 letters (the 3 special letters are listed below in bold), plus some letters with variations (Spanish accents).

Spanish consonant letters:
   b c (coliflor - cauliflower) ch (noche - night) d f g
   gu (agua - water) gü h (hora - hour) j (Julio - July) k
   l ll (repollo - cabbage) m n ñ (mañana - tomorrow) p q
   r rr (espárrago - asparagus) s t v w x y z 
Spanish vowel letters:
  a (alud - snowslide) e (noche - night) i (mediodía - noon)
  o (hora - hour) u (minuto - minute) y (rugby)
Accents and stress letters:
  á (sábana - sheet) é (huésped - guest) í (mediodía - noon)
  ó (sótano - basement) ú (azúcar - sugar)
Spanish Diphthongs (Most in a single syllable by blending the first vowel into the second):
  ai, ay (ayer - yesterday)  au (auricular - earphone)
  ei, ey (voleibol - volleyball)   eu (neuralgia - neuralgia)
  ia (mediano - medium) ie (Bienvenidos - Welcome) io (armario - closet)
  iu (ciudad - city)  oi, oy (hoy - today)
  ua (agua - water) ue (queso - cheese)
  ui, uy (rosquilla - donut)  ui (anguila - eel) uo

Spanish Grammar

Nouns

All nouns are either countable or uncountable, and Spanish has two genders (masculine (-o) or feminine (-a)), for example:
chica (f) (girl), fractura (f) (fracture), natación (f) (swimming)
armario (m) (locker), patinaje (m) (skating), tenis (m) (tennis)

Spanish Articles and Pronouns

Articles
                         Singular                 Plural
                  Masculine   feminine     Masculine   feminine
Definite Article      el         la           los        las
Indefinite Article    un         una          unos       unas
Pronouns

  • Subject Pronouns
                                Singular  Plural  
    First Person                   yo     nosotros
    Second Person  informal        tú     vosotros
                   formal          usted  ustedes 
    Third Person   masculine       él     ellos   
                   feminine       ella    ellas   
  • Direct-object pronouns
                            Singular Plural  
    First Person                me    nos    
    Second Person  informal     te    os     
                   formal      usted  ustedes
    Third Person   masculine    lo    los    
                   feminine     la    las    

Spanish Verbs

-ar verbs, -er verbs, and -ir verbs are the three regular verbs. Examples:
                     Past participle     Gerund     Present
hablar (speak)     hablado (spoken) -ado  -ando  -o    -as  -a
                                                 -amos -áis -an 
comer (eat)        comido (eaten) -ido    -iendo -o    -es  -e
                                                 -emos -éis -en 
vivir (live)       vivido (vivid) -ido    -iendo -o    -es  -e
                                                 -imos -ís  -en
Spanish verbs have 4 moods:
Indicative (el indicativo): He hablado (I have spoken)
Conditional (el condicional): Habría hablado (I would have spoken)
Imperative (el imperativo): ¡no comas! (Don't eat!)
Subjunctive (el subjuntivo): Haya hablado (I have spoken, I spoke)
In Spanish Indicative, there are 4 main verb tenses:
Simple past (el preterito de indicativo): Hablé (I spoke)
Past Imperfect (el preterito imperfecto de indicativo): 
    Hablaba (I used to speak, I was speaking)
Present (el presente de indicativo): Hablo (I speak, I am speaking)
Future (el futuro de indicativo): 
    Hablaré (I shall speak), voy a hablar (I will speak)
Auxiliary verbs (el presente de indicativo)
  • Conjugation of "tener" (have)
    tengo   tienes  tiene
    tenemos tenéis  tienen Past participle: tenido  Gerund: teniendo
  • Conjugation of "haber" (have)
    he    has    ha
    hemos habéis hanPast participle: habido  Gerund: habiendo
  • Conjugation of "estar" (to be)
    estoy   estás  está
    estamos estáis estánPast participle: estado  Gerund: estando
  • Conjugation of "ser" (to be)
    soy   eres  es
    somos sois  sonPast participle: sido  Gerund: siendo

Spanish sentence structure

Spanish is an SVO language, i.e., "Subject Verb Object". For Spanish exclamation or question type of sentences, inverted exclamation mark or inverted question mark are added at the beginning, while regular exclamation mark or question mark at the end. For example:
¿Habla usted inglés? (Do you speak English?)