LEARN SPANISH

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2007 UNITED KINGDOM & SPAIN

2007-03-06T01:15:52+01:00

COUNTRY: United Kingdom
LANGUAGE: English
ARTIST: Scooch
SONG: Flying the Flag (for You)

COUNTRY: Spain
LANGUAGE: English, Spanish
ARTIST: Nash
SONG: I love you mi vida

Irregular verbs: soy, voy, tengo, salgo

2007-03-06T00:01:02+01:00

Most verbs in Spanish follow regular patterns, according to their infinitive ending, -ar, -er or -ir. Some verbs, however, change more radically and have to be learnt separately. They are known as irregular verbs.

Unfortunately, some irregular verbs are also the most commonly used, such as ser, ir, tener and salir.

They do have some similarities, though, and the most unexpected endings often only occurs with yo:

Some end in -oy:

* ser: soy I am

Soy de Asturias. I am from Asturias.

* ir: voy I go

Voy al cine. I go to the movies.

* estar: estoy I am

Estoy soltera. I am single.

Others end in -go:

* salir: salgo I go out

Salgo con amigos. I go out with friends.

* tener: tengo I have

Tengo una reunión. I have a meeting.

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We verb endings: vemos, vamos, podemos

2007-03-05T23:59:50+01:00

When you want to talk about something you and other people do together, you use nosotros or nosotras, the pronoun we.

As always in Spanish you don't need to actually say the pronoun, because the ending -mos in the verb tells you that is we
Nos vemos el martes We'll meet on Tuesday. Literally We see each other on Tuesday
Vamos el jueves We go on Thursday
¿Podemos …? Can we…?

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I and he/she verb endings: trabajo, trabaja

2007-03-05T23:59:00+01:00

I and he/she verb endings: trabajo, trabaja

In Spanish, verb endings are very important as they show who is doing something. Most of them follow regular patterns.

The ending for yo, I, is -o:

* trabajar: trabajo
* comer: como
* vivir: vivo

Trabajo en Patios Ltd. I work for Patios Ltd.
Como a las dos. I eat at 2:00.
Vivo en el centro. I live in the centre.

The ending for él, ella and usted, he, she, you formal, is -a or -e.

The infinitive, or dictionary form, tells you what the pattern will be. For verbs ending in -ar, like viajar, the ending is -a:

* viajar: viaja

Adriana viaja a Madrid a menudo. Adriana often travels to Madrid.

For verbs ending in -er or -ir, like comer and vivir, the ending is -e:

* comer: come
* vivir: vive

Él come mucho. He eats a lot.
Esteban vive en Málaga. Esteban lives in Málaga.

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Formal and informal words for 'you': usted and tú

2007-03-05T23:58:23+01:00

Formal and informal words for 'you': usted and tú

In Spanish, usted and tú are both ways of saying you.

Usted is formal, and comes from the old respectful form of address Vuestra Merced, Your Grace. It's used with people you don't know very well, in business or commercial relationships, or with people who are older than you.

When you use usted the verb has the él and ella endings:
¿En qué trabaja usted? What do you do for a living? formal
¿Qué hace? What do you do? formal

Tú, on the other hand, is informal: it's used amongst friends, family members or when adults are speaking to children.

¿Cómo te llamas? What's your name? informal
¿Qué haces? What do you do? informal

The words for your also change.

su trabajo your job formal
tu trabajo your job informal

There's an increasingly widespread use of tú these days, but if you're not sure which one to use, you should take your cue from the native speakers.

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Talking about places: estar and ser

2007-03-05T23:57:26+01:00

Talking about places: estar and ser

Estar and ser both mean to be.

To ask or say where a place is located, you use estar:
¿Está cerca? Is it close?
Está en el centro. It's in the centre.

But to talk about what the place is like, you use ser.
Es bonita, ¿verdad? It's nice, isn't it?
Es muy antigua. It's very old.

Ser and estar are irregular verbs and have their own distinct patterns:

* I am... soy or estoy
* You are... eres or estás
* It, he or she is... es or está

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The alphabet

2007-03-05T23:56:12+01:00

The alphabet

Here are the names of the letters in the Spanish alphabet. Some slightly unexpected ones are h, hache, j, jota, k, ka, ñ, eñe, w, uvedoble, y, i griega and z, zeta.

A a
B be
C ce
D de
E e
F efe
G ge
H hache
I i
J jota
K ka
L ele
M eme
N ene
Ñ eñe
O o
P pe
Q cu
R ere
S ese
T te
U u
V uve
W uve doble
X equis
Y i griega
Z zeta

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Telling the time

2007-03-05T23:54:46+01:00

Telling the time

To ask the time you say...

¿Qué hora es? What time is it?

To ask at what time something happens you say...

¿A qué hora…? At what time...?
¿A qué hora es el desayuno? Literally: At what time is breakfast?

Times are always preceded by la or las.

13:00 La una One o'clock
17:00 Las cinco Five o'clock
14:00 Las dos Two o'clock

Times are given with the hour first. Then the equivalent of past, y, or to, menos, followed by the minutes.
7:20 Las siete y veinte Twenty past seven
18:50 Las siete menos diez Ten to seven

Y media is the equivalent of half past, and quarter is translated as cuarto
6:30 Las seis y media Half past six
4:45 Las cinco menos cuarto Quarter to five

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Questions and question words

2007-03-05T23:53:50+01:00

Questions and question words

Questions often start with a question word like dónde where, cuándo when, qué what.

¿Dónde está la estación de Chamartín? Where's Chamartín Station?
¿Cuánto cuesta? How much is it?
¿De qué andén sale el tren? From which platform does the train leave?

Or you can ask a question simply by altering the tone of your voice. Unlike in English, you don't need to change the order of the words.

Llega con retraso. It's delayed.
¿Llega con retraso? Is it delayed?
Hablas inglés. You speak English.
¿Hablas inglés? Do you speak English?

You will often hear ¿no? or ¿verdad? at the end of a sentence. They correspond to English question endings, such as isn't it? aren't we? don't they?

Éste es el andén 2, ¿verdad? This is platform 2, isn't it?
Este tren va para Segovia, ¿no? This train goes to Segovia, doesn't it?

In writing, questions are always introduced by the upside-down question mark, which is characteristic of Spanish punctuation.

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Indicating possession: mi, nuestro, vuestro

2007-03-05T23:52:47+01:00

Indicating possession: mi, nuestro, vuestro

When you want to say who something belongs to, or when speaking about relationships you can use words like mi, nuestro and vuestro.

* mi my

Ésta es mi casa. This is my house

* nuestro our

Eres nuestro invitado. You are our guest.

* vuestro your more than one person

¿Qué coméis en vuestro país? What do you eat in your country?

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Likes and dislikes: me gusta, no me gusta

2007-03-05T23:51:59+01:00

Likes and dislikes: me gusta, no me gusta

Me gusta means I like. The literal translation is It pleases me. You can use the phrase on its own:

Me gusta. I like it.

Or you can add mucho.

Me gusta mucho. I like it a lot.

Or specify what you like.

Me gusta España. I like Spain.

When you don't like something, start with no

No me gusta... I don't like...

and to turn down an offer or invitation...

No, gracias, no me gusta el pulpo. No, thanks, I don't like octopus.

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Likes and dislikes: me gusta, no me gusta

2007-03-05T23:51:56+01:00

Likes and dislikes: me gusta, no me gusta

No, gracias, no me gusta el pulpo. No, thanks, I don't like octopus.

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Two verbs 'to be': estar and ser

2007-03-05T23:51:03+01:00

Two verbs 'to be': estar and ser

Spanish is unusual in that it has two verbs to be: ser and estar. So there are two ways of saying I am: estoy and soy.

To ask or talk about your marital status and how you feel, you use estar.
¿Estás casado? Are you married?
Estoy divorciado. I am divorced.
¿Cómo estás? How are you?

To talk about who you are or where you are from you use ser.
Ésta es mi hija. This is my daughter.
Soy inglés. I'm English.

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Using quieres and puedo

2007-03-05T23:50:22+01:00

Using quieres and puedo

¿Quieres...? Would you like to...? lit Do you want...?
To invite someone to do something you use quieres, from the verb querer, to want, followed by an infinitive, the dictionary form of the verb.

¿Quieres ir al cine? Would you like to go to the cinema?

Puedo I can

Puedo comes from the verb poder, to be able to, and it means I can. Thus, you can use no puedo to decline an invitation.
Lo siento, hoy no puedo. I'm sorry, I can't today

Puedo followed by an infinitive is also used to ask for permission to do something:
¿Puedo llamar por teléfono? Can I make a phone call?
¿Puedo? May I?

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Indicating things: éste, ésta and esto

2007-03-05T23:49:36+01:00

Indicating things: éste, ésta and esto

Éste is the Spanish word for this. You can use it when you are showing something to somebody.

Éste es mi dormitorio. This is my bedroom.

As usual in Spanish there are different words depending on the thing you're indicating. Éste goes with the masculine nouns and ésta with the feminine ones.

Ésta es la cocina. This is the kitchen.

For the plurals you use éstos and éstas.

Éstos son los dormitorios. These are the bedrooms.

Esto is used to talk about things you don't know the name of.

¿Qué es esto? What is this?

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Adjectives: rojo, roja, rojos and rojas

2007-03-05T23:48:40+01:00

Adjectives: rojo, roja, rojos and rojas

You use adjectives to describe objects or people, la chaqueta grande the large jacket.

Spanish adjectives have different endings depending on what they're describing. With masculine nouns, adjectives end with -o, while for feminine nouns they end with -a.
El sombrero rojo The red hat
La camiseta roja The red top/tee-shirt

Others like grande big and azul blue stay the same:

El sombrero grande The big hat
La falda azul The blue skirt

When describing more than one thing, you add either an -s, when the adjective ends in a vowel, or -es, when it ends in a consonant.

Los zapatos rojos The red shoes
Las faldas rojas The red skirts
Los pantalones grandes The big trousers
Las chaquetas azules The blue jackets

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Looking for things: hay and tiene

2007-03-05T23:47:58+01:00

Looking for things: hay and tiene

¿Hay...?

Hay can mean there is or there are
En esta calle hay una farmacia. In this street there is a chemist's.
En esta calle hay dos farmacias. In this street there are two chemist's

In a question hay means: Is there...? or are there...?

Perdón, ¿hay un supermercado por aquí? Excuse me, is there a supermarket nearby?

The answer No, no hay means No, there isn't.

¿Tiene...?

This word comes from the verb tener, to have, and provides the verb for the essential shopping question Have you got...?
¿Tiene agua mineral, por favor? Have you got any mineral water, please?

The replies could range from:
Sí, tengo. Yes, I have.
Sí, tenemos. Yes, we have.

to

Lo siento, no tenemos. Sorry, we haven't

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Big numbers

2007-03-05T23:46:47+01:00

Big numbers

The hundreds

When you've learnt cien, 100, the rest of the big numbers follow in a fairly regular pattern.

100 cien
200 doscientos
300 trescientos
400 cuatrocientos
500 quinientos - this is a bit of a tricky one
600 seiscientos
700 setecientos - a slight change: you drop the i from siete
800 ochocientos
900 novecientos - another slight change: nueve becomes nove

More than one hundred:
Numbers start with ciento:

101 ciento uno
102 ciento dos, etc.
So 123 is ciento veintitrés; and 190 is ciento noventa

Higher numbers:
201 doscientos uno
305 trescientos cinco
520 quinientos veinte, etc.

When the things you are counting are feminine, there is a feminine form:

Doscientas botellas Two hundred bottles

Thousands are even easier:
1.000 mil
2.000 dos mil
3.000 tres mil
100.000 cien mil

Millions are similar to English:
1.000.000 un millón
5.000.000 cinco millones

Note, however, that the dot, not the comma, is used to separate the thousands.

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Word order

2007-03-05T23:13:05+01:00

Word order

In Spanish, word order is quite similar to English. However, adjectives, words like grande large or caro expensive, usually come after the noun they describe.

El cuadro grande The big picture
La lámpara pequeña The small lamp

The same goes for phrases like de porcelana, de queso, etc.

Un plato de porcelana A porcelain plate
Un bocadillo de queso A cheese roll

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Numbers from 10 to 100

2007-03-05T23:12:03+01:00

Numbers from 10 to 100

There are patterns that will help you memorize numbers.

11 to 15 all end in -ce:

11 once
12 doce
13 trece
14 catorce
15 quince

16 to 19 start with diez, ten

16 dieciséis - literally diez y seis, ten and six
17 diecisiete
18 dieciocho
19 diecinueve

20 to 30: the final -e of veinte, twenty, changes to -i
20 veinte
21 veintiuno
22 veintidós
23 veintitrés
24 veinticuatro
25 veinticinco
26 veintiséis
27 veintisiete
28 veintiocho
29 veintinueve

30 to 90: they all end in -nta.

30 treinta
40 cuarenta
50 cincuenta
60 sesenta
70 setenta
80 ochenta
90 noventa

31, 42, 53...etc. For the intervening numbers, you need y, and:

31 treinta y uno
42 cuarenta y dos
53 cincuenta y tres

...and so on.

100 - this is cien

Comments

I and you verb endings: tomo and tomas

2007-03-05T23:08:40+01:00

I and you verb endings: tomo and tomas

In Spanish, verb endings are very important as they show who is doing something. Most of them follow regular patterns.

The ending for yo, I, is -o

* tomar: tomo

No tomo café. I don't drink coffee.

* comer: como

Como tostadas con mermelada. I eat toast and jam.

The ending for tú, you, is -as or -es.

The infinitive, or dictionary form, tells you what the pattern will be. For verbs ending in -ar, like tomar, the ending is -as:

* tomar: tomas

¿Tomas vino? Do you drink wine?

For verbs ending in -er or -ir, like comer and vivir to live, the ending is -es:

* comer: comes
* vivir: vives

¿Comes queso? Do you eat cheese?

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The words for 'I', 'you', etc.: yo and tú

2007-03-05T23:07:17+01:00

The words for 'I', 'you', etc.: yo and tú

In Spanish, you often don't need a separate word for I, you, we, etc, as the information is all there in the verb itself:

* soy I'm

Soy de Canarias. I'm from the Canaries.

* eres you are

¿De dónde eres? Where are you from?

* vamos we go

Vamos al cine. We go to the cinema.

The words I, you, etc, do exist but are used mainly for emphasis or contrast:

Yo soy de Canarias. Me, I'm from the Canaries.

You can also use them as shorthand:

¿Y tú? ¿Qué tomas? And you? What are you having?
Yo, una cerveza. I'll have a beer

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The dictionary form of verbs: llevar, comer, preferir

2007-03-05T23:06:12+01:00

The dictionary form of verbs: llevar, comer, preferir

To find your way around a menu, you can simply point at the items. But if you want to know more about the dishes you'll need to ask...

¿Qué lleva? What's in it?

Lleva comes from the verb llevar, to have, to carry. Verbs are words that express the idea of doing something or of something happening, easy to recognise in English because you can put to in front of them - to live, to be, to speak, to pay, to have.

When you look up Spanish verbs in a dictionary, you'll see that verbs end in -ar, -er or -ir.

* llevar to have, to carry
* comer to eat
* preferir to prefer

This is called the infinitive. To indicate who is doing something and when it's being done you have to change this ending.

Como un bocadillo I'm eating a filled roll
¿Qué comes? What are you eating?

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The dictionary form of verbs: llevar, comer, preferir

2007-03-05T23:06:11+01:00

The dictionary form of verbs: llevar, comer, preferir

Como un bocadillo I'm eating a filled roll
¿Qué comes? What are you eating?

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Plurals

2007-03-05T23:04:53+01:00

Plurals

As in English, the general rule for making something plural in Spanish is to add an -s:

una tapa a small portion
tres tapas three small portions
un vino a glass of wine
dos vinos two glasses of wine

If the Spanish word ends in a consonant, you have to add -es:
una ración a portion
cinco raciones five portions
un hotel a hotel
dos hoteles two hotels

Un and una have plural forms, equivalent to some or a few in English:
unas aceitunas some olives
unos vinos a few wines

El and la also have a plural, unlike the English the:
el bocadillo the filled roll
los bocadillos the filled rolls
la ración the portion
las raciones the portions

Comments

Plurals

2007-03-05T23:04:53+01:00

Plurals

El and la also have a plural, unlike the English the:
el bocadillo the filled roll
los bocadillos the filled rolls
la ración the portion
las raciones the portions

Comments

Two words for 'the': el and la

2007-03-05T23:04:05+01:00

Two words for 'the': el and la

Spanish has two words for the: el with masculine nouns and la with feminine ones.

el museo the museum
el hotel the hotel
la plaza the square
la calle the street

If a noun ends in -o, it's masculine and goes with el.
If it ends in -a, it's usually feminine and goes with la.

If you look up any noun in the dictionary it'll show whether it's masculine (m) or feminine (f) so you'll know which word for the to use:

calle (f): street
hotel (m): hotel

It's a good idea to learn the gender along with the word.

Words that go with el usually go with un; and words with la usually go with una

el parque the park
un parque a park
la calle the street
una calle a street

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Two words for 'a': un and una

2007-03-05T23:03:16+01:00

Two words for 'a': un and una

Un and una are the two Spanish words that can mean a (an) or one.

un bocadillo a roll or one roll
una tortilla an omelette or one omelette.

This is because all Spanish nouns, whether referring to people, things or ideas, are either feminine or masculine.

Una goes with the feminine nouns and un with the masculine ones.

The idea of masculine and feminine is quite logical when referring to people.

un hombre a man
una mujer a woman

For omelettes and sandwiches, it's not so obvious, although you do get used to it.

Fortunately, there's a good rule of thumb: nouns ending in -o are masculine and most of those ending in -a are feminine.

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More sounds of Spanish

2007-03-05T23:02:05+01:00

More sounds of Spanish

By looking at the numbers you can pick up a few more tips on Spanish pronunciation:

v's and b's

They both have the same sound, like a soft English b, as you'll hear if you listen closely to the word for 9 - nueve.

ch's and h's

Ocho, 8. You won't have much trouble with ch, because it is the same as in English. You'll also hear it in words like coche, car. The h on its own, however, is completely silent: hola sounds like "ola".

c's and q's

Cu, as in the number 4 - cuatro is always pronounced as a cw. The same goes for the question words cuándo, when or cuánto, how much.
Que and qui sound like the English k, so parque sounds like "parke" or aquí sounds like "akee".

s's

The s at the end of words like dos and tres normally sounds like the English s but in the south of Spain, the Canary Islands, and parts of Latin America, it can sound more like a soft h: "doh", "treh".

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