We are a group of Spanish teachers based in Mexico City, that came up with this idea in order to spread the Spanish language Online. With this Spanish course you will become proficient in the language at your own pace.
It consists of 12 lessons, It is recommended that you learn a lesson in a maximum of two days, so you can master it in approximate of 2 months.
it is important that you are aware that you need discipline, perseverance, daily practice and motivation. In adittion you can listen to music and watch movies in Spanish so that will boost your curiosity and motivation.
Remember that the lessons have a sequence, so if you do not learn the first 3 lessons, you will not be able to understand the following ones, so study in order. Everything is important, remember that your progress or delay will depend on you,
Its author and Spanish teacher Carlos Enrique Hernández, invites you to visit the website: Speaklikeamexican
Recommendations
- Practice writing and pronunciation of each word.
- Don’t be discouraged.
- There are 4 skills in Spanish that you must master: reading, writing, speaking and listening, so you must practice these four skills daily.
- Study in a quiet place without distractions.
- If you have a question, use social networks to ask someone.
- When studying not only memorize, visualize and relate.
- Read magazines and books, listen to music and watch movies in Spanish, don’t worry if you don’t understand, just pay attention and try to identify words.
Are you ready to start with the first lesson? Pay attention!
Table of Contents
- Definite and indefinite articles in Spanish
- Masculine and feminine in Spanish
- Personal pronouns Subject
- SER in Spanish – verb to be
- ESTAR in Spanish – verb to be
- Present Tense in Spanish
- Irregular verbs with vowel changes
- Irregular verbs with ending –ACER, -ECER, – -OCER, -UCIR that change to C > ZC
- Irregular verbs engding –UIR, that change I > Y
- Irregular Spanish verbs, unclassifiable and frequently used
- Reflexive Verbs and Reflexive Pronouns in Spanish
- How to make a question in Spanish
Definite and indefinite articles in Spanish
A noun is a word used to denote a person, place, thing, or idea.
In Spanish, all nouns are either masculine or feminine.
Masculine and feminine in Spanish
Determining the gender of words in Spanish is not very complicated. You may have already heard that it is enough to check the ending O for masculine or A for feminine and that you get the word in Spanish: it works but not always!
So let’s take a closer look at how male and female are formed in Spanish, starting with the simplest!
The masculine
The masculine in Spanish is distinguished by four final letters: O, R, L and Y.
There are also some exceptions which are listed in the table below.
- la mano, the hand
- la foto, the pic
- la piel, the skin
- la ley, the law
The feminine
The construction of the feminine is a little more complex than that of the masculine, but we can summarize it in 3 main principles.
- If the masculine of the Spanish word ends in O, it is enough to replace the O by an A to obtain the feminine.
Ex: un amigo, a friend → una amiga, a friend
- 2. If the masculine of the Spanish word already ends in A, we only change the article to obtain the feminine.
Ex: el periodista, a journalist → la periodista, a journalist.
- 3. If the masculine of the Spanish word ends with a consonant, we add an A to the ending and change the article to get the feminine.
Ex: un jugador, a player → una jugadora, a player.
In this table we summarize the endings of the feminine.
Exceptions
- El día, the day
- El mapa, the map
- El planeta, the planet
- El tema, the subject
- El avión, the plane
Personal pronouns Subject
We’re going to learn in this Spanish lesson online the personal pronouns subject, these ones are the most important pronouns, and the “basics” of the Spanish language. They are used in place of a noun, which describes who we are talking about or who talks about what. Thanks to the use of the pronoun, as in the English language, we will know to whom the person refers in his speech. To put it simply, here is a summary table of personal pronouns in Spanish:
Note: in Spanish, the subject personal pronoun is omitted when the answer is fairly obvious.
For example, we will not say “yo voy a la tienda” but “voy a la tienda” (I’m going to the shop). If the person uses the “yo”, it will mark an insistence, generally, to make a comparison or a reproach, in the sense of “me, I go to the store (unlike you)”.
We will use little “usted” in Spanish as a pronoun
Here are some examples of use of personal pronouns subject in Spanish:
- My name is Carlos => (yo) me llamo Carlos
- You know the problem well => Usted conoce bien el problema
- They don’t understand => ellos no entienden
- We go to the store => (nosotros) vamos a la tienda.
SER in Spanish – verb to be
Note that in Spanish, there are two verbs to be:
SER, which we will focus first
and ESTAR, that we will check later
Likewise, it should be understood that SER and ESTAR are used as much as each other. There is no «first» or «second verb»: they are equivalent, mean the same thing but depending on the case and what we want to express, we will use either SER or ESTAR.
It may seem complicated right now but in reality it is very simple: just look at the question! So let’s go !
When do we use SER?
SER is used to characterize a person or an object, to describe something definitive.
We will therefore use SER in the following cases:
- A. When indicating the origin of a person.
Soy de Madrid: I am (from) Madrid
Ana es de Argentina: Ana is (originally) from Argentina.
Jean y Manon son de Francia: Jean and Manon are (originating) from France.
- B. When we want to indicate the nationality, religion, social class (in short, what «defines» us in civil status)
Es medico: He / She is a doctor.
Soy español y católico: I am Spanish and Catholic.
- C. To define a thing or a person in terms of character and physique.
Esta mujer es vieja: This woman is old.
Soy rubia: I’m blonde
La mesa es cuadrada: The table is square.
El libro es azul: The book is blue.
- D. To locate an event.
La cena es en mi casa: the dinner is at my house
La fiesta es en la calle: The party is in the street.
The conjugation of SER
The conjugation of the verb SER is irregular at almost all times!
ESTAR in Spanish – verb to be
When is ESTAR used?
- A. To locate someone or something in space and time.
Estar will therefore be followed by an additional place, time or manner.
Luis está sentado: Luis is seated
Estoy en Sevilla: I’m in Seville
Estamos en invierno: We are in winter.
- B. To describe temporary or accidental things: mood, health, behavior, opinion.
Estoy muy contenta: I am very happy.
Ayer, Fany estaba malo: Yesterday, Fany was sick.
Alex está pensativo: Alex is thoughtful.
Estoy de viaje: I’m traveling.
Miguel está de acuerdo conmigo: Miguel agrees with me.
- C. To express an action taking place.
Estar then works with the progressive tense which we will study in another lesson.
Estoy leyendo: I’m reading.
Laura está corriendo: Laura is running
Present Tense in Spanish
Now that you have mastered the conjugation of the verbs ser and estar, it is time to check the most frequently used verbs in present tense.
Little reminders before you start
In Spanish, the subject is contained in the ending of the verb.
The subject pronoun is only indicated if you want to emphasize the subject itself.
Example:
Hablo → I speak
Yo hablo → me, I speak
There are 3 groups of regular verbs in Spanish:
- verbs ending in -AR
- verbs ending in -ER
- verbs ending in -IR
Conjugation of verbs in -AR
The model used for this group is the verb ESTUDIAR which means to study.
Conjugation of verbs in -ER
The model used for this group is the verb VENDER which means to sell.
The conjugation of verbs in -IR
The model used for this group is the verb ESCRIBIR which means to write.
If you want to know more verbs in Spanish, check this link: Most Common Spanish Verbs Flashcards
Irregular verbs with vowel changes
There are a few verbs in Spanish that change the vowel, this seems hard but I will explain you the easiest way.
We are going to start with those verbs that change E for IE.
For example: Empezar, comenzar, pensar, recomendar, despertarse, mentir.
Let´s check how to conjugate:
Note that all the conjugations with nosotros does not change.
Now we are going to study those verbs that change O for UE.
For example: Poder, contar, soñar, acordarse.
Let´s check how to conjugate:
Note that all the conjugations with nosotros does not change.
Now we are going to study those verbs that change E for I.
For example: Pedir, conseguir, seguir.
Irregular verbs with ending –ACER, -ECER, – -OCER, -UCIR that change to C > ZC
Basically these verbs change in the first person of the singular, let´s take a look how to conjugate:
Irregular verbs ending –UIR, that change I > Y
These verbs change with the pronoms ( yo, tú, él, ella, usted, ellos and ustedes), let´s take a look how to conjugate:
If you want to know more verbs with vowel changes check this link: COMMON USED SPANISH VERBS WITH VOWEL CHANGES
Irregular Spanish verbs unclassifiable and frequently used
There are totally irregular verbs that do not fit into the sections we have seen together, for some unknown reason.
Most of these verbs are completely irregular to almost all tenses. We must therefore learn them by heart. You already know two verbs: ser and estar!
This list is not exhaustive: here you will find verbs that are really essential in texts and conversations.
Reflexive Verbs and Reflexive Pronouns in Spanish
The great advantage of this lesson is that it is very easy to understand! Indeed, the reflexive verbs are conjugated like the other verbs except that you will need to add a pronoun in front of the verb to indicate that the action is applied on the subject.
How does it work in Spanish?
Very easy, you just need to remember the pronouns and conjugate the verbs with the endings of AR, ER, IR.
Let´s check how to conjugate a reflexive verb:
For example: Bañarse- means to have a shower.
Check this post to know the most common reflexive verbs: THE MOST USEFUL SPANISH REFLEXIVE VERBS FOR CONVERSATION
How to make a question in Spanish
Knowing how to formulate and ask a question in Spanish is essential when learning a foreign language. Our first sentences are actually often questions, we ask for clarification, information.
Learning to formulate questions in Spanish may for example allow you to: ask your way, know the time, offer or ask for help, get to know someone, ask to repeat, ask the meaning of a word.
General questions
In Spanish, questions are formed in the simplest and most direct way possible.
To ask “are you sleeping?”, We will simply say ¿Duermes? in Spanish, in other words “do you sleep?”. We just use the verb right away.
More examples:
- Do you come to my party? ¿vienes a mi fiesta?
- Do you want to eat pizza today? ¿quieres comer pizza hoy?
- Is José reading a book? ¿José está leyendo un libro?
- Do you like salsa music? ¿te gusta la música salsa?
You see how simple it is.
Now let´s check how more specific questions are made, in this case we need to use the interrogative pronouns:
I hope you enjoyed this complete course to learn Spanish online. If you need some help or more resources you can comment below. Also I want to share more material for learning Spanish at home:
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