Best Way To Learn Spanish

Spanish Language Lessons: Basic Spanish Vocabulary List

It takes time to get started in the process of learning the Spanish language, and to allow the language to become a part of your subconscious. However, it is easier to work up the motivation to give learning to speak any new language a try if you have already had a taste of it. Below are a few phrases that will come in handy when you are interacting with native Spanish speakers and will help to launch you on your path to success.

Greetings

Hola-Hello
Adios-Goodbye
Hasta Luego-See you later
Bienvenidos-Welcome
Buenos Diaz-Good morning/Good day
Buenos Tardes-Good Afternoon
Buenos Noches-Good night
Bueno Suerte-Good luck
Mucho Gusto-Nice to meet you
Quantos anos tiene?-How old are you/how old is he/she? (this is especially important when admiring other people’s children!)
Yo tengo…anos-I am…years old

Manners

Gracias-Thank you
De Nada-You’re welcome

At the Table

Tengo Hambre-I’m hungry
Tengo Sed-I’m thirsty

Who/What/When/Where/Why/How

Cuando-When
Cuánto-How much
Quién-Who
Qué-What
Dónde-Where
Dónde Está…-Where is…?
Porqué -Why/Because

One major difference between Spanish and English is the way that verbs are conjugated. English speakers conjugate their verbs, although they are often unaware of it at the time. For example, while we say, “I run”, English grammar would dictate that we say, “She runs” and “They run”. If you were to say that “She run” and “They runs” you would immediately find the wrath of many who choose to take exception to this butchering of the grammatical structure of their language coming down upon your head.

This same policy applies when you are talking about speaking in Spanish; however, due to the fact that the Spanish language often allows for the informality of the subject to be dropped when you are discussing a specific topic it is absolutely vital that you use the correct form of the verb. If you were to say, “We runs” in English, your listeners would be able to hear the subject we and understand that you were simply using the improper form of the verb to run. Had you simply said, “Runs” (for example, “runs in the grass”) people would have assumed that you were talking about a he, a she or an it. They would have had no idea that you were in fact referring to yourself and another party, and the entire point that your sentence was attempting to make would be lost.

So it is with Spanish. Within the Spanish language are six primary subjects which dictate the form of the verb to be used. These subjects are:

Yo-I
Tu-You (familiar, informal-for use with a friend or a child)
El/Ella/Usted-He/She/You (formal)
Nosotros-We
Vosotros-You, plural (formal, used primarily in Spain)
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes-They. Ellos refers to a multiple number of males or a group of mixed company, Ellas to a multiple number of females. Ustedes is the plural form of You used by the people of Latin America or as an informal address when speaking in Castilian Spanish.

As you will have noticed from the subjects above not all Spanish is the same. The people of the country of Spain speak what is known as Castilian Spanish, the more formal form of the language. The people of Latin America have their own distinct language, and within this language are multiple dialects. It is important that you be aware of this because as you are learning to speak Spanish you will often find vocabulary labeled as specific to Spain, to Latin America or pertaining specifically to a country. This can become very confusing if you do not know what it is that you are looking at.

Now that you are familiar with the subjects used in the Spanish language you can begin to understand the conjugation of Spanish verbs. There are many, so for illustration’s sake we will use the most basic from the three main groups of regular verbs. Regular verbs refer to verbs which are conjugated the same way regardless of which verb they are, and they are divided into -er, -ir and –ar verbs.

Since the paragraph you just read probably made absolutely no sense to you, let use take a specific example. The verb hablar means “to speak”, and it is conjugated thusly:

Yo hablo
Tu hablas
El/Ella/Ud. habla
Nosotros hablamos
Vosotros hablais (there is an accent over the second (a) in hablais when viewed properly)
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. hablan

As you can see, the verb used changes according to the subject. Therefore, if you were trying to say “I speak Spanish” or “I can speak Spanish” (the two are said in the same fashion) you would say, “Yo hablo espanol”. However, since it is customary when speaking Spanish to drop the subject you would say, “Hablo espanol”. Your listeners will know that you are talking about yourself because you would use the verb form hablo.

If, on the other hand, you were to use the incorrect form of the verb by mistake and said, “Hablas espanol” your listener would believe that you were talking about them. You will have said “You speak Spanish” rather than “I speak Spanish”.

As you can see, using the correct form of the verb is much more important when speaking Spanish than when speaking English. Fortunately, when dealing with regular verbs all verbs of the same form will be conjugated in the same manner. Therefore, any other –ar verb will be conjugated in the same fashion as hablar. The same is true using verbs that end in –er and verbs that end in –ir. Underneath are the conjugations for the verbs comer, meaning “to eat”, and vivir, meaning “to live”. You will find yourself using these verbs often in conversation.

Comer

Yo como
Tu comes
El/Ella/Ud. come
Nosotros comemos
Vosotros comeis
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. comen
Ellos comen las bananas en la manana (they eat bananas in the morning).

Vivir

Yo vivo
Tu vives
El/Ella/Ud. vive
Nosotros vivimos
Vosotros vivis
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. viven
Yo vivo con mi hermana (I live with my sister).

As you can see, the conjugations of the –ir and –er verbs are very similar. There are a number of resources on the internet that will give you a listing of other commonly used –ar, -ir and –er verbs. Take the time to look these over and memorize them to the best of your ability, taking advantage of audio resources to help you with their pronunciation. Unfortunately, until you are using your Spanish on a daily basis in conversation these conjugations are not going to come easily for you. Practice makes perfect.

Unfortunately, not all verbs are regular. There are some that have their very own conjugation that is in no way, shape or form related to their regular counterparts, and these can be extremely confusing if you do not take the time to memorize them. There is no other way to learn these than through rote memorization, although many of these you will use so often that their conjugation will become second nature to you. Underneath are a few of the most commonly used irregular verbs and their proper conjugation.

Querer (to want)

Yo quiero
Tu quieres
El/Ella/Ud. quiere
Nosotros queremos
Vosotros queries
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. quieren

Tener (to have)

Yo tengo
Tu tienes
El/Ella/Ud. tiene
Nosotros tenemos
Vosotros teneis
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. tienen

Estar (to be, temporarily, as in to be in a place)

Yo estoy
Tu estas
El/Ella/Ud. esta
Nosotros estamos
Vosotros estais
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. estan

Ser (to be, permanently)

Yo soy
Tu eres
El/Ella/Ud. es
Nostros somos
Vosotros sois
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. son

Poder (to be able)

Yo puedo
Tu puedes
El/Ella/Ud. puede
Nostros podemos
Vosotros podeis
Ellos/Ellas/Uds. pueden

Visit www.wordreference.com for further assistance with Spanish vocabulary, verbs or irregular verbs. This reference will also help you to learn the difference between present, past and future forms of the verb, a topic that is far too difficult to go into in any great detail here!

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