Spanish for Gueros

This page was pieced together from various sources and modified to provide what I felt was the most logical and organized progression.
Vocabulary and pronunciation are American (European differences are noted where convenient). All of the accent marks aren't included but I will attempt to add them someday; this guide is intended to provide an overview for beginners, not an advanced reading and writing course!

Symbols:
(n) = noun; (v) = verb; (adj) = adjective; (m) = masculine; (f) = feminine; (fam) = familiar
[ ] - For translation, contents of brackets signify the equivalent of one word in the other language.
e.g., Spanish "vámonos" = English [we go] or [we are going] or [let's go]
( ) - For translation, words in parenthesis are implied by Spanish, or are optional in Spanish..

Alphabet & Pronunciation

Some Useful Phrases

To Be Or To Be | Main Verb Conjugations | Other Important Verbs | Word Endings | Prepositions

Words Similar in English and Spanish

Alphabet and Pronunciation

As Compared to English (if it's the same I left it blank)

A, Á	"ah" as in Shah, father	Vowels are pronounced as a single sound, as opposed to a "dipthong," which is a combination of sounds. For example, in English the word "far" is actually pronounced more like "faer" or "fah-er." Not in Spanish! Vowels are pronounced the same with or without an accent mark.
E, É	long a as in they
I, Í	long e as in machine, beep
O, Ó	long o as in go, d'oh!
U, Ú	long u as in duplicate
B	combined sound of b and v (at the beginning of a word may sound more like b)	N	n, but put your tongue behind your upper front teeth to add a slight "th" sound.
C	s before e, i (th in Spain) k before a,o,u	Ñ	"ny" as in canyon, onion
CH		P
D	d, but put your tongue behind your upper front teeth to add a "th" sound (full th in Spain) At the end of a word, may be faint.	QU	k
F		R	once-rolled r (almost like English d); at beginning of a word it's pronounced like rr
G	hard h (Bach) before e, i hard g (get) before a, o	RR	twice-rolled r; roll it baby!
GU	Gua= Gwa (*Guam); Gue= Ge (get); Gui= Gui (gui*tar); Guo= Gwo	S
H	Silent, not pronounced	T	t, but put your tongue behind your upper front teeth to add a "th" sound.
J	"hard" h as in Bach, Scottish loch	V	combined sound of b and v (may sound more like b at the beginning of a word)
K		W	(rare)
L		X	s ks between two vowels (as in axe)
LL	y (in Spain: "ly" as in million)	Y
M		Z	s (th in Spain)

Some Useful Phrases

English	Spanish	Literal English (if different)
Please	Por favor, Favor de	For (a) favor, Favor of
Thank you.	Graçias.	Something like "Gracious"
You're welcome.	De nada./Por nada.	Of nothing./For nothing.
Excuse me./ Pardon me.	(Con) Permiso / Perdón (me)	(With) permission / Pardon (me). ( ) = implied in both languages.
Do you speak Spanish? (formal)	¿Habla español?	[You speak] Spanish? (You can also say ¿Habla Usted español?)
I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish..	Lo siento, no hablo español	[Literally something like "I feel it"], no [I speak] Spanish.
We're sorry, we don't speak...	Lo sentimos, no hablamos...	[Literally something like "We feel it"], no [we speak] Spanish.
How are you? (formal)	¿Cómo está (Usted)? (pl.: estan)	How [you are] (you)?
How are you? (informal)	¿Como estas? (plural: estan)	How [you are]?
How are you? (informal)	¿Qué tal?	Literally "What such," basically means "How's everything?"
Very well. And you?	Muy bien. ¿Y tú?	Formal: change to: ¿y Usted?
So so.	Más o menos.	More or less.
What's happening?	¿Qué pasa?	In slang you can say ¿Qué pasó?, which is basically "What happened?"
Nothing	Nada
Nice to meet you.	Encantado. / Mucho gusto.	Enchanted / "Much pleasure."
How do you say ____?	¿Como se dice ____?	How [generic pronoun somewhat like "they" but conjugated like s/he] say?
Yes / No	Sí / No	No is also the word for "not."
Good morning	Buenos días
Good afternoon	Buenas tardes
Good evening/night	Buenas noches
Hi, Hello / Goodbye	Hola / Adios	Adios = "To God," i.e., "go with God"
See you later.	Hasta: luego / la vista / mañana.	Until: then / the (next) meeting / morning.
What's your name? (informal)	¿Como te llamas?	How you [you call]? i.e., "How do you call you?"
What's your name? (formal)	¿Como se llama?	How [generic pronoun; think "they"] call (you)? i.e."How are you called?"
My name is Tom.	Me llamo Tomás.	Me [I call] Tom.
Where is the bathroom?	¿Donde esta el banyo?
Where are the bathrooms?	¿Donde estan los banyos?
How much does the taxi cost?	¿Cuanto cuesta el taxi?	[How much] [it costs] the taxi?
Do you know where the city is?	¿Sabe donde esta la ciudad?	[You know] where is the city?
I/We'd like...	Quisiera/Quisiéramos...
Can I/Can we...	Podría/Podríamos...
I/we need...	Necesito/Necesitamos...
Cheers!	¡Salud!	Literally "health." This is also used for "bless you" after a sneeze.

Grammar and Structure

I was going to simplify but you might as well just check out these Basic Notes about Spanish at Lingolex.com.
They do a really good job of explaining much of the basics.
Also see David Uhair's Babel Site and link to his awesome Spanish/4.Grammar page.

Rules of Syllable Accentuation

A word ending in a vowel, n or an s is stressed on the next-to-the-last syllable.
e.g.: mañana (morning); cantan (they sing).

A word ending in a consonant (except n or s) is stressed on the last syllable.
e.g.: español (Spanish); comer (to eat).

Words not following these rules have a written accent on the stressed syllable.
e.g.: atención (attention); árbol (tree); médico (doctor); magnífico (magnificent).

"The, This, That and The Other"

(Articles, Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns)

"The" is the "definite article" and "a(n)" is the "indefinite article."


Singular	m f
Plural	m f
Neuter

Articles

The	A(n)
el la	un una
los las	unos unas

Demonstrative Adjectives

This/These	That/Those	(farther)
este esta	ese esa	aquel aquella
estos estas	esos esas	aquellos aquellas

Demonstrative Pronouns

This/These	That/Those	(farther)
éste ésta	ése ésa	aquél aquélla
éstos éstas	ésos ésas	aquéllos aquéllas
esto	eso	aquello

Demonstrative Adjectives become Pronouns when the noun they modify is left out ("This" instead of "This table").
They are the same except accents are added.

Gender

In Spanish, nouns (objects) are either masculine or feminine, which is called the "gender" of the noun.
This characteristic is basically archaic, arbitrary and now meaningless, and also makes Spanish (and other languages) more difficult!
Masculine nouns generally end in o or a consonant.
Feminine nouns generally end in a, but most nouns ending in -ad, -ion, -ez, -ud and -umbre are also feminine.
Many masculine nouns ending in o have a femimine form ending in a, such as el niño / la niña (boy / girl child)
Many masculine nouns ending in a consonant add an a at the end to form the feminine, e.g., el profesor / la profesora (m/f professor).
Some nouns, which often end in e, have the same form for both, e.g., el estudiante / la estudiante (m/f student).
Words used with nouns, such as adjectives and definite articles, need to match the gender of the noun.

Questions, Important Words and Expressions

English	Spanish		English	Spanish		English	Spanish
How much? costs(cost) How? What? Why?/Because When? Where? From where? Who? (pl.) Which one(s)? True? True? Really? here there right left near, close far fairly only alone together	¿Cuanto(s)? cuesta(n) ¿Cómo? ¿Qué? ¿Porque? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? ¿De dónde? ¿Quien(es)? ¿Cuál(es)? ¿Verdad? ¿Cierto? ¿De veras? aquí allí derecha izquierda cerca lejo bastante solo (solamente) solo junto		of, from yes if no for more less with against maybe then very but already friend a lot (much) a little about early late about, on in case hardly	de sí si (no accent) no por, para* mas menos con contra tal vez entonces muy pero ya amigo(a) mucho poco, poquito sobre temprano tarde sobre en caso apenas		while open closed today now yesterday tomorrow all none something, anything someone, anyone any, some always never also either....or nothing nobody none, not any neither....nor so much as ____ as just	mientras abierto cerrado ahora ahorita ayer mañana todo nada algo alguien algún, alguno/a(s) siempre nunca, jamas también (lit. "as well") o...o nada nadie ningun, ninguno(a) ni....ni tanto tan(to) ___ como acabo

*Por is used for during (for 3 hours), because of (for nothing), in exchange (tit for tat), on behalf of (lift it for you), motion (through, by, along, around), how something was accomplished (by car), the object of an action (I'll visit for tea).
Para is used for goal or purpose (to win), recipient (for you), destination (left for home), time limits or deadlines (for tonight),
comparison (easy for you), readiness when used with "to be" (am/are/were ready for takeoff).
Yes, it is a complete pain in the ass to tell the difference, and I still can't.

Conjugation Format

Verb conjugations generally appear in the formats below, of which we will be using the one on the right.
The pronouns (I, you, etc.) will generally be omitted in the conjugations, because they are implied in the charts.
Actually in Spanish the pronouns aren't needed for conjugated verbs because the "person(s)" to whom the verbs refer are included in the
conjugated ending of the verb itself, e.g., "hablo" = [I speak], "hablamos" = [we speak].
The "infinitive" is the basic form of a verb, in the form: "to (verb)," e.g., "to talk," "to eat."
When speaking formally to a "second person(s)," use the third person form.
In other words, when speaking to a "second person" or second "group of people" (a single or collective "you") who is not "familiar" to you,
(for example if the person is older or you don't know them very well), you should use the second person "formal" form,
which is same as the third person form. Got it? :)

Standard form of representation

	Singular	Plural
first person second person (familiar) third person (& 2nd formal)	I you (fam.) s/he (you formal)	we you (fam.)* they (you formal)

*This tense is rarely used in
(North and South) American Spanish

Standard form we'll be using here

Singular	I you (familiar) s/he (& you formal)	(first person) (second person fam.) (third person)
Plural	we you (familiar)* they (& you formal)	(first person) (second person fam.) (third person)

Pronouns

Personal (Subject)

I you (fam) you (formal) he/she	yo tu usted él/ella
we you (fam) you (formal) they (m/f)	nosotros(as) vosotros(as) ustedes ellos/ellas

Prepositional*

mí
ti
usted
él/ella

nosotros(as)
vosotros(os)
ustedes
ellos/ellas

Direct Object

me you (fam) him; you, it (m) her; you, it (f)	me te lo la
us you (fam) them, you (m) them, you (f)	nos os los las

Indirect Object

(to) me (to) you (fam) (to) him, her (& you formal)	me te le
(to) us (to) you (fam) (to) them (& you formal)	nos os les

* The preposition "with" (con), has special forms for the first and second person: [with me] = conmigo, [with you] = contigo

Notes:
Direct Object Pronoun = I see you; she called me
Indirect Object Pronoun = I wrote her a letter, i.e., I wrote a letter to her.
Prepositional = follow a preposition, e.g., with you, to them, from her, for us.
Feminine forms of third person pronouns (they) are used only for groups that contains only women.
In English, direct and indirect object pronouns come after the verb that affects them.
But in Spanish, the direct and indirect object pronouns usually come before the verb; e.g., I have it = Yo la tengo (literally: I it have).
But if the verb is an infinitive ("to __") or progressive (-ing), the pronoun can come before, or after (added onto the end of) the verb, e.g.,
I want to write you a song = "Te quiero escribir un canción" = [(to) you] [I want] [to write] a song
or "Quiero escribirte un canción." = [I want] [to write (to) you] a song
I'm writing you a song = "Estoy te escribiendo un canción." = I am [(to) you] writing a song.
or "Estoy escribiendote un canción." = I am [writing (to) you] a song.

Possessives

Possessive Adjectives (to appear here at some point).

To Be

TO BE	Ser	Estar
English	Inherent characteristics (nationality, profession, time/date, events, possessions, etc.) e.g., "Ice is cold."	Temporary condition (emotions, sensations, at a place/location, etc.) e.g., "This coffee is cold."
I am you (fam) are he/she/it is we are you (fam) are they are	soy eres es somos sois son	estoy estás está estamos estáis están

For past and other tenses and a more thorough explanation of the difference between the two verbs,
check out Lingolex.com's awesome summary of these two verbs Ser and Estar.

Main Verb Conjugations

There are three main verb forms, ending in "ar" "er" and "ir." Many verbs follow these standard conjugations, shown below.
Note that in regular verbs, the "root" part (the part that isn't ar/er/ir; here it's habl-, com-, and viv-) of the infinitive remains constant.
Many other verbs, some of them quite important, are "irregular" and don't follow the standard rules.
Some of those will be addressed in the next sectionette.

Regular Conjugations

Hablar [to speak]	Comer [to eat]	Vivir [to live]
hablo hablas habla hablamos habláis hablan	como comes come comemos coméis comen	vivo vives vive vivimos vivís viven

Common Irregular Conjugations

o -> ue Volver [to return]		e -> i Decir [to say, tell]
vuelve vuelves vuelve volvemos volvéis vuelven		digo dices dice decimos decís dicen

The following verbs are irregular in the first person singular form of the present tense (several of these are conjugated fully in the next section):

salir (to leave, to go out) = salgo
ver (to see) = veo
traer (to bring) = traigo

decir (to say, to tell) = digo
poner (to put) = pongo
hacer (to do, to make) = hago

Negative form:
The negative form of a verb is simply built by means of the expression "no + Verb."
e.g.: Somos = We are; No somos = We are not.
Veo = I see; No veo = I don't see.

Other Important Verbs

Ir [to go]	Tener [to have]	Hacer [to do/make]	Poder ("Can") [to be able to]	Decir [to say]	Dar [to give]	Ver [to see]
Voy Vas Va Vamos Vais Van	Tengo Tienes Tiene Tenemos Tenéis Tienen	Hago Haces Hace Hacemos Hacéis Hacen	Puedo Puedes Puede Podemos Podéis Pueden	Digo Dices Dice Decimos Decís Dicen	Doy Das Da Damos Dais Dan	Veo Ves Ve Vemos Veis Ven

The cool thing about "tener" (= to have) is that it's used the same way as in the English phrase "have to" (= tener que).
The phrase is constructed "Tener que + infinitive," e.g.,
I have to go = Tengo que ir (literally: [I have] that [to go]); They have to eat = Tienen que comer (literally: [They have] that [to eat]).
(The Spanish "que" means "that" or "which" ("what" in a question),
instead of the English "to," which is contained in the infinitive form of the verb.)

Even better, the present tense of the verb "ir" (= to go) is used to denote the future the same way as in English "going to" (= ir a).
Use of this form is very common and is probably easier than learning the future conjugations of many different verbs.
Note that in Spanish, go(es) = am/are/is going; so Voy = [I go] = [I am going]
The phrase "going to [to verb]" is constructed "ir a + infinitive," e.g.,
We are going to go = Vamos a ir (literally: [We are going] or [We go] or [Let's go] to [to go]);
They are going to have = Van a tener (literally: [They are going] or [They go] to [to have]).

Gustar and reflexive verbs here?

Word Endings

English	-ing	-ly	-ity (-ness)	-ence(y)	-ator, -er
Spanish	"-ando" for "ar" verbs, "-iendo" for "er and "ir" verbs.	-(a)mente	-idad	-encia	-ador, -ero
Examples	hablar = to speak; comer = to eat: hablando = speaking comiendo = eating This form will often be preceeded by the correct form of the verb "estar" [to be], e.g.: estoy hablando = [I am] speaking estan comiendo = [They are] eating	rapido = fast -> rapidamente =quickly; facil = easy -> facilmente = easily; sincere = sincero -> sinceramente = sincerely	responsibility = responsibilidad, unity = unidad sickness = infirmity = enfermedad sincerity = sinceridad	frequency = frequencia, turbulence = turbulencia absence = ausencia	lavar = to wash, lavador = washer; to run = correr, runner = corredor; to play = jugar, player = jugador bank = banco, banker = banquero

Also, -ito/a = suffix denoting endearment: chaparro = short, "Chaparrito" = "Shorty"
-tion = ción, ment = mento/a/e

Prepositions

English	Spanish	Literal English	English	Spanish	Literal English	English	Spanish	Literal English
on	sobre		under	debajo de	[of low] of	beside	al lado de	to side of
in	dentro de	[of enter] of	in front of	delante de	[of before] of	near	cerca de	close of
above/over	encima de	above of	behind	detrás de	[of after] of	next to	junto a
between/among	entre		before	antes		after	despues

Adjectives

English	Spanish	English	Spanish	English	Spanish	English	Spanish
happy	feliz	good	bueno/a
sad	triste	bad	malo/a
poor	pobre	easy
rich	rico/a	hard
big	grande	interesting
small	pequeño/a	smart
a little bit	poquito	stupid
expensive	caro/a
cheap	barato/a
young	joven
old	viejo/a
long	largo/a
short	corto/a
tired	cansado/a

Regular (Standard) Conjugations For Past and Future:

from Hablar = to speak, Comer = to eat, Vivir = to live

Preterite

Preterite: "Verbed" (completed actions)

Spoke	Ate	Lived
hablé hablaste habló hablamos hablasteis hablaron	comí comiste comió comimos comisteis comieron	viví viviste vivió vivimos vivisteis vivieron

Future

Future: "Will verb"

Will speak	Will eat	Will live
hablaré hablarás hablará hablaremos hablaréis hablarán	comeré comerás comerá comeremos comeréis comerán	viviré vivirás vivirá viviremos viviréis vivirán

Past Perfect (and Verb as Adjective)

Past Perfect: "Have (verbed)"

This tense is made from the conjugation of the auxiliary verb Haber ("to have") and the "past participle" of another verb.
(Haber = have, not in the sense of "I have something" or "I have to do something," but "I have (verbed)," e.g., "I have eaten," "He has gone")

The past participle is formed by adding "-ado" to the root of "ar" verbs, and "-ido" to the root of "er" and "ir" verbs.

Haber (auxiliary) [to have]	Examples	Verb as Adjective
he has ha hemos habéis han	Hablar = to speak, He hablado = I have spoken. Comer = to eat, Has comido = You have eaten. Vivir = to live, Ha vivido = S/he has lived. Tener = to have, Hemos tenido = We have had. Ir = to go, Han ido = They have gone.	The cool thing about this form is that the verb can be used as an adjective in many cases, as in "your car has rusted," so now it IS "rusted." This is where other adjectives like "tired" and "signed" come from. Cool, eh?