Vacation Spanish

From Eric Dondero R., the author of the Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book, and Christopher P. Hurtado, a 22-year veteran Spanish instructor. Dondero and Hurtado will teach you all their tricks and shortcuts for learning on your own before your cruise, spring break getaway, or adventurous trek south of the border. If you’re interested in learning… […]

The past and future tenses of verbs in Spanish include the preterit, imperfect, regular future and conditional. These tenses are far too complex to describe within a lesson plan for basic level conversation. For beginning level conversational students it is permissible to simply stress that one is speaking of the future or past while using […]

querer – to want yo quiero – I want tú quieres – you want Ud. quiere – you (form.) want él/ella quiere – he/she/it wants nosotros queremos – we want vosotros quereis – you (fam. pl.) want Uds. quieren – you (form. pl.) want ellos/ellas quieren – they (masc./fem.) want tener – to have yo […]

There are two ways to say “is” or “are” in Spanish. The conjugations of ser and estar are used, e.g. es and está. In very general terms ser is used in Spanish to denote personal traits of persons or things or things which are long-standing or permanent. ser – to be yo soy – I […]

The Infinitive is the unconjugated verb which will be found in the dictionary. In Spanish, the infinitive includes the meaning “to”. Thus hablar means “to speak.” All Spanish infinitives end in ‘ar’, ‘er’, or ‘ir’. When conjugating verbs, remove the infinitive ending and add the appropriate singular or plural ending. hablar –to speak yo hablo […]

Personal Pronouns yo – I tú – you (informal) usted (Ud.) – you (formal) el/ella – he/she nosotros – we vosotros – you all (Informal, used in Spain and Argentina) ustedes (Uds.) – you all (formal) ellos/ellas – they (masc./fem.) Demonstrative Pronouns èste or èsta – this or his one (near the speaker) ese or […]

Key prepositions include: con – with, por/para – for/intended for, en – in, a – to, and de – of. Conjunctions, include: y – and, o – or. The only two contractions in Spanish are; al (a + el)– “to the” and del (de + el) – “of/from the”

Indefinite article (a or some) – un, uno(a), unos(as). Singular Plural Masculine un una Feminine unos unas Definite article (the) – el, la, los y las. Singular Plural Masculine el la Feminine los las

Adjective endings in Spanish must be in agreement with the nouns they modify in both gender (masculine vs. feminine) and number (singular vs. plural), e.g. La casa es blanca. (The house is white.) Las casas son blancas. (The houses are white.) El carro es blanco. (The car is white.) Los carros son blancos. (The cars […]

quiero(e) – I want (you want) necesito(a) – I need (you need) Está bien. (¿Está bien?) – Okay (Are you okay?) sí (si) – yes (if) no – no tal vez – maybe hay – there is, there are ¿Hay? – Is there? Are there? es – is y – and o – or de […]