Spanish notes
Every phrase and grammar point from the course, each explained where it comes up in a conversation. Free to read, 42 so far.
Day 1 · Unos días (A few days)
- ¿Sí?¿Sí? means “Yes?” Spanish uses an opening mark:
- ¡Hola!¡Hola! means “Hi!” The h is silent, so hola sounds like “ola”. It works at any time of day and in most…
- Soy MartaYo means “I” in Spanish. But in soy Marta, we leave out yo because soy already identifies the speaker.
- ¡Sube, sube!¡Sube, sube! means “Come up, come up!” Later, pasa, pasa means “Come in, come in.” Learn both as complete…
- ¡Bienvenida!When welcoming a woman, say ¡Bienvenida! For a man, say ¡Bienvenido!
- ¿Qué tal?¿Qué tal? is a casual “How are you?” Answer with bien (“good”) or muy bien (“really good”), then return the…
- Unos díasUnos días means “a few days.” Here, unos expresses an approximate amount rather than an exact number. In…
Day 2 · El piso (The flat)
- El pisoEl piso means “the flat.” Piso is masculine, so it takes el. Picture Piso as Pisa’s masculine cousin: a…
- Esta es tu habitaciónEsta es tu habitación means “This is your room.” Use esta with a feminine thing and este with a masculine…
- Tu and miTu means “your” and mi means “my”; neither changes for gender. The accent distinguishes tú (“you”) from tu…
- ¡Qué bonita!¡Qué bonita! means “It’s so pretty!” Use ¡qué…! with a describing word to form an exclamation; bonita ends…
- ¿Y esa foto?Esa points to a feminine thing a little farther away: esa foto, “that photo”. It is not es: es is the verb…
- Aquí and tambiénAquí means “here” and también means “too” or “also.” Both will appear constantly from now on.
- La cocina and el bañoLa cocina means “the kitchen” and el baño means “the bathroom.” Spanish uses la with feminine nouns and el…
- El baño tambiénAfter aquí (“here”), el baño también literally says “the bathroom too.” Natural English adds what Spanish…
- ValeVale means “OK” in Spain. You will hear it constantly, often doubled as vale, vale.
- ¿Hay lavadora?¿Hay lavadora? means “Is there a washing machine?” Hay means “there is” or “there are” and never changes;…
- Lavadora and lavanderíaLavandería means “laundromat,” while lavadora means “washing machine.” Both come from lavar (“to wash”): one…
Day 3 · Abajo (Downstairs)
- Tú eres MartaSpanish normally leaves tú (“you”) out because the verb already identifies the person:
- La de TeruelLa stands for a woman here; for a man, use el de Teruel (“the one from Teruel”).
- ¿Cómo sabes mi nombre?In a question, cómo (“how”) carries a written accent. Without it, como has other jobs: on day 2 you saw como…
- Lucía habla muchoCompare the three forms:
- Esta es mi amiga MartaYou used esta es on day 2 in Esta es tu habitación. Here the same structure introduces a female friend; for…
- EncantadaA woman says encantada when meeting someone; a man says encantado. This is the same -a/-o pattern as…
- ¿De dónde eres?Answer with soy de aquí (“I’m from here”) or soy de plus a place: soy de Teruel.
Day 4 · La cinco (Number five)
- Quiero lavar la ropaPut an infinitive after quiero to say what you want to do; Spanish treats la ropa (“clothes”) as a singular…
- La cinco está libreLa stands for the understood feminine noun máquina. Compare the familiar es with the new está:
- ¿Cuánto es?Use ¿Cuánto es? to ask the amount to pay; the answer can simply be cuatro euros (“four euros”).
- Numbers one to tenThe numbers from one to ten are:
- Tengo and tienesCompare the person forms:
- Aquí tienesUse aquí tienes when handing something to another person.
- De nadaUse de nada as the standard reply to gracias; word for word, it says “of nothing.”
Day 5 · Un café (A coffee)
- ¿Qué te pongo?This is a common informal question from someone serving at a bar. Word for word, it is closer to “What do I…
- Ways to order coffeeThe amount of milk changes the name:
- Por favorPut por favor after what you want: un café con leche, por favor; ask for another with otro café, por favor.
- Usted esCompare the two ways to address one person:
- ¿Nos conocemos?Nos includes both people. ¿Nos conocemos? asks whether they know each other; later, sí nos conocemos uses…
Day 6 · La víspera (The night before)
- ¿A qué hora…?Use ¿A qué hora…? to ask when something happens. The answer changes at one o’clock:
- Empiezas a trabajar mañanaUse empezar a plus an infinitive for starting an action; the present can describe an arranged near future.
- Tengo sueñoWord for word, tengo sueño says “I have sleep,” a pattern you will meet again in tengo hambre (“I’m hungry”).
- ¿Tienes lista la camisa?Use tener + describing word + thing to say that you have something in a particular state: tienes lista la…
- Limpia, doblada y planchadaSpanish can place several descriptions together: limpia, doblada y planchada. They all end in -a because…
Read them in context
Each note comes from a short scene with audio and practice. Week 1 is free, no account needed.
Start Day 1 free