Spanish

External Resources
https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/wiki/index#wiki_spanish_.28general.29

https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/wiki/index#wiki_spanish

Masculine and Feminine Nouns
In Spanish all nouns are masculine or feminine. Usually, nouns that end with an "o" are masculine, and nouns that end with an "a" are feminine. For example, "manzana" (apple) is feminine and "diario" (newspaper) is masculine.

The articles "el" and "un" are used with masculine nouns, and the articles "la" and "una" are used with feminine nouns. "The apple" is "la manzana" and "a newspaper" is "un diario."

Accent Marks
Vowels in Spanish can have an accent mark, such as the "u" in "menú" (menu). One use of the accent mark is to indicate which syllable should be stressed in the pronunciation. For example, in "teléfono" (telephone), the second "e" has the most stress.

Accent marks are also used to distinguish homophones. For example, "él" and "el" are homophones because they have the same pronunciation. However, "él" is a masculine pronoun (meaning "he" or "him") and "el" is a masculine article (meaning "the").

The Second Person Singular
"Tú," "usted" and "vos" are different ways of referring to the second person singular (you). "Usted" is the formal way of saying "you," and "vos" is used in informal speech in certain countries instead of "tú."

The three pronouns are synonyms, but they change the way verbs are conjugated. For instance, for the verb "comer" (to eat), it is "tú comes," "usted come," and "vos comés."

The decision of which form of "you" to use is regional and cultural, but you can typically use "usted" when referring to strangers.

Verb Conjugation
Verb conjugation in Spanish is more complicated than in English. In Spanish, the verb endings change in order to describe who is doing the action and when. For example, for "comer," "I eat" is "yo como" and "you eat" is "tú comes."

Because the conjugations indicate who is doing the action, it is usually possible to omit the pronoun. For instance instead of saying "yo como arroz" (I eat rice), you can say "como arroz."

Tardes and Noches
In English, "afternoon" comes before "evening," which in turn comes before "night." In Spanish there are only two words that cover these times of the day: "tarde" which means "afternoon," but overlaps with "evening," and "noche," which means "night" but also overlaps with "evening." Therefore, at 6:30pm it is ok to say either "buenas tardes" or "buenas noches."

Buenos Días
Even though "buenos días" literally means "good days," it is used in the mornings to mean "good morning."

Conjugation of 'Hablar'

Present indicative (presente del indicativo): '''In Spanish, the most common negative word is "no". As an adverb negating a sentence, it always comes immediately before the verb.'''
 * yo hablo
 * tú hablas
 * usted habla
 * él habla
 * ella habla
 * nosotros/as hablamos
 * ustedes hablan
 * ellos/ellas hablan

I speak - [Yo] hablo.

I do not speak - [Yo]  no  hablo.

He is - [Él] es / está.

He is not - [Él]  no  es / está.

Greetings

Many Spanish greetings depend on the time of day.

Buenos días

Good morning

Note that even though

Buenos días

includes the word

día

, it's only used in the morning.

Buenas tardes

Good afternoon / Good evening

You can use

Buenas tardes

in the afternoon or in the early evening.

Buenas noches

Good evening / Good night

Buenas noches

can mean both Good evening and Good night.

Spanish sounds

Spanish pronunciation is easier than you think! In general, Spanish

vowels

are always pronounced the same way.

For example, the a in

adiós -sounds the same as the a in -cama

cama - As in father.

leche - As in set.

niño - As in Lisa.

como - As in gold.

mucho gusto - As in dude.

3) Travel
Está vs. es

Está and es both mean is. So what's the difference? If you want to say where someone or something is located, use está.

¡El taxi está aquí! - The taxi is here!

You also use está when you're talking about something that's only temporarily true.

El hotel está cerrado. - The hotel is closed.

Meanwhile, es is used to describe the qualities of a person or thing.

El taxi es amarillo. -The taxi is yellow.

Spanish sounds
Pay special attention to the sounds these letters make in Spanish.

hola -Silent, as in hour.

jugo -As in help but raspier.

queso - As in key.

Asking for the check
A simple way to ask for the check in Spanish is to say: La cuenta, por favor

La cuenta, por favor. - The check, please.

A sandwich of fish
In English, we might ask for a cup of coffee. In Spanish, you do the same thing.

una taza de café - a cup of coffee

You also use de when you're describing what type of food something is.

un jugo de naranja - an orange juice

Adjectives
As a general rule, in Spanish adjectives come after the noun they describe, e.g.

An English dog / Un perro inglés

A Spanish horse / Un caballo español

Questions
Asking questions in Spanish is easy! Just change the pronunciation of any statement to a question by lifting your voice at the end.

Tú tienes un perro. : You have a dog.

¿Tú tienes un perro? : Do you have a dog?

Notice that all questions in Spanish begin with an upside down question mark (¿).

Tú vs. tu
Accent marks can be really useful! In Spanish, a word might have a different meaning depending on whether it does or doesn't have an accent mark.

For example, when tú has an accent, it means you.

¿Tú tienes un gato? - Do you have a cat?

Without an accent, tu means your.

¡Tu gato es grande! - Your cat is big!

Possessive Determiners
Possessive determiners are adjectives that are used to show ownership, such as "my" in "my dog." There are five possessive determiners in Spanish: The first three of these have only two forms, singular and plural

For example, "my dog" is "mi perro" and "my dogs" is "mis perros."

"Mi", "tu" and "su" do not have masculine and feminine forms, so for example you say "mi gato" and also "mi gata."

Nuestro and vuestro have four forms depending on the gender and number of the noun being referred to: For example, it is "nuestro gato," "nuestra gata," "nuestros gatos," and "nuestras gatas."

Long-form Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns
The determiners above are always used before the noun. Spanish has an additional "long-form" way to describe possession, which usually comes after the noun: "El gato es mío" means "The cat is mine."

Note that the possessive adjectives vary by number and gender. The change is with the nouns they modify, not with the person(s) who possess the object. For example, for a male cat you say "El gato es tuyo" (The cat is yours) regardless of whether you are talking to a man or a woman.

The short form and long forms of nuestro and vuestro and related pronouns are identical. They differ only as to whether they are used before or after the noun.

Tu Versus Tú
The two words "tu" and "tú" are pronounced the same. "Tú" is the personal pronoun meaning "you" (informal), and "tu" is the possessive adjective meaning "your" (informal).

7) Shopping
Spanish sounds

In Spanish, r has a different sound depending on where it is in a word.

ropa

Rolled, as in

marrón (beginning of word). barato

Tap roof of mouth with tongue, as in water (middle or end of word).

Double r (rr) always has a rolled sound.

marrón

Rolled r.

You can practice rr by placing the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and exhaling forcefully across the surface of your tongue. As you do so, release the tip of your tongue so that it lightly flutters against the roof of your mouth. It takes some practice, but you'll get there!

Adjectives

In Spanish,

adjectives usually come after the noun they're describing. un vestido azul

a blue dress

una camisa roja

a red shirt

un reloj caro

an expensive watch

un abrigo barato

a cheap coat

The Upside Down Question Mark
In written Spanish, questions should always start with an upside down question mark (¿). For example, to ask “What are you eating?” you would write “¿Qué comes?”

Position of Personal Pronouns
When asking a question, it is possible to place the personal pronoun in different places without affecting the meaning. For example “¿Qué comes tú?” and “¿Tú qué comes?” mean the same thing (and also the same thing as “¿Qué comes?”).

The position of the personal pronoun is sometimes used for emphasis. For example “Tú qué comes” places the emphasis on “you” and would mean something like “You, what are you eating?”

“Por qué” versus “Porque”
Even native speakers sometimes confuse “por qué” and “porque,” because they sound exactly the same. However, “por qué” means “why” and “porque” means “because.” That is, “por qué” is typically used when asking a question and “porque” is used when answering it.
 * Q: “¿Por qué no eres un niño?” (Why are you not a boy?)
 * A: “Porque soy una niña” (Because I am a girl)

Present Tense Verb Endings
In Spanish, the verb endings change in order to describe who is doing the action and when. Most verbs are "regular," meaning they change their endings in predictable ways.

Sí Versus Si
Although "sí" and "si" sound the same, "sí" (with an accent mark) means "yes" and "si" means "if."

And (Y, E), Or (O, U)
The word for "and" in Spanish is "y," and the word for "or" is "o." However, if the word after "and" starts with an "i" or "hi" (which sounds the same as "i" because the "h" in Spanish is always silent), then you need to use "e" instead of "y." For example "sons and daughters" is "hijos e hijas." Similarly, if the word after "or" starts with "o" or "ho," then you have to use "u" instead of "o." For example, "dog or bear" is "perro u oso."

Adjectives in Spanish
In Spanish, adjectives have to match the noun they refer to in terms of gender and number. For example, since "vestido" is a masculine noun, you say "el vestido es bonito" (the dress is pretty), but you say "ella es bonita" (she is pretty). Note, however, that not all adjectives change with gender.

Usually, masculine adjectives that end in -o or -os (in the plural) can become feminine by changing the ending to -a or -as. For example, "viejo" (old) becomes "vieja."

Spanish doesn't use suffixes such as "-er" or "-est" to indicate superlatives. Instead, the adverb "más" (more) is used. For example, "she is prettier" would be "ella es más bonita," and "she is the prettiest" would be "ella es la más bonita."

Usually, though not always, adjectives are placed after the noun they refer to. For example, "the red car" is "el coche rojo."

A few adjectives are shortened when they appear before singular nouns. One of the most common is "grande," which is shortened to "gran." For example, you can say "el hombre grande" (the big man) or "el gran hombre."

Demonstrative Determiners
Demonstrative determiners are used to point at something. In English, they are "this", "that", "these" and "those."

Spanish has three sets of demonstrative determiners, which vary by number and gender, so there are 12 in total:

Ese/Este versus Eso/Esto
It is important to note that the masculine singular forms in the table above don't end in "-o." The words "esto" (this) and "eso" (that) are also demonstrative pronouns, but they are gender neutral and used when the gender of the noun they refer to is unkown. For example, you would say "qué es eso?" (what is that?) when you don't know if the object you're asking about is masculine or feminine.

Ese versus Aquel
Both "ese" and "aquel" and their related forms are translated to English as "that" or "those." However, they have slightly different meanings. "Ese" is more common, and usually refers to things that are closer in terms of distance or time. For example, "esos perros" would be "those dogs," whereas "aquellos perros" is closer in meaning to "those dogs over there."

Ser versus Estar
One of the hardest things to learn about Spanish is the distinction between the verbs "ser" and "estar," since in English they both mean "to be."

By now you should be familiar with the conjugations of "ser," such as in "él es un niño" (he is a boy), "yo soy un hombre" (I am a man), and "ustedes son mujeres" (you are women). "Estar" is also an irregular verb, and its different conjugations in the present tense are below: "Ser" refers to what something is, while estar refers more to what something does. For example, "estoy enfermo" would mean "I am being sick" or "I am currently sick." On the other hand "soy enfermo" translates to something closer to "I am a sick person" or "I am sickly." Below are more examples: You can think of "ser" as being equivalent to "equals." Alternatively, you can think of "estar" as referring to a temporary condition, while "ser" frequently refers to a permanent condition. However there are some exceptions. For example, "ser" is used in expressions of time, such as "son las cuatro de la tarde" (it's 4 in the afternoon). Also, "estar" is used to indicate someone has died, so "he is dead" would be "está muerto."

Object Pronouns
In English, the words "he" and "I" can be used as subjects (the ones doing the action in a sentence), and they change to "him" and "me" when they are objects (the ones the action is applied to). For example, we say "He likes me" and "I like him." "Me," "him", "her," etc. are called object pronouns.

Objects pronouns can either be direct or indirect. The direct object is the thing or person that is directly receiving the action. For example, "him" is the direct object in "she likes him." The indirect object is the receiver of the direct object. For example, "him" is the indirect object in "she writes him a book."

In English, object pronouns are the same for both direct and indirect objects, but in Spanish they can change.

The object pronouns in Spanish are: Unlike in English where object pronouns go after the verb ("I see him"), Spanish object pronouns are generally placed directly before the verb. Below are some examples: Further clarification about who the sentence is talking about can always be added. For example, "I see him" can be translated as "Yo lo veo" and "Yo lo veo a él." Sometimes this clarification is necessary in order to remove ambiguity, while other times it is simply redundant. For example, "Yo los veo" is ambiguous because it could mean "I see them" or "I see you guys," so unless it is clear from context you would say "Yo los veo a ellos" or "Yo los veo a ustedes." However, "él nos ve" and "él nos ve a nosotros" mean exactly the same thing, since there is no ambiguity with "nos."

Past Tense Verb Endings
The past tense is used to refer to actions that occurred in the past. The past tense in Spanish has two predictable verb endings: one for –ar verbs, such as hablar (to speak), and another for –er and –ir verbs, such as comer (to eat) and escribir (to write). It is important to point out that many verbs in Spanish have an irregular past tense conjugation. For those irregular cases, the best way to learn their conjugation is with memorization and practice.

Phrasal Future
There are two future tenses in Spanish. The easier one to learn is the so called "phrasal future," in which the verb "ir" (to go) is used an auxiliary. Much like in English, where you can express future by saying "I am going to run tomorrow," in Spanish you can say "Voy a correr mañana." Thus, the future is formed by conjugating the irregular verb "ir" to the appropriate person, then adding the word "a," and then the infinitive of the main verb. Below are the conjugations of the verb "ir," followed by examples of phrasal future.