Hola, and welcome to my blog which will attempt to become a free resource to help you learn the Spanish language wherever you come from. So, without further to do lets start with the very basics. As we learn how to introduce ourselves, and learn a little about basic pronunciation and grammar.
Hola - Hello
Simple enough, right? I'm sure you all know this one. A quick note on pronunciation, the letter 'H' is ALWAYS silent in the Spanish language, so 'hola' is pronunced 'ola'.
¿Cómo estás? - How are you
¿Cómo está usted? - How are you (Formal)
Unlike in the English language there are 2 different ways to form a question the 'informal way' and the 'formal way'. Informality should be used wAith friends, family of the same age and children whereas the formal construction should be used with older people, in a work situation or whenever you would like to show a little bit more politeness.
Also note that in Spanish question marks, and indeed exclamation marks, are placed inverted at the beginning of the statement as well as at the end.
Me llamo Juan - My name is Juan
The Spanish for 'my name is' although literally it translates as 'they call me Juan', this leads to the very common error by Spanish learners of saying 'me llamo es Juan' with 'es' being translated as 'is'. This is WRONG. It would translate as 'they call me is Juan'. As far as pronunciation is concerned 'll' is pronounced closely to the English 'Y'.
Again, literally translated as 'what do you call yourself'? and constructed differently depending on whether you are in a formal or informal situation. Remember your pronunciation of the Spanish 'double L'.
Mucho Gusto - Nice to meet you
Encantado/Encantada - Nice to meet you
Two different ways to convey the same idea. 'Mucho gusto' literally translates as much pleasure but it is used in this context to mean nice to meet you.
Encantado or encantada? Well, it depends if you're male of female. Encantado is the mascaline form of the noun and encantada is feminine.
¡Buenas tardes! - Good Afternoon
¡Buenas noches! - Good Evening/Good Night
¡Hasta luego! - See You Later
¡Hasta mañana! - See you Tomorrow
Adiós - Goodbye
One little cultural note on the above vocabulary - Afternoon, and therefore evening starts a lot later in Spain than in the rest of Europe. 'Good Morning' is used well into the afternoon and 'Good Evening' isn't used until late at night, perhaps 9 or 10pm. I can't say if this is the same in Latin America, so please, let me know.
Now, take the quiz, and see how much you've learnt.
