Basic Spanish, a must for beginners and holiday makers!
As in any language there are rules, and basic Spanish is no different. A good grasp of basic Spanish will help tremendously whether a beginner or for those of you needing the basics for a trip to Spain. Let's start with nouns.
The definition of a noun, as we are all taught in school is a
- place
- person
- thing
- objects
- thoughts
- feelings
In basic Spanish nouns are either singular or plural and have various different endings, relating to the gender of masculine or feminine.
Here are some examples of masculine nouns which usually end in o however this is not always the case, there are exceptions.
Examples:
- mundo world
- momento moment
- punto point
- tipo type
- libro book
Feminine nouns ending in a
- casa house
- forma form, shape
- pregunta question
- playa beach
- tienda shop
In relation to nouns which are people and animals then the ending changes relating to gender-masculine (o) or feminine (a).
Examples
- tio....uncle tia....aunt
- abuelo.....grandfather abuela....grandmother
- hermano....brother hermana....sister
- gato....male cat gata....female cat
Now before we have a look at singular and plural nouns in our basic Spanish let's take a look at articles and nouns...
The article in English is the word the,(definite article) this never changes regardless of whether in the singular or plural, for example
- the house....the houses
- the man..... the men
- the animal...the animals
However, in Spanish this is not the case, the definite article denotes whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. such as
- masculine singular
- feminine singular
- masculine plural
- feminine plural
The definite articles are as follows:
- el for masculine singular
- la for feminine singular
- los for masculine pluras
- las for feminine plural
Examples:
- el gato....the cat
- los gatos
- la casa....the house
- las casas....the houses
The Spanish language is a direct descendant of the Ancient Latin language that evolved over time after the fall of the Roman Empire. It is considered as one of the three major romance languages spoken throughout the world. Its first development came about as a result of the Vulgar Latin that was spoken by the soldiers, merchants, and commoners all over the Roman world; hence, the term Romance, from the word Romanesque. For people who have some background with Classical Latin or if their official language happens to be of Latin influence, or at least tainted with it, they will find the words familiar, if not slightly amusing. But for those who have no idea what Latin is, or don’t necessarily care, getting around Spain would prove quite difficult if one is not prepared.
Therefore, to groom oneself for the trip to Spain, one must learn the basics of the language to have a smooth and pleasant journey. Listed below are the most common words and phrases of basic Spanish that one will need in order to feel more comfortable during one’s travels.
• Hello - Hola (Ola)
• My name is… - Me llamo (Mey-Yah-Moh)
• Nice to meet you – Encantado (En-Cahn-Tah-Doh. If this phrase is directed to a woman or spoken by a woman, the last letter O should be replaced with the letter A. Encantada would be En-Cahn-Tah-Dah)
• Yes – Si (See)
• No – No (Noh)
• I speak a little Spanish – Hablo un poco en Español (Ah-Bloh Oon-Poh-Koh An Eh-Spahn-Yol)
• I speak a little English – Hablo un poco en ingles (Ah-Bloh Oon-Poh-Koh An Een-Glehs)
• Do you speak English – Hablas ingles (Ah-Blahs Een-Glehs)
• Can you help me - Puede ayudarme (pweh-deh ah-yoo-dar-meh)
• Do you understand - Entiendes (ehn-tyen-dehs)
• I don't speak Spanish - No Hablo en Español (noh ah-bloh)
• Do you speak Spanish - Habla usted Español (ah-blah oo-sted eh-spahn-yol)
• I don't understand - No Entiendo (noh ehn-tyen-doh)
• I understand - Entiendo (ehn-tyen-doh)
• I don't know - Yo no lo se (yoh noh loh she)
• Where is ... - Dónde está (dohn-deh eh-stah)
• Goodbye – Adios (Ahd-Yohs.)
• Bye – Chow (Chow)
• Thank you – Gracias (Grah-Siyahs)
• Thank you very much – Muchas Gracias (Moo-Chahs Grah-Siyahs)
• Please – Por favor (Por Fah-Bor)
• Good Morning – Buenos días (Bway-Nohs Dee-Ahs)
• Good afternoon – Buenas tardes (Bway-Nahs Tard-ays)
• Good evening/Good night – Buenas noches (bway-nahs noh-chays)
• See you – Hasta la vista (ah-stah lah vees-tah)
• See you later – Hasta luego (ah-stah loo-ay-go)
• See you soon - Hasta pronto (ah-stah prohn-toh)
• See you tomorrow - Hasta mañana (ah-stah mahn-yahn-ah)
• You're welcome - De nada (day nah-dah)
• Welcome – Bienvenidos (byen-veh-nee-dohs)
• I'm sorry - Lo siento (loh see-ehn-toh)
• Excuse me - Con permiso (kohn pehr-mee-soh)
• Pardon – Perdón (pehr-dohn)
• Let's go - Vamos (bah-mohs)
• How are you - Cómo estás (koh-moh ay-stahs)
• How's it going - Qué tal (kay tahl)
• Good - Bien (bee-ehn)
• Very good - Muy bien (moy bee-ehn)
• Bad – Mal (mahl)
• Very bad - Muy mal (moy mahl)
• What is your name - Cómo te llamas (koh-moh tay yah-mahs)
• Same here - Igualmente (ee-guahl-mehn-tay)
• Mister - Señor (sayn-yor)
• Mrs. - Señora (sayn-yor-ah)
• Miss - Señorita (sayn-yor-ee-tah)
• Where are you from - De dónde eres (day dohn-day eh-rehs)
• I'm from... - Yo soy de... (yoh soy day)
• How old are you - Cuántos años tienes (quahn-tohs ahn-yohs tee-ayn-ays)
• I am __ years old - Yo tengo __ años (yoh tayn-goh __ ahn-yohs)
• Here - Aquí (ah-kee)
• There is/are... - Hay (eye)
• There was/were... – Había... (ah-bee-ah)
• How do you say __ in Spanish - Cómo se dice __ en Español (koh-moh seh dee-ceh __ on eh-spahn-yol)
• I'm tired - Estoy cansado (eh-stoy kahn-sah-doh)
• Sick - Enfermo (ehn-fehr-moh)
• I know - Yo se (yoh she)
• Of course - Claro que sí (klah-roh keh see)
• What? Pardon me? - Cómo (koh-moh)
• Where are ... - Dónde están... (dohn-deh eh-stahn)
• What is that - Qué es esto (keh ehs ehs-toh)
• What's the matter with you - Qué te pasa (keh teh pah-sah)
• It doesn't matter - No importa (noh eem-por-tah)
• What's happening - Qué pasa (keh pah-sah)
• I have no idea - No tengo ninguna idea (noh tehn-goh neen-goo-nah ee-deh-ah)
• I'm hungry / thirsty - Tengo hambre / sed (tehn-goh ahm-breh / sed)
• I'm hot / cold - Tengo calor / frío – (tehn-goh kah-lohr / free-oh)
• I'm bored - Estoy aburrido (eh-stoy ah-boo-ree-doh)
• I don't care - No me importa (noh meh eem-por-tah)
• Don't worry - No se preocupe (noh seh preh-oh-koo-peh)
• That's alright - Está bien (ehs-tah bee-ehn)
• I forgot - Me olvidé (meh ohl-vee-deh)
• I must go now - Tengo que ir ahora (tehn-goh keh eer ah-oh-rah)
• Bless you - Salud (sah-lood)
• Congratulations - Felicitaciones (feh-lee-see-tah-see-oh-nehs)
• Good luck - Buena suerte (bweh-nah swehr-the)
• Shut up - Callate (kah-yah-the)
As a parting tip, one must be aware of a few guidelines that’ll come in handy when dealing with basic Spanish. First, the letter R must be purred effectively, almost like a D between vowels. If there are two Rs, then a longer purr is needed. Two Ls are pronounced as Y. Words beginning with G are sometimes enunciated as H, usually in names. The letter H is sometimes dropped while the letter J becomes a hard H.