Super-Quick Guide to Spanish

Super-Quick Guide to Spanish

This is meant to be a brief overview, which will help you to better coach your child with the BookLingual program. This guide is not a full, thorough course, but some important notes about the Spanish language, which will get you started on the right foot. Here is a pronunciation guide of the Spanish alphabet with some examples: Vowel A ah like in father I hear the water. Oigo el agua. (AH-goo-ah) E eh like in bed and ay in day I hear the fire. Oigo el fuego. (foo-ay-go) IMPORTANT! In many pronuncation brackets, you will see the syllable AY for the letter e sound. It reads to you. Te lee a tí. (LAY-eh) Example: queso (KAY-so) Rather than a long KAAAY sound, you will make it short and cut, more like KEH. So make sure to make this a short sound and it will sound correct. I ee like in week There are books. Hay libros. (LEE-bros) O oh like in dog My stomach aches. Me duele el estómago. (es-toh-mah-go) U oo like in noon I dream of playing. Sueño con jugar. (hoo-gar)

Consonant B and V like the b in boy, the difference between these two is the way we make the sounds, the B sound is made by using our lips similar to when we make the M sound, and the V sound is made by using our teeth and the bottom lip, this is why the V is called a dental consonant. D like the d in day F like the f in father K and Q like the k in kite L like the l in love M like the m in mother N like the n in no P like the p in place R like the r in river S and Z like the s in see T like the t in tool W like the w in water Y like the y in yellow These consonants are different from the English pronunciation: Consonant H always silent I m good but, I am hungry. Estoy bien pero, tengo hambre. (AHM-bray) Ñ like the ny in canyon I use the bathroom. Uso el baño. (BAH-nyo)

J like the h in hello I see you in the mirror. Te veo en el espejo. (es-pay-ho) C and G Before E or I, like the th in thin. Otherwise it is pronounced like the C in cat. And learned about science. Y aprendí sobre ciencia. (see-en-see-ah) The singer. La cantante. (can-tahn-tay) Before E or I, like the Spanish J. Otherwise it is pronounced like the G in get. Bears are awesome! Los osos son geniales! (hay-ne-ahl-es) I am made from water. Soy hecho de agua. (AH-goo-ah) X like the x (ks) in exam Everyone passed the exam, so Todos pasaron el examen, así que (ek-sah-men) LL is pronounced like the y in yes I hear the rain. Oigo la lluvia. (LYOO-ve-ah) CH is pronounced like the ch in church There are eight planets. Hay ocho planetas. (O-cho)

Something About Grammar Verb Conjugation The infinitive form of Spanish verbs usually end in -ar, -er, and -ir. The rest of the verb is considered the stem. Example: to do (hacer). Most conjugations can be done by following the models below: -ar -er -ir To speak - Hablar To have - Tener To leave - Salir Stem = Habl Stem = Ten Stem = Sal Yo Hablo Yo Tengo Yo Salgo Tú Hablas Tú Tienes Tú Sales Él/Ella Habla Él/Ella Tiene Él/Ella Sale Nosotros Hablamos Nosotros Tenemos Nosotros Salimos Ellos/Ellas Hablan Ellos/Ellas Tienen Ellos/Ellas Salen Demonstrative Adjectives There are 12 demonstrative adjectives in total, singular and plural. Singular English Plural English Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine Este Esta This Estos Estas These Ese Esa That Esos Esas Those Aquel Aquella That Aquellos Aquellas Those The adjectives and nouns they modify have to agree in number and gender.

For example, the word "casa" is a singular feminine noun. The demonstrative adjective will have to be singular feminine as well. So we would go to our demonstrative adjective chart and find the appropriate one, which would be "esta." But this is your new house? Pero esta es su nueva casa? (CAH-sah) On the example below, Stripes is a singular masculine noun. The appropriate demonstrative article would be singular masculine, which would be "ese." That s Stripes. Ese es Stripes. Adjectives, in general, not only demonstrative adjectives have to agree in number and gender. Look at the examples below: Masculine They are the tallest bears. Ellos son los osos más altos. (AHL-tos) Ellos los osos Feminine They have a long tongue. Tienen una larga lengua. (LEN-goo-ah) una larga lengua altos Note how nouns, pronouns, and adjectives agree in number and gender.

Punctuation Punctuation in Spanish is very similar to English. One major difference in punctuation is the use of inverted question marks and exclamation points at the beginning of questions and exclamations in Spanish. Exclamations Look, a big lion! Mira, un león grande! (lay-on) Ahh a snake! Ahh una serpiente! (ser-pe-en-tay) Questions Where is their teacher? Dónde está su maestro? (mah-es-tro) What is that sound? Qué es ese sonido? (so-nee-do) Subject Pronoun Omission The Spanish language is very similar to the English language in many ways as you have seen in the examples shown in this guide. But it might be worth mentioning an important difference, the omission of subject pronouns in Spanish. Sometimes, subject pronouns may be omitted when considered unnecessary. You must rely on verb form to determine which subject pronoun was omitted and better understand the sentence. In the sentence below, the subject pronouns are omitted, but by identifying that the verbs "Estoy" and "tengo" are in first person singular form you know that the sentence uses subject pronoun "I." I m good but, I am hungry. Estoy bien pero, tengo hambre. (AHM-bray) You are now ready to conquer the Spanish language! Remember there are always exceptions to every rule. Just keep going, keep learning - you can do it!