The Infinitive

When in English you have a sentence with “to”+<verb> (e.g. I want to go to the store), that translates to Spanish as the infinitive. You don’t conjugate it! Remember to conjugate any helping verb that precedes it.

Me voy a dormir -  I go to sleep.

Quiero ver el programa – I want to see the program

Pienso estudiar leyes – I think about studying law (l think to study laws)

Voy a caminar esta tarde – I go to walk this afternoon.

Quiero entender español mejor – I want to understand Spanish better.

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs

You recognize them because it’s a verb+”se” at the end: e.g.  irse (to go away); ponerse (to put on/wear); lavarse (to wash up)

To conjugate, drop the “se” and conjugate what is left normally, then add the correct reflexive pronoun before the verb: me (myself), te (yourself/fam), se (him/herself, yourself(form)), themselves, and nos (ourselves)

eg. me voy, te vas, se va, nos vamos, se van

Me voy porque es tarde (I'm leaving because it’s late)

Me pongo una camisa roja (I put on (myself) a red shirt)

Me lavo las manos (I wash my hands; literally I wash myself the hands)

Reflexive is used a lot more in Spanish than in English. It’s used to convey doing something to yourself: 

Yo me lastimé el dedo  (lastimar/to hurt; I hurt(past tense) my finger) 
Yo me voy a operar mañana (I’m going to have surgery tomorrow).   
Yo me caí anoche. (I fell down last night; caer to fall; caerse to fall down).

Meet the "tender" Verb Family

Meet the “tender” verb family. An e —> ie stem changer

presente: tiendo/tiendes/tiende/tendemos/tienden

pretérito tendí/tendiste/tendió/tendimos/tendieron
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;'

Present Participle: tendiendo.

Past Participle: tendido

Tender has multiple meanings and uses

• to hang out. Ella tiende la ropa. She hangs out the clothes (to dry).
• to tend. Ėl tiende ser un poco bruto.  He tends to be a bit dumb.
• It can also mean to make (the bed) as in "tender la cama"
• to set (the table) as in "tender la mesa"

atender -- to look after/attend to

entender — to understand

extender — to extend, spread out

contender — to contend

la tendencia — the tendency

La extención — the extension

Meet the "volver" Verb Family

Meet the “volver” verb family.  A classic stem changer (o --> ue)

Presente: vuelvo/vuelves/vuelve/volvemos/vuelven

Preterito: volví/volviste/volvió/volvimos/volvieron

present participle = volviendo 

past participle=         vuelto

And now the members:

devolver – to return (something) / to give back

envolver – to wrap / to envelop

revolver – to stir / to stir up / revolve

revuelto — scrambled. Huevos revueltos — scrambled eggs

la vuelta — the turn, revolution

a la vuelta — around the corner

envuelto — wrapped, involved, implicated

el vuelto  -- the (pocket) change (think money that comes back to you)

DO NOT CONFUSE devolver (to return (something)) with regresar (to return, as in someone returns). They are both very different, even though English uses the same word for both. 

Meet the "poner" Verb Family

Today's verb is poner = to put

Irreg Yo form  yo pongo  -- I put 

Present Tense  -- pongo,pones,pone,ponemos,ponen
Pretérito is irregular -- puse,pusiste,puso,pusimos,pusieron
present participle = poniendo. 

past participle  = puesto

Now the family members:
ponerse. To put on, to wear
deponer. To depose
exponer. To expose
oponer. To oppose
proponer. To propose
suponer. To suppose
yuxtaponer. To juxtapose

Meet the "venir" Verb Family

Meet the “venir” verb family. 

venir = to come

Remember the irregular yo form, and it’s a stem changer:  (e to --> ie)

Present: vengo/vienes/viene/venimos/vienen.

Preterito:  vine/viniste/vino/vinimos/vinieron.  

Present participle =viniendo 

Past participle =venido

And now the family members: 

avenir – to reconcile

bienvenir – to welcome

contravenir – to be suitable, to agree on

devenir – to become

intervenir – to intervene, to take part in

prevenir – to prevent

provenir – to come from

sobrevenir – to strike / to happen all of a sudden

and also: bienvenido (welcome);

Meet the "decir" Verb Family

Meet "decir" --to say or to tell

It has an irregular yo form and a stem changer.  (e --> i)

Presente: digo/dices/dice/decimos/dicen

Preterito: dije/dijiste/dijo/dijimos/dijeron. 

Present participle=diciendo; 

past participle=dicho

Here are the family members:

bendecir – to bless

contradecir – to contradict

desdecir – to deny

maldecir – to speak ill of, to curse

predecir – to predict

Nouns: el dicho (the saying, proverb); el predicho (the prediction, forecast)

Memorize the simple expression "Dime" (DEE-meh), which means Tell Me. 

Increase Your Verb Vocabulary

Increase your verb vocabulary quickly by adding prefixes to verbs you already know how to conjugate! Today meet the “tener” family.  In English, these are verbs that end in -tain.

Tener has an irregular yo form and is a stem changer.  (e --> ie)

Presente:  tengo/tienes/tiene/tenemos/tienen

Preterito: tuve/tuviste/tuvo/tuvimos/tuvieron.

Present Participle:  teniendo  

Past Participle        tenido

The "tener" family

tener – to have / to possess

mantener – to maintain

contener – to contain

sostener – to sustain

detener – to detain

entretener – to entertain

abstener – to abstain

obtener – to obtain

retener – to retain

Lección 01: Pronunciación y Saludos (Pronunciation and Greetings)

Lección  1 – El Alfabeto Español; Pronunciación; Saludos Simples

(The Spanish Alphabet; Pronunciation; Simple Greetings)

The Spanish alphabet is similar to the English alphabet. It has an additional letter “Ñ” (see below). In addition, certain combinations of letters occur so frequently, and have a unique pronunciation, such that they are sometimes treated like a separate letter, but they are not. These are: CH, LL, and RR.  (again, see below). Please memorize the Spanish names of the letters. We will use the Spanish alphabet to spell words. With time, the names of the letters will be quite familiar to you.

Spanish pronunciation is easier than English because words are pronounced as written according to the following rules. You learn the rules and the pronunciation is straightforward. English pronunciation is much harder. Look at this English sentence:  

 “Though tired, the tough policeman went through the forest and hit the bough of a tree that injured his head so he bought a band-aid.”  

What a nightmare it is to explain to a foreigner how to pronounce words that end in  ‘-ough”. This doesn’t happen in Spanish.

Here is “el alfabeto español.” The grey boxes describe differences from the English alphabet.

VOWELS: In Spanish, each vowel has a SINGLE pronunciation, which is the SAME every time you see that letter. In English, the letter A alone has at least 4 pronunciations, e.g. BAT, GATE, FATHER, ABOUT. In Spanish, the letter A is ALWAYS pronounced like the A in FATHER.  The BIGGEST challenge for English speakers is to forget all the other ways to pronounce A so that is ALWAYS sounds like the A in FATHER. The same is true for other vowels as described below.  In the early weeks of learning Spanish, I become a VOWEL POLICEMAN and will correct your vowels mercilessly anytime you deviate from these basic rules.  Using a whip is not out of the question.  

CONSONANTS: Most consonants are the same in English in Spanish, with some notable exceptions highlighted below. 

WATCH THE YOU-TUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fporIAdys9A&list=RDfporIAdys9A&index=2

Memorize the names of the letters and the Rule; We will use Spanish names of letters when Spelling

Letter	English Equivalent	Examples
A (ah)	Like A in Father	Hola (hello);  Gato (cat); mano (hand);
B (beh grande)	The letters B and V sound the same in Spanish, somewhere between the two	Bola (ball); Ven (come); bate (bat); vino (wine); banco (bank)
C (seh)	Hard C same as in English. Like C in Car Soft C same as in English like C in Certain Use hard C before A, O, U, otherwise soft	Caso (case); carro (car); local (locale); taco ; cupula; cuesta (cost) Hace (does); cerca (near); fácil (easy); cinco (five)
CH (seh-ache or cheh)	Like English CH in Church. Never SH like Chicago	Leche (milk); chulo (male call boy); chispa (spark)
D (deh)	Same as in English. Like D in David Though not as hard.	Dado (dice); dentista (dentist); adonde (where to?)
E (eh)	Like E in Get	Fe (faith); pero (but); perro (dog); vete (go away)
F (efeh)	Same as in English. Like F in Father.	Francisco (Francis); Fuente (fountain); fácil (easy)
G	Hard G is same in English. Like G in Get Soft G is like H in English, Like Gente Use Hard G before a, o, u; otherwise soft	Gato (cat); gozar (to enjoy); guante (glove), grito (scream); agua (water) Gente (people); garage (garage); vigilar (to watch over, think vigilant); fingir (to fake), girar (to turn, revolve)
H (acheh)	The H in Spanish is always silent.	Hoy (today); horizonte (horizon); Hueso (bone) ahora (now); huevo (egg)
I (eeh)	Like English EE in Feet	Fin (end); cinco (five); vivir (to live); mismo (same)
J (hotah)	Like English H in Hotel	José (Joe); bajo (low); ajo (garlic); joven (young)
K (cah)	Like English K. Most Spanish words with k are borrowed from other languages.	Kilómetro (kilometer); kilogramo (Kilogram); karate
L (eleh)	Like English L in Love	Lobo (wolf); ola (wave); las olas (the waves); feliz (happy)
LL (eyeh)	Like English Y in Yellow	Calle (Street); Llegar (to arrive); Lluvia (rain)
M (emeh)	Like English M in Memo	Mano (hand); médico (doctor); armario (armoire)
N (eneh)	Like English N in Nancy	Nunca (never); nadie (no one); nueve (nine)
Ñ (enyeh)	Like English NY in Canyon or NI in onion	Montaña (mountain); piña (pineapple); año (year)
O (oh)	Like O in No but without the “u”sound at the end	No (no); pero (but); perro (dog); mono (monkey)
P (peh)	Like English P in Pepper	Punta (point), Puente (bridge); papa (potato)
Q (cooh)	Like English Q in Quaker. As in English, the letter U always follows but is silent	Querer (to want, to love); tanque (tank); querido (dear)
R (ereh)	No good English equivalents Almost like a D in Metal or TT in Betty (American pronunciation, not British) ; in the beginning of the word it is closer to RR (see below)	Paro (I stop); parada (the stop); marido (husband) Slightly flick your tongue against the roof of your mouth Real (real); rio (river); romper (to break); raro (rare)
RR (erreh)	Rolled R; there is no English equivalent	Perro (dog); barrio (neighborhood); ferrocarril (locomotive)
S (eseh)	Like English S in Soup.	Sopa (Soup); sonar (to make a sound); sueño (dream)
T (teh)	Like English T in Tomato	Té (tea); tomate (tomato); tranquilo (calm)
U (ooh)	Like English OO in Loop	Puro (pure); único (unique); último (last)
V (beh chiquita)	The letters B and V sound the same in Spanish, somewhere between the two	Bola (ball); Ven (come); bate (bat); vino (wine); banco (bank)
W (doble beh or ooh))	Like English W in Water	W is used only for foreign words
X (ekees)	Like English X in Extra Like English H in Hotel in certain proper nouns and derivations from those words	Examen (test, examination) México (Mexico); mexicano (mexican)
Y (igriega)	Same as in English. Like English Y in Yellow or Like English Y in Baby	Yanqui (Yankee); yarda (yard); yema (yolk of an egg) Mandy (nickname for Armando and Amanda)
Z (setah)	Like English S in Soup. (Castilian, like TH in Thank you) THERE IS NO ENGISH Z SOUND	Zapato (shoe); azúl (blue); arroz (rice)
	DIPHTHONGS	These are two vowels together in the same syllable
AI; AY	Like English I in Bike	Aire (air); baile (dance); Hay (There is); caigo (I fall)
EI; EY	Like English A in Gate or Mate	Seis (six); treinta (thirty); reina (queen); ley (law)
OI; OY	Like English OY in Boy or Joy	Hoy (today); Estoy (I am), oigo (I hear)
UI; UY	Like English WEE in Sweet or Tweet	Fui (I was, I went), muy (very); ruido (noise)
AU	Like English OW in How and Now	Autor (author); pausa (pause)

ACCENT: The accent is a small symbol placed over a vowel to indicate the syllable that is stressed. For example: yo comí (I ate), yo tomé (I took, I drank), fantástico (fantastic). If there is no accent, then the emphasis is on the second to last syllable for words that end in a vowel, n or s, e.g. yo tomo (I take, I drink), yo camino (I walk), las damas (the ladies), origen (origin), and on the last syllable for all others, e.g. español, carnaval, diagonal (diagonal).

Accents are very important as they often distinguish two words that are otherwise written the same: e.g.

Sí (Yes); si (if)    Él (He); el (the, masc.)   esta (this fem.); está (he, she is)             el papa (pope); papá (dad)        

GREETINGS (Memorize These)

¡Hola!	(Hello)
Buenos diás / Buenas tardes / Buenas Noches	(Good Day) / (Good Afternoon)  / (Good Night)
¿Que tál?   / Bien. / Muy bien / Yo, muy bien	(How’s it going) / (Well) / (Very well) / (I, very well)
Gracias  / De nada	(Thank You) / (You’re welcome)
¿Cómo estás? (fam)/¿Cómo está? / Mal / Muy Mal	(How are you? fam/form) / {Badly) / {Very Badly)
¿Y tú? ¿Y Usted (Ud.) / Bien / Estupendo / Fantástico	(And You? fam/form) / (Well) / (Stupendous) / (Fantastic)
Me llamo Armando	(My name is Armando, Literally: I call myself Armando)
Mi nombre es Armando	(My name is Armando)

Note:  masc = masculine; fem = feminine, pl = plural, fam = familiar, form = formal

Lección 0 - Bienvenidos y Las Reglas del Camino (Welcome, and the Rules of the Road)

Congratulations in your decision to learn Spanish. It is the third most widely spoken language in the world (after Mandarin Chinese and English) and the second most commonly spoken language in the U.S. As you know, South Florida, particularly Miami-Dade has a large number of native Spanish speakers and it always comes in handy to have a basic understanding of the language.

Learning Spanish, or any foreign language, consists of two components: learning the RULES of spelling, pronunciation, and grammar, and REPETITION. Experts believe rules should make up 20% of the learning, the remaining 80% is repetition. 

I try to include repetition in each lesson but we won’t meet often enough to make it meaningful, which is why I strongly recommend you try at the same time either Duolingo (which has ads to keep it free) or Rosetta Stone (which you can download for free from the Broward Public Library.). Both have smart phone apps. 

In this course you will learn Latin American Spanish. Please always look for the Latin American edition, not Castilian. I will explain the differences with Castilian as we go along but you should practice and get comfortable with Latin American Spanish. It is what you will hear most in South Florida. The differences in the two types of Spanish is similar to British English vs. American English. Here are simple rules to get the most out of our lessons.  

1.     STOP ME if you do not understand what I’m saying. Say “No comprendo” (I don’t comprehend; pronounced No Com-PREHN-doe)

2.     OR SAY “¿Qué significa <Spanish word(s)>?”  (What does <Spanish word(s)> mean?; pronounced Keh seeg-knee-FEE-kah <Spanish word(s)). For example: ¿Qué significa “gato”?

3.     If I’m speaking too fast, say “Más lento, por favor.” (More slowly, please, pronounced mahs LEHN-toe pour fah-VOHR))

4.     WHEN SPEAKING, if you get stuck, say “¿Cómo se dice <English word(s)> en español?” (How does one say <English word(s)> in Spanish?; pronounced KOH-moh seh DEE-seh <English word(s)> ehn eh-spah-NYOL) For example: ¿Cómo se dice <the sun> en español?

Remember goal is to COMMUNICATE effectively in Spanish. The goal is not to speak perfectly. Please be comfortable making mistakes. You will learn faster this way. The Four Skills to achieve our goals are:

1.     Reading 2.     Writing 3.     Listening 4.     Speaking

These are listed in increasing degrees of difficulty. You’ll notice some will lag behind others as you progress in the course. This is NORMAL. It is expected that Speaking is the hardest. As I mentioned, we will use two techniques to sharpen these skills:

Learn RuRules     and      Repetition

When learning rules, the details matter. You must know and understand each word. When learning by repetition, go for a global, general understanding; don’t worry about understanding every single word. That understanding will improve with time. We will do both types of exercises in class and I will point out what to focus on. We also go over typical scenarios to learn vocabulary: traveling, dining, and shopping.  Please suggest other scenarios that interest you. 

I try to minimize homework, but some is necessary to memorize and understand important aspects of the language. If it’s excessive, let me know. It’s important that you have fun in the process.  Best of Luck and I hope you enjoy the adventure.