numerals:
0
cero
[se-ro]
16
diez y seís
[dyez i seys]
1
uno
[u-no]
17
diez y siete
[dyez i she-te]
2
dos
[dos]
18
diez y ocho
[dyez i ocho]
3
tres
[tres]
19
diez y nueve [dyez i nwe-ve]
4
cuatro
[kwat-ro]
20
veinte
[veyn-te]
5
cinco
[thing-ko]
21
veinte y uno [veyn-te i u-no]
6
seís
[seys]
22
veinte y dos
[veyn-te i dos]
7
siete
[she-te]
30
treinta
[treyn-ta]
8
ocho
[oh-cho]
40
cuarenta
[kwa-ren-ta]
9
nueve
[nwe-veh]
50
cincuenta
[thing-kwen-ta]
10
diez
[dyez]
60
sesenta
[se-sen-ta]
11
once
[on-the]
70
setenta
[se-ten-ta]
12
doce
[doh-the]
80
ochenta
[oh-chen-ta]
13
trece
[tre-the]
90
noventa
[no-ven-ta]
14
catorce
[ka-tor-the]
100
cien
[shen]
15
quince
[kin-the]
1000 mil
[mil]
Here are examples of nouns and numbers forming nominal phrases:
Una dia
[u-na di-ya]
‘one day’
Ocho vasos de agua
[oh-cho va-sos de a-gwa]
‘8 glasses of water’
Doce meses cada año
[do-the me-ses ka-da a-nyo] ’12 months a year’
Treinta y dos años
[treyn-ta i dos a-nyos]
’32 years’
Cien pesos
[shen pe-sos]
‘100 pesos’
Definite and Indefinite Articles
As we have already started forming nominal phrases with the use of numbers, let us
continue by using articles in Spanish this time.
A nominal phrase is usually composed of an article and a noun, Articles can be either
definite or indefinite. In English, we use the article “the” to show definiteness, while we use “a”
to refer to indefinite nouns. As a review of definiteness, consider the following English sentences below:
[The child] is playing.
[A child] is playing.
In the former sentence, the one playing is the child whom perhaps we already know or
have been talking about earlier; unlike in the latter where the one playing is a child who we don’t really know.
In Spanish, articles are also used to show a noun’s definiteness. Since it is again a gender-
and number-specific language, these articles are also inflected for gender and plurality. Study the table below that introduces these articles:
D E F I N I T E
I N D E F I N I T E
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
el [el]
los [los]
un [un]
unos [unos]
Masculine
el libro
los libros
un chico
unos chicos
[el lib-roh]
[los lib-rohs]
[un chi-ko]
[u-nos chi-kos]
‘the book’
‘the books’
‘a boy’
‘boys’
la [la]
las [las]
una [una]
unas [unas]
Feminine
la plaza
las plazas
una chica
unas chicas
[la pla-za]
[las pla-zas]
[u-na chi-ka]
[u-nas chi-kas]
‘the town’
‘the towns’
‘a girl’
‘girls’
To summarize, here are the steps in forming nominal phrases:
1. Identify the gender of the noun. Check its ending but remember the exceptions.
2. How many are being talked about? If it’s more than one, observe the ending so you
would know what suffix to add.
3. Is the noun definite or not? This would determine what article to use.
Examples: Answer the questions in Spanish.
Q:
What did you have for breakfast?
A:
2 bananas and a glass of milk
1.
Platano ‘banana’ is a male.
Vaso ‘glass’ is also a male.
2.
2 bananas. Hence, add -s to platano 2 platanos.
1 glass. Hence, vaso remains.
3.
2 bananas - definite, with numeral dos platanos
1 glass - indefinite, use un un vaso
Dos platanos y un vaso de leche
Q:
Who called while I was gone?
A:
The neighbors (girls) and a student (boy)
1.
The neighbors are girls. Use vecina (instead of vecino).
Estudiante is neuter. No need for inflection.
2.
Neighbors. Hence, add -s to vecina vecinas.
Student. Hence, estudiante remains.
3.
The neighbors – definite, use las las vecinas
A student – indefinite, use un un estudiante
Las vecinas y un estudiante
Learn More Nouns that are Spanish!
It is also important to learn the following Spanish nouns that are used in daily conversations. Take time to get yourself familiar with these nouns and memorize each one of
them.
1. Months in a Year (los meses en un año)
Enero
[e-ne-ro]
‘January’
Febrero
[feb-re-ro]
‘February’
Marzo
[mar-zo]
‘March’
Abril
[ab-ril]
‘April’
Mayo
[ma-yo]
‘May’
Junio
[hu-nyo]
‘June’
Julio
[hu-lyo]
‘July’
Agosto
[a-gos-to]
‘August’
Septiembre
[sep-tyem-bre]
‘September’
Octubre
[ok-tu-bre]
‘October’
Noviembre
[no-vyem-bre]
‘November’
Diciembre
[di-thyem-bre]
‘December’
2. Days of the Week (las dias en una semana)
Lunes
[lu-nes]
‘Monday’
Martes
[mar-tes]
‘Tuesday’
Miercoles
[myer-ko-les]
‘Wednesday’
Jueves
[khweh-ves]
‘Thursday’
Viernes
[vyer-nes]
‘Friday’
Sabado
[sa-ba-dho]
‘Saturday’
Domingo
[do-ming-go]
‘Sunday’
3. Time of the Day (hora en la diya)
De la mañana
[de la ma-nya-na]
‘am’
De la tarde
[de la tar-de]
‘pm’
Hora
[o-ra]
‘time, hour’
Media hora
[me-dya ora]
‘half hour’
Cuarto de hora
[kwar-to o-ra]
‘quarter of an hour’
4. What is The Date Today? (¿Que fecha es hoy?)
Dates, in Spanish, are formed by stating the date (number) first before the month. The
number is introduced by an article, while the preposition de ‘of’ is used to link that date to the month. Let’s try it!
¿Que fecha es hoy?
El cinco de marzo.
El seis de Julio.
[ke fe-cha es oy]
[el thing-ko de mar-zo]
[el seys de hu-lyo]
‘What’s the date today?’
‘It’s the 5th of May.’
‘It’s the 6th of July.’
¿Que dia es?
Es domingo.
Es miercoles.
[ke di-ya es]
[es do-ming-go]
[es myer-ko-les]
‘What day is it?
‘It’s Sunday’
‘It’s Wednesday’
Note:
- The months and days in Spanish do not begin with capital letters when written.
5. What Time Is It? (¿Que hora es?)
¿Que hora es?
Es la una de la tarde
Son las dos y media
[ke o-ra es]
[es la u-na de la tar-de]
[son las dos i me-dya]
‘What time is it?’
‘It’s 1:00 p.m.’
‘It’s 2:30’
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DAY 4:
Getting Familiar with Spanish Pronouns
Pronouns are noun substitutes. Even though you can already form nominal phrases, it
isn’t enough that you proceed in studying verbs and then forming sentences right away. You
would not want el gato to be present just at each of your sentences, would you? Trust me; it will only sound bad.
Hence, you should understand and know the proper usage of pronouns in Spanish. This
day’s lesson is divided into learning subjective, objective, possessive, and demonstrative pronouns.
Subject Pronouns
In Spanish, subject pronouns are usually used only once in a context and are generally
omitted. This is because Spanish verbs already contain in them both the person and number of
the subject being talked about. (Verbs will be discussed further in later days to come.) Hence,
once the subject pronoun is stated, the next sentences about it can become grammatical even
without the said pronoun, or even noun for that matter.
The subject pronoun chart appears like this:
Person
Singular
Plural
1st Person
Yo [yo] ‘I’
Nosotros [no-sot-ros]
‘we’
Familiar
Tu [tu] ‘you’
Vosostros [vo-sot-ros]
2nd Person
‘you all’
Formal
Usted [us-ted] ‘you’
Ustedes [us-te-des] ‘you
all’
3rd Person
Male
El [el] ‘he/it’
Ellos [eh-lyos] ‘they’
Female
Ella [eh-lya] ‘she/it’
Ellas [eh-lyas] ‘they’
Pronouns in the first person, both in singular and plural forms, should be familiar to you
as they function just the same as in English.
As for the 2nd person, pronouns here are of two forms, the familiar and the formal. You
should know that Spanish people value respect greatly for the elderly and authority. This is what
the formal form of the 2nd person pronouns refers to. Usted and ustedes have respect inherent in them. Hence, they should be used when talking to people you regard highly.
Finally, you should notice that the 3rd person pronouns have also 2 forms according to
gender of the person or thing being talked about. Here, it is important to be able to identify the
gender of the noun before substituting it with a pronoun.
The use of subject pronouns will be further shown when they are already being used in
sentences. As for now, it is enough that you become familiar with each one of them.
Object Pronouns
Object pronouns are generally substituted for direct and indirect objects in sentences with
transitive verbs.
Study the object pronoun chart below:
Person
Singular
Plural
1st Person
Me [meh] ‘me’
Nos [nohs] ‘us’
2nd Person
Familiar
Te [teh] ’you’
Os [ohs] ‘you all’
Formal
Le [leh] ‘you’
Les [lehs] ‘you all’
Male
Lo [loh] ‘he/it’ (DO)
Los [lohs] ‘they’ (DO)
3rd Person
Le [leh] ‘he/it’ (IO)
Les [lehs] ‘they’ (IO)
Female
La [lah] ‘she/it’ (DO)
Las [lahs] ‘they’ (DO)
Le [leh] ‘she/it’ (IO)
Les [lehs] ‘they’ (IO)
For the 1st and 2nd persons, you would notice that the direct and indirect objects have the
same form; while the direct object differs from its indirect counterpart in the 3rd person. This is to avoid confusion when they both appear in a single sentence. (More of this to be discussed further
on Day 11)
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns, those that show ownership, also depend on the gender and number
of the nouns they accompany. Take note that a pronoun’s gender – particularly, 1st and 2nd person
plural (‘our’ and ‘your’) – do not correspond to what the gender of the owner is, but to the
gender of the noun.
Singular Nouns
Plural Nouns
Masculin
Feminine
Masculi
Femini
e
ne
ne
‘My’
Mi [mi]
Mis [mis]
‘Yo
Fa
Tu [tu]
Tus [tus]
ur’
miliar
For
Su [su]
Sus [sus]
mal
‘His, her, its’
Su [su]
Sus [sus]
‘Our’
Nuestro
Nuestra
Nuestros
Nuestr
as
[nu-wes-
[nu-wes-
[nu-wes-
tro]
tra]
tros]
[nu-
wes-tras]
‘Yo
Fa
Vuestro
Vuestra
Vuestros
Vuestr
ur’ Pl.
miliar
as
[vu-wes-
[vu-wes-
[vu-wes-
tro]
tra]
tros]
[vu-
wes-tras]
For
Su [su]
Sus [sus]
mal
‘Their’
Su [su]
Sus [sus]
Examples of phrases we can make using possessive pronouns are as follows:
Mi madre
[mi mad-re]
‘my mother’
Tu coche
[tu ko-che]
‘your car’
Sus blusas
[sus blu-sas]
‘her blouses’
Nuestro mundo
[nu-wes-tro mun-do]
‘our world’
Vuestros pantalones [vu-wes-tros pan-ta-lo-nes] ‘your (pl.) pants’
Sus hermanos
[sus er-ma-nos]
‘their brothers’
Su nombre, por favor [su nom-bre por fa-vor]
‘your name, please’ (formal)
Demonstratives
Demonstratives refer to certain nouns in terms of their positions relative to the speaker. In
Spanish, there are three specific positions of nouns in which demonstratives are used: near the
speaker, near the listener, and far away from both the speaker and listener. These demonstratives
also conform to the gender and number of the nouns being referred to.
Singular
Plural
Mascu
Femini
Masculine
Femini
line
ne
ne
‘This’
Este
Esta
‘These
Estos [es-
Estas
[es-te]
[es-ta]
’
tos]
[es-tas]
‘That’
Ese [e-se]
Esa [e-sa]
‘Those’
Esos [e-sos]
Esas [e-sas]
‘That over
Aquel
Aquella
‘Those over
Aquellos
Aqueallas
there’
[a-kel]
[a-ke-lya]
there’
[a-ke-lyos]
[a-ke-lyas]
For clear examples:
An apple near the speaker: Esta manzana
[es-ta man-za-na]
‘This apple’
An apple near the listener: Esa manzana
[e-sa man-za-na]
‘That apple’
An apple far away: Aquella manzana
[a-ke-lya man-za-na] ‘That apple’
(over there)
12 apples near the speaker: Estas manzanas [es-tas man-za-nas]
‘These apples’
12 apples near the listener: Esas manzanas [e-sas man-za-nas]
‘Those apples’
12 apples far away: Aquellas manzanas
[a-ke-lyas man-za-nas] Those apples
(over there)
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DAY 5:
Learn to Describe with Spanish Adjectives
The principal function of adjectives is to modify or describe nouns. Therefore, the number and the gender of an adjective should conform to the noun involved (i.e. if the noun is
male singular, the adjective describing it should be the same). However, unlike in the English
language that the adjective comes before the noun it modifies, Spanish adjectives usually follow
the noun they give description to, although there are instances that the Spanish language follows
the Adj-N order. Compare the following examples:
Eng.
A pretty girl
Span. Una chica bonita
[u-na chi-ka bo-ni-ta]
Art-Adj-N
Art-N-Adj
The naughty boys
Los chicos malos
[los chi-kos ma-los]
Art-Adj-N
Art-N-Adj
At first, it may be a bit confusing; but as you practice more, you can easily get used to
forming adjectival phrases. Just remember, noun first before the adjective.
Adjectives in Spanish can be categorized into two types according to form – regular &
neuter:
1. Regular Forms: -o, -a, -os, -as. Most adjectives have masculine and feminine, singular and plural forms: the suffix to show masculinity is -o, while the suffix to show femininity is - a. An -s is added to the vowel at the end of the word to form the plural.
Ex.
Un bolso largo
[un bol-so lar-go]
‘a new bag’
Una mesa nueva
[u-na me-sa nwe-va]
‘a new table’
Dos bolsos largos
[dos bol-sos lar-gos]
‘two new bags’
Dos mesas nuevas
[dos me-sas new-vas]
‘two new tables’
2. Neuter Forms. Adjectives having this form usually end in an -e, in -ista, or in a consonant in the singular form. They use the same form for both masculine and feminine
forms. To form the plural, add an -s or -es.
Ex.
Un libro interesante [un lib-ro in-te-re-san-te]
‘an interesting book’
Una obra dificil
[u-na ob-ra di-fi-sil]
‘a difficult work’
Los libros interesantes[los lib-ros in-te-re-san-tes] ‘the interesting books’
Los obras dificiles
[los ob-ras di-fi-si-les]
‘the difficult works’
The classifications below, on the other hand, are according to the common descriptions
they provide. Study them well and learn to describe in Spani