A great way to boost your Spanish is by learning key phrases off by heart, recording yourself saying them and listening back. Here are my Top 10 Spanish Phrases to get you started.
Number 10
Asking if something is wrong – ¿pasa algo?
Number 9
Saying the food is great – ¡Qué rico!
Number 8
Saying no problem – no problema (we don’t say no problemo)
Number 7
Telling someone we don’t understand – no entiendo
Number 6
Saying I haven’t got a clue – no tengo idea
Number 5
When you’re not quite sure of what to say back you can say “good question” – buena pregunta
Number 4
When you’ve understood what they’ve said but you don’t quite agree – no me parece
Number 3
Asking “what’s that?” – ¿Qué es eso?
Number 2
Take care – cuídate
Number 1
Probably one of my favorite phrases in Español. As soon as I learned how to use it I was using it all the time. It’s unique to the Spanish language and it kind of sums up the feeling as if to say “oh if only”. The word is – ojalá.
Want some help with the pronunciation? Watch the video I made below.
Do you know the main differences between Latin American Spanish and European Spanish?
“You all”, formal or informal?
The first thing that you’ll come across is that in mainland Spain they use vosotros. Vosotros is the pronoun used when addressing a group of people informally it translates to “you all”.
So if you’re going to Spain you might say buenas tardes, ¿como estáis? when you’re talking to a group of people informally. Then you go on holiday to Costa Rica or Argentina and you very quickly realize that nobody uses vosotros so rather than saying hola buenas tardes ¿como estáis? and getting some strange looks you’ll use the formal plural you which is ustedes all the time. Vosotros in Central and South America does not exist. So you would say hola buenas tardes, ¿como estan?
¡Bien!
Tú or vos?
So the next difference between Latin and European Spanish is the tú. You’ll be pretty aware that in most Spanish-speaking countries tú is the pronoun for the informal singular you and it’s pretty much used in all Spanish-speaking countries right you learn it when you first start learning Spanish and that’s just the way that it is however if you’re going to Argentina for example you’ll very quickly notice that the tú doesn’t exist. It’s just not there. Instead of tú we say vos so I wouldn’t say hola como estas tu I say hola como estas vos. Vos means you in Argentina.
¡Bien!
Proununcing “thank-you”
The third difference that you’ll notice is the sound of the th. To say thank you in Español if you’re in Europe you would say gracias prounced gra-thi-as. However as soon as you get on that plane and you go a little bit further over to Mexico, Central America or America Latina you drop the th sound and it becomes a ssss sound. So gra-thi-as becomes gra-ssssi-as.
Does it matter? In a word, no. Of course it doesn’t. The word is the same and you’ll still be understood whether you say gra-ssssi-as in Costa Rica or gra-thi-as in Madrid. You’ll still be understood.
Phew!
The double elle (ll)
The next big difference in the language is the double elle sound.
You will come across the word llamar for example, which means “to call” as if you’re making a phone call or to call somebody; llamar. It’s a y sound generally. However in Argentina if you’re in Buenos Aires for example you won’t hear y you’ll hear an eye sound. It’s a longer sound like asge. You won’t necessarily hear people say llamar you’ll hear jamar. The words are still spelt the same but the sounding is different when you pronounce them.
Lunfardo
You’ll also probably notice that in Buenos Aires in Argentina if you’re traveling there’s something very similar to what we know as the cockney slang in Londrés and it’s called lunfardo. Lunfardo is the equivalent in Buenos Aires of cockney slang, and it’s used a lot in the tango songs so if you’re speaking to somebody who is from Buenos Aires who was born and has lived in Buenos Aires all their lives, they will have a lot of these lunfardo words in their vocabulary. You may need to pick up yourself a dictionary that specializes in lunfardo (which is exactly what I did). Affiliate Amazon link https://amzn.to/3rrkSDt
Get creative with the Vocabulary
The last difference of course is el vocabulario. El vocabulario (vocabulary) is slightly different throughout all of the Spanish-speaking countries. But do not despair! Meloncotón for example means peach in España but if you go down to South America and you ask for un meloncotón they probably aren’t going to know what you mean because it’s called un durazno.Un durazno is exactly the same fruit but it’s got a different name. As with the avocado. Avocado can be un aguacate or it can be una palta depending on which country you are in.
Does it really matter? Well, yes, a bit. I mean you want to try and know the words of the things in the country you are travelling to right. And if you get it wrong, don’t worry. You can get creative with the language to describe what it is that you need using simple words to describe the colour and shape and adjectives to describe the taste and flavor.
If you do know which Spanish-speaking country you’re traveling to next a great idea is to brush up and learn the vocab and the grammar that is specific to that destination. If you’d like a hand with that, I’ve got some fabulous bespoke Spanish courses that I run for groups of people who are travelling to any Spanish-speaking country and I tailor-make the content to suit your destination. Get in touch if you’d like more information, alternatively scroll down the end of this post for details of some fab free resources that will help you along your Spanish-speaking journey!
Are you traveling to Spain (or further afield) with little ones? I’ve created a Spanish Scavenger Hunt Game to keep your children entertained at the airport.
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We have a range of paid for courses and classes available to suit all learning styles and abilities on our website www.adventuresinspanish.co.uk
In English we have just the one way of saying this phrase, those three all important words “I love you”. If only it were as simple in Spanish!
There are two ways of saying or expressing that you love someone in Español, and it depends on the degree of familiarity that you have with the person as to which you use.
Let’s take the first one. The first one uses the verb Amar. Amar means to love. It’s an AR ending verb, and this is the one you use if you want to tell somebody that you love them in the sense of between lovers. We say;
Te amo – I love you
So you’d use this with your partner or your spouse in a private setting. When you translate it back it’s “you I love”. It doesn’t translate well.
The second way is with the verb querer. The verb querer means “to want”. You might think that’s a bit strange using a verb that means “to want” to tell someone that you love them and it might feel a bit strange but when you use it it means I love you;
Te quiero – I love you
The literal translation will be you I want which doesn’t really translate very well either. When you say te quiero to siblings and friends it means I love you.
You don’t use te amo with your siblings and friends you use that with your partner and your spouse in a private setting, but you can use te quiero with friends and family and it’s absolutely fine.
So there we go two ways of saying I love you in Español; te amo and te quiero. I’d love to hear how you get on practicing your Spanish, feel free to get in touch or drop me some comments below. You’ll find the video version of this lesson below and if you’d like some support learning Spanish scroll down to the bottom of this blog for lots of free resources as well as details on upcoming courses I’m running and a link on how to join my weekly Newsletter.
Are you traveling to Spain (or further afield) with little ones? I’ve created a Spanish Scavenger Hunt Game to keep your children entertained at the airport.
Remember to sign up to our weekly Newsletter here and receive information on Spanish and Latin culture, free lessons and Spanish “Word of the Week” and much more straight to your inbox on a Friday 🙂 Sign up HERE
We have a range of paid for courses and classes available to suit all learning styles and abilities on our website www.adventuresinspanish.co.uk
One of the littlest words in Spanish yet it has the biggest impact; ya. Understanding when and how to use it is a great indication of how well you are progressing with your Spanish.
Todavía is a word that you will probably have come across a lot even as a beginner.
Ya means yet and todavía; still. They’re both classed as adverbs but aren’t necessarily used in the way you would expect them to be used. for example;
Ya in the past tense can mean already;
Ya ha olvidado lo que dijiste. She has already forgotten what you said.
Ya in the present tense means now;
¡Anda a limpiar tu dormitorio ya! Go clean your bedroom now!
Ya can also mean right now;
Ya nos tenemos que ir. We have to leave right now.
Ya in the future tense can mean someday;
No te pongas triste. Ya nos volveremos a ver. Don’t be sad. We’ll meet again soon.
or sometime;
Ahora estoy muy ocupada, pero prometo que ya te volveré a visitar. I’m really busy right now, but I promise I’ll visit you again sometime.
Ya can also be used immediately;
“¡Ya voy!” I’m coming or Ya vengo, I’ll be right back.
You can also use ya to express something that is no more;
Ya no me quiere. She doesn’t love me anymore.
Or to emphasise something;
Ya veo I see
Or finally Ya can be used as an interjection, this is mainly used in colloquial terms to express annoyance in Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Mexico
Ya, dejen de pelear. Hey, stop fighting.
Todavía on the other hand has fewer meanings;
It’s main use it to indicate time meaning still;
Todavía tengo que comprarle un regalo. I still have to buy him a present.
Todavía no he visto esa película. I still haven’t seen that movie.
It’s used with negative clauses too;
Todavía no ha pagado por el auto. She hasn’t paid for the car yet.
As a comparative using still;
Yo soy alta pero mi hermana menor es todavía más alta. I’m quite tall but my younger sister is still taller.
It can also mean even;
Es todavía más rico que su tío. He is even richer than his uncle.
And finally it’s used to express something on top of everything, for example;
Te has tocado la lotería y todavía te quejas. You’ve won the lottery and you’re still complaining.
So, there you have it the differences between Ya and Todavía. have a practice and let me know how you get on. And in the meantime, here are some resources to help.
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We have a range of paid for courses and classes available to suit all learning styles and abilities on our website www.adventuresinspanish.co.uk
The pace of life feels much slower in Spain, Central and South America, doesn’t it?
I lived in South America for 20 years and got quite used to it I must say. It was sooooo noticeable when friends and family came to visit. They walked so quickly!
A great little Spanish phrase to learn for situations just like these is “no rush, there’s plenty of time”.
Understanding the difference between Bien, Bueno and Buen in Español can be tricky, especially for beginners, so I’ve put together this mini lesson to help you understand how and when to use them. At the end of this blog you’ll find the lesson in video format – if you prefer learning that way, feel free to skip to the end 🙂
BIEN
Let’s look at bien first of all. Bien is an “adverb” – one of the irregular adverbs to be precise as most adverbs end in –mente (the equivalent of -ly in English). When adverb bien modifies a verb itmeans ‘well’. When it modifies an adjective (a describing word) or an adverb it means ‘very’. Let’s look at some examples;
Bien + a verb
¡Bien hecho! (Well done!) – in this case the word hecho is the past participle of the verb hacer (to do) Estoy bien (I’m well) – Estoy comes from the verb Estar (to be) ¡Hablas español muy bien! (You speak Spanish very well) – Hablas comes from the verb hablar (to speak)
Bien + an adjective
El té está bien caliente (The tea is very hot) – caliente being the adjective Ese vestido te queda bien (That dress looks so good on you) – quedarse bien means to suit Tomás corre bien rápido (Tomas runs really fast) – correr means to run
Bien + an adverb
La casa está bien lejos (The house is very far) La mermelada está bien arriba en la nevera (The jam is very high inside the fridge) El florero se cayó bien lentamente antes de romperse en mil pedazos (The vase felt very slowly before breaking into a thousand pieces)
BUENO
Bueno on the other hand is an adjective and means ‘good’ and usually goes after the noun. As nouns can either be feminine or masculine, singular or plural the adjectives must agree also. Masculine adjectives that end in -o drop the -o and add -a for the feminine forms.
Let’s take el libro (the book) as an example. El libro (the noun) is masculine and singular, therefore the adjective also changes to match it. In this case el libro rojo (the red book). If the noun is feminine, for example, la puerta (the door), then we have to say la puerta roja (the red door).
To form the plural, both masculine and feminine, add -s to the singular endings.
Bueno – Juan es un perro muy bueno (Juan is a very good dog)
Buen – eres un buen chico (you are a good kid)
Buena – Ana es una buena amiga (Ana is a good friend)
Buenos – Julián y Sara son buenos estudiantes(Julian and Sara are good students)
Buenas – las tortas son muy buenas (the cakes are very good)
Other uses of bueno Unlike in Spain where people use the word diga to answer the phone, in Mexico, people say‘¿bueno?’. ‘¿Bueno?’ translates as ‘hello?’ or ‘hi?’
Bueno is also the translation of the word ‘okay’ when agreeing with someone. We also use bueno as a filler word that is when we are making a pause in our speech (the same as when using entonces; so) or when we want to buy some time to think. In this case, it would be translated as ‘well’.
Bueno, te veo a las 10. (Okay. I’ll see you at 10.)
Bueno… eso no es lo que quise decir. (Well… that’s not what I meant.)
BUEN
Just as bueno, buen is also an adjective and therefore it follows the same rules: it must agree in number and gender with the noun that is describing. Unlike bueno, buen goes before the noun and can be translated either as ‘good’ or ‘nice’.
Juan es un buen hombre (Juan is a nice man)
Eres una buena amiga (You are a good friend)
María y Andrea son buenos vecinos (María and Andrea are good neighbours)
Some Common Expression with BUEN We use it specifically for greetings, salutations, good wishes, etc because we usually want to be more emphatic with our message in these particular occasions.
¡Buen viaje! (Have a nice trip!)
¡Buen día! (Have a nice morning/good morning!)
¡Buen fin de semana! (Have a nice weekend)
¡Buen provecho! (Bon appetite/enjoy your meal)
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I teach over 50+ students a week in a variety of courses and classes. I have a growing Facebook group and active Email list. No, don’t worry this post isn’t about how great I am, moreover just how varied learners are.
Adults language-learning goals tend to be quite different to young learners. Adults are usually focused on improving their Spanish for health or cultural reasons, they want a more enriching travel experience, or they have Spanish family they’d like to communicate with better.
There are two different verbs n Spanish that mean “to know”. The first is conocer and the second saber. It takes a bit of practice to get used to the differences and to know when to use each verb. Once you do though you’re well on your way to mastering the language.
Learning how to conjugate verbs in Spanish is a skill and certainly goes a long way in moving from word-to-word translations to successful manipulation of the language. So before we go any further let’s look at how these two verbs are conjugated.
How to conjugate conocer in the present tense:
Subject
Spanish
English
Yo
Conozco
I know
Tú
Conoces
You know
Él/ella/Usted
Conoce
He/She/You know
Nosotros
Conocemos
We know
Vosotros
Conocéis
You all know
Ellos/ellas/Ustedes
Conocen
They/You all know
How to conjugate saber in the present tense:
Subject
Spanish
English
Yo
Sé
I know
Tú
sabes
You know
Él/ella/Usted
sabe
He/She/You know
Nosotros
sabemos
We know
Vosotros
sabéis
You all know
Ellos/ellas/Ustedes
saben
They/You all know
Great so you can conjugate the verbs but how do you know when to use them?
When to use Conocer? As a general rule, conocer has a stronger meaning than the verb saber, it’s used when you ‘know’ something, and you know it well.
It has the sense of having acquired knowledge from somewhere, such as cultural knowledge or general information, rather than knowing things through personal experience or practice.
Eg. Yo conozco bien Patagonia. (I know Patagonia well.)
We also use the verb conocer for the name or location of a person, place or thing.
Eg. Yo conozco a Julia desde hace muchos años. (I have known Julia for many years.)
You’ll notice there’s an ‘a‘ between you knowing something and the person you are referring to. In Spanish, we call this the ‘personal a’ and you’ll come across it when you learn Spanish beyond beginner level.
Use conocer when referring to knowing places too.
Eg. No conozco Argentina. (I don’t know Argentina (refers to not having been).)
When describing places, we don’t add the ‘a’ in Spanish.
We also use the verb conocer to talk about “meeting” someone.
Eg. Nos conocimos en Venezuela en 1996 (We met in Venezuela in 1996)
When to use saber Saber means ‘to know’ as in knowing general information. There are some discrepancies with this and certain things to remember but as a general rule, if you have heard something or have found out some fact we use saber.
Eg. Es importante saber otro idioma (It’s important to know another language)
The verb saber is also used to ask somebody how to do something, or explaining that you know how to do something.
Eg. ¿Tú sabes jugar el golf? (Do you know how to play golf?)
Saber is used when a person has a basic knowledge or knows how to perform specific tasks.
Eg. Yo sé hablar español (I know how to speak Spanish)
Recap saber vs conocer
To recap, remember these simple rules when it comes to saber vs conocer and you can’t go wrong.
Use conocer for:
PERSON – pronoun a, meeting for the first time.
PLACE – expressing you know or do not know a place.
THING –expressing you know a something in particular.
Use saber when talking about:
FACTS – meaning you know something for a fact.
INFORMATION– expressing you know something in particular.
LEARNED SKILLS – stating you know how to do something.
Ok so imagine you’re in una tienda de ropa (clothes shop) in España and you’re trying on una camiseta (a t-shirt). We’re in Spain so a t-shirt is called una camiseta, if we were in Argentina for example it would be called una remera – una remera is a t-shirt in Argentina but we’re in España so let’s stick with una camiseta – ¿bien?
Ok, so you’re trying on una camiseta it’s a little bit too tight you need a bigger size. How do you ask for that in Español?
Okay so first of all the word for size, as in clothes size in Español is;
talla – size
So la talla that you’ve got is pequeña. You need una talla más grande so you want to ask politely to the shop assistant for that or maybe even una talla mucho más grande
So, you will say:
Perdón or disculpa – excuse me
Puedo probar – Can I try
Esta – this (feminine noun)
You can use this phrase for any item of clothing, so you can replace esta camiseta with estos pantalones (these trousers) or esta falda (this skirt).
*Esta is a demonstrative pronoun, like estos and means this or these. It’s important to know how to use them and a great way to practise adjectival agreement too. I teach this in my Beginners Spanish Classes – visit my website for details on upcoming courses.
So the phrase in full;
¡Disculpa or perdón! ¿Puedo probar [esta camiseta] en una talla más grande por favor?
There we go and if you’d like to learn more about shopping in a Spanish-speaking country check out my holiday Spanish course that includes a whole week of five lessons dedicated to shopping. It covers everything from sales and discounts to how to return an item. More information on my website here www.adventuresinspanish.co.uk
Check out my YouTube video below for help with pronouncing this phrase. As always look forward to hearing your feedback on how you’re getting on with your Español.
Adventures in Spanish Blog 