Spanish Basics

The deck is ideal for absolute beginners, travelers preparing for a trip, or anyone curious about picking up a new language. You don't need any prior knowledge of Spanish to get started, and each card is designed to be quick and approachable. If you've ever felt intimidated by learning a language, this is a great way to ease in and start building confidence right away.

To get the most out of your study sessions, try saying the words out loud as you review each card. Practicing pronunciation aloud helps the phrases stick in your memory and prepares you for speaking with others. Spacing your reviews over several short sessions, rather than cramming everything at once, will also make the words easier to recall in the long run.

The first phrases any Spanish learner should master are greetings and expressions of courtesy, since they open and close every social interaction. The universal greeting is Hola, which works in both formal and informal situations. When parting, Adiós is standard, but for a more casual "see you later," Spanish speakers say Hasta luego. Politeness is carried by a small set of essential words: Por favor (please), Gracias (thank you, with Muchas gracias for added emphasis), and the response De nada (you're welcome), which literally means "of nothing." To apologize or get someone's attention, use Perdón after a small bump or a minor mistake, or the more formal Disculpe when speaking to a stranger or elder.

Spanish also divides the day into distinct greeting periods. Buenos días covers the time from sunrise until about noon, Buenas tardes spans the afternoon until sunset, and Buenas noches serves double duty as both an evening greeting and a way to say good night before bed. Notice that Buenas tardes and Buenas noches use the feminine plural Buenas because tarde and noche are feminine nouns.

To ask how someone is doing, Spanish distinguishes between informal and formal address: ¿Cómo estás? is used with friends and family, while ¿Cómo está usted? is reserved for strangers, elders, and professional contexts. A typical reply is Estoy bien, often softened with gracias to sound polite: Estoy bien, gracias. When meeting someone for the first time, the proper response is Mucho gusto ("much pleasure"), or alternatively Encantado if you are male or Encantada if you are female.

Counting in Spanish begins with Cero (0), Uno (1), Dos (2), Tres (3), Cuatro (4), Cinco (5), Seis (6), Siete (7), Ocho (8), Nueve (9), and Diez (10). Uno is special because it shortens to un before masculine nouns, as in un libro ("a book"), and to una before feminine nouns, as in una mesa ("a table"). Larger round numbers follow a similar pattern: Veinte (20), Treinta (30), Cincuenta (50), Cien (100), and Mil (1000). One important twist is that Cien becomes Ciento when it appears before another number, so 101 is ciento uno rather than cien y uno.

Time of day is described with a set of familiar expressions. To ask the current time, use ¿Qué hora es? and respond with ser: Es la una for one o'clock and Son las dos (or tres, cuatro, and so on) for any later hour. Day-to-day references rely on Hoy (today), Mañana (tomorrow, which also means "morning" when used with the article), and Ayer (yesterday), which typically pairs with the preterite tense. The words La mañana and La tarde refer to the morning and afternoon periods, often used in the phrases por la mañana ("in the morning") and por la tarde ("in the afternoon").

Color words in Spanish must agree in gender with the nouns they describe, just like other adjectives. Most colors change their final vowel: rojo becomes roja for feminine nouns, amarillo becomes amarilla, blanco becomes blanca, negro becomes negra, and morado becomes morada. A few colors are invariable: Azul and Verde stay the same regardless of the noun's gender, and Naranja, the most common word for orange, also does not change. As an alternative, Anaranjado or Anaranjada can be used when you want a clearly adjectival form, and Púrpura is a less common alternative for purple.

Articles in Spanish come in two main families. The definite articles, meaning "the," are el for masculine singular nouns, la for feminine singular nouns, los for masculine plural nouns, and las for feminine plural nouns. So el libro is "the book," la casa is "the house," los libros is "the books," and las casas is "the houses." The indefinite articles, meaning "a" or "an," follow the same gender split: un for masculine singular, as in un perro ("a dog"), and una for feminine singular, as in una mesa ("a table").

Spanish subject pronouns are fewer than their English counterparts and are often dropped entirely, because verb endings already indicate who is performing the action. Yo means "I," Tú is the informal singular "you" (used with friends, family, and peers), and Usted is the formal singular "you" (used with strangers, elders, and in professional settings). Él and ella translate as "he" and "she" respectively, distinguished from the article el by an accent mark. For groups, Nosotros and nosotras mean "we" (masculine/mixed or all-female), Ellos and ellas mean "they" (masculine/mixed or all-female), and Ustedes is the plural "you," used for both formal and informal situations throughout Latin America.

Spanish has two verbs that both translate as "to be": ser and estar, and choosing the right one is essential because mixing them changes the meaning. Ser is reserved for permanent or inherent qualities such as identity, origin, and profession, as in Soy estudiante ("I am a student"). Estar handles temporary states, locations, and emotions, as in Estoy cansado ("I am tired"). Both verbs are irregular and must be memorized: yo soy, tú eres, él/ella/usted es, nosotros somos, ellos/ustedes son for ser, and yo estoy, tú estás, él/ella/usted está, nosotros estamos, ellos/ustedes están for estar. Note the accent marks on most forms of estar.

Spanish verbs fall into three conjugation families based on their infinitive endings. Regular -ar verbs like hablar follow the pattern hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablan. Regular -er verbs like comer follow como, comes, come, comemos, comen. Regular -ir verbs like vivir follow vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven. Learning these three patterns equips you to conjugate hundreds of verbs on your own.

Beyond the regular patterns, several common verbs are irregular and need to be learned individually. Tener (to have) is conjugated yo tengo, tú tienes, él/ella/usted tiene, nosotros tenemos, ellos/ustedes tienen. It is also used in many idiomatic expressions where English uses "to be": tener hambre (to be hungry), tener sed (to be thirsty), tener sueño (to be sleepy), tener miedo (to be afraid), and tener razón (to be right). Ir (to go) is conjugated yo voy, tú vas, él/ella/usted va, nosotros vamos, ellos/ustedes van. Ir also combines with a and an infinitive to express the near future, similar to English "going to": Voy a estudiar means "I am going to study," and Vamos a comer means "we are going to eat."

Two more important irregulars are hacer (to do/make) and the stem-changing verbs querer and poder. Hacer conjugates as yo hago, tú haces, él/ella/usted hace, nosotros hacemos, ellos/ustedes hacen; only the yo form (hago) is irregular. Querer (to want/love) and poder (to be able to) change their stems in most forms: quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, quieren for querer and puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, pueden for poder, with the nosotros form reverting to the regular stem (queremos, podemos). These verbs also open up a wide range of expressions, since Spanish uses hacer for many common weather phrases.

Spanish also distinguishes between two verbs that both mean "to know." Saber refers to knowing facts or learned skills and is conjugated yo sé, tú sabes, él sabe, nosotros sabemos, ellos saben. Conocer refers to being familiar with people, places, or things and is conjugated yo conozco, tú conoces, él conoce, nosotros conocemos, ellos conocen. So Saber español means "to know Spanish" as a skill, while Conocer España means "to know Spain" as a place you have visited.

Food vocabulary is essential for daily life in any Spanish-speaking context. Common staples include el agua (water, which uses the masculine article el despite being feminine because it begins with a stressed "a"), el pan (bread), la carne (meat, with la carne de res or la ternera referring specifically to beef), el pescado (fish as food, as opposed to el pez for a live fish), el arroz (rice, the base of dishes like paella and arroz con pollo), la leche (milk), el huevo (egg, with a silent h), la fruta (fruit), la verdura or el vegetal (vegetable, with verdura more common for leafy greens), el pollo (chicken), el queso (cheese, including varieties like queso manchego and queso fresco), and el vino (wine, which becomes vino tinto for red and vino blanco for white).

Family vocabulary centers on a small set of nouns, each with informal alternatives used in everyday speech. La madre and el padre are the formal terms, while Mamá and Papá are the warm, everyday words for mom and dad. Los padres can refer to parents as a pair or to fathers in the plural. El hermano (brother) and la hermana (sister) form the plural hermanos and hermanas, but hermanos is also used for siblings in general, including sisters. Similarly, el hijo (son) and la hija (daughter, with a silent h) become hijos and hijas in the plural, with hijos sometimes meaning children of any gender.

A handful of phrases can resolve most situations a traveler encounters. To find a place, ask ¿Dónde está...? as in ¿Dónde está el hotel? or ¿Dónde está el baño? In some regions you may also hear el servicio or los aseos for restroom. To ask the price of something, use ¿Cuánto cuesta? for a single item and ¿Cuánto cuestan? for several, as in ¿Cuánto cuesta esta camisa? At a restaurant, request the bill with La cuenta, por favor, and reserve a table with Una mesa para dos, por favor. If you have booked ahead, you can say Tengo una reservación in Latin America or Tengo una reserva in Spain. To make a polite request, use Me gustaría or Quisiera, as in Me gustaría un café ("I would like a coffee"). When communication breaks down, No entiendo ("I don't understand") or No comprendo works, and you can ask someone to repeat with ¿Puede repetir, por favor? If you need assistance, say Necesito ayuda, or simply shout ¡Ayuda! in an emergency. Asking ¿Habla usted inglés? (formal) or ¿Hablas inglés? (informal) is a useful fallback in any Spanish-speaking country.

Spanish handles weather with the verb hacer rather than a "to be" construction. To describe the temperature, say Hace calor ("It's hot") and Hace frío ("It's cold"). To describe a personal sensation of temperature, however, Spanish switches to tener: Tengo calor ("I'm hot") and Tengo frío ("I'm cold"). For precipitation, the regular verb llover (to rain) is used, giving Está lloviendo ("It is raining") or simply Llueve ("It rains"). The double ll is pronounced like a "y" in most dialects.

Directions use just three key terms. Izquierda means "left," as in Gire a la izquierda ("Turn left"), derecha means "right," as in Gire a la derecha ("Turn right"), and "straight ahead" is rendered as todo recto or simply derecho, the latter being more common in Latin America, as in Siga todo recto ("Continue straight ahead"). Together with the question word Dónde, these phrases allow you to find your way through most Spanish-speaking cities.