Spanish 1 Study Guide

Greetings & Introductions (Saludos)

  • Key Greeting and Introduction Vocabulary:

    • ¿Cómo te llamas?: What is your name?

    • Me llamo \_\_\_\_\_\_: My name is ______.

    • Buenos días: Good morning

    • ¿Cómo estás?: How are you?

    • Estoy muy bien: I am very well

    • ¿Y tú?: And you?

  • Mini-Conversation Practice:

    • Practice reciting the following dialogue out loud:

    • Person 1: — ¿Cómo te llamas?

    • Person 2: — Me llamo Ethan. ¿Y tú?

    • Person 1: — Buenos días, ¿cómo estás?

    • Person 2: — Estoy muy bien, ¿y tú?

Los Súper Siete (The Super 7 Verbs)

  • Overview of the Super 7 Verbs:

    • These seven high-frequency verb forms are foundational to beginning Spanish and appear constantly in daily communication.

  • Detailed Verb List and Usage:

    • va:

    • Meaning: goes

    • Example: Va a la escuela. (He/she goes to school.)

    • es:

    • Meaning: is (identity/description)

    • Example: Es alto. (He is tall.)

    • hay:

    • Meaning: there is / there are

    • Example: Hay un libro. (There is a book.)

    • le gusta:

    • Meaning: he/she likes

    • Example: Le gusta el fútbol. (He/she likes soccer.)

    • tiene:

    • Meaning: has

    • Example: Tiene un perro. (He/she has a dog.)

    • quiere:

    • Meaning: wants

    • Example: Quiere comer. (He/she wants to eat.)

    • está:

    • Meaning: is (location/feeling)

    • Examples:

      • Está bien. (He/she is fine.)

      • Está en casa. (He/she is at home.)

  • Essential Memory Tip:

    • es: Used to describe what something or someone is inherently or permanently (identity and permanent characteristics).

    • está: Used to describe how or where something or someone is right now (temporary state, feeling, or physical location).

  • Study Technique:

    • Cover the right column of the verbs list (meanings and examples) to test recall of each verb's meaning from memory.

Time Words (El Tiempo)

  • High-Frequency Time Vocabulary:

    • el día: day

    • la semana: week

    • el fin de semana: weekend

    • el mes: month

    • el año: year

Los Días de la Semana (Days of the Week)

  • Chronological Order of the Days:

    • lunes: Monday

    • martes: Tuesday

    • miércoles: Wednesday

    • jueves: Thursday

    • viernes: Friday

    • sábado: Saturday

    • domingo: Sunday

  • Grammatical Capitalization Rule:

    • Days of the week are not capitalized in Spanish unless they appear at the start of a sentence.

Quick Self-Check

  • Learning Checklist:

    • Can introduce self in Spanish.

    • Can ask someone their name and how they are doing.

    • Knows all 7 Súper Siete verbs along with one example usage for each.

    • Can say all 7 days of the week in chronological order.

    • Knows the time words: día, semana, fin de semana, mes, and año.

  • Note of Encouragement:

    • ¡Buena suerte, Ethan! ¡Tú puedes!