spanish notes lesson 3:

1. Saludos y Despedidas (Greetings and Farewells)

• Saludos (Greetings)

  • $¡Hola!$ — Hello!

  • $¡Buenos días!$ — Good morning!

  • $¡Buenas tardes!$ — Good afternoon/evening!

  • $¡Buenas noches!$ — Good night!

  • $¿Cómo estás?$ (informal) / $¿Cómo está usted?$ (formal) — How are you?

  • $Estoy bien, gracias.$ — I'm fine, thank you.

  • $¿Y tú?$ (informal) / $¿Y usted?$ (formal) — And you?

• Despedidas (Farewells)

  • $¡Adiós!$ — Goodbye!

  • $¡Hasta luego!$ — See you later!

  • $¡Hasta mañana!$ — See you tomorrow!

  • $¡Nos vemos!$ — See you!

2. Presentaciones (Introductions)

• $Me llamo…$ — My name is…

• $Soy de…$ — I am from…

• $¿De dónde eres?$ (informal) / $¿De dónde es usted?$ (formal) — Where are you from?

• $Mucho gusto.$ / $Encantado/a.$ — Nice to meet you.

3. El Alfabeto y Pronunciación (The Alphabet and Pronunciation)

• Vocales (Vowels)

  • $A$: ah (like in 'father')

  • $E$: eh (like in 'bed')

  • $I$: ee (like in 'machine')

  • $O$: oh (like in 'go')

  • $U$: oo (like in 'moon')

• Consonantes (Consonants)

  • $H$ is always silent.

  • $J$ is pronounced like the English 'h' (e.g., $jamón$ - ha-MON).

  • $LL$ is pronounced like 'y' in 'yes' (e.g., $pollo$ - POH-yo).

  • $Ñ$ is pronounced like 'ny' in 'canyon' (e.g., $España$ - es-PAH-nya).

  • $R$: single 'r' is flapped (e.g., $pero$ - PEH-ro).

  • $RR$: rolled 'r' (e.g., $perro$ - PEH-rro).

  • $Z$ and $C$ before $e$ or $i$ are pronounced like 's' in Latin America, or 'th' in Spain (e.g., $zapato$ - sah-PAH-toh/thah-PAH-toh).

4. Números (Numbers) 0-20

• $0$: cero

• $1$: uno

• $2$: dos

• $3$: tres

• $4$: cuatro

• $5$: cinco

• $6$: seis

• $7$: siete

• $8$: ocho

• $9$: nueve

• $10$: diez

• $11$: once

• $12$: doce

• $13$: trece

• $14$: catorce

• $15$: quince

• $16$: dieciséis

• $17$: diecisiete

• $18$: dieciocho

• $19$: diecinueve

• $20$: veinte

5. Verbos Fundamentales (Fundamental Verbs)

• Ser (to be - permanent/essential characteristics)

  • $Yo soy$ — I am

  • $Tú eres$ — You are (informal)

  • $Él/Ella/Usted es$ — He/She/You are (formal)

  • $Nosotros/as somos$ — We are

  • $Vosotros/as sois$ — You all are (informal, Spain)

  • $Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes son$ — They/You all are (formal/Latin America)

• Estar (to be - temporary states/locations)

  • $Yo estoy$ — I am

  • $Tú estás$ — You are (informal)

  • $Él/Ella/Usted está$ — He/She/You are (formal)

  • $Nosotros/as estamos$ — We are

  • $Vosotros/as estáis$ — You all are (informal, Spain)

  • $Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes están$ — They/You all are (formal/Latin America)

• Tener (to have)

  • $Yo tengo$ — I have

  • $Tú tienes$ — You have (informal)

  • $Él/Ella/Usted tiene$ — He/She/You have (formal)

  • $Nosotros/as tenemos$ — We have

  • $Vosotros/as tenéis$ — You all have (informal, Spain)

  • $Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes tienen$ — They/You all have (formal/Latin America)

6. Sustantivos Básicos (Basic Nouns)

• Artículos (Articles)

  • Definidos (Definite): $el$ (masc. sing.), $la$ (fem. sing.), $los$ (masc. plu.), $las$ (fem. plu.)

  • Indefinidos (Indefinite): $un$ (masc. sing.), $una$ (fem. sing.), $unos$ (masc. plu.), $unas$ (fem. plu.)

• Ejemplos (Examples)

  • $El estudiante$ (m.) / $La estudiante$ (f.) — The student

  • $El libro$ — The book

  • $La mesa$ — The table

  • $El profesor$ (m.) / $La profesora$ (f.) — The teacher

  • $La silla$ — The chair

7. Adjetivos y Concordancia (Adjectives and Agreement)

• Adjectives usually follow the noun.

• Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

  • $El libro rojo$ — The red book

  • $La mesa roja$ — The red table

  • $Los libros rojos$ — The red books

  • $Las mesas rojas$ — The red tables

8. Estructura de Oraciones Básicas (Basic Sentence Structure)

• Sujeto + Verbo + Objeto (Subject + Verb + Object)

  • $Yo estudio español.$ — I study Spanish.

  • $Ella tiene un libro.$ — She has a book.

• Preguntas con $¿Qué?$ y $¿Quién?$ (Questions with What? and Who?)

  • $¿Qué es esto?$ — What is this?

  • $¿Quién es ella?$ — Who is she?

• Negación (Negation)

  • Place $no$ before the conjugated verb.

  • $Yo no estudio francés.$ — I do not study French.