Spanish Vocabulary and Grammar Notes

Family Relationships

  • el padre: father
  • la madre: mother
  • el/la hijo(a): son/daughter
  • el/la hermano(a): brother/sister
  • el/la abuelo(a): grandfather/grandmother
  • el/la nieto(a): grandson/granddaughter
  • el/la tío(a): uncle/aunt
  • el/la sobrino(a): nephew/niece
  • el/la primo(a): cousin
  • el/la esposo(a): spouse

Emotions and Feelings

  • aburrido(a): bored
  • divertido(a): fun, amusing
  • contento(a): happy, content
  • triste: sad
  • frustrado(a): frustrated
  • furioso(a): furious
  • tranquilo(a): calm, peaceful
  • nervioso(a): nervous

Physical Characteristics

  • alto(a): tall
  • bajo(a): short
  • gordo(a): fat
  • delgado(a): thin
  • moreno(a): dark-haired, dark-skinned
  • rubio(a): blonde
  • la barba: beard
  • el bigote: mustache
  • la cicatriz: scar
  • el lunar: mole
  • las pecas: freckles
  • pelo lacio: straight hair
  • pelo rizado: curly hair

Personality Traits

  • perezoso(a): lazy
  • trabajador(a): hardworking
  • tacaño(a): stingy
  • generoso(a): generous
  • serio(a): serious
  • gracioso(a): funny
  • optimista: optimistic
  • pesimista: pessimistic
  • amable, cortés: kind, nice
  • cariñoso(a): warm, affectionate
  • comprensivo(a): understanding
  • fiel: faithful
  • reservado(a), tímido(a): shy
  • travieso(a): mischievous
  • chismoso(a): gossipy
  • egoísta: selfish
  • bondadoso(a): kind, generous
  • apuesto: handsome
  • amistoso: friendly

Personal Information

  • nombre: name
  • apellidos: last names
  • domicilio: address
  • fecha de nacimiento: date of birth
  • número de identidad: identification number
  • lugar de nacimiento: place of birth
  • estado civil: marital status
  • casado(a): married
  • divorciado(a): divorced
  • separado(a): separated
  • soltero(a): single
  • viudo(a): widower/widow

Family Vocabulary

  • el padrastro: stepfather
  • los hermanastros: stepbrothers/stepsisters
  • los suegros: parents-in-law
  • el cuñado: brother-in-law
  • la cuñada: sister-in-law
  • ahijado(a): godson/goddaughter
  • hijo(a) adoptivo(a): adopted son/daughter
  • la novia: girlfriend
  • la pareja: partner
  • el yerno: son-in-law
  • la nuera: daughter-in-law

Life Stages and Events

  • el embarazo: pregnancy
  • el nacimiento: birth
  • la niñez: childhood
  • la adolescencia: adolescence
  • la juventud: youth
  • la madurez: adulthood
  • la vejez: old age
  • la muerte: death
  • el aniversario: anniversary
  • el bautizo: baptism
  • la graduación: graduation
  • la jubilación: retirement
  • el matrimonio: marriage

Religions

  • el budismo: Buddhism
  • el cristianismo: Christianity
  • el hinduismo: Hinduism
  • el islamismo: Islam
  • el judaísmo: Judaism

Grammar: Ser vs. Estar

  • Ser: Used to identify people, places, and things, and to describe physical characteristics and personality traits.
    • Origin and nationality
    • Profession
    • Membership
    • Location of events
    • Date and time
    • Possession
    • Material
    • Price
  • Estar: Used to express feelings and conditions.
    • Location of people and things
    • States
    • Ongoing actions (estar + present participle)
    • With bien and mal
  • Ser describes inherent and permanent qualities, while estar describes the result of a process.

Grammar: Comparisons

  • Equality:
    • verb + igual que
    • igual de + adjective / adverb + que
    • verb + tanto como
    • tanto(a)(os)(as) + noun + como
    • tan + adjective / adverb + como
  • Superiority:
    • verb + más que
    • más + adjective / adverb / noun + que
  • Inferiority:
    • verb + menos que
    • menos + adjective / adverb / noun + que
  • Comparative Forms:
    • bueno → mejor
    • malo → peor
    • grande → mayor
    • pequeño → menor

Superlatives

  • Formed with the ending -ísimo.
  • Relative Superlative: el/la/los/las + noun + más / menos + adjective + de / que

The Imperfect Tense

  • Used for actions that happened repeatedly in the past.
  • -ar verbs: -aba, -abas…
  • -er and -ir verbs: -ía, -ías…
  • Irregular Verbs:
    • SER: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
    • VER: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían
    • IR: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban

The Past Continuous

  • Used for ongoing actions in the past.
  • Formed with estar (imperfect) + present participle (gerundio).
  • Regular verbs: -ando, -iendo

Possessive Adjectives

  • Show ownership.
  • Agree in number with the noun they accompany.
  • Nuestro and vuestro also agree in gender.

Possessive Pronouns

  • Used instead of a noun.
  • Forms are the same as possessive adjectives after the noun.
  • Preceded by el, la, los, las when used to identify.

Preposition "de"

  • Expresses possession.
  • Structure: thing possessed + de + possessor
  • de + el → del

Preterite vs. Imperfect

  • Preterite: Completed actions.
  • Imperfect: Actions that lasted a certain time, without mentioning the end; descriptions of characters and setting.
  • Verbs with different meanings in the preterite and imperfect:
    • conocer: met vs. knew
    • poder: succeeded in going vs. was able to go
    • querer: refused to vs. didn't want to
    • saber: found out vs. knew
    • tener: got a fever vs. had many friends