Introduction to Spanish: Basic vocabulary, Introducing yourself, Talking and Understanding others in Spanish, etc.!

Hello everyone. Today we are going to be learning the basics of Spanish. Hope you enjoy!

Introductory

“”hola”: hello

“adios”: bye

“buenos noches”: good night (Bueno stands for good.)

“buenos dias”: good morning

“yo”: I (me) Pronounced as: “yo”, as in “yo, what’s up.”

“tu”: you Pronounced as: “tu” as in “tutu”

“soy”: am Pronounced as: “soy” as in “soy sauce.”

“que?”: what Pronounced as: “ke” with a high pitched e

“Te quiero”: I love you Pronounced as: “te” with high pitched e, “ke-ro” (ke with high pitched e as well) and roll the “o“

“Me gusta”: I like ____ Pronunciation: “me” with high pitched e, “guu-sta) (deep u)

“Mi”: my Pronounced as: “mi” as in do-re-mi.

“si”: yes Pronounced as: “see” but without the long e

“nada”: nothing/none Pronounced as: “na-da”

Now that you know the basic words, try to use the words in a sentence. Let’s see. We have “yo”, which means I, and “soy” which means am, and “bueno”, which means good. Let’s form the sentence and see if we can catch any grammatical errors.

Sentence: Yo soy bueno.

This sentence looks fine! We pronounce this as “yo-soy-b-we-no.” Now, say it faster and you’ll get the pronunciation. There is another way to write this sentence. We can use the word, “estoy”, (which means I’m/I am), to replace “soy.”

Sentence (2): Yo estoy bueno.

However, because we switched the words, we must also change “bueno” to “bien.” The two words mean the same thing, but they can only be used for certain situations. Bien is usually used to describe or modify a verb, adverb, or adjective. Bueno is used to describe and modify nouns. Bien is also translated to “well, properly”, rather than good. (person, place, or thing.)

Sentence (2) Re-worked: Yo estoy bien.

It’s sort of tricky to explain, but for this situation we will use the word “bien” with the word “estoy”.

Remember, Yo estoy bien and Yo soy bueno has the same meaning. (I am good.)

You have learned the two ways to saying “I am good!”

Now that we now how to say, “I am good,” let’s learn how to say “How are you?” in Spanish.

To ask someone how they feel, we can say “como estas.” (Pronounced: “co-mo es-ta-s.)

Como means “what” and estas means “you are/these.” Estas is usually used in Spanish when communicating about some temporary such as an emotion, which we are talking about here.

Since you have learned how to say “How are you?” to someone, what would happened if they asked you first? You could say, “Yo estoy bien,’ or “Yo soy bueno,” but how do you ask them as well?

There are many different ways to say this, but we can stick to the simpler way. If someone asks you how you are in Spanish, your reply would be, “Yo soy bueno,” or “Yo estoy bien.” After saying this, you can add the phrase “,y tu?”

Y stands for and and tu stands for you. (Shown above in: Introductory)

So, you are basically saying, “I am good, and you?”!

You have learned how to reply someone about how you feel and ask them about themselves at the same time!

At this point, you and the communicator are getting to an awkward point. Better say something, and quick! Let’s learn how to ask for someone’s name and how to introduce your name to others!

To ask someone their name, simply ask, “Como te llamas?” This is pronounced “como-te (with high pitched e) ya-mass)

Try re-pronouncing the word until you get the hang of it. Reminds you of the animal, llama, right?

Now that you have asked this question, the person will say, “Yo soy ____.” The blank represents the name of the person. Let’s just name the person Frederick. So, he would say, “Yo soy Frederick.”

Remember: Yo means I, Soy means am, and Frederick is his name, so we do not need to translate that.

He is saying, “I am Frederick.” If he adds the phrase, “y tu,” then he is asking for your name as well. “I am Frederick, and you?”

You can respond with the same template as Frederick has, “Yo soy _____.” Whatever your name is, just put in the black and voila! There you go!

Since my name is Shannon, I’ll say, “Yo soy Shannon.”

So, now what do you say? How about “Nice meeting you!” That would seem polite and nonchalant. Let’s go!

If we want to say “Nice to meet you,” in Spanish, we should say, “Mucho gusto.” We pronounce this as “mu-cho guu-s-to.”

If the other person says this to you before you can speak, then say, “Si!” with a cheerful voice. So…

Frederick: Mucho gusto!

You: Si!

At this point, let’s pretend that we have to go. To be excused, say, “tengo que irme.” This means “I have to go,” and is pronounced as “ten-go ke i-er-me. (the e in ke is high, the r in er is rolled, the e in me is low.)

The man or boy should reply with, “Okey,” or “Adios.” Adios means bye, so you can set off for the day. If you have approached this man/boy at night, then you can reply with “buenos noches.” But, if you meet this man in the morning, you would expect someone to say good morning when you first meet or say hello. Since you are leaving, it would only seem appropriate to say goodnight, which happens in this case.

If this man is familiar to you or you seem him often, then you can say, “Hasta pronto.” Hasta means until and pronto means soon or early.

Congratulations! Good job learning on how to introduce yourself, talk to others, and politely say goodbye in Spanish! Now, you can communicate with your friends, family, or people around you.

If you want to learn more, here are some useful phrases you should learn in Spanish!

Donde esta el bano?: Where is the bathroom?

Pronunciation: Don-de (As in yes in Korean) es-ta (ta as in tack.) L (Letter) ba-nuo (Nuo as in no in a baby manner.)

Yo no hablo mucho espanol.: I do not speak much Spanish. Pronunciation: Yo no ah-blow moo-cho espan-noul (noul as in the sound “soul” makes, but with rolling -nue sound.)

Ayuda!: Help! Pronunciation: Ah you da.

No se donde estoy: I do not know where I am Pronunciation: No se (as in 3 in Korean) don-de (yes in Korean) es-toy

Donde esta esto: Where is this? (You can use this by showing a landmark or place you wish to be at to another person.)

Pronunciation: Don-de (de as in korean for yes) es-ta es-tow