0 Sounds & spelling
Vowels are pure and short, always the same. Master a few letters and you can read anything aloud.
Vowels (always these)
a e i o u
ah · eh · ee · oh · oo
Letters that differ
j / g(e,i)
raspy “h” — José = ho-SEH
ll
like “y” — llave = YAH-veh
z / ce,ci
“s” (Latin America) / “th” (Spain)
Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable — unless there's an accent mark (á), which wins.
1 Survival phrases
Say these on day one.
Buenos días (BWEH-nos DEE-as)
Good morning
Por favor (por fah-VOR)
Please
Gracias (GRAH-syas)
Thank you
Perdón / Lo siento
Excuse me / Sorry
¿Cómo estás? (KOH-mo es-TAS)
How are you?
¿Cómo te llamas?
What's your name?
Me llamo ___
My name is ___
No entiendo
I don't understand
¿Hablas inglés?
Do you speak English?
¿Cuánto cuesta?
How much is it?
Adiós / Hasta luego
Goodbye
2 Pronouns & “my / your”
Spain uses vosotros for plural “you”; Latin America uses ustedes. Possessives: mi / tu / su.
tú / usted
you (casual / polite)
ustedes / vosotros
you (plural)
mi / tu / su
my / your / his·her
3 Question words
qué what
quién who
dónde where
cuándo when
por qué why
cómo how
cuánto how much
cuál which
Questions get ¿ … ? and often just a rising tone — word order can stay the same.
4 Core verbs
Infinitives end in -ar / -er / -ir. (See §9+ to conjugate.)
estar
to be (state / place)
5 Numbers
1uno
2dos
3tres
4cuatro
5cinco
6seis
7siete
8ocho
9nueve
10diez
20veinte
50cincuenta
100cien
1kmil
6 Essential nouns
People
hombre / mujer
man / woman
madre / padre
mother / father
Places
estación / hotel
station / hotel
baño / calle
toilet / street
Things & time
comida / café
food / coffee
7 Adjectives (opposite pairs)
Adjectives agree in gender & number: -o (m), -a (f), add -s for plural.
grande / pequeño
big / small
caliente / frío
hot / cold
mucho / poco
a lot / a little
rápido / lento
fast / slow
caro / barato
expensive / cheap
8 Glue words
y and
o or
pero but
porque because
entonces so
hoy today
mañana tomorrow
ayer yesterday
ahora now
aquí here
muy very
también also
9 7 rules for sentences
1
Word order = Subject–Verb–Object, like English. And the subject pronoun is usually dropped — the verb ending already shows who.
(Yo) como pan = I eat bread.
2
Nouns have gender: el (m) / la (f). Adjectives agree and usually follow the noun.
el gato negro (the black cat) · la casa blanca (the white house)
3
Two words for “to be”: ser (identity / permanent) vs
estar (state / location). See §9+.
Soy médico (I'm a doctor) · Estoy cansado (I'm tired) · Estoy en casa (I'm at home)
4
Verbs change their ending depending on who does the action (§9+). Pronouns stay optional.
hablo (I speak) · hablas (you speak) · hablamos (we speak)
5
Negate with no
before the verb.No hablo francés = I don't speak French.
6
Questions = wrap in ¿ ? and raise your tone; word order can stay the same.
¿Hablas inglés? = Do you speak English?
7
Possession / “of” = de
.el libro de María = María's book
9+ Conjugation cheat-sheet
Two must-knows: the two “to be” verbs, and how regular verbs change endings.
A · The two “to be” verbs
ser = what something is (identity, origin, permanent). estar = how / where it is right now (state, location).
ser (identity)
soy · eres · es · somos · son — Soy inglés = I'm English
estar (state/place)
estoy · estás · está · estamos · están — Estoy bien = I'm fine
B · Regular present tense
Recipe: drop -ar / -er / -ir, add the ending for who's doing it. Endings — -ar: o·as·a·amos·an -er: o·es·e·emos·en -ir: o·es·e·imos·en.
hablar (to speak)
hablo · hablas · habla · hablamos · hablan
comer (to eat)
como · comes · come · comemos · comen
vivir (to live)
vivo · vives · vive · vivimos · viven
Order: yo · tú · él/ella · nosotros · ellos. This one present tense covers “I speak / I'm speaking / I do speak.”
10 Sentence-building machine
Memorize the frame, swap the ___ for any core word.
Quiero ___
= I want ___.
un café · agua · esto
Quiero ir a ___
= I want to go to ___.
el mercado · el hotel
¿Dónde está ___?
= Where is ___?
el baño · la estación
¿Qué es esto?
= What is this?
point + ask
¿Puedes ___?
= Can you ___?
ayudarme · repetir
Me gusta ___
= I like ___.
el café · España
¿Cuánto cuesta ___?
= How much is ___?
esto · el café
Soy de ___
= I'm from ___.
Londres · Inglaterra
11 Your turn — practice
Write the Spanish. Answers below.
- Greet someone and give your name:
- Ask “Where is the market?”:
- Say “I want a coffee”:
- Say “I don't understand”:
- Count 1 to 5:
- Ask “How much is it?”:
Check yourself: 1) Hola, me llamo ___. 2) ¿Dónde está el mercado? 3) Quiero un café. 4) No entiendo. 5) uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco. 6) ¿Cuánto cuesta?
12 A 2-week plan
15–20 min a day, out loud, beats an occasional long session.
Week 1 — Sounds & survival
- Days 1–2: pronunciation + survival phrases.
- Day 3: numbers 1–10.
- Day 4: pronouns.
- Day 5: question words.
- Days 6–7: review, no notes.
Week 2 — Build sentences
- Day 8: core verbs.
- Day 9: nouns.
- Day 10: adjectives + glue words.
- Days 11–12: the 7 rules + ser/estar + present tense.
- Days 13–14: sentence machine + practice.
Where this grows next
Once this feels automatic: the past tense (pretérito), more irregular verbs, and por vs para. Don't rush — this core already carries everyday travel.