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Welcome / Bienvenidos
Congratulations on taking your first steps towards learning the Spanish language, I am sure you will find that learning Spanish can be both interesting and enjoyable. As with learning any new language, learning Spanish will be challenging, but the reward of being able to speak a second language will make it all worthwhile. This course is broken down into three modules: Module 1: Module 1 will deal with basic grammar and will provide a solid foundation for modules 2 and 3. The module will be broken down into 10 lessons each covering core language skills. It is vitally important that you fully understand each lesson before moving onto the next as it will show later in the course if you dont. Module 2 covers reading comprehension and is broken down into 7 lessons. Module 3 covers writing skills and is broken down into 9 lessons.

Module 2: Module 3:

There are many tests throughout the course and after a few days of having received them you will be e-mailed with answer sheets, enabling you to mark them for yourself. This course is a text course only and contains no audio or video. It is advisable to purchase an audio course to work with in conjunction with this FREE course as doing so will improve your listening and speaking skills dramatically. We highly recommend purchasing Rocket Spanish audio and conversational Spanish program as a supplemental course. You should consider purchasing Rocket Spanish earlier in this course rather than later as it will certainly help to make studying much easier, the choice is yours. Well lets get on with the course, good-luck and enjoy learning Spanish.

Hasta Luego! (Until later!)

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Pronunciation Guide
The rules that follow will give you advice on pronunciation and are not intended to be memorized, you can refer back to them when required. Note: Spanish is a very phonetic language and the notes below will be made much clearer and easier for you to put into practice if you have an audio course The Spanish Alphabet The Spanish alphabet consists of 29 letters.
A B C CH D E F G H I J K L LL M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z (ah) (bay) (thay) (chay) (day) (ay) (eff-ay) (Hay) (ah-chay) (ee) (Ho-tah) (kah) (ell-ay) (ell-yay) (emm-ay) (enn-ay) (enn-yay) (o) (pay) (koo) (airr-ay) (ess-ay) (tay) (oo) (oo-vay) (oo-vay-dob-lay) (air) (ee-gre-ay-gah) (thay-tah) pronounced like the English y in yes unless on its own or at the end of a word. pronounced like th in month or thick pronounced like oo: tu (you), su (their), uno (one). often pronounced like an english b, vaca (cow) Rolled on the tip of tongue if at the start of a word or syllable. pronounced sharp as in see pronounced like ni in companion. pronounced like o: lo (the), no (no), gato (cat). pronounced like lli in million. before e or i pronounced like the Spanish j otherwise like g in go. Not pronounced, silent h pronounced like ee: mi (my), prima (cousin). pronounced like ch in loch. pronounced like ay: me (me), de (from), le (him). If before e or i pronounce like the Spanish z. pronounced as in cheap or much pronounced like ah in English: al (to), la (the), casa (house).

Should you use a bi-lingual dictionary at any time this is the order in which you find the letters entered. For example, if you were looking for a Spanish word beginning with CH you would not find it under C you would however find it under CH.

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Stress / accents
In Spanish the following rules apply: 1. 2. 3. 4. Most words ending in a vowel, n or s, take the stress on the next last syllable: examen, flores, hombre, cigarillo Most words that end in a consonant other than n or s, take the stress on the last syllable: Papel, ciudad, mujer, capital. Exceptions to these two rules are indicated by a written accent on the stressed syllable: rbol, lmpara, estacin, ingls, msica The written accent is also used to distinguish words that have the same spelling but different meanings: el (the), l (he); si (if), s (yes); mi (my), m (me), mas (but), ms (more). The vowels a, e and o are strong vowels I and u are weak ones. When two strong vowels come together, they are pronounced separately: paella, teatro, poeta When two weak vowels come together, the stress is on the last one: cuida, viuda When a strong vowel and a weak one come together, the strong vowel is stressed unless the weak one is accentuated: aire, jaula, odo, an.

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Numbers, Months, Days of the Week and Seasons

Months of the year (all masculine) January February March April May June July August September October November December enero febrero marzo abril mayo junio julio agosto septiembre octubre noviembre diciembre Summer Autumn/Fall Winter Spring Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve diez once doce trece catorce quince diecisis diecisiete dieciocho diecinueve veinte veintiuno veintids veintetrs veintequatro veintecinco veintesis veintesiete veinteocho veintenueve treinta 31 32 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 101 102 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1001 1002 1100 1101 1200 2000 100,000 200,000 1,000,000 2,000,000 treinta y uno treinta y dos cuarenta cincuenta sesenta setenta ochenta noventa cien, ciento ciento uno ciento dos doscientos trescientos cuatrocientos quinientos seiscientos setecientos ochocientos novecientos mil mil uno mil dos mil cien mil ciento uno mil doscientos dos mil cien mil doscientos mil un milln dos millones Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Days of the week (all masculine) lunes martes mircoles jueves viernes sbado domingo Seasons el verano el otoo el invierno la primavera

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1.1. Definite articles and Gender.

Masculine singular el un Feminine singular la una Masculine plural los unos Feminine plural las unas English the a, an or some

Definite article Indefinite article 1

As in English some can be left out e.g. English: some apples and apples are interchangeable Spanish: unas manzanas (some apples), manzanas (apples)

When you learn a noun (name) in Spanish you must also learn its gender i.e. whether it is masculine or feminine. This has nothing to do with male or female, and it applies to everything live or neuter. (a table or a chair for example) As shown in the table above, Spanish has 4 versions of the word the and of the words a and some, as masculine and feminine have both singular and plural versions. the boy the boys the car the cars la nia las nias la casa las casas the girl the girls the house the houses

el nio los nios el coche los coches

NOTE: When the group is a mixture of boys and girls, los nios is used and means the children this also applies with other mixed groups i.e. los padres, fathers or parents, los abuelos, grandparents or grandfathers and los tos can mean uncle and aunt as well as uncles.

1.2. Rules for Gender

1 In Spanish, there are certain rules that will give you clues as to the gender of a noun.
2 If it is a living creature its gender is decided by its sex, if its a male it will be masculine and if it is a female it will be feminine. masculine the father the grandfather the son the brother the uncle the friend(boy) the boy feminine the mother the grandmother the daughter the sister the aunt the friend (girl) the girl

el padre el abuelo el hijo el hermano el tio el amigo el nio 1 2

la madre la abuela la hija la hermana la tia la amiga la nia

Most nouns ending in o are masculine e.g. el libro, the book Most nouns that end in a , in, d and z are usually feminine e.g. la casa, house; la estacin, station; la ciudad, city and la luz, light (Most nouns end in either o or a.) If a noun ends in er or or it is generally masculine. el actor, the actor or el deber, the duty. There are, however, exceptions to the rule and the most common are listed here:

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la mano (f.) el camin (m.) el lpiz (m.) el guardia (m.) el idioma (m.) el mapa (m.) el da (m.) el problema (m.) el emblema (m.) el agua (m.) 1 2 3

hand truck pencil policeman language map day problem emblem water

If a noun ends in neither, o or a it will be a case of learning them individually as the split between masculine and feminine is about 50:50. Here are some more pointers for identifying gender. Months and days of the week are masculine as are points of the compass: January February March April May June July August September October November December el lunes el martes el mircoles el jueves el viernes el sbado el domingo el sud el norte el este el oeste Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday South North East West

el enero el febrero el marzo el abril el mayo el junio el julio el agosto el septiembre el octubre el noviembre el diciembre 1 2 3

Languages are also masculine: Most fruits are feminine one main exception is el melocotn, peach Nouns that depict a quality are usually feminine such as: La verdad truth La honestidad honesty La edad age

1.3. Pluralizing nouns.

The plurals of nouns are formed by adding an s to nouns ending in a vowel, and es to nouns ending in a consonant e.g. el hombre los hombres the man the men la mujer las mujeres the woman the women

Nouns ending in z use the es ending of a consonant ending noun, but the z changes to a c. el lpiz the pencil la luz the light los lpices the pencils las luces the lights Nouns ending in a consonant that have an accent on the last syllable lose the accent when the

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plural is formed: el camin the truck los camiones the trucks

1.4. The Indefinite article.

Masculine singular un Feminine singular una Masculine plural unos Feminine plural unas English a, an or some

Indefinite article

The indefinite article is a, an, one in the singular and some in the plural and in Spanish, as shown in the table above, is un, una, unos and unas. un nio unos nios un coche unos coches the boy the boys the car the cars una nia unas nias una casa unas casas the girl the girls the house the houses

1.5. Subject Pronouns.

Subject pronouns are the person, persons or noun performing an action i.e. I, he, she it etc. singular I You (familiar) He, she You (polite) plural nosotros (m.), nosotros (f.) vosotros (m.), vosotros (f.) ellos (m.), ellas (f.) ustedes

yo t el, ella usted 1 2 3 4 5

We You (familiar) They You (polite)

Familiar and polite: Spanish is a very polite language, it has two methods of addressing a person(s), the familiar and the polite. The familiar forms are used when speaking to friends, family, younger people and animals. These are t and vosotros/as. The polite forms (usted/ustedes) are used when addressing an older person, a stranger or someone you know professionally such as a doctor or a teacher. Apart from usted and ustedes the pronoun is not generally used in Spanish, apart from when added emphasis is required or any ambiguity is to be avoided. Usted and ustedes are abbreviated when be written, being shortened to vd. and vds. or ud. and uds.

1.6. Ser and Estar (to be)

In Spanish the verb to be has two forms, ser and estar. Ser and estar are what as known as irregular verbs which means that they do not follow the regular patterns followed by the majority of verbs. All Spanish verbs, including ser and estar, differ from English verbs as they do not require a subject pronoun and make complete sense by just using the one word. Verb tables for Ser and Estar.

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SER (to be) soy eres es es singular I am you are (familiar) he, she or it is you are (polite) singular I am you are (familiar) he, she or it is you are (polite) somos sois son son ESTAR (to be) estoy ests est est estamos estis estn estn plural We are You are (familiar) They are You are (polite) plural We are You are (familiar) They are You are (polite)

In English, the verb to be can be somewhat ambiguous. An example of this is shown below: The banana is green 1. The first meaning is that the banana is not yet ripe and; (the condition). 2. The second is that the banana is of a particular color (essential characteristic). In Spanish, estar is used to express a condition and ser is used to express the essential characteristic. El pltano est verde. El pltano es verde. The banana is green. (condition) The banana is green (essence)

Ser - Is the most used of the two verbs as it is used to express a characteristic or a permanent
state and is used to indicate the following; 1. Identity: Soy Juan. 2. Possession: El coche es de Danny. 3. Origin: Mi amigo es de Mlaga. 4. Nationality: Somos ingleses. I am John The car is Dannys My friend is from Malaga. We are English My wifes mother is a midwife The house is made of wood.

5. Occupation: La madre de mi mujer es comadrona. 6. Material that something is made from: La casa es de madera. 7. Characteristics: Mi hijo es muy alto. 8. Date and Time: Hoy es el sbado.

My son is very tall Today is Saturday.

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Son los siete. 9. Impersonal expressions: Es ahora o nunca. Es tiempo para almorzar. 10. Religious or political affiliation: Ellos son catlicos. Somos socialistas.

Its seven oclock It is now or never It is time for lunch. They are catholic We are socialists Maria is Davids sister.

11. Relationship of one person to another: Mara es la hermana de David.

Estar - Is used to indicate the following:

1. Temporary states or conditions Juan est enfermo. John is sick.

2. Position whether it is temporary or permanent. Melanie est en el jardn. Melanie is in the garden. Dnde est Chile? Where is Chile? 3. In idiomatic expressions. Estar en las nubes. Estar en camino. 4. Used with progressive tenses. Estoy comiendo arroz y frijoles.

To daydream To be on the way

I am eating rice and beans.

1.7. Tener (to have).

Tener (to have) tengo tienes tiene tiene singular I have you have (familiar) he, she or it has you have (polite) tenemos tenis tienen tienen plural We have You have (familiar) They have You have (polite)

Tener is an irregular verb and one of the most important verbs in Spanish and will need to be learnt thoroughly. The endings that it uses are the same as for the regular group of er verbs and are highlighted in the table above. In Spanish, there are three groups of verbs those that end in ar (the largest group), er and ir and these will be covered in more detail in lessons 2 and 3. Tener is used in a number of idioms in Spanish where in English we would use the verb to be. tener.aos tener calor tener lugar tener fro to beyears old to be hot to take place to be cold tener miedo tener razn tener sed tener sueo to be frightened to be right to be thirsty to be sleepy

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tener hambre

to be hungry

tener suerte

to be lucky

Here are some examples of the idioms in use: Tengo sed Tienen hambre Tienes cuidado Tiene cinco aos* I am thirsty They are hungry You are careful He/She is 5 years old

*remember to avoid ambiguity by using either l or ella before the verb if needed.

There are other idioms but the ones listed above are probably the most important ones that you should learn initially.

1.8. Negatives
To form a negative simply place No in front of the verb. No soy No tengo No estis No tenemos Raul no es I am not... I have not You are (fam.plural) not We are not Raul is not

1.9. - ar verbs
As mentioned previously in this lesson, -ar verbs are the largest of 3 groups of regular verbs each verb following the verb endings outlined in the table below and underneath that is the regular verb Hablar meaning to speak that will show you how these endings are used: - ar verb endings -o - as -a -a singular I you (familiar) he, she or it you (polite) singular I speak you speak(familiar) he, she or it speaks you speak (polite) - amos - is - an - an Hablar (to speak) hablamos hablis hablan hablan plural We You (familiar) They You (polite) plural We speak You speak (familiar) They speak You speak (polite)

hablo hablas habla habla

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Vocabulary List 1. actor age apple aunt and uncle be, to be, to book boy brother car cat children city cold (noun) daughter day door duty east emblem exercise book father fear friend (boy) friend (girl) girl grandfather grandmother grandparents hand have, to heat honesty hotel house hunger in language el actor el edad la manzana los tos ser estar el libro el nio el hermano el coche el gato los nios la ciudad el fro la hija el da la puerta el deber el este el emblema el cuaderno el padre el miedo el amigo la amiga la nia el abuelo la abuela los abuelos la mano tener el calor la honestidad el hotel la casa el hambre en el idioma light luck man map mother north of orange parents peach pencil place policeman problem right (noun) school sister sleep (noun) son south speak, to station street student (male) student (female) tale teacher (male) teacher (female) thirst train tree truck truth uncle water west woman year la luz la suerte el hombre el mapa la madre el norte de, de la, del la naranjas los padres el melocotn el lpiz el lugar el guardia el problema la razn la escuela la hermana el sueo el hijo el sud hablar la estacin la calle el estudiante la estudiante el cuento el profesor la profesora la sed el tren el rbol el camin la verdad el to el agua el oeste la mujer el ao

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Lesson 1: Test Pages.

Give the Spanish for the following nouns and include the appropriate el, la, los or las. Test 1: 1. The apples 2. The boy 3. The grandparents 4. The girls 5. The house 6. The aunt 7. The children 8. The car 9. The book 10. The sisters

Put the following into the plural form and give the meanings. Test 2: 1. el coche 2. un libro 3. la madre 4. una mano 5. un nio 6. el abuelo 7. la tia 8. la estacin 9. una ciudad 10. la luz

Translate the following English sentences into Spanish and vice versa. Test 4: 1. The train is in the station. 2. El libro est en el coche. 3. Carmen is Maras sister. 4. Los nios estn en la casa. 5. We are Pablos sisters. 6. Ruth es la amiga de Juan. 7. The girls are sisters. 8. Los abuelos estn en la ciudad. 9. Phillip is an actor.

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10. Pablo es el to de Juan.

Translate the following sentences into Spanish; they use tener, ser and estar. Test 5: 1. Miguel is Maras brother. 2. The man is hungry. 3. Carmen is Maras sister. 4. Pablo is thirsty. 5. We are cold. 6. Ruth is in the house. 7. The girls have some books. 8. I am hot. 9. The book is in the car. 10. Diego is twenty years old.

Put the following sentences into the negative and translate into English. Test 6: 1. Miguel y Raul son amigos.

2. Tengo un libro la mesa

3. Los padres estn en el hotel.

4. Tenemos cuadernos

5. El gato est en la mesa.

6. Isabel es la mujer de Diego.

7. Somos profesores

8. La escuela est cerca de la estacin

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9. El hombre tiene hambre.

10. Las manzanas tienen fro.

Translate into Spanish. Test 7: 1. Pablo speaks Spanish 2. You are (pol. sing) are not in the hotel. 3. The train is in the station. 4. I have some oranges on the table. 5. The teachers are not in the school.

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