OVERVIEW
Do you want to learn some interesting things about Spanish?
Here I take you step by step through three sections: Important Notes, You May Wonder, Spanish Words With Similarities.
By the time you reach the bottom of this page, you’ll be familiar with some essential points about the Spanish language.
1. IMPORTANT NOTES
Note 1:
Describing words ending in ‘e‘. Notice that ‘caliente‘ (hot) and ‘grande‘ (large) are both masculine and feminine:
‘el café caliente‘ (the hot coffee), ‘la leche caliente‘ (the hot milk), ‘el hotel grande‘ (the large hotel), ‘la cerveza grande‘ (the large beer).
Previously, we have seen other describing words, like ‘asado‘ and ‘asadas‘, which have different masculine and feminine forms.
Note 2:
‘Por, a, de, con, para, en‘. These very common words called ‘prepositions’ are used in different ways depending on the context.
However, they do generally have the following meanings: ‘por‘ (for, through), ‘a‘ (to, at), ‘de‘ (of, from), ‘con‘ (with), ‘para‘ (for), ‘en‘ (in, on, at).
Note 3:
Other useful expressions: ‘no nos queda …‘ (we don’t have any … left), ‘¿cuánto es?‘ (how much is it?), ‘quédese con el cambio‘ (keep the change), ‘ahora mismo‘ (right away), ‘vamos a ver‘ (let’s see).
2. YOU MAY WONDER …
Note 1:
What is the difference between ‘¿qué van a beber?’ (what are you going to drink?) and ‘¿qué van a tomar?’ (what are you going to have?)?
‘Beber’ means ‘to drink’ and ‘tomar’ means ‘to have’, so ‘¿qué van a beber?’ is only used in a drinking context, while ‘¿qué van a tomar?’ can be used in both an eating and a drinking context.
Note 2:
What is the difference between ‘una caña’ and ‘una cerveza pequeña’?
‘Una caña’ is a colloquial way of saying ‘una cerveza pequeña’ (a small beer).
Note 3:
Why do you say ‘dos de vino blanco’ and not ‘dos copas de vino blanco’?
In Spanish you often drop nouns that have been said immediately before, like ‘copas’ in the conversation.
Note 4:
What is the difference between ‘una copa’ and ‘un vaso’?
‘Una copa’ is a glass with a stem, and ‘un vaso’ a glass without a stem.
Note 5:
In this lesson’s Conversation 3, when the waiter says ‘¿grande o pequeña?’, does he refer only to the beer, or the wine too?
He refers only to the beer. You can tell because the words ‘grande’ and ‘pequeña’ are feminine singular (like ‘una cerveza’). If he was asking about the glasses of wine (las copas de vino), he would have said ‘¿grandes o pequeñas?’.
3. WORDS WITH SIMILARITIES
Note 1:
‘Puedo‘, ‘puede‘, ‘podemos‘ and ‘pueden‘.
‘Puedo‘ (I can), ‘puede‘ (he/she/it/you [usted] can), ‘podemos‘ (we can), ‘pueden‘ (you [ustedes] can, they can).
HOW TO MASTER SPANISH FAST
All the issues I’ve raised here will help you become familiar with Spanish at a fast and steady pace.
Re-read the notes on this page from time to time to make sure you don’t forget them.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?