Learn to read Spanish
A short, active path into reading Spanish: five vowels that never move, nine real words decoded before the alphabet, ser against estar, the verb ending that replaces the pronoun, and two short stories before your first book.
The past a story is told in
- No new words here — only new shapes of verbs you already have.
- When a book says what happened next, the verb almost always ends in -ó or -ió.
- fuefweh is both was and went; the sentence settles which.
- Background forms — era estaba había tenía — hold the story still while the -ó forms move it forward.
The past forms worth recognising
| Now | Then | Now | Then |
|---|---|---|---|
| vebeh — sees | viobyoh — saw | vieneBYEH-neh — comes | vinoBEE-noh — came |
| caeKAH-eh — falls | cayókah-YOH — fell | diceDEE-seh — says | dijoDEE-hoh — said |
| preguntapreh-GOON-tah — asks | preguntópreh-goon-TOH — asked | caminakah-MEE-nah — walks | caminókah-mee-NOH — walked |
Recognise these; you never have to produce them. The accented -ó sits on the loud last beat — the story past is audible. dijo and vino change shape instead: the commonest verbs are irregular.
The background forms
| Spanish | English | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| eraEH-rah | was | what it was — the lasting kind |
| estabaehs-TAH-bah | was | where or how it was |
| habíaah-BEE-ah | there was, there were | the past of hay |
| teníateh-NEE-ah | had | what somebody had |
The two words for is stay two words in the past: era from es, estaba from está. -ó forms move the story forward; these hold it still.
Eight small story words
| English | Spanish | English | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| and | yee | now | ahoraah-OH-rah |
| but | peroPEH-roh | with | conkohn |
| then | entoncesehn-TOHN-sehs | that | quekeh |
| because | porquePOHR-keh | one day | un díaoon DEE-ah |
que — that — joins sentences, and unlike English it is not left out: Creo que…KREH-oh keh“I think that…”. Había una vez is literally “there was one time”.
The fox was hungry, but the bird was in the tree.
El zorro tenía hambre, pero el pájaro estaba en el árbol.
ehl SOH-rroh teh-NEE-ah AHM-breh, PEH-roh ehl PAH-hah-roh ehs-TAH-bah ehn ehl AHR-bohl
Nothing has happened yet, so both verbs are background forms. The moment something happens, the verb takes the -ó shape: Entonces Mina caminó.ehn-TOHN-sehs MEE-nah kah-mee-NOH“Then Mina walked off.”
Move the story, then hold it still
- Había una vez un ratón.
Three words to take whole.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Había una vez un ratón.ah-BEE-ah OO-nah behs oon rrah-TOHN“Once upon a time there was a mouse” - Fue al bosque.
Which fue fits a place?
Show answer +Hide answer −
Fue al bosque.fweh ahl BOHS-keh“He went to the forest”