Lessons for English speakers

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.

13 core sections · ≈ 34 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 50 min with everything

Verbs and stories

3 sections

Have, want, go, come

≈ 4 min

What you'll learn

The form ending in -r is the plain dictionary name; everything else is that verb with a person attached.
Two verbs in a row: the first takes the person, the second stays in its plain -r form.
Hunger is something you have, not something you are: tengo hambreTEHN-goh AHM-breh.
a + el fuses into alahl, and de + el into deldehl.

Having, wanting, being able

English	The plain name	Forms you will meet
to have	tenerteh-NEHR	tengoTEHN-goh — I have; tienesTYEH-nehs — you have
to want	quererkeh-REHR	quiereKYEH-reh — wants
to be able to	poderpoh-DEHR	puedesPWEH-dehs — you can

The form ending in -r is the plain name of the verb, the one a dictionary lists; everything else is that verb with a person in the ending. Hunger is something you have: Tengo hambre.TEHN-goh AHM-breh“I am hungry.” — literally “I have hunger”, and both stories turn on it.

Can you see the sun?

¿Puedes ver el sol?

PWEH-dehs behr ehl sohl

Two verbs in a row: the first takes the person, the second stays in its plain -r form. The same shape gives must, built from have: Tengo que ir.TEHN-goh keh eer“I must go.”

Movement

English	The plain name	Forms you will meet
to go	ireer	voyboy — I am going; vasbahs — you are going; vabah — goes
to come	venirbeh-NEER	vieneBYEH-neh — comes; venbehn — come!
to walk	caminarkah-mee-NAHR	caminakah-MEE-nah — walks
to fall	caerkah-EHR	caeKAH-eh — falls

caminar and el camino — to walk and the road — are the same word underneath, and Spanish is full of pairs like that.

Two small words swallowing a following el

aah — to — + elehl

alahl

Voy al bosque.boy ahl BOHS-keh“I am going to the forest.”

dedeh — from, of — + elehl

deldehl

La lluvia cae del cielo.lah YOO-byah KAH-eh dehl SYEH-loh“The rain falls from the sky.”

aah + lalah

a laah lah

nothing fuses with the feminine word: a la casaah lah KAH-sah“to the house”

Two verbs, and two fused words

Voy al bosque.
Three Spanish words carry five English ones.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Voy al bosque.boy ahl BOHS-keh“I am going to the forest”
Tengo que ir a la casa.
Nothing fuses with the feminine word.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Tengo que ir a la casa.TEHN-goh keh eer ah lah KAH-sah“I must go to the house”
Tengo hambre.
Spanish has it rather than being it.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Tengo hambre.TEHN-goh AHM-breh“I am hungry”