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Spanish Language Overview
Spanish is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula. It's the official language of 20 countries and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Spanish belongs to the Indo-European language family, specifically the Romance branch which evolved from Vulgar Latin.
History of Spanish
Spanish evolved from Vulgar Latin brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War around 210 BC.
The first written records of Spanish date to the 9th century. The language was standardized in the 13th century during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile.
Global Distribution
Spanish is the official language in Spain and most of Latin America. It's also widely spoken in the United States with over 40 million native speakers.
Writing System
Spanish uses the Latin alphabet with the addition of ñ (eñe) and the acute accent (´) to mark stress.
The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
Spanish pronunciation is generally phonetic. Some key points:
- "b" and "v" sound the same
- "h" is always silent
- "ll" is pronounced like "y" in most dialects
- "ñ" is pronounced like "ny" in "canyon"
Vocabulary Dashboard
This course covers approximately 2,000 of the most common words in Spanish, representing about 80% of words used in everyday conversation.
Focus on learning words in context rather than isolated vocabulary. Practice using new words in sentences to improve retention.
People Vocabulary
Nature Vocabulary
Food Vocabulary
Grammar Dashboard
Spanish grammar has many similarities with other Romance languages. Key features include gendered nouns, extensive verb conjugation, and adjective agreement.
- Nouns have gender (masculine/feminine)
- Adjectives must agree with nouns in gender and number
- Verbs conjugate according to person, number, tense, mood, and aspect
- Two copular verbs: "ser" and "estar"
Nouns
Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, typically ending in -o (masculine) or -a (feminine), though there are exceptions.
Most nouns ending in -o are masculine (el libro, el perro). Most ending in -a are feminine (la casa, la mesa).
Exceptions include words like "el día" (masculine) and "la mano" (feminine).
To form plurals:
- Add -s to words ending in a vowel (libro → libros)
- Add -es to words ending in a consonant (árbol → árboles)
- Words ending in -z change to -ces (luz → luces)
Articles
Spanish has definite and indefinite articles that agree with the noun in gender and number.
The definite articles (the) in Spanish are:
- Masculine singular: el (el libro)
- Feminine singular: la (la casa)
- Masculine plural: los (los libros)
- Feminine plural: las (las casas)
Conjugation Dashboard
Spanish verbs are categorized by their infinitive endings:
- -ar verbs (hablar, cantar)
- -er verbs (comer, beber)
- -ir verbs (vivir, escribir)
Some of the most common irregular verbs include:
- ser (to be)
- estar (to be)
- ir (to go)
- tener (to have)
- hacer (to do/make)
Verb Dictionary
Meaning: to speak
IPA: /aˈblaɾ/
Present tense:
- yo hablo
- tú hablas
- él/ella habla
- nosotros hablamos
- vosotros habláis
- ellos/ellas hablan
Meaning: to eat
IPA: /koˈmeɾ/
Present tense:
- yo como
- tú comes
- él/ella come
- nosotros comemos
- vosotros coméis
- ellos/ellas comen
Meaning: to be
IPA: /seɾ/
Present tense:
- yo soy
- tú eres
- él/ella es
- nosotros somos
- vosotros sois
- ellos/ellas son
Writing System
Spanish uses the Latin alphabet with the addition of ñ (eñe) and the acute accent (´) to mark stress.
The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ñ, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
Spanish pronunciation is generally phonetic. Some key points:
- "b" and "v" sound the same
- "h" is always silent
- "ll" is pronounced like "y" in most dialects
- "ñ" is pronounced like "ny" in "canyon"
