Spanish Language and Culture

In Spanish mi tarea means my task in English.

No, Alexandra Stan is not Spanish. She is a Romanian singer-songwriter best known for her hit single "Mr. Saxobeat."

Written out in phonetic English-

LA-ooroh kah-tah-LEE-noh deh la CROOSS

The capitalized syllables get the emphasis.

Consonants sound close enough to English.

Spanish is a phonetic language which means that with very rare exception each letter always sounds the same no matter where it is in the word.

The vowels always sound the same no matter where they are in the word. The U is the only exception because it is silent when preceded by a C or G *AND* followed by an E or I UNLESS there are two dots over the U.

Once you get the vowels in Spanish, pronunciation is a breeze.

a - Like the A in hat

e - like the E in bet

i - Like the I in machine

o - like the second O in robot. Or like Bought. Notice there is no U (oo) sound. It isn't robo-oot.

u - like the oo in boot.

Consonants sound close enough to English for the most part.

C sounds like an English K except when followed by an e or i then it sounds like an S or soft TH (almost like a lisp) depending on the dialect.

G sounds like the G on Guess except when followed by an e or i when it sounds like an English H

H is silent ALWAYS

J sounds like an English H

V sounds more like B than V but there is no equivalent sound in English

X sounds like a hard English H. A little vocal from the back of the throat along with the breath

Z sounds like a hard S. Like Hiss. No vocal.

letter combinations

CH - just like English

LL - sounds like an English J or LY depending on the dialect

RR - Hard/rolling R sound, like a machine gun with the tongue

D in Adios sounds like an English TH to distinguish the word from the phrase "A Dios" which means to God.

That's it. Learn that and you can read any Spanish name properly.

Su majestad

(ma-hehs-TAD)

To say 'I have a sheet of paper' in Spanish, you would say 'Tengo una hoja de papel.'

To say 'I have a car' in Spanish, you would say 'Tengo un carro.'

To say 'I have a notebook' in Spanish, you would say 'Tengo un cuaderno.'

To command someone to open the door in Spanish, you would say 'Abre la puerta.'

To command someone to eat bread in Spanish, you would say 'Come el pan.'

To say 'I need salad' in Spanish, you would say 'Yo necesito ensalada.'

To command someone to run in Spanish, you would say 'corre.'

The conjugating of verbs for every subject pronoun is not a feature unique to Spanish. All European languages do it. Semitic languages do it...to an even more minute degree than Spanish. I believe Slavic languages do it as well. It could be that the practice arises from the perception of the uniqueness and individuality of the persons and the perceived need to differentiate between them when speaking. The practice is found in Greek and Sanskrit, two progenitor languages to Spanish. The follow-on question that you might pose is, "Given that so many languages conjugate verbs differently for every subject pronoun, why doesn't English?"

To say 'I want bread' in Spanish, you would say 'Yo quiero pan.'

the spanish word for eat is comer

Walnut tree named in Spanish is nogal nombrado.

No, "mira mira" is not a Spanish person. "Mira mira" is actually a commonly used Spanish phrase that means "look look." It is often used to get someone's attention or to highlight something noteworthy.

To clean in Spanish is "limpiar".

Cuatro Quince

You can say "Eres atractivo" or "Me parece guapo" to tell a guy you think he is hot in Spanish.

The Spanish ships for the Armada were primarily built in shipyards located in cities such as Lisbon, Seville, and Bilbao. These cities had the resources and expertise necessary for constructing the large galleons and warships needed for the fleet.

1. Bait
2. the solid fat in food of animal origin

The word for "loose woman" in Spanish is "mujer fácil."

"Carl" in Spanish would be "Carlos" if it's a person's name. If you are referring to another context, please provide more information for a specific translation.

The Spanish name for clown is "payaso".

There are many past tense conjugations for the verb ir. It depends on whether it is indicative, perfect, subjunctive, perfect subjunctive, or imperative.

See the related link below for a complete listing of the conjugation of ir.