Spanish All-in-One For Dummies E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fremdsprachen
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 792

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

A value-packed guide to speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish Spanish All-in-One For Dummies is the first Dummies All-in-One title in the foreign language category-nearly 800 pages of expert instruction to help people master Spanish basics and beyond. This comprehensive volume features content from all For Dummies Spanish language instruction titles, including Spanish For Dummies, Intermediate Spanish For Dummies, Spanish Verbs For Dummies, and Spanish For Dummies Audio Set. The book's audio CD provides readers with an effective tool to help them start speaking Spanish from day one. Plus, the practical exercises give readers greater confidence in communicating in Spanish, whether traveling or in business.

Leseprobe

Spanish All-in-One For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book is Organized

Book I: Speaking in Everyday Settings

Book II: Grasping Basic Grammar Essentials

Book III: Mastering More Advanced Grammar Essentials

Book IV: Spanish at Work

Book V: Appendixes

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Speaking in Everyday Settings

Chapter 1: Warming Up with the Bare Basics

Starting with What You Already Know

Don’t let the false cognates fool ya

Noting common similarities

Reciting Your ABC’s

Consonants

Vowels

Diphthongs

Honing Your Pronunciation Skills

Looking for stress in the usual places

Scouting out accented syllables

Discovering accents on diphthongs

Getting Familiar with Punctuation Rules

Brushing Up on Basic Phrases

Chapter 2: Uno, Dos, Tres: Numbers, Colors, Dates, and Time

Counting with Ordinal and Cardinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers

Ordinal numbers

Adding a Touch of Color

Making Dates

Days

Months

Writing dates

Spanish holidays

Telling Time

Exploring Common Expressions of Time

Chapter 3: Greetings, Salutations, and Farewells

Greetings in Formal or Friendly Settings

Meeting on formal terms

Making more solemn introductions

Getting chummy: Informal greetings

Addressing Others by Name or Surname

Deconstructing Spanish names

Introducing yourself with the verb llamarse

Asking “How Are You?”

Being in a permanent way with ser

Being right now with estar

Saying “¡Adios!”

Chapter 4: Engaging in a Little Chitchat

Sparking Conversations with Questions

Chatting about the Weather

Discussing Work, Hobbies, and Activities

Discussing Family Matters and Relatives

Talking about Where You Live

Engaging in “Small” Talk with Diminutives

Brushing Up on Common Expressions

Use It or Lose It: Practicing What You Know

Chapter 5: Speaking of Food . . .

Getting Up to Speed on Table Talk

Table terms

Phrases for food and drink

Eating and Drinking: Three Must-Know Verbs

Take and drink with tomar

Drink up with beber

Chow down with comer

Sampling the Exotic Cuisine

How do you like your salsa?

Making a restaurant reservation

Ordering up some grub with the verb querer

Paying the bill

Going to Market

Shopping with the verb comprar

Selecting fruit

Picking out veggies

Fishing for seafood

Knowing your weights and volumes

Shopping at the Supermercado

Chapter 6: Going Shopping

Checking Out the Local Department Stores

Sampling the Goods with Probar (to Try)

Shopping for clothes

Discussing fibers and fabrics

Take That! The Verb Llevar

Comparing Products: Good, Better, Best

Adding Even More Emphasis

Shopping in Specialty Stores

Sticking with Traditional Markets

Sampling typical market items

Haggling for a better deal

Shopping for copper, glass, clay, and wood goods

Shopping for embroidered clothes

Shopping for baskets

Chapter 7: Conversing Over the Phone

Placing a Call

Delivering an Effective Opening Line

Slowing Down and Spelling It Out

Slowing down fast talkers

Spelling it out for clarity’s sake

Calling Listening, Hearing, and Other Phone-y Verbs

You called? The past tense of llamar

Did you leave a message? The past tense of dejar

Have you heard? The past tense of escuchar

Chapter 8: Asking Directions

Going Places with ¿Dónde?

Where Is . . . ? Where Are . . . ?

Using Yourself as a Reference Point

Space Travel: Grasping Spatial Directions

Referring to a Map When All Else Fails

Dealing with the Normal Ups and Downs: Subir and Bajar

Going up with subir

Going down with bajar

Being Here, There, and Everywhere

Knowing How Far to Go with Cerca and Lejos

Chapter 9: Dealing with Emergencies

Hollering for Help

Dealing with Medical Issues

Helping out with the verb ayudar

Ouch! and other expressions of pain

Telling where it hurts

Seeing the dentist

Talking about insurance

Calling the Police

Reporting a robbery

Describing the crime and suspect

Looking for Help with Buscar

Book II: Grasping Basic Grammar Essentials

Chapter 1: Getting to Know Your Parts of Speech

Unveiling the Parts of Speech

Nouns

Articles

Pronouns

Verbs

Adjectives

Adverbs

Prepositions

Conjunctions

Meeting Subject Pronouns Face to Face

Applying subject pronouns

Omitting subject pronouns

Chapter 2: Addressing Gender Issues

Expressing Gender with Definite Articles

Identifying the definite articles

Using the definite articles

Omitting definite articles

Using contractions with definite articles

Remaining neutral with lo

Indicating Gender with Indefinite Articles

Recognizing the indefinite articles

Omitting indefinite articles

Getting Particular with Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns

Demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative pronouns

Sorting Out Masculine and Feminine Spanish Singular Nouns

Gender benders: Reverse-gender nouns

Transgender nouns: The same for both genders

Meaning-changing nouns

Rule breakers: Special cases

Pluralizing Your Nouns

Becoming Possessive

Using de

Showing possession with adjectives

Making your pronouns possessive

Chapter 3: Dealing with the Here and Now: Present Tense Verbs

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Tense

Conjugating -ar verbs

Conjugating -er verbs

Conjugating -ir verbs

Speaking of the Passive Voice . . .

Dealing with Irregulars

Spelling-changing verbs

Stem-changing verbs

Verbs with spelling and stem changes

Common verbs with irregular yo forms

The irregular yo, tú, él (ella, Ud.), and ellos (ellas, Uds.) forms

A couple of really irregular verbs

Another notable exception: gustar

Some common, though irregular, expressions

Chapter 4: ¿Qué? Asking Questions

Spanish Inquisitions

Asking yes/no questions

Probing for information

Yes, Sir/No, Ma’am: Answering Questions in Spanish

Answering yes

Saying no in oh so many ways

Answering a positive question with a negative answer

Answering information questions

Chapter 5: What’s Happening: Present Participles and the Present Progressive Tense

Using Present Participles: It’s an “ing” Thing

Turning Regular Verbs into Present Participles

The Present Participle of Stem-Changing and Irregular Verbs

Expressing Progress with the Present Progressive

Forming the present progressive with estar

Expressing ongoing action with other verbs

Chapter 6: Two More Simple Tenses: Future and Conditional

Peering into the Future

Implying future with the present

Expressing the near future with ir + a

Futurizing regular verbs

Futurizing irregular verbs

Foretelling, predicting, and wondering with the future tense

As If: The Conditional Tense

Waffling with the conditional tense

Forming the regular conditional

Forming the irregular conditional

Chapter 7: Spicing Up Your Talk with Adjectives and Adverbs

Describing Stuff with Adjectives

Changing an adjective’s gender

Making adjectives plural

Placing adjectives in the right spots

Abbreviating your adjectives

Describing Actions with Adverbs

Forming adverbs

Keeping an eye on adverb placement

Comparing Stuff

Comparing equals

Comparing inequalities

The best: The superlative

Even better: The absolute superlative

Checking out the irregular comparatives

Chapter 8: Defining Relationships with Prepositions

Meeting the Most Common Spanish Prepositions

Telling the Difference between Prepositions

A

De

En and hasta

Por and para

Combining Prepositions with Infinitives

A + infinitive

De + infinitive

En + infinitive

Con + infinitive

Spanish verbs that can stand alone

Brushing Up on Prepositional Pronouns

Book III: Mastering More Advanced Grammar Essentials

Chapter 1: Getting Bossy with the Imperative Mood

Issuing Formal Commands

Commandeering regular verbs

Commandeering other verbs

Delivering Informal Commands

Issuing singular commands with tu

Issuing plural commands with vosotros

Chapter 2: Getting Object Pronouns Involved

Acting Directly on Direct Object Pronouns

Using Indirect Object Pronouns

Picking the Right Object Pronoun for the Job

Direct object verbs

Indirect object verbs

Putting Object Pronouns in Their Places

Doubling Up with Object Pronouns

Chapter 3: Involving Yourself in the Action with the Reflexive

Grasping the Concept of Reflexive Verbs

Doing More with Reflexive Verbs

Reflexivity Not Always Required

Enlisting the Aid of Reflexive Pronouns

Putting Reflexive Pronouns in Their Places

Chapter 4: Been There, Done That: Past (Preterit) Tense

Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Preterit

Using the Preterit in a Sentence

Facing Some Irregularities

Yo! Spelling changes in the preterit yo form

Changing stems in the preterit

Sampling representative irregular verbs

Chapter 5: Continuing in the Past with the Imperfect Tense

Preterit or Imperfect? You Decide

Uses of the preterit

Uses of the imperfect

Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Imperfect

Practicing the Imperfect with Timely Expressions

Meeting the Three Irregular Imperfect Verbs

Chapter 6: Getting That Subjunctive Feeling

Conjugating Regular Verbs in the Present Subjunctive

Confronting Irregularities

Verbs irregular in the yo form

Verbs with spelling changes

Verbs with stem changes

Verbs with spelling and stem changes

Irregular verbs

Wishing in the Subjunctive

Conveying Doubt, Opinion, or Incomplete Action

Expressing doubt and uncertainty

Expressing impersonal opinion

Describing conditional actions

Stepping Up to the Imperfect Subjunctive

Forming the imperfect subjunctive

Wishing, doubting, and expressing opinions about the past

Issuing polite requests

Dreaming of possibilities with “if”

Assuming with “as if” or “as though”

Chapter 7: Forming the Compound Tenses

Laying the Groundwork

Conjugating haber

Transforming -ar, -er, and -ir verbs into past participles

Brushing up on irregular past participles

Forming the present perfect

Tackling the Pluperfect and Preterit Perfect

Forming the pluperfect tense

Checking out the preterit perfect

Choosing the right tense at the right time

Forming the Future Perfect and Conditional Perfect

Forming the future perfect tense

Giving yourself wiggle room with the conditional perfect

Future perfect or conditional perfect? You decide

Encountering the Present Perfect Subjunctive

Forming the present perfect subjunctive

Putting the present perfect subjunctive to good use

Doubting the Past with the Pluperfect Subjunctive

Forming the pluperfect subjunctive

Putting the pluperfect subjunctive to work

Book IV: Spanish at Work

Chapter 1: Spanish for Healthcare Workers

First Things First: Key Words and Emergency Lingo

Doctor-speak: Using basic terminology

Naming body parts

Dealing with emergencies

Admitting New Patients

Setting appointments and asking initial questions

Dealing with forms and other formalities

Discussing insurance and payments

Asking Questions: The Patient Interview

Examining Your Patient

Taking a patient’s blood pressure and temperature

Say “aah”: The physical exam

Explaining the Diagnosis and Treatment

Delivering your diagnosis

Recommending treatment

Referring patients to specialists

Chapter 2: Spanish for Law Enforcement Professionals

Breaking the Ice with Common Words and Phrases

Introducing yourself

Gathering basic information

Establishing locations

Dealing with Traffic Violations

Pulling over a driver

Requesting a driver’s information

Explaining why you stopped the driver

Interviewing Witnesses

Asking some opening questions

Asking “What happened?”

Getting a suspect’s description

Taking a Suspect into Custody

Chapter 3: Spanish for Educators and Administrators

Admitting New Students

Leading parents through the enrollment process

Gathering personal and contact information

Requesting medical and emergency contact information

Describing required school supplies

Communicating with Students

Interacting in the classroom

Giving instructions for the cafeteria or lunchroom

Supervising students in the gym or on the playground

Asking about the restroom

Getting kids on the bus safely

Communicating with Parents

Adjusting to cultural differences

Dealing with common issues

Chapter 4: Spanish for Banking and Financing

Brushing Up on Banker-Speak

Mastering the meet and greet

Requesting identification

Getting a handle on bank vocab

Describing routine customer needs

Giving customers common instructions

Processing Common Transactions

Opening an account

Cashing checks

Accepting deposits

Processing withdrawals

Handling transfers

Addressing Common Problems

Offering help

Explaining problems cashing checks

Explaining other problems

Chapter 5: Spanish in the Office

Interviewing Job Candidates

Having candidates complete an application

Identifying skills

Checking previous positions

Asking some key questions

Checking a candidate’s availability

Explaining Compensation and Benefits

Laying out your pay rate

Describing lunchtimes and breaks

Explaining vacations and sick days

Discussing health insurance and pension

Describing Buildings, Furniture, Equipment, and Supplies

Buildings, hangouts, and other key areas

Office furniture, equipment, and supplies

Training New Hires

Mastering some useful expressions

Issuing basic commands

Giving directions

Laying down the rules

Chapter 6: Spanish for Hotel and Restaurant Managers

Greeting Guests and Patrons

Mastering the meet and greet

Asking a few key questions

Explaining room rates, check-in times, and more

Showing your guests to their table or room

Training the Housekeeping Staff

Stocking the cart

Cleaning rooms

Cleaning bathrooms

Changing beds

Restocking rooms and bathrooms

Training the Laundry Room Staff

Operating the washing machines

Operating the dryers

Pressing and folding items

Managing Spanish in the Kitchen

Kitchen equipment and utensils

Cooking and baking activities

Common kitchen ingredients and measurements

Chapter 7: Spanish for Builders, Mechanics, and Factory Workers

Brushing Up on the Tools of the Trade

Using the Tools of the Trade

Issuing Common Commands

Communicating on the Factory Floor

Referring to buttons and controls

Describing common actions

Filling and emptying containers

Chapter 8: Spanish for Real Estate Professionals

Setting Appointments

Answering the phone

Calling a client

Gathering basic information

Agreeing on a meeting time and place

Understanding Your Clients

Describing Homes

Describing the home’s age, size, and style

Touring the various rooms

Highlighting a home’s amenities

Location, location, location

Discussing the Financing and Purchase

Talking money

Making a purchase offer

Navigating the Closing

Dealing with Sellers

Chapter 9: Spanish for Gardening and Landscaping

Brushing Up on the Tools of the Trade

Commanding Your Crew

Prepping the Ground for Planting

Grading the lot

Preparing the soil

Laying landscaping fabric and edging

Planting Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers

Lawn Care Lingo

Mowing

Watering

Applying fertilizer and herbicides

Aerating and dethatching

Spreading grass seed

Laying sod

Book V: Appendixes

Appendix A: Spanish Verbs

Appendix B: Spanish-English Mini Dictionary

Appendix C: English-Spanish Mini Dictionary

Appendix D: About the CD

Spanish All-in-One For Dummies®

by Cecie Kraynak with Gail Stein, Susana Wald, Jessica M. Langemeier

Spanish All-in-One For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2009931454

ISBN: 978-0-470-46244-7

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Authors

Cecie Kraynak, MA has taught and tutored Spanish at the junior high, high school, and college levels for more than 25 years. She is a frequent traveler to Spanish-speaking countries and has studied abroad at the University of the Americas in Cholula, Mexico and the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and secondary education in 1980 and her master’s degree in Spanish literature from Purdue University. Cecie authored Spanish Verbs For Dummies and has edited numerous books on learning Spanish. She is currently the ESL coordinator for the South Montgomery Schools in New Market, Indiana.

Gail Stein, MA is a retired language instructor who taught in New York City public junior and senior high schools for more than 33 years. She has authored several French and Spanish books, including Intermediate Spanish For Dummies, CliffsQuickReview French I and II, CliffsStudySolver Spanish I and II, 575+ French Verbs, and Webster’s Spanish Grammar Handbook. Gail is a multiple-time honoree in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

Susana Wald is a writer and a simultaneous and literary translator in Hungarian, Spanish, English, and French. As a publisher, she has been working with books and authors for many years. She has been a teacher in Chile and Canada and has known the joy of learning from her students and their untiring enthusiasm and tolerance. She is also an artist and has had her work shown in many countries in North, Central, and South America and in Europe.

Jessica M. Langemeier received her BA in education, with a second major in Spanish, from the University of Northern Iowa in 1998. After moving to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1999, she taught Spanish, English as a Second Language (ESL), and general education in multilingual communities and schools. She also has developed ESL and Spanish language programs for individuals and companies. She received her MS in language education from Indiana University in 2004. She has lived and worked in Mexico and Japan and has taught students of all ages and nationalities.

Dedication

To my children, Nick and Ali, who have opened my eyes anew through their explorations of Spanish language and culture and who make great travel companions. — Cecie Kraynak

Author’s Acknowledgments

Thanks to Michael Lewis for choosing me to write this book and working closely with me during the initial stages to formulate the vision. Thanks also go to project editor Tim Gallan for carefully shaping the manuscript and shepherding the text through production, and to Megan Knoll, copy editor, for purging the manuscript of any typos and ugly grammatical errors. Last but not least, thanks to my husband, Joe, who assisted in preparing the numerous manuscript submissions. — Cecie Kraynak

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Senior Project Editor: Tim Gallan

Acquisitions Editor: Mike Lewis

Copy Editor: Megan Knoll

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Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

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Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Introduction

Gaining mastery over your first language is as easy as learning to walk. One day it’s all goo-goo ga-ga, and the next you’re stringing together words like a born orator. Picking up a second language, particularly when you’re not immersed in it, is quite a bit more challenging. You have to set aside the conventions of your own language and get up to speed on new rules, structures, and vocabulary all at the same time.

Sure, you can pick up a handful of phrases overnight and perhaps recite the alphabet and count to ten by the end of the week, but that’s not going to get you through a normal dinner conversation or enable you to understand foreign soap operas. You need some serious training to reach that point. Fortunately, Spanish All-in-One For Dummies, along with some practice, can get you there.

About This Book

Spanish All-in-One For Dummies is a comprehensive guide to acquiring Spanish as a second (or third or fourth or fifth) language that delivers the information and instruction in easily digestible, bite-sized chunks. It’s the closest thing to a Spanish language immersion program you can get off a bookshelf — addressing both spoken and written Spanish and presenting it in the context of real-life situations. Think of it as your own personal tutor, reference book, and workbook all rolled into one.

This book is not a class that you have to drag yourself to twice a week for a specified period of time. You can use Spanish All-in-One For Dummies however you want to, whether your goal is to pick up a few common words and phrases, write a Spanish-speaking pen pal, or travel to a Spanish-speaking country. We set no timetable, so proceed at your own pace, reading as much or as little at a time as you like. You don’t have to trudge through the chapters in order, either; just read the sections that interest you.

And don’t forget to practice by using the CD at the back of this book for help in pronunciation. The only way to really know and love a language is to speak it. Throughout the book, we give you lots of words, phrases, and dialogues, complete with pronunciations. Only a sampling of them are on the CD, but we’ve provided a broad selection that should serve most of your basic needs.

Conventions Used in This Book

To make this book easy for you to navigate, we’ve set up a couple of conventions:

Spanish terms are set in boldface to make them stand out.

English pronunciations, set in italics, accompany the Spanish terms.

Whenever we include the phonetic pronunciation of a Spanish word, we also use italics to denote any stress you add to that word. (See Book 1, Chapter 1 for more on pronunciation and stress.)

As you begin to use this book, you will no doubt notice that we chose a rather conventional method to introduce the different verb conjugations — a conjugation box, which looks like this:

pedir (e to i) (to ask for)

pido

pedimos

pides

pedís

pide

piden

This handy little tool acts like a mental billboard. It displays the Spanishverb, its English meaning, and then conjugates the verb, presenting the three singular conjugations in the left column (for I; you informal singular; and he, she, it/you formal singular) and the three plural conjugations (we, you informal plural, and they/you formal plural) in the right column. Some even include an example sentence below the conjugations at no extra charge.

Vocabulary chart: Vocabulary charts provide a quick rundown of common words or expressions, typically providing the Spanish word in the left column with its English equivalent in the right column. In some cases, the charts contain additional columns to illustrate different forms, such as a present participle.

Language learning is a peculiar beast, so this book includes a few elements that other For Dummies books don’t, such as the Talkin’ the Talk dialogue. One of the best ways to learn a language is to see and hear how it’s used in conversation, so we include dialogues throughout Books I and IV. The dialogues come under the heading “Talkin’ the Talk” and show you the Spanish phrases, the pronunciation, and the English translation.

Also note that because each language has its own ways of expressing ideas, the English translations that we provide for the Spanish terms may not be exactly literal. We want you to know the gist of what’s being said, not just the words that are being said. For example, you can translate the Spanish phrase de nada(deh nah-dah) literally as of nothing, but the phrase really means you’re welcome. This book gives the you’re welcome translation.

Foolish Assumptions

To write this book, we had to make some assumptions about who you are and what you want from a book called Spanish All-in-One For Dummies. Here are the assumptions we’ve made about you:

You know little or no Spanish — or if you took a Spanish class some years ago, you don’t recall much of what you knew.

You’re looking for more than your average conversational Spanish lesson, but you want that, too.

You want to have fun and pick up a little bit of Spanish at the same time.

If these statements apply to you, you’ve found the right book!

How This Book is Organized

This book is actually six books in one, each of which tackles Spanish and Spanish language acquisition in a different way. In the following sections, we provide a brief description of what you can expect to find in each book.

Book I: Speaking in Everyday Settings

This book focuses on the spoken word and allows you to get your feet wet and wade in slowly. We begin with the bare basics, including some guidance on proper pronunciation; introduce words for numbers, colors, dates, and time; show you how to initiate conversations with greetings and small talk; and then place you in various situations where you pick up Spanish in everyday settings, including grocery stores, restaurants, department stores, and even in emergency situations.

Book II: Grasping Basic Grammar Essentials

In Book II, we get more formal as we introduce you to the various rules and regulations that govern the Spanish language. Don’t worry, we start out very slowly with the building blocks — the parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs — before moving on to slightly more involved topics like conjugating verbs in the simple past, present, and future tenses. In very short order, you’ll be constructing your own original expressions in complete sentences! You also discover how to ask questions, spice up your expressions with adjectives and adverbs, and build your own prepositional phrases.

Book III: Mastering More Advanced Grammar Essentials

Consider this book a more advanced course in Spanish grammar than Book 2. Here, you discover how to issue commands with the imperative mood, take action on object pronouns, talk about yourself with the reflexive, wish and hope with the subjunctive, and double the number of verb tenses with the helping verb haber.

Book IV: Spanish at Work

Even if you’re fairly fluent in everyday Spanish, you may have trouble communicating with customers or colleagues at work because the words and phrases you need so specific to your line of work. To assist you with your Spanish on the job, we’ve included several chapters that deal with various professions and workplace scenarios:

Healthcare workers

Law enforcement professionals

Educators and administrators

Banking and financing professionals

Office workers

Hotel and restaurant managers

Builders, mechanics, and factory workers

Real estate professionals

Gardeners and landscapers

Book V: Appendixes

At the very back of this book, just before the index, we provide four appendixes for quick reference:

Appendix A: Verb conjugations for regular and irregular verbs

Appendix B: Spanish-to-English dictionary

Appendix C: English-to-Spanish dictionary

Appendix D: About the CD

Icons Used in This Book

You may be looking for particular information while reading this book. To make certain types of information easier for you to find, we’ve placed the following icons in the left-hand margins throughout the book:

This icon highlights tips that can make learning Spanish easier.

Languages are full of quirks that may trip you up if you’re not prepared for them. This icon points to discussions of these weird grammar rules.

If you’re looking for information and advice about culture and travel, look for these icons. They draw your attention to interesting tidbits about the countries in which Spanish is spoken.

The audio CD that comes with this book gives you the opportunity to listen to real Spanish speakers so that you can get a better understanding of what Spanish sounds like. This icon marks the Talkin’ the Talk dialogues you can find on the CD.

Remember icons call your attention to important information about the language — something you shouldn’t neglect or something that’s out of the ordinary. Don’t ignore these paragraphs.

Where to Go from Here

Like all For Dummies books, this one is designed for a skip-and-dip approach. You can skip to any chapter or section that catches your eye and find a mini-lesson on the topic du jour. If you’ve never had any instruction in Spanish or much exposure to it, we encourage you to begin with the first four chapters of Book I. These chapters form the foundation on which you can start building your knowledge.

Books I and IV present a more conversational, situational approach, for when you need to know a few key words and phrases and you don’t have time for the rules or you need some specialized vocabulary you can’t find anywhere else.

When you do have time for the rules, spend some time cozying up to Books II and III, where true Spanish mastery is laid and hatched. This stuff is the meat-and-potatoes Spanish . . . or should we say rice and beans?

Book I

Speaking in Everyday Settings

In this book . . .

When you’re just getting started with a new language, sampling a few appetizers can whet your appetite for more. In this book, we warm you up with some basics, including rules on pronunciation and stress (without stressing you out too much). We cover numbers, colors, dates, and time; engage you in some Spanish small talk; and then place you in common situations in which you pick up the language quite naturally.

Here are the contents of Book I at a glance:

Chapter 1: Warming Up with the Bare Basics

Chapter 2: Uno, Dos, Tres: Numbers, Colors, Dates, and Time

Chapter 3: Greetings, Salutations, and Farewells

Chapter 4: Engaging in a Little Chitchat

Chapter 5: Speaking of Food . . .

Chapter 6: Going Shopping

Chapter 7: Conversing Over the Phone

Chapter 8: Asking Directions

Chapter 9: Dealing with Emergencies

Chapter 1

Warming Up with the Bare Basics

In This Chapter

Recognizing the little Spanish you know

Pronouncing the Spanish alphabet

Adding stress to the correct syllables

Utilizing Spanish punctuation and pause-fillers

The learning curve for Spanish is steep enough to give most people vertigo and convince some people to throw in the towel before their first conversation. The key to success in acquiring any language, even your first language, is to take baby steps. Start slowly and try to gain some momentum.

This chapter starts you out very gradually, introducing you to the Spanish language by pointing out some words and phrases you’re probably already, familiar with, leading you through the process of reciting your Spanish ABCs and then encouraging you to stretch your abilities by reaching for some words and phrases that may not be so familiar.

Starting with What You Already Know

The English language is ever evolving. It evolved from other older languages and continues to be influenced by other languages old and new. As a result, English has many words that are identical or very similar to foreign words. These words can cause both delight and embarrassment. The delight comes in the words that look and sound alike and have similar meanings. The embarrassment comes from words that have the same roots but mean completely different things.

Among the delightful similarities are words like soprano (soh-prah-noh) (soprano), pronto (prohn-toh) (right away; soon), and thousands of others that differ by just one or two letters such as conclusión (kohn-kloo-see-ohn) (conclusion),composición (kohm-poh-see-see-ohn) (composition), invención (een-bvehn-see-ohn) (invention), and presidente (preh-see-dehn-teh) (president).

Don’t let the false cognates fool ya

False cognates are words in different languages that look very similar and even have the same root yet mean completely different things. One that comes to mind is the word actual. In English, actual means real; in reality; or the very one. Not so in Spanish. Actual (ahk-tooahl) in Spanish means present; current; belonging to this moment, this day, or this year. When you say the actual painting in English, you’re referring to the real one — the very one people are looking at or want to see. But, when you say la pintura actual (lah peen-too-rah ahk-tooahl) in Spanish, you’re referring to the painting that belongs to the current time, the one that follows present day trends — a modern painting.

Another example is the adjective embarrassed. In English, embarrassed means ashamed. In Spanish, embarazada (ehm-bvah-rah-sah-dah) comes from the same root as the English word, but it’s almost exclusively used to mean pregnant. So you can say in English that you’re a little embarrassed, but in Spanish you can’t be just a little embarazada. Either you’re pregnant or you’re not.

Noting common similarities

Word trouble ends at the point where a word originating in English is absorbed into Spanish or vice versa. The proximity of the United States to Mexico produces a change in the Spanish spoken there. An example is the word car. In Mexico, people say carro (kah-rroh). In South America, on the other hand, people say auto (ahoo-toh). In Spain, people say coche (koh-cheh). Here are just a few examples of Spanish words that you already know because English uses them, too:

You’ve been to a rodeo (roh-deh-oh) or a fiesta (fee-ehs-tah).

You’ve probably taken a siesta (see-ehs-tah) or two.

You probably know at least one señorita (seh-nyoh-ree-tah), and you surely have an amigo (ah-mee-goh). Maybe you’ll see him mañana (mah-nyah-nah).

You already know the names of places like Los Angeles (lohs ahn-Heh-lehs) (the angels), San Francisco (sahn frahn-sees-koh) (St. Francis), La Jolla (la Hoh-yah) (the jewel), and Florida (floh-ree-dah) (the blooming one).

You’ve had a tortilla (tohr-tee-yah), taco (tah-koh), or burrito (bvoo-rree-toh).

You fancy the tango (tahn-goh), bolero (bvo-leh-roh), or rumba (room-bvah).

Reciting Your ABC’s

Correct pronunciation is key to avoiding misunderstandings. The following sections present some basic guidelines for proper pronunciation.

Next to the Spanish words throughout this book, the pronunciation is in parentheses (pronunciation brackets). Within the pronunciation brackets, we separate all the words that have more than one syllable with a hyphen, like this: (kah-sah). An italicized syllable within the pronunciation brackets tells you to stress that syllable. We say much more about stress later in this chapter.

In the following section we comment on some letters of the alphabet from the Spanish point of view. The aim is to help you to understand Spanish pronunciations. Here is the basic Spanish alphabet and its pronunciation:

a (ah) b (bveh) c (seh) d (deh)

e (eh) f (eh-feh) g (Heh) h (ah-cheh)

i (ee) j (Hoh-tah) k (kah) l (eh-leh)

m (eh-meh) n (eh-neh) ñ (eh-nyeh) o (oh)

p (peh) q (koo) r (eh-reh) s (eh-seh)

t (teh) u (oo) v (bveh) w (doh-bleh bveh) (oo-bveh doh-bvleh) (Spain)

x (eh-kees) y (ee-gree-eh-gah) z (seh-tah)

Spanish also includes some double letters in its alphabet: ch (cheh), ll (eh-yeh or ye), and rr (a trilled r).

We don’t go through every letter of the alphabet in the sections that follow, only those that you use differently in Spanish than in English. The differences can lie in pronunciation or the way they look, or in the fact that you seldom see the letters/don’t pronounce them at all.

Consonants

Consonants tend to sound the same in English and Spanish. Only a few consonants in Spanish differ from their English counterparts. The following sections look more closely at the behavior and pronunciation of these consonants.

Inside the Spanish-speaking world, consonants may be pronounced differently than in English. For example, in Spain the consonant z is pronounced like the th in the English word thesis. (Latin Americans don’t use this sound; in all other Spanish-speaking countries, z and s sound the same.)

In the Spanish speaker’s mind, a consonant is any sound that needs a vowel next to it when you pronounce it. For example, saying the letter t by itself may be difficult for a Spanish speaker. To the Spanish ear, pronouncing t sounds like “te” (teh). Likewise, the Spanish speaker says ese (eh-seh) when pronouncing the letter s.

The letter K

In Spanish, the letter k is used only in words that have their origin in foreign languages. More often than not, this letter is seen in kilo (kee-loh), meaning “thousand” in Greek. An example is kilómetro (kee-loh-meh-troh) (kilometer) — a thousand-meter measure for distance.

The letter H

In Spanish, the letter h is always mute unless it follows c as in ch (cheh), discussed earlier in this chapter. Following are some examples of the Spanish h:

hada (ah-dah) (fairy)

hola (oh-lah) (hello)

huevo (ooeh-bvoh) (egg)

The letter J

The consonant j sounds like a guttural h. Normally, you say h quite softly, as though you were just breathing out. Now, say your h but gently raise the back of your tongue as if you were saying k. Push the air out real hard, and you get the sound. Try it! There — it sounds like you’re gargling, doesn’t it?

To signal that you need to make this sound, we use a capital letter H within the pronunciation brackets. Now try the sound out on these words:

Cajamarca (kah-Hah-mahr-kah) (the name of a city in Peru)

cajeta (kah-Heh-tah) (a delicious, thick sauce made of milk and sugar)

cajón (kah-Hohn) (big box)

jadeo (Hah-deh-oh) (panting)

Jijón (Hee-Hohn) (the name of a city in Spain)

jota (Hoh-tah) (the Spanish name for the letter j; also the name of a folk dance in Spain)

tijera (tee-Heh-rah) (scissors)

The letter C

The letter c, in front of the vowels a, o, and u, sounds like the English k. We use the letter k in the pronunciation brackets to signal this sound. Following are some examples:

acabar (ah-kah-bvahr) (to finish)

café (kah-feh) (coffee)

casa (kah-sah) (house)

ocaso (oh-kah-soh) (sunset)

When the letter c is in front of the vowels e and i, it sounds like the English s. In the pronunciation brackets, we signal this sound as s. Following are some examples:

acero (ah-seh-roh) (steel)

cero (seh-roh) (zero)

cine (see-neh) (cinema)

In much of Spain — primarily the northern and central parts — the letter c is pronounced like the th in thanks when placed before the vowels e and i.

The letters S and Z

In Latin American Spanish, the letters s and z always sound like the English letter s. We use the letter s in the pronunciation brackets to signal this sound. Following are some examples:

asiento (ah-seeehn-toh) (seat)

sol (sohl) (sun)

zarzuela (sahr-sooeh-lah) (Spanish-style operetta)

In Spain, z also has the sound of the th in thanks, rather than the s sound prevalent in Latin America.

The letters B and V

The letters b and v are pronounced the same, the sound being somewhere in-between the two letters. This in-between is a fuzzy, bland sound — closer to v than to b. If you position your lips and teeth to make a v sound, and then try to make a b sound, you have it. To remind you to make this sound, we use bv in our pronunciation brackets, for both b and v. Here are some examples:

cabeza (kah-bveh-sah) (head)

vida (bvee-dah) (life)

violín (bveeoh-leen) (violin)

The letter Q

Spanish doesn’t use the letter k very much; when the language wants a k sound in front of the vowels e and i, it unfolds the letter combination qu. So when you see the word queso (keh-soh) (cheese), you immediately know that you say the k sound. Here are some examples of the Spanish letter combination qu, which we indicate by the letter k in pronunciation brackets. Check out these examples:

Coquimbo (koh-keem-bvoh) (the name of a city in Chile)

paquete (pah-keh-teh) (package)

pequeño (peh-keh-nyoh) (small)

tequila (teh-kee-lah) (Mexican liquor, spirits)

The letter G

In Spanish the letter g has a double personality, like the letter c. When you combine the letter g with a consonant or when you see it in front of the vowels a, o, and u, it sounds like the g in goose. Here are some examples:

begonia (bveh-goh-neeah) (begonia)

gato (gah-toh) (cat)

gracias (grah-seeahs) (thank you)

The g changes personality in front of the vowels e and i. It sounds like the Spanish j, which we signal with the capital H in our pronunciation brackets.

agenda (ah-Hehn-dah) (agenda; date book)

gerente (Heh-rehn-teh) (manager)

To hear the sound g (as in goat) in front of the vowels e and i, you must insert a u, making gue and gui. To remind you to make the goat sound (g, not “mmehehe”) we use gh in our pronunciation brackets. Some examples:

guía (ghee-ah) (guide)

guiño (ghee-nyoh) (wink)

guerra (gheh-rrah) (war)

Double consonants

Spanish has two double consonants: ll and rr. They’re considered singular letters, and each has a singular sound. Because these consonants are considered singular, they stick together when you separate syllables. For example, the word calle (kah-yeh) (street) appears as ca-lle. And torre (toh-rreh), (tower) separates into to-rre.

The letter LL

The ll consonant sounds like the y in the English word yes, except in Argentina and Uruguay.

Argentineans and Uruguayans pronounce this consonant as the sound that happens when you have your lips pursed to say s and then make the z sound through them. Try it. Fun, isn’t it? But really, the sound isn’t that difficult to make, because you can find the English equivalent in words like measure and pleasure. The way you say those s sounds is exactly how ll is pronounced in Argentina and Uruguay.

Throughout this book, we use the sound like the English y in the word yes, which is how ll is pronounced in 18 of the 20 Spanish-speaking countries. In the pronunciation brackets, we use y to signal this sound.

Now try the ll sound, using the y sound, in the following examples:

brillo (bvree-yoh) (shine)

llama (yah-mah) (flame; also the name of an animal in Peru)

lluvia (yoo-bveeah) (rain)

The letter RR

The rr sounds like a strongly rolled r. In fact, every r is strongly rolled in Spanish, but the double one is the real winner. To roll an r, curl your tongue against the roof of your mouth as if you were pronouncing the double d in the word ladder and direct your outward airflow over the top of your tongue. This should cause the tongue to vibrate against the roof of your mouth, making the trill sound.

An easy way to make this sound is to say the letter r as though you were pretending to sound like an outboard motor. There. You have it!

Spanish speakers take special pleasure in rolling their rrs. One fun fact about rr is that no words begin with it. Isn’t that a relief! In pronunciation brackets, we simply signal this sound as rr.

Play with these words:

carrera (kah-rreh-rah) (race; profession)

correo (koh-rreh-oh) (mail, post)

tierra (teeeh-rrah) (land)

The letter Y

This letter represents sounds that are very similar to those of ll. The people of both Argentina and Uruguay pronounce this sound differently from the rest of Latin America. We advise that you pronounce it as the English y in yes and you. In the pronunciation brackets, we signal this sound as y. Following are some examples:

playa (plah-yah) (beach)

yema (yeh-mah) (yolk; also fingertip)

yodo (yoh-doh) (iodine)

In Spanish, the letter y is never a vowel, always a consonant.

The letter Ñ

When you see a wiggly line on top of the letter n that looks like ñ, use the ny sound that you use for the English word canyon. The wiggly line is called a tilde (teel-deh). In pronunciation brackets, we show this sound as ny. Here are some examples:

cuñado (koo-nyah-doh) (brother-in-law)

mañana (mah-nyah-nah) (tomorrow)

niña (nee-nyah) (girl)

Vowels

If you want your Spanish to sound like a native’s, you have to concentrate on your vowels. The biggest difference between English and Spanish is almost certainly in the way the vowels are written and pronounced. By now, you may be well aware that one vowel in English can have more than one sound. Look, for instance, at fat and fate. Both words have the vowel a, but they’re pronounced much differently from each other. The good news is that in Spanish, you always say the vowels one way and one way only.

The upcoming sections discuss the five vowels — which are the only vowel sounds in Spanish. They’re a (ah), e (eh), i (ee), o (oh), and u (oo). Spanish sees each of these vowels by itself and makes other sounds by combining the vowels in pairs.

The Spanish vowels a, e, i, o, and u are pronounced staccato, as in the music notation that requires you to hit a note with a short, hard stroke with no trailing sound. For example, although English speakers would pronounce trail almost like “tray-ill,” Spanish speakers would never draw out the vowel sound. They would still pronounce the long a, but it would stop short, more like trehl.

The vowel A

As children, almost everybody sings the ABC’s. In Spanish, the English a that starts off the song is pronounced ah. The easiest way to remember how to pronounce the letter a in Spanish is to sing the chorus of the Christmas carol “Deck the Halls” to yourself. You remember the chorus, don’t you? Fa la la la la, la la, la la. We write this sound as ah in the pronunciation brackets.

Following are some sample words to practice. Remember that you pronounce each and every a exactly the same way.

Caracas (kah-rah-kas) (a city in Venezuela)

mapa (mah-pah) (map)

Guadalajara (gooah-dah-lah-Hah-rah) (a city in Mexico)

The vowel E

To get an idea of how the Spanish e sounds, smile gently, open your mouth a bit and say “eh.” The sound should be like the e in the English word pen. In our pronunciation brackets, this vowel appears as eh. Try these:

pelele (peh-leh-leh) (rag doll; puppet)

pelo (peh-loh) (hair)

seco (seh-koh) (dry)

The vowel I

In Spanish the vowel i sounds like the ee in seen, but just a touch shorter. To give you an example, when English speakers say feet or street, the Spanish speaker hears what sounds like almost two i’s. We signal this sound as ee in our pronunciation brackets. Following are some examples:

irritar (ee-rree-tahr) (to irritate)

piña (pee-nyah) (pineapple)

pintar (peen-tahr) (to paint)

The vowel O

The Spanish put their mouths in a rounded position, as if to breathe a kiss over a flower, and keeping it in that position, say o. It sounds like the o in floor, but a bit shorter. We signal this sound as oh in the pronunciation brackets.Try practicing the sound on these words:

coco (koh-koh) (coconut)

Orinoco (oh-ree-noh-koh) (a river in Venezuela)

Oruro (oh-roo-roh) (a city in Bolivia)

toronja (toh-rohn-Hah) (grapefruit)

The vowel U

The fifth and last vowel in Spanish is the u, and it sounds like the oo in moon or raccoon, but just a touch shorter. Oo, we think you’ve got it! We write this sound as oo in the pronunciation brackets. Here are some examples of the u sound:

cuna (koo-nah) (cradle)

cuñado (koo-nyah-doh) (brother-in-law)

cúrcuma (koor-koo-mah) (turmeric)

curioso (koo-reeoh-soh) (curious)

fruta (froo-tah) (fruit)

luna (loo-nah) (moon)

tuna (too-nah) (prickly pear)

Diphthongs

Diphthong comes from Greek, where di means two, and thong comes from a very similar word meaning sound or voice. (Don’t worry, we had to look it up in the dictionary ourselves.) Very simply, it means “double sound.” There. That’s easier.

The Spanish word is diptongo (deep-tohn-goh). Diptongos are the combination of two vowels, from the Spanish-speaking point of view. For instance, i and o combine to make io as in patio (pah-teeoh) (courtyard or patio.)

Joining the weak to the strong

Diptongos are always made up of a weak and a strong vowel. Calling vowels “weak” or “strong” is a convention of the Spanish language. To the Spanish-speaker, i and u are weak vowels, leaving a, e, and o as strong ones. The convention comes from the fact that the so-called strong vowel is always dominant in the diphthong.

To visualize this weak or strong concept, consider a piccolo flute and a bass horn. The sound of the piccolo is definitely more like the Spanish i and u, and the base horn sounds more like the Spanish a, e, and especially o.

Any combination of one strong and one weak vowel is a diptongo (deep-tohn-goh), which means that they belong together in the same syllable. In fact, they’re not only together, they’re stuck like superglue; they can’t be separated.

In the diptongo, the stress falls on the strong vowel (more about stress later in this chapter). An accent mark alerts you when the stress falls on the weak vowel. In the combination of two weak vowels, the stress is on the second one. Try these examples of diphthongs:

bueno (bvooeh-noh) (good)

cuando (kooahn-doh) (when)

fiar (feeahr) (tosell on credit)

fuera (fooeh-rah) (outside)

suizo (sooee-soh) (Swiss)

viudo (bveeoo-doh) (widower)

Separating the strong from the strong

When two strong vowels are combined, they don’t form a diphthong. Instead, the vowels retain their separate values, so you must put them into separate syllables. Here are some examples:

aorta (ah-ohr-tah) (aorta) (See! Just as in English!)

feo (feh-oh) (ugly)

marea (mah-reh-ah) (tide)

mareo (mah-reh-oh) (dizziness)

Did you notice in the previous list how changing one letter, inmarea and mareo, for example, can change the meaning of a word? This letter phenomenon occurs in Spanish, just as in English. Finding such words is fun. In the case of the previous list, at least the two words come from the same root mar (mahr) (sea). And, associating the tide to one’s dizziness isn’t all that difficult. But in other places you can have oceans of difference. Here are some more examples: casa (kah-sah) (house) and cosa (koh-sah) (thing); and pito (pee-toh) (whistle),pato (pah-toh) (duck), and peto (peh-toh) (bib or breastplate.)

Honing Your Pronunciation Skills

In Spanish, one syllable always gets more stress — that is, you say it louder than the others. In single-syllable words, finding the stress is easy. But many words have more than one syllable, and that’s when the situation becomes . . . well, stressful.

Looking for stress in the usual places

Can you believe that you’re looking for stress? In Spanish, the right stress at the right time is a good thing, and fortunately, stress in Spanish is easy to control. If you have no written accent, you have two rules to follow:

You stress the word on the next to last syllable if it ends in a vowel, an n, or an s. Here are some examples:

• camas (kah-mahs) (beds)

• mariposas (mah-ree-poh-sahs) (butterflies)

• pollo (poh-yoh) (chicken)

You stress the word on the last syllable when it ends in a consonant that isn’t an n or s. Look at these examples:

• cantar (kahn-tahr) (to sing)

• feliz (feh-lees) (happy)

If a word doesn’t follow one of these two rules, it has an accent mark on it to indicate where you place the stress.

Adverbs ending in -mente (equivalent to the English -ly) have two stressed syllables, because they keep the stress of the root word and the stress in the suffix, -mente; for example, generalmente (hehn-ehr-ahl-mehn-teh). Many compound words also have two stressed syllables, as in the case of eléctromagnético (ee-lehk-troh-mag-neh-tee-coh).

Scouting out accented syllables

One good point about having the accent mark on a syllable is that you can tell immediately where the stress is just by looking at the word.

The accent mark doesn’t affect how you pronounce the vowel, just which syllable you stress. Here are some examples of words with accent marks:

balcón (bvahl-kohn) (balcony)

carácter (kah-rahk-tehr) (character, personality)

fotógrafo (foh-toh-grah-foh) (photographer)

pájaro (pah-Hah-roh) (bird)

The accent mark isn’t always an indication of stress on a syllable. It’s also used in some single-syllable words to distinguish the meanings of two words that are otherwise identical; Table 1-1 gives you some examples:

Table 1-1 One-Syllable Words That Change Meaning Under Stress

Accented

Means

Unaccented

Means

dé

give (subjunctive of dar)

de

of/from

él

he, him

el

the

más

more

mas

but

mí

me

mi

my

sé

I know, be

se

one’s self

sí

yes

si

if

té

tea

te

you

tú

you

tu

your

¡vé!

go!

ve

sees

Discovering accents on diphthongs

An accent in a diphthong shows you which vowel to stress. Take a look at these examples:

¡Adiós! (ah-deeohs) (Good-bye!)

¡Buenos días! (bvooeh-nohs dee-ahs) (Good morning!)

¿Decía? (deh-see-ah) (You were saying?)

tía (tee-ah) (aunt)

See “Diphthongs” earlier in this chapter for more on these vowel combos.

Getting Familiar with Punctuation Rules

You may notice unfamiliar punctuation in phrases like ¡Buenos días!, ¿Decía?, and ¡Adiós!? Spanish indicates the mood (or tone) of what you’re saying both at the beginning and at the end of the phrase that is a question or an exclamation, as in ¿Decía? (deh-seeah) (You were saying?) or ¡Decía! (dehsee-ah) (You were saying!).

As far as we know, Spanish is the only language that provides this sort of punctuation. However, this punctuation is very useful when you have to read something aloud because you know beforehand how to modulate your voice when the phrase is coming up. This punctuation is the verbal equivalent of making gestures, which you can see in the following examples:

¿Dónde está? (dohn-deh ehs-tah) (Where is it?)

¡Qué maravilla! (keh mah-rah-bvee-yah) (How wonderful!)

Brushing Up on Basic Phrases

The following phrases can get you through a number of awkward pauses as you think of the right word:

¡Olé! (oh-leh) (Great!/Superb!/Keep going!) This very Spanish expression is used during bullfights in Mexico and Peru.

¿Quiubo? (kee-oo-bvoh) (Hello, what’s happening?)

¿De veras? (deh bveh-rahs) (Really?) This phrase signals slight disbelief.

¡No me digas! (noh meh dee-gahs) (You don’t say!) This phrase also indicates disbelief.

Chapter 2

Uno, Dos, Tres: Numbers, Colors, Dates, and Time

In This Chapter

Counting to ten and beyond

Knowing your colors

Setting dates and writing them down

Figuring out what time it is

Functioning in any language requires that you be able to recite your ABC’s, count to ten, describe items in very basic terms, and deal with schedules and appointments.

Though Book I, Chapter 1 covers the ABC’s, this chapter deals with all the other basics, including counting, naming your colors, naming the days of the week and months of the year, and telling time.

Counting with Ordinal and Cardinal Numbers

One of the first skills you acquire, usually long before you tackle kindergarten, is to count in your native language — it’s one of the few skills that falls in both the language and math categories. Likewise, one of the first skills you need to pick up in Spanish is the ability to count, at least up to ten.

The following sections show you how to count in Spanish — both with cardinal numbers (one, two, three) and ordinal numbers (first, second, third).

Cardinal numbers

You can get by with asking for one thing, or more than one thing, or even some things . . . for a while. But eventually you’ll want to ask for two things, or ten things, or even more. When numbers are important, you need to know how to say them, so we show you how to count from one to two million in Spanish:

Number

Spanish

Number

Spanish

0

cero (seh-roh)

25

veinticinco (bveheen-tee-seen-koh)

1

uno (oo-noh)