Notice that Spanish has informal and formal ways of speaking. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in Spanish (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.)

Encantado, cansado, enfermo, and aburrido are the masculine forms of the words. If the words refer to a woman or are spoken by a woman, then the final o changes to a: encantada, cansada, enferma, and aburrida

In Spain, as well as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, the Spanish language is called castellano instead of español.

2. Pronunciation

Please keep in mind that because Spanish is spoken in many countries, there are several regional dialects and accents so pronunciation rules may not apply to all countries. This tutorial is mostly concerned with the language that is spoken in Mexico and Spain.

3. Alphabet

The Spanish language academy no longer considers the ch, ll or rr to be separate letters in dictionaries, but they are still separate letters in the alphabet.

El is also used with feminine nouns beginning with a or ha when the accent is on the first syllable.  Words that end in -o and -or are generally masculine, with a few exceptions: la mano (hand), la foto (photo). Words that end in -a are generally feminine, with a few exceptions: el mapa (map), el problema (problem). Other feminine words end in -ción, -tad, -dad, or -tud.

Use the ese forms to mean that when what you are talking about is near the person you are addressing.  Use the aquel forms when what you are talking about is far from both you and the person you are addressing.  Esto and eso are the neuter forms of this and that.  They can be used in general and abstract ways. Demonstrative adjectives (listed above) are used before a noun; if you want to use the demonstrative pronouns, which are used before a verb, add an accent on all of the first e's: éste, ésta, éstos, éstas, ése, ésa, ésos, ésas, aquél, aquélla, aquéllos, aquéllas.

5. Subject Pronouns

Vosotros is used only in Spain when speaking to more than one person with whom you know well. Nosotras and vosotras refer to a group of all females, as well as ellas. Ustedes is almost always used for saying "you all" in all Spanish speaking countries. Usted can be abbreviated to Ud. Ustedes can also be abbreviated to Uds. Please note that the subject pronouns are rarely used before verbs.

6. To Be & to Have

Ser is used to identify or describe.  It tells what something is, its basic characteristics, or its origin.  Estar is used to tell the location of something or how someone feels.

Uses of Ser

Uses of Estar

Sometimes changing the verb can completely change the meaning: ser aburrido means to be boring, while estar aburrido means to be bored. Others include: ser bueno - to be nice, estar bueno - to be in good health; ser callado - to be discrete, estar callado - to be silent; ser moreno - to have brown hair, estar moreno - to be tan.

Many common expressions using the verb "be" in English use the verb "tener" in Spanish (but not all):

7. Question Words

8. cardinal & ordinal Numbers

If you are just saying 100, you use cien. If it's over 100, you use ciento. So 101 is ciento uno and 156 would be ciento cincuenta y seis. Also you can use dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, and diecinueve for 16, 17, 18, and 19, respectively. They are pronounced the same but are combined into one word. Additionally, 21-29 can be written as one word (veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, etc.), but you need to use y for the rest of the numbers.

Primero and tercero drop the final -o when used directly before a noun.

9. Days of the Week

10. Months of the Year

The preposition en is used with months: en abril = in April. Also notice that primero is used for the first of the month, but the rest of the days are referred to using the regular cardinal numbers: el primero de junio but el dos de julio. Months of the year are also all masculine and not capitalized in writing.

¿Cual es la fecha de hoy? What is today's date?
Hoy es el primero de agosto. Today is August 1st.

11. Seasons

12. Directions

13. Colors & shapes

14. Time

15. Weather

16. Prepositions

There are two prepositional contractions with definite articles.  A and el combine to form al, and de and el combine to form del.

17. Family & Animals

18. To Know People & Facts

19. Formation of Plural Nouns

1. If a singular noun ends in a vowel, just add -s to make it plural: la casa → las casas.
2. If a singular noun ends in a consonant, a vowel with an accent, or y, add -es to make it plural: el papel → los papeles.
3. Singular nouns that end in -z change the z to c and add -es to form the plural: la luz → las luces.
4. A few nouns that have an accent in the singular will lose it in the plural: el lápiz → los lapices.

Remember that vuestro forms are only used in Spain (just as the vosotros subject pronoun & verb conjugations are only used in Spain).

Because su and sus can have so many meanings, the definite article may be used instead of su with these expressions following the noun:  de Ud., de él, de ella, de Uds., de ellos and de ellas.

los libros de ellos  their books

The terminal forms are placed after the noun, and the noun must be preceded by the definite article, except in direct address.  When used with the indefinite article, it corresponds to the English "of mine, of yours," etc.

el libro mío  my book
Qué haces, hijo mío?  What are you doing, my son?
un amigo mío  a friend of mine