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Alex meets a new classmate, Sofía, on the first day of class.
Spanish is a phonetic language — once you learn the sound rules, most words are pronounced exactly as they're spelled. The letter combination "ll" (as in llamas, llamo) sounds like the "y" in "yes" in most Spanish-speaking regions.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. Subject Pronouns — yo, tú, él/ella
Spanish subject pronouns tell you who is doing the action. "Yo" means "I" and "tú" means "you" (informal, singular) — this course uses "tú" throughout, since it's the everyday form used with friends, classmates, and people your own age.
2. Ser — soy / eres
Ser is one of two Spanish verbs for "to be" (the other, estar, appears in Lesson 3). Ser is used for identity, origin, and other permanent traits: "soy" = I am, "eres" = you are.
3. Llamarse — me llamo / te llamas
Llamarse literally means "to call oneself" — Spanish uses this reflexive-style verb where English just says "my name is." "Me llamo" = my name is (literally "I call myself"); "te llamas" = your name is.
4. Tener — tengo... años (age)
Spanish expresses age with the verb tener ("to have"), not "to be" — literally "I have 19 years," not "I am 19 years." "Tengo" = I have.
5. Sí/No Questions with también
Adding también ("too, also") at the end of a question or statement is a simple way to ask if the same thing applies, or to agree.
A. Fill in the Blank · Rellena el espacio
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.¡Hola! ¿Cómo te ?what is your name
- 2. Alex.my name is
- 3., soy estudiante.yes
- 4.¿De dónde ?are you, from
- 5.Tengo diecinueve .years
B. Multiple Choice · Opción múltiple
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you say "My name is Alex" in Spanish?
- 2.How do you say "Where are you from?" in Spanish?
- 3.How do you say "I'm from the United States" in Spanish?
- 4.How do you say "How old are you?" in Spanish?
- 5.How do you say "I'm nineteen years old" in Spanish?
C. Rearrange the Sentence · Ordena la frase
Rearrange the words into a correct sentence, adding the punctuation shown in parentheses.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
- 5.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · Verdadero o falso
Based on the dialogue, mark each sentence T (true) or F (false).
- 1.Sofía is from Spain.
- 2.Alex is from Canada.
- 3.Sofía is not a student.
- 4.Sofía is twenty years old.
- 5.Alex is nineteen years old.
E. Matching · Empareja
Match each question on the left with the best response on the right.
F. Translation · Traducción
Translate items 1–3 into Spanish, and items 4–5 into English.
- 1.What's your name?
- 2.My name is Alex.
- 3.Where are you from?
- 4.Soy de los Estados Unidos.
- 5.Tengo diecinueve años.
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 16 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
Sign in to generate dialogues. It needs a pass — the first ten lessons of every course are free either way.
Everyone has two surnames
Spaniards carry two surnames: the father's first, then the mother's. Sofía García López is Señorita García rather than Señorita López, and an alphabetical list files her under G. Both are passed on — a child takes the first surname of each parent, so the second one drops out of the line every generation. Women do not change their names when they marry, which means a married couple share no surname at all and their children carry one from each. Ask which surname someone goes by rather than guessing; forms built for a single family name cause Spaniards endless trouble abroad.