Download Introduction to Unit 1 pg. 2-4 General Information pg. 3 General Tips


Introduction to Unit 1
o General Information
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o
pg. 2-4
pg. 3
General Tips
Studying Vocabulary
Studying Pronunciation
Studying Grammar
Prior Concepts
Annotations
pg. 3-6
pg. 3-4
pg. 4-5
pg. 5-6
pg. 6

Section A: Greetings
o Formal vs. Informal
o Singular vs. Plural
o Section A Checking for Understanding
o Section A Vocabulary List
o Section A Exercises
pg. 7-10
pg. 7
pg. 7
pg. 7
pg. 8
pg. 8-10

Section B: Spanish Alphabet
o Vowels
o Consonants
o Sounds of the Alphabet
o Special Letter
o Special Characters
o Deleted Letters
o Digraphs
o Section B Checking for Understanding
o Section B Exercises
pg. 11-19
pg. 11
pg. 12-13
pg. 14-15
pg. 15
pg. 15-16
pg. 16
pg. 16-17
pg. 17
pg. 18-19

Section C: Subject Pronouns
o Types of Pronouns
o Subject Pronouns
o Singular Pronouns
o Plural Pronouns
o Person or Aspect
o Form of “you”
o Section C Checking for Understanding
o Section C Exercises
pg. 20-26
pg. 20-21
pg. 21
pg. 21
pg. 22
pg. 22-23
pg. 23-24
pg. 24-25
pg. 25-26

Section D: Verb: ser- to be
o Verb Graphic Organizer
o Section D Checking for Understanding
o Section D Exercises
pg. 27-28
pg. 27
pg. 27
pg. 28

Section E: Basic Adjectives
o Gender
o Number
pg. 29-33
pg. 29
pg. 29-30
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Gender with Number
Vocabulary
Section E Checking for Understanding
Section E Exercises
2
pg. 30
pg. 31
pg. 31
pg. 32-33
Introduction to Unit 1
Unit 1 covers the following topics:





Greetings
The Spanish Alphabet
Subject Pronouns
Verb: ser (to be)
Basic Adjectives
General Information:
Please note that the explanations given before each sub-topic, e.g. “Greetings” is the specific
detailed information that has been explained in class. This also gives a further in depth analysis
as to why things are done the way they are in Spanish and gives some comparison to the English
language, as well.
General Tips for Studying and Practicing Spanish
Overall, Unit 1 is more vocabulary intense than grammar intense. There is some grammar with
the verb ser; however, the concept of this verb is explored throughout the entire course.
Studying Vocabulary: Vocabulary is essential when you study a foreign language; it is
part of studying the language. The more vocabulary you know, the better you are able to
communicate in a foreign language. This is the best way to study vocabulary.

Study 5-7 words a night (don’t wait until the day before a quiz to study all of the
vocabulary words). No human brain can retain that much information in that short
amount of time.

The first 5-7 words you study should be the easiest words. Cognates (words that look
similar in both languages) should be studied first, because they will be easiest. Make sure
to know the spelling of each word, because you may be able to recognize a word if you
are reading it, but you must recall the vocabulary. You may know in your mind that a
word is similar, but you must make sure that you know how to spell it (this means accent
marks, as well).

The next 5-7 words should be words that are of medium difficulty. They may not be
cognates, but something that helps you identify the words.

The next 5-7 words should be the most difficult words. Words you need to either use
flashcards or re-write several times.
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
Finally, quiz yourself or have someone quiz you on all of the words. Even though only
ten are given on the quiz, you will never know which ten are given; therefore, quiz
yourself. Repetition is important and key to memorizing vocabulary words.

Remember that not all people learn the same way. In general, most people tend to use
vocabulary flashcards to study words. However, this does not work for all people. Some
people are visual; some people need to write, etc. Find what works best for you, but make
sure to only study 5-7 a night until the last night when reviewing all of the words.
Flashcards with another person does help, but it does not help your writing. Make sure
that you are writing down all of the words in order to practice the spelling, as well.
Studying Pronunciation: Pronunciation is just as important as spelling. Think of it as
the oral concept of spelling. If you write down a word and misspell it, it could end up being
unrecognizable to a person. This is the same when speaking a language if you mispronounce
something. It is stated that 80-90% of students do not practice pronunciation when studying a
foreign language. This is mostly because they are not tested on pronunciation for a grade on a
regular basis as they are in writing. Regardless, there are oral exams and pronunciation will
count as a grade. It is also important to try to learn the language for what it is and not just for the
grade. Here are a few tips for practicing pronunciation.

Remember that Spanish is actually overall a phonetic language. This means that overall
the way a word sounds is the way it is spelled. When your parents were teaching you to
read English, they may have said “sound it out”, but in English that does not work,
because of words like “laughter”. If you were to sound out the “g” and “h”, it would
probably not sound like the word you intended it to.

First, sound out the word slowly. If it is a short word, it should overall sound the way you
intend. If you are unsure of the overall pronunciation, do the following steps.
o Take out all of the consonants of the word: anaranjado  a a a a o
o Say all of the vowels aloud repeatedly:
“a a a a o”
o Repeating the vowels helps, because they sound exactly the same in the alphabet
as they do in words.
o Next, take the word in chunks and pronounce it by syllable.
 “an” “ar” “an” “ja” “do”
o Finally, be aware of different sounds in Spanish from English.
 Example: the “j” is pronounced similarly to an “h” found in the back of
the throat. (Like you are hacking).
Studying Grammar: Grammar basically means “the proper phrase/sentence structure of a
language”. We all speak a language, but we do not always speak grammatically in our own
language. The most important thing in communication is getting our message across. The reason
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that we do study the grammar in a foreign language is because most of our grammar errors in our
own language are stem from things like: slang, idiomatic expressions, informalities, etc. When
studying another language, we must study the grammar, because naturally learning a second
language means we try to compare to our first language. When you learned English or your first
language, you had nothing to compare to. Now that you are learning another language, you have
a comparison (English). We tend to overanalyze the second language or believe that it has the
same grammar patterns as our own language when more than like it does not. Here are some
general tips to studying grammar.

Be alert in class. Grammar is like mathematics and if you are not alert of the
explanation during class, it will be extremely difficult to do on your own. This means
listening to the explanation, not just hearing noise come out of your instructor’s
mouth.

Practice the workbook assignments that are associated. These are meant to help you.
These workbook pages essentially are helping you study. If you keep up with your
homework and the assignments, studying before the exam should be easy.

Do your own work. If someone else does your work for you, you are showing me what
someone else knows. You and I both need to know where your mistakes are. If you are
unaware of your mistakes you may do one of two things. 1. Waste your time studying
all of the grammar when your errors only lie in one category. 2. Not realize how you
got the answer that you intended. This is the same in mathematics as well. Essentially,
grammar is a mathematical equation that takes practice. The best way to practice is to
do the workbook and use some of the phrases aloud.

Ask for assistance. You need to work on your mistakes. If you keep making an error
and do not try to learn from them, you will continually make the same errors over and
over in your speech, which is what you are trying to avoid to begin with.
Prior Concepts: Remember that prior concepts from other units arise throughout the entire
course. It is important to be aware of all concepts that you have previously studied as well as the
ones we are focusing on now. Remember that this will occur throughout learning Spanish.
Remember to not give up in a foreign language. Many students give up on a foreign language,
because they cannot speak it fluently by the end of the year. To learn a foreign language takes a
few years first of all. It also takes dedication and immersion. The more you immerse yourself in
the language, i.e. trying to use it, listening to it, trying to read it, the more you will learn the
language overall. The reason many European students can speak three to four languages at an
early age is because they are immersed in a continent full of different languages. This would be
like New Mexico speaking a different language and California speaking another. They hear
different languages on a regular basis that it helps them learn them at an earlier age. We do not
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have that luxury in The United States; therefore, it takes determination on your part. You may
not think it’s possible to ever learn Spanish fluently as an American-English speaker, but
remember your teacher is an American-English speaker natively and learned it and you can too!
Annotations: Annotations are symbols that help keep you active when you are reading. It is
important to annotate when previewing a specific sub-section of a Unit. For example, when
covering the “greetings” section, it is important to read the information about greetings in
Spanish before jumping into the exercises. Below you will find a list of annotations to keep
active when reading the workbook. Remember to avoid highlighting so you know what was
important when you go back to study for an exam. Here is the official step-by-step process to
actively reading.
1. Summarize in your own words what you think you know about a particular subject. Write
those notes on the workbook page that you are about to read. It can be a few brief bulletpoints, but it is still essential, even if you barely know about a subject.
2. Use the annotations when reading a specific section for the first time.
3. Summarize in your own words what you read. Do not copy portions verbatim of what
you just read. It is important for your own summary.
4. With your annotation symbols and notes, go back and re-read the particular section.
Specific Annotations:
1. Underline important specific ideas and details.
2. Write at the bottom of what you are reading the main idea of what you are reading.
3. (Circle) anything that seems confusing or unfamiliar to you.
4. Place *asterisks* or exclamation-points next to unusual or surprising details.
5. Place √ check marks √ next to things that you already knew before reading.
6. Place an “X” next to something that contradicts (goes against) what you already thought
about a particular subject.
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Section A: Greetings
Greetings are the official way to make one’s presence known. The can also be used to
acknowledge someone, get a person’s attention or perhaps even start a conversation. There are
several commonly used greetings in the Spanish language. This is the first step in order to learn a
language, because it is generally how we begin a conversation.
Formal vs. Informal
In Spanish, there are people that we speak to formally and others that we speak to
informally. It is important to address a person correctly when speaking the Spanish
language. If you do not address the person correctly, you may offend them.
Formal: Formal speech is used with whom you have a professional relationship. The
general rule of thumb is that you speak to anyone formally in Spanish that you would call
“sir or ma’am” or by their last name with a title. For example, a title would be “Mr. Mrs.
or Dr.”
Informal: Informal speech is used with whom you have a personal relationship. The
general rule of thumb is that you speak to anyone informally in Spanish that you would
call by their first name or have a personal name for. For example, a personal name would
be familial words such as “Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, Grandma or Grandpa”.
Singular vs. Plural
It is important to note that there is a difference when you greet one person or greet a
group of people. If you greet a group, you must use a plural form of the greeting. If you
are directly speaking to one person, then you must use the singular form of the greeting.
Example:“¿Cómo está usted?”- How are you?
(Usted is one person, so it’s singular.)
Example:“¿Cómo están ustedes?”- How are you?
(Ustedes is multiple people, so it’s plural.)
Checking for Understanding: Section A: Greetings
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the main reason for which Greetings are used?
What is the general rule of thumb for knowing when to address someone formally?
What is the general rule of thumb for knowing when to address someone informally?
When you greet a person, you must greet them in which form?
When you greet a group of people, you must greet them in which form?
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Greetings Vocabulary
1. hola
2. buenos días
3. buenas tardes
4. buenas noches
5. adiós
6. chao
7. hasta luego
8. ¿Cómo estás (tú)?
9. ¿Cómo está (usted)?
10. ¿Cómo están (ustedes)?
11. ¿Cómo te llamas?
12. Me llamo
13. Estoy bién
14. Estoy bién ¿y tú?
15. Estoy bién ¿y usted?
16. gracias
17. de nada
18. mucho gusto
hi, hello (informal)
good morning, good day (formal)
good afternoon (formal)
good evening, good night (formal)
good-bye (formal)
bye (informal)
See you later. (informal)
How are you? (informal)
How are you? (formal)
How are you? (formal/plural)
What is your name? (informal)
My name is
I am fine.
I am fine, and you? (informal)
I am fine, and you? (formal)
thank you
You’re welcome.
Nice to meet you.
Section A1
Directions: Next to each phrase, state whether it is formal or informal.
1. Estoy bien, ¿y usted?
2. hasta mañana
3. ¿Cómo te llamas?
4. hasta luego
5. chao
6. buenos días
7. adiós
8. hasta mañana
9. buenas tardes
10. hasta la vista
11. Estoy bien, ¿y tú?
12. buenas noches
Section A2
Directions: José and María are standing in line at the grocery store and greet each other briefly
before José is rung up by the cashier. Read the dialogue below, and then re-write the dialogue in
the formal aspect.
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Informal Aspect:
José González: Hola!
María Ortega: Hola! ¿Cómo estás?
José González: Estoy, bien ¿y tú?
María Ortega: Estoy bien, gracias.
María Ortega: ¿Cómo te llamas?
José González: Me llamo José, ¿y tú? ¿Cómo te llamas?
María Ortega: Me llamo María.
José González: Mucho gusto.
María Ortega: Mucho gusto.
José González: Hasta luego.
María Ortega: Chao.
Formal Aspect:
José González:
María Ortega:
José González:
María Ortega:
María Ortega:
José González:
María Ortega:
José González:
María Ortega:
José González:
María Ortega:
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Section A3
Directions: Greet the following people appropriately according to what you know about formal
versus informal.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Señora Rotenberg in the morning.
Your friend at any time.
Señora Benvenuto in the afternoon.
Your mom before going to bed.
Señor DeVore in the evening.
A cashier in the evening.
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Section B: The Spanish Alphabet
To understand the alphabet of a language is much more than memorizing the actual letters.
Although it is important to know the letters of the Spanish alphabet, it is not very difficult for
English speakers in written terms to learn the Spanish alphabet since there is only one extra
letter. The sounds or phonemes of the Spanish alphabet are overall quite different than English.
This is the reason why Spanish sounds so different than English.
In our classroom, you will learn not only the letters of the alphabet and the name of the letters;
moreover, we will learn the specific sounds that are associated with each letter. First we will start
with the basics of the alphabet and compare some of the sounds to English words in order to
understand how that letter sounds when it is in a word in Spanish.
Vowels
There are five vowels in Spanish just as there are in English. The vowels are the most important
letters of any alphabet to learn, because there has to be a vowel in order to have a word. Vowels
in Spanish are called vocales. This is where we get the word “vocal” in the English language.
You may have heard this word before in language or in music. It makes sense because in a
language or in music you must have vowels or vocals in order to produce a sound. If our
alphabet consisted of only consonants (any letter that is not a vowel), then we would not be able
to produce any words in any language.
The vowels of the Spanish language are much easier than the English language. One of the
reasons the Spanish vowels are easier is because the vowels are consistent with their sounds
unlike the English language. Other than the vowel “u”, the Spanish vowels always sound exactly
the same way as they are pronounced in the alphabet. In English, vowels do not always sound the
same as they are stated in the alphabet. In the English language, there are long, short and special
vowels that exist. For Spanish, they are all the same and even the exception of the letter “u” is
very rare and easy to find in a word. Let’s take a look at the vowels in specific terms.
Written
Pronounced
English Words (with same sound)
A
ah
pot, stop, knot
E
ay
pay, great, state,
I
ee
sleeve, teach, eat
O
oh
open, own, broke
U
oo
movie, boot, soup
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Again, vowels are special, because they are the only letters in the Spanish language that sound
exactly the same way the letter is pronounced in the alphabet. In English this does not exist.
Even though you may think that English is an easier language, it is actually much more difficult
than Spanish. If you look at the English words with their sounds, you will notice an
inconsistency in how they are spelled.
Example: “movie” vs. “boot”
Both of these words have the same exact vowel sound; however, they are both spelled
differently. One of the words is spelled with one “o” and the other is spelled with two “o”s, yet
they still produce the same sound. This inconsistency is what never happens in the Spanish
language in terms of vowels. Here is another set of words with the same spellings, but different
sounds.
Example: “boot” vs. “foot”
Both of these words are spelled with two “o’s”, but are pronounced differently from each other.
The word “boot” has the “oo” sound and the word “foot” has a “uh” sound like in the word
“put”.
If a word in Spanish is spelled with a specific vowel then it will consistently be pronounced the
same way, this is one of the many reasons that Spanish is easier to learn than English.
Vowels of the Spanish language are also special because they are the only words to be able to
receive accent marks. Accent marks decide where the stress is on a particular word. For English
speakers this takes some getting used to because accent marks do not exist orthographically
(written) in the English language. Once a person begins to consistently listen to pronunciation of
the Spanish language, accent marks become clearer. At the beginning of learning Spanish, you
may not notice the stress of a particular word, but the more listening and more words that you
learn; the more you will begin to notice a difference.
Consonants
Consonants are any letters of the alphabet that are not vowels. In linguistics, the specific rule of a
consonant is that it is any speech sound that has a complete or partial closure of the vocal tract.
Think of it this way: Vowels can be produced on their own by just opening your mouth. Try
saying the five vowels in Spanish or in English and you will not need to do anything but keep
your mouth open. Consonants, on the other hand, must be produced by using different elements
of the mouth (e.g. tongue, palette, throat) to produce that particular sound. Even though this may
have never been explained to you throughout your life, you have subconsciously known this;
otherwise you would not be able to speak. Below you will find a list of the consonants of the
Spanish language. On the side, you will see how to pronounce the letter itself in the alphabet.
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Written
Pronounced
B
bay
C
say
D
day
F
ay-fay
G
hay
H
ah-chay
J
ho-ta
K
kah
L
el-ay
M
em-ay
N
en-ay
Ñ
en-yay
P
pay
Q
koo
R
er-ay
S
es-ay
T
tay
V
bay
W
doh-blah-bay
X
ay-kees
Y
ee-gree-ay-gah
Z
se-ta
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Sounds of the Alphabet
To know how to say the alphabet is one thing in a language; however, to know and understand
the specific sounds of the language is another. The specific sounds of a language are called the
phonemes. There is an international set of phonemes listed in The International Phonetic
Alphabet or as most people that study languages and linguistics just know it as the IPA. This is
the entire list of all the sounds of the world that are produced. Even though there are 26 letters in
the English alphabet, there are about 40 phonemes that are used in English. Sometimes there are
sounds that exist that are spelled with a cluster of letters.
Example: “c” and “h”. Alone, these two letters produce different sounds; however, if they are
paired together in a word, they make a completely different sound. change, church, child.
Example: “s” and “h”. Alone, these two letters produce different sounds; however, if they are
paired together in a word, they make a completely different sound. sheep, ship, shark, show.
Many of the phonemes or sounds that exist in the English language exist in the Spanish
language; however, there are some sounds that exist in Spanish that do not exist in English and
there are some sounds that exist in English that do not in Spanish. Since the two languages are
both European languages, many of the sounds are similar; however, the sounds that are not
similar will be the most difficult sounds to produce when learning to speak Spanish. These are
the sounds that you will want to practice as much as possible. Here is a list of letters and
digraphs (pairs of letters that produce a specific sound) in Spanish that will produce a different
sound that does not exist in the English language.
1. G

The soft “g” sound is like a harsh “h” hacking sound found further back in the
throat.

The “j” sound in Spanish is exactly the same as a soft “g” sound; therefore the
sound is like a harsh “h” hacking sound found further back in the throat. This is
found in the commonly known food word “jalapeño”.
2. J
3. LL and Y
 These two letters produce the same sound, which is very similar to the English
“y” sound. One can get away in Spanish by using the English “y” sound, but it
makes someone stand out as an English speaker. The Spanish “ll” and “y” sound
uses your tongue slightly. Try saying the word “yacht” and adding your tongue to
the “y” sound.
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4. R

If there is one “r” that is produced it is called a “tap” sound. “R” sounds in all
languages are the hardest sounds to produce in the world. This is because they are
a semi-vowel. Yes, “r” believe it or not linguistically is partially a vowel. When
there is one “r” written in a word it sounds like the two “t” sounds in the English
word “butter”. Say the word “butter” again and again and you will realize that the
T-T in the word is a tap sound. It is called a tap, because it is tapping almost at the
back of your top teeth with your tongue.

When there are two “r” letters written together in a word like the word “perro”,
which means “dog” in Spanish it produces a vibrating sound. This sound is
notoriously difficult for English speakers to make. The best way to practice this
sound is by gargling some water. Then drink or spit out the water and try to
produce the sound with no fluid. It may seem unorthodox, but you are literally
trying to exercise your mouth to do something it is not accustomed to. Babies do
this when they mock people that speak a language; this is how they learn to speak
their first language.
5. RR
Special Letter
The letter “ñ” in the Spanish alphabet is the only written letter that does not exist in the English
language. The sound of the “ñ” is not hard to produce as we have some words in English that
produce the same sound.
Example: onion, California, opinion
Here are some words in Spanish that have an ñ in them.



baño- bathroom
año- year
niño- child
(bahn-yo)
(ahn-yo)
(neen-yo)
Special Characters
There are special characters or markings in the Spanish language that do not exist in the English
language. The special characters that exist are tildes and accent marks. Tildes look like a
squiggle mark ~. The only instance of a tilde existing in the Spanish language is above the “n” in
the letter “ñ”. This implies that the sound is slightly different. Tildes are different than accent
marks, because in the Spanish language tildes are only above consonants. Accent marks only go
above vowels in Spanish. Accent marks can go over any vowel in Spanish. Accent marks show
where a particular stress is in a word or is used to decipher between two words that are spelled
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exactly the same. Here is an example of distinguishing two different words spelled the same in
Spanish.
Example: sí vs. si
The word “sí” with an accent mark means “yes”. The word “si” without an accent mark means
“if”. The accent mark only exists in written form to show that the two words have different
meanings.
Accent marks show where stress is in a particular word. Stress is something explored more
specifically in higher levels of Spanish. For now, we will rely on memorizing when accent marks
exist. For English speakers that are new to Spanish, hearing the stress of a word or hearing the
accent mark is difficult at first. Eventually, you will start noticing the difference of a word if it is
produced with or without an accent mark. It is important at this point to begin memorizing the
spelling of a word when presented with a new vocabulary word. If the new vocabulary word has
an accent mark, you should memorize where the accent mark is. If a word that has an accent
mark and it is not properly spelled with one it is spelled incorrectly by Spanish speakers.
Fortunately, there are no words that have more than one accent mark in the Spanish language, so
if a word has an accent mark it will only have one at most. It is also important to know that stress
can only lie on a vowel; therefore accent marks only go above vowels.
Deleted Letters
As of 2009, The Spanish Language Academy deleted 3 letters of the Spanish alphabet. This may
seem weird, because there have not been any letters recently deleted out of the English language,
but this can occur. There are now 27 letters of the alphabet (ñ being the only extra letter
compared to the English alphabet). There was once 30 letters that existed. The letters “ch” “ll”
and “rr” were deleted from the language.
These three letters were deleted from the Spanish language officially, because they were all
digraphs. This means that they are all two letters that represent a particular sound. Many people
that speak Spanish natively still include these letters in the alphabet, because they have been used
to a thirty letter alphabet for most of their lives; however, officially the letters are not taught to
new students of the Spanish language. When the letters “ch”,“ll” and “rr” are presented in a
word, they still produce a different sound, so it is important to remember how they are
pronounced in a word.
Digraphs (Double Letters)
There are only three letters of the Spanish alphabet that can come together in a word. “rr”, “ll”
and “cc”. The reason these letters can repeat together is because they produce a sound different
than if the letter is by itself.
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Example:
C vs. CC


Example:
“C” makes a [k] or [s] sound just like English
“CC” makes a sound like the letter “X” in the English language
L vs. LL


Example:
L makes the identical sound of the English language.
LL makes a “y” like sound while using the tongue.
R vs. RR



R in its regular form produces the identical sound of the English language.
R makes a tap sound like the two “t’s” in the word “butter” when it is between
two vowels.
RR makes a vibrating noise in the back of the throat.
Checking for Understanding: Section B: The Alphabet
1. How are all Spanish vowels pronounced?
2. What is the only vowel that sometimes not pronounced?
3. Give me an example of the Spanish “a” sound in an English word that is not listed as an
example.
4. Give me an example of the Spanish “e” sound in an English word that is not listed as an
example.
5. Give me an example of the Spanish “i” sound in an English word that is not listed as an
example.
6. Give me an example of the Spanish “o” sound in an English word that is not listed as an
example.
7. Give me an example of the Spanish “u” sound in an English word that is not listed as an
example.
8. What types of letters receive accent marks?
9. What are phonemes?
10. What is the only letter in Spanish that does not exist in English?
11. What is a tilde?
12. There are two reasons that accent marks are used, what are they?
13. What are the three letters officially deleted from the Spanish alphabet?
14. What are the only three letters that can double in Spanish? (doubling meaning “bb” “cc”
“dd” “ee” “ff”)?
17
Section B1
Directions: Write out the way you pronounce the given letter. For example “L” would be “ellay”.
1. X
2. F
3. M
4. S
5. R
6. Ñ
7. Z
8. Q
9. K
10. J
11. H
12. A
13. E
14. I
15. O
16. U
17. Y
18. D
19. B
20. V
Section B2
Directions: Next to each letter, write an English word that has that sound equivalency. You may
use the workbook examples as a reference to help you, but not those exact words.
Example: G would be “goat”, A would be “pot”
1. F
2. M
3. S
4. R
5. Ñ
6. Z
7. Q
8. K
9. J
10. H
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11. A
12. E
13. I
14. O
15. U
16. D
17. B
18. V
Section B3
Directions: Voicing: In class we discussed that voicing means using your throat. If your throat
vibrates as you make a sound, then it is voiced. If your throat does not vibrate it is voiceless.
Next to each phoneme, write whether it is voiced or voiceless.
1. [b]
2. [k]
3. [ð] (the)
4. [s]
5. [ʤ] (judge)
6. [d]
7. [f]
8. [g]
9. [l]
10. [m]
11. [tʃ] (church)
12. [n]
13. [p]
14. [r]
15. [ʒ] (measure)
16. [t]
17. [v]
18. [w]
19. [z]
20. [ɵ] (thick)
21. [ʃ] (shirt)
19
Section C: Subject Pronouns
Pronouns are words that replace nouns. Pronouns are used when a person already knows what
the noun is.
Example: Tom is studying for a Spanish test. Tom’s Spanish test is on Wednesday. Tom will be
studying at home with Tom’s grandmother because Tom’s grandmother knows how to speak
Spanish fluently.
All of the words that are underlined are nouns that can be replaced with a pronoun. The
following sentence is the same message except with pronouns.
Example: Tom is studying for a Spanish test. His Spanish test is on Wednesday. He will be
studying at home with his grandmother, because she knows how to speak Spanish fluently.
You may be asking yourself, “Why didn’t we replace the word ‘Tom’ in the first sentence?” The
reason is because we have to know who “he” is. If we started talking about “he” the entire time,
we could be talking about any male.
Pronouns are a lexicon or part of speech that has a few sub-categories. This unit will specifically
focus on subject pronouns. Later, we will explore the other pronouns as well. Overall it is
important to have an idea of what the pronouns are in general.
Subject Pronouns: Subject Pronouns are the subjects of the sentence. These are the people that
“do” the action. These are the people that actually do the verb in the sentence.
Example:
“He watches television after school.”
“He” is the subject of the sentence and is doing the action (watching television).
Object Pronouns: Object pronouns are the objects of a sentence. These are the people or things
that “receive” the action. These are the people that actually receive the verb or what is being
done in the sentence.
Example:
“Mary hit him”
“Him” is the object of the sentence and is receiving the action (being hit).
Possessive Pronouns: Possessive Pronouns are pronouns that indicate a specific ownership to a
person or thing.
Example:
“Her book is old.”
“Her” is the possessive pronoun, because it shows ownership of something (the book).
20
Demonstratives: Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that demonstrate or show something in
a sentence.
Example:
“This assignment is easy.”
“This” is the demonstrative pronoun, because it is showing something (the assignment).
Multiple pronouns can exist in a sentence. Let’s take a look at the sentence “Mary hit him.”
“Mary hit John.”
“Mary” is the subject.
“John” is the object.
“Mary hit him.”
“Mary” is the subject.
“Him” is the object pronoun.
“She hit John.”
“She” is the subject pronoun. “John” is the object.
“She hit him.”
“She” is the subject pronoun. “Him” is the object pronoun.
The last example, “She hit him.” is a sentence with a subject pronoun and an object pronoun.
Again, the subjects are the ones that do the action (hitting) and objects are the ones that receive
the action in the sentence (being hit).
Subject Pronouns are the pronouns that we will focus on in this unit. Subject pronouns are the
most important pronouns to study when studying a language, because they will be used when we
learn how to conjugate and use verbs in Spanish.
Subject pronouns are the ones that do the action in the sentence. If the action is the verb, then it
is no surprise that these pronouns will be used when we learn how to use verbs. Pronouns in
general are divided into three categories: first person, second person and third person. They can
also be singular and plural.
Here is a list of the singular subject pronouns in both languages.
English
Spanish
I
Yo
You
Tú or Usted
He
Él
She
Ella
It
_______
Singular Pronouns: What does it mean to be a “singular” pronoun in a language? When the
pronoun is singular it means that it refers to only one person.
21
Here is a list of the plural subject pronouns in both languages.
English
Spanish
We
Nosotros
You all
Vosotros or Ustedes
They
Ellos or Ellas
Plural Pronouns: What does it mean to be a “plural” pronoun in a language? When the pronoun
is plural it means that it refers to more than one person.
Here is how all of your pronouns and verbs will be laid out for you throughout your entire
course.
Singular
yo
tú
usted, él, ella
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Plural
nosotros
vosotros
ustedes, ellos, ellas
Person or Aspect
What exactly does “person” mean grammatically? There are three “persons” in both the Spanish
and English language. First person, is when we are referring to “ourself”.
Spanish
English
1st Person Singular:
yo
I
1st Person Plural
nosotros (as)
We
If we are talking about ourselves, we are only talking about one person, because we are literally
only one person. So when we use first person singular subject in a sentence it will be “I” or “yo”
in Spanish.
If we are talking about ourselves with one or more people involved then first person becomes
plural. In English this is always “we”. In Spanish, it is either “nosotros” or “nosotras”.
“Nosotras” is only the form when “we” refers to an all-female group.
Spanish
English
2nd Person Singular:
tú
You (informal)
2nd Person Plural
vosotros
You all (informal)
22
First person is when we are talking about our “self”, but second person is when we are directly
speaking to someone else. If we are directly speaking to someone informally we use “tú”.
If we are directly talking to a group of more than one person, (like I am when I am talking to my
class, which consists of more than one person) then we will use the “vosotros” form.
Spanish
English
3rd Person Singular:
él/ella
He/She
3rd Person Plural
ellos/ellas
They
First person is when we are talking about our “self”, second person is when we are directly
speaking to someone else; therefore, third person is when we are speaking about someone else. If
we are talking about one person that happens to be male, we use the word “él”, which means
“he” in English. If we are talking about one person that happens to be female, we use the world
“ella”, which means “she” in English.
If we are talking about a group of people, we use the “ellos” form. If that group of people that we
are talking about happens to be all female, then we will use the word “ellas”.
You
In Modern English, there is only one way to directly speak to someone. This direct way of
speaking to someone is with the word “you”. In Spanish, there are four ways to translate the
word “you” from English. The four words for “you” are tú, usted, vosotros and ustedes.
Historically in English, we did have more than one way of directly speaking to someone. In Old
English and Middle English, the common way to directly refer to someone was through the word
“thou”, which is close to the Spanish word “tú”. In order to directly speak to a group of people in
Old or Middle English, one would use the word “you”, which eventually came to be the only
way to directly refer to someone in Modern English.
In Spanish, the four ways have not changed throughout history. It is important to understand that
formal versus informal and singular versus plural are what make the four differences for directly
speaking to someone.
You (informal/singular): tú
You (formal/singular): usted
You (informal/plural): vosotros/vosotras
You (formal/plural): ustedes
When you are speaking directly to one person that you have a personal relationship with or call
by their first name, you will use the form tú.
23
Example: ¿Cómo estás tú? - How are you?
(directly speaking to someone informally)
When you are speaking directly to one person that you have a professional relationship with or
call by their last name, you will use the form usted.
Example: ¿Cómo está usted? - How are you?
(directly speaking to someone formally)
When you are speaking directly to more than one person that you have a personal relationship
with or call by their first name, you will use the form vosotros or vosotras (if it’s an all-female
group).
Example: ¿Cómo estáis vosotros?- How are you? (directly speaking to a group informally)
When you are speaking directly to more than one person that you have a professional
relationship with or call by their last name, you will use the form ustedes.
Example: ¿Cómo están ustedes?- How are you?
(directly speaking to a group formally)
Note: Vosotros is only used in Spain. If you are speaking Spanish anywhere that is not Spain, in
order to directly speak to a group you will use ustedes. This makes it easier, because everywhere
else the formal vs. informal relationship does not matter, it will be ustedes.
Note: Even though usted and ustedes are (second person) directly speaking to someone, in
Spanish, they are conjugated with third person. The reason is because third person usage sounds
more formal to Spanish speakers.
Example: Usted es loco.- You are crazy.
Example: Ustedes son locos.- You all are crazy.
Checking for Understanding: Section C: Subject Pronouns
1. When are pronouns used?
2. What do subject pronouns do?
3. Subject pronouns are associated with which other part of speech?
4. What is a singular pronoun?
5. What is a plural pronoun?
6. What does first person refer to?
7. What does second person refer to?
8. What does third person refer to?
9. How many forms of “you” exist in Spanish?
10. What are the forms of “you” in Spanish and why are they all different?
24
11. Which form of “you” is formal in Spain, but formal and informal in all other Spanish
speaking countries?
12. Which form of “you” is only used in Spain?
Section C1
Directions: Write the correct English subject pronoun based on the criteria given.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
second person plural:
third person singular:
first person plural:
first person singular:
second person singular:
third person plural:
Section C2
Directions: Write the correct Spanish subject pronoun based on the criteria given.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
second person plural:
third person singular:
first person plural:
first person singular:
second person singular:
third person plural:
Section C3
Directions: Based on the information provided, write which person (1st, 2nd or 3rd) and if it is
singular or plural.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Talking about yourself and one other person.
Talking directly to one person.
Talking about one boy.
Talking about yourself.
Talking about one girl.
Talking about a group of girls.
Talking directly to multiple people.
25
Section C4
Directions: Based on the information provided, the correct Spanish pronoun
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Talking about yourself and one other person.
Talking directly to one person with whom you have a formal relationship.
Talking about one boy.
Talking about yourself.
Talking about one girl.
Talking about a group of girls.
Talking directly to multiple people with whom you have a formal relationship.
Talking directly to one person with whom you have an informal relationship.
Talking directly to multiple people with whom you have an informal relationship that are
of Spanish descent.
Section C5
Directions: Look at the Spanish pronouns listed below. If the word is plural, make it the singular
form. If the word is singular make it the plural form.
1. Vosotros
2. Ellos
3. Ella
4. Yo
5. Tú
6. Nosotros
7. Él
8. Usted
9. Ellas
10. Ustedes
26
Section D: ser- to be
Ser is the first verb that one studies when studying Spanish. The verb ser in English means “to
be”. It is important to know that when the verb ser is conjugated the translation of that verb from
Spanish to English is not always one word to another. The best way to study this verb is to first
make sure that you are aware of what the subject pronouns are. Second, figure out and associate
which form of ser goes with which subject pronoun.
TO BE (English)
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
I am
you are
he/she is
Plural
we are
you all are
they are
Note: Many of the conjugated forms of “to be” in English are the word “are”. In Spanish, the
word “are” cannot translate to one word. Again, it is important to study the verb form that
associates with the subject pronoun.
SER (Spanish)
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
yo soy
tú eres
usted, él, ella es
Plural
nosotros somos
vosotros sois
ustedes, ellos, ellas son
Example: Here is an example of the word “are” being translated differently.
We are nice. “Nosotros somos simpáticos.”
You are nice. “Tú eres simpático”.
They are nice. “Ellos son simpáticos.”
You all are nice. “Vosotros sois simpáticos. or “Ustedes son simpáticos.”
Note: The other forms of “to be” that are conjugated in English are: “am” and “is”. Here are
examples of their usage in Spanish.
I am nice.
“Yo soy simpático.”
She is nice.
“Ella es simpática.”
Checking for Understanding: Section D: Ser
1. Which part of speech cannot be translated from English to Spanish?
2. Other than the word “are”, what are the other ways to conjugate the English verb “to be”?
27
Section D1
Directions: Listed below are Spanish subject pronouns. Write the correct conjugated form of
“ser” with the equivalent subject pronoun.
1. Nosotros
2. Ustedes
3. Yo
4. Vosotros
5. Ellos
6. Él
7. Tú
8. Ella
9. Usted
10. Ellas
Section D2
Directions: Read the following dialogue. Place in the correct form of “ser”. When you finish
completing the dialogue by filling in the blanks, make sure to re-read the entire dialogue (silently
and aloud) with your answers for accuracy and understanding.
1. Susana: Hola, Luz. ¿_____________ tú de España?
2. Luz: Sí, Susana yo _____________ de España.
3. Susana: ¿ _____________ tú de Barcelona?
4. Luz: No, yo _____________ de Madrid.
5. Luz: Madrid _____________ la capital de España.
6. Susana: Y Martín, ¿_____________ Martín de Barcelona?
7. Luz: No, nosotros dos _____________ de Madrid.
8. Susana: ¿_____________ Barcelona diferente que Madrid?
9. Luz: Sí Barcelona _____________ diferente que Madrid.
10. Luz: En mi opinión, Barcelona _____________ más bonita que Madrid.
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Section E: Basic Adjectives
Adjectives are lexicons or parts of speech that describe nouns (a name of a person, place or thing
that takes an article).
In Spanish, adjectives must agree in gender and number. This is very important concept to
practice, because adjectives do not agree in gender and number in the English language.
Sometimes, this can be difficult for English speakers to remember when practicing in Spanish, so
make sure that you are aware of this.
Gender: Masculine or Feminine: In Spanish, people and objects can be masculine or feminine.
Masculine: No addition needed. (This is the regular form.)
Feminine:


If the regular adjective form ends with an “o”, you must change the adjective to
end in an “a” if it is a feminine noun.
If the regular adjective form ends with an “e” or a consonant, even if the word is
feminine there is no change needed. This is called the neuter form.
Example: The pretty lady.
Example: The young lady.
La dama bonita.
La dama joven.
Note: In the first example, the word “dama” (lady) is a feminine word; therefore,
the word “bonito” needs to be changed to “bonita”, which ends in an “a”. This is
to keep consistency with noun/adjective agreement.
Note: In the second example, the word “dama” (lady) is a feminine word;
however, the word “joven” ends with the consonant “n”; therefore, there is no
change necessary, because this adjective is neuter, which means it does not take a
masculine or feminine form.
Number: Singular or Plural: If there is only one object or person, then it is singular. If there is
more than one person or object, then it is plural.
Singular: No addition needed. (This is the regular form.)
Plural:


To make an adjective plural: add “s” if the word ends with a vowel.
To make an adjective plural: add “es” if the word ends with a consonant.
Example: We are young.
Nosotros somos jóvenes.
29
Example: I am young.
Yo soy joven.
Note: The first example is plural, because the word “we” is plural, referring to more
than one person. The word “joven” (young) has added an “es” to make it plural. It
adds an “es”, because the word joven ends in the consonant “n”.
Example: We are nice.
Example: I am nice.
Nosotros somos simpáticos.
Yo soy simpático.
Note: The first example is plural, because the word “we” is plural, referring to more than
one person. The word “simpático” (nice) has added an “s” to make it plural. It only adds
an “s”, because the word simpático ends in the vowel “o”.
Gender with Number:
There are instances where the noun is feminine and plural. When this happens, you must
make both the gender and the number agree.
Él es simpático.
“He is nice.”
(masculine/singular)
Ella es simpática.
“She is nice.”
(feminine/singular)
Ellos son simpáticos.
“They (general form) are nice.”
(masculine/plural)
Ellas son simpáticas.
“They (women) are nice.”
(feminine/plural)
Note: The last example, “Ellas son simpáticas” is an example of when a word is plural
and feminine. Notice that the “o” was changed to an “a” (to make it feminine). Notice
that the “s” was added to the end of the adjective simpática in order to make it plural.
30
Vocabulary
1. bajo
2. alto
3. flaco
4. gordo
5. bonito
6. feo
7. guapo
8. bueno
9. malo
10. simpático
11. antipático
12. largo
13. corto
14. cómico
15. aburrido
16. divertido
17. rubio
18. moreno
19. pelirrojo
20. inteligente
21. tonto
22. perezoso
23. activo
24. viejo
25. joven
26. antiguo
27. nuevo
short (stature)
tall
skinny
fat
pretty
ugly
beautiful
good
bad
nice
mean
long
short (length)
funny
boring
fun
blonde
brown-haired (or dark-haired)
red-haired
smart
dumb
lazy
active/studious
old (person)
young
old (object)
new
Checking for Understanding: Section E: Basic Adjectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What do adjectives do (in Spanish and English)?
What must adjectives do in Spanish?
What can be masculine and feminine in Spanish?
To make a word plural that ends in a vowel, what must you add?
To make a word plural that ends in a consonant, what must you add?
What does “neuter” mean linguistically?
In Spanish, what type of words are “neuter”?
What is the regular form of an adjective (2 things).
31
Section E1
Directions: Give the antonym (opposite word) of the vocabulary word listed below.
1. bonito
2. inteligente
3. antipático
4. activo
5. malo
6. alto
7. largo
8. gordo
9. feo
10. perezoso
Section E2
Directions: Each of the words listed below are in the general form (masculine/singular form).
Change the words based on the criteria.
1. bonito (feminine/singular)
2. guapo (masculine/plural)
3. inteligente (feminine)
4. activo (feminine/plural)
5. perezoso (feminine/singular)
6. bueno (masculine/plural)
7. malo (feminine/plural)
8. antipático (feminine/singular)
9. simpático (feminine/plural)
10. feo (masculine/plural)
Section E3
Directions: Each of the phrases needs to be changed based on the criteria. Make sure to make
necessary changes to the adjective and the form of ser. Remember that verbs can be singular and
plural, but not masculine or feminine.
Example: Yo soy bueno. (feminine/plural)  Nosotras somos buenas.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Tú eres simpático. (masculine/plural)
Ellos son activos. (feminine/singular)
Usted es antipática. (masculine/plural)
Nosotros somos divertidos. (masculine/singular)
32
5. Yo soy tonto. (masculine/plural)
6. Ella es guapa. (feminine/plural)
7. Ella es guapa. (masculine/plural)
8. Vosotros sois cómicos. (feminine/singular)
9. Ustedes son inteligentes. (masculine/singular)
10. Nosotras somos malas. (masculine/singular)
Section E4
Directions: Categorize the words based on if they are “malo” (bad) or “bueno” (good).
1. perezoso
2. tonto
3. aburrido
4. bonito
5. gordo
6. divertido
7. inteligente
8. feo
9. flaco
10. cómico
Section E5
Directions: Connecting all concepts: Write as much information as you can about the following
phrases. Write which person (1st, 2nd or 3rd) if the adjective is masculine or feminine, and finally
if the phrase (verb, pronoun and adjective) is singular or plural.
1. Ellos son inteligentes.
2. Ella es morena.
3. Vosotras sois divertidas.
4. Yo soy bueno.
5. María es flaca.
6. Usted es aburrido.
7. Nosotros somos cómicos.
8. Él es perezoso.
9. Ustedes son rubias.
10. Tú eres alto.
33