A1 Spanish
You can introduce yourself, ask for things, and handle a shop or a taxi if people speak slowly. Everything here assumes you are starting from nothing.
Everything at A1
- The five Spanish vowels — and the one English speakers get wrong
Spanish has five vowel sounds and they never change. Here is each one, the English habit that ruins it, and why the O is the hardest for English speakers.
Unit: Sounds PronunciationPeruvian Spanish
- B and V, C and G, and the silent H in Spanish
B and V sound identical in Spanish, H is always silent, and C and G each have two pronunciations. The four consonant rules that cause most beginner errors.
Unit: Sounds PronunciationPeruvian Spanish
- Syllables, stress, and where the written accent goes
Two rules cover where a Spanish word is stressed, and the accent only appears when a word breaks them. Plus the vowel pairs that count as one syllable.
Unit: Sounds Pronunciation
- Greetings and the fifteen phrases that get you through week one
The phrases you need before any grammar — greeting, asking, apologising, and the two questions that keep a conversation alive when you are lost.
Unit: First phrases Small talkGetting aroundRegister and politeness
- Survival Spanish: asking for what you need
The phrases that get you food, water, help and a bathroom in Peru, plus the one frame Peruvians actually use to ask for things.
Unit: Survival Getting aroundFood and marketsPeruvian Spanish
- Spanish noun gender and plurals, without the guessing
Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine, and the ending usually tells you which. The reliable patterns, the exceptions, and how to form plurals.
Unit: Nouns and articles Nouns and articles
- El, la, un, una: which article goes with which noun
Spanish has four definite articles and four indefinite ones, and the choice is forced by the noun. The full table, when to use each, and the el agua trap.
Unit: Nouns and articles Nouns and articles
- Spanish adjective agreement in four patterns
Spanish adjectives change to match the noun and usually come after it. The four ending patterns, where the adjective sits, and the ones that move for effect.
Unit: Describing things AdjectivesLima slang
- Spanish personal pronouns — and why Peru never says vosotros
The full set of Spanish subject pronouns, when to drop them, the tú and usted decision, and why vosotros is not used anywhere in Latin America.
Unit: Pronouns PronounsRegister and politenessPeruvian Spanish
- Ser: conjugation, the five things it is for, and examples
Ser is one of two Spanish verbs meaning "to be". Its present-tense forms, the five jobs it does, and how to build affirmative, negative and question sentences.
Unit: Ser and estar Ser and estarThe present
- Estar: conjugation, and the four things it is for
Estar is the other Spanish verb meaning "to be". Its present-tense forms, the four things it covers, and the Peruvian expressions built on it.
Unit: Ser and estar Ser and estarThe presentLima slang
- The 9 Spanish question words, with examples for each
Qué, cómo, cuándo, dónde, quién, cuál, cuánto, por qué and de quién — what each asks, why they all carry accents, and the qué versus cuál problem.
Unit: Asking questions Asking questionsPeruvian SpanishGetting around
- Window words: the small words that carry a conversation
Y, o, pero, también, antes, después, ahora. Not nouns, not verbs, and doing more work in real speech than either. Including why y sometimes becomes e.
Unit: Joining ideas Joining ideasThe present
- Regular verbs in the present — three endings and you are done
Almost every Spanish verb belongs to one of three groups, and each group has one set of endings. The tables, the stem-change pattern, and what to drill first.
Unit: The present The present
- Numbers, telling the time, and dates in Spanish
Counting to a million, the two things that change with gender, how Spanish tells the time, and why the date order will catch you out.
Unit: Numbers and time Money and bargainingGetting around
- Tener: to have, to be, and to feel like it
Tener means "to have", and it also covers hunger, age, cold, fear and obligation — all the places English uses "to be". The forms and the expressions.
Unit: Everyday verbs The presentPeruvian Spanish
- Hay, estar, and saying where things are
Hay says something exists; estar says where a specific thing is. The difference, the prepositions of place, and the two ways to ask for directions.
Unit: Place and position PrepositionsGetting aroundSer and estar
- Ir + a: the future tense you will actually use
Spanish has a proper future tense and almost nobody uses it in speech. Voy a plus an infinitive does the job, and ir has five more uses worth knowing.
Unit: Everyday verbs The present
- Mi, tu, su — and este, ese, aquel
Possessives agree with the thing owned, not the owner, and su means four different things. Demonstratives come in three distances, not two.
Unit: Nouns and articles Nouns and articlesAdjectives
- Spanish ordinal numbers: primero to décimo, and stop
Spanish only really uses ordinals up to ten. Past that it switches to ordinary numbers — including the century you are living in.
Unit: Numbers AdjectivesPeruvian Spanish
- How to say goodbye in Peruvian Spanish
Why adiós is almost never used, what "ya, nos vemos" really means, and the long Peruvian goodbye that foreigners keep cutting short.
- Spanish at the pharmacy in Peru
Botica versus farmacia, how to say where it hurts, and the phrases for asking for something without a prescription.
- Spanish for a Peruvian market
How to ask prices by the kilo, use "casera" the way Peruvians actually use it, and get served at a busy stall without hesitating.
- Spanish colours and patterns
The colours, which ones change for gender and which do not, and the words for stripes, checks and the patterns on Peruvian textiles.
- Money and prices in Spanish in Peru
Soles and céntimos, why nobody has change, how to say prices out loud, and the Spanish you need for paying by Yape or card.
- Ordering food in Spanish in Peru
The menú del día, what entrada and segundo actually mean on a Peruvian menu, and the phrases for ordering, asking and paying.
- Small talk in Spanish in Peru
What Peruvians actually say in the first two minutes, why "¿cómo estás?" is not really a question, and how to keep a short exchange going.
- Spanish for taking a taxi in Lima
The eight phrases that actually come up in a Lima taxi, including how fares get agreed before you get in and what to say when the price is too high.