A2 Spanish
You can hold a short conversation about your own life, the past, and your plans — as long as it stays concrete. This is where the choices start to matter: which verb, which register.
Everything at A2
- Ser vs estar: the rule that actually works
Permanent versus temporary is the rule everyone is taught and it fails constantly. Here is the one that holds up, plus the adjectives that change meaning.
Unit: Ser and estar Ser and estar
- Estar + gerundio: the Spanish present progressive
How to say what is happening right now in Spanish, how to build the gerund from each verb group, and why Spanish uses this tense far less than English does.
Unit: The present The presentPeruvian Spanish
- Possession with de: Spanish has no apostrophe s
Spanish builds possession backwards from English, with de. Here is how to flip it, plus when de and el contract into del.
Unit: Possession Nouns and articlesPrepositions
- Poder: can, can't, and the polite Peruvian request
Poder plus an infinitive covers ability, possibility and permission — and ¿puede...? is how you ask a Peruvian stranger for anything.
Unit: Modal verbs The presentRegister and politenessPeruvian Spanish
- Querer, preferir, necesitar: want, prefer, need
Three verbs that take a bare infinitive or a noun, two of them with a stem change — and why quiero is too blunt for ordering in Peru.
Unit: Modal verbs The presentRegister and politeness
- Spanish adverbs of manner: -mente, bien and mal
How to build an adverb from an adjective, why bien is not bueno, and the short forms Peruvians use instead of the long ones.
Unit: Adverbs AdjectivesPeruvian Spanish
- Gustar: the verb that works backwards
Me gusta does not mean "I like" — it means "it pleases me". Once the sentence is the right way round, the agreement and the other verbs like it follow.
Unit: Everyday verbs PronounsThe present
- Spanish frequency adverbs: siempre to nunca
The scale from siempre to nunca, the cada and todos los patterns, and the double negative nunca forces on you.
Unit: Adverbs The presentPeruvian Spanish
- Reflexive verbs, and the whole daily routine
Me levanto, me ducho, me visto. What the extra pronoun is doing, the verbs that change meaning with it, and the routine vocabulary in order.
Unit: Pronouns PronounsThe present
- Qué or cuál? Why ¿Qué es tu nombre? is wrong
English what and which do not map onto qué and cuál. The split is definition against selection, and it decides one very common question.
Unit: Questions Asking questionsPeruvian Spanish
- Comparing things in Spanish — más que, tan como, el más
One pattern for more-than, one for as-as, one for the most. Four irregular forms, and the -ísimo ending that does the work of "really".
Unit: Describing things Adjectives
- Spanish quantifiers: mucho, poco, cada, todo, ningún
Which quantifiers agree with the noun and which never change, plus the article todo needs and the no that ningún drags along.
Unit: Quantity AdjectivesNouns and articles
- Por vs para: the split that actually works
Both translate as "for", which is why the rule has to come from somewhere else. Para looks forward to a destination; por looks at the reason or the route.
Unit: Prepositions Prepositions
- Mucho or muy? The A2 mistake everyone makes
Muy goes with adjectives and adverbs, mucho with nouns and verbs. Here is the one-second test, plus tengo mucho frío and me gusta mucho.
Unit: Quantity AdjectivesPeruvian Spanish
- Saber vs conocer: two verbs for one English word
Saber is facts and skills; conocer is people and places. The forms, the split, and what each one means in the past tense, where they change meaning.
Unit: Everyday verbs The presentThe past
- Too + adjective in Spanish: demasiado, not muy
English too is demasiado. Está muy caro and está demasiado caro are different sentences, and in a market they are different moves.
Unit: Quantity AdjectivesMoney and bargaining
- ¿No? ¿Cierto? ¿Ya? — how Peruvians check you agree
The little words tacked onto the end of a sentence to soften it or ask for agreement. What each one does in Lima, and which not to use yet.
Unit: Asking questions Small talkAsking questionsPeruvian SpanishRegister and politeness
- Alguien, nadie, algo, nada: Spanish indefinites
The somebody-nobody pairs, when alguno shortens to algún, and why Spanish makes you say no twice.
Unit: Quantity PronounsPeruvian Spanish
- A, hacia, de: to, towards and of in Spanish
A is the destination you arrive at, hacia the direction you face, de the origin or the link. Plus the two contractions al and del.
Unit: Prepositions PrepositionsGetting around
- The present perfect — and why Peru uses it less than Spain
He hablado, has comido, ha vivido. How to build it, the eight irregular participles, and why the pretérito does this job in Peru.
Unit: The past The past
- The Spanish imperative: commands, and how to soften them
Affirmative and negative commands are built from different stems, tú has eight irregulars, and in Peru a bare command is usually the wrong register anyway.
Unit: Commands Register and politenessSubjunctive
- Peruvian diminutives: why -ito is not about size
In Peru -ito is about warmth, softening and politeness far more than size. Ahorita, un cafecito, un momentito — what they mean and when they sting.
Unit: Word formation Peruvian SpanishRegister and politenessSmall talk
- Spanish augmentatives: -ón, -azo and -ote
How -ón, -azo and -ote work in Peru: -azo is the productive one, it means a great one or a blow with one, and -ón often insults the person.
Unit: Word formation Peruvian SpanishRegister and politeness
- Peruvian menu words, explained
Ceviche, lomo saltado, ají, chicha, causa and the rest — what the words on a Peruvian menu mean and how to say them.
- How to bargain in Spanish in Peru
Where bargaining is normal and where it is rude, the four phrases that do the whole job, and how to walk away without offending anyone.
Money and bargainingRegister and politenessGetting aroundPeruvian Spanish
- Spanish for an emergency in Peru
The phrases for getting help fast, the numbers to call, and how to report something lost or stolen without hunting for words.
- Spanish for doors, doorways and entrances
Puerta, portón, zaguán and portada — the words for the doorways you will photograph in Peru, and how to describe them.
- Spanish for Peruvian textiles and crafts
Alpaca and acrylic, the words for weaving, silver and ceramics, and the questions that tell you what a craft piece actually is.
- How Peruvians say "friend" (and when each one works)
Pata, causa, choche, amigo. Peru has several words for friend and picking the wrong one marks you out. What each carries, and who to say it to.