Window words: the small words that carry a conversation
The high-frequency joining words are y (and), o (or), pero (but), también (also), antes, después, ahora and aquí. Two carry a rule: y becomes e before a word starting with an i sound, and o becomes u before an o sound.
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
What these are
Jhoslyn calls these window words, after a habit of writing the high-frequency coping words on a window in marker where you cannot avoid reading them. They are the words that are neither nouns nor verbs and never turn up on a vocabulary list — and they are most of what holds a real sentence together.
You can have four hundred nouns and still not build a sentence. Eight of these and you can.
y and o — and the rule nobody teaches you
y = and. o = or. Simple, until the next word starts with the wrong sound.
y → e before a word beginning with an i sound. o → u before a word beginning with an o sound.
- Pedro e Inés son esposos. — not y Inés, because Inés starts with an i sound.
- español e inglés
- madre e hija
- siete u ocho — not o ocho.
- uno u otro
It is a sound rule, like el agua: two identical sounds colliding is awkward, so one of them changes. Note it follows the sound, not the spelling — aguja e hilo works because hilo starts with an i sound despite the silent h.
You will be understood if you get this wrong. You will also be noticed.
The everyday set
| Word | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| y / e | and | Estamos hablando y comiendo. |
| o / u | or | ¿Juan o Óscar? |
| pero | but | La comida es deliciosa, pero cara. |
| también | also, too | Yo también soy profesora. |
| tampoco | neither, not either | Yo tampoco. |
| aquí / acá | here | Él está acá en la casa. |
| allí / allá | there | Está allá. |
| ahora | now | ¿Tú estás cenando ahora? |
| antes (de) | before | Antes de desayunar, caminamos. |
| después (de) | after | Almorzamos después de clases. |
| entonces | then, so | Entonces vamos. |
| porque | because | No fui porque estaba enfermo. |
| muy | very | Está muy lejos. |
| casi | almost | Casi listo. |
| todavía | still, yet | Todavía no. |
| ya | already, now | Ya está. |
Antes and después take de before a noun or an infinitive, and drop it when they stand alone: después de cenar, but nos vemos después.
Three answers that are complete sentences
Worth knowing because they let you reply without building anything.
- Yo también. — me too. (After a positive.)
- Yo tampoco. — me neither. (After a negative.) Using también after a negative is the usual slip: no me gusta → a mí tampoco.
- Todavía no. — not yet.
Ordering a story
Four words and you can narrate.
Primero … luego / después … entonces … al final.
Primero fui al mercado, después al banco, y al final tomé un taxi.
That is a complete story in the present-tense vocabulary you already have.
The Lima additions
Nomás — just, only, right. Tacked on the end and softening everything: ahí nomás, pase nomás, dígame nomás.
O sea — “I mean”, “that is”. The all-purpose rephrasing marker, and extremely frequent.
Igual — anyway, even so. Igual voy. — I’m going anyway.
De repente — maybe, not “suddenly”. It has its own lesson because it changes the meaning of plans: In Peru, “de repente” means maybe.
Ya does a great deal of work here — acknowledgement, “okay”, and the tag at the end of an arrangement. See Peruvian question tags.
Practise
y or e? o or u?
- Pedro ___ Inés
- café ___ té
- siete ___ ocho
- español ___ inglés
- uno ___ dos
→ 1 e · 2 y · 3 u · 4 e · 5 o.
And finish these:
- No me gusta. — A mí ___. (me neither)
- ___ de cenar, salimos. (after)
→ 6 tampoco · 7 Después.
Next
→ Regular verbs in the present
Topics Joining ideasThe present
The small words that hold a sentence together
The joining words, the sound rule that changes y and o, and the three replies that are complete sentences on their own.
-
1Pedro ___ Inés son esposos.
Answer
e — *Y* becomes *e* before a word starting with an i sound, and *Inés* does. Two i sounds colliding is awkward, so one of them changes.
-
2Son siete ___ ocho soles, más o menos.
Answer
u — *O* becomes *u* before a word starting with an o sound, so *siete u ocho*. Same sound rule as *y → e*, running the other way.
-
3Which one is correct?
Answer
aguja e hilo — *E*, because the rule follows the sound and not the spelling — *hilo* starts with an i sound despite the silent h.
-
4Your friend says *No tengo plata*. You have none either. You say:
Answer
Yo tampoco. — *Tampoco* is the one that follows a negative. Answering *yo también* after *no tengo* is the usual slip, and it says the opposite of what you mean.
-
5How do you say “see you later” — *después* on its own?
Answer
Nos vemos después. — *Antes* and *después* take *de* only before a noun or an infinitive — *después de cenar*. Standing alone they drop it: *nos vemos después*.
-
6*¿Ya llegó el bus?* — you want to answer “not yet”.
Answer
Todavía no. — *Todavía no* — the word order is fixed and the opposite of English. *Ya no* exists but means “not any more”.
-
7A shopkeeper waves you in and says *Pase nomás*. What is *nomás* doing?
Answer
softening the command — go right ahead — *Nomás* is a Lima softener tacked on the end — *pase nomás*, *dígame nomás*, *ahí nomás*. It takes the edge off an instruction.