Do you notice your vocabulary grow from lesson to lesson? Make sure that you learn ALL the words of the lesson before starting with the next one. A very useful habit would be creating a short story about yourself based on the vocabulary of each lesson and memorising it.
Vocabulary
In this lesson, we will practice the following vocabulary. Read the words, listen to the audio and remember them:
ciudad
city
pueblo
town
casa
house, home
apartamento
apartment
oficina
office
centro
centre
país
country
vacaciones
holiday, vacation
grande
big
pequeño
small
bonito
beautiful
ahora
now
aquí
here
vivir
to live
estar
to be
Dialogues
Listen carefully to the following Spanish dialogues. They will help you understand this lesson’s vocabulary in the right context:
Dialogue 1
Hola, Patricia. ¿De dónde eres?
Hello, Patricia. Where are you from?
Soy de España, de Sevilla. Pero ahora vivo en Alemania.
I’m from Spain, from Seville. But now I live in Germany.
¿Es Sevilla una ciudad grande?
Is Seville a big city?
Sí, Sevilla es una ciudad grande y muy bonita.
Yes, Seville is a big and beautiful city.
¿Y en qué ciudad vives ahora?
What city do you live in now?
Ahora vivo en Berlín. Berlín también es una ciudad muy grande y muy bonita.
Now I live in Berlin. Berlin is also a very big and beautiful city.
Dialogue 2
Hola, Julio. ¿Dónde estás? ¿En la oficina?
Hello, Julio. Where are you? Are you at the office?
No, estoy en casa.
No, I’m at home.
¿Por qué estás en casa?
Why are you at home?
Porque estoy de vacaciones.
Because I’m on holiday.
Dialogue 3
Marta, ¿dónde vives ahora?
Marta, where do you live now?
Ahora vivo en Barcelona. Barcelona es una ciudad grande. Pero soy de un pueblo pequeño.
Now I live in Barcelona. Barcelona is a big city. But I come from a small town.
¿Tu hermana vive en Barcelona también?
Does your sister also live in Barcelona?
No, ahora vive en Buenos Aires porque su marido es argentino.
No, now she lives in Buenos Aires because her husband is Argentinian.
Text
Read the following text in Spanish. You can check the English translation if you need help. Also, listen to the audio and try to understand everything:
Hola, ¿que tal? Me llamo Laura. Soy española. España es un país grande. Soy de Córdoba. Es una ciudad muy bonita.
Hello, how are you? My name is Laura. I’m Spanish. Spain is a big country. I’m from Cordoba. It’s a very beautiful city.
Ahora vivo en Madrid porque mi marido es de Madrid. Vivimos en un apartamento pequeño en el centro.
Now I live in Madrid because my husband is from Madrid. We live in a small apartment in the centre.
Mis padres viven en Córdoba en una casa grande. Ahora mi marido y yo también estamos aquí en Córdoba porque estamos de vacaciones.
My parents live in Cordoba in a big house. Now my husband and I are also here in Cordoba because we are on holiday.
Spanish grammar
We will now study the grammar used in this lesson:
The verb “vivir” (to live)
Starting with this lesson, we will study verbs that form the basis of our daily speech. You will learn about different tenses and types of conjugation of Spanish verbs. Try to memorise the forms of each verb as you go. If you skip the “boring” part of learning the verbs you might soon get overwhelmed by too many verb forms (not that we want to scare you).
In Spanish, there are three types of conjugation:
- 1st conjugation: verbs ending in “-ar“
- 2nd conjugation: verbs ending in “-er“
- 3rd conjugation: verbs ending in “-ir“
You will see that all the conjugation types follow very similar patterns. Let’s have a look at the verb “vivir” which belongs to the 3rd conjugation:
| vivir (to live) |
|---|
| yo vivo |
| tú vives |
| él/ella/usted vive |
| nosotros vivimos |
| vosotros vivís |
| ellos/ustedes viven |
Don’t forget that pronouns are usually omitted in a Spanish sentence. Use the preposition “en” (in/at) to add the place you live in. Look at the phrases below and try to come up with your own examples:
- Vivo en Nueva York. = I live in New York.
- Mis abuelos viven en un pueblo. = My grandparents live in a village.
- Vivimos en un apartamento. = We live in an apartment.
- ¿Vives en una casa grande? = Do you live in a big house?
The verb “estar” (to be, to be situated)
The verb “estar” belongs to the 1st conjugation. The form “yo”, however, is an exception. Let’s memorise all the forms:
| estar (to be) |
|---|
| yo estoy |
| tú estás |
| él/ella/usted está |
| nosotros estamos |
| vosotros estáis |
| ellos/ustedes están |
You already know that in Spanish, there are two verbs with the meaning “to be”: ser and estar. The main difference between them is the following:
- the verb “ser” is usually used to express a constant quality of the object:
Soy español. = I’m Spanish (it’s my constant quality, I can’t be Spanish today and English tomorrow). - the verb “estar” is used:
- to express location:
Estoy en Madrid. = I’m in Madrid. - to express a variable quality:
Estoy bien. = I’m fine.
Estoy de vacaciones. = I’m on holiday.
- to express location:
Now let’s summarize the situations where we have already used the verb “ser”. Notice that all the situations can be united under the meaning of “constant quality”:
- name: Soy Pedro. = I’m Pedro.
- nationality: Soy español. = I’m Spanish.
- profession: Soy profesor. = I’m a teacher.
- who is who: Soy tu amigo. = I’m your friend.
Common mistake
Ser or Estar?
Choosing the wrong verb “to be” is one of the most common mistakes of all Spanish learners. Don’t expect any magic rule that will clarify everything, it doesn’t exist. Start learning all the usages one by one. Phrases like “to be on vacation” should be memorised together with the verb: estar de vacaciones.
Articles: el, la, los etc.
In Spanish, there are articles, just like in English. In English, there are only two articles: “a” and “the”. In Spanish, there are more due to the fact that the articles can be of different gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).
| Definite articles (correspond to the English “the”) | Indefinite articles (correspond to the English “a”) | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine singular | el amigo | un amigo |
| feminine singular | la amiga | una amiga |
| masculine plural | los amigos | unos amigos |
| feminine plural | las amigas | unas amigas |
Spanish articles are used in the same way as English ones. Compare the examples:
- – Vivo en un pueblo. – I live a village.
- – ¿Cómo se llama el pueblo? – What is the village called? (the village you just mentioned).
Attention!
Adjectives and word order
In English, adjectives usually come before nouns: a big city / a small city. In Spanish, adjectives come after the nouns: una ciudad grande. If we have several adjectives they all go after the noun as well: una ciudad grande y bonita. Don’t forget that adjectives also agree with the nouns in gender and number: una ciudad bonita – un pueblo bonito / unas ciudades bonitas – unos pueblos bonitos.
Test
Check if you know this lesson:
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