ESPAÑOL

Module 1:
Introduction and Review

Overview

In this module, we will focus on helping you recall and recognize

some lessons that you have discussed in your previous FL class in Spanish.
This module will help you familiarize yourselves again with the alphabet,
accentuation, definite and indefinite articles, and forming/using some basic
greetings and other useful phrases.

I. Objectives

1. Identify [and pronounce] the Spanish alphabet correctly.

2. Determine whether a word/syllable needs an accent mark or not.
3. Differentiate Spanish definite and indefinite articles.
4. Construct simple phrases/sentences.
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II. Discussion

A. El alfabeto

a a
b be
c ce
ch che
d de
e e
f efe
g ge
h hache
i i
j jota r erre
k ka s ese
l ele t te
ll elle u u
m eme v uve
n ene w uve doble
ñ eñe x equis
o o y i griega/ye
p pe z zeta
q qu/cu

 c – if this is followed by e or i, it is pronounced as s or th (as in theraphy

or thin); if followed by a, o, or u, it is pronounced as c/k as in car, ko, or
cup

 g – pronounced as h
general Luna = heneral Luna
 h – silent h-sound
hablo Español is pronounced as ablo Español
 j – pronounced as h or sometimes like a hard g (ge)
pronounce the English H but lift your tongue a little bit, just as if you
were going to pronounce the letter K (or make the sound like you are
gargling)

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 ll – pronounced as y or ja
quesadilla – quesadiya or quesadija
 v – oftentimes, there is no distinct differences between v and b in Spanish
pronunciation
 z – can be pronounced as s or th (as in thin/theta)

B. Las reglas de acentuación (the rules of accentuation)

Accent marks in Spanish, called tilde, serve as a pronunciation aid. There
are two types of syllables within a word: tónicas and átonas.
 tónicas - those syllables that carry the stress of the word, or the
strength when pronouncing it. The bold syllables below are examples
of tónicas.
mesa, azul, cantar, corazón
 átonas - those syllables within the word that do not carry the stress of
the word. The bold syllables below are examples of átonas.
mesa, azul, cantar, corazón

When placing tildes in Spanish words we must learn about four types of words:
agudas, llanas, esdrújulas, and sobresdrújulas.

1. Palabras agudas
 words in which the last syllable is the tónica. Meaning, they have the
stress on the last syllable.

caracol instructor verdad corazón

camión pintor

You may be wondering why some agudas have a tilde and some do not. Let us
wait for the accentuation rules below.

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2. Palabras llanas
 words in which the stress falls in the next to the last syllable

lápiz toro come carta hábil

You probably observed again that some llanas words above do carry a tilde, and
some do not. This is due to the rules of accentuation that we will explain below.

3. Palabras esdrújulas
 words that carry the stress or the strength in the third syllable (we
always count from the last syllable backwards)

teléfono esdrújula tarántula

espátula cómpralas

Have you noticed they all carry a tilde?

4. Palabras sobresdrújulas
 words in which the stress falls in the fourth or higher syllables

cómetelas alfabéticamente inútilmente cómpraselas

Have you noticed that these are all accentuated?

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Now that we covered a few concepts we are ready to learn the

ACCENTUATION RULES IN SPANISH.

 Words that are agudas carry a tilde (accent mark) when they end in -n, -s or
a vowel.

Example: comió, canción, café, balón, Tomás

However, words that are agudas and come from other languages like English,
that end in –s and preceded by a consonant, do not carry a tilde.

Also, words that are agudas and end in -y do not carry a tilde, as y is a
consonant.

 Words that are llanas carry a tilde if they do not end in -n, -s or a vowel.

Example: lápiz, cáliz, hábil

Words that are llanas also carry an accent mark or tilde when they end in -s
preceded by another consonant. Such as:

bíceps cómics

 Words that are esdrújulas always carry an accent mark.

Example: mecánico, cántico, cántaro, esdrújula, brújula

 Words that are sobresdrújulas always carry an accent mark, just as the
esdrújulas.

Example: cómetelo, cómpraselas, cántasela

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Additional rules:

 Hiato happens when we have a syllable that has a combination of a strong

vowel (a, e, o) and a weak vowel (i, u). In these cases, we always
accentuate the weak vowel and they do not follow the accentuation rules
that we covered above.

huía raíz freír maría baúl

 Adverbs ending in –mente: carry an accent mark if the original adjective

carried one.
rápido–rápidamente
hábil–hábilmente
útil – útilmente

 Some one-syllable Spanish words have the same spelling but different
meanings due to an accent mark.

Examples:

aún: still, yet

aun: even
él: he
el: the
más: more
mas: but
sí: yes
si: if

 Sometimes a singular accented word loses its accent when made plural. Since
the number of syllables increases

Examples: acción acciones

clarín clarines

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 The reverse is true when a plural accented word is made singular.

Examples: jóvenes joven

crímines crimen

EXERCISES: Place an accent mark/tilde if needed.

1. dolar 11. sabes

2. avion 12. arbol
3. ladron 13. conmigo
4. parentesis 14. complicado
5. heroes 15. veintidos
6. maquina 16. el (the)
7. dificil 17. el (he)
8. estudiante 18. universidad
9. caracter 19. estacion
10. toman 20. apostrofo

C. Los artículos (definidos, indefinidos, masculino, feminino)

(adapted from Definite and Indefinite Artucles Part I and Part II from:
https://studyspanish.com/grammar/lessons/defart1 and
https://studyspanish.com/grammar/lessons/defart2)

PART 1

MASCULINO FEMININO
singular plural singular plural
DEFINIDOS el los la las
INDEFINIDO un unos una unas
S

In Spanish, the definite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is
masculine, feminine, singular or plural.

el gato the male cat la gata the female cat

los gatos the male cats las gatas the female cats

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Note: The masculine plural definite and indefinite articles (los, unos) are also
used to indicate a group of mixed sex. Thus, “los gatos” could refer to a group of
10 male cats, or it could refer to a group of 9 female cats and one male cat.

Again, the 4 forms of the definite article are:

el masculine singular
la feminine singular
los masculine plural
las feminine plural

In Spanish, the indefinite article also has 4 forms, depending on whether the
noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.

un gato a male cat unos gatos some male cats

una gata a female cat unas gatas some female cats

Note: Remember, as long as the group of creatures has at least one male
member, the masculine plural article is used. Thus, “unos gatos” could refer to a
group of 10 male cats, or it could refer to a group of 9 female cats and one male
cat.

Again, the 4 forms of the indefinite article are:

un masculine singular
una feminine singular
unos masculine plural
unas feminine plural

Note: “Un” and “una” can mean “one,” “a,” or “an.”

un libro one book, a book

una pluma one pen, a pen
una manzana one apple, an apple

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PART 2

Here are some additional rules to help you use the definite article correctly.

 For example, feminine singular nouns that begin with an emphasized

a or ha use the masculine form of the article.

el agua el hacha el hambre el águila

 The said rule only applies to the singular form of the noun. The plural form
uses the feminine article.

las aguas las hachas las hambres las águilas

Note: The reason the singular form uses the masculine article is that when the
first syllable is an emphasized a or ha, the article la tends to run together with
the first syllable of the word when they are spoken. This doesn’t happen with the
article las.

 The definite article is used with some countries and cities, and is not used
with others. Here are some examples where it is used:

la Argentina
el Brasil
el Canadá
el Ecuador
la Florida
la Habana
la India
el Japón
el Paraguay
el Perú
el Salvador
el Uruguay

**There is no convenient rule to tell you when to use the definite article. You
simply have to memorize the ones that do.

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 The definite article is always used with compound geographic names.

la América Central
la América del Sur
los Estados Unidos
la Gran Bretaña

 The definite article is used when talking about a person, but it is not used
when talking directly to a person.

El señor Gómez es profesor.

Señor Gómez, ¿es usted profesor?

La señorita está muy bonita.

¡Señorita! Usted está muy bonita esta noche.

 The definite article is used when reflexive verbs are followed by body parts,
clothing or other very personal possessions.

María se lava la cara.

Él se pone el traje.

 The definite article is often used in place of the possessive adjective when
talking about parts of the body, or possessions that might be considered
“personal.” For example, in English it would be quite common to say:

Joseph washes his clothes.

To convey the same meaning in Spanish, it would be correct to say:

Jose lava la ropa. (not “su” ropa)

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D. Saludos (Greetings)
Español Inglés
Hola Hello, hi
Buenos días Good morning
Buenas tardes Good afternoon
Buenas noches Good evening, night

E. Despedidas (Good byes)

Español Inglés
Adiós Good bye
Hasta luego See you later
Hasta mañana See you tomorrow
Hasta la vista See you when I see you
Nos vemos We’ll see each other later.

F. Nombres (Names)
¿Cómo te llamas? (What is your name? – informal)
Me llamo _________, ¿y tú? (My name is ________, and you? – informal)

G. Nacionalidad (Nationality)
¿De dónde eres? (Where are you from? – informal)
Soy de _________ (insert country of origin or país)

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H. Frases utiles (Useful phrases)

Preguntas y Respuestas – Questions and Answers
Español Inglés
¿Cómo te llamas? What’s your name? (informal)
Me llamo ...... My name is .....
¿Cómo estás? How are you? (informal) Expresiones de
¿Qué tal? What’s up? (very informal) cortesía
Estoy bien. I’m fine/well.
Estoy más o menos. I’m OK.
Estoy mal. I’m bad.
Estoy cansado (a) I’m tired.
Estoy feliz. I’m happy.
¿De dónde eres? Where are you from? (informal)
Yo soy de .... I am from ....
¿Cuántos años tienes? How old are you? (informal)
Yo tengo .... años. I am .... years old.
¿y tú? And you? (informal)
Español Inglés
Mucho gusto. Pleased to meet you.
Encantado (a). Enchanted.
Es un placer. It’s a pleasure.
Igualmente Same here.

Questions to ASK ADULTS (respectful, formal forms)

¿Cómo se llama Usted?
¿Cómo está Usted?
¿De dónde es Usted?
¿Cuántos años tiene Usted?
¿y Usted?
What’s your name? (formal)
How are you? (formal)
Where are you from? (formal)
How old are you? (formal)
And you? (formal)

Questions and Answers to TALK ABOUT OTHERS

¿Cómo se llama ella? What is her name?

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¿Cómo se llama él? What is his name?

Él / Ella se llama .... Her/his name is…
¿Cómo está ella? How is she?
¿Cómo está él? How is he?
Él / Ella está contento (a). He/she is content.
Él / Ella está emocionado (a). He/she is excited. ¡OJO!
Él / Ella está triste. He/she is sad. Notice some extra
Él / Ella está enojado (a). He/she is angry. emotion words here!
You can use these to talk
Él / Ella está enfermo (a). He/she is sick. about yourself too:
(Estoy emocionada.)
Él / Ella está confundido (a). He/she is confused.
Él / Ella está aburrido (a). He/she is bored.
¿De dónde es ella? Where is she from?
¿De dónde es él? Where is he from?
Él / Ella es de .... He/she is from…
¿Cuántos años tiene ella? How old is she?
¿Cuántos años tiene él? How old is he?
Él / Ella tiene .... años. He/she is …. years old.

More useful phrases that you can use in class:

No entiendo. ¿Puedes repetir, por favor? (I don’t understand. Can you repeat
that?)
¿Cómo se dice ________ en español? (How do you say __________ in Spanish?)
Se dice __________. (You say/call it ______.)
Más despacio, por favor. (Slowly/slower, please.)
¿Cómo se escribe “________?” (How do you spell “__________?”)
¿Está bien así? (Is this correct?)
¿Qué significa _________? (What does _______ mean?)
No sé. (I don’t know.)

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III. Assessment

Aside from accomplishing the exercise given above (page 7), kindly
wait for a Google form/link for your assessment/quiz.

References:

Kattan-Ibarra, J., & Pountain, C. J. (2003). Modern Spanish Grammar A Practical

Guide. New York: Routledge.

Nissenberg, G. (2018). Complete Spanish All-in-One. McGraw-Hill Education.

Worden, B. (2015) Learning Spanish How TO Understand and Speak a New

Language. Virginia: The Teaching Company.

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