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Spanish 1 Unit 1: Greetings, alphabet and numbers

The first unit gets you talking: greeting people, introducing yourself, and counting.

Covers: Greetings and goodbyes, introductions, tú vs usted, numbers 0–100, the alphabet and pronunciation

Study guide

Greetings change with the time of day and how well you know someone: buenos días (good morning), buenas tardes (good afternoon), buenas noches (good evening or good night), and the all-purpose hola (hi). Common questions are ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?, informal) and ¿Cómo está usted? (formal); answers include bien, muy bien, más o menos and mal. Goodbyes include adiós, hasta luego (see you later), hasta mañana and chao.

To introduce yourself, say Me llamo… (my name is…) or Soy… (I am…). Ask someone's name with ¿Cómo te llamas? (informal) or ¿Cómo se llama usted? (formal). Respond to an introduction with mucho gusto or encantado/encantada (nice to meet you). ¿De dónde eres? asks where someone is from: Soy de…

Spanish has two ways to say "you." Tú is informal, for friends, family, children and peers. Usted is formal, for adults you don't know well, older people, and to show respect. Ustedes is the plural "you all" in Latin America.

Numbers: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez; 11–15 are once, doce, trece, catorce, quince; 16–29 are written as single words (dieciséis, veintiuno). From 31 on, use tens + y + ones: treinta y uno, cuarenta y cinco. The tens are veinte, treinta, cuarenta, cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, noventa, and 100 is cien.

Spanish pronunciation is very regular. Vowels are short and pure: a (ah), e (eh), i (ee), o (oh), u (oo). The h is silent, ñ sounds like "ny," ll and y usually sound like English y, j sounds like a strong h, and rr is rolled. Written accents show stress and sometimes distinguish words.

The letters are named a, be, ce, de, e, efe, ge, hache, i, jota, ka, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, cu, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve doble, equis, ye (or i griega) and zeta. Spelling a name aloud is a common first-year task: "¿Cómo se escribe?" asks "How do you spell it?" Words ending in a vowel, n or s are stressed on the next-to-last syllable (casa, hablan). Words ending in any other consonant are stressed on the last syllable (papel, ciudad). Any word that breaks these rules needs a written accent on the stressed vowel (lápiz, café, inglés).

Uno shortens to un before a masculine noun and becomes una before a feminine one: un libro, una mesa, veintiún estudiantes. Above 100, use ciento (ciento diez), the hundreds (doscientos, quinientos, setecientos and novecientos), and mil for 1,000 (dos mil). The hundreds agree with feminine nouns: doscientas personas. ¿De dónde eres? asks where you're from (Soy de Chile). ¿Dónde vives? asks where you live (Vivo en Texas). Answer the first with ser + de and the second with vivir + en.

Key ideas

• Hola (hi), Buenos días (good morning), Buenas tardes (good afternoon), Buenas noches (good evening/night).
• ¿Cómo te llamas? Me llamo… (What's your name? My name is…)
• Use tú with friends and family; usted with adults you don't know well.
• Numbers 16–29 are usually one word: dieciséis, veintiuno.
• Spanish vowels have one sound each: a, e, i, o, u.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Using tú with a teacher or stranger.
• Writing veinte y uno instead of veintiuno.

Words to know

hola

hi

buenos días

good morning

buenas tardes

good afternoon

buenas noches

good evening / good night

¿cómo estás?

how are you? (informal)

¿cómo está usted?

how are you? (formal)

¿qué tal?

how's it going?

muy bien

very well

bien

fine / well

más o menos

so-so

mal

bad / not well

adiós

goodbye

hasta luego

see you later

hasta mañana

see you tomorrow

nos vemos

see you

¿cómo te llamas?

what's your name? (informal)

¿cómo se llama usted?

what's your name? (formal)

me llamo

my name is

mucho gusto

nice to meet you

encantado / encantada

delighted / nice to meet you

igualmente

likewise

¿de dónde eres?

where are you from?

soy de

I'm from

usted

you (formal)

el señor

the sir / Mr.

la señora

the madam / Mrs.

la señorita

the miss

por favor

please

gracias

thank you

de nada

you're welcome

el alfabeto

the alphabet

la letra

the letter

la vocal

the vowel

la eñe

the letter ñ

la hache

the letter h (silent)

¿cómo se escribe?

how is it spelled?

cero

zero

uno

one

dos

two

tres

three

Sample practice questions

21 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.