One of the first challenges for Spanish students is understanding grammatical gender, especially if your native language is one where this concept doesn’t exist, such as English. In Spanish, every noun has a gender and is either masculine or feminine. Understanding this is essential because it affects not only the noun itself, but also the […]
One of the most enjoyable elements of learning Spanish is when you begin to notice patterns, as can be the case with compound words. A compound word is simply a word made by joining two or more smaller words together, to create a more specific or even an entirely new meaning. In Spanish, compound words […]
One of the best ways for a Spanish language class to improve skills, especially in speaking and listening, is by taking school trips to Spain. Visiting Spain means learning can take place in a real-world setting, where Spanish is spoken in daily life and where they can interact meaningfully with native speakers. In addition to […]
If you’ve ever tried to ask a question in Spanish and hesitated between using “qué” or “cuál”, you’re not alone. These two little interrogative words often translate to “what” or “which” in English, but their uses don’t map cleanly onto English equivalents. Below, we’ll break down exactly what each of these Spanish words means, and […]
If you’ve spent time in Spain or listened to Spanish speakers, you might have noticed slightly different endings attached to familiar words. These were likely Spanish diminutives. But what exactly are diminutives? Well, Spanish diminutives are special suffixes added to words to subtly modify their meanings. While the most common use in Spain is to […]
When studying a new language, it’s important to be aware of false friends, especially if the language you’re learning has some crossover with your native one. These false friends can cause confusion and, on occasion, lead to some silly mistakes. Fortunately, we have a long list of 25 Spanish-English false friends below, to help steer […]
Learning Spanish can seem like a big challenge at first, but there are several easy ways to learn Spanish that are fun, rewarding and effective. Millions of people around the world speak Spanish as a second language and they’ve picked it up through a variety of methods. Here, in this post, we’ll take a look […]
If you’re learning Spanish, you may have already noticed that some words sound exactly the same but have completely different meanings. A classic case is the trio of “ahí”, “ay”, and “hay”. For beginners, this can be confusing. But, once you practice “ahí”, “ay”, and “hay” in your in-person or online Spanish classes, you’ll quickly […]
Learning Spanish can be a truly rewarding experience, but one of the more challenging aspects for many students is mastering the different past tenses, especially knowing when to use each one. Whether you’re taking online Spanish classes or attending a Spanish course in Madrid, getting a good grasp of the imperfect tense is key to […]
If you decide to learn Spanish in Madrid, or even if you’re taking online Spanish classes, one of the most useful vocabulary lessons will be learning how to say the date in Spanish and how to write the date in Spanish. That’s what we’re going to break down in this guide, which has been written […]
If your mission is how to learn to speak Spanish fluently, it’s important to understand “saber” vs “conocer” and the differences between these two verbs. Both of these verbs can be translated as “to know” in English, but there are differences and nuances to each when it comes to the uses. If you’re taking Spanish […]
Mastering reflexive verbs in Spanish is an important step when learning the language, as these types of verbs are very common in everyday language. The most basic answer to the question of “What is a reflexive verb in Spanish?” is that these are verbs in which the person or thing doing the action is also […]
