ONE-FLIGHT MINI-COURSE🇪🇸 Spanish Español
Near-phonetic and close to English word order — greetings, key phrases, numbers, and the ser/estar + verb basics that let you build your own sentences.
The idea. A small, high-frequency core plus plug-and-play sentence templates. Learn words inside the patterns, not as flashcards.
The good news. Spanish is spelled the way it sounds, so pronunciation comes fast. The main new idea is that verbs change their ending and there are two words for “to be”.
0 Sounds & spelling
Vowels are pure and short, always the same. Master a few letters and you can read anything aloud.
Vowels (always these)
a e i o u
ah · eh · ee · oh · oo
Letters that differ
j / g(e,i)
raspy “h” — José = ho-SEH
ll
like “y” — llave = YAH-veh
z / ce,ci
“s” (Latin America) / “th” (Spain)
Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable — unless there's an accent mark (á), which wins.
1 Survival phrases
Say these on day one.
Buenos días (BWEH-nos DEE-as)
Good morning
Por favor (por fah-VOR)
Please
Gracias (GRAH-syas)
Thank you
Perdón / Lo siento
Excuse me / Sorry
¿Cómo estás? (KOH-mo es-TAS)
How are you?
¿Cómo te llamas?
What's your name?
Me llamo ___
My name is ___
No entiendo
I don't understand
¿Hablas inglés?
Do you speak English?
¿Cuánto cuesta?
How much is it?
Adiós / Hasta luego
Goodbye
2 Pronouns & “my / your”
Spain uses vosotros for plural “you”; Latin America uses ustedes. Possessives: mi / tu / su.
tú / usted
you (casual / polite)
ustedes / vosotros
you (plural)
mi / tu / su
my / your / his·her
3 Question words
qué what
quién who
dónde where
cuándo when
por qué why
cómo how
cuánto how much
cuál which
Questions get ¿ … ? and often just a rising tone — word order can stay the same.
4 Core verbs
Infinitives end in -ar / -er / -ir. (See §9+ to conjugate.)
estar
to be (state / place)
5 Numbers
1uno
2dos
3tres
4cuatro
5cinco
6seis
7siete
8ocho
9nueve
10diez
20veinte
50cincuenta
100cien
1kmil
6 Essential nouns
People
hombre / mujer
man / woman
madre / padre
mother / father
Places
estación / hotel
station / hotel
baño / calle
toilet / street
Things & time
comida / café
food / coffee
7 Adjectives (opposite pairs)
Adjectives agree in gender & number: -o (m), -a (f), add -s for plural.
grande / pequeño
big / small
caliente / frío
hot / cold
mucho / poco
a lot / a little
rápido / lento
fast / slow
caro / barato
expensive / cheap
8 Glue words
y and
o or
pero but
porque because
entonces so
hoy today
mañana tomorrow
ayer yesterday
ahora now
aquí here
muy very
también also
9 7 rules for sentences
1
Word order = Subject–Verb–Object, like English. And the subject pronoun is usually dropped — the verb ending already shows who.
(Yo) como pan = I eat bread.
2
Nouns have gender: el (m) / la (f). Adjectives agree and usually follow the noun.
el gato negro (the black cat) · la casa blanca (the white house)
3
Two words for “to be”: ser (identity / permanent) vs
estar (state / location). See §9+.
Soy médico (I'm a doctor) · Estoy cansado (I'm tired) · Estoy en casa (I'm at home)
4
Verbs change their ending depending on who does the action (§9+). Pronouns stay optional.
hablo (I speak) · hablas (you speak) · hablamos (we speak)
5
Negate with no
before the verb.No hablo francés = I don't speak French.
6
Questions = wrap in ¿ ? and raise your tone; word order can stay the same.
¿Hablas inglés? = Do you speak English?
7
Possession / “of” = de
.el libro de María = María's book
9+ Conjugation cheat-sheet
Two must-knows: the two “to be” verbs, and how regular verbs change endings.
A · The two “to be” verbs
ser = what something is (identity, origin, permanent). estar = how / where it is right now (state, location).
ser (identity)
soy · eres · es · somos · son — Soy inglés = I'm English
estar (state/place)
estoy · estás · está · estamos · están — Estoy bien = I'm fine
B · Regular present tense
Recipe: drop -ar / -er / -ir, add the ending for who's doing it. Endings — -ar: o·as·a·amos·an -er: o·es·e·emos·en -ir: o·es·e·imos·en.
hablar (to speak)
hablo · hablas · habla · hablamos · hablan
comer (to eat)
como · comes · come · comemos · comen
vivir (to live)
vivo · vives · vive · vivimos · viven
Order: yo · tú · él/ella · nosotros · ellos. This one present tense covers “I speak / I'm speaking / I do speak.”
10 Sentence-building machine
Memorize the frame, swap the ___ for any core word.
Quiero ___
= I want ___.
un café · agua · esto
Quiero ir a ___
= I want to go to ___.
el mercado · el hotel
¿Dónde está ___?
= Where is ___?
el baño · la estación
¿Qué es esto?
= What is this?
point + ask
¿Puedes ___?
= Can you ___?
ayudarme · repetir
Me gusta ___
= I like ___.
el café · España
¿Cuánto cuesta ___?
= How much is ___?
esto · el café
Soy de ___
= I'm from ___.
Londres · Inglaterra
11 Your turn — practice
Write the Spanish. Answers below.
- Greet someone and give your name:
- Ask “Where is the market?”:
- Say “I want a coffee”:
- Say “I don't understand”:
- Count 1 to 5:
- Ask “How much is it?”:
Check yourself: 1) Hola, me llamo ___. 2) ¿Dónde está el mercado? 3) Quiero un café. 4) No entiendo. 5) uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco. 6) ¿Cuánto cuesta?
12 A 2-week plan
15–20 min a day, out loud, beats an occasional long session.
Week 1 — Sounds & survival
- Days 1–2: pronunciation + survival phrases.
- Day 3: numbers 1–10.
- Day 4: pronouns.
- Day 5: question words.
- Days 6–7: review, no notes.
Week 2 — Build sentences
- Day 8: core verbs.
- Day 9: nouns.
- Day 10: adjectives + glue words.
- Days 11–12: the 7 rules + ser/estar + present tense.
- Days 13–14: sentence machine + practice.
Where this grows next
Once this feels automatic: the past tense (pretérito), more irregular verbs, and por vs para. Don't rush — this core already carries everyday travel.
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