A written accent changes the word
Tú or tu, él or el, sí or si
Spanish uses a written accent, the tilde (´), to tell apart short words that sound the same. The word with the accent is the one you stress in speech: usually a pronoun (a word that stands in for a person, like you or he) or a full word with its own meaning.
tú · tuyou · yourtoo TYEH-nes too LEE-broh · “Do you have your book?”
¿Túyoutieneshavetuyourlibro?book
él · elhe · theel KOM-prah el PAN · “He buys the bread.”
Élhecomprabuyselthepan.bread
sí · siyes · ifSEE, see PWEH-doh · “Yes, if I can.”
Sí,yessiifpuedo.I-can
mí · mime · mymee kah-FEH es PAH-rah MEE · “My coffee is for me.”
Mimycafécoffeeesisparaformí.me
té · tetea · you (object)teh preh-PAH-roh oon TEH · “Shall I make you a tea?”
¿Tefor-youpreparoI-makeunaté?tea
sé · seI know · himself, herselfnoh SEH KOH-moh seh YAH-mah · “I don’t know what he’s called.”
NonotséI-knowcómohowsehimselfllama.calls
Bueno or bien, malo or mal
Bueno describes a thing, bien describes an action
Bueno and malo are adjectives: they describe a noun (a person or thing) and change their ending to match it (buena, buenos). Bien and mal are adverbs: they describe how something is done and never change.
bueno · maloDescribe a noun; change for gender and number.es oon BWEN LEE-broh · “It’s a good book.”Why: Before a masculine singular noun, bueno shortens to buen.AH-theh mal TYEM-poh · “The weather’s bad.”Why: malo also shortens before a masculine noun: mal tiempo. Here mal is still an adjective.
Esit-isunabuengoodlibro.book
Hacemakesmalbadtiempo.weather
bien · malDescribe a verb; never change.KAN-tahs mwee BYEN · “You sing very well.”Why: bien says how you sing. Muy bueno would need a noun to describe.DWEHR-moh MAL · “I sleep badly.”Why: mal says how you sleep. ¿Está bien? (Is that OK?) also uses the adverb.
Cantasyou-singmuyverybien.well
DuermoI-sleepmal.badly
Already, still, too, neither
Ya, todavía, también, tampoco
yaalreadyyah eh koh-MEE-doh · “I’ve already eaten.”Why: ya usually comes before the verb. On its own, ¡Ya! means “Got it!” or “Done!”.
Yaalreadyhe comido.I-have eaten
todavíastill, yettoh-dah-BEE-ah noh eh koh-MEE-doh · “I haven’t eaten yet.”Why: todavía no means not yet. Without no it means still: todavía vive aquí (she still lives here).
Todavíastillnonothe comido.I-have eaten
tambiéntoo, alsoah MEE tam-BYEN · “Me too.”Why: Agrees with a positive sentence: —Me gusta. —A mí también.
A míto metambién.too
tampoconeither, not eitherah MEE tam-POH-koh · “Me neither.”Why: Agrees with a negative sentence: —No me gusta. —A mí tampoco.
A míto metampoco.neither
Same word, different meaning with el or la
El capital or la capital
Every Spanish noun has a gender: it takes el (masculine) or la (feminine) for “the”. For a handful of nouns, both exist and mean different things. Tap a row to hear both.
| Word | With el | With la |
|---|---|---|
| capitalkah-pee-TAL | el capital = capital (money to invest) | la capital = capital city |
| ordenOR-den | el orden = order, tidiness, sequence | la orden = an order, a command |
| curaKOO-rah | el cura = priest | la cura = cure, treatment |
| frenteFREN-teh | el frente = front (also a weather front) | la frente = forehead |
| cometakoh-MEH-tah | el cometa = comet | la cometa = kite |
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