Spanish school vocabulary: subjects, the classroom and exams
El horario · tap any lessonA week in 2.º de la ESO, age 13
LunesMartesMiércolesJuevesViernes
LosthelunesMondaysaatlastheocho y mediahalf past eighttengoI-haveMatemáticas.maths
lohs LOO-nes ah lahs OH-choh ee MEH-dyah TEN-goh mah-teh-MAH-tee-kahs · “On Mondays at half past eight I have maths.”Why:Los + day means every week. Tener (to have) a subject needs no article; with gustar it comes back: me gustan las matemáticas.
Short answer: school is el colegio (or la escuela), secondary school is el instituto in Spain, and university is la universidad. Marks are out of ten: 5 is a pass (aprobado), under 5 a fail (suspenso). To take an exam is hacer un examen, to pass it aprobar, to fail it suspender.
School in Spain
From la guardería to la universidad
School is compulsory from 6 to 16: primaria and the ESO (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, compulsory secondary education). Years are counted with ordinal numbers (first, second…): estoy en tercero, “I’m in third year”.
age 0compulsory 6–1618+
Bar widths follow the years spent in each stage. Tap to hear the name. In Mexico secondary is la secundaria and sixth form la preparatoria.
Classroom things
What is in your mochila
Each word is shown with its article: el for masculine nouns, la for feminine ones. Two are worth learning as a pair: los deberes (homework, always plural) and el estuche (pencil case).
In the classroom
What the teacher says, what you say
Teachers speak to the whole class with commands (forms that tell people to do something). Spain uses the vosotros form, ending in -d: abrid. Latin America uses ustedes: abran. More in Spanish commands.
El profesor · on the board
Tú · from your desk
Nonotloitentiendo.I-understand
noh loh en-TYEN-doh · “I don’t understand.”
¿Puedecan-yourepetir?repeat
PWEH-deh rreh-peh-TEER · “Can you repeat that?”
¿Cómohowseoneescribe?writes
KOH-moh seh es-KREE-beh · “How do you spell it?”
¿Quéwhatsignificameans«pizarra»?board
keh seeg-nee-FEE-kah pee-THAH-rrah · “What does “pizarra” mean?”
¿Puedocan-Iirgoalto-thebaño?toilet
PWEH-doh eer al BAH-nyoh · “Can I go to the toilet?”
Se meto-mehahasolvidadoforgottenel cuaderno.the exercise-book
seh meh ah ol-bee-DAH-doh el kwah-DEHR-noh · “I’ve forgotten my exercise book.”
Exams
Marks out of ten
Every Spanish mark from primary school to university is a number from 0 to 10, written with a decimal comma (un 7,5), and each band has a name. Drag to a mark and see how you would report it.
0–4,9suspensofail
5–5,9aprobadopass
6–6,9biengood
7–8,9notablevery good
9–10sobresalienteexcellent
He aprobado:I-have-passedhe sacadoI-have-gotunasiete,7unanotable.very good
eh ah-proh-BAH-doh, eh sah-KAH-doh oon SYEH-teh, oon noh-TAH-bleh · “I’ve passed: I got 7, a ‘very good’.”Why:Marks are masculine (un siete) because “mark” is understood as el número. Five or more is a pass.
Verb
Means
Past (preterite)
aprobarah-proh-BAR
to pass
aprobé · I passed
suspendersoos-pen-DEHR
to fail
suspendí · I failed
sacarsah-KAR
to get (a mark)
saqué un ocho · I got an eight
estudiares-too-DYAR
to study, revise
estudié · I studied
repetir cursorreh-peh-TEER KOOR-soh
to repeat a year
repetí · I repeated
“To pass an exam” is never pasar un examen: use aprobar. And “to take” an exam is hacer (to do) or presentarse a.
Dialogue
Talking about your studies
Two students meet at the start of term. Play each line, then hide your lines and answer Lucía yourself.