Spanish (Español)
Spanish is a Romance language with highly regular spelling, flexible word order, and a rich verb system. Nouns have gender (usually -o masculine, -a feminine), adjectives agree, and pronouns often drop because verb endings already encode person and number.
- Stress & accents: words ending in vowel/-n/-s are stressed on the penultimate syllable; otherwise on the last. Accent marks show exceptions (inglés, rápido) or distinguish forms (tú/tu).
- Ñ = [ɲ]: like “ny” in canyon — niño, España.
- C/Z/S: in most of Latin America, c (before e/i), z, and s all sound [s] (seseo). In much of Spain, c (before e/i) and z are [θ].
- LL/Y: many dialects merge them (yeísmo): ll ≈ y.
- J/G: j and g before e/i are a throaty [x] — jamón, gente.
- R vs RR: single r between vowels is a tap; initial r and rr are trills.
- Silent H: hola has no /h/ sound.
- Gender & number: el libro, la mesa, los libros, las mesas. Irregulars exist (el día, la mano).
- Ser vs estar: essence/identity vs state/location (soy alto vs estoy cansado).
- Preterite vs imperfect: completed events vs ongoing/habitual past.
- Subjunctive: used after triggers like quiero que…, es posible que….
- Clitics: object pronouns before conjugated verbs or attached to infinitives/gerunds/affirmative commands (lo voy a hacer / voy a hacerlo).
- Por vs para: cause/through vs goal/for.
Broad Spain–Latin America split: vosotros in Spain vs widespread ustedes elsewhere; voseo in parts of the Southern Cone and Central America; seseo/ceceo patterns; vocabulary shifts (ordenador vs computadora, coche vs carro).
- Latin → Old Spanish (Mozarabic & Arabic contact) → Early Modern → global spread via colonization.
- Arabic left many common words with al-: almohada, azúcar, aceite.
- Indigenous American vocab enriched the lexicon: chocolate, tomate, maíz, papa.
Hoy compré pan en la panadería.
hoy compr-é pan en la panader-ía
today buy-PRET.1SG bread in the bakery
¿Puedes decirme dónde está la estación?
“Can you tell me where the station is?” — polite request + information question
Mucho gusto (Nice to meet you) • Disculpa/Perdón (Excuse me/Sorry) • ¿Cuánto cuesta? (How much is it?)
- embarazada ≠ embarrassed (it means “pregnant”)
- constipado ≠ constipated (it means “have a cold”)
- actual ≠ actual (it means “current”) • asistir = “attend,” not “assist”
Type an infinitive and pick a tense/person. The wizard applies regular patterns, common stem changes, and a small set of irregulars.
Note: Lightweight demo—covers standard endings, common stem-changes (e→ie, o→ue, e→i), and a handful of frequent irregulars. Not every exception/dialect is included.
- Master stress rules and accent placement early—your spelling and pronunciation will both improve.
- Drill the top 20 irregular verbs (ser, estar, ir, tener, hacer, poder, decir, venir…) until they’re automatic.
- Practice minimal pairs for r/rr and the guttural j sound.
- Shadow real speech (news clips, podcasts) to internalize clitics and rhythm.
uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez
Arabic: almohada, azúcar, aceite • Indigenous: chocolate, tomate, maíz • English: fútbol, líder, marketing