This site is not really concerned with grammar and the phrases on SimplestSpanish can be used as they are without changes.
But, if you learn some basic Spanish grammar you will be able to change the phrases, mix the language together and say more. By doing this you will start to learn how the language works.
The Definite Article
The definite article is 'the' as in 'the car', 'the dog' and so on. Spanish nouns have a gender meaning any word can be either masculine or feminine - and the definite article for a masculine and feminine word is different.
If a word is masculine, the definite article is el. If a word is feminine , the definite article is la.
So, 'the woman' is la mujer.
So, 'the man' is el hombre.
The Indefinite Article
The indefinite article is 'a' as in 'a car', 'a dog' and so on. Again, the indefinite articles differ for masculine and feminine words.
If a word is masculine, the indefinite article is un. If a word is feminine , the indefinite article is una.
So, 'a woman' is una mujer.
So, 'a man' is un hombre.
Plural Nouns
The word for 'the' changes in the plural. If you are referring to a masculine noun, it becomes los and if you referring to a feminine noun, it becomes las.
So, 'the women' is las mujeres.
And, 'the men' is los hombres.
As well as the definite article 'the' becoming los or las an 's' is added onto the end of the word.
Verbs
Spanish verbs change their endings according to the person (or object) that they are referring to. The endings also change according to the tense. Most of the phrases on SimplestSpanish use the present tense, so that it the one used here.
Around seventy percent of Spanish verbs use the same endings as hablar 'to speak'. Unfortunately, many of the most common verbs are irregular (such as 'to be', 'to go', 'to want' ...) and do not follow the normal pattern (rather like in English).
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| I speak | Hablo |
| You speak (informal) | Hablas |
| You speak (formal) | Habla |
| We speak | Hablamos |
| You speak (plural) | Habláis |
| They speak | Hablan |
When speaking in Spanish, you normally do not need to use words for 'I, you' and so on because this information is contained within the verb itself.
A good example is Quisiera 'I'd like' which is used in many phrases on SimplesSpanish. You would never use yo 'I' before this.
Formal and Informal
There are two forms of 'you' in the singular. Formal and informal. If you ask someone whether they speak English, you could say: ¿Habla inglés? or ¿Hablas inglés?
Both have the same meaning 'Do you speak English' but Hablas is informal.
If you don't know which to use, err on the side of caution and use the formal version especially when talking to someone older than yourself.
Phrases using the formal version are (mainly) marked on this site. Often, to change a phrase from formal to informal (when talking to one other person) all you need to do is add an 's' to the verb (and vice versa).