Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why are there two verbs meaning ‘to be’ in Spanish?

Answer

There are two verbs meaning to be in Spanish: ser and estar.
Ser is used to describe what we do (soy profesor I’m a teacher), where we are from (Juan es español Juan is Spanish), someone’s or something’s appearance (tú eres alto you’re tall, el hotel es grande the hotel is big) or character (soy perezoso I’m lazy); and anything else which is a permanent feature but not relating to location.
Estar describes where someone or something is, either temporarily (hola, estoy en el parque Hi, I’m in the park) or permanently (Madrid está en el centro de España Madrid is in the centre of Spain).
Estar is also used to describe a temporary or changeable state: la mesa está sucia the table is dirty (it could be cleaned) or la sopa está caliente the soup is hot, estoy enfermo I’m sick.

2. Why do we say la mesa es grande (the table is big) with ser but la mesa está limpia (the table is clean) with estar?

Answer

The table (la mesa) will always be the same size and will not change, so we use ser. But it is possible for the same table to be dirty and to be clean; the state of the table can change, so we use estar.

3. Why do adjectives change their form and how many different forms are there?

Answer

In Spanish, adjectives must agree with the noun they are describing, so the adjective moderno (modern) appears in the masculine form when it appears with a masculine noun – un hotel moderno, in the feminine form when it appears with a feminine noun – una casa moderna, and also changes when it describes a plural – dos hoteles modernos, las casas modernas. Note that some adjectives have the same form in the masculine or feminine – un hotel grande, una casa grande, dos hoteles grandes, las casas grandes, and so only have two forms.

4. How do we form the plural? Why do some plural forms add -s and others add -es?

Answer

Nouns and adjectives add -s to form the plural if the singular ends in a vowel, for example los italianos the Italians, las casas the houses, los coches the cars. Words ending in consonants add -es in the plural form: los hoteles the hotels, los calcetines the socks.

5. Do adjectives always appear after the noun?

Answer

Most descriptive adjectives normally appear after the noun they are describing: la casa grande the big house but not always. For example, it is possible to say el director famoso the famous director, but may be more normal to say el famoso director. Play safe by placing descriptive adjectives like colours, sizes and other descriptions after the noun and gradually learn which ones and in what circumstances they can appear before the noun. In a few instances, the meaning of an adjective can change, depending on where it appears. Look at these two examples: un hombre grande a big man; un gran hombre a great man.

6. What is the difference between the two future forms?

Answer

There are two ways to talk about a future event in Spanish. Voy a visitar Australia, literally translated as I’m going to visit Australia, or visitaré Australia I’ll visit Australia. In Spanish, these are more or less interchangeable in use. Learn them both and practise them both.

7. When can we use hay?

Answer

Literally, hay means there is, there are and also, in a question, is there? and are there? Example: en mi pueblo hay muchas tiendas in my town there are lots of shops; ¿hay muchas tiendas en tu pueblo? are there may shops in your town?
Hay is also often used to ask if one particular thing is available, for example in a bar or restaurant where in English we might use do you have? or we have: ¿hay pollo? is there (do you have) chicken?  hay vino tinto there is (we have) red wine. If we place no before hay, it turns into the negative form there isn’t or there aren’t: hay pollo pero no hay patatas there is chicken but there aren’t any potatoes.
 

8. What’s the difference between words for nationalities and languages?

Answer

Where the name of the language is the same as the name of the nationality, it is used in the masculine form: soy portugués y hablo portugués I’m Portuguese and I speak Portuguese. But Elisa es portuguesa y habla portugués.

9. When do we use or not use capital letters?

Answer

For countries in Spanish, always use a capital letter: España; but for the language or the nationality, lower case is used: soy de España; soy español y hablo español I’m from Spain; I’m Spanish and I speak Spanish.
Days of the week start with lower case letters: lunes, martes, miércoles, etc.
Months also start with lower case letters: enero, febrero, marzo, etc.

10. When do we use the verb tener (to have) in Spanish apart from its literal meaning?

Answer

We use tener to indicate possession: tengo dos hermanos I have two brothers. It is also used to talk about age: tengo veinte años I am 20 years old (literally, I have twenty years). It is also used to describe how you feel: tengo frío I’m cold, tengo miedo I’m frightened, tengo hambre I’m hungry.

11. Why do we usually omit the subject pronouns for I, you, he/she etc. (yo, tú, él/ella) from a sentence?

Answer

Because the form of each person of a verb in Spanish normally tells us who is the subject of the verb: tengo dos hermanos I have two brothers; tenemos dos hermanos we have two brothers. The subject pronoun is used either to differentiate between two people where this is not done for us by the verb: El chico se llama Juan y la chica Elena: él es español y ella es colombiana the boy is Juan and the girl is Elena; he is Spanish and she’s Columbian.
It is also used to emphasise or to change emphasis: A: Soy profesor. B: ¡Ah sí! Yo soy profesor también. A: I’m a teacher. B: Really! I’m a teacher too.
Sometimes the subject pronoun is used on its own: Soy estudiante. ¿Y tú? I’m a student; and you?

12. How many different kinds of irregular verbs are there?

Answer

This is not a simple question. Some verbs are only partially irregular; for example the verb salir to leave or to go out, is irregular in the first person present salgo but in all other forms is regular; the verb tener (the main meaning is to have) is irregular in two ways in the present tense: tengo, tienes, tiene. Some verbs are regular in the present tense but irregular in the past and/or the future. We just have to learn them.

13. How do we know whether a noun is masculine or feminine?

Answer

Almost all nouns ending in -o are masculine, but there are also quite a number that are feminine: la mano the hand.
Almost all nouns ending in -a are feminine, but there are also quite a number that are masculine: el clima the climate.
Some feminine nouns ending in a also begin with a and so take the masculine article: el águila the eagle, el agua water.
Most nouns ending in -ión are feminine: la información, la televisión, la dirección, but there are some exceptions: el camión the lorry.
Most nouns ending in other consonants are masculine: el director.

14. Why is the letter c pronounced differently in different words?

Answer

When the letter c comes before the letters a, o, or u, it is pronounced like the letter k in English: casa, cosa, cuna. When it appears before e or i, its pronunciation is like a soft th sound in English: cena, cine.

15. Why is the letter g pronounced differently in different words?

Answer

When the letter g comes before the letters a, o, or u, it is pronounced like the letter g in English: gato, gota, guante. When it appears before e or i, its pronunciation is like a soft ch sound in the Scottish word for lake, loch: gente, gigante.

16. When we say the time, why is it es la una for it’s one o’clock but son las dos for it’s two o’clock?

Answer

Because in Spanish, everything agrees. So one o’clock is singular: es la una, but two o’clock, three o’clock, four o’clock etc. are all plural, so we say: son las dos, son las tres, son las cuatro etc.

17. Why do we use the verb ‘hacer’ to describe what the weather is like?

Answer

The verb hacer is used with a noun to describe some kinds of weather in Spanish. So we say hace calor it’s hot, (literally it makes heat); hace frío it’s cold (literally it makes cold), etc.

18. What is a reflexive verb and when should they be used?

Answer

It’s best to start with an example as an answer to this question. The verb lavarse is a combination of the verb lavar to wash, plus se oneself, meaning to get washed or literally to wash oneself. So me lavo means I get washed or I wash myself; me levanto (from the verb levantarse) means I get (myself) up, me visto (from vestirse) means I get (myself) dressed. A verb where the action is directed towards oneself is usually a reflexive. Compare the following: lavo el coche I wash the car, and me lavo I wash myself.

19. How do we know which syllable is stressed in Spanish words?

Answer

If a word ends in a vowel, the letter n or the letter s, the penultimate syllable is stressed. Look at these words and practise saying them, stressing the underlined syllable:
la cocina the kitchen, la mesa the table, el restaurante the restaurant, el parque the park, los hoteles the hotels, hacen they do. Most words in Spanish fit this category.
Words that end in all other letters have their stress on the last syllable:
el hotel, el profesor, la vanidad vanity.
Any words that are stressed in a different way to these rules have an accent written on the stressed syllable: inglés English, el médico the doctor, democrático democratic, etc.

20. When do we use tú and when do we use usted?

Answer

If in doubt always use usted, the formal form of address. But in actual fact, most Spanish people are quite relaxed about using the tú form, even if they don’t know the other person and especially if this person is of a similar age to them. The formal form is most frequently used in shops, banks, in formal telephone calls and when talking to strangers in the street. Some people, when you address them as usted, even ask you to use the tú form by saying: puedes tutearme you can use tú with me.