Tip: Learn the Etymology to Help You Remember a New Word
There are many cognates between English and Spanish which makes it very easy to build your Spanish vocabulary quickly. Spanish words that are not cognates are obviously much more difficult to remember. One very useful technique is to learn a little about the etymology of the word - usually involving words from other languages that were borrowed and/or combined in order to create the Spanish word.
One easy technique is to do a Google search like this:
"Spanish Word" "etymology" and then follow one or more links.
Another alternative is to use a website that has a lot of etymologies of Spanish words. One such website is www.myEtymology.com. Here is the result of looking up the Spanish word comprar. If you were learning this word knowing the etymology would make it much easier to remember, IMHO.
Etymology of the Spanish word comprar the Spanish word comprar derived from the Latin word comparare (place together, match, couple; prepare; provide; compose; set up, establish, institute) derived from the Latin word parare (prepare; furnish, supply) derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *per?- using the Latin prefix con- (together) derived from the Latin prefix com- derived from the Latin word cum (with) derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kom (near, with, together) derived from the Latin word compar (equal, equal to; like; fellow, partner, equal; sentence containing clauses of roughly same number of syllables) derived from the Latin word par (balanced, level; S:even; corresponding in degree, proportionate, commensurate; equal in power, prestige, importance; equal, counterpart; companion; equal; a match for; of equal size; mate, spouse, partner; measuring up, adequate, matching; pair, set of two; conjugal pair) derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *per?-
After reading this, just think about it until you have figured out a way to remember that comprar means "to buy" Something like this: OK comprar basically has to to with matching a buyer and seller (the couple) con means putting this together...so they make a deal...one buys from the other. Also, compar means equal in Latin so it's like a comparison. I already know all about comparison shopping
so I'll just remember it that way. To remember that it is comprar and not comparar (which I already know is a verb meaning to compare in Spanish) I created a little saying: Before you buy, compare and research. The R from research fits into the middle of com and rar giving you comprar.
Now the next time you're trying to remember what "to buy" is in Spanish it will come to you quickly. Another benefit is that you will be able to learn any other Spanish word that contains com or par much more quickly.
