Introduce Your Friends in Spanish
Vocabulary
Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!
Professions/Occupations
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el doctor | (male) doctor |
| la doctora | (female) doctor |
| el ingeniero | (male) engineer |
| la ingeniera | (female) engineer |
Gender Tip
Remember that all Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine.
• Doctor and ingeniero are masculine nouns used to talk about men.
• Doctora and ingeniera are feminine nouns used to talk about women.
Adjectives
Demonyms (gentilicios) are special adjectives used to talk about where someone is from. In this lesson, you learn the following demonyms to talk about people's nationality:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| argentino | Argentinean |
| británico | British |
| canadiense | Canadian |
| español | Spanish |
| estadounidense | American |
| mexicano | Mexican |
Spanish Capitalization
Unlike in English, demonyms in Spanish do not begin with a capital letter!
Americano or Estadounidense
In English, American may refer to people from North, Central, and South America, though it's most commonly used to refer to someone from the United States. In Spanish, it's more common for the word americano to be used to refer to anything or anyone from North, Central, or South America. If you want to make it very clear that you're talking about someone or something from the United States, use the word estadounidense.
Gender and Plurality in Spanish
Many nouns and adjectives in Spanish have four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural, though some just have two forms (singular and plural).
While the endings may look a bit confusing at first, the rules for forming nationality adjectives are actually pretty straightforward.
Nouns and Adjectives that End in an O
Nouns and adjectives that end in an o have four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural.
Here are some quick rules for the changes you'll need to make to the masculine singular form in order to make the feminine singular and plural forms.
To make the singular feminine form:
- change the o in the masculine singular form to an a
To make the masculine plural form:
- Add an s to the end of the masculine singular form
To make the feminine plural form:
- Add an s to the end of the feminine singular form
Let's look at some examples!
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Nouns and Adjectives that End in an E
Nouns and adjectives that end in an e have only two forms. This is because the masculine and feminine singular forms of these adjectives are the same. Here are the rules for making the singular forms of these words plural.
For words that end in e:
- add an s to the end of the singular form to make the plural form
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Nouns and Adjectives that End in a Consonant
Nouns and adjectives that end in a consonant have four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural.
To make the feminine singular form:
- add an a to the end of the masculine singular form
To make the masculine plural form:
- add -es to the masculine singular form
To make the feminine plural form:
- add s to the feminine singular form
Take a look at the different forms the adjective español (Spanish) can take.
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Verbs
In these lessons, you learn how to use the verbs llamarse(literally, to call oneself) to talk about names and ser(to be) to talk about professions and where someone is from. Let's review the conjugations of these verbs in the present!
In Spanish, there are five ways to say you, and they vary according to the number of people being addressed, how well the people involved know each other, and what country the people are in or are from. In these lessons, you only use tú and ustedes, but you can learn more about you in Spanish here!
Llamarse
Llamarseis a regular -ar verb.
| Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | me llamo | my name is | |
| tú | te llamas | your name is | informal singular you |
| vos | te llamás | your name is | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| él, ella | se llama | his, her name is | |
| usted | se llama | your name is | formal singular you |
| nosotros, nosotras | nos llamamos | our names are | |
| vosotros, vosotras | os llamáis | your names are | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| ellos, ellas | se llaman | their names are | |
| ustedes | se llaman | your names are | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Ser
Seris an irregular verb that means to be.
| Pronoun(s) | Conjugation | Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | soy | I am | |
| tú | eres | you are | informal singular you |
| vos | sos | you are | informal singular you (in parts of Latin America) |
| él, ella | es | he, she is | |
| usted | es | you are | formal singular you |
| nosotros, nosotras | somos | we are | |
| vosotros, vosotras | sois | you are | informal plural you (in Spain) |
| ellos, ellas | son | they are | |
| ustedes | son | you are | plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain) |
Phrases
Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!
Pronunciation
In these lessons, you learn some words containing yand ll. Let's see how to pronounce the ll in Spanish and the y in Spanish!
Pronunciation of Ll
The Spanish ll is often pronounced like the y in the English word yes, though you may hear some native speakers pronounce it more or less like the j in the English word judge or the sh in the English word show. Click on the words in the table below to listen to the pronunciation of the ll in Spanish!
Pronunciation of Y
- In words like yo, y is considered a consonant and is usually pronounced the same way as ll. In other words, most Spanish speakers pronounce the y and the ll in yo me llamo using the same sound.
- When y comes at the end of a word like soy, it is considered a vowel and is pronounced like the e in the English word me.
- When y is used on its own as a conjunction meaning and, it is also pronounced like the e in the English word me.
Click on the words in the table below to listen to the pronunciation of the y in Spanish!
Quiz Yourself!
Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!
Spanish Conversation
Let's take a look at an example of a Spanish conversation using the above words and phrases!
Want to learn more about how to introduce people in Spanish? Check out the following articles!
• Introduce Yourself in Spanish
• The Difference between "¿Como Te Llamas?" and ¿Cómo Se Llama?"
