Descriptions-nouns el/la muchacho/aboy/girl el/la chico/athe boy/girl el/la niño/achild el/la bebébaby el/la amigo/afriend el/la alumno/astudent el/la estudiantestudent el/la profesor/ateacher la ciudadcity

…Descriptions-noun el/la novio/agirlfriend/boyfriend/fiánce la mujerwoman el hombreman un hombredos hombres una mujer dos mujeres

Descriptions -Adjectives débilweak fuertestrong jovenyoung viejo/aold tímido/atimid/shy tonto/afoolish/stupid simpático/afriendly/pleasant antipático/aunfriendly/mean fácileasy difícildifficult

Descriptions - Adjectives delgado(a)/flaco(a)thin/skinny alto/atall bajo/ashort guapo/ahandsome bonito/apretty lindo/abeautiful feo/augly moreno/adark haired interesanteinteresting

Descriptions - Adjectives rubio/ablonde pelirojo/ared gordo/afat gracioso/a funny serio/aserious ambicioso/aambitious perezoso/alazy bueno/agood malbad

Descriptions - Adjectives fantástico/afantastic sincero/asincere honesto/ahonest generoso/agenerous grandelarge pequeño/asmall Los niños son bajos, morenos, y simpáticos

Descriptions – Nationality americano/aAmerican chileno/aChilian colombiano/aColumbian cubano/aCuban mexicano/aMexican puertorriqueño/aPuerto Rican venezolano/aVenezuelan ***Note that nationalities are not capitalized in Spanish

Questions? ¿quién?who? ¿qué?what? ¿cómo?how? what? ¿de dónde?from where? ¿dónde?where? ¿a dónde?to where? ¿por qué?why? ¿cuándo?when? ¿cuál?which? ¿cuántos/as?how many?

haythere are muchoa lot pocofew mismosame bastantesomewhat muyvery de ninguna maneraby no means síyes nono Answers

The basic rule is that masculine nouns go with masculine adjectives and articles, and feminine nouns go with feminine adjectives and articles. La chica es seria - the girl is serious El chico es serio – the boy is serious Las chicas son serias – the girls are serious Los chicos son serios – the boys are serious In Spanish everything matches in number and gender – which is why adjectives can end in either – o or – a or can be singular or plural. This is also why there are four ways to say “the” and “a”.

First, determine number…..is it one… singular, or is it more than one…plural? la niña – the childdos niños – two children Second, determine the gender of the noun. Is it masculine or feminine? la niña – the little girl el niño – the little boy

All nouns have gender. They are either masculine or feminine. For example, words that end in… -l, -o, -n, -e, -r, -s are usually masculine Words that end in…. -a, -ción, -tad, -tud, -dad are usually feminine The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when the noun stands for a living creature. This is because in English, living creatures often have different names, depending upon whether they are male or female.

In Spanish the definite article (el/los, la/las = “the”) is your clue as to whether a noun is masculine or feminine. Remember that because everything must match in # and gender there are four ways to say “the” ( masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, feminine plural ) el/los = “the” for masculine nouns la/las = “the” for feminine nouns el escritorio = the desklos escritorios = the desks la escuela = the school las escuelas = the schools ***(“el” become “los” when it is plural and “la” becomes “las” when it is plural)

In Spanish the in-definite article (un/unos and una/unas = “a”) must also match the noun it precedes and therefore there are four ways to say “a” ( masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, feminine plural ) un/unos = “a” for masculine nouns una/unas = “a” for feminine nouns un escritorio = the deskunos escritorios = the desks una escuela = the school unas escuelas = the schools ***(“un” becomes “unos” when it is plural and “una” becomes “unas” when it is plural)

When you learn a new noun, you should also learn its definite article (el, la,… remember that they will change for plural nouns to los, las) There are several reasons for this: You cannot predict the gender of most nouns. One cannot predict the gender of a noun, except in the case of living creatures. Do not try to analyze the nature of the object, looking for some inherent masculinity or femininity. It won't work! Gender of nouns is determined by the “root” of the word only. Not every noun that ends in -o is masculine, and not every noun that ends in -a is feminine. (el mapa – the map is actually masculine) Many nouns end in letters other than -o or -a. The definite article (el, la) is your clue as to whether a noun is masculine or feminine. (el mapa, la foto, el día, el agua)

Now give it a try…fill in with the correct form of “the” libro – book casa – house abuelo - grandfather abuela - grandmother ciudad - city vestido - dress universidad - university el la el la el la libros – books casas – houses abuelos - grandfathers abuelas - grandmothers ciudades - cities vestidos - dresses universidades - universities los las los las los las

Now give it a try…fill in with the correct form of “a” libro – book casa – house abuelo - grandfather abuela - grandmother ciudad - city vestido - dress universidad - university un una un una un una libros – books casas – houses abuelos - grandfathers abuelas - grandmothers ciudades - cities vestidos - dresses universidades - universities unos unas unos unas unos unas

La chica es bonita The girl is pretty El chico es guapo The boy is handsome Las chicas son bonitas The girls are pretty Los chicos son guapos The boys are handsome In Spanish. Everything must match in number and gender. The adjectives (descriptions) must match the noun they modify.Use the verb “ser” or “to be” to describe things.

First, you must know the subjects, or people or things who can complete the action of the verb: Iwe youyou all he, she, itthey In English, there are 8 different subjects who can complete the action of a verb. For example, the verb “to be” would conjugate as: I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, you all are, they are Now, try this with any verb, “to speak” for example: I speak, you speak, he/she/it speaks, we speak, you all speak, they speak

In Spanish, the subject pronouns are as follows: I = yowe = nosotros (boys and girls mixed) nosotras = (girls only) you (friendly) = tú (see below for you all) he = él she = ella you (respectful) = usted they = ellos (boys and girls mixed) ellas (girls only) you all (friendly/respectful) = ustedes ***Note, there are two way to say “you” = the friendly form (tú) and the respectful form “usted”. However, there is only one way to say “you all” (either to a group of friends or showing respect, as if speaking to members of the senate), which is “ustedes”

ser – to be soy - I am eres – you are es – he, she, it is, you (formal) are somos – we are son – they, you all are Yo soy simpático – I am friendly. La chica es bonita – The girl is pretty.

Now you try…. The girls are pretty.Las chicas son bonitas. The man is old El hombre es viejo. I am friendly. Yo soy simpático. You are honest (to a female friend) Tú eres honesta. We are students.Nosotros somos estudiantes.

¿Cómo es el hombre? El hombre es guapo. El hombre es delgado. El hombre es alto.

¿Cómo es la mujer? La mujer es bonita. La mujer es peliroja. La mujer es simpática.

¿ Cómo son los niños? Los niños son pelirojos. Los niños son bajos. Los niños son jovenes. (Ellos son los hijos de tu profesora. Son preciosos, ¿No?)

¿Cómo es la ciudad de Madrid? Es una ciudad muy linda. Es grande y es española.

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