In addition, we created a short letter that a boy (Diego) wrote to his grandmother on his trip to Chile to use as an example.

Those that are not teachers or parents will still find the actual letter part useful because of the language (grammar and vocabulary) used. Notice the different tenses used.

Las cinco partes de una carta informal son:
The 5 main parts of an informal letter in Spanish are:

• Lugar y Fecha – (city/place and date)
• Saludo – (greeting)
• Cuerpo – (body)
• Despedida – (farewell)
• Firma – (signature/name)

Here you can find out much more about the different parts of a letter in Spanish.

Let us know if you found this useful.
Saludos.

Los Números en Castellano (in Spanish)
The numbers in Spanish (in English)

You find us talking about the difference between cardinal numbers and ordinals numbers and when to use them correctly as well as how to write (and say) large numbers in Spanish. There is also a section on fractions and decimals.

We also have two games to practice the numbers in Spanish.
One is only for the Numbers from 1 to 100.
The other game is for larger numbers.

Here is a chart with all of the cardinal numbers in Spanish between 1 and 100 as well as some larger numbers.

We have also included the following chart:

You can find an explanation (with more details) about each of these activities here: El tiempo libre y el ocio (page completely in Spanish)

¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?

Spanish Nouns can generally be classified in one of more of the following categories:

• Sustantivos Masculinos y Femeninos (Masculine or Feminine)
• Sustantivos Singulares y Plurales (Singular or Plural)
• Sustantivos Propios y Comunes (Proper Nouns or Common Nouns)
• Sustantivos Abstractos y Concretos (Abstract or Concrete)
• Sustantivos Individuales y Colectivos (Individual or Collective)
• Sustantivos Contables e Incontables (Countable or Uncountable)
• Sustantivos Primitivos y Derivados (Base or Derived)
• Sustantivos Compuestos (Compound nouns)

For more information about the different types of nouns, visit:

Clasificación de los sustantivos en castellano (page entirely in Spanish)

At what grade is this classification taught in your country?

Well in Spanish there are 4 types of accents. These are the Palabras agudas, Palabras graves (or sometimes called palabras llanas), Palabras esdrújulas and Palabras sobresdrújulas.

Learning these 4 types of words will help you know when to put the accent and also the tilde (accent mark) when you are writing in Spanish.

You can learn more about these 4 types of words here:
Las palabras agudas, graves, esdrújulas y sobresdrújulas
(Note: this article with its explanation is in Spanish)

You will notice that it tells you when (and when not) to put the accent mark on a Spanish word. To do that on your computer, you may find the following chart about how to create Spanish accent marks on an English keyboard useful.

Once you have learned those rules, you can then try the following game to see if you know the difference.

Meanwhile, here is a chart showing the main types of accents for words in Spanish.

Vertebrate animals can be divided into 5 categories:
Mamíferos – mammals
Peces – fish
Aves – birds
Anfibios – amphibians
Reptiles – reptiles

We have also included typical characteristics of each one including:
Cuerpo – body (covering)
Respiración – breathing
Extremidades – extremities
Desplazamiento – movement
Reproducción – reproduction
Hábitat – habitat

For more information in Spanish about Vertebrates, see the following page: Animales Vertebrados

On that page we have also included a brief description of each type (e.g. Peces, Anfibios etc.) and examples of each one.

We also have a game to test your knowledge of the different types of Vertebrates in Spanish

You may find this useful for 1st grade or 2nd grade students.

Sana, sana, colita de rana,
Si no sana hoy, sanará mañana.

This rhyme is typically said to children when they have just hurt themselves.
The parent (or grandparent) usually rubs the part that is sore and sings this little tune.
And of course the hurt magically disappears… or least will do tomorrow.

Vocabulary – Vocabulario

Sanar: to heal, to get better (of health)
Cola: tail
Colita: little tail (using the diminutive ita)
Si no: if not
Sanará: sanar in the future tense = will heal
Hoy: today
Mañana: tomorrow

Sometimes in Chile they say potito de rana.
Poto is another (inoffensive) way of saying bum in Chilean Spanish.

For Students:
You will find a lot more vocabulary about everyday routines and activities here in our Reading text about Daily Routines in Spanish (Entirely in Spanish).

You may also want to check out our Grammar notes about Reflexive Verbs in Spanish.

For Teachers:
You will notice that the verbs have already been conjugated so that students can use the expressions immediately.
Ask the students to give a bit more detail if they can about what time they get up or start work. Also ask what do they normally have for breakfast or lunch etc.
As additional activities you can ask what the infinitive form of each one is. You can ask students to try and change the sentences into third person (for he) instead of first person (I).

We have also created a new page about Los Colores explained in English.

Also if you are interested, you may also want to check out what we wrote about Los Colores en Español but explained in Spanish.

I hope you find this useful.

Dime con quien andas y te diré quien eres

Significado: Se dice para explicar que una persona es como son las personas con la que suele rodearse.
Ejemplo: Tu primo se junta con delincuentes, él debe serlo también. Ya sabes… dime con quien andas y te diré quien eres.

Dime = tell me (decir = to say/tell)
Quien = who
Andar = to walk (to go out with)

Literally translated: Say with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are

This is similar to the English saying:
A man is known by the company he keeps

How would you describe the people that appear in the photo?
¿Cómo describirías a las personas que aparecen en la foto?

¿Con quién andas tú?

We have created another chart with cartoons, this time showing Subject Pronouns in Spanish.
Remember, the subject pronouns are: yo, tú, usted, él, ella, nosotros, nosotras, vosotros, vosotras, ellos, ellas, ustedes

For more information about when to use them…
See our notes in English about: Subject Pronouns in Spanish
Or our notes in Spanish about this same topic: Pronombres Personales

The words we have included are: Quién, Quiénes Dónde, Cuándo, Por qué, Qué, Cuál, Cuáles Cómo, Cuánto, Cuánta, Cuántos and Cuántas

Remember, you need to use an inverted Question mark ¿ at the beginning of a question in Spanish.

You can learn more about these “Interrogativos” here: Question Words in Spanish (the grammar notes are in Spanish)

Share the image if you like it.

This photo was taken in Concon, a coastal town in Chile which is known for having great empanadas.

The numbers inside each empanada is the price of them in Chilean Pesos.

If you would like to learn more about other Food from Chile, check out Typical Chilean Food.

Before you look below, try and find the names of three of the empanadas which are spelled incorrectly.

Just so you know, some of the empanadas have names which we have no idea why they were called that. They were most likely names made up by the owners of the empanada shop and are not necessarily common in other parts of the country or even city.

At the bottom of the page you will find a Spanish / English translation of the main ingredients. We have also made additional comments about each empanada where we found it necessary.

The Empanadas

Sabrosona: Camarón – Champiñón – Macha – Queso.
Sabrosona viene de la palabra sabrosa, que quiere decir que tiene buen sabor.

Sabrosona comes from the word sabrosa which means tasty.

Canival: Carne – Queso.
“Canival” debería estar escrito como “Caníbal”, de alguien que come carne de la mismo especie.

The name for this was not spelled correctly. Sometimes native Spanish speakers accidentally mix the letters B and V because the two letters sound the same to them. The correct word should be Caníbal which means Cannibal.

Elegida: Camarón – Queso.
Elegida means the chosen one (in feminine form).

Nacional: Pollo – Champiñón – Queso.
Nacional means National.

Napolita: Tomate – Aceituna – Orégano – Jamón – Queso.

Tentadora: Jaiba – Queso.
Tentadora quiere decir que es apetecible, deseable, que dan ganas de comer.

Tentadora means it is tempting.

Extranjera: Carne – Champiñón – Queso.
Extranjera means foreign or foreigner.

Dulsona: Manjar.
Dulsona debería estar escrito como “Dulzona” y quiere decir que es de sabor dulce.

The name for this was not spelled correctly. Occasionally native Spanish speakers accidentally mix the letters C, S and Z because the letters sometimes sound the same to them. The correct word should be Dulzona which comes from the word Dulce or sweet.

Amachada: Macha – Queso.
Amachada es un modismo usado para referirse a una mujer con actitudes y/o rasgos de macho (hombre).

Amachada is slang for calling a girl a “tomboy”. They were playing with the word Macha which is a type of shellfish.

La Enana: Champiñón – Queso.
Enana se refiere a una mujer de tamaño pequeño.

Enana means a female dwarf. What it exactly has to do with mushrooms and cheese I have no idea!

Celia: Aceituna – Queso.
Celia is the name of a woman. Maybe someone who works at the empanada shop is called Celia and it has something to do with her.

La Perla: Ostión – Queso.
Perla means Pearl. Strange considering Ostras (oysters) have pearls and not Ostiones (scallops).

Vegetariana: Choclo – Tomate – Queso.
This is the vegetarian empanada. No meat!

Elástica: Queso.
Elástica se refiere a la elasticidad del queso derretido que es como un elástico. Imagínalo colgando desde la empanada hasta tu boca.

Elástica means elastic. You can imagine a string of elastic-like cheese hanging between the empanada and your mouth and it stretching as you try and pull the empanada away to break it.

Locaria: Loco – Queso.
Locaria es un modismo empleado para referirse a personas alocadas.

Again, playing with words. Loco is a type of abalone (shellfish) and the word also means crazy! A locaria is someone who is (slightly) nuts.

Aliada: Jamón – Queso.
The typical name throughout Chile when you have Ham and Cheese together.

La Sureña: Chorizo – Queso.
Sureña, que tiene su origen en el sur. En el sur de Chile, el chorizo es muy común y de buena calidad.

Sureña means it comes from the South. In the south of Chile it is common to find high quality chorizo (a type of sausage).

La Marinera: Marisco.
Marinero means sailor (and marinera would be the feminine form). Probably an appropriate name for a seafood empanada.

Diesiochera: Pino.

Diesiochera debería estar escrito como “Dieciochera” y se refiere a la fiestas patrias de Chile que celebra el día nacional el 18 de septiembre.

This is another word spelled incorrectly with the common C vs S mistake for some native speakers. It should say Dieciochera from the number dieciocho (18). What is the connection between this empanada and the number 18? Well, the national day of Chile is on the 18^th of September and one of the most common snacks during the Fiestas Patrias (National Day celebrations) is this type of normal empanada.

La Pollada: Pollo – Queso.

Ingredients in Spanish with their meaning in English

Aceituna: olive
Camarón: shrimp
Carne: meat
Champiñon: mushroom
Choclo: corn
Chorizo: a type of (spicy) sausage
Jaiba: a type of Chilean crab
Jamón: ham
Loco: abalone (shellfish)
Macha: raisor clams (shellfish)
Manjar: a sweet brown spread made from boiled milk and sugar
Marisco: shellfish
Orégano: oregano
Ostión: scallop
Pino: ground beef filling with onion
Pollo: chicken
Queso: cheese
Tomate: tomato

So, which empanada would you like to try?

A common mistake for English speakers using Spanish is that they say they are embarazada (or embarazado) when they are embarrassed. Well, be careful because embarazada is a false friend and doesn’t mean embarrassed (yes, even though they looks similar). In fact, it means you are pregnant instead of embarrassed.

So, you can imagine the looks on people’s faces when a guy says “Estoy embarazado” … because they’re saying they are pregnant!

So, how do you say you are embarrassed in Spanish?
You can say estoy avergonzada (for a woman) or estoy avergonzado (for a man)

See our notes about the difference here: embarazada vs avergonzada

and try our interactive game to practice the difference between embarazada and avergonzada

The RR sound in Spanish

The letter R in Spanish can be pronounced two ways: as a single R sound or a rolling RR sound.

The double R (or RR) sound is one that does not appear in English.

The RR in Spanish is a rolling sound where you tongue vibrates (or trills) on the roof of your mouth near the front. You can imagine it similar to the rrrrr sound when a cat purrs (yes, try it now).

This rolling sound is used for words that have the RR written in it (e.g. perro, correr etc.), but sometimes the single R has the same rolling sound in the following cases:

The letter R sounds like a RR

The letter R sounds like a RR when it goes:

• at the beginning of a word
  e.g. Roberto, Roma, romero
• After the letters L, N or S
  e.g. Alrededor, Enrique, Israel

Trabalenguas con RR

Trabalengua: The word “trabalengua” comes from the verb trabar (to jam) and the noun lengua (tongue)
So join these words together and it’s like a “tongue jammer” or as we say in English Tongue twister.

As you can see in the image, we have included a Tongue twister to practice the RR sound

Trabalengua para practicar:
El Perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Rodriguéz se lo ha robado.

All of the words with R and RR in this tongue twister are pronounced with the rolling R sound except for one of the words. Which one is it? ……… the word “porque”.

Remember tongue twisters in English often don’t make sense either so don’t over analyze the meaning of trabalenguas in Spanish either.

Soon we will create a list of trabalenguas with the RR sound.

¿Dónde está el ñandú?

Ever wondered how you could type that on a normal English keyboard?

How do you make the inverted question mark (¿) without having to turn your screen upside down?

Those special letters with the accents don’t appear anywhere, do they?

And how about the n with the squiggle on top (ñ), how do you do that?

Unless you have a Spanish keyboard, you may find it difficult to include special characters or letters such as ¿ ¡ ñ or é in your text.

And writing the correct letter can make a big difference.

It’s not the same wishing someone a “Feliz Ano Nuevo” instead of a “Feliz Año Nuevo”.

Well, all is not lost. We have written a guide to creating Spanish letters and symbols using any keyboard.

With a Windows computer

If you are using Windows then you can hold down the ALT button (normally next to the space bar) and type the 4-digit number

Capital Letters

Á – ALT + 0193

É – ALT + 0201

Í – ALT + 0205

Ó – ALT + 0211

Ú – ALT + 0218

Ñ – ALT + 0209

Ü – ALT + 0220

Lowercase Letters

á – ALT + 0225

é – ALT + 0233

í – ALT + 0237

ó – ALT + 0243

ú – ALT + 0250

ñ – ALT + 0241

ü – ALT + 0252

Special symbols (Punctuation)

¿ – ALT + 0191 (inverted question mark)

¡ – ALT + 0161 (inverted exclamation mark)

º – ALT + 0186 (Masculine Ordinal Number as in 5º)

ª – ALT + 0170 (Feminine Ordinal Number as in 3ª)

Spanish letters on a Mac computer

On an Apple computer you can obtain the same characters by doing the following:

Capital Letters

Á – Option + E then A

É – Option + E then E

Í – Option + E then I

Ó – Option + E then O

Ú – Option + E then U

Ñ – Option + N then N

Ü – Option + U then U

Lowercase Letters

á – Option + E then a

é – Option + E then e

í – Option + E then i

ó – Option + E then o

ú – Option + E then u

ñ – Option + N then n

ü – Option + U then u

Special symbols (Punctuation)

¿ – Shift + Option + ? (inverted question mark)

¡ – Option + 1 (inverted exclamation mark)

º – Option + 0 (Masculine Ordinal Number as in 9º)

ª – Option + 9 (Feminine Ordinal Number as in 7ª)

So now you should try and type the question that appeared at the beginning of the post:

¿Dónde está el ñandú?

If you are wondering what a ñandú is, it’s a large bird that looks like an ostrich and lives in the southern part of South America.

How do you say the points of a compass in Spanish?

The four main cardinal points of the compass are:

• norte (north)
• este (east)
• sur (south)
• oeste (west)

Oeste (west) and Este (east) are very similar in spelling so can understandably be confused at the beginning.

Occasionally you will see Oriente instead of East and Occidente instead of West.

Then we have the points that are in between the main ones:

• noreste (northeast)
• sureste (southeast)
• suroeste (southwest)
• noroeste (northwest)

Sometimes you will hear sudeste (instead of sureste) and sudoeste (instead of suroeste) which are also correct.

Now, if you want to get even more precise you can add in the following:

• nornoreste (north-northeast)
• estenoreste (east-northeast)
• estesureste (east-southeast)
• sursureste (south-southeast)
• sursuroeste (south-southwest)
• oestesuroeste (west-southwest)
• oestenoroeste (west-northwest)
• nornoroeste (north-northwest)

If that didn’t make you dizzy then you deserve a medal!

According to the RAE (Real Academia Española)…

Internet is a feminine noun HOWEVER it normally appears without the article LA.

Also the first letter of the word is a capital letter.

• No tengo acceso a Internet (- No “a la” internet)
• Uso Internet para estudiar otros idiomas.
• ¿Cómo será la Internet del futuro?

Check out our Reading Text in Spanish about Internet with vocabulary.

A common mistake for native speakers of Spanish is when to use Ves instead of Vez in a written sentence.

We just created a new page about the difference between Ves and Vez if you would like to know why and how to avoid making the same mistake.

And remember…

Si no sabes la diferencia entre ves y vez es porque siempre ves televisión y rara vez abres un libro.

Foto de un desfibrilador

Another example of real life Spanish, we recently took this photo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
What is it? What else does it say?

Vocabulario – Vocabulary

Desfibrilador – (noun – masc) defibrillator (that device you use to give an electrical charge to the heart area in an emergency).
Sonar – (verb) to ring; when an alarm makes a sound
Alarma – (noun – fem) alarm
Sólo – (adverb) only
Personal – (noun – masc) staff
Entrenado – (adjective) trained

How do you say heart in Spanish? …
Corazón (noun – masc)

SONARA: Notice how they did not put the tilde above to final A to show the verb is in the future tense.

Well, in correct Spanish it should be there (see Tildes with Capital Letters) though you may see signs without it. It should be written as SONARÁ.