Spanish 101

• Pastimes
• Likes/dislikes (gustar + infinitive)
• Interrogative words
• Formal vs informal you
• Personal pronouns and ser
• Noun/adjective agreement and placement

Spanish 101

¿Cual es tu pasatiempo favorite? What’s your favorite hobby? ¿Qué te gusta hacer en tu tiempo libre? What do you like to do in your free time? ¿Qué haces para divertirte? What do you do for fun? ¿Qué haces los fines de semana? What do you do on weekends? ¿Tienes algún pasatiempo? Do you have any hobbies?

¿Qué te gusta hacer para divertirte?

Talking about hobbies

Here are the object pronouns in Spanish. me – actions for yo (I) te – actions for tú (you) le – actions for él, ella and usted (he, she, and formal you) nos – actions for nosotros (us) les – actions for ustedes (them)

You can conjugate these verbs using indirect object pronouns to match the subject in a sentence, not the verb. Their purpose is to indicate who is receiving the result of the action—in other words, to whom the action is being done.

1) Interesar - to be interested in 2) Gustar - to like 3) Encantar - to love

Examples

Examples

Me interesa leer tres libros al mes. I’m interested in reading three books per month. Me gusta ir al gimnasio. I like going to the gym. A ti te interesan las historietas. You are interested in comic books. A mis hermanos y a mí nos gustan los juegos de mesa. My siblings and I like board games. ¿Te gustan los documentales? Do you like documentaries?

Nos is the indirect object pronoun for us + encantan is the verb for a plural subject and object + los videojuegos are the object.

Me gusta jugar al golf. I like to play golf. Me is the indirect object pronoun for I + gusta is the verb + jugar al golf is the object. Le interesa aprender español. You are interested in learning Spanish. Le is the indirect object pronoun for she, he, or you + interesa is the verb + aprender español is the object. Nos encantan los videojuegos. We love videogames.

These sentences use the pattern indirect object pronoun + conjugated verb + object.

Vamos a practicar

Lets practice

Interrogative words

And lastly, use de quién to ask about who something belongs to or who something came from. You need to know the context to know which meaning the speaker intends. For example: ¿De quién es esta comida? (Whose food is this?) ¿De quién es este libro? (Whose book is this? / Who is this book from?)

There’s also con quién, meaning “with whom.” ¿Con quién estás? (Who are you with?)

Quién can be accompanied by many prepositions. To change from “who” to “whom,” add a before quién (or quiénes). For instance: ¿A quién estás buscando? (Whom are you looking for?) ¿A quién le enviaste la carta? (To whom did you send the letter?)

1. ¿Quién/es? (Who?) The Spanish interrogative pronoun quién is one of the easiest ones to master because it can only refer to people. It means “who” and it has two forms: quién (singular) and quiénes (plural). ¿Quién eres? (Who are you?) ¿Quiénes son tus padres? (Who are your parents?

2. ¿Dónde? (Where?)

¿Adónde / a dónde fuiste? (Where did you go [to]?) Lastly, we have de dónde, which means “from where.” ¿De dónde eres? (Where are you from? Literally: “From where are you?”)

Dónde is another Spanish interrogative pronoun. That means dónde substitutes a noun—specifically, it substitutes a place (like a hospital, a house, a table or a spaceship) and is used to inquire about a location. Dónde is often followed by a form of “to be,” as in “Where is…?” so you’ll need to choose between ser and estar. Use dónde está to inquire about the location of something or someone. Use dónde es to ask for the location of an event. For instance, you’d use dónde está to ask where the park is, but dónde es to ask where in the park the birthday party is being held. Next, we have adónde / a dónde which means “to where.” (Both spellings are correct!)

3. ¿Por qué? and ¿Para qué? (Why?)

¿Por qué estás acostado? (Why are you lying down?) Porque me siento mal. (Because I feel bad.) On the other hand, para qué inquires about intention or purpose. ¿Para qué estudias español? (Why do you study Spanish? / What do you study Spanish for?) Do you see how the first question (with por qué) was a question about a cause and the second one (with para qué) inquires about a purpose?

¿Por qué? and ¿Para qué? are two ways you can ask “why” in Spanish. As always, they depend on context. If you’ve already learned the differences between por and para, then learning when to use these “why” phrases should be easy. I’ll break it down for you in case you need a refresher. Por qué is used to inquire about the direct cause of something, which is simple, specific or generally well known. Porque is the non-question version of the word, and it’s used for “because.” You can use porque to answer por qué questions!

Plural Form – Ustedes No matter what Spanish-speaking country you’re in, ustedes is the plural you (formal) in Spanish, meaning that you’ll always use it with two or more people in a formal conversation. Ustedes aquí presentes conocieron a mi madre. You who are present here met my mother. Señoras y señores, ustedes saben mi humilde trayectoria. Ladies and gentlemen, you all know my humble trajectory.

Singular Form – Usted The singular form of you (formal) in Spanish is usted. Use it if you’re talking to your friend’s mom, your boss, or a stranger on the street. Disculpe, ¿me podría decir usted cómo llegar a la plaza principal? Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the main square? ¿Usted vive aquí? Do you live here?

You (Formal) in Spanish

¿Tú vives aquí al lado, verdad? You live nearby, right? Quite often, the Spanish language skips the pronouns, and you’ll only use the corresponding grammar form. ¿Vives aquí al lado, verdad? Mind the accent over the informal tú! If you take it off, the meaning changes to “your.” Tu gato me molesta. Your cat bothers me.

Singular Form – Tú Use tú with friends or people younger than you. Some countries allow more informality in your daily interactions, while others prefer formal language, for example in a professional job environment.

You (informal) in Spanish