Spanish Skill:Basics 2

Basics 2
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Language	Spanish
Skills	323
Skill No.	1
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Basics 2 is the third (assuming left to right) Spanish skill in the language tree. It provides some basic words to refer to people, reading and writing.

Tips and Notes

The Second Person Plural

In Latin America the pronoun for the "you (pl.)" is ustedes, and in Spain it is vosotros. The two pronouns are synonyms, but they change the way of conjugating verbs. For example, to say "you guys eat", in Latin America you would say ustedes comen, and in Spain vosotros coméis. As Duolingo teaches Latin American Spanish, it does not teach the usage of vosotros. However, it is important to know the difference and when to use either.

You

Speaking of which, Spanish has multiple ways of saying "you":

• tù = informal, one person
• ustedes/vosotros/vosotras = informal, two or more people
• usted = formal, any number

Pronouns

Now you should know all of the subject pronouns in Spanish:

• yo = I
• tù = you
• èl = he
• ella = she
• usted = you
• nosotros = we
• nosotras = we
• vosotros = you
• vosotras = you
• ustedes = you
• ellos = they
• ellas = they

Verb Conjugation for the -er Verbs

The conjugation for verbs with an infinitive ending in -er are:

English	Spanish verb ending	Spanish example: comer
I eat	-o	como
you eat	-es	comes
he/she/you eat(s)	-e	come
we eat	-emos	comemos
you eat	-éis	coméis
they/you eat	-en	comen

This is the case for beber, comer, and ler (with an added -e- for pronunciation). It is not the case for ser ("to be") and escribir (which has a different ending altogether).

Plurals

Plurals are easy in Spanish; all you do is add an -(e)s like in English

• mujer->mujeres
• hombre->hombres

For the definite article ("the"), add an -s to la to make las and change el to los.

Lessons

Lesson 1

• nosotros = we (m.)
• nosotras = we (f.)
• somos = we are
• los hombres = men
• las mujeres = women
• ustedes = you (pl.)
• son = they/you are
• bebemos = we drink

Lesson 2

• ellos = they (m.)
• ellas = they (f.)
• beben = they/you drink
• los = the (m. pl.)
• las = the (f. pl.)
• los niños = boys
• niñas = girls

Lesson 3

• el vino = wine
• el libro = book
• la carta = letter
• escribe = he/she/you write(s)
• escribes = you write
• escribo = I write
• escribimos = we write

Lesson 4

• escriben = they/you write
• leo = I read
• lees = you read
• leemos = we read
• leen = they read
• lee = he/she/you read(s)
• el diario = newspaper
• la persona = person

References

Duolingo Lesson: www.duolingo.com/skill/es/Basics-2