As in English, the s of Spanish has two distinct sounds — a hiss (like the first "s" in "schism") and a buzz (kind of like the second "s" in "schism"). A big difference, though, is that in Spanish the s maintains its "hiss" when it is used to make words plural and loses it only when it comes before certain other sounds. So while the English word "nachos" and the Spanish nachos from which it is derived are spelled alike, the final sounds of the two are different. You can learn more about the s in our lesson on pronouncing the s, one in our series on Spanish pronunciation.

Prefixes are those (usually) short pieces of words that we use to change the meanings of other words. For example, "pre-" is a prefix usually meaning "before" — as in "prewash" (prelavar in Spanish), to wash before, and "preregister" (preinscribirse), to register before. Fortunately, learning the prefixes of Spanish is easy, because nearly all the common ones are the same as or very similar to their English counterparts.

If you want to talk about something being sufficient or enough, a good way is to use the verb bastar, as in the sentence "Me basta con una comida al día" (One meal a day is enough for me). But what if you want to talk about something being too much? That's where, as explained in our newest lesson, demasiado can come in handy. Demasiado, which can function as an adjective or adverb, is usually translated as "too," "too much" or "too many."

Prolific Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, one of Latin America's best-known novelists and political commentators, died Tuesday.

Fuentes, who was born 83 years ago in Panama, was known best in the United States for his 1985 novel Gringo viejo, which became an American best-seller in the English translation, The Old Gringo, and the basis of a 1989 movie, Old Gringo, starring Jane Fonda and Gregory Peck.

His other well-known novels include his first, La región más transparente (titled in English as Where the Air Is Clear); Las Buenas Conciencias (With a Clear Conscience); Aura; La muerte de Artemio Cruz (The Death of Artemio Cruz); and Terra Nostra. He received numerous awards, including the Cervantes prize.

Fuentes' essays about politics and culture appeared regularly in newspapers in Mexico and Spain, the most recent one published on the morning of his death. Read More...