Resources for improving your Spanish vocabulary.
Advice from Spanish students and others on how to increase your vocabulary.
Spanish students and others who have learned Spanish offer advice for increasing your vocabulary.
This lesson for beginning and intermediate Spanish students explains the different ways in which fractions can be expresssed.
Suffixes and how to use them in Spanish, with examples.
The words 'chico' or 'chica' and 'muchacho' or 'muchacha' are used slightly differently in parts of the Spanish-speaking world. Here are some clues for knowing which one to use.
Spanish has a number of verbs derived from 'tener' that roughly correspond to the English verbs that end in '-tain.' This article lists the most common ones.
Here is a list of the months of the year in Spanish and an explanation of how they are used in sentences.
Here are the names of the four seasons in Spanish and how they are used.
Here are the sounds that the animals make in Spanish. They aren't necessarily the same as they make in English.
Spanish and English share many prefixes. Understanding them can help you learn more Spanish words.
It's a problam most learners of a foreign language face: How can I crease the number of words I know? Here, language students share what has worked for them.
This collection of lessons and other resources is designed to help Spanish students increase the number of words in their vocabulary.
Several prefixes can be used with the Spanish verb 'volver' to provide additional meanings.
As in English, the Spanish prefix 'mal-' is used to indicate that something is bad, abnormal or otherwise not right.
Does Spanish have more words than English does? Yes, but that shouldn't be seen as a sign of inferiority.
In English we often use filler words such as 'hmmm' and 'err' as we collect our thoughts. What is the equivalent in Spanish?
How many ways in can you refer to the directions of the compass? More in Spanish than in English.
Whether we speak Spanish or English, we use euphemisms frequently. Here you can find out what a euphemism is and see examples in both languages.
Spanish has an abundance of compound words, many of them colorful. One word for 'firecracker,' for example, means 'it looks for feet.'
Dozens of words are alike or very similar in English and Spanish while having quite different meanings. This collection of Spanish-English false friends, sometimes not-so-correctly referred to as false cognates, is one of the most complete anywhere.
Fickle friends are those words that are the same or very similar in two languages and often mean the same thing — but not always. This list of fickle friends supplements the entries in the list of false friends above.
Check back each day to learn a new word. Included with each word is its definition (in English) and an example of its use in a sentence, most of them taken from current Spanish-language publications or Web sites.
If you're new to learning Spanish, this collection of lessons will help you learn what you need to know.
If you're beyond the beginner stage of learning Spanish, this collection of lessons can help you learn the details of using the Spanish language well.
Suffixes are simply word endings that can be used to modify a word's meaning. We use them in English all the time, and nearly all of them that we use in English have a Spanish equivalent. But Spanish has an even wider variety, and their usage isn't always as obvious as it would be in English.
Participants in our forum tell what's worked for them as they try to increase the number of words they know.
The Spanish verb 'estar' is often used in Spanish when talking about the temperature. This lesson includes an explanation of how to convert between the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales.
For a quick and enjoyable way of improving your Spanish vocabulary and knowledge of grammar, subscribe to "Dichos, refranes y citas," a daily newsletter that features a new saying, proverb or quotation each day.
Your Spanish abilities may be fine, but if you don't have at least a basic understanding of the metric system, you won't be able to discuss measurements well.
List of Spanish homophones and homonyms, words that sound alike and can easily be confused, along with their definitions.
One common way of coining words in Spanish is to combine a third-person singular verb with a plural noun.
Although Spanish speakers have far fewer words at their disposal than English speakers do, the smaller vocabulary of the language shouldn't be seen as a sign of inferiority.
The easiest way to expand your vocabulary in Spanish is to find other uses for those Spanish words you already know. One way is to add prefixes, beginnings that change or expand the meanings of words.
This is a collection of questions that Spanish students have directed at this site.
Do you know the Spanish suffixes? Find out by taking this quiz.
Follow these rules, and you can count for the rest of your life and not run out of Spanish numbers.
Learn how the "@" symbol used in e-mail is referred to in Spanish and where the word came from.
Almost any Spanish adjective can be turned into a noun. Here's how, along with many examples.
Various sources claim that
superextraordinarísimo is the longest Spanish word, but we can do better than that.
Learn about the Spanish word
conocer, often meaning "to know," and words derived from it.
Many of the words distinctive to Peruvian Spanish that you're likely to come across as a tourist are related to food.
This is a guide to the common, and some not-so-common, Spanish verbs that end in '-ducir.'
Some adjectives change meaning depending on whether they come before or after the noun they refer to.
This vocabularly lists provides some of the most common words and phrases that will come in handy when shopping in Spain or Latin America.
These sets of verb pairs are often easily confused by Spanish students.
The two most common ways of expressing fear in Spanish are 'temer' and 'tener miedo.'
Glossary definition of 'suffix' as used in both English and Spanish.
Glossary definition of 'prefix' as used in both English and Spanish.
Most regions of the Spanish-speaking word have own slang and terms of local usage, but the standard vocabulary of Spanish is understood everywhere.
Glossary definition of "homonym" with examples in Spanish and English.
Nearly all nouns in Spanish can be placed in one of two categories — masculine and feminine. However, there are some words of ambiguous gender that don't fit quite so neatly.
The Spanish word
santo usually means "holy" or "saint," but the word has escaped its religious boundaries to obtain a wide range of meanings.
Spanish vocabulary list of words related to Thanksgiving.
The concept of "next" may seem quite basic, but it can be expressed in Spanish in several ways, depending on how it is being used.
The Spanish words 'derecho' and 'derecha' are easily confused. Here's a quick guide to using these common words correctly.
Spanish has dozens of words and phrases that can be used to refer to all types of snow and related phenomenon.
Nearly all nouns in Spanish are always masculine or always feminine. But there are a few nouns that can be either, and their meaning depends on which gender they are.
Ordinal numbers are those such as "first" and "second" in English,
primero and
segundo in Spanish. This lesson explains how they are used and provides a list for reference.
Spanish has two common ways of introducing an afterthought, unrelated comment or offhand remark, ways that are typically translated as "by the way" or "incidentally" in English.
One of the most pleasant aspects of international travel is experiencing new foods. Here is some vocabulary to help you with the basics.
Everybody talks about the weather, so if you learn these words your efforts will help you with casual conversations.
In English, you might say "ummm" between words as you collect your thoughts. Spanish speakers are more likely to use real words as vocal filler material.
The suffix
-miento is use turn verbs into nouns.
If you're a beach-lover, sooner or later you'll find yourself somewhere where Spanish is spoken.
Ya is one of those words whose meaning depends almost entirely on the context.
If you're traveling by air to or through a Spanish-speaking country, here's some vocabulary you will want to know.
Here are the common Spanish verbs that are based on the verb 'venir.'
Learn the words for the names of relatives such as "father," "aunt" and "second cousin."
First impressions count. That's one reason you should learn some of these common greetings before visiting an area where Spanish is spoken.
Spanish speakers frequently use the diminutive suffixes not only to indicate size but also to make a word less harsh or to indicate affection.
Although augmentative suffixes aren't as common in Spanish as diminutive suffixes, they are frequently added to nouns as a way of expanding vocabulary or providing a nuance of meaning, often a negative one.
Claro is one of the most commonly used words in Spanish for expressing agreement.
Approximations can come in handy in everyday speech, since we often think in round figures rather than specifics.
Yes, you can say
ayúdame (or more formally,
ayúdeme or
ayúdenme, depending on how many people you're talking to) as a way of requesting help. But don't be surprised to hear someone call out simply "
¡auxilio!"
Here is some vocabulary that will help you if you're spending the night in an area where Spanish is spoken.
Children sometimes learn how to count to 10 in a foreign language merely because it's fun to do so. But knowing the numbers can also be practical when traveling or shopping.
Effective translation is sometimes as much an art as a science. The key is to translate ideas rather than words.
To understand an unfamiliar word, it sometimes helps to divide it into its parts.
The Spanish verbs 'mirar' and 'ver' have similar meanings, but they aren't typically interchangeable. Here's a quick guide to their use.
The two words are often interchangeable, but there are some differences in meaning.
When one language adopts words from another language, transliteration can be part of the process.
Understanding the difference between strong vowels and weak vowels is one way to remember how certain letter combinations are pronounced.
Here are names for all the basic colors and then some.
Making mistakes is a natural part of learning any language, but chances are you don't want to make some of the easily avoidable mistakes that might make you sound less intelligent than you are.
Spanish has thousands of proverbs, known as
refranes. This list of some of the most common can be used as a way of expanding your vocabulary.
Several Spanish verbs are derived from the very common verb 'decir.'
This lesson for Spanish students covers expressions of frequency, indicating how often events occur. This includes terms such as the Spanish equivalents of "never," "always" and "sometimes."
This site is mainly for people who are learning medical Spanish, but there's plenty here of general interest too.
