Glossary

a

Abbreviation

abreviatura; removing letters from a word to make it shorter; usually followed by a full stop

Compare: Acronym

Don → D.

artículo → art.

Absolute Superlative

Accent

acento; emphasis placed on a specific letter or syllable in a word

See also: Tilde

Andalua

Iraní

Acronym

acrónimo; an abbreviation of a noun phrase that is read as a single word; the new word is formed by taking the first letters of each word or by combining the first and last syllables of two words

Compare: Abbreviation

ovni → objeto volador no identificado

ofimática → oficina informática

Active Voice

voz activa; standard voice for most sentences; the subject performs the verb

Compare: Passive

Marta escribe una carta.

Adjective

adjetivo; describing word; modifies a noun and agrees in terms of gender and number

joven, viejo, alta, grande

Adverb

adverbio; describes a verb, adjective or another adverb; gives information about place, time, quantity and manner and is invariable

aquí, ahora, deprisa, fácilmente

Adverbial Phrase

locución adverbial; an adverb made up of more than one word

a causa de, en absoluto, a lo mejor, tal vez

Short Adverb

adverbio adjetival; an adverb ending in -mente that has been shortened so that it has the same form as a masculine singular adjective

Las niñas corren rápidamente. → Las niñas corren rápido.

Adverbial Clause

oración adverbial; name given to a subordinate clause that acts like an adverb

Hicimos el trabajo como nos dijo el profesor.

Adversative Clause

oración adversativa; clause that expresses opposition or contrast; typically introduced by: pero, aunque, contrariamente, en cambio, no obstante, ahora bien, por el contrario, sin embargo, mientras que

Lorena habla japonés, aunque no muy bien.

Affix

afijo; letter or letters that can be added to the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) of a word or inserted in the middle (infix) to create a new word

Compare: Prefix, Suffix, Infix

juicio → prejuicio

azúcar → azuquitar

niño → niñez

Afijo

Affix

Antecedent

antecedente; a noun or pronoun in the main clause that is referred back to in the following relative clause

See also: Relative Clause

Lucas, a quien conozco desde el colegio, es mi mejor amigo.

Article

artículo; small word used before a noun; agrees in gender and number and can be definite (el, la, los, las) or indefinite (un, una, unas, unos)

la mesa, el armario

una mesa, un armario

Definite Article

artículo determinado; refers to a noun which is already known, identifiable or specific and agrees with the noun in terms of gender and number: el, la, los and las

la mesa, las mesas

el armario, los armarios

Indefinite Article

artículo indeterminado; used with a noun that is unspecific, not yet determined or general; agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to: un, una, unos and unas

una mesa, unas mesas

un armario, unos armarios

Artículo determinado

Artículo indeterminado

Attribute

atributo; word that ascribes a quality to a noun, usually an adjective introduced by the verbs ser, estar or parecer

Pablo es guapísimo.

Augmentative Suffix

Aumentativo

Auxiliary Verb

verbo auxiliar; help verb; used to form compound tenses, the passive and other verbal structures

Hoy he visitado a mis abuelos.

El herido es conducido al hospital.

Voy a ir de vacaciones a Marsella.

c

Causal Clause

oración causal; subordinate clause that expresses a reason or cause; typically introduced by: porque, ya que, puesto que

No te lo conté porque temía que te enfadaras.

Clause

oración, proposición; part of a sentence, usually containing a subject and a verb

See also: Main Clause, Subordinate Clause

Marcos cultiva tulipanes y los vende a toda Europa.

Closed Question

Comillas

Spanish quotation marks: «…»; used for direct speech and introduced by a colon (:); punctuation marks like full stops stand outside of the comillas

See also: Direct Speech

Pedro dijo: «No tengo hambre».

Comparative

comparativo; adjective or adverb that compares two elements

Comparativo de igualdad

comparison with tan como or igual de … que; shows that two things are equal or the same in some way

Raquel es igual de divertida que Cristina.

Cristina es tan alta como Raquel.

Comparativo de inferioridad

comparison with menos … que; shows that two elements are unequal in some way or that one has less of a certain quality than the other

Roberto es menos alto que Jorge.

Comparativo de superioridad

comparison with más … que; shows that one element has more of a certain quality than the other

Jorge es más listo que Raúl.

Complemento directo

Complemento indirecto

Concessive Clause

oración concesiva; subordinate clause that introduces a concession, objection or difficulty; typically introduced by: así, a pesar de que, aun cuando, si bien, por más que, por mucho que

Aunque estoy enfermo, hoy iré a trabajar.

Condicional compuesto

Condicional simple

Conditional

condicional simple; tense that expresses hypothetical situations, guesses, wishes and polite requests; similar to would/could in English

Compare: Conditional Perfect

Creí que aún estarías en el trabajo.

¿Podrías venir una hora antes?

Conditional Clause

oración condicional; subordinate clause that expresses a condition; often introduced by si (= if) or another conditional conjunction: como, cuando, a condición de que, en el caso de que, a menos que, con tal de que, en el supuesto de que

Si cenamos fuera, yo pago la cuenta.

Conditional Perfect

condicional compuesto; tense that expresses actions that could have or would have taken place; formed with the conditional of haber followed by the past participle of the main verb

Compare: Conditional

Yo habría venido antes si me lo hubieras pedido.

Me habría gustado acompañarte al médico.

Conjugation

conjugación; when we change the form of a verb to reflect the mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative), tense (past, present, future, conditional), number (singular or plural) and person (first, second, third); Spanish verbs are conjugated according to their endings (-ar, -er or -ir)

hablar: yo hablo, tú hablas, él habla...

comer: yo como, tú comes, él come...

vivir: yo vivo, tú vives, él vive...

Conjunction

conjunción; linking word that connects a main clause to a subordinate clause

Me gusta pasear y mirar las estrellas.

Te llamaré si llego a tiempo.

Coordinating Conjunction

conjunción coordinante; type of conjunction that links two words or clauses that have equal status (i.e. each one can stand independently)

See also: Main Clause

El profesor de historia está de baja, pero han mandado a un sustituto.

Subordinating Conjunction

conjunción subordinante; type of conjunction that links two words or clauses where one is dependent on the other

See also: Subordinate Clause

Hemos pedido una pizza porque nuestra nevera está vacía.

Consecutive Clause

oración consecutiva; subordinate clause that expresses a consequence or result; typically introduced by: así que, conque, luego, por consiguiente, por lo tanto

Se ha roto el congelador, así que se han derretido los helados.

Consonant

consonante; a letter that is not a vowel

Compare: Vowel

b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z

Copular Verb

d

Defining Relative Clause

Definite Article

Demonstrative Determiner

determinante demostrativo; comes before a noun and identifies it more specifically in relation to the distance from the speaker(s); the demonstrative determiners are: este, ese and aquel (and their feminine and plural forms)

Compare: Demonstrative Pronoun

¿Me pasas aquella camiseta?

Demonstrative Pronoun

pronombre demostrativo; replaces a previously-mentioned noun and identifies it more specifically in relation to the distance from the speaker(s)

Compare: Demonstrative Determiner

este, ese, aquel

- ¿Me pasas aquel tornillo?  (demonstrative determiner)

- ¿Cuál? ¿Este(demonstrative pronoun)

Dependent Clause

Derivation

derivación; the process of making a new word by adding a prefix, suffix or infix to another word

mar → marino

Derogatory Suffix

Determinante demostrativo

Determinante indefinido

Determinante interrogativo

Determiner

determinante; word used before a noun to identify it more specifically or assign it a quality

See also: Demonstrative Determiner, Indefinite Determiner, Possessive Determiner

Compare: Pronoun

Este bolso es muy caro.

Mi bolso es nuevo.

Dieresis

diéresis; the letter ü (u with umlaut); only appears in the syllables -gue- o -gui- to preserve the pronunciation of -gu before a vowel

cigüeña, pingüino

Diminutive

Dipthong

diptongo; when two consecutive vowels are pronounced together as one sound

Compare: Hiatus, Tripthong

puerta, aire

Direct Object

complemento directo; person or thing that is directly affected by the main verb

Compare: Indirect Object

Yo canto una canción.

Voy a comprar un coche.

Direct Speech

estilo directo; exact reproduction of the words a speaker has said, written between quotation marks (in Spanish: comillas, «...») and introduced by a colon (:)

Compare: Indirect Speech

Marcos exclamó: «Estoy verdaderamente asombrado con vosotros».

e

Enclitic Pronoun

pronombre enclítico; an unstressed personal pronoun that is added to the end of a verb, e.g. Cuéntalo; the Spanish enclitic pronouns are: me, te, se, lo, los, la, las, le, les, os

See also: Unstressed Pronoun, Stressed Pronoun

Quiero comprar un regalo a María. → Quiero comprárselo.

Estilo directo

Estilo indirecto

f

Femenine

género femenino; grammatical gender of a word, often indicated by the article (la, una) or word ending; nouns, pronouns, articles and adjectives can be feminine

Compare: Masculine

la casa bonita

Femenino

Femenine

Final Clause

oración final; subordinate clause that expresses a purpose or intention; typically introduced by: para, a fin de, con el fin de, con el objeto de, con la intención de

Hemos vendido el coche con el fin de pagar la hipoteca.

Finite Verb

verbo finito; conjugated verb

Compare: Infinite Verb

hablo, hablé, hablaba, hablaré, hablaría

Flection

flexión; changing the ending or stem of a word to give it a new grammatical meaning (e.g. singular to plural, past tense to present tense, noun to adjective, etc.)

Compare: Derivation

chico → chicos

cantar → canté

malo → maligno

Verbal Flection

flexión verbal; also known as conjugation; changing the ending of a verb to reflect mood, tense and person

yo canto

yo canté

yo cantaría

Flexión verbal

Future

futuro; tense that refers to actions that will take place in the future; Spanish has three future forms

Compare: Present, Past

Voy a estudiar la carrera de veterinaria.

Mañana estudiaré durante todo el día.

Future Perfect

futuro compuesto; tense that expresses an action that will have taken place by a certain point in the future; formed with the future simple of haber followed by the past participle

A las seis de la tarde ya habré llegado a casa.

Future Simple

futuro simple; future tense that expresses future actions and events as well as assumptions about the present

Mañana comeré en la universidad.

Si te vas a dormir, tendrás que lavarte los dientes.

Serán las once.

Future with ir + a

futuro próximo; expresses an intention for the near future; formed with the conjugated form of ir + a + the infinitive of the main verb

Voy a comprar al supermercado.

Futuro compuesto

Futuro imperfecto

g

Gender

género; the gender of a noun refers to whether it is grammatically masculine (el, un) or femenine (la, una)

el niño guapo, la chica lista

Género

Gender

Gerund

gerundio; impersonal form of the verb that ends in -ndo; similar to the English -ing form

Compare: Infinitive, Past Participle

hablando, comiendo, viviendo, concluyendo

h

Help Verb

Hiatus

hiato; when two vowels together are pronounced as two distinct syllables

Compare: Dipthong, Tripthong

caer, ps

i

Imperative

imperativo; mood used to give orders and commands as well as make requests

Compare: Indicative, Subjunctive

Ven aquí.

Volved pronto, por favor.

Imperfect

pretérito imperfecto; the imperfect tense expresses past states, repeated or simultaneous past actions and situations that were already in progress when another past action occurred

Compare: Preterite, Perfect Past Perfect

Cuando era pequeño, me encantaba acampar en el jardín.

Impersonal Verb

verbo impersonal; impersonal verbs only appear in the third person singular

Está lloviendo a mares.

Hace mucho calor.

Indefinite Article

Indefinite Determiner

determinante indefinido; comes before a noun to express an unspecific or unknown quantity; the indefinite determiners are: un, alguno, ninguno, mucho, etc.

algún chico, ciertos lugares, bastante agua, poca comida

Indicative

indicativo; the default grammatical mood in Spanish; states facts and events in the past, present and future tenses

Compare: Subjunctive, Imperative

Yo como

Yo comí

Yo comeré

Indirect Object

complemento indirecto; the indirect object receives the direct object in the sentence; in our example, los libros are given and la profesora receives them; the indirect object is introduced by the preposition a

Compare: Direct Object

Yo traigo los libros a la profesora. → Yo le traigo los libros.

Indirect Question

Indirect Speech

estilo indirecto; reporting what another person has said (usually in the third person); introduced by a reporting verb but without quotation marks; the tense, pronouns and time and place references must be adapted

Compare: Direct Speech

Marcos exclamó que estaba verdaderamente asombrado con ellos.

Infinite Verb

verbo no finito; an infinite verb appears in one of the impersonal forms: infinitive, past participle or gerund

Compare: Finite Verb

hablar, correr, vivir

Infinitive

infinitivo; base form of the verb ending in -ar, -er or -ir

Compare: Past Participle, Gerund

hablar, leer, vivir

Infinitive Clause

oración de infinitivo; subordinate clause that starts with a verb in the infinitive

Me encanta desayunar en el balcón.

Infix

infijo; letter or letters that we insert into the middle of a word to create a new word

Compare: Prefix, Suffix

humo → hum-ar-eda

pueblo → puebl-ec-ito

Interrogative

Question

Interrogative Determiner

determinante interrogativo/exclamativo; question words used before nouns in questions and exclamations; qué, cuál, cuánto/-a/-os/-as

Compare: Interrogative Pronoun

¿Qué libro estás buscando?

¡Qué vestido más bonito!

Interrogative Pronoun

pronombre interrogativo/exclamativo; question words used without a noun in questions and exclamations; quién, qué, cuál

Compare: Interrogative Determiner

¿Qué haces?

¡Qué ilusión!

¿Quién es ese?

Intransitive Verb

verbo intransitivo; a verb that does not take a direct object

Compare: Transitive Verb

El niño sonríe.

Irregular Verb

verbo irregular; verb that does not follow regular conjugation patterns

Compare: Regular Verb

contar, caer, oír…

l

Letra volada

Linking Verb

verbo copulativo; linking verbs (also: copular verbs) link a subject to a complement; the Spanish linking verbs are: ser, estar and parecer

Marcos y yo somos hermanos.

estás enfermo.

Él parece triste.

Locución adverbial

m

Main Clause

oración principal; clause that can stand alone without relying on another clause to complete its meaning

Comparare: Subordinate Clause

Si me buscas, estaré en mi despacho.

Masculine

género masculino; grammatical gender of a word; often indicated by the article (el, un) or word ending; nouns, pronouns, articles and adjectives can be masculine

Compare: Femenine

el puente viejo

Masculino

Masculine

Mood

modo; the mood of the verb reflects the speaker’s intention or attitude towards the information being presented; Spanish has three moods; the indicative (standard mood), the subjunctive (for doubt, hypotheticals, impossibility …) and the imperative (orders)

See also: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative

Carla no viene al cine. (indicative)

Dudo que Carla venga al cine. (subjunctive)

¡Carla, ven al cine! (imperative)

Morfema

Morpheme

Morpheme

morfema; smallest individual elements of a word that carry grammatical meaning; usually endings that reflect gender, number, person, tense, mood, conjugation, etc.

Compare: Stem

Yo cant-o

L-a-s camiset-a-s

n

Nombre

Noun

Non-defining Relative Clause

Noun

nombre/sustantivo; naming word; Spanish nouns change their endings to reflect their gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural)

coche, mochila, Raúl, Latinoamérica…

Number

numéro; whether a word is singular or plural

Compare: Singular, Plural

el coche → los coches

Número

Number

o

Objeto directo

Objeto indirecto

Open Question

Oración

Clause

Oración adverbial

Oración adversativa

Oración concesiva

Oración condicional

Oración de participio

Oración de relativo

Oración de relativo especificativa

Oración de relativo explicativa

Oración final

Oración subordinada

p

Participio

Participle Clause

oración de participio; subordinate clause that starts with a verb in the past participle

Los vecinos, cansados del ruido de las obras, se quejaron al alcalde.

Pasado

Past

Pasiva refleja

Passive

voz pasiva; sentences in the passive voice focus on the recipient of the action (the object); the person or thing performing the action (the subject) is unknown, unimportant or obvious

Compare: Active Voice

El hombre está herido.

El hombre es conducido al hospital.

Passive with “se”

pasiva refleja; the passive with “se” has the same meaning as the passive, but is more common in spoken language

Aquí se habla español.

Se venden casas.

Past

pretérito; Spanish has four past tenses

See: Preterite, Imperfect, Perfect, Past Perfect

Ayer escuché un trueno mientras dormía.

Past Participle

participio; impersonal form of the verb that usually ends in -ado or -ido; used to form compound tenses

Compare: Infinitive, Gerund

Hoy no he jugado al fútbol.

El partido quedó suspendido.

Past Perfect

pretérito pluscuamperfecto; the past perfect (also: pluperfect) expresses a past action that had already been completed prior to a second past action; formed with the imperfect of haber + past participle

Compare: Preterite, Perfect, Imperfect

Cuando llegaste, ya me había marchado.

Perfect

pretérito perfecto compuesto; the perfect tense expresses a (recently) completed action that occurred in a time period that is still unfinished at the time of speaking; formed with haber + past participle

Compare: Preterite, Imperfect, Past Perfect

¿Has comido ya?

Este año no nos hemos ido de vacaciones.

Perífrasis verbal

Personal Pronoun

pronombre personal; personal pronouns refer to people, animals and things; they match the noun they are replacing in terms of number (singular/plural) and gender (masculine/feminine) and can be the subject, direct or indirect object of the sentence

Yo no me río de ti.

Pluperfect

Plural

word that refers to more than one person or thing

Compare: Singular

Esos pantalones tan bonitos son míos.

Possessive Determiner

determinante posesivo; comes before a noun and indicates belonging; the possessive determiners are mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro (and their feminine and plural forms)

Compare: Possessive Pronoun

Mi teléfono está estropeado.

Possessive Pronoun

pronombre posesivo; replaces a noun and indicates a relationship of possession (similar to mine, yours, hers, etc. in English)

Compare: Possessive Determiner

Mi teléfono está estropeado. → possessive determiner

¿Puedo telefonear con el tuyo? → possessive pronoun

Predicate

predicato; section of the sentence made up of the verb and, often, whatever else follows it (the complements)

Compare: Subject

Nunca desayuno.

Siempre desayuno un yogur y una naranja.

Prefijo

Prefix

Prefix

prefijo; letter or letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning or form a new word

Compare: Suffix, Infix

operatorio → postoperatorio

nacional → multinacional

marino → ultramarino

Preposition

preposición; small words that give information about time, place, etc.: a, ante, bajo, cabe, con, contra, de, desde, durante, en, entre, hacia, hasta, mediante, para, por, según, sin, so, sobre, tras, versus y vía

A Claudia le sonó el móvil durante la película.

Present

presente; tense that refers to things that are currently true and actions that are happening now

Compare: Past, Future

Tengo veinticinco años.

Preterite

pretérito indefinido; the preterite is the past tense used for actions that started and finished in the past

Compare: Imperfect, Past Perfect, Perfect

De pequeña fui una vez al parque de atracciones Isla Mágica.

Conocí a Carlos en la facultad.

Pretérito

Past

Pretérito indefinido

Preterite

Pretérito perfecto compuesto

Perfect

Pretérito pluscuamperfecto

Pronombre

Pronoun

Pronombre demostrativo

Pronombre enclítico

Pronombre interrogativo

Pronombre personal

Pronombre personal átono

Pronombre personal tónico

Pronombre posesivo

Pronombre reflexivo

Pronombre relativo

Pronoun

pronombre; word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition

See: Demonstrative Pronoun, Interrogative Pronoun, Possessive Pronoun, Possessive Pronoun, Reflexive Pronoun, Relative Pronoun

Ella nos dijo que el bolso era suyo.

Proposición

Clause

q

Question

oración interrogativa; clause that aims to gather information; appears between question marks (¿ … ?) and requires a response from the speaking partner; can be open or closed; direct or indirect

¿Quieres un café?

¿Cómo te llamas?

Closed Question

oración interrogativa total; question that does not contain a question word and can be answered with «sí» or «no»

—¿Vienes al cine?

—Sí, claro.

Indirect Question

oración interrogativa indirecta; question that is contained within a clause; introduced by a reporting verb and not set off by question marks

Te pregunté hace dos semanas cuándo vendrías a visitarme.

Open Question

oración interrogativa parcial; a question with a question word

¿Cómo te llamas?

¿Cuántos años tienes?

r

Raíz

Stem

Reciprocal Verb

verbo recíproco; a verb that takes a reflexive pronoun and a plural subject; has a meaning of each other

Compare: Reflexive Verb

Los niños se pelearon en el patio del colegio.

Reflexive Pronoun

pronombre reflexivo; pronoun used after a reflexive verb; i.e. when the subject and object are the same

me, te, se, nos, os, se

Nos casamos el sábado.

Reflexive Verb

verbo reflexivo; a reflexive verb has the same subject and object; we use it with a reflexive pronoun in all forms (me, te, se, nos, os, se)

Compare: Reciprocal Verb

Me levanto a las 8.

Nos acostamos a las 10.

Regular Verb

verbo regular; regular verbs follow standard conjugation patterns

Compare: Irregular Verb

hablar, comer, vivir

Relative Clause

oración de relativo; type of subordinate clause that gives additional information about a noun from the main clause (the antecedent)

Antonio, cuya madre trabaja con la mía, es muy divertido.

Defining Relative Clause

oración de relativo especificativa; a relative clause that provides information that is essential to identifying the noun in the main clause (the antecedent); not set off by commas and cannot be omitted

La fiesta de cumpleaños que celebramos el año pasado en la bolera fue un éxito.

Non-defining Relative Clause

oración de relativo explicativa; a relative clause that gives additional, non-essential information; can be omitted without altering the meaning of the sentences; always written between commas

Quiero celebrar mi cumpleaños, que este año cae en sábado, en una bolera.

Relative Pronoun

pronombre relativo; pronoun that introduces a relative clause

See also: Relative Clause

Mi hijo escucha un tipo de música que no me gusta.

Relative Superlative

Reporting Verb

verbo de habla; reporting verbs introduce direct or indirect speech; typical examples: decir, exclamar, preguntar, etc.

—Confía en mí —dijo Victoria.

Victoria dijo que confiara en él.

Root

Stem

s

Short Adverb

Singular

word that refers to one person or thing

Compare: Plural

el coche

Este regalo es para ti.

Stem

raíz; the root of a word; smallest unit of meaning that is used as a base to create words in the same word family

guapo → guap

teléfono → telefon

Stem-changing Verb

verbo con un cambio vocálico; a verb that changes the final vowel of its stem in certain forms and tenses

pedir → yo pido

Stressed Pronoun

pronombre personal tónico; as the subject of a clause, stressed pronouns come before the verb and are used for emphasis; as the object of a clause they follow a preposition

yo, tú, vos, usted, él, ella, nosotros, nosotras, vosotros, vosotras, ustedes, ellos, ellas

No voy a ver nada si  te sientas delante de mí.

Subject

sujeto; the person or thing that performs the verb; can be a noun or pronoun

Compare: Predicate

El anciano se sienta en el banco.

Yo monto en bicicleta.

Subjunctive

subjuntivo; mood that indicates subjectivity or unreality; expresses possibilities, hypotheticals, wishes, beliefs, fears, etc.

Compare: Indicative, Gerund

Ojalá fuera más alto.

Si fuera más alto, jugaría al baloncesto.

Subjuntivo

Subordinate Clause

oración subordinada; clause that cannot stand alone; it relies on the main clause to complete its meaning

Compare: Main Clause

Creo que no tienes razón.

Subordinating Conjunction

Suffix

sufijo; letter or letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning or form a new word

Compare: Prefix, Infix

pequeño → pequeñ-ito

 

Augmentative Suffix

aumentativo; a suffix that adds the meaning big, large, or important to a word

rico → ricachón

grande → grandota

Derogatory Suffix

despectivo; suffix that adds a negative connotation or a derogatory meaning to a word

gafas → gafotas

amiga → amigucha

Diminutive

diminutivo; a suffix that adds the meaning of small to a noun; often used as a term of endearment

casa → casita

chico → chiquillo

Sufijo

Suffix

Superlative

superlativo; expressing the highest degree of a particular quality; there are two types of superlative in Spanish: absolute and relative

Compare: Comparative

Mi perro es el más listo.

Mi perro es listísimo.

Absolute Superlative

superlativo absoluto; when we add -ísimo to an adjective to make it stronger

Mi perro es listísimo.

Relative Superlative

superlativo relativo; using el/la + más/menos + adjective to compare something with all others in the same group/category; similar to the English the most/the least

Mi perro es el más listo.

Superscript

letra volada; abbreviation of a vowel used in titles and cardinal numbers; written in small type to the upper right of the word

señora: Sr.ª

número: n.º

primer: 1.er

Sustantivo

Noun

Syllable

sílaba; individual unit of pronunciation; one unbroken sound usually made up of a vowel or vowel sound and surrounding consonants

preparar → pre-pa-rar

Stressed Syllable

sílaba tónica; the syllable in a word where emphasis is placed; sometimes indicated by an accent

Compare: Accent, Tilde

camión

bruja

t

Tense

tiempo verbal; form of the verb that indicates whether the action takes place in the past, present or future

Compare: Present, Past, Future

Él habla

Él habló

Él hablará.

Tiempo verbal

Tense

Tilde

an accent (´) that is placed on a syllable to show that its pronunciation is stressed

Compare: Accent, Stressed Syllable

camión

baúl

mpara

Transitive Verb

verbo transitivo; transitive verbs require a direct object to complete their meaning

Compare: Intransitive Verb

Mi hermana toca la guitarra

Tripthong

triptongo; when three consecutive vowels are pronounced together as one syllable

Compare: Dipthong, Hiatus

copiáis, estudiéis

u

Umlaut

Dieresis

Unstressed Pronoun

pronombre personal átono; a personal pronoun that replaces a direct or indirect object and is connected to a verb; can come before the verb or be added to the end, e.g. Me encanta. Avísame.

Compare: Stressed Pronoun, Direct Object, Indirect Object

Yo compro un cruasán a María → Yo se lo compro.

v

Verb

verbo; doing word; Spanish verbs end in -ar, -er or -ar

ser, estar, vivir

Verbal Flection

Verbal Periphrasis

perífrasis verbal; grammatical structure made up of two or more verbs

Voy a comprar arroz para la paella.

Tengo entendido que trabajas en un banco.

Verbo auxiliar

Verbo con un cambio vocálico

Verbo copulativo

Verbo de habla

Verbo finito

Verbo impersonal

Verbo intransitivo

Verbo irregular

Verbo no finito

Verbo pronominal

Verbo recíproco

Verbo reflexivo

Verbo regular

Verbo transitivo

Vocal

Vowel

Vowel

vocal; letter that isn’t a consonant (a, e, i, o, u)

Compare: Consonant

a, e, i, o, u,

á, é, í, ó, ú, ü

Voz activa

Voz pasiva

Passive