In Spanish, a basic sentence follows a simple order: Subject + Verb + Object, or SVO for short.

Let’s look at an example:
In the sentence "Yo como manzanas" (I eat apples):

• "Yo" is the subject (who is doing the action).
• "como" is the verb (the action).
• "manzanas" is the object (what is being acted upon).

Present Tense Verb Conjugation:

Let’s break this down for regular verbs:

• For regular -ar verbs, like "hablar" (to speak):

  • Yo hablo (I speak)
  • Tú hablas (You speak)

• For regular -er verbs, like "comer" (to eat):

  • Yo como (I eat)
  • Tú comes (You eat)

• For regular -ir verbs, like "vivir" (to live):

  • Yo vivo (I live)
  • Tú vives (You live)

Irregular Verbs:

Some verbs don’t follow the usual rules. Here are a few examples:

• "ser" (to be):

  • Yo soy (I am)

• "estar" (to be):

  • Yo estoy (I am)

• "ir" (to go):

  • Yo voy (I go)

Articles:

In Spanish, we have words that show if something is specific or general.

• Definite articles mean "the":

  • "el" (for boys/masculine)
  • "la" (for girls/feminine)

• Indefinite articles mean "a":

  • "un" (for boys/masculine)
  • "una" (for girls/feminine)

Making Plural Nouns:

To change a singular noun to plural, you usually add -s or -es:

• "libro" (book) becomes "libros" (books)
• "clase" (class) becomes "clases" (classes)

Asking Questions:

Here are some question words you can use:

• quién (who)
• qué (what)
• dónde (where)
• cuándo (when)
• por qué (why)
• cómo (how)

For example:

• ¿Qué comes? (What do you eat?)

Using Adjectives:

Adjectives must match the noun in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural):

• "perro negro" (black dog)
• "perros negros" (black dogs)

Saying "No":

To say that you don’t do something, use "no" or "nunca":

• No como carne (I don’t eat meat)
• Nunca bebo agua (I never drink water)

Reflexive Verbs:

These verbs show actions you do to yourself. You can use:

• me (myself)
• te (yourself)

For example:

• Yo me despierto (I wake up).

Simple Prepositions:

Prepositions help us explain where something is or where it’s going. Here are a few:

• en (in)
• a (to)
• de (of)
• con (with)

For example:

• Estoy en la casa (I am in the house).