Complete Spanish

Track 19

1. Work backwards from the form you know Method

A new skill to add to working forwards from the "to" form. If you hear or see a word like vamos, get into the habit of working backwards from it to build the other versions.

vamos → strip -amos → va, vas, van

You do not need the "to" form to do this. The -amos already tells you your vowel is /a/, and that is enough to go on.

Va · Vas · Van · ¿A dónde vas? (to where are you going)

2. ir is to go, and it is two verbs in one Grammar

The "to" form of to go is ir, i-r all by itself, so it is very irregular. The reason is historical: two separate verbs stuck together over time to form one.

ir
to go
voy
I go, I am going
va, vas, van, vamos
the rest of the set

Ir comes from one verb, and the other versions come from a different one, which is why an -ir verb has an a turning up throughout. The related French aller gives English alleyway.

None of that history is needed. All you need is voy from voyage, plus vamos, and you can work backwards from vamos for the complete set.

Quiero ir · Puedo ir · Debo ir · Tengo que ir · Tengo que ir ahora

3. The splits show up between other languages too Pattern

If you know Italian or another Latin language, the same splitting is visible there, and noticing it helps you internalise the Spanish word.

siempre
always (Italian sempre)
bien
well (Italian bene)
bueno
good (French bon)

With bien you lose the final e and the middle e splits.

4. A word ending in e gives you no gender clue Heads-up

Words ending a are feminine, and -ión and -idad are feminine endings. But a word ending in e tells you nothing: there is no way to know from the word itself.

la noche
the night
la carne
the meat (English carnage)

You have to look it up, or look at what is around it. Hearing esta noche in conversation, the a on esta tells you noche is feminine.

5. New vocabulary Vocabulary

esta noche
tonight, literally this night
la noche
the night
la carne
the meat
y
and (just the letter y)
deber
to owe

Tengo que ir esta noche · No como carne · No como carne y no tomo alcohol · Como carne y tomo alcohol

Remember the h in alcohol is not pronounced.

6. debo and tengo que are not the same Note

Worth keeping straight, because the English blurs them. Debo ir is I must go. Tengo que ir is I have to go, and it is que added to tengo that shifts the meaning from possession to obligation.

debo ir
I must go
tengo que ir
I have to go