Complete Spanish

Track 56

1. Prepositions never go at the end Rule

English happily ends a sentence with a preposition. In Spanish that is simply incorrect, so the sentence gets rearranged.

¿De dónde eres?
from where are you?
¿A dónde vas?
to where are you going?

It sounds more formal in English, but in Spanish it is the only correct option, not a register choice.

No sé con cual quiere hacerlo · No sé con quien tengo que hacerlo · No sé para quien tengo que hacerlo · No sé por quien tengo que hacerlo

Resist the urge to repeat the preposition at the end even after putting it at the front. That is English pushing through.

2. que covers all the relative words Grammar

For the girl I work with, Spanish says the girl with that I work. You have several options for that middle word, and they are all correct.

La chica con que trabajo · con cual · con la cual · con la que · con quien

Do not worry about them now. Que works for all of it. Once you are comfortable hearing the others, you will start using them without thinking about it.

Es la chica con que trabajaba · La chica con que iba a la fiesta

3. cuál, quién and quiénes Vocabulary

cuál
which, which one
quién
who
quiénes
who (plural)

You need no word for one: ¿Cuál quieres? is which one do you want?

Quién goes with the he/she/it form of the verb. Spanish also has a plural who, for when you know your who refers to more than one person, and the verb matches.

¿Quién va? · ¿Quiénes van? · ¿Quién está aquí? · No sé cual quiere · No sé cual quiere ver

Since estar carries location, ¿Quién está? alone is enough when the here is understood.

4. Working backwards, consciously Method

Meeting Estados Unidos, you can work backwards from unidos to find the verb. The instruction is precise: not guessing, but seeing what has been added and consciously taking it off.

unidos → strip -ido → unir

That leaves a choice between -er and -ir. Experiment and see which feels more natural. A version you have heard before will feel right even if you never registered it.

At this stage there is no reason for you to know what sounds more Spanish. That intuition comes with practice, exposure and listening. The more words you learn, the better your feel for the phonetics.

Vamos a Estados Unidos, with no word for the.

5. New vocabulary Vocabulary

la chica / el chico
the girl / the guy (informal, very common)
unir
to unite
Estados Unidos
the United States

6. iba, two ways to remember it Pattern

The line past of ir is irregular, and there are two routes to it.

-aba + -ía
the two endings blended
va with an i before
present va, past iba

In the present it is spelled with a v, in the past with a b, but they sound so alike that either hook works.