Complete Spanish

Track 66

1. Body parts take the, not a possessive Rule

Spanish does not say my leg hurts. It says it hurts me the leg.

Me duele la pierna. (my leg hurts)

Doler is to hurt, and the o splits under stress: duele. This is the same inverted shape as gustar, so the person is me, te, le.

No me duele la pierna más · Me duele la cabeza · Me dolía la cabeza

2. dolor de cabeza Vocabulary

The noun gives you another route to the same idea. I have a headache is I have pain of head.

doler
to hurt
el dolor
the pain
la pierna
the leg
la cabeza
the head

Tengo dolor de cabeza · Tenía dolor de cabeza

3. Possession with de Rule

No apostrophe s in Spanish. José's house is the house of José.

la casa de José  ·  la fiesta de María

Vamos a la casa de José · Vamos a la fiesta de María · En la fiesta de María

4. solo, for only and just Vocabulary

English says only and just constantly. Both are solo.

solo
only, just

Position is flexible, and moving it changes the emphasis. Solo hablé contigo is the more natural order; putting it at the end sounds more emphatic.

Solo hablé contigo · Hablé solo contigo · Hablé contigo solo

5. más for "anymore" Rule

Another job for más: with a negative, it covers anymore.

No me duele la pierna más

6. Building it in pieces Method

Asked for a longer sentence, the student lets two halves blend and produces the wrong person. The instruction: do not let it blend together.

No hablé · con nadie más · en la fiesta de María · solo hablé contigo

No hablé con nadie más en la fiesta de María, solo hablé contigo.