BASIC SPANISH: A GRAMMAR AND
WORKBOOK
Basic Spanish: A Grammar and Workbook comprises an accessible reference grammar
and related exercises in a single volume.
This workbook presents 20 individual grammar points in realistic contexts, providing
a grammatical approach that will allow students not already familiar with these terms to
become accustomed to their use. Each unit is included on a graded basis beginning with
the simpler aspects of Spanish grammar and proceeding to the more complex points.
Grammar points are followed by examples and exercises selected to reinforce mastery of
the topic.
Basic Spanish provides an ideal introduction to the language, with insights into the
Spanish-speaking peoples and their related cultures. For use in the classroom, or for the
independent learner, this workbook enables readers to express themselves in a wide
variety of situations.
Features include:
• authentic reading texts to encourage an understanding of Spain and Spanish-speaking
countries
• reference to Latin American usage where appropriate
• full exercise answer key
• glossary of grammatical terms
Basic Spanish is the ideal reference and practice book for beginners and also for students
with some knowledge of the language.
Carmen Arnaiz and Irene Wilkie are both Senior Lecturers in Spanish and
Linguistics at the University of the West of England, Bristol.
Titles of related interest published by Routledge:

Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide
Juan Kattán-Ibarra and Christopher Pountain
Modern Spanish Grammar Workbook
Juan Kattán-Ibarra and Irene Wilkie
Spanish: An Essential Grammar
Peter T. Bradley and Ian MacKenzie
Colloquial Spanish
Untza Otaola Alday
Colloquial Spanish 2
Untza Otaola Alday
Colloquial Spanish of Latin America
Roberto Rodriguez-Saona
Colloquial Spanish of Latin America 2
Roberto Rodriguez-Saona

BASIC SPANISH: A GRAMMAR
AND WORKBOOK
Carmen Arnaiz and Irene Wilkie

LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously Published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York,
NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.”
© 2006 Carmen Arnaiz and Irene Wilkie
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been
requested
ISBN 0-203-00160-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN10: 0-415-35501-X (Print Edition)
ISBN13: 9-78-0-415-35501-8 (Print Edition)

CONTENTS
Introduction

vii

Pronunciation

ix

Stress

xi

Unit 1 Nouns and articles

1

Unit 2 Numbers, times and dates

9

Unit 3 Subject pronouns and present tense of regular verbs

19

Unit 4 Present tense of some common irregular verbs

29

Unit 5 Interrogatives

37

Unit 6 Negatives

45

Unit 7 Adjectives and adverbs

51

Unit 8 ser and estar

60

Unit 9 Demonstratives

67

Unit 10 Comparatives and superlatives

73

Unit 11 Object pronouns

79

Unit 12 gustar

88

Unit 13 Radical changing verbs

94

Unit 14 Reflexive verbs

100

Unit 15 Present continuous tense

106

Unit 16 Possessives

112

Unit 17 The preterite tense

118

Unit 18 The imperfect tense

126

Unit 19 Perfect and pluperfect tenses

133

Unit 20 The future tense

139

Key to exercises

144

Glossary of grammatical terms

155

Index

158

INTRODUCTION
This grammar workbook is designed for English speakers with no previous knowledge of
Spanish, although it will also be useful to those with some knowledge of the language
who wish to improve their grammatical competence. The grammar is introduced in a
simple, accessible way and all grammatical terms are explained in the glossary. The
grammatical explanations are deliberately kept to a minimum and do not include all
exceptions to the rules or minor idiosyncracies of the language – students should consult
a grammar book such as Modern Spanish Grammar (Kattán-Ibarra and Pountain) also
published by Routledge, for a full explanation. What this course will do is enable you to
use the language accurately in the majority of situations and will certainly give a
thorough grounding in basic Spanish grammar.
There is no audio material to accompany this book, but guides to pronunciation and
stress are given at the beginning of the book (pp. ix–xiii) and this should be sufficient to
allow you to make yourself clearly understood. There is no substitute, of course, for
seeking as much contact as possible with native speakers of the language.
The vocabulary used is contemporary and functional. Although it is predominantly
peninsular Spanish, some reference is made to Latin American usage. Reading texts are
included at the end of each unit to encourage gist comprehension and to provide some
background information about Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. A vocabulary list
for reading texts is provided at the end of each unit, but you may need to consult a good
basic dictionary for some of the vocabulary in the exercises. An answer key to all
exercises can be found at the end of the book.
This book should be particularly useful for adults studying alone or as a grammatical
underpinning for a taught communicative language course.

PRONUNCIATION
The English equivalents given are a rough guide to pronunciation and they will enable
you to understand spoken Spanish and to be understood, but you should be aware that in
some cases they are not exactly the same sounds as used in English.
a

[a] as in English 'bag'.

b

[b] as in 'big' at the beginning of a phrase or after n or m.
Otherwise [β]. The lips are shaped as for [b] but slightly
apart.

c

[k] as in 'cat' when before a, o, u or a consonant.
[θ] as in 'think' before e or i in standard peninsular
Spanish, but [s] in Latin America and southern Spain.

ch

[č] as in 'church'.

d

[d] as in 'dog' at the beginning of a phrase or after n or l.
Otherwise as in 'this'.

e

[e] as in 'bed'.

f

[f] as in 'feather'.

g

[g] as in 'game' when before a, o or u. But before e or i,
[x] as in Scottish 'loch'.

h

always silent.

i

[i] as in 'meet'.

j

[x] as in Scottish 'loch'.

k

[k] as in 'car'.

l

[l] as in 'flat'.

ll

[j] as in 'yet' (this is the most commonly heard
pronunciation in standard Spanish, although strictly
speaking it should be pronounced as in 'million').

m

[m] as in 'mother'.

n

[n] as in number'.

o

[o] as in 'opera'.

p

[p] as in 'pear'.

q

This is always followed by u and qu is pronounced [k] as
in 'corner'.

r

[r] this is a rolled 'r' as in Scottish pronunciation of 'car',
i.e. with a slight flick or vibration of the tongue.

rr

this requires a more pronounced rolling of the 'r', or
vibration of the tongue.

s

[s] as in 'single'.

t

[t] as in 'take'.

u

[u] as in 'soon'.

v

This is pronounced the same as b.

w

This only occurs in borrowed words in Spanish and its
pronunciation varies. The most common variations are [β],
[b] and [w].

x

[ks] as in 'extra', but more commonly in spoken peninsular
Spanish it is simplified to [s].

y

[j] as in 'yellow' when on its own, but when it is used in
combination with a vowel it is weakened to [i].

z

[θ] as in 'think'.

STRESS
Apart from a very few cases where the diaresis (e.g. ü) is used, there is only one written
accent in Spanish (á) and this is used in the following circumstances:
• to show that a word does not follow the rules of natural stress;
• to differentiate between words which are spelt the same;
• in interrogatives and exclamations.

Rules of natural stress
If a word ends in an -n, -s or a vowel, the stress naturally falls on the penultimate (last but
one) syllable:
palabra

word

juguetes

toys

compran

they buy

If a word ends in any other sound, the stress naturally falls on the last
syllable:
pared

wall

feliz

happy

Words that follow these rules of natural stress do not require a written accent (or stress
mark), but if the word is pronounced in a way that does not follow these natural rules
then a stress mark must be put on the vowel in the stressed syllable:
lápiz

pencil

inglés

English

Some words require a stress mark in the singular but not in the plural, since by making
the word plural it now ends in an -s, resulting in the natural stress now falling on the
appropriate syllable:
inglés – ingleses
The situation outlined above is fairly straightforward, but when two or more vowels
occur together in a word you will need to understand the rules about diphthongs in order
to work out the stress.

Vowels are divided into strong and weak vowels – a, e and o are 'strong' vowels and
u and i are 'weak' vowels. When a weak vowel occurs together with another vowel, they
form a diphthong, which counts as only one syllable. If the weak vowel is next to a strong
vowel, the stress falls on the strong vowel:
piedra (stone) – two syllables pie-dra
If both vowels are weak, the stress falls on the second vowel in the diph-thong:
viuda (widow)
If, however, two strong vowels occur together they form two separate syllables:
ateo (atheist) – three syllables a-te-o

Differentiating between words
Sometimes stress marks are used to differentiate between two words that are spelt and
pronounced in exactly the same way:
el (the)

él (he)

si (if)

sí (yes)

tu (your)

tú (you)

Interrogatives and exclamations
When certain words are used as interrogatives (questions) or exclamations they require a
stress mark, whereas they do not require a stress mark in other circumstances:
¿Qué?

What?

¿Dónde?

Where?

¿Cuándo?

When?

¿Cómo?

How?

¿Quién?

Who?

¡Qué hermoso!

How lovely!

UNIT ONE
Nouns and articles
Nouns
All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine, regardless of whether they are
animate or inanimate objects. A number of factors can determine the gender of a noun,
such as its meaning, its origin or its ending. Whenever you learn a noun in Spanish you
will have to learn its gender as well:
e.g.

masculine nouns:

el niño (the boy)
el libro (the book)

feminine nouns:

la niña (the girl)
la playa (the beach)

Generally speaking nouns that end in -o are masculine as well as those ending in -or ema, -ista, while those that end in -a, -ión, -ad, -ed, -ud are feminine. There are,
however, some exceptions such as la mano (hand) and you will just have to learn these
as you come across them.
It is relatively simple to form the plural of most nouns: if the noun ends in a vowel, -s
is added, if the noun ends in a consonant, -es is added:
niño

niños

playa

playas

coche (car)

coches

bar

bares

ciudad (city)

ciudades

There are a few irregular plurals and nouns that do not change in the plural. Most of these
are not common words and therefore will be indicated as they appear.
Note: Some nouns lose their written accents in the plural for reasons which follow the
normal rules of pronunciation – see sections on 'Pronunciation' and 'Stress':
e.g.

acción/acciones
jardín/jardines (garden)

The noun carácter (character) changes its spoken stress in the plural and therefore loses
its written accent: caracteres.

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

2

Articles
The gender of the noun will be shown by the article that is used before it. There are two
types of articles – definite and indefinite. Definite articles (English 'the') tend to be used
with nouns that have already been mentioned while indefinite articles (English 'a/an')
introduce a previously unmentioned noun. Compare:
The dog ran across the road.
I saw a dog in the park.
In the first sentence, the speaker is referring to a dog which both s/he and the person to
whom s/he is speaking already know about – i.e. a specific (definite) dog; while in the
second sentence the speaker is introducing a new topic.
In Spanish the form of the article changes according to both the number and gender of
the noun with which it is used.
The definite article
The equivalent of English 'the' has four forms in Spanish:
Masculine

Feminine

Singular

el

la

Plural

los

las

Note: Feminine nouns beginning with a stressed a or ha are preceded by el and not la, but
this does not make them masculine nouns, it is just for ease of pronunciation. If another
word comes between the article and the noun, la is used because pronunciation is no
longer a problem. Also, las is used in the plural.
e.g.

el agua (water), el hacha (axe), el águila (eagle)

but

la gran águila, las hachas

The indefinite article
The equivalents of English 'a', 'an' and, in the plural 'some', are:
Masculine

Feminine

Singular

un

una

Plural

unos

unas

What has been said with regard to feminine nouns beginning in stressed a or ha is also
true for the indefinite article:
e.g.

un hacha, un águila

but

unas hachas, unas águilas

Nouns and articles

3

The plural forms unos and unas are commonly omitted without any significant change of
meaning (as they are in English). When used, they often have the meaning of 'a few' or
'some':
e.g.

Hay galletas en la caja.
There are biscuits in the box.
Hay unos niños en la calle.
There are some children in the street.

Another way of saying 'some' will be seen later.
Un(o) and una are also used to mean 'one':
e.g.

Sólo tengo un hermano.
I only have one brother.

But note that the form uno/una is used to mean 'one' when referring to a masculine
singular noun when the noun itself is not mentioned:
e.g.

¿Tienes un perro?
Do you have a dog?
Si, tengo uno.
Yes, I have one.
¿Tienes una casa?
Do you have a house?
Si, tengo una.
Yes, I have one.

Although the use of the definite and indefinite articles in Spanish is generally similar to
their use in English, there are a number of important cases when this is not so. Here are
some common ones.
When referring to nouns in general
Nouns that refer to all the members of the relevant class usually require the use of the
definite article, although in English the article is omitted in such cases:
Me gusta el café.
I like coffee – i.e. all coffee in general.
La violencia es inaceptable.
Violence is unacceptable – i.e. all violence.

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

4

El ruido me molesta.
Noise irritates me – i.e. all noise in general.
With nouns in apposition
When the noun refers back to the one just mentioned, the definite article is omitted:
Juan Carlos, rey de España
Juan Carlos, the King of Spain
Madrid, capital de España
Madrid, the capital of Spain
Before professions and status
Nouns that refer to professions, occupations and status, do not normally require an
indefinite article, unless they are qualified by an adjective or other expression:
Es médico.
He's a doctor.
Es un buen médico.
He's a good doctor.
Soy soltero.
I'm a bachelor.
Soy un soltero muy feliz.
I'm a very happy bachelor.

Exercises
1 Give the appropriate definite article form (el/la/los/las) to agree ingender and number
with the noun:
1

problema

5

canción

9 cantidad

2

niños

6

poema

10 perro

3

ciudades

7

condiciones

11 nación

4

sol

8

temas

12 casas

Nouns and articles

5

2 Give the appropriate indefinite article form (un/una/unos/unas) to agree in gender and
number with the noun:
1

hermana

5

funciones

9 bares

2

ciudad

6

copa

10 clase

3

pueblo

7

camión

11 tren

4

pie

8

autobús

12 tapa

3 Form the plural of the following noun phrases. A written accent on the final syllable of
the singular noun will disappear in the plural: e.g. la sesión – las sesiones (see
introductory sections on 'Pronunciation' and 'Stress'):
1

el maestro

5

la pensión

9 el abuelo

2

un camino

6

el hermano

10 la canción

3

la madre

7

una mano

11 un hotel

4

un hacha

8

el mapa

12 una habitación

4 Complete this text by filling in the gaps with the singular form of the definite/indefinte
article where appropriate:
María es _____ madrileña. Es _____ soltera. Vive en _____ piso en _____ centro
de Madrid. _____ piso es muy grande. De 9.00 a 6.00 María trabaja en _____
oficina y todos los días toma _____ metro. A las 6.30 María estudia _____ inglés
en _____ academia y luego, a las 8.00, canta en _____ coro con _____ amiga.
5 Complete this text by filling in the gaps with the singular or plural form of the
definite/indefinte article where appropriate:
Marisol es _____ colombiana. Marisol vive en _____ casa en el campo. Tiene
_____ hija, Elena, y _____ hijo, Juan. Marisol trabaja en _____ grandes
almacenes por la mañana. Elena estudia en _____ colegio inglés y Juan en _____
instituto. _____ niños viajan al colegio en _____ autobús. Por _____ tardes,
Marisol limpia _____ casa y lava y plancha _____ ropa. _____ niños ayudan a
_____ Marisol aunque primero terminan _____ deberes del colegio.

Cultural brief
Greetings and farewells
Ana is in her local market. Rosa is serving her in the fruit stall and then Ana meets a
friend, Pepe.
ANA: Buenas tardes. ¿Tienen naranjas?
ROSA: Sí y son muy dulces, también tenemos unas manzanas muy buenas hoy.
ANA: ¿A cuánto están las naranjas?

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

6

ROSA: A 10 Euros.
ANA: ¿Y las manzanas?
ROSA: A 7 Euros.
ANA: Bueno pues un kilo de manzanas y otro de naranjas. También quiero un melón.
ROSA: Sólo tenemos uno que es muy pequeño. Están de oferta y los hemos vendido
todos.
ANA: Entonces no. Gracias y hasta luego.
ROSA: ¡Adios!
[…]
ANA: ¡Hola Pepe! ¿Qué tal?
PEPE: ¡Hola Ana! Bien, gracias, ¿y tú?
ANA: Yo también bien. ¿Qué haces aquí?
PEPE: Hoy hago yo la compra. Carmen está con los niños en el dentista.
ANA: Oye, tenemos que salir a cenar una noche.
PEPE: Cuando queráis.
PEPE: ¡Bueno pues hasta luego!
ANA: Venga, nos vemos.

Key vocabulary for Unit 1
¿a cuánto están …?

how much are …?

academia (f.)

evening school (a private business, outside mainstream education)

adiós

goodbye

aquí

here

bien gracias

fine thanks

buenas tardes

good afternoon/good evening

bueno pues …

well then …

casado

married

cenar

to have supper/dinner (evening meal)

colegio

(m.) school

compra (f.)

shopping

coro (m.)

choir

cuando queráis

whenever you like

de oferta

on offer

deberes (m.)

homework (always plural)

dentista (m./f.)

dentist

dulce

sweet

entonces

then

Nouns and articles

están

they are (see Unit 4)

gracias

thank you

grandes almacenes

department stores

hago

I do/I am doing (see Unit 4)

hasta luego

see you later/goodbye

hola

hello, hi

instituto (m.)

secondary school

los hemos vendido todos

we have sold them all

manzana (f.)

apple

melón

(m.) melon

muy

very

naranja (f.)

orange

noche (f.)

night

otro

another

pequeño

small

¿Qué haces …?

What are you doing …?

¿Qué tal?

How's things?

quiero

I want

salir

to go out

separado

separated

sí

yes

sólo

only

son

they are (see Unit 4)

también

also

tenemos (que)

we have (to) (see Unit 4)

¿tienen …?

do you have …? (see Unit 4)

7

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

8

Note: In the dialogue there are some expressions that do not have a lot of meaning in
themselves,they are just used in colloquial Spanish as 'discourse markers'. They are:
bueno OK
oye

attracts attention, emphasizes what comes next

pues

allows you to think what to say next; also means 'OK, then, in that case', used in order to
acknowledge the last thing said and then move on

venga signals you want to bring the conversation to an end
vale

OK

The verbs used in this unit will be dealt with in detail in Units 3 and 4.

UNIT TWO
Numbers, times and dates
Numbers
You will not be able to get very far in Spanish without a knowledge of numbers, so here
are the numbers up to 100:
1 uno

11 once

2 dos

12 doce

3 tres

13 trece

4 cuatro

14 catorce

5 cinco

15 quince

6 seis

16 dieciséis

7 siete

17 diecisiete

8 ocho

18 dieciocho

9 nueve

19 diecinueve

10 diez

20 veinte

21 veintiuno

40 cuarenta

22 veintidós

41 cuarenta y uno, etc.

23 veintitrés
24 veinticuatro

50 cincuenta

25 veinticinco

60 sesenta

26 veintiséis, etc.

70 setenta
80 ochenta

30 treinta

90 noventa

31 treinta y uno
32 treinta y dos, etc.

100 cien(to)

The only number that changes form is uno, which has the feminine form una. Remember
the uno loses its -o before a noun.
uno must always agree in gender with the noun that follows it, even when it forms part
of another number:

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

10

Tiene veintiún años.
She is 21 years old.
Hay veintiuna casas.
There are 21 houses.
Notice that numbers 21 to 29 are written as one word in modern Spanish. You may come
across some older spellings where they appear as separate words:
e.g.

veinte y dos

22

veinte y ocho

28

A hundred is either cien or ciento depending on the context in which it is used.When it is
followed by a plural noun,it is cien:
e.g.

cien hombres

100 men

cien casas

100 houses

When it is followed by another number, it is ciento:
e.g.

128

ciento veintiocho

The exception to this rule is 100,000,which is cien mil.
Numbers above 100 are as follows:
200

doscientos
(doscientas before a feminine plural noun)

Similarly:
300 trescientos
400 cuatrocientos
500 quinientos
600 seiscientos
700 setecientos
800 ochocientos
900 novecientos
1.000 mil
2.000 dos mil
1.000.000 un millón

It is very easy to combine numbers in Spanish:
105 ciento cinco

Numbers, times and dates

11

256 doscientos cincuenta y seis
389 trescientos ochenta y nueve
1.247 mil doscientos cuarenta y siete
2.321 dos mil trescientos veintiuno
1.750.459 un millón setecientos cincuenta mil cuatrocientos cincuenta y nueve

Notice that the only place y occurs is between tens and units.
Note: In numbers a full stop is used to mark off thousands or millions, when in
English we would use a comma. The comma is used where we would use the decimal
point in English (e.g. 12,6% el doce coma seis por ciento – 'twelve point six per cent').
Using the above examples you should now be able to say any number in Spanish that
you are likely to need.

Telling the time
This is very straightforward in Spanish.
If it is on the hour:
Es la una.
It's one o'clock.
Son las dos.
It's two o'clock.
Son las tres.
It's three o'clock, etc.
Note the use of es in the case of one o'clock and son in all other cases.
To express a number of minutes past the hour y is added to the above, followed by the
appropriate number:
Son las ocho y veinte.
It is twenty past eight.
Son las tres y cinco.
It is five past three.
Es la una y diez.
It is ten past one.

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

12

As in English 'quarter past' and 'half past' are usually expressed with words rather than
with the numbers themselves:
Son las doce y media.
It's half past twelve.
Son las siete y cuarto.
It's quarter past seven.
To express a number of minutes before the hour menos is used in the same way as y:
Son las tres menos cinco.
It's five minutes to three.
Es la una menos cuarto.
It's quarter to one.
If you want to specify the part of the day you are referring to you can add to the above
expressions:
de la mañana

morning

de la tarde

afternoon, roughly until dark

de la noche

after dark

Instead of son las doce de la noche you can say es medianoche and instead of son las
doce de la mañana you can say es mediodia.
You cannot add fractions to midnight or midday like you do in English: 'half past
midnight' = las doce y cuarto de la noche (not *medianoche y cuarto).
If you want to say 'at' a certain time as opposed to 'it is…', you just replace es or son
with a:
a las diez y media de la mañana
at 10.30 a.m.
a medianoche
at midnight
Two useful expressions to remember are sobre (about) and en punto (precisely):
sobre las ocho
about eight o'clock
a las dos en punto
at two on the dot

Numbers, times and dates

13

The 24-hour clock is used in the same circumstances as in English, for example when
announcing departure times of trains or planes:
e.g.

Las trece veintiséis
thirteen twenty-six

Days of the Week
The days of the week are as follows:
domingo

Sunday

lunes

Monday

martes

Tuesday

miércoles

Wednesday

jueves

Thursday

viernes

Friday

sábado

Saturday

Notice that capital letters are not used unless the word comes at the beginning of the
sentence.
The days of the week are all masculine nouns and to say 'on Monday' the definite
article el is used:
e.g.

el lunes

on Monday

To say 'on Mondays' (i.e.regularly, every week) the definite article is used with the
plural noun:
e.g.

los lunes

on Mondays

Months of the year
Months are also masculine nouns and like days are written with small letters:
enero

January

febrero

February

marzo

March

abril

April

mayo

May

junio

June

julio

July

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

agosto

August

se(p)tiembre*

September

octubre

October

noviembre

November

diciembre

December

14

*The Spanish for 'September' can be spelt either with or without the p. The more modern
spelling is setiembre.
en is used to say 'in…':
e.g.

in July

en julio

Dates
To ask the date you could say either:
¿Qué fecha es hoy?
In which case the answer might be:
Es el dos de mayo.
It is the second of May.
Or you could say:
¿A qué estamos?
In this case the answer would be:
Estamos a dos de mayo.
It is the second of May.
The first of the month is commonly expressed by el uno de, but el primero is also found.
El uno de diciembre.
El primero de diciembre.
If you want to add the year to the date, it is normally joined to the date by de:
e.g.

El doce de marzo de dos mil uno.

Numbers, times and dates

15

Exercises
1 Write the following numbers in full:
1

5

6

14

11

18

2

10

7

52

12

145

3

27

8

67

13

269

4

30

9

76

14

12

5

46

10

102

15

313

2 Write the following numbers in figures:
1

treinta y ocho

9

doscientos sesenta y dos

2

cuarenta y seis

10

mil trescientos cuatro

3

once

11

quinientos veintiuno

4

venticinco

12

treinta y cuatro

5

sesenta y tres

13

ciento treinta y tres

6

ochenta y siete

14

noventa y seis

7

setenta y nueve

15

novecientos ocho

8

ciento cinco

3 Write the following dates in full:
1

27–4–1978

5

30–1–1856

9

3–8–1992

2

13–3–2004

6

15–11–2006

10

10–7–2001

3

25–5–1964

7

11–6–2003

11

16–9–2002

4

14–2–2000

8

22–10–1999

12

1–12–1987

4 Write the following times in the 24-hour clock (e.g.'14:13' las catorce trece):
1

13:15

6

12:35

2

02:10

7

07:50

3

17:45

8

14:05

4

04:30

9

01:55

5

15:20

10

16:35

5 Write the following times in Spanish in full using the 12-hour clock (e.g. 'twelve
minutes past one' la una y doce):

Basic Spanish: A grammar and workbook

16

1

quarter past six

6

twenty-five past three

2

ten past eight

7

half past one

3

twenty past eleven

8

ten to twelve

4

quarter to two

9

twenty-five to four

5

five past seven

10 five to ten

Cultural brief
Días de fiesta en España
En España hay muchos días especiales durante el año. En estos días los españoles
normalmente no trabajan. Los más importantes son:
• 1 de enero
día de Año Nuevo. Fiesta en toda España.
• 6 de enero
día de Reyes. Los españoles dan los regalos de Navidad en esta fecha. Los Reyes
Magos vienen durante la noche del día 5 al día 6. Fiesta en toda España.
• 19 de marzo
día de San José. Es el día del padre. En la Comunidad Valenciana también son
Las Fallas, sus fiestas regionales. En algunas comunidades autónomas, como
Andalucía, Asturias y Baleares no es fiesta, aunque celebran el día del padre.
• 1 de mayo
día del trabajo. Fiesta en toda España.
• primer domingo de mayo
día de la madre. Fiesta en toda España.
• 25 de julio
día de Santiago Apóstol, patrón de España. Fiesta en toda España.
• 15 de agosto
día de la Ascensión de la Virgen. En muchos pueblos y ciudades de España se
organizan muchas actividades este día.
• 12 de octubre
día del Pilar, patrona de España. Fiesta en toda España.
• 1 de noviembre
día de Todos los Santos. Fiesta en toda España.
• 6 de diciembre
día de la Constitución. Fiesta en toda España.
• 8 de diciembre
día de la Inmaculada Concepción. Fiesta en toda España.
• 25 de diciembre
dia de Navidad. Fiesta en toda España.

Numbers, times and dates

17

Además de estos días también son fiesta el Jueves Santo y Viernes Santo. En algunas
comunidades autónomas cambian el Jueves Santo por el Lunes de Pascua. Cada
Comunidad Autónoma tiene también su propio día de fiesta.

Key vocabulary for Unit 2
actividad (f.)

activity

algún/a

some

aunque

although

celebrar

celebrate

Comunidad [Autónoma] (f.)

Autonomous Community (regional division in Spain)

durante

during

fecha (f.)

date

fiesta (f.)

holiday (as in día de fiesta), otherwise means 'party'

navidad (f.)

Christmas

normalmente

normally

organizar

organize

patrón/a

patron saint

regalo (m.)

present

Reyes [Magos] (m.)

the Three Wise Men, the Magi

trabajar

to work

vienen

[they] come

The festivities
día de Año Nuevo

New Year's Day

día de la Ascensión de la Virgen

Ascension Day

día de la Constitución

Constitution Day

día de la Inmaculada Concepción

Immaculate Conception Day

día de la madre

Mothe