Spanish Phrases For Dummies

Studying Spanish for school, business, or travel? Learn the fun and easy way with this portable guide that teaches everyday expressions in Spanish.

Spanish Phrasebook For Dummies covers basic language information, focusing on common phrases to help you in ordinary situations, such as chatting about family, finding your way around, and generally making small talk. From job-related expressions to translations of directions, numbers, and time, it teaches real-world language skills that you can use immediately.

If you've never studied Spanish before -- or did a long time ago but need a refresher -- Spanish Phrasebook For Dummies is for you. With guidance on pronunciation and stress, this handy book is jam-packed with plenty of grammatical examples to help you with verbs, adjectives, gender, plurals, pronouns, sentence construction, how to ask questions properly, and more.

You'll have ample opportunity to test your Spanish language skills in these scenarios:

• Counting your money

• Measuring time and keeping track of days, months, and seasons

• Introducing yourself

• Talking about the weather

• Ordering drinks, snacks, or a full meal

• Shopping in traditional markets or the grocery store

• Engaging in tourist or other fun activities

• Tending to work or other business matters

• Finding transportation and lodging

• Taking care of emergencies

With a chapter on phrases native Spanish speakers use every day and another covering phrases fluent speakers would say, you can have fun and impress your friends with this concise phrasebook.

Auteur

Susana Wald is a translator, teacher, writer, and publisher.

Contenu
Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Chapter 1: I Say It How? Speaking Spanish 5

You Already Know Some Spanish 6

Beware of false friends 6

Some crossover influence 7

Reciting Your ABC's 8

Consonants 9

Vowels 16

The diphthongs 18

Pronunciation and Stress 19

Looking for stress, normally 20

Looking for accented vowels 20

Understanding accents on diphthongs 21

¡Punctuation Plus! 21

Some Basic Phrases to Know 21

Chapter 2: Grammar on a Diet: Just the Basics. 23

Sentence Construction 23

Verbs 24

Regular verbs 24

Irregular verbs 26

Extra verbs charts 27

Forming Questions 31

Pronouns in Hiding 32

That Whole Gender Thing 33

Make It Two (or More): Plurals 35

Telling Tales with Adjectives 36

It's You, You Know: The Tú/Usted Issue 36

Chapter 3: Numerical Gumbo: Counting of All Kinds 39

1, 2, 3: Cardinal Numbers 39

Discovering Ordinal Numbers 41

Telling Time 42

You can tell time 42

But are you on time? 44

Days, Months, Seasons 45

What day is it? 45

Living month to month 47

Counting Your Money 48

Carrying cash 48

ATMs 49

Credit cards 51

Exchanging your dollars 52

Chapter 4: Making New Friends and Enjoying Small Talk 55

Hello! Greetings and Introductions 55

Formal introductions 55

Informal introductions 57

Small-Talk Verbs 58

Llamarse: Calling 58

Ser: Being 59

Estar: The second being 62

Hablar: Speaking 64

Trabajar: Working 67

Entender: Understanding 67

Vivir: Living 68

Small-talk apologies 69

Grand Inquisitor: Questions 70

A Rainy Day: Talking Weather 72

How Is Your Family? 73

Chapter 5: Enjoying a Drink and a Snack (or Meal!) 75

Getting the Table and Meal Basics 75

Three Verbs Used at the Table 76

To take and to drink: The verb tomar 77

For drinking only: The verb beber 77

For eating: The verb comer 78

At the Restaurant 79

What's on the Menu? 81

The Bill, Please 85

Chapter 6: Shop 'Til You Drop 87

Heading Out on the Town 87

Browsing around 87

Getting around the store 88

Requesting color and size 89

Getting the right fit 91

Using the shopping verb: Comprar 92

Wearing and taking: The verb llevar 93

Shopping the Traditional Market 94

Shopping for food 94

Scoping out special items 98

Visiting the Supermarket 100

Bartering for Your Goods 100

Getting the Right Quantity 102

Comparing Better or Best 102

Chapter 7: Making Leisure a Top Priority. 105

Having a Good Time 105

Using the inviting verb invitar 106

Using the dancing verb bailar 107

Having a Good Time at Shows and Events 108

Screening the cinema 109

Enjoying a concert 109

Enjoying the Outdoors 111

Taking a walk 111

Watching the animals 112

Sports, Sports, Sports 114

The most popular ball game: Fútbol 114

Béisbol: #2 116

The playing verb: Jugar 117

Chapter 8: When You Gotta Work 119

Picking Up the Phone 119

Opening lines 119

Leaving messages 121 Making a co...