Qué hora es?

Es la una (it's one o'clock)

Son las dos y veinte (it's 2:20)

Son las tres (it's three o'clock)

Son las seis (it's six o'clock)

Son las nueve y diez (it's 9:10)

Es la una menos diez (it's ten before one 12:50)

Son las ocho y media (it's half past eight 8:30)

Son las diez y media (it's ten thirty 10:30)

Son las cinco menos cuarto (it's a quarter before five 4:45)

de la mańana = in the morning

de la tarde = in the afternoon

de la noche = in the evening (at night)

Los días de la semana

lunes : Monday

martes: Tuesday

miércoles: Wednesday

jueves: Thursday

viernes: Friday

sábado: Saturday

domingo: Sunday

Did you notice that the days of the weeks are not capitalized and the week starts with Monday?

Use the article el before the days of the week to express on: el lunes = on Monday

Describing animals

 El perro de Jaime se llama Osito porque es pequeño y negro.

(Jaime's dog is called Osito because he is small and black.)

Osito es un perro muy inteligente y cariñoso. (Osito is a very intelligent and affectionate dog.)

En general, los perros son animales muy inteligentes. (In general, the dogs are very intelligent animals.)

También son muy fieles. (They are also very loyal.)

Algunas personas creen que los gatos son más listos, pero Jaime no está de acuerdo. 

(Some people think that the cats are brighter, but Jaime does not agree.) 

Using verbs to talk about others

 Raquel vive en los Angeles. Viaja a Espańa. 

(Raquel lives in Los Angeles. She is traveling to Spain.)

Raquel y el taxista preguntan a dos chicos dónde viven la Seńora Suarez y su familia. 

(Raquel and the taxi driver asks two kids where Mrs. Suarez and her family live.)

Los números del 0 al 21

0 cero         

1 uno        

2 dos      

3 tres    

4 cuatro    

5 cinco    

6 seis        

7 siete    

8 ocho    

9 nueve    

10 diez    

11 once    

12 doce    

13 trece    

14 catorce    

15 quince    

16 dieciséis    

17 diecisiete    

18 dieciocho    

19 diecinueve    

20 veinte    

21 veintiuno

Uno is the number used in counting. Un is used before masculine nouns, una is used before feminine ones. Note how veintiuno is used before nouns: veintiún clientes, veintiuna oficinas. 

Expressing Possession

la familia de Fernando (Fernando's family)

la esposa de Ramón (Romón's wife)

su padre (his / her / their father)

sus hermanos (his / her / their brothers)

Los Saludos

Hola (Hello) 

Buenos dias (Good morning)

Buenas tardes (Good afternoon)

Buenas noches (Good night or Good evening)

Los miembros de la familia

los padres (parent)

el padre / la madre (father / mother)

los hijos (children)

el hijo / la hija (son / daughter)

los hermanos (brothers and sisters)

el hermano / la hermana (brother / sister)

los tios  (uncles and aunts)

el tio / la tia (uncle / aunt)

esposos (spouses)

el esposo / la esposa (husband / wife)

Expressing is and are

Spanish equivalents of English is and are: es and son. 

Mi historia es muy important para la Familia Castillo. (My story is very important for the Castillo family) 

Juan es professor de literatura. (Juan is a literature professor) 

Dos personas en esta historia son importantes. (Two people in this story are important)

Learn Spanish with Destinos

"Destinos" is a 52 episodes long tele-novela aimed to teach Spanish to English speakers. Each episode is about 25 minutes long and the videos are available online. The series are a co-production of WGBH Boston and Annenberg Media.  I will be sharing my notes from the series as I watch each episode and study on my own. If you are interested in learning Spanish, you can order the student workbook which has more activities which goes along with the TV show. Here is a short description of Destinos from Annenberg Learner website.

"Destinos teaches speaking, listening, and comprehension skills in Spanish. This telenovela, or Spanish soap opera, immerses students in everyday situations with native speakers and introduces the cultures, accents, and dialects of Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. Understanding of Spanish and appreciation of many Hispanic cultures increase as students become absorbed in the mysterious and entertaining story. Closed captioning in Spanish can be used as a teaching and literacy resource."