SpanishEspañolOverview Review Practice Phrasebook

Your own life: hobbies, health and opinions

Phase 3 stops teaching structures and starts using them. This week also brings the one Spanish verb that works backwards.

Colours live this week

10 of 10 in play

Noun

A thing, a person or a place.

Verb

An action or a state — what is happening.

Adjective

Describes a noun.

Adverb

Modifies a verb or an adjective.

Article

the / a / some — and possessives like mon, ma.

Pronoun

Stands in for a noun — I, you, he, it.

Preposition

Links words together — to, in, of, for.

Conjunction

Joins two parts of a sentence.

Question word

Opens a question — where, when, how, why.

Fixed chunk

Learn it whole. Do not take it apart.

Adverbs of degree — muy, bien, mal — are gold. Possessives stay grey and plain, because Spanish ones carry no gender.

Gustar works backwards, and you must let it

Me gusta el deporte does not mean I like sport. It means sport is pleasing to me. The thing you like is the subject, and you are the object. This matters for two reasons. First, keep the article: me gusta el deporte, never me gusta deporte. Second, the verb agrees with the thing, not with you: me gusta el cine, but me gustan los libros — plural thing, plural verb. Almost every learner gets this wrong for a month, so expect to, and correct it calmly.

Hobbies and interests

Pick the five that are actually true of you and drill only those.

el deportesport
Me gusta el deporte.I like sport.
la músicamusic
Me gusta la música.I like music.
leerto read
Me gusta leer.I like reading.
The verb is far more natural here than the noun la lectura.
la jardineríagardening
cocinarto cook
Me gusta cocinar.I like cooking.
viajarto travel
la fotografíaphotography
el cinecinema, film
la televisióntelevision
Veo la televisión.I watch television.
pasearto go for a walk
Me gusta pasear.I like walking.

The four liking verbs

The first three work backwards, like gustar. Preferir behaves normally, which is a relief.

Verb	a míreviewed	a usted
gustarto like	me gusta	le gusta
encantarto love	me encanta	le encanta
no gustarto dislike	no me gusta	no le gusta
preferirto prefer	prefiero	prefiere

Only the a mí column becomes a review card. The rest are there to be recognised, not produced — which is what keeps a day inside its fifteen minutes.

Health

Estoy bienI'm well
Estoy bien, gracias.I'm well, thank you.
Estoy malI'm unwell
[me duele…]…hurts me
[Me duele] la cabeza.I have a headache.
Backwards like gustar: the head is doing the hurting. Me duelen las piernas for a plural.
el médicothe doctor
enfermo / enfermaill
Estoy enfermo.I am ill.
cansado / cansadatired
Estoy cansada.I am tired.
[estoy descansando]I'm resting

Where it hurts

All used with me duele — or me duelen if the part comes in a pair.

la cabezathe head
la manothe hand
Ends in -o and is feminine. One of the few real exceptions.
la piernathe leg
el estómagothe stomach
la espaldathe back
el brazothe arm
las muelasthe back teeth
[Me duelen] las muelas.I have toothache.

Opinions

[creo que…]I think that…
[Creo que] el viaje es interesante.I think travel is interesting.
[me parece que…]it seems to me that…
[en mi opinión]in my opinion
[En mi opinión,] está bien.In my opinion, it's good.
el problemathe problem
Ends in -a and is masculine — el problema. Greek origin. So are el tema and el sistema.

Sentence frames

1
Me gusta / encanta el deporte.
I like / love ___.
2
[Me duele] la cabeza.
I have a headache.
3
[En mi opinión,] es interesante.
In my opinion, it's interesting.

Substitution drill — what you like

Rotate the object through the frame. Watch for the moment you need gustan rather than gusta.

Me gusta el deporte.

I like ___.

Daily mini-tasks

Listening this week

Easy Spanish — street interviews about hobbies

YouTube

Real speech at real speed. Do not expect to catch everything — catch the hobbies, and listen for how often me gusta comes up.