LinguaWhat you can already do
Three lessons ago you could only read Spanish letters. Now you can walk up to someone, greet them for the right time of day, ask how they are and answer, give your name three ways, ask theirs, say you are pleased to meet them, and choose between tú and usted. This checkpoint gathers all of it in three tables.
| Expression | When you say it |
|---|---|
| buenos días | morning, until lunch |
| buenas tardes | afternoon, until dark |
| buenas noches | after dark, arriving or leaving |
| hola, ¿qué tal? | any hour, with anyone |
| hasta luego | leaving; you will meet again |
| hasta mañana | leaving; you meet tomorrow |
| adiós, chao | leaving; chao is the relaxed one |
Your name, three ways, and the question
| To say | to a friend (tú) | politely (usted) |
|---|---|---|
| What is your name? | ¿Cómo te llamas? | ¿Cómo se llama usted? |
| My name is… | Me llamo… / Soy… | Mi nombre es… |
| And you? | ¿Y tú? | ¿Y usted? |
| Pleased to meet you | encantado / encantada | mucho gusto |
Tú or usted at a glance
| Form | with tú | with usted | several people |
|---|---|---|---|
| how are you | estás | está | estáis / están |
| your name is | te llamas | se llama | os llamáis / se llaman |
| you are | eres | es | sois / son |
| pronoun | tú | usted | vosotros / ustedes |
The traps of this unit, in one breath: buenos goes with días but buenas with tardes and noches; a man says encantado, a woman encantada; the pronoun is normally dropped – Soy Ana – except in ¿y tú?; usted takes the él / ella forms and is usually kept in the sentence; and vosotros exists only in Spain.
–Buenas tardes, ¿cómo se llama usted? –Me llamo Carmen López, encantada.–Good afternoon, what is your name? –My name is Carmen López, pleased to meet you.
–Hola, soy Pablo, ¿y tú? –Yo soy Ana. Mucho gusto.–Hi, I am Pablo, and you? –I am Ana. Nice to meet you.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| buenas tardes | good afternoon | Buenas tardes, señor López. Good afternoon, Mr López. |
| ¿qué tal? | how are things? | Hola, Diego, ¿qué tal? Hi, Diego, how are things? |
| hasta luego | see you later | Chao, hasta luego. Bye, see you later. |
| me llamo | my name is | Me llamo Lucía, ¿y tú? My name is Lucía, and you? |
| ¿cómo te llamas? | what is your name? (to a friend) | Perdón, ¿cómo te llamas? Sorry, what is your name? |
| encantada | pleased to meet you (said by a woman) | Soy Rosa, encantada. I am Rosa, pleased to meet you. |
| usted | you (polite, one person) | ¿Y usted, señor? And you, sir? |
| señora | madam; Mrs | Disculpe, señora. Excuse me, madam. |
| por favor | please | Un café, por favor. A coffee, please. |
| de nada | you're welcome | De nada, señor. You are welcome, sir. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
It is nine in the evening and you arrive at a friend's house. Which greeting fits?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.