NCEA L1 Spanish key terms

A common greeting used when meeting someone or answering the phone. It is informal and works at any time of day.

A morning greeting meaning 'good day'. Used until roughly midday, and its plural form is fixed even when speaking to one person.

An afternoon or early-evening greeting. Spanish speakers switch to it after midday and keep it until it gets dark.

A greeting used after dark, and also the phrase for saying goodbye at night or wishing someone a good sleep.

An informal question asking how someone is. The reply often uses 'estoy' plus a feeling word such as bien or cansado.

A relaxed way to ask how things are going. It works as both a greeting and a genuine question about someone's situation.

The phrase used to give your name, literally 'I call myself'. It is followed by the person's first name or full name.

An informal question asking someone's name. The formal version changes the ending to 'se llama' when addressing an adult politely.

A polite phrase said when being introduced, meaning 'pleased to meet you'. The other person often replies with 'igualmente'.

Said by a male speaker on meeting someone, meaning 'delighted'. A female speaker says 'encantada', matching the adjective to her own gender.

A standard farewell. It is slightly more final than 'hasta luego' and suits leaving a place for the day or longer.

A goodbye meaning 'until later'. It suggests you expect to see the person again soon, so it is common between classmates and colleagues.

A casual goodbye literally meaning 'we'll see each other'. Friends use it when parting with no fixed plan to meet.

The phrase added to a request to make it polite, equivalent to 'please'. It usually comes at the end of the sentence in Spanish.

The standard word for thanking someone. To add emphasis, speakers say 'muchas gracias' or 'muchísimas gracias'.

The usual reply when someone thanks you, meaning 'you're welcome'. It is fixed and does not change with gender or number.

Used to apologise for a small mistake or to get past someone, like 'sorry' or 'excuse me'. It also asks someone to repeat what they said.

A formal way to say 'excuse me' when attracting a stranger's attention or apologising politely. It uses the formal command form of disculpar.

The word for the name of a person or thing. It is masculine, so it takes 'el' and forms like 'mi nombre es'.

The noun for age. It is feminine and appears in the question '¿cuántos años tienes?', though the question itself uses 'años' rather than this word.

The word for birthday. Despite ending in -s it is singular, so you say 'mi cumpleaños es' with a date.

The noun for date, as in a calendar day. It is feminine and used when saying when something happens or happened.

The word for month. Month names in Spanish are written with a lowercase letter, unlike in English.

The word for year. It appears in age questions and in dates, and the letter ñ is a separate letter from n.

The noun for address, and also for direction. Context makes clear which meaning is intended, for example when filling in a form.

The word for telephone. It is used in phrases giving a contact number, and the related verb 'llamar' means to call.

The noun for family. Spanish uses 'la' because it is feminine, and related words like 'padre' and 'hermana' describe members.

The word for a male friend. A female friend is 'la amiga', and the plural 'los amigos' can mean friends in general.

The noun for school, especially a primary or secondary school. University is usually 'la universidad' instead.

The word for class, meaning both a lesson and a group of students. It is feminine, so 'la clase de español' means Spanish class.

The noun for timetable or schedule. Students use it to talk about when subjects happen during the school day.

The word for house or home. It is used in phrases like 'en casa' meaning at home, without an article.

The phrase for free time, the hours not taken by school or work. It often introduces questions about hobbies and weekend plans.

The noun for sport. It is masculine, and the related verb 'hacer' is used in phrases like 'hacer deporte' meaning to do sport.

The word for music. It appears in phrases about listening, playing instruments and favourite bands, and takes the feminine article 'la'.

The phrase for weekend. It is masculine, and plans for it are often described using the near future 'voy a' plus an infinitive.

The grammatical term for verb. Spanish verbs change endings to show who performs the action and when it happens.

The base form of a verb, ending in -ar, -er or -ir, such as hablar, comer or vivir. It is the form listed in dictionaries.

The tense used for current actions, habits and general truths. Regular -ar verbs take endings like -o, -as and -a in this tense.

The grammatical term for adjective. In Spanish most adjectives follow the noun and agree with it in gender and number.

The grammatical term for noun. Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine, which affects the article and adjective used with it.