Simple Sentences in SpanishA1

Spanish is a language that lets you talk with people in Spain, in much of Latin America, and in many communities around the world. It helps you to greet, ask for something, ask questions, and understand short messages from day one. To start, just recognize frequent words, fixed phrases, and the basic word order of the sentence, which you will see in Word Order.

To greet, you can use hola, buenos días, buenas tardes and buenas noches. To introduce yourself, you say me llamo + name or soy + name: Me llamo Ana; Soy Luis. If you want to know someone else’s name, you can say ¿Cómo te llamas? and respond with a short sentence. These expressions appear often in Primeros Pasos and also in Oraciones Interrogativas.

Basic phrases to introduce yourself

Word	Definition
hola	It is a word to greet another person in a simple way.
adiós	It is a word to say goodbye when you leave.
buenos días	It is a greeting for the morning.
buenas tardes	It is a greeting for the afternoon.
encantado	It is a polite way to say that you are glad to meet someone.
me llamo	Used to say your name.
soy	Used to say who you are or how you introduce yourself.
mucho gusto	It is an expression to show pleasure in meeting someone.
¿cómo te llamas?	It is a question to know the name of another person.
mi nombre es	Used to present your full name or part of it.

ScrambleShow Translation

In Spanish, a simple idea typically follows subject + verb + complement: Yo estudio español; María compra pan; El niño duerme. The subject can be omitted when the verb already shows who performs the action: Vivo aquí; Trabaja hoy. To start building clear sentences, use words in that order and keep the verb and the accompanying complement close. If you want to see more models, Oraciones afirmativas show complete sentences that follow this pattern.

Simple order for speaking in Spanish

Idea
The most common form is subject plus verb plus complement.
The subject can not appear if the verb already shows who performs the action.
The verb is the part that expresses the action or the state.
The complement adds extra information about the action.
In Spanish you can change the order to emphasize.

Show Translation

To ask a simple question, you can use ¿qué?, ¿quién?, ¿dónde? or ¿cómo?: ¿Dónde vives?; ¿Qué quieres?; ¿Cómo estás?. In short answers, a simple sí, no or a keyword suffices: Sí, en Madrid; No, gracias; En casa. When you talk to another person, the intonation changes at the end of the question, and the structure is easily understood in Oraciones Interrogativas.

Short questions and simple answers

Idea
For a simple question you can use question marks.
A brief affirmative answer can be yes.
A brief negative answer can be no.
You can answer with a single word if the context is clear.
In a question, the interrogative word helps to ask for concrete information.

Show Translation

With common vocabulary you can name people, things and nearby places: persona, amigo, casa, mesa, agua, pan, escuela, calle, trabajo. These words are combined into very simple sentences like Mi casa es grande, Quiero agua or La mesa está aquí. They also help describe what you see and what you need, together with the forms you will learn in Oraciones afirmativas.

Everyday vocabulary for simple phrases

Word	Definition
persona	It is a human being that we talk about in a sentence.
amigo	It is a close person you trust.
casa	It is the place where you live.
escuela	It is the place where you study.
mesa	It is a furniture where you can eat, write, or put things.
agua	It is a liquid you drink to have energy.
comida	It is what you eat to feed yourself.
puerta	It is the entrance you open or close.
calle	It is the road where people and vehicles go by.
ciudad	It is a large place where many people live.

ScrambleShow Translation

In a basic conversation, you can understand phrases like ¿Tienes tiempo?, Está bien, Voy a casa, No entiendo and Hasta luego. In a café, on the street, or when writing a message, these phrases appear frequently and are usually direct. If you see an exclamation like ¡Qué bien! or ¡Hola!, the emotion is recognized right away, as explained in Oraciones Exclamativas.