Level A1
Absolute beginner — present tense, articles, gender, basic sentence building.
Ser and estar both mean 'to be' in Spanish, but ser describes permanent or defining qualities such as identity, origin, profession and inherent characteristics, while estar describes temporary states and locations such as mood, condition and where something is.
The presente de indicativo is the Spanish present tense, used for habitual actions, general truths and things happening now. Verbs are conjugated across six persons and follow one of three patterns based on their -ar, -er or -ir ending.
Spanish has four definite articles: el (masculine singular), la (feminine singular), los (masculine plural) and las (feminine plural). The article must agree with the gender and number of the noun it introduces.
Spanish adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in both gender and number, and they normally follow the noun: un coche rojo means a red car.
Spanish personal pronouns divide into subject pronouns (yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos, ellas, ustedes), direct object pronouns (me, te, lo, la) and indirect object pronouns (me, te, le). Subject pronouns are usually omitted because the verb ending already identifies the speaker.