Level 1:
Group - Grupo
You can see this one, easily. It's even fairly easy to catch when listening to spanish. This is, in fact, a stereotypical Level 1... Take the English word and add an "-o" to the end... at least in the pronunciation.
As you can see in the spelling, the "o" in the center of the word is not present in the Spanish spelling, "Grupo." Actually, when you look at it, you have to ask yourself why there's an "o" in the English version and why it's not "grupe" - but English is funny that way.
The fact that "Group" and "Grupo" contain exactly the same letters, in a slightly different order make this pair that much easier to recognize and translate.
Pronounced: "GROUP - oh"
Opposite (Adjective)
Level 4:
Opposite - Contrario
This would have been a Level 1 if "Contrary" were more popular in the English language. Regardless, Something that is contrary to something else is its opposite. That's something that is familiar in English and unites the words "Opposite" and "Contrario." The "-io" ending is an adjective ending.
Pronounced: "con TRAR ee oh"
Opposite - Contrario
This would have been a Level 1 if "Contrary" were more popular in the English language. Regardless, Something that is contrary to something else is its opposite. That's something that is familiar in English and unites the words "Opposite" and "Contrario." The "-io" ending is an adjective ending.
Pronounced: "con TRAR ee oh"
Dear (Adjective)
Level 4:
Dear - Quierdo
This is a level four. These are either really tricky or actually require some knowledge of something Spanish to make the connection... as is the case here.
If you already know that "Quiero" means "I love / I care for / I want" (as in, "Yo quiero Taco Bell") then it's easy to see that Quierdo is merely a modified version of Quiero. In this case, changing it into an adjective, as in: "chica quierdo" (Dear girl).
Pronounced: "Key Air Doe"
Dear - Quierdo
This is a level four. These are either really tricky or actually require some knowledge of something Spanish to make the connection... as is the case here.
If you already know that "Quiero" means "I love / I care for / I want" (as in, "Yo quiero Taco Bell") then it's easy to see that Quierdo is merely a modified version of Quiero. In this case, changing it into an adjective, as in: "chica quierdo" (Dear girl).
Pronounced: "Key Air Doe"
Blue (Adjective)
Level 4:
Blue - Azul
While at first this looks like it comes completely "out of the blue," this is yet another case of a poorly matched word pair.
True, "Blue" looks nothing like "Azul," but it's very close, indeed, to "Azure" (a blue-cyan color on the HSV color wheel). Also, Azure/Azul can be seen in certain gemstone names, such as Azurite and Lapis Lazuli.
If you're not familiar with the English word, Azure, however, this makes Azul harder to pick up on. So, why not familiarize yourself with Azure a bit?
Check out Wikipedia for more on Azure's origination
Blue - Azul
While at first this looks like it comes completely "out of the blue," this is yet another case of a poorly matched word pair.
True, "Blue" looks nothing like "Azul," but it's very close, indeed, to "Azure" (a blue-cyan color on the HSV color wheel). Also, Azure/Azul can be seen in certain gemstone names, such as Azurite and Lapis Lazuli.
If you're not familiar with the English word, Azure, however, this makes Azul harder to pick up on. So, why not familiarize yourself with Azure a bit?
Check out Wikipedia for more on Azure's origination
Act (Verb)
Level 2:
Act - Actuar
This is the verb, as in "Don't act surprised."
Spanish adds a "u", followed by a very typical "ar" verb ending: Actuar.
Pronounced like: "Act You Are"
Act - Actuar
This is the verb, as in "Don't act surprised."
Spanish adds a "u", followed by a very typical "ar" verb ending: Actuar.
Pronounced like: "Act You Are"
Experience (Noun)
Level 2:
Experience - Experiencia
Simple ending swap, here... replace the "-e" with a "-ia" to arrive at the Spanish word for experience.
Evidently, In Spanish, "Experience" is feminine. We can tell the gender from the "-ia" ending. Don't worry, you'll learn to pick up on gender quickly, once you've had some experience with Spanish.
Experience - Experiencia
Simple ending swap, here... replace the "-e" with a "-ia" to arrive at the Spanish word for experience.
Evidently, In Spanish, "Experience" is feminine. We can tell the gender from the "-ia" ending. Don't worry, you'll learn to pick up on gender quickly, once you've had some experience with Spanish.
Instant (Noun)
Level 2:
Instant - Instante
This is the noun, as in "It happened in an instant."
Spelling is nearly identical; Spanish adds an "-e" to the end: Instante.
Pronounced like: "In STAN tay"
Instant - Instante
This is the noun, as in "It happened in an instant."
Spelling is nearly identical; Spanish adds an "-e" to the end: Instante.
Pronounced like: "In STAN tay"
Depend (Verb)
Level 2:
Depend - Depender
"-er" and "-ar" are popular verb endings in Spanish. Tack on "-er" to the English "Depend" and you get the Spanish version: "Depender".
Depend - Depender
"-er" and "-ar" are popular verb endings in Spanish. Tack on "-er" to the English "Depend" and you get the Spanish version: "Depender".
History (Noun)
Level 2:
History - Historia
Spelling differs only by the ending, replacing the "y" with "ia", making History female, I believe.
Pronounced "Hist or eeya"
History - Historia
Spelling differs only by the ending, replacing the "y" with "ia", making History female, I believe.
Pronounced "Hist or eeya"
Experiment (Verb)
Level 2:
Experiment - Experimentar
Instead of adding an "-o" here, you add an "-ar", which is a common ending for Spanish verbs.
Experiment - Experimentar
Instead of adding an "-o" here, you add an "-ar", which is a common ending for Spanish verbs.
Solution (Noun)
Level 2:
Solution - Solución
This word is almost spelled the same; the difference is a "c" instead of a "t" and an accent on the "o".
This is pronounced "So LOU see-on"
Solution - Solución
This word is almost spelled the same; the difference is a "c" instead of a "t" and an accent on the "o".
This is pronounced "So LOU see-on"
Current (Noun)
Level 2:
Current - Corriente
This is what Level 3 is all about; It's based on the same word, but there's little differences that could throw you off... The first vowel is an "o" instead of a "u", there's an "i" after the r's and there's an "-e" added at the end.
Pronounced "Core ee in tay" or "Core yen tay"
This is referring to the noun... so, electric current (corriente eléctrico)
Current - Corriente
This is what Level 3 is all about; It's based on the same word, but there's little differences that could throw you off... The first vowel is an "o" instead of a "u", there's an "i" after the r's and there's an "-e" added at the end.
Pronounced "Core ee in tay" or "Core yen tay"
This is referring to the noun... so, electric current (corriente eléctrico)
Map (Noun)
Level 2:
Map - Mapa
This is a pretty easy one to recognize when reading or hearing.
Instead of adding "-o" to the end, you add "-a".
Evidently, maps are female. Who knew?
Map - Mapa
This is a pretty easy one to recognize when reading or hearing.
Instead of adding "-o" to the end, you add "-a".
Evidently, maps are female. Who knew?
Sentence (Noun)
Level 2:
Sentence - Sentenciar
Okay, so it's not as simple as adding an "-o", but it's just replacing the ending "e" with "-iar" and you've got the Spanish word. Pronounced "Sentence ee are".
The "-iar" ending is pronounced much like in "caviar"
Sentence - Sentenciar
Okay, so it's not as simple as adding an "-o", but it's just replacing the ending "e" with "-iar" and you've got the Spanish word. Pronounced "Sentence ee are".
The "-iar" ending is pronounced much like in "caviar"
Real (Adjective)
Level 1:
Real - Real
That's right... what's real in English is still real in Spanish. That's got to be a real comfort, right?
Real - Real
That's right... what's real in English is still real in Spanish. That's got to be a real comfort, right?
Notice (Verb)
Level 2:
Notice - Noticia
While the concept of gender in words is mostly absent in English, most English speaking people would expect a person named, "Maria" to be female and a person named, "Mario" to be male. My point, here, is that "-ia" is the feminine version of the "-o" ending and in Spanish, the concept of a "notice" is, evidently, feminine.
So, instead of Notice-o, you get Notic-ia or "Noticia." It is pretty much pronounced "Notice ee uh" or "No TEES ee uh"
Notice - Noticia
While the concept of gender in words is mostly absent in English, most English speaking people would expect a person named, "Maria" to be female and a person named, "Mario" to be male. My point, here, is that "-ia" is the feminine version of the "-o" ending and in Spanish, the concept of a "notice" is, evidently, feminine.
So, instead of Notice-o, you get Notic-ia or "Noticia." It is pretty much pronounced "Notice ee uh" or "No TEES ee uh"
Effect (Noun)
Level 2:
Effect - Efecto
In addition to having the "-o" appended to the end, the Spanish version features one "f" instead of two, having the effect of making the length of the word the same.
Effect - Efecto
In addition to having the "-o" appended to the end, the Spanish version features one "f" instead of two, having the effect of making the length of the word the same.
Similar (Adjective)
Level 1:
Similar - Similar
It seems that similar in Spanish is quite similar to similar in English.
While they look identical, the Spanish pronunciation is more like "See-Me-Lar."
Note: Here is a Spanish word that starts with an "S" not "Es."
Similar - Similar
It seems that similar in Spanish is quite similar to similar in English.
While they look identical, the Spanish pronunciation is more like "See-Me-Lar."
Note: Here is a Spanish word that starts with an "S" not "Es."
Dictionary (Noun)
Level 2
Dictionary - Diccionario
Spoken aloud, the Spanish word for Dictionary pretty much sounds like "Dictionary-o."
The spelling is actually very similar, as well.
Dictionary - Diccionario
Spoken aloud, the Spanish word for Dictionary pretty much sounds like "Dictionary-o."
The spelling is actually very similar, as well.
Plane (Noun)
Level 4:
Plane - Avión
Level fours are tricky. However, if you think of things related to planes: avionics, aviation, etc., then you can see where the Spanish word, "Avion," is coming from.
Plane - Avión
Level fours are tricky. However, if you think of things related to planes: avionics, aviation, etc., then you can see where the Spanish word, "Avion," is coming from.
Boat (Noun)
Level 1:
Boat - Bote
Boat gets its Level 1 status based on being spoken, not on being written. However, there's not a lot of difference there, either.
"Boat" and "Bote" are pronounced the same way, excluding differences based solely on accent, but "Bote" looks like it is "Boat" spelled incorrectly.
Boat - Bote
Boat gets its Level 1 status based on being spoken, not on being written. However, there's not a lot of difference there, either.
"Boat" and "Bote" are pronounced the same way, excluding differences based solely on accent, but "Bote" looks like it is "Boat" spelled incorrectly.
Stupid (Adjective)
Level 3:
Stupid - Estupido
If you were to add an o to the end, getting "stupido," you would not be using correct Spanish, but a Spanish-speaking person would likely understand you, as the Spanish word for "Stupid" is actually "estupido."
Most words starting in "S" in English that have a very similar counterpart in Spanish start with "Es," instead. Much like Spanish and Espanol.
Stupid - Estupido
If you were to add an o to the end, getting "stupido," you would not be using correct Spanish, but a Spanish-speaking person would likely understand you, as the Spanish word for "Stupid" is actually "estupido."
Most words starting in "S" in English that have a very similar counterpart in Spanish start with "Es," instead. Much like Spanish and Espanol.
Electric (adjective)
Level 2:
Electric - Eléctrico
Electric is pretty much a classic example of a Level 2 word.
In English, it's "Electric" ...in Spanish, you add an "o" to the end...
"Eléctrico"
Thank you, Hollywood...
Electric - Eléctrico
Electric is pretty much a classic example of a Level 2 word.
In English, it's "Electric" ...in Spanish, you add an "o" to the end...
"Eléctrico"
Thank you, Hollywood...
Final (Adjective)
Level 1:
Final - Final
While pronounced "Fee-Nahl", not "Fie-nul", Final is written the same way in Spanish as it is in English.
Final - Final
While pronounced "Fee-Nahl", not "Fie-nul", Final is written the same way in Spanish as it is in English.
Welcome... and Congratulations! You know Spanish!
Congratulations! You know Spanish! is intended for the American English speaking audience. If you speak American English and watch some popular entertainment venues, such as TV and Movies, you may be lead to believe that you can add an "o" to the end of all of your words and TA-DA you're speaking Spanish.
Well, this is not true. Not at all. You will simply sound "stupid"... which is, by the way, what I classify as a "level 3" Spanish word. If you were to add an o to the end, getting "stupido," you would not be using correct Spanish, but a Spanish-speaking person would likely understand you, as the Spanish word for "Stupid" is actually "estupido."
So, in this blog, you will find "Level 1" words - words that are the same for English and Spanish - either when written or when spoken, "Level 2" words - words that are very similar to the word (as in, add -o to the end), so that you would likely recognize it in English or Spanish, "Level 3" words... words that are not-as-close, but which I will provide a brief explanation that will help point out why it really does make sense, and finally, "Level 4" words, which are not close AT ALL to the word, but that there is still some explanation that I can provide to help you make the connection.
To let you sift through these words easily, I will be tagging them with the level they belong to. Look at the Level 1's first... this is the Spanish you know - even if you don't know any Spanish. Then, Look at the Level 2's and Level 3's... once you see where they're coming from, the vocabulary will be easier to remember. Hopefully, when you start looking at the Level 4's you'll be better prepared for catching on to the Spanish vocabulary via the explanations.
...Which brings me to a good point: This is not "how to speak Spanish." I don't touch on sentence structure or syntax. This is vocabulary only. It's great to have a vocabulary, but if you actually want to put it to good use and try to communicate with someone, you'll need to learn to speak the language via another method, as well.
Finally, a lot of the words I'm getting for this and part of the inspiration for writing this blog in the first place comes from using Learn10.com, a language website that will send you 10 vocabulary words per day in the language you want to learn. If you like learning new languages and expanding your vocabulary across many languages, you should check them out.
Well, this is not true. Not at all. You will simply sound "stupid"... which is, by the way, what I classify as a "level 3" Spanish word. If you were to add an o to the end, getting "stupido," you would not be using correct Spanish, but a Spanish-speaking person would likely understand you, as the Spanish word for "Stupid" is actually "estupido."
So, in this blog, you will find "Level 1" words - words that are the same for English and Spanish - either when written or when spoken, "Level 2" words - words that are very similar to the word (as in, add -o to the end), so that you would likely recognize it in English or Spanish, "Level 3" words... words that are not-as-close, but which I will provide a brief explanation that will help point out why it really does make sense, and finally, "Level 4" words, which are not close AT ALL to the word, but that there is still some explanation that I can provide to help you make the connection.
To let you sift through these words easily, I will be tagging them with the level they belong to. Look at the Level 1's first... this is the Spanish you know - even if you don't know any Spanish. Then, Look at the Level 2's and Level 3's... once you see where they're coming from, the vocabulary will be easier to remember. Hopefully, when you start looking at the Level 4's you'll be better prepared for catching on to the Spanish vocabulary via the explanations.
...Which brings me to a good point: This is not "how to speak Spanish." I don't touch on sentence structure or syntax. This is vocabulary only. It's great to have a vocabulary, but if you actually want to put it to good use and try to communicate with someone, you'll need to learn to speak the language via another method, as well.
Finally, a lot of the words I'm getting for this and part of the inspiration for writing this blog in the first place comes from using Learn10.com, a language website that will send you 10 vocabulary words per day in the language you want to learn. If you like learning new languages and expanding your vocabulary across many languages, you should check them out.
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