Learn Spanish Lesson 1

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Welcome to your first Spanish lesson. This guide is designed for English speakers who are beginning to learn Spanish.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to greet someone, introduce yourself, ask simple questions, and use common Spanish expressions.

Learning objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

• Greet someone in Spanish.
• Introduce yourself.
• Ask someone their name.
• Respond to simple questions.
• Use basic Spanish vocabulary.

Basic greetings

English	Spanish	Pronunciation
Hello	Hola	OH-lah
Good morning	Buenos días	BWEH-nos DEE-as
Good afternoon	Buenas tardes	BWEH-nas TAR-des
Good evening	Buenas noches	BWEH-nas NO-ches
Goodbye	Adiós	ah-DYOS
See you later	Hasta luego	AH-sta loo-EH-go

Introducing yourself

To say your name in Spanish, use:

Me llamo…

This means:

My name is…

Example

English: Hello, my name is David.

Spanish: Hola, me llamo David.

You can also use:

Spanish	English
Soy David.	I am David.
Mucho gusto.	Nice to meet you.
Encantado.	Pleased to meet you.

Asking someone’s name

To ask someone their name, say:

¿Cómo te llamas?

This means:

What is your name?

Example response

Me llamo María.

My name is María.

Example conversation

Person A: Hola. ¿Cómo te llamas?

Person B: Me llamo Carlos. ¿Y tú?

Person A: Me llamo Sarah. Mucho gusto.

Person B: Mucho gusto.

Common questions

English	Spanish
How are you?	¿Cómo estás?
Where are you from?	¿De dónde eres?
Do you speak English?	¿Hablas inglés?
Can you help me?	¿Puedes ayudarme?
What does this mean?	¿Qué significa esto?

Common responses

English	Spanish
I am fine.	Estoy bien.
Very well.	Muy bien.
Not bad.	No está mal.
Thank you.	Gracias.
You are welcome.	De nada.
Please.	Por favor.

Essential vocabulary

People

English	Spanish
Man	Hombre
Woman	Mujer
Friend	Amigo
Family	Familia
Teacher	Profesor
Student	Estudiante

Places

English	Spanish
House	Casa
School	Escuela
Restaurant	Restaurante
Airport	Aeropuerto
Hotel	Hotel
Office	Oficina

Food and drinks

English	Spanish
Water	Agua
Bread	Pan
Chicken	Pollo
Rice	Arroz
Coffee	Café
Milk	Leche

Grammar tip

Spanish nouns have grammatical gender.

Many words ending in -o are masculine.

Examples:

• El libro — The book
• El amigo — The friend

Many words ending in -a are feminine.

Examples:

• La casa — The house
• La amiga — The friend

However, there are exceptions to these rules.

Practice exercise

Translate the following sentences into Spanish:

1. Hello.
2. My name is David.
3. Thank you.
4. How are you?
5. Goodbye.
6. Where are you from?
7. Nice to meet you.

Answers

1. Hola.
2. Me llamo David.
3. Gracias.
4. ¿Cómo estás?
5. Adiós.
6. ¿De dónde eres?
7. Mucho gusto.

Speaking challenge

Say the following sentences aloud three times:

• Hola.
• Me llamo…
• Mucho gusto.
• ¿Cómo estás?
• Estoy bien.
• Gracias.
• Hasta luego.

Speaking aloud regularly will help improve your pronunciation and confidence.

Key takeaways

In this lesson, you learned:

• Basic Spanish greetings.
• How to introduce yourself.
• How to ask someone’s name.
• Common questions and responses.
• Beginner Spanish vocabulary.
• Basic noun gender rules.

Continue to the next lesson to learn Spanish numbers, days of the week, and simple everyday conversations.