Studying Spanish for school, business, or travel? Learn the fun and easy way with this portable guide that teaches everyday expressions in Spanish.
Spanish Phrasebook For Dummies covers basic language information, focusing on common phrases to help you in ordinary situations, such as chatting about family, finding your way around, and generally making small talk. From job-related expressions to translations of directions, numbers, and time, it teaches real-world language skills that you can use immediately.
If you’ve never studied Spanish before — or did a long time ago but need a refresher — Spanish Phrasebook For Dummies is for you. With guidance on pronunciation and stress, this handy book is jam-packed with plenty of grammatical examples to help you with verbs, adjectives, gender, plurals, pronouns, sentence construction, how to ask questions properly, and more.
You'll have ample opportunity to test your Spanish language skills in these scenarios:
Counting your money Measuring time and keeping track of days, months, and seasons Introducing yourself Talking about the weather Ordering drinks, snacks, or a full meal Shopping in traditional markets or the grocery store Engaging in tourist or other fun activities Tending to work or other business matters Finding transportation and lodging Taking care of emergencies
With a chapter on phrases native Spanish speakers use every day and another covering phrases fluent speakers would say, you can have fun and impress your friends with this concise phrasebook.
Edited by:
Susana Wald
Imprint: Hungry Minds Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 180mm,
Width: 104mm,
Spine: 15mm
Weight: 136g
ISBN: 9780764572043
ISBN 10: 0764572040
Pages: 216
Publication Date: 02 July 2004
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Chapter 1: I Say It How? Speaking Spanish 5 You Already Know Some Spanish 6 Beware of false friends 6 Some crossover influence 7 Reciting Your ABC’s 8 Consonants 9 Vowels 16 The diphthongs 18 Pronunciation and Stress 19 Looking for stress, normally 20 Looking for accented vowels 20 Understanding accents on diphthongs 21 ¡Punctuation Plus! 21 Some Basic Phrases to Know 21 Chapter 2: Grammar on a Diet: Just the Basics. 23 Sentence Construction 23 Verbs 24 Regular verbs 24 Irregular verbs 26 Extra verbs charts 27 Forming Questions 31 Pronouns in Hiding 32 That Whole Gender Thing 33 Make It Two (or More): Plurals 35 Telling Tales with Adjectives 36 It’s You, You Know: The Tú/Usted Issue 36 Chapter 3: Numerical Gumbo: Counting of All Kinds 39 1, 2, 3: Cardinal Numbers 39 Discovering Ordinal Numbers 41 Telling Time 42 You can tell time 42 But are you on time? 44 Days, Months, Seasons 45 What day is it? 45 Living month to month 47 Counting Your Money 48 Carrying cash 48 ATMs 49 Credit cards 51 Exchanging your dollars 52 Chapter 4: Making New Friends and Enjoying Small Talk 55 Hello! Greetings and Introductions 55 Formal introductions 55 Informal introductions 57 Small-Talk Verbs 58 Llamarse: Calling 58 Ser: Being 59 Estar: The second being 62 Hablar: Speaking 64 Trabajar: Working 67 Entender: Understanding 67 Vivir: Living 68 Small-talk apologies 69 Grand Inquisitor: Questions 70 A Rainy Day: Talking Weather 72 How Is Your Family? 73 Chapter 5: Enjoying a Drink and a Snack (or Meal!) 75 Getting the Table and Meal Basics 75 Three Verbs Used at the Table 76 To take and to drink: The verb tomar 77 For drinking only: The verb beber 77 For eating: The verb comer 78 At the Restaurant 79 What’s on the Menu? 81 The Bill, Please 85 Chapter 6: Shop ’Til You Drop 87 Heading Out on the Town 87 Browsing around 87 Getting around the store 88 Requesting color and size 89 Getting the right fit 91 Using the shopping verb: Comprar 92 Wearing and taking: The verb llevar 93 Shopping the Traditional Market 94 Shopping for food 94 Scoping out special items 98 Visiting the Supermarket 100 Bartering for Your Goods 100 Getting the Right Quantity 102 Comparing Better or Best 102 Chapter 7: Making Leisure a Top Priority. 105 Having a Good Time 105 Using the inviting verb invitar 106 Using the dancing verb bailar 107 Having a Good Time at Shows and Events 108 Screening the cinema 109 Enjoying a concert 109 Enjoying the Outdoors 111 Taking a walk 111 Watching the animals 112 Sports, Sports, Sports 114 The most popular ball game: Fútbol 114 Béisbol: #2 116 The playing verb: Jugar 117 Chapter 8: When You Gotta Work 119 Picking Up the Phone 119 Opening lines 119 Leaving messages 121 Making a collect call 123 Outside the Office 123 Inside the Office 125 Getting a job 126 Scheduling and conducting a meeting 128 Using emplear: The hiring verb 131 Hacer: The doing, making verb 131 Packing a PC 133 Chapter 9: I Get Around: Transportation 135 On the Go: Transportation 135 Boarding the train 135 Hailing a taxi 137 Hopping a bus 137 Renting a car 138 Passing Passport Control 141 Transportation Verbs 146 The outgoing verb: Salir 146 Using the waiting verb: Esperar 147 Asking for Directions 148 ¿Adónde vamos? Where do we go? 148 Mapping the place 149 Getting directions from locals 150 Understanding spatial directions 152 Here, there, and everywhere 153 Chapter 10: Laying Down Your Weary Head: House or Hotel? 155 Speaking of Houses 155 Some rental wisdom 156 Furnishing your house 159 Scoping Out the Hotel 160 Registering for a Room 164 Dormir: The Sleeping Verb 167 Despertar: The Waking Up Verb 169 Chapter 11: Dealing with Emergencies 171 Shouting for Help 171 Handling Health Problems 172 Helping out 173 Painful phrases for when it hurts 174 Telling where it hurts 176 Describing symptoms 177 Talking to the doctor 179 Visiting the dentist 180 Ensuring that you get your money back 182 Getting Help with Legal Problems 182 Being under arrest 183 Stick ’em up: Words to know when you’re robbed 183 Reporting to the police 184 Dealing with Car Emergencies 185 Chapter 12: Favorite Spanish Expressions. 189 ¿Qué tal? 189 ¿Quiubo? 189 ¿Qué pasó? 190 ¿Cómo van las cosas? 190 ¡Del uno! 190 ¿Cuánto cuesta? 191 ¿A cuánto? 191 ¡Un asalto! 191 ¡Una ganga! 191 ¡Buen provecho! 192 ¡Salud! 192 ¡Buen viaje! 192 Chapter 13: Phrases That Make You Sound Like a Local 193 ¡Esta es la mía! 193 ¿Y eso con qué se come? 194 Voy a ir de farra 194 Caer fatal 194 Nos divertimos en grande 195 Ver negro para 195 Pasó sin pena ni gloria 195 ¡Así a secas! 196 ¡La cosa va viento en popa! 196 Index 197
Susana Wald is a writer and simultaneous and literary translator in Hungarian, Spanish, English, and French. As a publisher, she has been working with books and authors for many years. She has been a teacher in Chile and in Canada and has known the joy of learning from her students and their untiring enthusiasm and tolerance. She also is an artist and has had her work shown in many countries in Europe and in North, Central, and South America.
