Unit 8 Numbers 30-100, Days, Months, Seasons, Making Questions
Culture: Spain
Objectives
● Vocabulary: Numbers 30-100
● Vocabulary: days, months, Seasons
● Pattern: Making Questions
● Culture: Spain
Los Días de la Semana
The Days of the Week
domingo
Sunday
Palabras Útiles
Useful Words
lunes
Monday
hoy
today
martes
Tuesday
mañana
tomorrow
miércoles
Wednesday
ayer
yesterday
jueves
Thursday
la semana
the week
viernes
Friday
el mes
the month
sábado
Saturday
el año
the year
Los Meses del Año
enero
The Months of the
Year
January
febrero
February
marzo
March
abril
April
mayo
May
junio
June
julio
July
agosto
August
septiembre
September
octubre
October
noviembre
November
diciembre
December
*Note: Days and months are not capitalized in
Spanish.
Las Estaciones
The Seasons
la estación
the season
el otoño
the fall
el invierno
the winter
la primavera
the spring
el verano
the summer
Numbers
30
31
32
40
41
42
50
60
70
80
90
100
Los Números
treinta
treinta y uno
treinta y dos
cuarenta
cuarenta y uno
cuarenta y dos
cincuenta
sesenta
setenta
ochenta
noventa
cien
Palabras de pregunta
Quién
Qué
Cuándo
Dónde
Por qué
Cuál
De dónde
Adónde
Cómo
Cuánto
Question Words
Who
What
When
Where
Why
Which
From where
To where
How
How much
Unit 8 Numbers 30-100, Days, Months, Seasons, Making Questions
Culture: Spain
Grammar Explanation: Making Questions in Spanish
Questions and answers work differently in Spanish than they do in English. Here is a list of facts that will
help you become better at formulating questions and answers in Spanish. You do NOT need to master
all of these principles right away, but make sure you become familiar with all of them. Read this list
several times, and pay close attention to the examples. Have fun with it!
●
In Spanish questions (and other sentences), it is often unnecessary to say the subject
since it is understood from the verb conjugation.
Example: ¿Eres americano?
Are you American?
●
In English, a form of the word "do" is often used to make questions and negative
statements. But, if you remember, one of the present tense conjugations includes "do" in
the conjugation itself. Yo hablo italiano. = I do speak Italian. Therefore, when we write a
question or a negative statement in Spanish, we do not need a separate word for "do"; it is
understood as part of the question or negative statement.
Example: Do you speak Italian? = ¿Hablas italiano? NOT ¿Haces hablas italiano?
No, I do not speak Italian. No, no hablo italiano.
●
When no is used to make a Spanish question or sentence negative, it always goes before
the verb.
Example: No hablo italiano. I don't speak Italian.
●
English has many tag questions (little questions added onto the ends of statements, such
as "does she?" " have you?" "can't we?"). In Spanish, all tag questions can be covered by
¿verdad?
Example: You're not coming, are you?
No vienes, ¿verdad?
●
Another very common Spanish tag question is ¿no? It can be used with any statement
except a negative statement.
Example: You're coming, aren't you? Vienes, ¿no?
●
In Spanish, questions like "Is Elena here?" and "Is Pedro there?" do not usually use the
Spanish words meaning "here" and "there." The verb está is enough.
Example: Is Pedro here?
¿Está Pedro?
●
Answers to yes/no questions in Spanish often use the word no twice in a row. The first
answers the question, and the second makes the sentence negative.
Example: ¿Es tu hermana?
No, no es mi hermana. No, she is not my sister.
●
To ask a question about someone or something plural, the words quién and cuál have to
change to the plural forms quiénes and cuáles.
Example: ¿Quiénes son ellos? Who are they?
●
Cuánto has two singular forms: cuánto and cuánta, and two plural forms: cuántos and
cuántas. (There is a masculine/feminine difference in addition to the singular/plural
difference.)
Unit 8 Numbers 30-100, Days, Months, Seasons, Making Questions
Culture: Spain
Example: ¿Cuánto dinero? ¿Cuánta agua? ¿Cuántos rectángulos? ¿Cuántas
personas?
●
Prepositions (for example, the word de) are never put at the end of a sentence in Spanish.
This is also the case in formal English.
Example: "Where are you from" can't be translated as ¿Dónde eres de? It has to be
¿De dónde eres? (From where are you?)
●
¿Cómo se dice [English word]? is the way to ask what the Spanish word for something is.
Example: How do you say "rectangle?" ¿Cómo se dice "rectangle?"
●
Por qué means "why." Porque means "because."
Example: ¿Por qué quieres ir a California?
●
Porque mi madre vive ahí.
¿Cuánto cuesta? means "How much does it cost?"
●
When you begin a Spanish question with one of the question words (such as adónde,
cuándo, por qué, etc.), it is often necessary to switch the subject and verb (similar to the
way it works in English).
Example: ¿Cuándo vas tú a la escuela? When do you go to school? (Not "When you go
to school?")
* You may also form a question using a question word and adding a conjugated verb.
Examples:
¿Dónde trabajas? Where do you work?
¿Quién vende el libro? Who is selling the book?
¿Por qué come la pizza? Why is he eating the pizza?
¿Cuándo estudias?
When do you study?
●
Written Spanish questions always begin with an upside-down question mark and end with
a regular question mark. Exclamation points work the same way.
Example: ¿Hablas inglés? ¡Excelente!
Unit 8 Numbers 30-100, Days, Months, Seasons, Making Questions
Culture: Spain
Here is a list of the most common question words used in Spanish.
Who
Quién
What
Qué
When
Cuándo
Where
Dónde
Why
Por qué
Which
Cuál
From where
De dónde
To where
Adónde
How
Cómo
How much
Cuánto
Grammar: Giving Dates
Instruction: Compare the following well-formed translations with grammatically incorrect sentences
(indicated with an asterisk at the beginning) and note any patterns you recognize:
English
Right
June 10
August 4
Today is Wednesday, April 30.
Today is July 30.
Today is Friday, January 30.
el 10 de junio
el 4 de agosto
Hoy es miércoles, el 30 de abril.
Hoy es el 30 de julio.
Hoy es viernes, el 30 de enero.
Wrong
*junio 10
*agosto de 4
*Hoy es miércoles, abril 30.
*Hoy es Julio 30.
*Hoy es viernes, 30 enero.
Grammar Explanation: Giving Dates
Pattern: Saying dates in Spanish requires a specific construction.
Use this pattern to give dates.
el _(day number)_ de __(month)__.
Examples:
June 15
--
August 4
--
el 15 de junio
el 4 de agosto
For complete dates, follow this pattern.
Hoy es _(week day)__, el _(day number)_ de __(month)__.
Today is Wednesday, April 30. -Today is April 30. --
Hoy es miércoles, el 30 de abril.
Hoy es el 30 de abril.
Exception
When saying it is the first day of the month, a different pattern is used. Instead of using "uno", the word
"primero" (first) is used.
July 1 = el primero de julio
January 1 = el primero de enero
NOT el uno de julio