Do you want to learn Spanish but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’ve been studying for a while but feel stuck?

That’s why I’ve created this Spanish guide for beginners. The goal is to provide examples, videos, and downloadable material to make learning Spanish easier—so be sure to bookmark this page and come back for updates.

There are two main ways to learn Spanish:

• With a heavy focus on grammar, like in a traditional classroom.

• Through conversations, the way people naturally learn by interacting with native speakers.
  
  

So, which is better? The answer depends on you and what you plan to do with Spanish.

• If you're a student who needs to pass classes, or a professional who must read and write Spanish perfectly, then grammar should be a strong focus.

• But if you want to learn Spanish for travel, casual conversations with native speakers, or even working with Spanish speakers without needing to write, then your focus should be on speaking and listening.
  
  

My Recommendation:

Ideally, the best approach is a healthy mix of both. Grammar can sometimes feel boring, but it teaches you the essential sentence structures you’ll need to speak or write. Vocabulary is also important—but if you don’t know how to put a sentence together, it won’t get you far.

In the end, you’ll need to speak Spanish and train your ear to understand it. That’s why I’ve divided this guide into three key sections I recommend for Spanish beginners:

• Conversations

• Grammar

• Vocabulary

Let’s get started!

• Polite words and phrases

• Basic greetings and farewells

• Giving and asking for personal information

• Giving orders and making suggestions

• Talking about daily routine

• Giving and asking for the time

• Describing family and friends

• Introducing your family

• Describing objects and places

• Asking basic questions

• Talking about hobbies

• Asking about the weather

• Describing your house and giving your address

• Talking about household chores

• Doing basic shopping at the store

• Staying at a hotel

• Ordering food at a restaurant

• Talking about an emergency

• Talking about sports and explaining the rules

• Describing past experiences

• Making comparisons

• Describing jobs and places

• Expressing future plans

• Talking about vacation plans

• Talking about favorite movies

• Describing an accident, asking for medical help

• The structure of a simple Spanish sentence: subject pronoun + verb + complement

• Subject and object pronouns (yo, tú, él / me, te, lo, la...)

• The verb SER and ESTAR in present, past (pretérito), and simple future

• Common nouns: comida, agua, gente, mamá, papá, etc.

• Definite and indefinite articles: el, la, los, las / un, una, unos, unas

• Possessive adjectives and pronouns (mi, tu, su, nuestro / mío, tuyo...)

• Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns (este, ese, aquel...)

• Interrogative words: cómo, qué, cuándo, dónde, por qué, cuánto

• Prepositions of place and time: en, sobre, debajo, antes de, después de

• How to use hay / hubo / había / habrá (there is/are/was/were/will be)

• Basic imperatives (commands): habla, come, escribe...

• Common adjectives (bonito, grande, pequeño, feliz, triste...)

• Comparatives and superlatives: más que, menos que, el más...

• Common adverbs (rápidamente, siempre, nunca, también, muy...)

• Essential verbs (querer, poder, deber, necesitar)

• Other high-frequency verbs:

  • tener, ser, estar, ir, gustar, hacer, decir, venir, salir, saber, conocer, poner, dar, ver, pensar

• Basics of present, past (pretérito), and simple future tenses

• Sentence types: affirmative, negative, and interrogative

• Present progressive: estar + gerund (estoy hablando)

• Two ways to express the future: ir a + infinitive and simple future (hablaré)

• Using regular and irregular verbs in context

• Conditionals: si + present / conditional (Si tengo tiempo, iré...)

• When to use por vs para

• Coordinating conjunctions: y, o, pero, porque, aunque

• Prepositions of movement: a, desde, hacia, por, para

• Adverbs of frequency: siempre, nunca, a veces, casi nunca, todos los días

• Indefinite pronouns: algo, alguien, nada, nadie, todo

• Quantifiers: mucho, poco, bastante, demasiado

• The Spanish alphabet

• Days of the week

• Months of the year

• Cardinal and ordinal numbers

• Colors

• The seasons

• Weather and climate

• Parts of the body

• Family members

• The house and rooms

• Food and drinks

• Clothing and prices

• Common illnesses and symptoms

• Domestic animals (pets)

• Transportation

• Money and currency

• Personal hygiene products

• Household activities

• Hobbies and sports

• Feelings and emotions

• Personality traits

• Education and school-related words

• Jobs and professions

• Places in the city

• Common illnesses

• The body (bones and muscles)

• Plants

• Wild animals

• Tourist places / Places to visit

• Natural disasters

• Health and exercise

• Weight and measurements

• The 100 most common words in Spanish