Spanish · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 12 of 12
Your first conversation
Tu primera conversación
Put all of A1 together in a real conversation: introduce yourself, talk about work, routine and likes, accept an invitation and swap numbers.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Hold a short conversation with someone new
- Ask questions with the right question word
- Choose between ser, estar, tener and hay
Listen
At a language exchange in a bar in Granada, Emma, an English teacher from Dublin, meets Iván for the first time. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Iván
Hola. ¿Eres Emma?
Hi. Are you Emma?
Emma
Sí, soy yo. Y tú eres Iván, ¿no? Encantada.
Yes, that's me. And you're Iván, right? Nice to meet you.
Iván
Encantado. ¿De dónde eres, Emma?
Nice to meet you. Where are you from, Emma?
Emma
Soy de Dublín, pero vivo aquí en Granada. Soy profesora de inglés.
I'm from Dublin, but I live here in Granada. I'm an English teacher.
Iván
¡Qué bien! Yo soy enfermero. Trabajo en un hospital cerca de aquí.
That's great! I'm a nurse. I work in a hospital near here.
Emma
¿Y trabajas todos los días?
And do you work every day?
Iván
No, de lunes a jueves. Los viernes juego al fútbol con mis amigos.
No, Monday to Thursday. On Fridays I play football with my friends.
Emma
¿Al fútbol? A mí me encanta el fútbol.
Football? I love football.
Iván
¿Sí? El sábado hay un partido del Granada. ¿Quieres venir?
Really? On Saturday there's a Granada match. Do you want to come?
Emma
Sí, claro. ¿A qué hora es?
Yes, of course. What time is it at?
Iván
A las seis. ¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono?
At six. What's your phone number?
Emma
Es el seis cuatro cinco, treinta y dos, dieciocho, setenta.
It's 645 32 18 70.
Understand
Question words
You've now met all the key question words: here they are together. As you know from chapter 4, they always have a written accent when they ask a question, and a written question starts with ¿.
Use ¿Cuál es…?, not ¿Qué es…?, to ask for a piece of information such as a name or a number:
| Question word | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| What? | ||
| Who? | ||
| Where? | ||
| Where… from? | ||
| When? | ||
| At what time? | ||
| / | How much? / How many? | |
| How? | ||
| Which? / What? | ||
| Why? | (answer: …) |
Ser, estar, tener or hay?
English uses “to be” for many things that Spanish splits between , , and . Here's a summary of what you've learned in A1 (chapters 1, 4, 5 and 6).
For jobs, Spanish uses without or : (I'm a teacher), (I'm a nurse).
| Verb | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who someone is, origin, job, what something is like | ||
| where someone or something is, and how someone is now | ||
| what you have, and age | ||
| that something exists (there is / there are) |
More in the grammar: Questions and negation · Ser and estar: two verbs for “to be” · Tener and hay
New words
- Soy yo.It's me. / That's me.
- ¿no?right? (at the end of a sentence)
- el profesor / la profesorateacher (male / female)
- el inglésEnglish (the language) · masculine
- ¡Qué bien!That's great! / How nice!
- el enfermero / la enfermeranurse (male / female)
- el hospitalhospital · masculine
- cerca de aquínear here
- de lunes a juevesfrom Monday to Thursday
- jugar al fútbolto play football
- el partidomatch, game · masculine
- ¿Cuándo?When?
Practise
1.Write the question word: “Where do you live?”
Where do you live?
2.Choose the right verb: “Granada … en Andalucía.”
3.Carmen works in a hospital as a nurse. How does she say what her job is?
4.Complete with : “I'm thirty-five.”
I'm thirty-five.
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.What time is the match?
6.Match the question words.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Soy de Londres, pero vivo en Madrid.
I'm from London, but I live in Madrid.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.