How to CREATE SIMPLE SENTENCES in SPANISH

7 min video

Start building useful Spanish sentences from a few simple parts. Lucía shows how to put words together so you can say more than isolated vocabulary.

Watch the lesson

Edited lesson transcript

This edited transcript follows Lucía’s original lesson, including its Spanish conjugations, examples and English translations. The grammar notes add precision to a few simplified explanations.

0:06 — Introduction and sentence structure

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? This is Lucía from My Daily Spanish. Today we are going to learn how to create simple sentences in Spanish. Are you ready? Let’s go!

A basic Spanish sentence has a subject and a verb. As in English, there are different subject pronouns. Spanish verbs change form according to grammatical person and number. Here is bailar, “to dance”:

• Yo bailo.I dance.
• Tú bailas.You dance.
• Él baila.He dances.
• Nosotros bailamos.We dance.
• Vosotros bailáis.You all dance.
• Ellos bailan.They dance.

After the verb, we can add words that give more information, such as an adverb or an object.

• Yo bailo bien.I dance well.
• Ella salta alto.She jumps high.
• Nosotros comemos arroz.We eat rice.

In Spanish, we often omit the subject pronoun when the verb form or context makes the subject clear. We can include it to emphasize or contrast who does the action.

• Bailo bien.I dance well.
• Comemos arroz.We eat rice.

Grammar note: Different pronouns can share a verb form: él baila, ella baila and usted baila. A subject pronoun can also be omitted when the verb stands alone, such as bailo.

1:06 — Negation

To negate these sentences, put no before the verb.

• Yo no bailo bien.I do not dance well.
• Ella no salta alto.She does not jump high.
• Nosotros no comemos arroz.We do not eat rice.
• No comemos arroz.We do not eat rice.

1:32 — Yo tengo: I have

Now let’s make basic sentences with a subject, verb and object, using yo, “I.” The infinitive tener means “to have.” Its present-tense form with yo is tengo.

• Yo tengo un perro.I have a dog.
• Yo tengo un gato.I have a cat.
• Yo tengo una hermana.I have a sister.
• Yo tengo dos hermanos.I have two brothers.
• Yo tengo una casa.I have a house.
• Yo tengo un árbol.I have a tree.

2:10 — Yo quiero: I want

Let’s learn another verb: querer, “to want.” We can use the same kinds of objects.

• Yo quiero un perro.I want a dog.
• Yo quiero un gato.I want a cat.
• Yo quiero una hermana.I want a sister.
• Yo quiero una casa.I want a house.
• Yo quiero un árbol.I want a tree.

2:39 — Es and son: identifying things and people

Now let’s say “it is a dog”: Es un perro. Es is the third-person singular present form of ser, “to be.” We can also say Eso es un perro, “That is a dog,” to make the reference clear.

• Es un perro.It is a dog.
• Eso es un perro.That is a dog.
• Es un gato.It is a cat.
• Es mi hermana.It is my sister.

Here, mi hermana makes clear that she is my sister; una hermana means “a sister.” For a plural subject, use the third-person plural form son, “they are.”

• Son mis dos hermanos.They are my two brothers.
• Es una casa.It is a house.
• Es un árbol.It is a tree.
• Son flores.They are flowers.

3:39 — What is that? Who is that?

¿Qué es eso? means “What is that?” We can answer with Eso es…, or simply Es…. If the subject is plural, use son.

• ¿Qué es eso? Eso es un perro. / Es un perro.What is that? That is a dog. / It is a dog.
• ¿Qué es eso? Es un gato.What is that? It is a cat.
• ¿Qué es eso? Es una casa.What is that? It is a house.
• ¿Qué es eso? Son flores.What is that? They are flowers.

To ask a person’s identity, use quién, “who.” The lesson uses ese for a man, esa for a woman, esos for a group of men or a mixed group, and esas for a group of women.

• ¿Quién es ese? Ese es mi hermano. / Es mi hermano.Who is that? That is my brother. / It is my brother.
• ¿Quién es esa? Esa es mi hermana. / Es mi hermana.Who is that? That is my sister. / It is my sister.
• ¿Quiénes son esos? Son mis hermanos.Who are they? They are my brothers.
• ¿Quiénes son esas? Esas son mis hermanas.Who are they? They are my sisters.

Eso means “that,” and esto means “this.”

• ¿Qué es esto? Es un móvil.What is this? It is a cell phone.

Grammar note: Quién asks identity. Qué can appear in other questions about people, such as their role or occupation; it is not forbidden in every question about a person. The demonstrative forms also agree with the grammatical gender of nouns when referring to things.

5:21 — Voy a: I go to

Now let’s say “I go to” a place. The verb “to go” is ir. “I go to” is yo voy a. In al colegio, al is the contraction of the preposition a and the article el in el colegio.

• Yo voy al colegio.I go to school.
• Yo voy al trabajo. / Voy al trabajo.I go to work.
• Yo voy a mi casa. / Voy a mi casa.I go to my house.
• Yo voy al cine.I go to the cinema.
• Yo voy a la estación.I go to the station.

Grammar note: The contraction uses the article el. The accented pronoun él, “him,” stays separate: a él. An initial El that belongs to a proper name or title also stays separate in writing.

6:14 — Describing the action

Now let’s add words that describe the action. We will use rápido, “fast,” bien, “well,” and mucho, “a lot.”

• Yo como rápido.I eat fast.
• Yo como bien.I eat well.
• Yo como mucho.I eat a lot.
• Yo bebo rápido.I drink fast.
• Yo bebo bien.I drink well.
• Yo bebo mucho.I drink a lot.
• Yo duermo bien.I sleep well.
• Yo duermo mucho.I sleep a lot.

Translation note: Yo duermo bien means “I sleep well”; the on-screen English briefly omits “well.” In como rápido, rápido is used adverbially and does not agree with the subject’s gender.

7:11 — Your turn

I hope you understood everything well. Now answer this question: ¿Qué es esto? Tell me in the video’s comments. Like the video and subscribe for more. ¡Hasta pronto!

Try it yourself

Write five short sentences about your day using the structures in the video. Say each aloud, then change one detail to make a new sentence.

Watch the original lesson on YouTube.