Being able to talk about yourself is really important if you are learning Spanish. You can’t get by without i! So let’s see how to do it.
But first notice that this is the SECOND UNIT of our beginner course and the GCSE SPANISH 9-1 course.
Introduce yourself: PRESÉNTATE
When you want to introduce yourself or give some personal information you must say, for example, your name, nationality, profession, where do you live, how old you are… But also, you need to understand and produce questions correctly.
We are all going to learn how to do all these things with the video below. While you are watching the video, stop it when you need it to repeat every sentence several times.
In Spanish we can refer to others in an informal way or formally, you will see both in the video, now focus in first part, the informal way, but click in the link if you want to learn more about this topic.
Now practice what you have learned in the video.
Now you can talk about yourself in Spanish for sure. Anyway, we are going to review the sentences we have seen in the video and some more that you will find quite useful. We will also learn some grammar tips.
- ¡Hola! Me llamo Enrique (Hello! I am called Enrique)*
- Tengo catorce años (I am 14 years old)
- Soy británico, de Manchester (I am British, from Manchester)
- Soy estudiante (I am a student)
- Vivo en Valencia, en el este de España (I live in Valencia, in the east of Spain)
- Mi cumpleaños es el cinco de agosto (My birthday is the 5th of August)
- Nací en Manchester el 5 de agosto de dos mil quince (I was born in Machester the 5th of August 2015)
- ¿Cuál es tu apellido? (What is your surname?)
- Mi apellido es Fernández (My surname is Fernández).
- ¿Cuál es tu teléfono? (What is your phone number?)
* The most common way of saying our name in Spanish is to say «Me llamo Enrique (I am called Enrique), but we can also say “Mi nombre es Enrique (My name is Enrique)” or «Soy Enrique (I am Enrique)».
Spanish grammar tips
1. In Spanish you «have» an age, so you need the verb TENER to say or ask the age:
¿Cuántos años tienes? (How old you are?)
Tengo quince años (I am 15 years old)
TENER is a radical-changing verb. Click on the link to learn how to form and use this very important Spanish verb.
2. Nationalities in Spanish must agree in gender with the person they are refered to, as you can see in the example of the right.
Most nationalities are also the languages (el idioma), in this case they are always masculine:
Sarah es inglesa y habla inglés y español (Sarah is English and speaks English and Spanish).
Have you noticed that nationalities in Spanish are not capitalized. Click on the link to learn more about countries and nationalities in Spanish, and how to change from masculine to feminine.
Other nationalities you must know are: inglés/inglesa (English), escocés/escocesa (Scottish), galés/galesa (Welsh) and irlandés/irlandesa (Irish).
3. Something similar happen, about the gender, when we say someone profession. So we have to learn the name of professions in Spanish and how to change from masculine to feminine too.
4. To say your telephone number, your age or your date of birth you will need numbers. Actually numbers are everywhere, so practice them until you feel really confident using them: números hasta el 30.
How do you spell it?: ¿CÓMO SE DELETREA?
Take it for granted that you will have to spell -DELETREAR- a lot, especially your first and last name. So make sure you know how to pronounce the letters of the Spanish alphabet. It must be one of your main priorities.
By the way, instead of «¿Cómo se deletrea? (how do you spell it?)» You can also say «¿Cómo se escribe? (how do you write?)» It is probably easier to remember.
How to talk about yourself in Spanish: Test
Don’t forget that to complete the lesson «talk about yourself in Spanish», you have to visit the included links and study its grammar and vocabulary and do all the exercises. Once you have finished everything, it is time for you to check your knowledge with the test.
If you have less than 70%, you may need to make a revision. Your tutor will get in touch with you to give you further instructions and comments . Don’t you have a Spanish tutor yet?
Now you know the necessary grammar and vocabulary to be able to talk about yourself in Spanish. So it is time for you to practice your speaking and writing skills, for this you can book a personal tutorial online.