Lesson 3
Stretching Familiar Words Further
Rule 2: English -ant/-ent → Spanish -ante/-ente
Convertible words practiced: importante, diferente, constante, urgente, conveniente
Rule 3: Adding -mente = English "-ly"
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| constantemente | constantly |
| legalmente | legally |
| ilegalmente | illegally |
| realmente | really |
| normalmente | normally / usually |
| generalmente | generally |
| originalmente | originally |
| naturalmente | naturally / obviously |
| globalmente | globally |
| probablemente | probably |
| posiblemente | possibly |
Rule 4: English /j/ sound → Spanish /kh/ sound
-
Remember via: Argentina (/Arkhentina/)
-
This is about the SOUND, not the letter g
-
global stays global (no /j/ sound), but general → /kheneral/
Convertible words: general, original, digital
Rule 5: English -ible/-able → Spanish -ible/-able (stress penultimate)
Convertible words: posible, probable, flexible
Example sentences
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Es importante. | It is important. |
| No es importante. | It's not important. |
| No es diferente. | It's not different. |
| Es constante. | It is constant. |
| Normalmente es importante. | Normally/usually it's important. |
| Naturalmente es original. | Naturally it's original. |
| Posiblemente es original. | Possibly it's original. |
Key notes
-
Stress matters as much as the sounds themselves. Learn to notice it instead of trying to memorize it mechanically.
-
The English /j/ sound often becomes the Spanish guttural sound: general is not pronounced like English general.
-
Real can also mean royal: Real Madrid literally means Royal Madrid.