Motifluent
Language Transfer Spanish notes

Lesson 6

Silent H, Ahora, and Voy

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

New vocabulary

SpanishEnglish
intentoI try / I am trying
ahoranow (= a + hora, "to the hour")
horahour
ato (direction)
voyI go / I am going
vamoslet's go / we are going
visiblevisible
viralviral
virusvirus
convenienteconvenient
habitualmentehabitually

Rule: H is always silent in Spanish. Don't even think it or it'll slip out.

  • Exception: CH = /ch/ as in English

  • hospital → /ospitál/, horrible, habitual

The V/B sound: V in Spanish sounds like a soft B (no air puff). In southern cone (Argentina/Chile) more like /v/.

Memory hooks

  • Intento relates to intención — I try/intend

  • Voy relates to "voyage" — I go

  • Ahora = a (to) + hora (hour) = "to the hour" = now

  • Conveniente = "with coming" (con + venir)

  • Visitar from "visitation" (visitation rights)

Voy a + infinitive = going to (future)

  • Verbs of movement (voy, venir, pasar) take a before the next verb

Example sentences

SpanishEnglish
Intento publicarlo.I'm trying to publish it.
Intento administrarlo.I'm trying to administer it.
Intento imitarlo.I'm trying to imitate him/it.
Voy ahora.I'm going now.
No voy ahora.I'm not going now.
Quiero cancelarlo, pero no quiero cancelarlo ahora.I want to cancel it, but I don't want to cancel it now.

Key notes

  • Intento belongs to the same family as intention, even though there is no simple -ation shortcut here.

  • Spanish h is silent. If you even "hear" it in your head, it can slip into your pronunciation.

  • Voy a + infinitive is the basic future construction built with a movement verb.

  • Conveniente is a useful memory hook for venir: things "come together" conveniently.