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Fundamentals of Spanish (pt. 6/10) – Lesson 46
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(Lesson summary)
Spanish fundamentals part 6: hay (there is), nadie, alguien, algo, reactions like ¡Qué bien! and ¡Qué mal!, and the compliment guapo / guapa.
- Una pregunta, una cosa
- ¡Qué bien! and ¡Qué mal!
- Hay, hasta, por eso
- Nadie, alguien, algo, así, guapo
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(The full lesson)
Spanish fundamentals: part 6
Lesson 46 already, and part 6 of the green fundamentals! As always: these are words and phrases you’ll hear every day, so learn them by heart.
Una pregunta: a question
una pregunta a question
Tengo una pregunta. I have a question.
Tengo from tener + una pregunta. A super useful sentence in class, at work, or when you’re lost.
Bien and mal: good and bad
bien good / well
mal bad / badly
¡Qué bien! Great! / How nice!
¡Qué mal! That’s too bad! / How awful!
Someone tells you good news? ¡Qué bien! Bad news? ¡Qué mal! You’ll hear these two reactions all the time.
Small detail: bien is really “well” (estoy bien = I’m fine / I’m well). For “a good thing”, Spanish uses bueno: un libro bueno. More about bien vs bueno later.
Una cosa: a thing
una cosa a thing
Una cosa más… One more thing…
Hay: there is, there are
hay there is / there are
Hay una cosa… There’s one thing…
Hay mucha gente. There are a lot of people.
One of the most important words in Spanish! And it’s easy: hay is the same for one thing or many things. The h is silent, so it sounds like the English word “eye”.
Hasta: until
Hasta mañana. See you tomorrow. (until tomorrow)
Hasta luego. See you later.
Hasta means “until”. You know it from goodbyes: hasta mañana, hasta luego, hasta la próxima.
Por eso: that’s why, therefore
Estoy cansado, por eso no voy. I’m tired, that’s why I’m not going.
Literally “for that”. A very common way to give a reason, and a nice addition to the conjunctions we learned.
Nadie, alguien, algo: nobody, someone, something
nadie nobody
alguien someone
algo something
A memory trick: alguien (someone) and algo (something) start the same. And algo you already saw in hago algo importante from the hacer lesson.
No hay nadie. There’s nobody (here).
¿Hay alguien? Is anybody there?
(Wes’s tip)
Spanish uses a double negative: no hay nadie (literally “there isn’t nobody”). Just hay nadie is wrong. Same with no tengo nada (I have nothing). In English that’s a mistake, in Spanish it’s required!
Todo and pues
todo all / everything
pues well / so / because
Two words we saw before, but they’re so common they deserve a repeat. Todo bien = all good. And pues can mean “because” or “so”, but you’ll mostly hear it as a filler: pues… no sé (well… I don’t know).
Así: like this, that way, so
Así es como me siento cuando escucho esa canción. That’s how I feel when I listen to that song.
Let’s break it down: así es como (that’s how) + me siento (I feel) + cuando (when) + escucho (I listen, from the regular verb escuchar) + esa canción (that song). You’ll also hear así así (so-so) and ¡así es! (that’s right!).
Guapo / guapa: good-looking
¡Estás muy guapo! You look great! (to a man)
¡Estás muy guapa! You look great! (to a woman)
One of my favorite words. Guapo / guapa means good-looking, pretty or handsome. But in Spain especially, it’s used as a friendly compliment, without anything romantic: you might hear someone say ¡qué guapa estás! to an older lady walking by. Kind of like “you look lovely today!”
Notice estás (from estar): “you look good today”. Eres guapa (from ser) means “you’re pretty” in general.
Recap: Spanish fundamentals (part 6)
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| una pregunta | a question |
| bien / mal | good / bad |
| ¡Qué bien! / ¡Qué mal! | Great! / Too bad! |
| una cosa | a thing |
| hay | there is / are |
+ 7 more words & phrases
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Get the free PDF ↓Practice: fundamentals
Say it out loud first, then click to check.
1. Tell your teacher you have a question.
Tengo una pregunta.
2. Your friend got a new job. React!
¡Qué bien!
3. Your friend is sick. React!
¡Qué mal!
4. Say “There’s nobody here”.
No hay nadie.
5. Ask “Is anybody there?”
¿Hay alguien?
6. Say goodbye until tomorrow.
¡Hasta mañana!
7. Give your friend (a woman) a compliment.
¡Estás muy guapa!
Quiz: Spanish fundamentals (part 6)
10 questions. ¡Qué bien!
Frequently asked questions
Is “guapo / guapa” flirty?
It can be, depending on the tone and situation. But in Spain it’s very common as a friendly compliment, even between friends or to strangers, without anything romantic. In some Latin American countries it’s used a bit less casually.
What’s the difference between “hay” and “está”?
Hay says that something exists somewhere: hay un café cerca (there’s a café nearby). Está says where a specific thing is: el café está cerca (the café is nearby).
Before you go to the next lesson
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