LearnModule 1 · Lesson 9 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 2 · ¿El o la? First nouns

¿Qué es esto? — Es un libro.

Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 9 of 30: . On this page: 10 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.

The words

Spanish	English	Say it
es	it is / this is	ehs
¿qué es esto?	what is this?	keh ehs EHS-toh
es un libro	it is a book	ehs oon LEE-broh
esto	this (thing)	EHS-toh
¡mira!	look!	MEE-rah
aquí	here	ah-KEE
allí	there	ah-YEE
también	also	tahm-BYEHN
muy	very	mwee
y	and	ee

Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.

Hear the words

Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.

La regla · The rule

Es means "it is / this is" and turns every noun you know into a sentence: Es un libro. Es la puerta. Spanish drops the subject when it is obvious — the verb es carries "it" inside it.

Y también · And also

Ask what something is with ¿Qué es esto? — the most useful learner question there is, because every answer teaches you a new word. Walk the Lesson 8 list: Es un lápiz. Es una ventana.

Ojo · Watch out

es never changes: it is es for it is, this is and that is. And there is no separate word for it — the verb ending already says who.

Do it now — on paper

Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with es.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 9 in Module 1 are the written half of this page.

This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.

Keep these words

Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.

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