Susana Wald

Speaking Spanish requires you to keep tabs on all sorts of topics: essential words and phrases, basic Spanish questions, and the proper gender of articles. Plus, if you intend to travel, you want to be able to get help and give warnings in the case of an emergency.Refer to this Cheat Sheet for your Spanish essentials.

Knowing how to bargain for goods when you’re shopping at a traditional Spanish market can help you get the best merchandise at the best price. Bargaining, or haggling, is a negotiation tactic that many people are unaccustomed to, but these tips will have you bartering like a pro in no time. If you shop in traditional Spanish markets, you should get there early.

As with any language, the number of Spanish words and phrases can be intimidating. If you're just beginning to explore Spanish, you can feign fluency with these essential words and phrases until your Spanish is up to snuff. ¡Hola! (¡oh-lah!) (Hello!) Por favor. (pohr fah-bvohr.) (Please.) Gracias. (grah-seeahs.

Emergencies can happen whether you know Spanish or not, so if you're in a Spanish-speaking area, you need to be prepared to warn others and/or get help in Spanish should an emergency situation arise. Following are some basic Spanish distress-signaling words: ¡Socorro! (¡soh-koh-rroh!) (Help!) ¡Auxilio! (¡ahoohk-see-leeoh!

Like many things in the Spanish language, Spanish articles have either a masculine or a feminine gender that must match the masculine or feminine gender of the Spanish nouns you pair them with. (For example, you say la blusa (lah bvlooh-sah) (the blouse) but el vestido (ehl bvehs-tee-doh) (the dress). Articles in Spanish include the (a definite article) and a, an, and some (indefinite articles).

Knowing how to ask basic questions in Spanish — or any other language — is essential in a global society. To ask for information in Spanish, use these basic Spanish question words and example questions. ¿Quién? (¿keeehn?) (Who?) ¿Qué? (¿keh?) (What?) ¿Dónde? (¿dohn-deh?) (Where?) ¿Cuándo? (¿koohahn-doh?