PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Pronunciation of words in Spanish is entirely phonetic, which makes it easy to hear and easy to learn. Vowels in particular are always simple, clean, invariant sounds, pronounced within strict limits. In English, a word such as “help” or “hill” could be said in various accents, some shorter, some longer, and the vowel sounds could drift considerably (try this aloud for yourself and hear the variations possible)—but this is not so for words in Spanish. Below are the rules for pronouncing different letters; you will need to practice these sounds until you can reliably produce them. Vowels a as in father, but shorter (example: “la papa” = the potato) e as in hen (“el ejemplo” = the example) i as in machine (“mi vida” = my life) o as in phone (“dos ojos” = two eyes) u as in rule; if it follows q, it is silent (“su mula” = your mule; “queque” = cake) all vowels are sounded, thus “siete” (seven) has 3 syllables, as does “viuda” (widow),or “miedo” (fear) Consonants c as in cat; if it is before e or i, sounds like s (“camino” [hard c]= road; “ciego” [soft c]= blind) g as in get; if it is before e or i, sounds like h (“gato” [hard g]=cat; “gente” [soft g]=people h always silent (“hola”=hello) j sounds like h as in hotel (“bajo”=low) ll like y in yes (“pollo”=chicken) ñ like the ni in onion (“piña”=pineapple) rr trilled r (“perro”=dog; “barro”=mud) y similar to English, but with slight j sound; when y stands alone it sounds like e in me (“yo”=I; “ayer’=yesterday; “Benito y José”=Benno and José) z like s in song (“paz”=peace) ..... and all other letters sound the same as in English... VOCABULARY Números / Numbers 0 cero 11 once 1 uno 12 doce 2 dos 13 trece 3 tres 14 catorce 4 cuatro 15 quince 5 cinco 16 dieciséis 6 seis 17 diecisiete 7 siete 18 dieciocho 8 ocho 19 diecinueve 9 nueve 20 veinte 10 diez 21 veintiuno 30 treinta 40 cuarenta 50 cincuenta 60 sesenta 70 setenta 80 ochenta 90 noventa 100 cien 200 doscientos 500 quinientos 1000 mil 1100 mil cien 1500 mil quinientos 1975 mil novecientos setenta y cinco 1984 mil novecientos ochenta y cuatro 2000 dos mil 2003 dos mil tres 5000 cinco mil 10000 diez mil 12000 doce mil 35000 treinta y cinco mil 100000 cien mil Días de la semana / Days of the week, starting with Sunday domingo, lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado Tiempo / Time Qué hora es? / What time is it? las tres / Three o’clock las ocho y treinta (or media) / eight thirty las cinco de la mañana / five a.m. hoy / today mañana / tomorrow; the morning ayer / yesterday anoche / last night Cuándo? / When? las ocho de la noche / eight p.m. las seis y quince / six fifteen. día / day semana / week mes / month año / year Saludos, vocabulario general / Greetings and general conversational vocabulary hola / hello ¿Cómo está? / How are you? buenos dias / good morning buenas tardes / good afternoon ¿Cómo amaneció? / How are you this morning? buenas noches / good night Upe! (short for “disculpe”) / call as you approach someone’s house pase adelante / come in con permiso / if I may / with permission (used upon entering a room or house, sitting down at the table, getting up from the table, interrupting a conversation, walking between people, etc.) the response to “con permiso” is always: propio (the permission is yours, or it’s to be expected) ¿Cómo se llama? / What is your name? Soy Susan / I am Susan Mucho gusto / Pleased to meet you ¿De dónde es? / Where are you from? Soy de los Estados Unidos (Canada, Georgia) I am from the US (Canada, Georgia) Soy estudiante de ecología/genética/arquitectura/biología/español en la Universidad de Georgia I study ecology/genetics/architecture/biology/Spanish at the University of Georgia Palabras y frases / Words and phrases siéntese / sit down ¿Tiene sueño? / Are you sleepy? Sí, tengo sueño / Yes, I am sleepy ¿Tiene sed? / Are you thirsty? Sí, tengo sed / Yes, I am thirsty ¿Tiene hambre? / Are you hungry? Sí, tengo hambre / Yes, I am hungry ¿Tiene frio? / Are you cold? ¿Tiene miedo? / Are you frightened? ¿Tiene dolor? / Are you in pain? muy bien / very well ¿Y Usted? / And you? más ó menos / so-so muchas gracias / thank you very much muy amable / you’re very kind de nada / you’re welcome; it’s nothing por favor / please con mucho gusto / with pleasure sí / yes adiós / good-bye tal vez / maybe no / no lo siento / I’m sorry no sé / I don’t know mucho / lots poquito / a little bit menos / less más / more grande / big pequeño (pequeña) / small bueno (buena) / good bien / well malo (mala) / bad rico, sabroso / delicious precioso, lindo / beautiful feo / ugly gracioso / funny fácil / easy difícil / hard rápido / fast lento, despacio / slow temprano / early tarde / late a tiempo / on time ahora / now ya / right now, already pronto / soon ahorita / very soon peligroso / dangerous seguro / safe con cuidado / carefully ¡cuidado! / watch out! ¡corra! / run! ¡párese!; alto! / stop! ¡muévase! / move! ¡cállese! / be quiet! ¡escuche! / listen! ¡ponga atención! / pay attention! ¡no lo toque! / don’t touch it! ayúdeme, ¡auxilio! / help me! ¡mire! / look! está bien / it’s ok; it’s fine; OK estoy bien / I’m OK; I’m fine no me siento muy bien / I don’t feel well me siento mal / I feel ill; bad estoy muy cansado / I’m very tired estoy feliz / I am happy estoy perdido / I’m lost …triste / sad ... tranquilo / not worried ...preocupado / worried quisiera... / I would like… ¿podría darme… / could you give me…? podría decirme… / could you tell me… ¿podría ayudarme? / could you help me? ¿Podría pasarme una servilleta? / Could you pass me a napkin? ¿Podría traerme un cafecito? / Could you bring me a coffee? ...un vaso de agua? / ...a glass of water? ¿Podría abrir la ventana? / Could you open the window? ¿Podría cerrar la puerta? / Could you close the door? ¿Podría cambiar dólares? / Could you exchange dollars? ¿Cuál es el tipo de cambio? / What is the exchange rate? ¿Cómo se dice… en español? / How do you say… in Spanish? no entiendo / I don’t understand ¿Podría escribirlo? / Could you write it down? ¿Qué pasó? / What happened? ¿Cómo? / What did you say? ¿Qué? / What? ¿Dónde? / Where? ¿Cómo? / How? ¿Quién? / Who? ¿Cuándo? / When? ¿Cuántos? / How many? ¿Cuánto? / How much? ¿Hace cuánto tiempo? / How long ago? ¿Por qué? / Why? servicio / toilet baño / bathroom; shower cocina / kitchen cuarto / room cama / bed habitación / room comedor / dining room llave / key candado / lock cobija / blanket almohada / pillow sábanas / sheets ventana / window pared / wall techo / roof puerta / door abanico, ventilador / fan And, of course, Pura vida! / Great, super, “pure life” National Nicknames / Apodos Nacionales You will sometimes hear affectionate nicknames used in Latin America to describe people according to their national origin. These are not normally meant to be offensive, but be somewhat cautious and sensitive in how you use them, and to whom. Costa Ricans refer to themselves (and are referred to by others) as ‘ticos” (men) and ‘ticas” (women). People from the US or Canada are “gringos” (men) or “gringas” (women). Elsewhere in Central America, Salvadoreños (from central EI Salvador) are known as “cuscatlecos”, while Hondureños (from Honduras) are known as “catrachos”, the Nicaraguënses (from Nicaragua, both men and women), are called “nicas”, and people from Panama (especially from the Canal Zone) are called “canaleros”. For South Americans, people from Argentina are “ches”, people from Uruguay are “charrúas”, and Brazilians from Rio are “cariocas”. COSTA RICAN MENU GLOSSARY Bebidas / Drinks agua / water agua del tubo; agua del chorro / tap water agua dulce / hot sugarcane drink café con leche, azúcar / coffee with milk, sugar café negro / black coffee chocolate / hot chocolate gaseosa / soft drink coca, pepsi / coke, pepsi fresca, fanta / fresca, fanta gin, esquirt, esprite / ginger ale, squirt, sprite hielo / ice jugo / juice leche / milk refrescos naturales / fruit drinks (served en leche / in milk, or en agua / in water) banano / banana cas / cas (guava family) chan / chan fresa / strawberry guanabana / soursop maracuyá / passion fruit guayaba / guava mango / mango manzana / apple melón / cantaloupe mixto de frutas / mixed fruits mora / blackberry naranja / orange papaya / papaya piña / pineapple ponche de frutas / fruit punch sandía / watermelon tamarindo / tamarind uva / grape ron, cerveza / rum, beer té negro / black tea (hot) té de manzanilla / chamomile tea té de menta / mint tea Comidas / Food a la plancha / grilled ahumado / smoked al ajillo / in garlic almejas, mejillones / clams, mussels arroz / rice atún / tuna ayote / squash, pumpkin calamares, pulpo / squid, octopus caliente / hot (temperature) camarones / shrimp cambute / conch camote / sweet potato carne / beef, meat casado corriente / regular meal especial /special, large medio / half-portion cebolla / onion cerdo, jamón / pork, ham ceviche / marinated fish chuleta / pork chop cono / cone empanizado / breaded emparedado / sandwich encebollada / in onions ensalada / salad espagueti / spaghetti flan / flan, custard frijoles / beans frío / cold frito / fried galleta / cookie, cracker gallo / snack on a tortilla gallo pinto / rice and beans cooked together hamburguesa / hamburger helado / ice cream huevos / eggs fritos / fried picados, revueltos / scrambled omeleta / omelette langosta / lobster lechuga / lettuce lengua / tongue mantequilla / butter margarina (Numar) / margarine mariscos / seafood natilla / sour cream nieve / sherbet palmito / heart of palm pan / bread integral / whole grain papas / potatoes pepino / cucumber pescado / fish pargo / snapper corvina / seabass dorado / mahi mahi picadillo / chopped cooked veggies picante / hot, spicy pimienta / black pepper pizza / pizza plátanos / plantains pollo / chicken postre / dessert queque, pastel / cake, pie queso / cheese blanco / white amarillo / yellow crema / cream cheese quesoburguesa / cheeseburger repollo / cabbage sal / salt salchichón / sausage salsa / sauce sandwich / sandwich sopa / soup sopa negra / black bean soup tamales / steamed cornmeal wrapped in banana leaves, with meat and vegetables tocino, tocineta / bacon tomate / tomato tortillas / tortillas de maiz / corn flour de harina / wheat flour tostada / toasted; toast