Follow along with Language Transfer’s Complete Spanish
The 90 lessons
Welcome & the Thinking Method
An introduction to Language Transfer's Complete Spanish and the 'thinking method': you reconstruct the language yourself through guided exercises rather than memorising. No writing, no cramming — just follow along and think. This track sets expectations; the real work starts in Track 2.
Latin Cognates & Spanish Sounds
Spanish is essentially modern Latin, and English carries thousands of Latin words we can convert over. Words ending in -al usually work directly (normal, legal, natural). You also meet the five pure Spanish vowel sounds, final-syllable stress, es ('is') and no ('not') to build first sentences like es normal / no es ideal.
More Conversion Rules & Adverbs
More cognate patterns: -ent → -ente (important → importante), -ly → -mente (constantly → constantemente), -ible/-able stay similar. You practise turning English adjectives and adverbs into Spanish and stacking them into short sentences such as posiblemente es original.
-ción Words & 'quiero'
English -tion becomes Spanish -ción (preparation → preparación), pronounced with an /s/ (or /th/ in much of Spain). You get quiero ('I want') plus an infinitive, and the reflexive ending -me (quiero prepararme), building I-want-to-do-X sentences.
The Rolling R & Attaching '-lo'
A relaxed mouth for the tapped/rolled r. You keep drilling quiero + -ar infinitives (celebrar, cancelar, regular) and attach the object pronoun -lo to the end: quiero cancelarlo, quiero informarme. Guessing vocabulary from English is encouraged.
Silent H, Soft B/V & 'intento'
H is completely silent; b and v are the same soft sound. intento means 'I try' / 'I am trying' (no rule needed — feel it from 'intention'). ahora = now. You join two ideas with pero and keep attaching -lo (intento publicarlo).
'voy a' + Infinitive for the Future
voy a + infinitive expresses the near future, exactly like English 'I'm going to…'. Because voy is a verb of motion, the following verb keeps its 'to' form and object pronouns attach to it: voy a examinarlo, quiero verlos.
Object Pronouns lo / la / los / las
lo, la, los, las mean him/her/it/them — and you (formal). Formal vs informal address depends heavily on region, so start formal. You build quiero verte, ¿quieres visitarme?, ¿quieres venir?
Consolidation & Listening Practice
A review track: assembling longer sentences like quiero saber por qué no quiere venir a la casa a visitarme, and some Spanish-only listening practice. The takeaway is confidence — try to say things you're 'almost sure' you can't yet.
'tener' = to have
tener means 'to have' (possession). It hides in -tain verbs: maintain → mantener, contain → contener, obtain → obtener. Languages express possession differently; Spanish uses a plain verb. You practise quiero tenerlo and more -ar infinitives.
Irregular 'I' Forms & 'es importante que…'
Some verbs have irregular first-person forms. You also see how discovering a Spanish word can teach you an English one (masticar → mastication). Sentences build on es importante + infinitive (es importante hablarlo).
Two Pronouns Together & Noun Gender
Handling an indirect + direct pronoun in one verb (nos lo venden) by splitting the thought in two. Feminine agreement in the plural, and the gender of -ción, -dad, -idad nouns (la opinión, la nacionalidad, la electricidad).
Tag the Verb Before You Conjugate
A one-second habit: label every verb -ar, -er or -ir before touching it, so your mind doesn't 'fix' esperar into an -e form. Present-tense practice: estás haciendo / haces, ¿qué haces?, ¿puedes venir?
'ver' and Irregular -go Forms
ver ('to see'): veo, ve. Subject pronouns (yo, ella…) reappear for contrast and emphasis. A family of verbs takes an irregular -go 'I' form: tengo, pongo, obtengo — from tener, poner, imponer, obtener.
The e → ie Stem Change
When a stressed e sits in the root of a verb, it usually splits to ie in the present: querer → quiero, entender → entiendo, perder → pierdo, pierdo lo, pierdo los. The -er/-ir ending itself doesn't count.
e → ie and o → ue Under Stress
The same splitting also turns a stressed root o into ue: dormir → duermo, mostrar → muestro, plus empezar → empiezo. It happens in the present because of the stress on the second-to-last syllable.
Stem-Changers in Full Swing
Lots of practice with o → ue and e → ie verbs across persons: cuelgo/cuelgan, encuentro/encuentra, cierro/cerramos, pienso/pensamos. Also pienso que sí and ¿qué tomas?
e → i Verbs and 'vivir'
A third stem change: e → i in verbs like pedir. Contrast with fully regular -ir verbs such as vivir (vivo, vivimos, viven). Sentence: quiero saber dónde viven; plus prefiero, prefiere, preferimos.
'ir' = to go
ir ('to go') is tiny and very irregular: voy, vas, va, vamos, van (it's historically two verbs fused). You build quiero ir and debo ir, and meet la noche.
Present Tense for the Future
With a future marker — pronto, mañana, la semana que viene — the plain present covers the future, and nos vemos ('see you') works the same way. Object pronouns stay in front: la veo esta noche, las vemos pronto.
Present for the Past & Meet 'haber'
The present can also narrate the past, as in English. Overview of the three main pasts (I ate / I was eating / I have eaten). The 'have' past uses haber (he, has, ha, hemos) plus a participle: hemos hablado.
The Perfect Tense: he + -ado/-ido
he/has/ha/hemos/han + past participle (-ado for -ar, -ido for -er/-ir): hemos perdido, ha perdido. Where to put object pronouns when two verbs meet — before the conjugated verb, or attached to a following infinitive.
Greek -ma Nouns Are Masculine
Words ending in -ma from Greek are usually masculine: el problema, el sistema, el tema. Practice: ¿ha entendido el problema?, nos hemos perdido, lo hemos perdido — and why 'la problema' is a classic error.
Word Order & Plurals in -es
usted, yo, él, ella move around freely for emphasis (¿me lo da usted mañana?). Words ending in a consonant add -es, not just -s, in the plural. You build ¿me lo da mañana? and quiero dártelo.
'quedar(se)', Numbers & q-u
quedar = to remain / be left over (a flexible verb). Numbers appear via the months (diez → December). q-u is always a hard /k/. Sentences: puedo…, nos quedamos, ¿te quedas aquí?
'tener que' = to have to
tener + que + infinitive means 'have to' — the everyday, less heavy alternative to deber. Telling time with hasta las siete. You build tengo que quedarme, tienes que quedarte, podemos quedarnos.
Shortcut Verbs & Adjective Position
puedo, quiero, tengo que, debo are 'shortcuts in thought' that carry a second verb. Descriptive adjectives follow the noun: cámara digital, coche grande. Sentence: no puedo encontrarlo.
Nouns vs Adjectives Agreeing
Adjectives only change for feminine if they end in -o, so situación is feminine but stays global, not 'globala'. Nouns can shift (profesor → profesora). Practice: el coche es caro, los coches son caros, es adictivo.
Two Verbs for 'to be': ser vs estar
Spanish splits 'to be' into ser and estar, which both permits and obliges you to see the world a certain way. This track introduces estar for states and conditions: estoy cansado / estoy cansada, estoy siempre cansado.
estar for Location & Probability
estar also covers where something is and likelihood ('he must be here by now'). must = deber, related to 'debt' and to tener via -tain verbs. Sentences: ¿dónde estás?, quiero estar aquí, ¿dónde vas a estar?
ser Conjugation & the Extra 'e'
Spanish can't start a word with s + consonant, hence estar/estado (compare 'state'). ser: soy, eres, es, somos, son. Practice: es posible, el humano, ellos son, ustedes son.
ser with Nouns & Fixed Qualities
ser is used with nouns and inherent characteristics: soy una persona libre (persona is feminine regardless of the speaker). Some adjectives can take either verb for a shade of meaning. Also ¿de dónde son?, estoy ocupado.
Shades of Meaning: ser vs estar
está bueno vs es bueno and similar pairs show the nuance the two verbs give you — something English often can't. Practice: estoy listo / estamos listos, estoy tan aburrido, él es bueno, estoy feliz.
One Present, Two English Meanings
hablo = 'I speak' and 'I am speaking'; English overuses -ing (even for the future). So hace = 'he does' and 'he is doing', and lo hace mañana covers 'he's doing it tomorrow'. Practice: lo preparo mañana, lo venden.
estar + siendo and 'salir'
You can still say estamos siendo honestos ('we are being honest'). salir = to go out / leave, with an irregular salgo. The present handles a scheduled future: salgo pronto, salgo mañana.
The Future Tense (will)
The real future tense: add -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -án to the whole infinitive — the endings come straight from the past of haber. voy a + infinitive still works too. Practice: lo encontraré, lo encontraremos, estaré cansado.
'to me' / 'for me': Indirect Objects
The feeling of an action being to or for someone: me, te, le, les, nos. It's about the sense, not the English preposition. Practice: me lo da, nos cocina algo, te dan algo, me dan algo.
Reflexive Verbs and -se
Doing something 'to oneself'. The dictionary lists quedarse separately from quedar because the -se changes the meaning to 'to stay'. Practice: nos hablamos, se quedan, nos quedamos, se dan cuenta ('they realise').
Pronouns After Prepositions
After a preposition you get para mí and para ti (special forms), but con él, con ella, de él, de ella otherwise. Practice: con él, para ella, de él, es para ustedes.
Prepositions Change Between Languages
enamorarse de ('fall in love OF'), soñar con ('dream WITH'), depender de. Look at the difference with curiosity. Practice: pensamos en ti, ¿quieres venir conmigo?, depende de ella, depende de si quiere ir.
The Conditional (would)
'would' is another future: add -ía (and -ías, -íamos, -ían) to the infinitive, for every verb type. Practice: bailarías, se contamina ('it gets contaminated'), me imagino.
Irregular Future & Conditional Stems
A handful of common verbs shorten before the future/conditional endings: poder → podría/podré, querer → querría, tener → tendría, haber → habría. Practice: me gustaría verte.
'would have' with habría + Participle
habría / habríamos / habrían + participle = 'would have (done)': habríamos comido, habrían venido a comer. Combine with gustar-thinking: me habría gustado = 'it would have pleased me'. Also deber: deberíamos, deberíamos hablar con él.
Gustar-Type Verbs & Noun Gender
manejar ('to manage', also 'to drive') opens up the gustar structure. Noun gender and plurals: un planeta, los planetas, la mano / las manos. Practice: quiero ese coche, estoy manejando el problema.
'interesar' Works Like 'gustar'
Save it as 'to be interesting to' — it goes with le, not lo: le interesa, me interesaría. Meet -poner verbs: suponer, oponer. Practice: quiero ponerlo aquí.
The Imperfect: was / used to
The 'line' in the past: -aba for -ar verbs, -ía for -er/-ir. esperaba = 'I was waiting / I used to wait'. Object pronouns can pile on: intentaban encontrármelo ('they were trying to find it for me').
'se' for Agent-less Events
se quemaba la cena — the dinner was burning, nobody to blame. The same structure covers 'I get sunburnt' (me quemo). Practice: el sol me quema, rompo / lo rompo, los coches. The line-vs-point past contrast begins.
The Many Jobs of 'se'
¿cómo se dice? ('how is it said?'). se can be impersonal, can wrap up an agent-less sentence (se rompe), or can change a verb's meaning (quedar → quedarse). Practice: se rompe, nos quedamos, se quedan.
Irregular Imperfects: era, iba, veía
Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect: ser → era, ir → iba, ver → veía. Everything else is rock-solid. Practice: ¿cómo se llamaba?, teníamos una casa grande, yo era estudiante.
por vs para
para = destination, purpose, recipient (estos son para ti). por = because of, through, in exchange for, along. First contrast: por esta razón no quiero ir vs estos son para ti.
More 'por' & 'cansado de'
por ti, gracias por llamar, and por written as 'x' online (from times tables). estar cansado de + infinitive = 'tired of doing': estoy cansada de trabajar, estaba cansado de trabajar.
'para' + Infinitive & Verbs as Subjects
estoy aquí para verte ('…in order to see you'). Learn from Spanish speakers' English slips ('here for see you'). An infinitive can be the subject: bailar es sano, nadar es sano. Also hemos hablado para resolverlo.
Imperfect for Background & Reason
no podía hacerlo porque no tenía el tiempo — the imperfect sets the scene and gives the why. The choice of 'line' vs 'point' comes from context, not from which tense English used. Meet ayer.
The Participle as an Adjective
Reuse the 'after haber' form as an adjective: estoy perdido, he terminado → está terminado, están vendidos, está cerrado. Also me gustaría haber ido and la silla está mojada.
hecho / dicho & h ↔ f History
Irregular participles hecho and dicho (and the f→h sound shift: hecho ~ 'fact', 'made in China' = hecho en China). Participle adjectives with ser/estar; podríamos haber ido, deberías haberlo hecho, está hecho.
Relative 'que' (the girl I work with)
Join clauses with plain que: la chica con que trabajo. Fancier options exist (quien, el cual, la que) but you don't need them. Also ¿de dónde eres?, ¿quién está aquí?, ¿quién va?
'lo' + Adjective and 'lo de'
lo + adjective = 'the ___ thing': lo interesante, lo complicado. lo de = 'the thing about': lo de la fiesta. Practice: lo interesante es que viven aquí, lo fácil es que vienen juntos.
Breaking Down 'todavía' & the Preterite
todavía picked apart as toda + vía ('all the way') as a memory aid. Point-in-past (preterite) forms take the stage: compré, lo compró, lo envió ayer, habló conmigo.
'sin' + Infinitive
After a preposition you use the 'to' form, so 'without stopping' is sin parar. parar ('to stop') relates to par ('pair') and comparar ('to compare'). Practice: habló durante media hora sin parar, duró dos minutos.
'esperar' & 'perderse'
esperar = to wait AND to hope (think 'desperate' = desesperado). Preterite esperé / esperamos. perderse = to get lost. Practice: hablamos ayer, esperamos mucho ayer, siempre nos perdemos, nos perdimos.
Line vs Point with Feelings
no me gustaba vs no me gustó — often interchangeable, but you're thinking differently: ongoing state vs closed event. Also estaba cocinando cuando sonó el teléfono, llegué / llegó / llegamos.
'le lo' Becomes 'se lo'
Spanish won't say two l-words in a row, so le lo → se lo: se lo di ('I gave it to him'). Double object pronouns in the past: te lo di, nos lo dio, se los di, le di algo.
Clarifying 'gustar' with 'a él / a ella'
a ella le gusta / le gusta a ella removes the ambiguity of a bare le. Keep the mid-translation 'it is pleasing to her' in mind. Practice: le gustó ('it was pleasing to her').
Preterite of -er / -ir Verbs
In the point-in-past, -er/-ir verbs are dominated by i: comí, comió, comimos, comieron. Practice: respondí, le respondí, se lo respondí hace un mes (hace = 'ago'), discriminé.
'otra vez', 'una vez' & -ar Preterite
otra vez ('again'), una vez ('once'), a la vez ('at the same time'). -ar preterite: llegué, llegó, llegaron. Possessives mi casa / tu casa. Practice: lo vi una vez, los vi una vez.
Spanish Avoids Possessives
For body parts and belongings, Spanish drops 'my/your' and uses an indirect pronoun: me duele la cabeza ('it hurts me the head'). doler behaves like gustar. Also tenía dolor de cabeza.
dónde vs donde & Infinitive Review
dónde takes an accent as a question word, donde doesn't as a relative — a distinction even natives skip in writing. Review of core infinitives: estar (for states), hablar, encontrar, saber (sé).
Demonstratives: este / ese
'this' and 'that': este/esta/estos/estas and ese/esa/esos/esas. You can also say el hombre este ('this man here'), a structure possibly borrowed from Arabic. Practice: esos hombres ('these/those men').
Meet the Subjunctive ('mood tense')
The subjunctive — the author's favourite tense — appears after wanting someone else to do something: quiero que esperes, quiero que hables. Flip the vowel of the ending to get the mood form.
'no quiero que…' & Shared Context
no quiero que hables de lo que hablamos — and why that can be ambiguous without shared context. More trigger verbs: necesito que lo prepares, prefiero que se lo des.
The Personal 'a'
Put a before a specific human receiving the action: veo a la profesora, quiero que visite a la profesora. Subjunctive after wanting/hoping. Practice: quiero que el hombre vea, espero que te vean.
Commands via the Subjunctive
Orders use the mood tense — compren lo que falta, no te quedes — with ONE exception: positive informal commands take a shortcut (come, compra, cómpralo, cómelo). Formal and negative commands stay subjunctive.
'que + Subjunctive' for Let-Him / Let's
Bare que + subjunctive expresses a third-person wish: que espere ('let him wait'), que termine ('let it finish'). And no esperemos = 'let's not wait'.
'tan' / 'también' & 'para que'
también broken down as tan + bien; tan can also mean 'as'. 'so that you too come' uses the subjunctive: para que tú también vengas. Also lo hemos hecho todo, lo han hecho para que volvamos.
'o sea' and 'sea' (subjunctive of ser)
o sea is a thinking-aloud filler ('I mean…'). sea is the base of ser's subjunctive: prefiero que sea así. And comes lo que prefieras ('you eat whatever you prefer').
Subjunctive for the Unknown
Use the mood tense in relative clauses about something that may not exist: algo que puedas hacer, alguien que hable español, tiene que haber algo que puedas hacer.
Subjunctive for Reactions & Judgements
Emotional or evaluative reactions trigger it: qué fuerte que esté aquí, es posible que…, es importante que lo encontremos, es posible que vayamos más tarde. Also está bien = 'it's okay'.
'cuando' + Subjunctive for the Future
cuando about a future event takes the subjunctive: cuando terminen. Difference between using the 'to' form and the -ing form after certain verbs + preposition. Also sigue hablando ('he keeps talking').
'ojalá' + Subjunctive
ojalá ('hopefully / I wish') always takes the subjunctive; its origin ties to the Arabic word for God (eight centuries of contact). Also déjame un mensaje ('leave me a message').
'se me' — Accidental Events
Combine se with me/te/le/nos for the 'on me' feeling of unplanned events: se me quemó la cena ('the dinner burned on me'), se lo preparo, ¿la batería se te acaba? ('does the battery run out on you?').
'volver a' & Where the Subjunctive Lives
volver a + infinitive = to do something again; no quiero que vuelva a pasar ('I don't want it to happen again'). The subjunctive exists only in the present and the past — never in the futures. Also necesitábamos.
Sidestepping the Subjunctive
Structural tricks to avoid the mood tense in the moment, e.g. volví a llamarte para organizar instead of a que-clause. Also fue muy relevante, es increíble que lo hayan hecho otra vez.
The Past Subjunctive (-ara / -iera)
Built from the 'they' form of the preterite: -ara/-iera (alternative -ase/-iese, dialect-dependent). Used in if-clauses: si lo viera, lo entendería; si vieras su casa. Also tu casa (informal 'your house').
Full Panorama & -go Verbs Recap
Every tense and mood is now on the table. Recap of the irregular -go verbs: tener → tengo, venir → vengo, poner, distraer → distraigo. Practice: quiero que lo traigas.
Informal Commands from -go Verbs
For -go verbs, the positive informal command just drops the -go: ten, ven, pon, di, haz. Negative/formal still use the mood tense: no lo ponga aquí, dime cuando lo hagas.
Irregular Future/Conditional of -go Verbs
Most -go verbs take -dré / -dría: tendré, pondré, vendría. hacer and decir are extra irregular: haré/haría, diré/diría. Practice: lo pondré aquí, te diré luego / más tarde.
The Irregular Preterite Group
A cluster of verbs is irregular in the point-in-past but all behave alike (changed stem, -e/-o endings, no accent): traje, dije, vine, puse, quise. Also fuimos / fuiste. Contrast with the very regular imperfect.
-eron Not -ieron: dijeron, fueron
When the stem already ends in j, the i drops: dijeron, trajeron, and fueron. From the 'they' preterite you build the past subjunctive: si fuera tú… ('if I were you'). Also vino con vino, trajimos, fuimos.
un / algún / ningún Before Nouns
uno, alguno, ninguno drop the final -o before a masculine noun: un hombre, algún hombre, ningún hombre — but the feminine keeps it (alguna mujer). The habit to keep: analyse what you hear so the language never controls you.
Course Wrap-Up & Dialects
A send-off: dialect variation you'll meet — leísmo (le/les for people in much of Spain), vosotros, and voseo in parts of Latin America. Keep learning by listening actively and analysing the endings you hear.