Do you have no knowledge of English but want to learn basic English?

Perfect! You are in the best place to start. In this article, you will come across
vocabulary, phrases, and concepts that will help you start your English learning
for beginners. So it doesn't matter how lost you are in this language, at
finishing reading this you will be one step ahead.

How to choose the best English course for you?Get to know and download our ebook for
know how to choose the best English courseand mastering a second language.

How to start learning basic English

The basic vocabulary of English is composed of verbs, nouns, adjectives,

adverbs, questions, numbers and measures of time related to
daily activities of any person, such as eating, sleeping, working, etc.
Next, you will find elements that you must start with and
focus to learn.

[Link] verbs

Among all the verbs in English, the basic verbs, such asto beyto get,
they are present in sentences about any subject and can even serve as
auxiliaries for other verbs, which is why they are part of the knowledge of English for
beginners. It is important that you learn them because they are used in all kinds of
conversations. The main ones are these four:

Verbo Traducción

To be To be

To have

To do To do

To obtain

2. Modal verbs

Themodal verbsthey are a fundamental part of basic English knowledge,

since they are verbs that allow to give intention to a sentence and help to
make questions and negative sentences.

The modal verbs are the following:

Modal verbs Translation

Can Power

Could Could

May More formal than can

Might It refers to suggestions and possibilities

Will Auxiliary for future sentences

Would It refers to habits or future events that are likely.

Must It refers to needs

Shall Formal way of will

Should Used for advice

[Link] Verbs

It is estimated that English has around 9 thousand regular verbs and more than 200.
irregular. However, the vast majority of them are not used daily and some
they are outdated. Therefore, you can focus your efforts on learning the following 30
basic English verbs for beginners with which you can make sentences
a little more complex:

Verbo en infinitivo Traducción

To believe Create

To come To come

To eat Eat

To feel to feel

To fly to fly

To give Give

To go Go

To hear To hear

To help Help

To jump Jump

To laugh To laugh

To live To live

To love My
To move Mover

To need Need

To play Play

To run Run

To say To say

To sit To sit

To sleep Sleep

To smell To smell

To smile To smile

To talk To speak

To think To think

To use Use

To walk Walk

To want To want

To watch See

To work To work

To write Write

4. Numbers and time

The basic concepts of English about numbers and times are essential for
to develop a large number of activities, from paying for a coffee to paying
taxes. By handling these concepts, you will be able to participate in activities specific to
English for beginners: how to tell the time and count.

The main numbers to learn are:

# Número en inglés Número en español

1 One One

2 Two Two

3 Three Three

4 Four Four

5 Five Five

6 Six Six

7 Seven Seven

8 Eight Eight

9 Nine Nine

10 Ten Ten

20 Twenty Twenty

30 Thirty Thirty

40 Forty Forty

50 Fifty Fifty

60 Sixty Sixty

70 Seventy Seventy

80 Eighty Eighty

90 Ninety Ninety

100 One hundred One Hundred

1,000 One thousand Thousand

One million One million

Regarding time, the correct way to tell the time is:

Hour In English In Spanish

5:00 Five o'clock Five o'clock

Five oh one - Five oh nine... Five one/Five nine...

5:10-5:59 Five ten - Five fifty nine Five ten - Five fifty-nine

5:15 Fifteen past five Quarter past five

5:50 Ten to six Ten to six

5. Basic English vocabulary

Once you already know the most common verbs in English, it's time for you to
discover the nouns, adjectives, and adverbs that will allow you to learn English
basic and communicate on basic topics with native speakers:

Nouns

Sustantivo en inglés Sustantivo en español

Animal Animal

Bed Bed

Book Book

Car Car

Cat Cat

Dog Dog

Door Door

Food Food

Fork Fork

House House

Knife Knife
Shoes Shoes

Spoon Spoon

Water Water

Adjectives

Adjetivo en inglés Adjetivo en español

Bad Bad

Best The best

Better Better

Big Big

Different Different

Easy Easy

Economic Economic

Free Free

Large Big

Late Afternoon

New New

Old Old

Small Small

Strong Strong

True True

Adverbs

Adverbio en inglés Adverbio en español

Always Always

Badly Bad

Eventually Eventually

Exactly Exactly

Honestly Honestly

Mysteriously Mysteriously

Never Never

Occasionally Occasionally

Perfectly Perfectly

Quickly Quickly

Safely Without danger

Seriously Seriously

Silently Silently

Slowly Slowly

Technically Technically

6. Basic Questions

One of the best ways to learn English from scratch is by asking, that's why here
you will find questions that can help you out of trouble or make your life easier if
At some point, you find yourself in a situation dominated by English.

Among the questions that are part of the initial learning of English for
beginners find the following:

Question in English Question in Spanish

Can you speak Spanish? Can you speak Spanish?

How can I help you? How can I help you?

How much is it? How much does it cost?

How old are you? How old are you?

What do you do? / What is your job?

What do you think about it? What do you think about that?

What is the weather like? How is the weather?

What is your email address? What is your email?

What is your name? What is your name?

What is your telephone number? What is your phone number?

What time is it? What time is it?

Where are you from? Where are you from?

Where do you live? Where do you live?

Where is the nearest bank? Where is the nearest bank?

Where were you born? Where were you born?

Get more help to continue learning English

Now that you have the elements to learn basic English, it is time to continue.
move forward with your learning. One of the best ways to do this is through
English courses taught by teachers with extensive experience, such as those who
we offer at British Council Mexico.

Free English course for beginners

[Link]
English with explanation, pronunciation, and listening exercises/

Do you want to learn English for work, study, or tourism reasons, but your
Is your knowledge of the language limited or nonexistent? You have come to the right place. In this
on this page you can take a free course, which is aimed at all those
people who are starting to learn English.

In this course you will create a solid knowledge base that will help you
to learn the English language appropriately, efficiently, and meaningfully. The
better way to develop this course progressively. This means
you should do two or three lessons every day, then come back the next day and do
two or three lessons, and so on.

Course lessons

We suggest you take the course in the order we propose. However, the
knowledge is not linear and if you prefer, you can give it the order you want
you want the course.

1. The colors in English

Blanco: White
› Amarillo: Yellow
Blue
› Rojo: Red
Green
› Negro: Black
Brown
Orange
Pink
Purple
Gray or Grey

Important notes

Many times Spanish speakers make the mistake of referring to the

Color brown like coffee. Brown as a color is brown, coffee like.
seed, product or beverage is Coffee. Example:

I want to buy a pair of brown shoes.

brown coffees.

Would you like me to go with you?

Yes, we can have a cup of coffee after buying the shoes.

have a cup of coffee after buying the shoes.

The form 'Gray' is used in the United States and the form 'Grey' in the United Kingdom.
United. The pronunciation is the same.

Sometimes Spanish speakers make the mistake of using the

structures of Spanish when speaking English. For example: the form Green
light is an error that comes from the positional translation of 'Light Green'.
the correct form is like this: Light blue or Dark Green.
The word Color in American English is Colour in British English is
Color.

[Link] days of the week

In English
Monday Monday Monday
Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday
Wednesday Wednesday
Thursday Jueves Thursday
Friday Friday Friday
Saturday Sábado Saturday
Sunday Sunday
Weekday weekday
Weekend

Grammar of the days of the week in English

The days of the week in English are always written with the first letter in
uppercase regardless of the position in the sentence:

I play soccer on Saturdays

She usually calls me on Mondays.
See you on Friday. Don't be late please.
please

2. In Spanish, we form the plural by changing the word EL (Tuesday) to

Tuesdays. In English, we must keep the preposition ON and add
un-Sfinal. Like this:

On Mondays
On Tuesdays
On Wednesdays: Wednesdays
On Thursdays
On Fridays: Fridays
On Saturdays
On Sundays: Sundays
In Spanish, we use the articles 'el' (on Monday) and 'los' (on Mondays) with the days.
of the week. In English, we use the preposition on (on Monday or on
Mondays). NEVER use the preposition THE, as you would be making a mistake
a grammatical error.

See you Wednesday.

See you on Wednesday.

4. The word 'weekday' can also be accompanied by the

preposition 'on' (without a capital letter at the beginning), like this:

I work on weekdays

I work on weekends
"week" is used like this:

I work at weekends.
I work on weekends.

Both options are completely understandable and correct.

[Link] and goodbyes

English Spanish
Hello Hello
Good morning
Good afternoon
Good evening Good evening
English Spanish
Goodbye Goodbye
Good night Good evening
Have a nice day!
English Spanish
Hi Hello
How are you?
What's up? How are you?
What's new?

Despedidas (Farewells): Escucha

English Spanish
Bye Goodbye
Bye-bye
Later See you later
See you!
See ya!

Some explanations about greetings and farewells in English:

The forms Good Evening and Good Night are often confused by
Spanish speakers. Good Evening means Buenas Noches like
a form of greeting. On the other hand, Good Night means Good
Nights like a farewell.
Goodbyes are very informal; they should be used
with very close people.
It is possible to greet a person with a question like: How are you?
you?oWhat's up? However, it is important to understand that using a
A question to greet a person indicates a level of informality.
 [Link] alphabet

The contents of this lesson about the Alphabet in English are:

Pronunciation of vowels and consonants in English.

In what situations is the English alphabet used.
Exercises on the alphabet.

Vowels in English

Vocales Pronunciación
a It is pronounced /ei/
e It is pronounced /i/
i It is pronounced /ai/.
o It is pronounced /ou/
u It is pronounced /iu/

Consonants in English
Consonants Pronunciation
b /bi/
c /ci/
d /di/
f /ef/
g /lli/
h /eich/
j /law/
k what
l /el/
m /em/
n /en/
p /pi/
q /quiu/
r /ar/
s /es/
t /ti/
v /vi/
w dabol iu
x /ex/
y /uai/
z /zi/ American English
 /zet / British English

Clarification notes:

There are two ways to refer to uppercase letters in English.

Both forms are correct and can be used in any situation:
Capital letterUppercase letter.
There are two ways to name lowercase letters. You can use
small letter, lowercase letter.

Learn more:
This topic is related to other lessons that may be of interest to you, such as:
basic questions in Englishand ourpronunciation course.

In what everyday situations is it usually used?

alphabet?
There are several situations where we can use the alphabet in English, a
next, I present two.

I. When we say our full name when requesting the name

to someone.

A. How do you spell your last name?

B:S. M. I. T. H.

When we say our email. Remember that At@se

At that point, it is said Dot:

What’s your email address?

B: It’sabd@[Link]

[Link] indefinite article: 'a' and 'an'

Let's learn about the indefinite article AyAN in English. This topic
it is also known as Indefinite Article.
What is the indefinite article A and AN in English?
It is a word that refers to something that is not specific. Observe the following
example:

I need a pencil.

In this sentence, someone needs A pencil. Not a specific pencil, rather

any pencil in the world. That is, when we use A or AN we refer to
something nonspecific or indefinite.

Meaning of A and AN
The meaning of these words in Spanish is the same: ONE. Let's see
some examples to make the explanation clearer:

She has a bicycle.

She has a brother.

She bought an apple.

She bought an oven.

In the 4 previous examples, A and An mean in Spanish Un (a brother and

an oven) and A (a bicycle and an apple). At this point, you must be
asking why we use A sometimes and An other times. Next, you
we explain this aspect.

Difference between A and AN

As we said earlier, the meaning is the same (UnyUna). Without

embargo, there is a difference:

A + consonant
We use the word that follows which begins with a consonant sound (b, c,
d, f, etc.). Example sentences:

I want a new sofa.

He rented a motorcycle.
They bought a chair.
An + vowel
We use the following word in English that begins with a sound.
vocalic (a, e, i, etc.).

I want an ice cream.

He rented an apartment.

They bought an egg.

She works as an assistant.

›You sawan ostrich. / Tú visteunavestruz.

Exceptions to the previous rules

As almost always happens in any language, there are exceptions. Here you
we show two of them:

In English, there are many words that start with H like House.
(house), Hotel (hotel) or Husband (husband). In these words, the H is pronounced.
similar to a J; then House would be pronounced /jáus/. When this happens,
we use A:

I need a house.

However, there are words in English that begin with H, but this H is
silent; that is, it is not pronounced. For example, the word Hour (hour) is
It is pronounced /auər/, the H is silent. When this happens, we use AN.

He left an hour ago.

This happens with other words like Honor and also Honest.
(honest)

We almost always use AN with words that start with U in English.

like Unforgettable or Umbrella. In these words the
It is pronounced similar to a short A; for example, Umbrella is pronounced
/umbrella/. Let's see an example:

It was an unforgettable trip.

However, on rare occasions the U sounds similar to an IU /ju/ as in
university (universidad –/juniˈvɜ rsəti/), uniform (uniforme –/ˈjunɪ form/) o
user (usuario – /ˈjuzər/). In this context we use A. Example:

We wear a uniform every day.

days.

{"suggested lessons":""}

In this lesson, the indefinite article is explained; however, there is another type.
of the article, which we invite you to get to know, called thedefinite article
THE.

On the other hand, if you want to practice what you learned in this lesson, you can
do it in the followingcomprehension questionnaire.

Illustrative image

[Link] members

In English In Spanish
Mother Mom
Mom Mom, mom
Father Dad or father
Dad Daddy, dad
Parents Fathers
Son Son
Daughter Daughter
Brother Brother
Sister Sister
Siblings Brothers
Aunt Aunt
Uncle Uncle
Grandparents Abuelos
Grandfather
Grandpa Grandpa
Grandmother Abuela
Grandma Grandma
Cousin First
Nephew Nephew
Niece Niece
Mother-in-law
Father-in-law

Important clarifications
1. When talking about family in all languages, there are always very
loving ways to refer to the family. In English, these forms are
very common:

Dad: father, daddy, little daddy, etc.

Mom: mom, mommy, little mom, etc.
Grandma: grandma, little grandma
Grandpa: grandpa, grandfather
Auntie: aunt, auntie, etc.

In Spanish, we sometimes say: I have 4 brothers. It may be that in the

In reality, let's have 2 brothers and 2 sisters, but in our language the
the word brothers includes sisters. On the contrary, in English the word
bothers can only mean brother men. Consequently, if
We say I have 4 brothers, the person listening understands that I have 4.
brothers (men).

The word Siblings encompasses brothers and sisters.

I have four siblings

I have two brothers and two sisters.

I have two brothers and two sisters

You must be very careful with the word Father (dad) since many
English students confuse this word with The Pope.
religious) or with Papata (Potato– food).

Observe the differences:

My father bought me a nice pair of shoes
My mother bought a nice pair of shoes

The Pope gave the best mass I have ever attended

The Pope gave the best mass I have ever attended.

I really don't like potatoes because they make me sick.

I like potatoes because they make me sick.

I have heard that sometimes when English students want

referring to mom and dad in a single word, they make the mistake of using
MY FATHERS.

The correct form is My parents. Example:

My parents congratulated me on my graduation.

My parents congratulated me on my graduation.

[Link] verb TO BE

What is the Verb To Be and what does it mean?

This verb is a word that in the present has two meanings: TO BE and
TO BE. This causes some problems for Spanish speakers who wish
learn EnglishTo exemplify its two meanings, observe the following
examples:

Example 1: Example 2:
I am from Canada. I am in Canada.
I am from Canada. I am in Canada.
Explanation:

The explanation seems obvious but it is not. In example 1, the meaning of the
the verb in the sentence is I AM, which relates to the meaning TO BE. By
on the other hand, in example 2 the meaning is I AM, this relates to the
to be verb.

The consequence of the above is that you must always keep both in mind.
{"ser":"She is pretty.","estar":"She is very happy."}
although they are different verbs in Spanish (SER and ESTAR), in English you must use
one single form (TO BE).

She is beautiful. She is very happy.

She is pretty. She is very happy.

Structure and Conjugation of TO BE:

In the following image you can see the structure in affirmative, negative and
interrogative.

Notice that for the pronoun I the conjugation is AM; for You, We and
They are; and for it, she and he is.

For the negative we use the word NOT.

In questions, we use AM, IS, and ARE at the beginning of the sentence.

Explanation of the verb To Be in English

Related Lessons:
This verb is also used in other verb tenses like thePresent
Progressiveand theFuture with Be Going ToIn this lesson we only talk about the
form in present, but there is also a form in past:Was and Were.

When is this verb used?

1. Origin:
I am from Colombia.
She is not from Peru.

2. Adjectives that describe people or objects:

The car is red.
They are not shy.

3. Location:
Is she at home?
We are in the classroom.

[Link]:
She is not afraid.
The window is broken.

[Link] uses:
In Spanish, to refer to age we use the verb "to have" as in "I have"
I am 20 years old." On the other hand, in English, we do not refer to age in that way.
with the verb 'to have' but with the verb 'TO BE'. Example:

She is 20 years old.

[Link] pronouns

In this lesson you will learn the personal pronouns in English. This topic is
known in English as Personal Pronouns. The lesson is divided into 4
secciones:1. En la primera parte hablaremos sobre los Pronombres Singulares
["y Plurals. 2. In the second we will explain what a pronoun is. 3."]
Later we will show you some important aspects about this topic.
Finally, you will be able to do a comprehension exercise.

What are the personal pronouns in English?

In English, there are 8 personal pronouns: 5 singular and 3 plural.
Listen and repeat

I
You: Usted, Tú, Vos /ju:/
He
She
It

2. Plural: listen and repeat

We
You: You (plural) /ju:/
They: Them or They

Now that we know the pronouns, it is important to have an answer.

clear for the following question:

What is a personal pronoun?

Personal pronouns are words that are used as subjects of the
Sentences; their purpose is to tell us what or who performs the action. For example:

She reads every day.

The action of the sentence is READ and how do we know who performs it?
action? The personal pronoun SHE tells me that SHE performs it.
[Link] numbers from 1 to 100

Group 1
The numbers from 0 to 12 are pronounced the same in the forms of English.
American and British. If pronunciation causes you any difficulty, you
we recommend that you visit thecomplete English pronunciation course.

0 Zero zero
1 One one
2 Two to
3 Three three
4 Four for
5 Five five
6 Six six
7 Seven seven
8 Eight eight
9 Nine nine
10 Ten ten
11 Eleven eleven
12 Twelve twelve

Group 2
The numbers from 13 to 19 are written with a final ending -TEEN.
It is pronounced like this: /ti:n/, where the sound /i/ is longer than the /i/ in Spanish.
It is also important to remember that the accent (the strongest sound) is precisely on
el sonido /ti:n/. Los números del 13 al 19 se pronuncian de la misma manera en las
American and British variants.

Thirteen thirteen
Fourteen fourteen
Fifteen fifteen
Sixteen sixteen
17Seventeen seventeen
Eighteen a teen
Nineteen nineteen

Group 3
The numbers from 20, 30, 40, … 90 are written with -TY at the end. There are
some substantial differences in the pronunciation of some of these
numbers between American and British English. You will first hear the
American pronunciation and then the British one (To learn more about the
differences between the two variants of English we recommend visiting the
lesson aboutBritish English VS. American English).

20Twenty twenty
Thirty thirty
40Forty forty
50Fifty fifty
Sixty sixty
Seventy seventy
Eighty eighty
90Ninety ninety

Group 4
The combined numbers from 21 to 99 are written and pronounced using the
tens (20, 30, etc.) and then a number from 1 to 9. For writing, you must use a
hyphen (-) to separate the numbers. Observe the following examples:

Twenty-one twenty-one
Forty-five forty-five
Sixty-seven sixty-seven
Seventy-eight seventy-eight
Ninety-nine ninety-nine
One hundred one hundred

Important
It is necessary to make a distinction of some numbers. Many speakers of
Spanish speakers confuse numbers that have a similar pronunciation.
Observe the following examples:

A. 19 (nineteen) vs. 90 (ninety)

B. 18 (eighteen) vs. 80 (eighty)
C.14 (fourteen) vs. 40 (forty)

Distinguishing these numbers is easy. The numbers from 13 to 19 ending in -

TEEN is pronounced /ti:n/ and the tens (30, 40, etc.) have a suffix
-TY that is pronounced /ti/. Listen again so you can practice the
previous advice.

[Link] adjectives: my, his, her, their

In this lesson you will learn about possessive adjectives in English through
of images and examples. The possessive adjectives, as their name indicates
sonadjectiveswhich are used to express possession of an object, person, or
place.

Observe the following example with possessive:

My house is near here.

In the previous sentence, the word in English MY (MI, in Spanish) is used to

to show the person who listens to or reads the sentence that I am not talking about
any house in the world, but of a particular house, my house. So,
these words are used to show possession.

In the following image, you will find more information about adjectives.
possessives in English:
Meanings and examples of possessive adjectives in
English
There are 7 possessives that we will explain in more detail below.

My
This word means in Spanish MYoMIS (It has two meanings in)
Spanish). Examples:

My cousin is famous.

My cousins are famous.

His
Its meaning is SUoSUS. We usually use it when the person who
he is a man. It is also possible to use this word with male animals,
if we know that it is a male animal. Examples:
This is Carl. His last name is Thompson.
Thompson.

This is Mario. His friends are boring.

bored.

I have a dog as a pet. His name is Ralph.

His name is Ralph.

Her
This possessive also means HIS or HER. The difference with the previous one is
which expresses the possession of a woman (girl, teenager, elderly woman, etc.). At
just like HIS is used for animals, but in this case females.

I have an older sister. Her name is Angelica.

Her name is Angélica.

I have an older sister. Her friends are intelligent.

She is older. Her friends are intelligent.

I have a cat as a pet. Her name is Lupe.

Her name is Lupe.

Its
Similarly, HIS and HER mean HIS and HER. We use ITS.
when possession is for places, things, or animals (if we do not know if it is
male or female.

I live in Colombia. Its capital city is Bogota.

The capital is Bogotá.

I have an old car. Its color is blue.

I saw a little bird. Its color was green and blue.

it was green and blue.

Our
This possessive adjective has 4 meanings: OUR, OURS,
OUR ARE OURS.

Our president is on television.

Our favorite movie is Titanic.

Our friends came last night.

Their
This possessive adjective also means HIS/HER/THEIR, but it is used when the
they possess, they. It is the plural form of HIS, HERE, ITS;
therefore, it is used for men, women, places, things, or animals in
PLURAL. Example sentences of this possessive:

I have two dogs. Their names are Lupe and Ralph.

their names are Lupe and Ralph.

My parents are friendly. Their names are Charles and Rita.

they are friendly. Their names are Charles and Rita.

Your
It has 4 possible translations into Spanish: YOUR, YOUR or YOURS, YOURS (of you or of)
you (plural)

What is your name?

{"en":{"What are your names?":"What are your names?","I need your phones":"I need your phones."}}

I need your phone numbers.

11. Demonstrative adjectives: this, these, that, those

In this lesson you will learn about demonstrative adjectives in English by

through images, explanations, examples, and a video. This topic is known
in English demonstrative adjectives. As their name indicates, these
Words are used to demonstrate or show something to someone. There are 4.
demonstratives: this, that, these, those. Now, we are going to explain each one of
detailed manner.

Meanings and Uses

This

It is used only for singular words (that is, when we talk about
only one thing). The objects, people, animals or things to which we
we refer to must be nearby. Its meaning in Spanish is THIS (for
(masculine words) oESTA (for feminine words).

Let's look at some examples of demonstrative adjectives in English to make the

clearer explanation:

This living room is quite big.

This living room is quite large.

This phone is broken.

This phone is broken.

That

Just like THIS, THAT is used for singular words, but the object for
what we are referring to must be far from the person who is speaking. Its meaning in
Spanish is that.

Some examples:

That book is interesting.

That book is interesting.

That bottle is green.

That bottle is green.

That phone is quite modern.

That phone is quite modern.

These

We use this word when we refer to [Link](two or more)

things, objects, or animals). These objects must be close to the person that
Speak. Its meaning is THIS or THESE.

Some examples of these demonstratives:

The napkins are dirty.

These napkins are dirty.

These tomatoes are rotten.

These tomatoes are rotten.
Those

Similarly to THESE, THOSE is used for plural complements.

embargo, these complements must be far from the one who speaks. Its meaning
ESOSoESAS.

Examples:

Those girls are playing cards.

Those girls are playing cards.

Those elephants are angry.

Those elephants are angry.

The following image clearly summarizes this topic of demonstratives.

[Link] is y There are: hay

[Link] months and the seasons

14.{"in":"in","on":"on","under":"under","behind":"behind"}

[Link] the time

16.{"at":"at","in":"in","on":"on"}

17. Partes y vocabulario de la casa en inglés

→ La habitación (bedroom) y el baño (bathroom)

→ The living room and the dining room

[Link] to use adjectives in English

[Link] adjectives

[Link] adjectives

[Link] to describe personality

[Link]

[Link] imperatives

[Link] and nationalities

[Link] of the sentence

[Link] animals

[Link] to learn English with music

[Link] professions with practice

[Link] in English

[Link] Weather