Step TWO
¿De dónde es usted?
When you want to find out where someone is from, you can ask him or her:
¿De dónde es usted?
(Where are you from?)
Soy de Chicago.
(I’m from Chicago.)
Soy de Santo Domingo.
(I’m from Santo Domingo.)
You can also ask someone to tell you where someone else is from. Here are some possible questions you might ask:
¿De dónde es su padre?
(Where is your father from?)
Mi padre es de Nueva York.
(My father is from New York.)
¿De dónde es su amiga?
(Where is your friend from?)
Mi amiga es de Los Ángeles.
¿De dónde son los mexicanos?
(Where are Mexicans from?)
Los mexicanos son de México.
¿De dónde son los colombianos?
(Where are Colombians from?)
Los colombianos son de Colombia.
Here are some well-known cities, countries, and geographical locations around the world with Spanish names. How many could you locate on a map?
PRÁCTICA DE PRONUNCIACIÓN
In this section and the remaining ones of First Steps, we will look at Spanish consonants. A number of Spanish consonants are pronounced exactly as in English, while others are completely different.
y
This letter, in fact, has two different sounds — the first is vowel-like, and the other like a consonant. When the letter “y” stands by itself or when it comes at the very end of a word, it sounds just like the “ee” in “tee,” except a bit shorter and crisper.
y, ley, buey, ay, hay, Uruguay, Paraguay, soy, muy, hoy
When the letter “y” is found in any other position, it is pronounced just like the “y” sound found in the English word “yes.”
ya, yema, yo, cuyo, suya, hoyo, mayo
d
This consonant has different sounds, depending upon where it is placed in a word or sentence. At the beginning of a word or breath group, or following a consonant, it sounds pretty much like the “d” in the word “dentist.”
Diego, diablo, dice, doctor, diente, de, dolor, donde, andar, dan, doce, Dalí
Surrounded by vowels, the “d” loses most of its “voiced” sound, and sounds more like the “th” in “lather.”
código, lado, helado, comido, aliado, frustrado, modo, Estados Unidos
Finally, at the end of a word, the “d” still sounds like the “th” in “lather,” but it is even weaker or “breathier.”
comed, edad, ciudad, universidad, facilidad, facultad, id, capacidad
