The last couple of articles in this series contained some useful advice for maneuvering one’s way through Costa Rica’s linguistic jungle.

Here are some more language tidbits that show the differences and similarities between Spanish and English.

1. In Spanish “ph” becomes “f.”

PH = F

Elephant – elefante

Telephone – teléfono

2. Also in Spanish “th” becomes “t.”

TH= T

Catholic – católico

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In my last column, I showed tourists and expat retirees some simple rules for increasing their Spanish vocabulary.

Here are some more useful tips:

Category 4: VERBS

This category is made up of words that end in “ic.” To change them simply add the letter “o.”

IC=ICO For example: the public = el público

• El Atlántico
• Automático
• eléctrico
• artístico
• democrático

NOTE: An accent means that you stress a read more

Believe it or not, you already know thousands of words in Spanish.

In the next couple of articles, I am going to show you how to build your vocabulary since you already know English words that become Spanish words if you change them slightly.

Category 1  The first and easiest category is made up of words that end in “or.” read more

• Cabecera – headboard
• Cama – bed
• Cama – a bed of lettuce for a salad or other dish
• Cama or colchón de agua – water bed
• Cama matrimonial – double bed
• Cama plegable – folding bed
• Chinche – bed bug
• Colcha, edredón, cubre cama – bedspread
• Echarse

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The word break has many translations in Spanish. Here are some of the misty common ones.

• Al amanecer – at daybreak
• Amortiguar – to break or cushion a fall
• Arruinar – to go broke
• Batir – to break a sport’s record
• Cambiar – to break or change a bill ($)
• Colapso nervioso – a nervous breakdown
• Cubrir

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