Lingoflyaprender
- aprenderto learn
“aprender” — to learn in Spanish. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. Learning by yourself is aprender; teaching somebody else is enseñar. In a live sentence: “Aprendo español” — I'm learning Spanish. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 21 words in the set “verbs” in the Spanish course.
In short
| Written in Spanish | aprender |
| Translation | to learn |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Learning by yourself is aprender; teaching somebody else is enseñar
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Aprendo españolI'm learning Spanish
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.
- soyto beThe I-form of ser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. Soy de Londres, soy médico. For states and locations Spanish reaches for the other linking verb, estar: estoy bien, estoy en casa
- quieroI wantFrom querer, which also means 'to love': te quiero is 'I love you', not 'I want you'
- irto goThe most irregular verb in Spanish: of the root almost nothing survives — voy, vas, va, vamos
- comerto eatIn Spain comer also means to have lunch on its own: comemos a las dos? — shall we have lunch at two?
- beberto drinkDrinking in the plain sense. Tomar is broader and politer: tomamos algo? — shall we get something?
- leerto readThe two e's in a row are said separately: leh-EHR. Una persona leída is a well-read person
- hablarto speakTo speak and to talk. Saying something specific is already decir: dice que sí — he says yes
- trabajarto workThe j is a throaty h: trah-bah-HAR. Working on something is trabajar en; working as something is trabajar de
- vivirto liveTo live somewhere and to be alive. Vivir en is to live in a place, vivir de is to live on something
- tenerto haveSpanish uses it for age, hunger and cold: tengo treinta años, tengo hambre, tengo frío
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to learn” in Spanish?
Learning by yourself is aprender; teaching somebody else is enseñar
- How do you say “to speak” in Spanish?
To speak and to talk. Saying something specific is already decir: dice que sí — he says yes
- How do you say “to go” in Spanish?
The most irregular verb in Spanish: of the root almost nothing survives — voy, vas, va, vamos
- How do you say “to have” in Spanish?
Spanish uses it for age, hunger and cold: tengo treinta años, tengo hambre, tengo frío
- How do you say “to read” in Spanish?
The two e's in a row are said separately: leh-EHR. Una persona leída is a well-read person
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to learn” in Spanish?
«aprender». In a live sentence: “Aprendo español” — I'm learning Spanish. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Learning by yourself is aprender; teaching somebody else is enseñar. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how this sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.