Spanish B1
CEFR B1 · Intermediate
At B1 the imperfect arrives alongside the preterite, so you can set a scene (era, había, vivía) and then say what happened in it. You use the future tense and llevar + gerund to say how long you have been doing something, the connectors that make speech flow (aunque, sin embargo, por lo tanto) and idioms like echar de menos and valer la pena. You can hold a real conversation about work, study, plans and opinions.
61 words · 3 units · 3 grammar points
Spanish B1, unit by unit
Work & study
Discuss your job, your studies, and share opinions about working life using comparatives and opinion verbs.
- What I do - Llevar + time + gerund: how long you've done itDescribe your job and contract · Talk about salary and working hours
- School & studiesTalk about your degree and subjects · Handle exams and scholarships
- Opinions about workExpress opinions with creo / pienso / me parece · Compare jobs with más/menos…que
- I work as a nurse in a small company.
- Trabajo de enfermera en una empresa pequeña.
- My salary is not very high, but the working hours are good.
- Mi sueldo no es muy alto, pero la jornada es buena.
- I have a part-time contract at the moment.
- Ahora mismo tengo un contrato de media jornada.
Closing conversation: a relaxed conversation about what you do and what you like about it
Future & wishes
Talk about future plans, hopes and dreams, and hypothetical situations using the future, subjunctive, and conditional.
- Plans for next week - The future tenseUse the simple future tense · Talk about scheduled and predicted events
- Hopes & dreamsExpress wishes with me gustaría + infinitive · Use espero que + present subjunctive
- If I could…Form hypothetical sentences with si + imperfect subjunctive · Use the conditional in the main clause
- Next week I will go to Madrid for work.
- La semana que viene iré a Madrid por trabajo.
- The meeting will be at ten in the morning.
- La reunión será a las diez de la mañana.
- Tomorrow my sister will come to visit us.
- Mañana mi hermana vendrá a visitarnos.
Closing conversation: talking about where you would like to be in five years, and what would have to change
The imperfect: past habits & descriptions
Use the imperfecto to talk about how things used to be, describe the past, and narrate ongoing actions interrupted by another event.
- When I was little (habitual past) - Forming and using the imperfectoForm regular and key irregular imperfecto · Describe childhood habits and routines
- Setting the scene (descriptions in the past)Use the imperfect to describe weather, age and background · Use 'había' for 'there was/were'
- I was ___ing when ___ (interrupted action)Contrast imperfect (background) with preterite (event) · Use 'mientras' and 'cuando'
- I used to / things were differentUse 'soler' + infinitive for habitual past · Compare past and present with antes / ahora
- When I was little, I lived in a village with my grandparents.
- De pequeño, vivía en un pueblo con mis abuelos.
- I used to play football every day after school.
- Jugaba al fútbol todos los días después del colegio.
- We always had dinner together at nine o'clock.
- Siempre cenábamos juntos a las nueve.
Closing conversation: describing what you used to do as a child and how things were different then
B1 grammar points
Spanish B1 vocabulary
All 61 words, in frequency order.
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| aunque | although, even though | Iré aunque llueva.I'll go even if it rains. |
| mientras | while, as long as | Mientras esperamos, hablemos.While we wait, let's talk. |
| sin embargo | however | Es caro; sin embargo, vale la pena.It's expensive; however, it's worth it. |
| además | besides, moreover | Es lejos y además, está cerrado.It's far and besides, it's closed. |
| por lo tanto | therefore | Llueve, por lo tanto, no salimos.It's raining, therefore, we're not going out. |
| en cambio | on the other hand | Yo bebo café; ella, en cambio, té.I drink coffee; she, on the other hand, tea. |
| de hecho | in fact | De hecho, ya lo sabía.In fact, I already knew it. |
| al final | in the end | Al final, decidimos quedarnos.In the end, we decided to stay. |
| lograr | to achieve, to manage to | Logré terminar a tiempo.I managed to finish on time. |
| intentar | to try | Intento hablar mejor.I'm trying to speak better. |
| probar | to try, to taste | Tienes que probar este vino.You have to try this wine. |
| conseguir | to get, to obtain | Conseguí el trabajo.I got the job. |
| evitar | to avoid | Evita el azúcar.Avoid sugar. |
| permitir | to allow | No permiten fumar aquí.They don't allow smoking here. |
| exigir | to demand, to require | El jefe exige puntualidad.The boss demands punctuality. |
| compartir | to share | Compartimos un piso.We share an apartment. |
| elegir | to choose | No sé qué elegir.I don't know what to choose. |
| decidir | to decide | Decide rápido.Decide quickly. |
| sentir | to feel; to be sorry | Sentimos mucho tu pérdida.We're very sorry for your loss. |
| preocuparse | to worry | No te preocupes.Don't worry. |
| darse cuenta | to realize | Es fácil darse cuenta del error.It's easy to notice the mistake. |
| acordarse | to remember | No consigo acordarme de su nombre.I can't manage to remember her name. |
| echar de menos | to miss (someone) | Voy a echar de menos esta ciudad.I'm going to miss this city. |
| tener ganas de | to feel like | Después de tanto trabajo, es normal tener ganas de descansar.After so much work, it's normal to feel like resting. |
| tener prisa | to be in a hurry | No me gusta tener prisa por las mañanas.I don't like being in a hurry in the mornings. |
| dar igual | to not matter | Debería dar igual quién lo haga.It shouldn't matter who does it. |
| valer la pena | to be worth it | Va a valer la pena el esfuerzo.The effort is going to be worth it. |
| ponerse | to become, to put on (clothes) | No hay que ponerse nervioso antes del examen.There's no need to get nervous before the exam. |
| convertirse en | to turn into, to become | Quiere convertirse en médico algún día.He wants to become a doctor someday. |
| tratar de | to try to; to deal with | Voy a tratar de mejorar.I'm going to try to improve. |
| sociedad | society | Una sociedad justa.A fair society. |
| gobierno | government | El gobierno anunció el plan.The government announced the plan. |
| empresa | company, business | Trabajo para una empresa pequeña.I work for a small company. |
| noticia | news (item) | Una noticia importante.An important piece of news. |
| razón | reason | Tienes razón.You're right. |
| manera | way, manner | De esta manera.This way. |
| ventaja | advantage | La gran ventaja es el precio.The big advantage is the price. |
| desventaja | disadvantage | La única desventaja es el ruido.The only disadvantage is the noise. |
| esfuerzo | effort | Hizo un gran esfuerzo.He made a great effort. |
| duda | doubt | Tengo una duda.I have a doubt. |
| decisión | decision | Es una decisión difícil.It's a difficult decision. |
| objetivo | goal, objective | Mi objetivo es claro.My goal is clear. |
| experiencia | experience | Una experiencia única.A unique experience. |
| cambio | change | Necesito un cambio.I need a change. |
| actitud | attitude | Cambia de actitud.Change your attitude. |
| consejo | advice | Te doy un consejo.I'll give you some advice. |
| broma | joke | Era solo una broma.It was only a joke. |
| asunto | matter, topic | Es un asunto delicado.It's a delicate matter. |
| importante | important | Es muy importante.It's very important. |
| necesario | necessary | No es necesario.It's not necessary. |
| posible | possible | ¿Es posible?Is it possible? |
| imposible | impossible | Es imposible terminar hoy.It's impossible to finish today. |
| probable | likely, probable | Es probable que llueva.It's likely to rain. |
| raro | strange, rare | Qué raro, no contesta.How strange, he's not answering. |
| increíble | incredible | Es una historia increíble.It's an incredible story. |
| interesante | interesting | Un libro muy interesante.A very interesting book. |
| aburrido | boring; bored | El libro es muy aburrido.The book is very boring. |
| preocupado | worried | Estoy preocupado por ti.I'm worried about you. |
| tranquilo | calm, relaxed | Tranquilo, todo va bien.Relax, everything's fine. |
| molesto | annoyed; annoying | Estoy molesto contigo.I'm annoyed with you. |
| de vez en cuando | from time to time | Lo veo de vez en cuando.I see him from time to time. |