Library

Numbers in French from un, deux and trois upward, with everything built on them: months, days of the week, telling the time and writing dates. Includes the counting quirks above sixty that catch out almost every learner.

Basic French phrases for the first situations anyone faces: bonjour, merci, s'il vous plaît, oui, non, excusez-moi, au revoir. Plus asking for help and admitting you did not understand. Whole phrases, usable as they are.

Ready-made French phrases for travelling: bonjour, excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais, je ne comprends pas, plus checking in at a hotel, ordering in a restaurant, buying tickets and asking directions. Usable exactly as written.

The French words worth learning before anything else: bonjour, merci, oui, non, s'il vous plaît, au revoir, bonsoir. Plus numbers, everyday objects and the handful of verbs that most simple sentences are built on.

The French words that appear most often in ordinary speech and writing, starting with the verbs everything is built on — être, avoir, faire, dire, pouvoir, aller, voir, savoir. Each with a translation and a sentence showing its use.

Spanish legal terminology as it appears in practice: abogado, juez, tribunal, juzgado, demanda, acusado. Covers court procedure and the people involved, recurring contract clauses, and criminal against civil vocabulary.

Spanish vocabulary for property work: inmueble, vivienda, departamento, terreno, edificio and the features that appear in a listing, plus contract and transaction terms and the language of mortgages and financing.

Spanish proverbs still used in ordinary conversation, from más vale tarde que nunca to en boca cerrada no entran moscas. Each with its literal sense, what it actually means and the nearest English equivalent.

Spanish for working in a restaurant rather than eating in one: mesero, comensal, pedido, propina, cuenta, turno. Service and kitchen terms, plus the phrases used with customers from the greeting through to the bill.

Medical Spanish for staff treating Spanish-speaking patients: paciente, enfermera, diagnóstico, tratamiento, cirugía. Covers body systems, symptoms and treatments, with the vocabulary needed to take a history and explain it.

Word pairs where Mexican and Peninsular Spanish part ways: carro and coche, camión and autobús, banqueta and acera, cajuela and maletero. Includes the words best avoided on one side of the Atlantic, shown side by side.

Spanish vocabulary for an ordinary working day: oficina, escritorio, jefe, empleado, compañero, departamento, plus equipment and job titles. Includes phrases for asking a colleague for something or raising a problem.

Spanish idioms that make no sense translated word by word — meter la pata, tomar el pelo, dar en el clavo, echar una mano. Each comes with its real meaning, the closest English equivalent and the situation that prompts it.

Spanish slang as it is actually spoken rather than taught: tío, guay, mola, currar, flipar, pasta, chaval. Each entry says what it means, how informal it sounds and in which countries it will actually be understood.

Business Spanish for the situations that carry the most weight: reunión, cliente, contrato, negocio, empresa. Covers running a meeting, presenting and negotiating terms, plus the phrases that open and close correspondence.

Romantic Spanish phrases in the order a relationship tends to follow: me gustas, te quiero, te amo, te extraño — with a note on how serious each one sounds. Plus compliments, asking someone out and everyday endearments.

Spanish vocabulary for sport and training: fútbol, partido, equipo, gol, jugador, plus exercises and gym equipment, and the words needed to follow a match — rules, scoring and the commentary around a competition.

Spanish vocabulary for the world outside: sol, lluvia, cielo, mar, río and the phrases used in a weather forecast, plus the animals, plants and landscapes that come up in ordinary conversation. Each with an English translation.

Body parts in Spanish from cabeza, brazo and mano to the organs that come up at a doctor's appointment, together with the vocabulary of symptoms and common conditions needed to say what hurts and for how long it has hurt.

Spanish vocabulary for shopping in person: tienda, precio, comprar, vender, pagar, barato, plus sizes, colours and payment methods. Includes the phrases used at the till and when negotiating a price at a market stall.

Spanish vocabulary for describing how you feel: feliz, triste, contento, miedo, and the finer words that separate annoyed from furious. Each with a translation and a sentence showing the register the word belongs to.

Spanish prepositions and connectors sorted by what they do in a sentence — de, en, a, con, que, por, para — including the por and para split that no single rule survives. Each use is shown with an example rather than a grammar label.

Spanish words that look like English ones and mean something else: embarazada is not embarrassed, éxito is not exit, sensible is not sensible, carpeta is not carpet. Each pair gives the real meaning and the word you needed instead.

Spanish irregular verbs grouped by the kind of change they make: ser, estar, ir, tener and hacer first, then the stem-changing and spelling-change groups. The forms that most often trip learners up come with an example sentence.