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Spanish (Spain)

Living in an apartment building in Spain means navigating shared spaces, collective rules, and neighborhood meetings. Let's learn the vocabulary you will need for your building community.

### The Association and Management

Every building has a **comunidad** (homeowner association) made up of all the property owners. Often, an external **administrador** (property manager) is hired to handle the paperwork, budgets, and daily issues.

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### Financials and Meetings

Neighbors pay a regular **cuota** (fee) every month to cover routine maintenance. However, if the building needs major unexpected repairs—like a new roof or elevator—everyone must pay a one-off **derrama** (special assessment).

When the association holds a meeting, the president must sign the **acta** (minutes). Note that **acta** is a feminine noun, but because it begins with a stressed *a* sound, it takes the masculine article *el* in the singular (just like *el agua*).

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### Shared Spaces and Staff

The main entrance hall of a Spanish apartment building is called the **portal**. Larger buildings might also employ a **conserje** (concierge) who monitors the entrance, receives packages, and helps the residents.

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Moving upstairs, the flat area between flights of stairs or right outside your apartment door is the **rellano** (landing). This is where you place your **felpudo** (doormat).

Finally, looking outside, many Spanish apartments are fitted with a canvas **toldo** (awning) to block out the strong summer sun and keep the building cool.

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Living in a Community

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
the homeowner association	la comunidad
The homeowner association does indeed have problems.	La comunidad sí que tiene problemas.
We have to pay the homeowner association this month.	Tenemos que pagar a la comunidad este mes.
the property manager; the administrator	el administrador
Don't call the property manager so late.	No llames al administrador tan tarde.
The property manager has already prepared the budget.	El administrador ya ha preparado el presupuesto.
the fee (membership, installment)	la cuota
The fees are paid here every month.	Aquí se pagan las cuotas cada mes.
The fee is too high for my daughter.	La cuota es demasiado alta para mi hija.
the special assessment	la derrama
We are not traveling until we pay the special assessment.	No viajamos hasta que paguemos la derrama.
Our neighbor wants to pay a special assessment to fix the roof.	Nuestra vecina quiere pagar una derrama para arreglar el tejado.
the minutes	el acta
The president has to sign the minutes.	El presidente tiene que firmar el acta.
We haven't read the meeting minutes yet.	Todavía no hemos leído el acta de la reunión.
the entrance hall (of a building)	el portal
The building entrances are cleaned every Friday.	Se limpian los portales todos los viernes.
The grandmother has left the keys in the entrance hall.	La abuela ha dejado las llaves en el portal.
the concierge; the caretaker, the janitor	el conserje
I am looking for the concierge so that he opens the door.	Busco al conserje para que abra la puerta.
The concierge knows all the neighbors in the building.	El conserje conoce a todos los vecinos del edificio.
the landing (stairs)	el rellano
Don't leave the trash on the landing, please.	No dejes la basura en el rellano, por favor.
My sister is talking with the neighbor on the landing.	Mi hermana habla con el vecino en el rellano.
the doormat	el felpudo
Your new doormat is indeed pretty.	Tu felpudo nuevo sí que es bonito.
You have to clean the doormat in the entrance hall.	Tienes que limpiar el felpudo del portal.
the awning	el toldo
In summer, the awnings are opened.	En verano se abren los toldos.
The strong wind has broken our green awning.	El viento fuerte ha roto nuestro toldo verde.
the distribution; the layout (of a flat)	la distribución
All the flats in the building have the same layout.	Todos los pisos del edificio tienen la misma distribución.
The distribution of the special assessment isn't fair.	La distribución de la derrama no es justa.
Ask the system administrator for the password.	Pídele la contraseña al administrador del sistema.
The website administrator has deleted my comment.	El administrador de la web ha borrado mi comentario.
rented, rental (a home, a car)	de alquiler
We live in a rented flat in the center.	Vivimos de alquiler en un piso del centro.
Almost all the neighbors in the building live in rented homes.	Casi todos los vecinos del edificio viven de alquiler.
to know by sight	conocer de vista
I only know the concierge by sight.	Al conserje solo lo conozco de vista.
I know almost all the neighbors by sight.	Conozco de vista a casi todos los vecinos.

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