01 · When y becomes e
Español e inglés.
Spanish and English.
Y flips to e right before a word starting with i- or hi- — purely so you don't get two i-sounds crashing together.
andbefluent.com/spanish/glue-words
Glue Words
Link your ideas with y, pero, porque and también so your spoken Spanish stops sounding like fragments.
Pero adds a contrast: es difícil, pero interesante. Sino only appears after a negative, to replace the wrong idea with the right one: no es azul, sino verde — if the first half says no and the second half corrects it, you need sino. Two more connectors change purely for sound: y becomes e before i- or hi- words (español e inglés, padres e hijos) and o becomes u before o- or ho- (siete u ocho, mujer u hombre). And porque (one word, no accent) answers the question ¿por qué? (two words) asks.
Below: the sentences these little words hold together, the mistakes that flatten your fluency (también where tampoco belongs), and how you practice them mid-conversation — talking, not filling in blanks.
The warm-up pack
The small words that turn fragments into real sentences — heard and said, not filled in.
01 · When y becomes e
Español e inglés.
Spanish and English.
Y flips to e right before a word starting with i- or hi- — purely so you don't get two i-sounds crashing together.
02 · When o becomes u
Siete u ocho personas.
Seven or eight people.
Same idea in reverse — o becomes u before a word starting with o- or ho-. Same trick, opposite letter.
03 · The everyday "and"
Estudio español y trabajo en un banco.
I study Spanish and I work at a bank.
Two actions, one y — this is how you stop sounding like you're speaking in fragments.
04 · Contrast, the normal way
Es difícil, pero interesante.
It's difficult, but interesting.
Pero is your default "but" — use it anywhere you're adding a contrast, not correcting a mistake.
05 · Turning down plans
Quiero ir, pero no puedo.
I want to go, but I can't.
Same pero, doing the job you'll use it for most — turning down plans politely.
06 · Correcting, not contrasting
No es azul, sino verde.
It's not blue, but green.
Sino only shows up after a negative, to swap in the right answer — not blue, but green. Pero would sound wrong here.
07 · Sino with a full clause
No canta, sino que baila.
He doesn't sing, he dances.
When what follows sino is a full action, add que — sino que baila, not sino baila.
08 · Explaining why
Estudio español porque me gusta.
I study Spanish because I like it.
Porque, one word, no accent — it's the answer, not the question.
09 · Asking why
¿Por qué estudias español?
Why do you study Spanish?
Two words and an accent mark the question. Same sound as porque, completely different job.
10 · Me too
Yo también quiero ir.
I also want to go.
También mirrors something positive — use it to agree with a like, a plan, anything someone said yes to.
11 · Me neither
Yo tampoco entiendo.
I don't understand either.
Tampoco is también's mirror for negatives. Mixing them up is the single most common slip with this pair.
FLUENT
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Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/glue-wordsRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
No gap-fills, no sentence-combining exercises. In the Glue Words lessons you talk, and Carla makes you reach for the connectors: she asks why you study Spanish and you answer with a full porque clause instead of a fragment; she sets up one contrast (es difícil, pero…) and one correction (no es…, sino…) back to back so you feel the difference; then she states a like and a dislike and you echo — a mí también, a mí tampoco — out loud, in rhythm, until the glue holds on its own.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 4 lessons and Glue Words is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Pero adds a contrast to any statement (quiero ir, pero no puedo). Sino works only after a negative and introduces the correct alternative: no es azul, sino verde. Before a conjugated verb it becomes sino que: no canta, sino que baila.
Purely for sound — before words starting with i- or hi-, y would collide with the vowel, so it becomes e: español e inglés, padres e hijos.
Before words starting with o- or ho-: siete u ocho personas, mujer u hombre. Same logic as y → e — it just avoids two identical vowel sounds crashing together.
¿Por qué? (two words, with accent) asks why; porque (one word, no accent) answers with because: ¿Por qué estudias español? — Porque quiero viajar a España.
Mirror positive statements with también (a mí también) and negative ones with tampoco (no me gusta el frío. — A mí tampoco). Never mix them — me too after a negative is the classic giveaway. In fast speech you'll also hear igual and ni yo.