📚
Study
Look up conjugations, vocabulary, connectors, and imperatives. Warm up before drilling.
Open Cheat Sheets →
🔥
Drill
Test yourself under pressure. Conjugate verbs, replace object nouns with pronouns, fill in connectors.
Verb Drill →
Sentence Drill →
Vocab Drill →
💬
Converse
Bring your Spanish into real conversations. Generate questions tailored to your group.
Conversation Starters →
About this app

Reto Español is a drill and reinforcement tool — not a teaching app. It's built for people who are already learning Spanish through a class, a tutor, another app, or on their own, and want a dedicated place to make what they're learning actually stick.

The difference between knowing a verb form and producing it in real conversation is repetition. Reto Español bridges that gap — and turns the repetition into a game. Points, streaks, and optional time pressure (turn the timer on or off depending on your mood) turn drilling into something you actually want to come back to. More fun means more time. More time means faster progress.

My Focus is the feature that makes this personal. Learning the subjunctive this week? Working through irregular preterites in class? Add exactly those verbs and tenses to My Focus and drill on just that — nothing else. Your focus list syncs across the whole app, so you can study the same verbs in Cheat Sheets, drill their conjugations in Verb Drill, and then put them to work in full sentences in Sentence Drill.

The app covers 550+ verbs across 10 tenses, with vocabulary drawn from 12 real-world contexts — restaurants, travel, home, work, family, and more. For learners in Panama, there's also a 🇵🇦 Panama Spanish option that layers in Panamanian colloquial expressions throughout. The core content is standard Latin American Spanish that works anywhere.

Conversation Starters is where solo drilling becomes real Spanish. Add people, generate questions built around the verbs and tenses you've been practicing, and suddenly you're not playing a game on your phone — you're speaking Spanish with other people, naturally, in a real conversation.

Every section feeds into the others. You study in Cheat Sheets, drill in Verb and Sentence Drill, and then walk into a real conversation with actual confidence.

How the app fits together
1
Study — Open Cheat Sheets. Look up the verbs you want to practice. Filter by group (Top 50, Irregular, Reflexive), select tenses, and scan the conjugation tables. Star verbs to add them to My Focus.
2
Drill verbs — Open Verb Drill. Select your verb group and tenses, choose a difficulty, and drill until the forms feel automatic. Missed verbs are tracked — add them to My Focus and drill again.
3
Drill vocabulary — Open Vocab Drill. Practice translation, gender, and fill-in-blank across 12 real-life domains. Includes Panama and Latin American vocabulary.
4
Drill sentences — Open Sentence Drill. Put your verbs to work in real sentences. Practice object pronouns, connector words, imperatives, and prepositions — with Panamanian context throughout.
5
Converse — Open Conversation Starters. Generate questions tailored to your group and bring your Spanish into a real conversation. Use verb hints if you get stuck.

You don't have to follow this order every time — but it's a useful sequence when you're learning something new.

Recommended paths by level
🌱 Complete beginner
Start in Cheat Sheets → Beginner level, Top 25 verbs, Present only. Then Verb Drill → Beginner, Top 25, Easy, timer off. Add Preterite, then ir-Future. Build from there.
🔥 Intermediate
Jump into Sentence Drill → Intermediate, Verb Conjugation + Connectors, Medium. Add Object Pronouns once you're comfortable with conjugation.
👩‍🏫 Classroom
Sentence Drill → timer off (Learning Mode), project on screen. Students answer one at a time. Conversation Starters for group warm-ups.
⭐ My Focus — your personal verb list

My Focus is a personal list of verbs you want to concentrate on. It syncs across the whole app — add verbs in Cheat Sheets, drill them in Verb Drill, review them after a session.

  • Add from Cheat Sheets: Click the ★ star next to any verb in the Verb Tables tab. It turns gold when added.
  • Add from Verb Drill: Type verbs (comma-separated or one per line) in the My Focus textarea and click Apply.
  • Add from results: After a drill session, missed verbs are shown with checkboxes — select the ones you want and click "Add to My Focus."
  • Drill My Focus: From results, click "🎯 Drill My Focus now" to go to Verb Drill with your focus list pre-loaded.
  • Study My Focus: From results, click "📖 Study in Cheat Sheets" to open Cheat Sheets filtered to exactly those verbs and tenses.
💡 My Focus persists between sessions on the same browser and device. It uses your browser's local storage — no account needed.
⏱ Timer toggle — Learning & Teaching Mode

Both drills have a Timer toggle in the Difficulty section. By default the timer is on — questions expire if you take too long. Turn it off for a more relaxed experience.

  • Timer On: Standard scoring. Questions expire. Timer bar visible.
  • Timer Off (Learning/Teaching Mode): Questions stay up indefinitely. Points are halved. Streak still works. Timer bar hidden.

Timer off is great for beginners working through new material, or for classroom use where a teacher projects the screen and students answer one at a time without time pressure.

🏆 Score, streak & points

Points are your motivation system — compete against yourself from session to session.

  • Base points: 100 per correct answer, scaled by difficulty (Easy 1×, Medium 1.5×, Hard 2×).
  • Timer bonus: Answering quickly adds a small bonus — the more time remaining, the more points.
  • Streak bonus: Answer 3 or more in a row correctly and each answer gives extra points. A wrong answer resets the streak to zero.
  • Timer Off: All points are halved, but streaks still work.

The Verb Drill tests conjugation in isolation — subject, tense, and verb form. It's the fastest way to get verb forms into muscle memory.

▶ Open Verb Drill
1 · Level — Full Library vs Beginner
  • Full Library: All 550+ verbs. All 10 tenses available. Top 50 verb group visible.
  • Beginner: Core verbs (reflexive group excluded). Present, Preterite, ir-Future, and Progressive available. Top 50 becomes Top 25. Designed for learners building their foundation.

If you're new to Spanish, start at Beginner. If you're comfortable with present and past tense and want to expand, switch to Full Library.

2 · Tenses — which to learn first

You can select one or more tenses. The recommended progression:

  1. Present (Presente) — what's happening now, habitual actions. Start here.
  2. Preterite (Pretérito) — completed past actions. Add this second.
  3. ir-Future (ir a + infinitivo) — immediate plans: voy a comer. Very natural in speech.
  4. Progressive (estoy comiendo) — what's happening right now. Easy to form.
  5. Imperfect (Imperfecto) — ongoing/habitual past. Add once preterite feels solid.
  6. Conditional (Condicional) — would/could/should. Essential for polite requests.
  7. Future (Futuro) — what will happen. Add after conditional.
  8. Subjunctive (Subjuntivo) — doubt, wishes, emotions. Most complex — save for last.
  9. Present Perfect (he comido) — have done. Common in conversation.
  10. Pluperfect (había comido) — had done. Advanced — add last.
3 · Verbs — groups and My Focus
  • ⭐ Top 50 / Top 25: The most commonly used Spanish verbs. Start here.
  • Irregular: Verbs with irregular conjugation patterns — often the highest-frequency verbs (ser, estar, tener, ir…).
  • Reflexive: Verbs that use a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos). E.g. levantarse, sentirse.
  • Regular -ar / -er / -ir: Verbs that follow predictable patterns by ending.
  • ⭐ My Focus: Your personal list. Type verbs in the text area and click Apply. Verbs not in the library are skipped.
💡 You can click any group pill to filter, then use Select all or Clear all to adjust. Individual verb checkboxes let you fine-tune exactly which verbs you drill.
4 · Difficulty & Timer
  • Easy: More time, 3 choices, hints shown, 20 questions, 1× points.
  • Medium: Standard time, 4 choices, hints, 30 questions, 1.5× points.
  • Hard: Less time, 4 choices, no hints, 40 questions, 2× points.

The Timer toggle below the difficulty cards turns the timer on or off. Timer Off = Learning/Teaching Mode — questions stay up indefinitely, points are halved.

5 & 6 · Drill layers & Question type
  • Conjugation: Given a subject (yo, tú, él/ella…) and tense, type or choose the correct verb form.
  • Reflexive matching: Match the reflexive pronoun with the correct verb form together — e.g. nos levantamos.
  • Multiple choice: Choose from 3–4 options.
  • Fill in blank: Type the answer. Accents are accepted but not required.
  • Mix both: Alternates between multiple choice and fill in blank.
Results — missed verbs flow

After finishing, the results screen shows your score, accuracy, and every missed question. If you missed any conjugation questions, a 📌 Add missed verbs to My Focus section appears:

1
Missed verbs appear as a checklist — all pre-checked. Uncheck any you don't want to add.
2
Click "Add selected to My Focus" to save them. They're appended to your existing focus list — nothing is erased.
3
Click "📖 Study in Cheat Sheets" to open a filtered conjugation table showing only those verbs in the tenses you were drilling.
4
Click "🎯 Drill My Focus now" to go to Verb Drill setup with your focus list pre-loaded and the same tenses pre-selected.

The Sentence Drill puts language in context. Instead of just conjugating a verb, you're working with complete sentences — replacing nouns with pronouns, filling in connectors, giving commands. This is where drilled knowledge becomes usable Spanish.

▶ Open Sentence Drill
✏️ Verb Conjugation

A sentence is shown with one verb blank. Fill in the correct conjugated form for the subject and tense given.

Example
Nosotros _____ en el restaurante todos los viernes.
Give the present tense of comer for nosotros → comemos

Conjugation type options (Intermediate/Advanced only):

  • All verbs: Full verb library including reflexive.
  • Non-reflexive: Standard verbs only.
  • Reflexive & pronominal: Verbs that use me/te/se/nos. Selecting this auto-adds Home, Family and Work domains where reflexive content is richest.
🔄 Object Pronouns — DO, IO, and Combined

This layer has three sub-types you can mix or select individually:

Direct Object (DO): Replace the highlighted noun with the correct pronoun (lo/la/los/las).

Direct object example
Yo pedí la cuenta. → Yo la pedí.
la cuenta (fem. sg.) → la

Indirect Object (IO): Replace the highlighted person with the correct pronoun (me/te/le/nos/les).

Indirect object example
Le di el libro a mi hermano. → Le di el libro.
a mi hermano (singular, él) → le

Combined DO + IO (two steps): This is the most advanced pronoun drill. You replace both the direct and indirect object nouns with pronouns — in two steps.

Combined — two-step example
El mesero dijo el precio a nosotros.
Step 1 · Indirect object Who receives it? a nosotros → nos
Step 2 · Direct object What was said? el precio → lo → combined: nos lo dijo
⚠️ Important: le/les → se before a DO pronoun. When the IO pronoun is le or les (third person), it changes to se before lo/la/los/las. So "le lo dijo" is wrong — the correct form is se lo dijo. The drill asks for se in Step 1, and le is deliberately offered as a trap answer.
📢 Imperatives — Kitchen & Exercise sets

Imperative drills test command forms across four conjugations: tú, usted, nosotros, and ustedes — both affirmative and negative.

  • 🍳 Kitchen: 20 cooking verbs — añadir, mezclar, cortar, calentar and more. Kitchen domain auto-selected.
  • 🏋️ Exercise: 18 fitness/yoga verbs — inhalar, levantar, estirar, mantener and more. Sports domain auto-selected.
  • Both sets: Both domains included.
Example
_____ la sal al agua. (tú, affirmative)
Give the tú imperative of añadirAñade
▶ Try an imperative drill
🔗 Connector words

Fill in the blank with the right connector, adverb, or discourse marker. 83 connectors across 15 categories including Time, Sequence, Cause, Contrast, Concession, Hedging, and 🇵🇦 Panama expressions.

Example
Me gusta el café, _____ no el té.
pero (contrast)

The hint (when shown on Easy/Medium) gives the English meaning of the connector.

▶ Try a connector drill
💬 Would / Could / Should

Drills polite requests, hypotheticals, and advice using the conditional tense. Three sub-types selectable individually or together:

  • Would — querer, gustar, encantar, ir, hacer, venir and more: ¿Querrías venir con nosotros? / Me gustaría una mesa para dos.
  • Could — poder in conditional for polite requests: ¿Podrías llamarme más tarde? / ¿Podría ayudarme?
  • Should — deber in conditional for advice: Deberías descansar. / Deberíamos salir ya.

Selecting this layer automatically switches the tense selector to Conditional only (if no other layers are active), and auto-enables the 8 domains that have modal sentence templates.

Example
¿_____ traerme la cuenta, por favor? (tú, poder)
Podrías (conditional of poder — polite request)
📍 Prepositions — with para & por focus

Fill in the correct preposition from: a · de · en · con · por · para · sin · entre.

Enable "Focus on para & por" in the config panel to drill just those two — the most commonly confused prepositions in Spanish. This also auto-selects all 12 domains since para/por appear across all real-world contexts.

Example
Este regalo es _____ ti.
para (intended recipient)
❓ Question Words

Fill in the missing question word in a Spanish sentence. Four sub-groups, each selectable individually:

  • Qué / Cuál — the most commonly confused pair. Qué asks for definitions or goes before a noun; cuál selects from options. Available from Beginner.
  • Dónde / Cuándo / Cómo — where, when, how, and adónde (where to, for motion). Available from Beginner.
  • Por qué / Para qué — why (reason) vs. what for (purpose). Intermediate level.
  • Quién / Cuánto — who and how much/many, including gender agreement (cuántos/cuántas). Available from Beginner.

Question Words uses its own built-in bank — domain selection and tense selection have no effect on this layer.

Example
¿_____ es tu nombre?
Cuál (identifying which name — selection from what exists)
When tenses or domains are grayed out

Some drill layers — Connectors, Prepositions, and Question Words — use their own built-in word banks rather than the domain template system. When only these layers are active, the Tenses and Domains sections dim automatically with a note explaining they don't apply.

As soon as you add a layer that does use templates (Verb Conjugation, Object Pronouns, or Would/Could/Should), both sections become active again.

Domain selection

Domains filter the vocabulary and sentences used in the drill to a specific life context. The 12 domains are: Restaurant, Grocery, Doctor's Office, Kitchen, Travel, Home/Routine, Work/School, Shopping, Family/Social, Nature/Animals, Sports/Exercise, City/Getting Around.

Some drill layers auto-select domains — Imperatives selects Kitchen and/or Sports, Reflexive verbs auto-selects Home, Family, and Work, and Para/Por selects all domains. You can always manually adjust after.

Highlight toggle

For object pronoun questions, a Highlights on/off checkbox appears on the question card. When on, the noun to replace is highlighted in the sentence — making it easier to spot. Turn it off to make the drill harder: you must identify the direct or indirect object yourself without visual help.

Conversation Starters is designed for real social use — not drilling. Generate questions tailored to your group and use them to spark genuine Spanish conversations at dinner, game night, or with friends.

▶ Open Conversation Starters
How it works
1
Describe your group — relationship (friends, family, colleagues, date), age range, context (casual, dinner, game night, classroom), and how adventurous you want the questions.
2
Generate questions — the app creates Spanish conversation questions tailored to your group, with English translations and verb hints.
3
Pass around — tap through questions one at a time. Each question shows the Spanish, the English, and which verb and tense it uses.
4
Use the conjugation hint — stuck on how to answer? The verb hint shows you the conjugation table for the key verb in that question.
Tense selection

Below the level selector, a row of tense pills lets you choose which tenses the questions will use. Pills that aren't available at your current level are grayed out.

  • Beginner: Can choose from Present, Preterite, ir-Future, Progressive. Defaults to Present + Preterite.
  • Intermediate: Can choose any of 9 tenses. Defaults to Present, Preterite, Imperfect, Conditional.
  • Advanced: All 9 tenses on by default.

The selected tenses are passed directly to the AI — which is instructed to distribute questions across all of them, not just cluster on present tense. Offline mode uses the same filter.

💡 No Pluperfect — the "had done" tense isn't included here because it rarely produces natural conversation starter questions.
Tips for using it in a group
  • Pass the phone or show it on a screen — the pass-around mode is designed for this.
  • Let the person answering use the verb hint if they need it — it's not cheating, it's learning.
  • Mix Spanish and English answers — the goal is to get people speaking, not to be perfect.
  • For classrooms, project on a screen and have students answer one question each.

Cheat Sheets is your study reference — the cheat sheet you're allowed to use. Five tabs: Verb Tables, Domain Vocabulary, Connectors, Imperatives, and Special Patterns.

▶ Open Cheat Sheets
Verb Tables
  • Level toggle: Switch between Full Library (427 verbs, all 10 tenses) and Beginner (core verbs, 4 tenses). Beginner also hides the Reflexive group and relabels Top 50 to Top 25.
  • Verb group filter: All verbs, Top 50/25, Regular -ar/-er/-ir, Irregular, Reflexive, or My Focus.
  • Tense checkboxes: Select any combination of tenses to show or hide columns.
  • Stem change highlighting: Vowel changes (ie, ue, ió, ieron) appear in red bold — making patterns visible at a glance.
  • Click a verb to expand notes — shows the irregular pattern, stem change type, or Panama usage note.
  • Star (★): Click the star next to any verb to add or remove it from My Focus. Stars sync with the Verb Drill.
  • Print: Click 🖨 Print for a clean printable table with no UI chrome.
💡 Study link from results: After a drill session, clicking "📖 Study in Cheat Sheets" opens this tab filtered to exactly your missed verbs and the tenses you were drilling.
Domain Vocabulary

Over 1,100 Spanish words organized across 12 real-life domains: Restaurant, Grocery, Doctor's Office, Kitchen, Travel, Home/Routine, Work/School, Shopping, Family/Social, Nature/Animals, Sports/Exercise, City/Getting Around.

Each word shows its Spanish form, English meaning, gender (feminine/masculine), and singular/plural marker. Use the domain filter pills and search box to find what you need.

Connectors

83 connector words and expressions organized by category: Time, Sequence, Cause & Result, Contrast, Concession, Connector, Frequency, Degree, Order, Hedging, Purpose, Condition, Discourse, Conversation, and 🇵🇦 Panama.

Each entry shows the Spanish word, English meaning, and an example sentence with the connector highlighted. The 🇵🇦 Panama category includes colloquial Panamanian expressions — ya mismo, de una vez, pues, chévere and many more.

Imperatives

All 38 imperative verbs (20 Kitchen + 18 Exercise) in a full reference table: infinitive, English, tú ✓, tú ✗, usted ✓, usted ✗, nosotros, ustedes, and notes.

Negative forms are shown in red. Stem changes are highlighted. Filter by Kitchen, Exercise, or show All commands. Use search to find a specific verb.

Special Patterns

A grammar reference for intermediate learners — focused on the patterns that are hardest to get right in real conversation. Seven sections:

  • Would / Could / Should — conditional constructions with querer, poder, deber, gustar, and more. Full conjugation tables plus the key distinction between podría (hypothetical) and podía (past ability).
  • Preterite vs. Imperfect — when to use each, signal words, same-sentence examples, and contrast pairs.
  • Ser vs. Estar — permanent identity vs. temporary state, adjectives that change meaning (es aburrido vs. está aburrido), and estar + participio.
  • Por vs. Para — usage rules, common fixed phrases (por favor, para siempre), and Panama notes.
  • Negation — no/nunca/nada/nadie/tampoco and the double negation rule.
  • Question Words — qué vs. cuál, por qué vs. para qué, and a full reference table.
  • Reflexive Verbs — lavar vs. lavarse, ponerse/volverse, reciprocal use.

Each section includes a Practice this block with direct links to the Sentence Drill and Verb Drill pre-configured for that concept.