Quick check
Which is the only option with a wrong definite article?
The nouns that lie about their gender
Most -a nouns are feminine and most -o nouns are masculine. A small set of Greek imports break the rule and the class quiz tests them.
el problema · el mapa · el idioma · el tema · el clima · el dia
And the other way round: la mano, la foto.
The trap: la problema is the wrong option in the quiz, and it feels right to an English speaker because nothing in English tells you otherwise.
The personal a
When the direct object of a verb is a person, Spanish puts a in front of it, and English has nothing there at all.
Quiero conocer a tu familia. Odio a las personas maleducadas. Veo a Maria.
No a for a thing: Veo la television. Escucho musica.
The trap: the quiz pairs it with wrong options that add prepositions where none belong: escucho a musica, trabajo a una empresa, vivo a Barcelona.
The four verb families that break
Stem changes hit the stressed syllable and always spare nosotros and vosotros.
e to ie: querer, preferir, pensar, sentir, empezar, cerrar, entender, despertarse.
o to ue: poder, dormir, almorzar, costar, acostarse.
e to i: seguir, vestirse.
yo only: hago, tengo, vengo, salgo, conozco, veo, se, doy.
The trap: the quiz asks which verb is irregular and offers vivir, beber, empezar, subir. Three are as regular as they look.
vosotros is examinable
This course teaches Spain Spanish, so the class quiz tests vosotros four separate times: sois, teneis, vivis, leeis.
The endings are -ais for -ar, -eis for -er and -is for -ir, all accented.
The trap: your class tables contain the typos temenos for tenemos, Veis with a wrong accent and Podeis with the accent on the i. The correct forms are tenemos, veis, podeis.