Spanish for
Christians Recursos

02 Recurso gratuito — A1 to A2

El Padrenuestro, palabra por palabra.

You already know this prayer by heart. That is the whole method: the meaning is in you, so every Spanish word arrives with somewhere to land. One prayer, 57 words, four ways of looking at it.

  • 8lines
  • 57words
  • 4lenses
  • 15minutes

Before you begin — three things this prayer quietly teaches

i.

Padre nuestro

Spanish says Father first and ours second. Possession can follow the noun, and when it does, it sounds closer, older, more tender.

ii.

Venga, sea, hágase

Not one request is in the plain present. Spanish has a whole mood for what we hope and ask: the subjunctive. You cannot pray this prayer without it.

iii.

Danos, líbranos

Give · us. Free · us. Two words written as one. Spanish commands carry their pronouns on their back, and this prayer does it twice.

I

Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo,

Our Father, who art in heaven,

II

santificado sea tu Nombre;

hallowed be thy name;

III

venga a nosotros tu reino;

thy kingdom come to us;

IV

hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.

thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

V

Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día;

Give us this day our daily bread;

VI

perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden;

forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those who trespass against us;

VII

no nos dejes caer en la tentación,

do not let us fall into temptation,

VIII

y líbranos del mal. Amén.

and deliver us from evil. Amen.

✦ Ahora tú — now you

Pray it without the page.

Let most of the words fade and say the prayer aloud. What you cannot recall, touch. Tomorrow you will need to touch less.

  1. lunesRead it through the Sentido lens, aloud, twice.
  2. miércolesCopy lines I to IV by hand. Circle every verb.
  3. viernesFade to step 3 and pray it. Then step 4.
  4. domingoPray it in church, quietly, in Spanish.

Want to do this with a teacher beside you, with the Psalms, the Beatitudes, the story of Ruth?

Book a first lesson