300+ Common Spanish Words and Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary

When it comes to travel, education, business situations and personal communication, common words rule the day.

Nearly any Spanish conversation calls for an understanding of basic vocabulary.

In your day-to-day interactions with friends, neighbors and co-workers, chances are that you’re using basic nouns, verbs, interrogative words and conversational phrases.

Let’s go over this list of over 300 words to start building your Spanish core vocabulary!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Most Common Spanish Words

There are certain Spanish words that you will hear pretty much everyday. Here are some of the most common Spanish words.

Spanish	English
Hola	hello
Adiós	bye
Sí	yes
No	no
Por favor	please
Gracias	thank you
Lo siento	I'm sorry
Perdón	sorry/excuse me
¿Cómo estás?	how are you?
De nada	you're welcome
Yo quiero...	I want...
Me gusta...	I like...
No me gusta...	I don't like...
El / La	the
Yo	I, me
Tú	You
Él	he, him
Ella	she, her
Usted	you (formal)
Nosotros	we
Vosotros	you (plural)
Ellos / Ellas	they, them
Ustedes	You (plural)
Por / Para	for

You can also check out this video with 300 Spanish words that you must know if you’re an absolute beginner:

Common Spanish Greetings and Conversational Phrases

If you want to start a conversation, you need to know how to greet someone properly. Then you’ll need to whip out some phrases that allow for basic communication in any situation. Learn these essentials phrases to speak with friends as well as strangers!

Spanish	English
Buenos días	good morning
Buenas tardes	good afternoon
Buenas noches	good night
¿Cómo te llamas?	what’s your name?
Me llamo…	my name is…
¿Qué tal?	how are you?/how's it going?
¿Cómo te va?	how's it going?
¿Qué pasa?	what's up?
¿Cómo está usted?	how are you? (formal)
Bien, gracias	fine, thank you
¿Y tú?	and you?
Estoy...	I am...
Feliz	happy
Triste	sad
Estoy buscando...	I'm looking for...
¿Qué haces?	what are you doing?
¿Te gusta...?	do you like...?

Common Spanish Nouns

Nouns identify people, places or things, and they make up a large percentage of Spanish core vocabulary. They’re some of the most basic words and are used in nearly every sentence—so get to know a few of the most common ones!

Spanish	English
La casa	the house
La mesa	the table
La ventana	the window
La silla	the chair
La puerta	the door
El reloj	the clock/watch
El piso	the floor
El coche / El carro	the car
La calle	the street
La tienda	the store
La biblioteca	the library
El libro	the book
La playa	the beach
La montaña	the mountain
La iglesia	the church
El museo	the museum
La universidad	the university
El aeropuerto	the airport
La nariz	the nose
Los ojos	the eyes
La boca	the mouth
La cabeza	the head
El brazo	the arm
La pierna	the leg
La mano	the hand
El pie	the foot
El árbol	tree
La flor	flower
La vez	time (as in “five times”)
La parte	part
El tiempo	time
La vida	life
El gobierno	government
El día	day
El país	country
Los años	years

Common Spanish Verbs

Verbs describe actions and are essential words when speaking any language. Of course, you’ll need to learn all their conjugations, but when memorizing new verbs it’s always best to learn the infinitive. 

Spanish	English
Abrir	to open
Ayudar	to help
Bailar	to dance
Cambiar	to change
Caminar	to walk
Cantar	to sing
Comenzar	to begin
Contar	to count/tell
Comprar	to buy
Correr	to run
Creer	to think/believe
Dar	to give
Deber	to have to
Decir	to say
Entender	to understand
Estar	to be
Estudiar	to study
Gustar	to like
Haber	to have
Hablar	to speak/talk
Hacer	to do/make
Ir	to go
Jugar	to play
Llamar	to call
Pagar	to pay
Partir	to leave/divide
Pedir	to ask for
Poder	to be able to
Poner	to put
Preguntar	to ask
Querer	to want
Saber	to know
Ser	to be
Tener	to have
Viajar	to travel
Visitar	to visit
Vivir	to live

Common Spanish Adjectives and Colors

Spanish	English
Grande	big
Pequeño	small
Caliente	hot
Frío	cold
Mojado	wet
Seco	dry
Izquierda	left
Derecha	right
Rojo	red
Rosa	pink
Naranja	orange
Amarillo	yellow
Verde	green
Azul	blue
Marrón	brown
Negro	black
Blanco	white

Common Spanish Numbers

Spanish	English
Uno	one
Dos	two
Tres	three
Cuatro	four
Cinco	five
Seis	six
Siete	seven
Ocho	eight
Nueve	nine
Diez	ten

Common Spanish Words for People

Of course you’ll probably need to know some words to describe people and animals, since those are things you’ll also probably encounter every day!

Spanish	English
La persona	the person
El hombre	the man
La mujer	the woman
El niño	the boy
La niña	the girl
La familia	the family
El esposo	the husband
La esposa	the wife
El padre	the father
La madre	the mother
El hijo	the son
La hija	the daughter
El hermano	the brother
La hermana	the sister
El abuelo	the grandfather
La abuela	the grandmother
El tío	the uncle
La tía	the aunt
El primo	the cousin (m)
La prima	the cousin (f)

Common Spanish Words for Animals

Spanish	English
Perro	Dog
Gato	Cat
Pez	Fish
Pájaro / Ave	Bird
Conejo	Rabbit
Hámster	Hamster
Conejillo de indias / Cobayo	Guinea pig
Tortuga	Turtle
Hurón	Ferret
Cerdo	Pig
Caballo	Horse
Burro	Donkey
Vaca	Cow
Pollo	Chicken
Oveja	Sheep
Cabra	Goat
Pavo	Turkey
Pato	Duck
Búfalo	Buffalo
Toro	Bull
Buey	Ox
Delfín	Dolphin
Tiburón	Shark
Ballena	Whale
Estrella de mar	Starfish
Calamar	Squid
Anguila	Eel
Caballo de mar	Seahorse
Medusa	Jellyfish
Foca	Seal
Nutria	Otter
Morsa	Walrus
León marino	Sea lion
Pingüino	Penguin
Pulpo	Octopus
Langosta	Lobster
Cangrejo	Crab
Gaviota	Seagull
Pelícano	Pelican
Camarón	Shrimp
Manta raya	Manta ray
Almeja	Clam
Loro	Parrot
Halcón	Falcon
Águila	Eagle
Cuervo	Crow
Pinzón	Finch
Pájaro carpintero	Woodpecker
Avestruz	Ostrich

Common Spanish Words Related to Food

Food is a big part of Spanish culture, so here are the essential words for you to order your favorite meal!

Spanish	English
La comida	Food
La bebida	Drink
El pan	Bread
La fruta	Fruit
La verdura	Vegetable
El huevo	Egg
La carne	Meat
El pollo	Chicken
La carne de vaca	Beef
La papa / La patata	Potato
El cerdo	Pork
Los mariscos	Seafood
El camarón	Shrimp
El arroz	Rice
Los frijoles	Beans
El agua	Water
El té	Tea
El café	Coffee
El jugo	Juice
La leche	Milk
La gaseosa	Soft drink
El alcohol	Alcohol
El vino	Wine
La cerveza	Beer
El desayuno	Breakfast
El almuerzo	Lunch
La cena	Dinner
El restaurante	Restaurant

Spanish Question Words

Asking questions is an important part of speaking any language. These are the words you need to ask questions in Spanish:

Spanish	English
qué	what
quién	who
cuál	which
cuándo	when
cuánto cuánta	how much / how many
cómo	how
dónde	where

Easy Spanish Words (Spanish-English Cognates!)

Cognates are words that have the same origin or root word. There are hundreds of Spanish and English cognates, but start with learning these as an excellent way to effortlessly increase your vocabulary!

Spanish	English
Tren	train
Necesario	necessary
Ordinario	ordinary
Público	public
Minuto	minute
Acción	action
Nación	nation
Organización	organization
Tradicional	traditional
Posible	possible
Básico	basic

Common Spanish Words for Days of the Week

Spanish	English
Hoy es..	Today is...
Mañana es...	Tomorrow is...
Ayer fue...	Yesterday was...
El día	The day
La fecha	The date
El próximo	Next
Que viene...	The upcoming...
Siguiente...	The folllowing...
Pasado	Last
Anterior	Previous
Antier  / Anteayer	The day before yesterday
Pasado mañana	The day after tomorrow
La semana	The week
El fin de semana	The weekend
Entre semana	Midweek
Cada / Todos los...	Every
El primer... del mes	The first __ of the month
De... a...	From __ to __
Desde... hasta...	From __ to __

Common Spanish Words for Traveling

Spanish	English
La maleta	suitcase
El regalo	present
El avión	plane
La escala	stopover/layover
Viajar	to travel
Descansar	to rest
Dar un paseo	to go for a walk
La playa	beach
El hotel	hotel

More Resources to Learn Spanish Vocabulary

Common Spanish words open doors by facilitating communication. The more common vocabulary you know, the better off you’ll be. 

This list is a great spot to start building your foundational vocabulary, but there are tons of great resources out there that can get you learning and practicing even more common Spanish words!

Here are some of the best resources to find more common Spanish vocabulary words to add to your word bank and build your core vocabulary!

1000MostCommonWords

This site contains a comprehensive list of 1,000 useful Spanish words that cover a wide variety of topics.

If your intent is to grow your vocabulary and add common words to your skillset, then this is a super great resource.

SpanishVocabulary.ca

This vocabulary resource provides several lists divided into topics with some of the most common Spanish words.

Whether you’re honing your skills on greetings, body parts, shopping lingo or a number of other subjects, all of the applicable vocabulary is pre-sorted and labeled.

The website’s interface is very simple, so it’s easy to navigate and find vocabulary about whatever you want.

EnglishnSpanish.com

This resource has 1,000 common Spanish words and is more interactive than just a list of vocabulary.

The words and translations are divided into lists of 20 random words alphabetically sorted.

At the end of each list, learners are given the opportunity to take a quiz on what they’ve just learned. Each quiz asks learners to choose the correct translation of a word, so it’s a pretty straightforward, speedy process.

Quizzing yourself is a great method for gauging retention of these common words. 

 

Now that you have over 300 more words in your core Spanish vocabulary, you have a good basis for most conversations. 

So why not take a look at some not-so-common vocab, too?

Keep learning words and building that foundation!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)