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How to Speak Spanish (Basics)
Edited by Flickety, Miasea, Victoria, Rockmonkey4004 and 36 others
Speaking a second language (bilingualism) is a great skill that offers many job opportunities and will help you when going on trips to other countries. Below are basic vocabulary words to get you started with Spanish. This article will help you to build your vocabulary and develop a basic understanding the language.
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Edit Steps
EditMethod 1 of 2: Basic Vocabulary
Introducing yourself
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1"Jane Doe, a su servicio" - which means, "Jane Doe, at your service" (very common)Ad -
2After someone introduces themselves, shake their hand and say, "Encantado a/de conocerle"- "It's a pleasure to meet you" or "Mucho gusto" - "Nice to meet you"
Other Vocabulary
- Soy un principiante en la lengua espanola - I'm a beginner in the Spanish language
- usted recomienda algún/alguna... - Do you recommend any...
- Cómo puedo ayudarle? - How can I help you?
- Buenos días - Good morning or Good day
- Buenas tardes - Good afternoon
- Buenas noches - Good night
- hotel (silent h) - hotel
- tienda de comestibles - grocery store
- hospital (silent h) - hospital
- alameda - park with poplars, a street with trees on both sides
- grandes almacenes - department store
- Perdón? - excuse me? (better than asking what?)
- No le oí - I didn't hear you
- ¿Qué esta pasando? - What is happening?
- ¿Qué le pasa? - What's happening to you?/Whats The Matter? (more formal)
- ¿Qué tal? - What's up? (common slang way)
- ¿Dígame? (better manners)- What do you want?(better manners - How can I help you?)
- Quiero - I want
- ¿ Quiere...? - Would you like...?
- Quisiera - I would like(polite way of asking)
- Necesito - I need (better manners than 'I want')
- Necesita - You need
- ¡Hola! - Hello or Hi!
- Más o menos - More Or less
- Un poco - A little
- Vámonos/vamos - Let's go
- Me voy - I'm going
- Amor - Love
- Te amo - I love you! (This is more use to express in a very formal and serious way, to someone you really love like your boyfriend/girlfriend, husband, wife or children)
- Te quiero - I love you! (translation actually is "I want you!", this term is used instead of the formal version, to someone that is a friend or not closely related.
- No lo sé - I don't know
- Lo sé - I know
- ¿A dónde va? - Where are you going?
- ¿Dónde está? - Where are you?/ Where is it ?
- Muy bien - Very good
- Mala - Bad (adjective - for a girl)
- Malo - Bad (adjective - for a boy)
- Pero - But
- Joven - young one (better manners to address any child or young person)
- Mujer - female (used for humans)
- Hembra - female (this word is mostly used for the sex of animals: " un gorrión hembra " = a female sparrow ).
- Macho - male (this word is mostly used for the sex of animals: " un gorrión macho" - a male sparrow ).
- Hombre - male/man (Varónis used instead when writing)
- Chica - Girl
- Muchacha - Girl
- Muchacho - Boy
- Chico - Boy
- Nena o niña - Little girl, kid (female)
- Niño - Little boy, kid (male)
- ¿De dónde eres? - Where are you from?
- Me duele la cabeza - I have a headache
- No me digas - Don't tell me and/or Really?
- No sea así - Don't be like that.
- (No) me gusta - I (don't) like it
- Bella - Beautiful
- Rico - Rich
- Ayuda - Help
- Salud - Health
- Espera - To wait
- Complicado - Complicated
- ¿Entiendes? - Do you Understand?
- Entiendo - I understand
- Posible - Possible
- Hora - Time
- Linda/Lindo - Pretty (good looking)(in South America)
- Bonita/Bonito - Pretty (good looking)(in Spain)
- Me puede ayudar? - Can you help me?
EditMethod 2 of 2: Verbs
Conjugating Regular Verbs
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1To conjugate regular AR verbs in Spanish you take of the AR and add on one of the following endings:Ad
- I - yo - o
- You - tú - as
- He - él - a
- She - ella - a
- You (formal) - usted - a
- We - nosotros/as - amos
- You (plural) - vosotros/as - áis
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They - ellos/as - an
Some useful Spanish verbs are:
- Amar - to love
- Bailar - to dance
- Buscar - to search
- Cambiar - to change
- Caminar - to walk
- Cantar - to sing
- Comprar - to buy
- Contestar - to answer
- Descansar - to rest
- Desear - to desire
- Dibujar - to draw
- Enseñar - to teach
- Esperar - to wait/hope for
- Estudiar - to study
- Fumar - to smoke
- Hablar - to speak/talk
- Ir - to go
- Llegar - to arrive
- Llorar - to cry
- Llevar - to carry
- Mirar - to look
- Nadar - to swim
- Necesitar - to need
- Practicar - to practice
- Preguntar - to question
- Preparar - to prepare
- Querer - to want/ to love
- Regresar - to return
- Ser - to be
- Tener - to have
- Terminar - to terminate
- Tocar - to touch
- Tomar - to drink also to play/touch(an instrument)
- Trabajar - to work
- Viajar - to travel
Edit Tips
- Remember that if you're a girl, the letter O turns into and A if it's at the end of the word. For example, Rojo, would be Roja.
- Two l's next next each other (ll) is pronounced like 'y' as in the word "yard".
- If you cannot purr the double r sound, just lengthen the r sound for longer. But be careful. pero (but) and perro (dog) has quite different meanings. Words that begins with r are always pronounced with a double-r sound.
- Hard to speak Spanish? Wanna give up go to www.spanishspeaker.com It gives you a tutor online or you can do it your self.
- Try not to give up on your practicing, even if you become frustrated at your progress or comprehension. You will get it with time and the right amount of effort.
- Remember, the more you practice the easier it will become, so be sure to use them frequently in real world situations. In no time at all you'll start gaining proficiency in the language, and then you can move on to more complex vocabulary and phrasing.
- Try to put a few words together and make a sentence.
- For the c,z and sound (like Barcelona), the most obvious difference between Spanish and Argentinian accent is this: Spanish would say the 'c' sound with a 'th' sound, Argentinian would say the 'c' sound with an 's' sound. There is no need to buzz the z sound.
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Edit Related wikiHows
Edit Sources and Citations
- Ethnologue report for Spanish
- Dictionary of the RAE Real Academia Española's official Spanish language dictionary
- The Project Gutenberg EBook of A First Spanish Reader by Erwin W. Roessler and Alfred Remy.
- Learn Spanish Online
Article Info
Categories: Spanish
Recent edits by: Gauri, Jeff, Akshata Birajdar
In other languages:
Español: Cómo hablar español (bases), Português: Como Falar Espanhol (Básico), Italiano: Come Parlare Spagnolo (Basi)
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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 65,859 times.
