Need a Spanish Language Cheat Sheet?
Being able to speak even a little Spanish will help enormously. You wouldn’t be annoyed at someone for trying to speak English, you would try to help them, right? So that's why we have created the Ultimate Spanish Language Cheat Sheet Guide! Everyone we met in Spain was incredibly kind and understanding of our attempts to chat with them in pigeon Spanish.
We've separated these everyday Spanish phrases into 3 categories to make things simpler although they all sort of link together.
Basics, Travel, Food & Drink…All the important need to know things, don’t you think?
*Important note*
Don’t forget to add your p’s and q’s to these – contrary to what some blogs suggest we absolutely think you should still use them – we just didn’t want to clutter up the list.
- Hello - Hola (oh-lah)
- Goodbye - Adiós (ah-dee-ohs)
- Please - Por favor (pohr fah-vohr)
- How are you? ¿Cómo estás? (come-oh es-tahs)
- Excuse me (I beg your pardon) - Disculpe (dis-gulp-ey)
- Excuse me (sorry) - Lo siento (loh see-ehn-toh)
- Thank you - Gracias (grah-see-as)
- I’m sorry I don’t speak Spanish - Lo siento, no hablo español (loh see-ehn-toh,no hab-low Es-pan-yol)
- Do you speak any English? - ¿Habla inglés? (hab-lah In-glaze)
- Can you say that more slowly? - Más despacio (maaz des-path-ee-oh)
- Would you mind writing that here? - ¿Puede escribirlo? (pooh-a-day e-scrib-ear-lo) *set up google translate on your phone in their language*
- I’m waiting for my partner - estoy esperando a mi esposo/esposa (es-toy es-per-and-oh ah me es-pose-oh/ es-pose-ah)
- Can I have this/that - Puedo tener esto/este (Pooh-eh-dough tenner est-oh/est-eh)
- A ticket to (insert destination) please - Un billete para (insert destination) por favor (oon bee-yet-ay pa-ra … por fa-vor)
- What time? - ¿A qué hora? (a kay aw-ra?)
- How long? - ¿Por cuánto tiempo? (Por kwan-toh tee-em-poh)
- Where is - ¿dónde está? (don-day est-ah)
- the toilet - El baño (el ban-yo)
- the bus - El auto-bus (de oww-toe-boos)
- the taxi - El taxi (el taxi)
- the train station - La estación de tren (la est-as-ion de trehn)
- The gate - Puerta (pooh-er-tah)
- The ATM - el cajero automático? (el cah-her-o automatic-o)
- The pharmacy - La farmacia (joke – you are *always* near a pharmacy in Spain)
Things you might hear in reply
- Here - Aqui (Ah-key)
- There - Allí (ay-ee)
- On the left - A la izquierda (A la iz-key-er-da)
- On the right - A la derecha (A la de-re-cha)
- Straight ahead - Derecho (De-re-cho)
- On the corner - En la esquina (En la es-key-nah)
- Bag - Bolsa (bol-sa) *Spain has bag charges too so listen out for this word at the supermarket checkout or just add per favor to request one when it’s your turn
- How much is it? - ¿Cuánto cuesta? (kwan-toh kwes-ta?)
- Where is good to eat? - ¿Donde es bueno comer? (don-day est-an b-wen-oh com-ehr)
- A table for two - Una mesa para dos (oon-ah mess-ah pah-rah doh-z)
- Where can I get a drink? - ¿Donde puedo beber (don-day p-wer-doh beh-bear)
Things your server/bartender might say:
- ¿Quieres algo para comer? (key-EH-res AL-go pa-ra koh-mer?) Would you like something to eat?
- ¿Quieres algo para beber? (key-EH-res AL-go pa-ra beh-ber?) Would you like something to drink?
- ¿Qué quieres comer? (KAY key-EH-res koh-mer?) What would you like to eat?
How to ask for items:
I would like… - Quisiera… (ke-see-eh-ra…)
- Coffee - café (caff-eh)
- Water - agua (aag-wah)
- Beer - cerveza (ser-vessa) *but as Niall explains here you might be better off asking for a caña (can-ya) or pinta (pin-ta)
- wine - vino – We don’t need to tell you how to say this one right? Just make sure you know if you want tinto (red) or blanco (white) or rossado (rosé)
- the menu - la carta (la cart-ah)
- one/two more* - Uno/dos más (oon-oh/doh-z mah-z) *Like saying same again please
- I’m a vegetarian/vegan - Soy vegetariano/vegano (soy ve-he-tah-ree-ah-noh/vegan-oh)
- I have an allergy to - Tengo alergia a las... (Ten-go al-er-hee-ah a las...)
nuts/milk/eggs/shellfish - nueces/leche/huevos/mariscos (noo-eh-ses/leh-chay/who-ay-voz/mar-is-coz) - The bill, please - La cuenta, por favour (la kwen-ta por fa-vor)
- Connecting words -
- And - Y (ee)
- There - Allí (aye-ey)
- Yes - Sí (see)
- No - No (noh)
We really do hope you find our list of everyday Spanish phrases helpful. This wouldn't be the ultimate Spanish language cheat sheet if we didn't constantly add to it and if you think of any additions do let us know and please, if you see a mistake correct us, we’re definitely not fluent speakers by a long way!
