How to Say “Girl” in Spanish
“Girl” in Spanish is niña when you mean a child, and chica when you mean a teenager or a young woman. Muchacha is a slightly more traditional word for a girl or young woman, and la joven is the neutral, polite choice for a young woman. All four are feminine, so they take la or una: la niña, una chica.
The right word depends mostly on age, then on tone. Below you will find a quick picker, how to pronounce each word, real sentences, the words used for “girlfriend” and “baby girl”, regional slang, and the mistakes English speakers make most often.
Quick picker: which word for “girl”?
| Spanish | Who it describes | Tone | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| niña | a child, roughly up to 12 | neutral | La niña tiene seis años. (The girl is six.) |
| chica | a teenager or a woman in her 20s or 30s | everyday, friendly | Hay una chica nueva en la oficina. (There’s a new girl at the office.) |
| muchacha | a girl or young woman | a little traditional; common in Latin America | Una muchacha me ayudó con las maletas. (A girl helped me with the bags.) |
| la joven | a young woman | neutral to formal; used in news and polite speech | La joven ganó el concurso. (The young woman won the contest.) |
| hija | someone’s daughter (“our girl”) | family | Tenemos dos hijas. (We have two girls.) |
| bebé / nena | a baby girl or little girl | affectionate | Es una nena muy tranquila. (She’s a very calm little girl.) |
A simple rule for learners: if you would say “little girl” in English, say niña. If you would say “girl” about someone old enough to drive, say chica.
Niña: a girl who is a child
Niña is the feminine form of niño (boy, child). Pronounce it NEE-nyah; the ñ sounds like the “ny” in “canyon”. Its plural is niñas. A mixed group of boys and girls is niños, because the masculine plural covers both.
- La niña está jugando en el parque. – The girl is playing in the park.
- Mi sobrina es una niña muy curiosa. – My niece is a very curious girl.
- Cuando era niña, vivía en Sevilla. – When I was a girl, I lived in Seville.
- Las niñas de la clase organizaron una obra de teatro. – The girls in the class put on a play.
- ¿Es niño o niña? – Is it a boy or a girl? (the usual question about a baby)
Note the third example: “when I was a girl” is cuando era niña, with no article. Spanish drops una here because it describes a stage of life.
Calling an adult woman niña is possible among family or close friends, as a term of affection, but with a stranger or colleague it can sound condescending, much like calling a grown woman “little girl” in English.
Chica: the everyday word for a girl or young woman
Chica (pronounced CHEE-kah) is what most people say in conversation for a teenage girl or a young woman. Its masculine is chico. It is friendly, not rude, and it is the closest match to the casual English “girl” in sentences like “she’s a nice girl” or “the girls from work”.
- Es una chica muy simpática. – She’s a really nice girl.
- Salí con las chicas del trabajo. – I went out with the girls from work.
- ¿Quién es esa chica? – Who’s that girl?
- Mi hermana sale con un chico de su clase. – My sister is going out with a boy from her class.
- ¡Hola, chicas! – Hi, girls! (to a group of female friends)
Chica also works as an adjective meaning “small” in some places (una talla chica, a small size, especially in Mexico), so context tells you which meaning is meant.
Muchacha: girl or young woman, a touch more traditional
Muchacha (moo-CHAH-chah) means about the same as chica, but it sounds a little older-fashioned in Spain and stays very common in Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela. The masculine is muchacho.
- La muchacha de la tienda fue muy amable. – The girl at the shop was very kind.
- Dos muchachas cantaron en la boda. – Two young women sang at the wedding.
- Es una muchacha trabajadora. – She’s a hard-working girl.
In older usage, and still in some regions, la muchacha on its own could mean a live-in maid. That sense is fading, but avoid saying mi muchacha about a woman who works for you, because it is exactly that old meaning. The informal short forms muchachita and, in parts of Latin America, chamaca (Mexico) also mean “girl”.
La joven: a young woman, neutral and polite
Joven (HOH-ben) is an adjective meaning “young”, used as a noun with an article: el joven (the young man), la joven (the young woman). It does not change form for gender; only the article does. The plural is jóvenes, with an accent.
- Una joven de 19 años fue elegida alcaldesa. – A 19-year-old young woman was elected mayor.
- La joven pidió ayuda a la policía. – The young woman asked the police for help.
- Disculpe, joven, ¿me puede ayudar? – Excuse me, miss, can you help me? (polite address in Mexico)
News reports prefer la joven or una mujer joven, because chica can sound too casual for a serious story.
Señorita: addressing a girl or young woman
When you speak to a girl or young woman you don’t know, the polite form of address is señorita (miss). Waiters, shop staff and officials use it: Señorita, su café (Miss, your coffee). It is not a word for “girl” in a description, though; you would not say una señorita jugaba en el parque about a child. In Spain many people now avoid señorita for adult women and simply say señora or nothing at all, while in much of Latin America it remains normal and courteous. For a child, adults just use her name or say guapa, linda or mi niña warmly.
“My girl”, “baby girl” and “girlfriend”
English uses “girl” in several fixed phrases that Spanish says differently:
| English | Spanish | Note |
|---|---|---|
| girlfriend (partner) | novia | Mi novia es de Chile. Novia also means “bride”. |
| girlfriend (female friend) | amiga | Voy al cine con una amiga. |
| baby girl | una bebé, una nena | Tuvieron una niña = They had a baby girl. |
| little girl | niña pequeña, niñita | niñita is affectionate |
| my girl (daughter) | mi hija, mi niña | said by parents |
| my girl (affection) | mi niña, mi chica, mi amor | between partners |
| good girl (to a child) | ¡qué buena niña! | praise for behaviour |
| girls’ night | noche de chicas | very common |
| the apple of my eye | la niña de mis ojos | here niña means the pupil of the eye |
The last row is a real idiom and worth knowing: Mi nieta es la niña de mis ojos means “My granddaughter is the apple of my eye.”
Regional words for “girl”
Every Spanish-speaking country has its own informal words. You do not need to use them, but you will hear them:
- chava, chamaca – Mexico (una chava muy lista, a very smart girl)
- piba – Argentina and Uruguay
- chama – Venezuela
- cabra – Chile, informal (la cabra chica = the little girl)
- chiquilla – Spain, Central America and others; affectionate
- gurisa – Uruguay and parts of Argentina
- nena – widespread for a little girl; in the Caribbean and Argentina also used for young women
Slang words change fast and can be too familiar in the wrong setting. Niña and chica are understood everywhere, so start with those.
Gender, plural and adjectives
Every word in this page is feminine, so any article or adjective must be feminine too:
- una niña alta – a tall girl (not alto)
- las chicas simpáticas – the nice girls
- esta muchacha – this girl
- la joven española – the young Spanish woman
Plurals add -s: niñas, chicas, muchachas. Joven adds -es and an accent: jóvenes. Remember that a mixed group uses the masculine: los chicos can mean “the boys” or “the boys and girls”. For more on how this works, see our Spanish gender rules.
Diminutives: niñita, chiquita
Spanish adds -ita to make a word smaller or more affectionate. Niñita is “little girl”, chiquita is “little one” or “tiny”, and nenita is used with babies. These are warm, not insulting, when used with children or family. The same suffix appears in how to say small in Spanish.
Common mistakes
- Calling a woman you don’t know niña. Use chica in casual speech, or señorita / joven to address her politely.
- Using chica for a small child. A five-year-old is una niña. (In some regions people say la chica loosely, but niña is always correct.)
- Saying mi chica for “my girlfriend” in a neutral context. It is understood, but mi novia is the standard word.
- Masculine adjectives. La niña es alto is wrong; it is la niña es alta.
- Forgetting that niños can include girls. Tengo tres niños may mean three children of any sex. To say “three girls”, say tres niñas.
- Translating “girl” in “come on, girl!” word for word. Among friends Spanish says ¡vamos, chica! or ¡dale, amiga!, not niña.
Practice
Choose niña, chica, joven or novia.
- My daughter is eight. She is a very happy ___.
- There’s a new ___ in my Spanish class; she’s about 25.
- The newspaper says a ___ of 20 rescued a dog from the river.
- Carlos introduced me to his ___, Lucía. They’ve been together for a year.
- When I was a ___, I wanted to be a pilot.
- Saturday is our ___s’ night: noche de ___s.
Answers: 1. niña. 2. chica. 3. joven. 4. novia. 5. niña (cuando era niña). 6. chica (noche de chicas).
Translate into Spanish:
- The girls are playing football.
- Who is that girl?
- She is the apple of my eye.
- They had a baby girl in May.
Answers: 1. Las niñas están jugando al fútbol (or las chicas, if they are teenagers). 2. ¿Quién es esa chica? 3. Es la niña de mis ojos. 4. Tuvieron una niña en mayo.
Quick answers
What is the most common word for “girl” in Spanish?
For a child, niña. For a teenager or young woman, chica. Between them they cover almost every situation.
Is “chica” rude?
No. It is friendly and normal, the way “girl” is in “a girl from my class”. It is only too casual in formal writing or when addressing someone you should treat formally.
How do you say “boy” in Spanish?
The masculine forms are niño, chico, muchacho and el joven. See how to say boy in Spanish, and for adults, how to say woman in Spanish.
How do you say “beautiful girl” in Spanish?
Una chica guapa (Spain) or una chica bonita / linda (Latin America). For a child, una niña preciosa. More options are in how to say beautiful in Spanish.
