Spanish Vocabulary: Everyday Words and the Grammar Behind Them
This is the starting point for every Spanish guide on Grammar Solution Hub: 150 pages of everyday words, phrases and the grammar that makes them work. Each guide gives the Spanish word first, then gender, pronunciation tips, real example sentences and the mistakes English speakers usually make.
How to learn a new Spanish word properly
A word list is not enough in Spanish, because most words change with the sentence around them. For every new word, check four things:
- Gender and article. Learn the noun with its article: el agua (feminine, but takes el in the singular), la mano, el día. The gender rules and gender exceptions cover the patterns.
- Agreement. Adjectives match the noun: un chico alto, una chica alta, unos chicos altos. See adjective agreement.
- Spelling marks. An accent can change the word: que (that) and qué (what), el (the) and él (he). See the accent rules and que vs qué.
- Register. Many words have a polite and a casual form, or a regional variant. Tú and usted, carro and coche: the guides say where each is used.
A starter set of 10 everyday words
| English | Spanish | Example |
|---|---|---|
| water | el agua | Un vaso de agua, por favor. |
| friend | el amigo / la amiga | Es mi mejor amiga. |
| thank you | gracias | Muchas gracias por tu ayuda. |
| help | ayuda / ayudar | ¿Me puedes ayudar? |
| small | pequeño / pequeña | Vivo en un pueblo pequeño. |
| happy | feliz / contento | Estoy muy contenta hoy. |
| blue | azul | Tiene los ojos azules. |
| Wednesday | el miércoles | Nos vemos el miércoles. |
| time | la hora / el tiempo | ¿Qué hora es? |
| later | más tarde / luego | Te llamo más tarde. |
Notice that days of the week and months are not capitalized in Spanish (el miércoles, en octubre); the capitalization guide explains why.
All Spanish guides, by topic
Everyday phrases
- How to say “be quiet” in Spanish
- How to say “bitch” in Spanish
- How to say “help” in Spanish
- How to say “i like you” in Spanish
- How to say “left” in Spanish
- How to say “my name is” in Spanish
- How to say “ok” in Spanish
- How to say “Spanish” in Spanish
- How to say “thank you” in Spanish
- How to say “what are you doing” in Spanish
Colors
- How to say “blue” in Spanish
- How to say “brown” in Spanish
- How to say “green” in Spanish
- How to say “orange” in Spanish
- How to say “purple” in Spanish
- How to say “red” in Spanish
- How to say “tired” in Spanish
- How to say “white” in Spanish
- How to say “yellow” in Spanish
Numbers
- How to say “14” in Spanish
- How to say “15” in Spanish
- How to say “16” in Spanish
- How to say “40” in Spanish
- How to say “ten” in Spanish
- How to say “three” in Spanish
- How to say “two” in Spanish
Days, dates and time
- How to say “friday” in Spanish
- How to say “later” in Spanish
- How to say “now” in Spanish
- How to say “the date” in Spanish
- How to say “time” in Spanish
- How to say “wednesday” in Spanish
- How to say “year” in Spanish
- Spanish Months: Capitalization Rules Explained
People and family
- How to say “aunt” in Spanish
- How to say “bro” in Spanish
- How to say “brother” in Spanish
- How to say “friend” in Spanish
- How to say “girl” in Spanish
- How to say “grandma” in Spanish
- How to say “mom” in Spanish
- How to say “woman” in Spanish
Describing people and feelings
- How to say “beautiful” in Spanish
- How to say “big” in Spanish
- How to say “cold” in Spanish
- How to say “handsome” in Spanish
- How to say “happy” in Spanish
- How to say “pretty” in Spanish
- How to say “sad” in Spanish
- How to say “small” in Spanish
- How to say “stupid” in Spanish
Things, food and animals
- How to say “balls” in Spanish
- How to say “car” in Spanish
- How to say “cat” in Spanish
- How to say “eggs” in Spanish
- How to say “ice cream” in Spanish
- How to say “money” in Spanish
- How to say “water” in Spanish
- Spanish foods that start with C
- Spanish foods that start with K
- Spanish foods that start with W
Little words, questions and common verbs
- How to say “about” in Spanish
- How to say “and” in Spanish
- How to say “eat” in Spanish
- How to say “from” in Spanish
- How to say “go” in Spanish
- How to say “i” in Spanish
- How to say “sleep” in Spanish
- How to say “the” in Spanish
- How to say “to” in Spanish
- How to say “was” in Spanish
- How to say “where” in Spanish
- How to say “who” in Spanish
- How to say “why” in Spanish
- How to say “you are” in Spanish
Verbs, tenses and moods
- “Traer” in the Spanish Past Tense
- Spanish “Car, Gar, Zar” Verbs
- ‘Did’ in Spanish
- “Go Verbs” in Spanish
- “Graduate” in Spanish Past Tense
- Spanish Past Tense: “Crecer”
- “There Was” in Spanish
- “I Had” in Spanish Past Tense
- “I Was” in Spanish Past Tense
- The Spanish Verb “Oír”
- The Spanish Past Tense of “Ir”
- “Saw” in Spanish Past Tense
- Spanish Boot Verbs
- Spanish Irregular Verbs
- The Spanish Past Subjunctive
- The Spanish Present Subjunctive
- Spanish Time Expressions with “Hace”
- Spanish Verb Conjugation: “Leer” (To Read)
- Spanish Stem-Changing Verbs
Grammar, spelling and punctuation rules
- Spanish Accent Rules
- Spanish Adjective Agreement
- Spanish Capitalization
- Spanish Conjunctions
- Spanish Demonstrative Pronouns
- Spanish Exclamation Marks (¡!)
- Spanish Gender
- Spanish Noun Gender Exceptions
- Spanish Possessive Pronouns
- Spanish Punctuation
- Spanish Question Marks
- Spanish Sentence Structure
- Spanish Verbs: Rules and Exercises
Confusing pairs in Spanish
- Spanish Pronouns: Él vs. Ello Explained
- Spanish Commands: Formal vs. Informal
- Spanish Imperfect Subjunctive vs. Present Subjunctive
- Spanish: Regular vs. Irregular Preterite Verbs
- ‘Me’ vs. ‘Te’ in Spanish
- Spanish Past Perfect vs. Preterite
- Spanish Commands: Positive vs. Negative
- Spanish: Present vs. Past Tense Demystified
- Qué vs. Que
- Spanish Verbs: Regular vs. Irregular
- ‘Se’ vs. ‘Le’ in Spanish
- Ser in Preterite vs. Imperfect
Spanish words by first letter
- Spanish adjectives that start with T
- Spanish adjectives that start with Y
- Spanish adjectives that start with A
- Spanish adjectives that start with E
- Spanish adjectives that start with I
- Spanish adjectives that start with L
- Spanish adjectives that start with N
- Spanish adjectives that start with W
- Spanish words that start with A
- Spanish words that start with B
- Spanish words that start with C
- Spanish words that start with F
- Spanish words that start with I
- Spanish words that start with J
- Spanish words that start with K
- Spanish words that start with L
- Spanish words that start with LL
- Spanish words that start with N
- Spanish words that start with O
- Spanish words that start with P
- Spanish words that start with Q
- Spanish words that start with R
- Spanish words that start with RR
- Spanish words that start with S
- Spanish words that start with T
- Spanish words that start with U
- Spanish words that start with V
- Spanish words that start with W
- Spanish words that start with X
- Spanish words that start with Y
- Spanish words that start with Z
Learning English too?
Our English guides cover the words that trip up learners in both languages, starting with the prepositions hub and the English verb tenses chart.
