Spanish Words That Start with P: Lists by Theme, With Gender
Common Spanish words that start with P include el padre (father), el pan (bread), el perro (dog), la playa (beach), la puerta (door), pagar (to pay), poder (can, to be able to), pequeño (small) and the everyday little words por, para and pero (but). The Spanish p is softer than the English one: say it without the small puff of air that follows “p” in English “pan”.
The lists below are grouped by theme, with the article for every noun so you learn its gender at the same time. After them come the gender traps (el problema, el papa vs la papa), the false friends that catch English speakers (pariente, preservativo, pretender), useful phrases, and a practice set with answers. More letters and topics are collected in the Spanish vocabulary hub.
How to pronounce Spanish p
In English, a p at the start of a word comes with a little burst of breath: hold a hand in front of your mouth and say “pan”, and you will feel it. Spanish p has no such burst. The lips close and open cleanly, and the vowel starts at once. To an English ear, Spanish pan can sound halfway to “ban”. That is correct; if you keep the English puff, you will sound foreign even when everything else is right.
Two more points about the letter:
- ps- at the start of a word: in psicología, psiquiatra and psicólogo, many speakers do not pronounce the p, and the Real Academia Española accepts spellings without it, such as sicología and seudónimo. Most writers still keep the p.
- No “ph”: Spanish writes the “f” sound with f, so English “photo”, “phone” and “philosophy” become foto, teléfono and filosofía. No Spanish word starts with ph.
People and family
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| el padre / los padres | father / parents | Mis padres viven en Sevilla. (My parents live in Seville.) |
| el papá | dad | Mi papá cocina los domingos. |
| el primo / la prima | cousin | Tengo muchos primos en México. |
| el pariente / la pariente | relative (any family member) | Vinieron todos los parientes a la boda. |
| la pareja | partner; couple | Mi pareja es de Chile. / Son una pareja feliz. |
| el/la paciente | patient | La doctora tiene veinte pacientes hoy. |
| el profesor / la profesora | teacher (school or university) | La profesora de inglés es muy paciente. |
| el/la periodista | journalist | Mi hermano es periodista. |
| el/la policía | police officer; la policía = the police | Llamamos a la policía. |
| el/la piloto | pilot; racing driver | Quiere ser piloto de avión. |
Note la pareja: the word is feminine whoever your partner is, so it is always la pareja or mi pareja, even for a man. And el/la policía shows a pattern you will meet often: one form, with the article showing whether the person is a man or a woman.
Food and drink
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| el pan | bread | Compro pan todas las mañanas. |
| la papa (Latin America) / la patata (Spain) | potato | Papas fritas, por favor. / Patatas fritas, por favor. |
| el pollo | chicken (as food) | Hoy cenamos arroz con pollo. |
| el pescado | fish (as food) | ¿Comes pescado? |
| el pastel | cake; pie (in some countries) | El pastel de chocolate está riquísimo. |
| la pera | pear | Una pera madura, por favor. |
| la piña | pineapple | Me encanta el jugo de piña. |
| el plátano | banana (also plantain in some countries) | Un plátano al día. |
| la pimienta / el pimiento | pepper (spice) / pepper (vegetable) | Sal y pimienta. / Un pimiento rojo. |
| el postre | dessert | ¿Qué hay de postre? |
A pair worth learning together: el pez is a fish that is alive and swimming; el pescado is fish you buy or eat. A goldfish is un pez de colores; the fish counter is la pescadería. For a longer list of dishes and ingredients, see Spanish food that starts with P.
Home and everyday things
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| la puerta | door | Cierra la puerta, por favor. |
| la pared | wall | Hay un cuadro en la pared. |
| el piso | floor; storey; flat (Spain) | Vivo en el tercer piso. / Alquilan un piso en el centro. |
| el plato | plate; dish; course | De primer plato, sopa. |
| el papel | paper; role | Necesito una hoja de papel. / Hace el papel de villano. |
| la pantalla | screen | La pantalla del móvil está rota. |
| el pantalón / los pantalones | trousers, pants | Estos pantalones son nuevos. |
| la pila | battery (small); pile | El control remoto necesita pilas. |
| el peine | comb | ¿Dónde está mi peine? |
| la planta | plant; floor of a building | Riego las plantas. / La oficina está en la segunda planta. |
Places, travel and nature
| Spanish | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| el país | country | ¿De qué país eres? |
| la playa | beach | Vamos a la playa el sábado. |
| la plaza | town square | Nos vemos en la plaza mayor. |
| el parque | park | Los niños juegan en el parque. |
| el puente | bridge; long weekend (Spain) | Cruzamos el puente a pie. |
| el puerto | port, harbour | El barco sale del puerto a las diez. |
| la parada | stop (bus, tram) | Me bajo en la próxima parada. |
| el pasaporte | passport | No olvides el pasaporte. |
| el perro / la perra | dog | Saco al perro dos veces al día. |
| el pájaro | bird | Un pájaro canta en la ventana. |
| la piedra | stone, rock | Tiró una piedra al río. |
| el planeta | planet | Marte es el cuarto planeta. |
Hacer puente is a very Spanish habit: when a holiday falls on a Thursday or a Tuesday, people take the day in between off and get a long weekend, called un puente (a bridge).
Verbs that start with P
Several of the most frequent Spanish verbs start with P, and many of them are irregular in the present tense. The “I” form is shown because that is where the surprises are.
| Verb | Meaning | I … (present) | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| poder | can, to be able to | puedo (o→ue) | ¿Puedo pasar? (May I come in?) |
| poner | to put; to turn on | pongo (irregular) | Pongo la mesa. / Pon la tele. |
| pensar | to think | pienso (e→ie) | Pienso en ti. |
| pedir | to ask for, to order | pido (e→i) | Siempre pido la sopa. |
| preferir | to prefer | prefiero (e→ie) | Prefiero el té. |
| perder | to lose; to miss (a bus) | pierdo (e→ie) | Siempre pierdo las llaves. |
| probar | to try, to taste | pruebo (o→ue) | ¿Puedo probar el vino? |
| parecer | to seem | parezco (-zco) | Parece fácil. |
| pagar | to pay | pago (regular; past pagué) | Pago con tarjeta. |
| pasar | to pass; to happen; to spend (time) | paso (regular) | ¿Qué pasa? / Pasamos el verano en la costa. |
| preguntar | to ask (a question) | pregunto (regular) | Te pregunto una cosa. |
| preparar | to prepare, to make | preparo (regular) | Preparo la cena. |
| platicar | to chat (Mexico, Central America) | platico (regular) | Platicamos toda la tarde. |
Pedir and preguntar both translate as “to ask”, but they are not interchangeable: pedir is asking for something (Pedí un café), preguntar is asking a question (Pregunté la hora).
Adjectives that start with P
| Adjective | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| pequeño / pequeña | small, little; young | Una casa pequeña. / Cuando era pequeño… |
| pobre | poor | Un barrio pobre. / ¡Pobre perro! |
| primero / primera | first (primer before a masculine noun) | El primer día. / La primera vez. |
| próximo / próxima | next | La próxima semana. |
| perfecto / perfecta | perfect | Un día perfecto. |
| peligroso / peligrosa | dangerous | Una curva peligrosa. |
| pesado / pesada | heavy; tiresome, annoying (of a person) | Esta maleta es pesada. / ¡Qué pesado eres! |
| precioso / preciosa | lovely, beautiful | ¡Qué vestido tan precioso! |
| práctico / práctica | practical, handy | Una solución práctica. |
| preocupado / preocupada | worried | Estoy preocupada por el examen. |
| propio / propia | own | Tiene su propio negocio. |
| posible | possible | Es posible que llueva. |
Two meaning shifts to notice: pobre before a noun means “unfortunate” (el pobre hombre, the poor man, meaning you feel sorry for him) and after it means “without money” (un hombre pobre). And precioso almost always means “lovely” rather than English “precious”. There is a longer list with agreement rules in Spanish adjectives that start with P.
Small words: por, para, pero, pues, poco
Some of the shortest P words are the ones you will use most:
- por and para both often translate as “for”. Roughly, para points to a goal, recipient or deadline (Es para ti, para el lunes), while por gives a cause, an exchange, a route or a stretch of time (Gracias por todo, por la mañana, Pasamos por el parque).
- pero means “but”: Es caro, pero es bueno.
- porque means “because” (one word, no accent); ¿por qué? is “why?”.
- pues is a filler like “well” or “so”: Pues no sé (Well, I don’t know).
- poco means “little, not much”: Hablo un poco de español; poco a poco = little by little.
- pronto means “soon” (and in Spain also “early”): ¡Hasta pronto!
Gender traps among P nouns
Most nouns ending in -o are masculine and most ending in -a are feminine. These P words break the pattern or change meaning with the article:
| Word | Gender | Note |
|---|---|---|
| el problema, el programa, el planeta, el poema | masculine | Words from Greek ending in -ma or -eta keep el. |
| el papá / la papa / el papa | three words | dad / potato (Latin America) / the Pope. |
| el pez / el pescado | masculine | Live fish / fish as food. |
| la paz, la pared, la piel, la parte | feminine | Peace, wall, skin, part. |
| el pie, el pan, el país, el puente | masculine | Foot, bread, country, bridge. |
| el pijama / la piyama | varies | Pyjamas: el pijama in Spain; in parts of Latin America la pijama or la piyama. |
| el/la policía | both | The officer is el or la; la policía is also “the police” as an institution. |
False friends that start with P
These look like English words but mean something else. A few of them can cause real embarrassment.
| Spanish | Actually means | Not | For the English word, say |
|---|---|---|---|
| pariente | relative (aunt, cousin…) | parent | padre, madre; parents = los padres |
| preservativo | condom | preservative | conservante |
| pretender | to aim, to intend, to try | to pretend | fingir: Fingió estar enfermo |
| parada | stop (bus stop) | parade | desfile |
| particular | private, personal (clases particulares = private lessons) | only “particular” | context; “particular” can also be concreto |
| presumir | to show off, to boast | to presume | suponer |
| pila | battery; pile | pill | pastilla |
| patrón / patrona | boss, owner; pattern; patron saint | a customer (patron) | cliente |
| propaganda | political propaganda, but in many countries also advertising and flyers | only political | publicidad for advertising in general |
So Pretendo terminar hoy means “I intend to finish today”, and a jar label that says sin conservantes is the one you want if you are avoiding preservatives.
Everyday phrases with P words
| Phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| por favor | please | Un café, por favor. |
| por supuesto | of course | —¿Me ayudas? —Por supuesto. |
| poco a poco | little by little | Poco a poco entiendo más. |
| por si acaso | just in case | Lleva paraguas, por si acaso. |
| ¿Qué pasa? / ¿Qué pasó? | What’s going on? / What happened? | ¿Qué pasa? Te veo triste. |
| pan comido | a piece of cake, very easy | El examen fue pan comido. |
| ponerse las pilas | to get your act together, to get moving | Si quieres aprobar, ponte las pilas. |
| pedir peras al olmo | to ask for the impossible | Esperar que llegue puntual es pedir peras al olmo. |
| pasarlo bien (Spain) / pasarla bien (Latin America) | to have a good time | ¡Que lo pases bien! |
P words in a real paragraph
El próximo puente, mis padres y yo vamos a pasar tres días en un pueblo pequeño cerca de la playa. Mi papá quiere pescar en el puerto y mi madre prefiere pasear por la plaza. Yo pienso probar el pescado del lugar y, por la tarde, tomar un pastel en la pastelería. ¡Por fin unos días de paz!
(Next long weekend, my parents and I are spending three days in a small town near the beach. My dad wants to fish in the harbour and my mother prefers to stroll around the square. I’m planning to try the local fish and, in the afternoon, have a cake at the cake shop. A few days of peace at last!)
Practice
Complete each sentence with a P word from this page.
- No como carne, pero sí como ______. (fish, as food)
- El ______ es difícil, pero tiene solución. (the problem: watch the article)
- Cierra la ______ cuando salgas. (door)
- ¿______ abrir la ventana? (Can I…?)
- Voy a ______ un café y un croissant. (to order)
- Mis ______ viven en Bogotá: mi tío, mi tía y mis primos. (relatives)
- ¿Qué ______? Te veo preocupado. (What’s going on?)
- El autobús para en la próxima ______. (stop)
- El examen fue ______ comido. (easy)
- ______ terminar el informe hoy. (I intend to)
Answers: 1. pescado. 2. problema (el problema). 3. puerta. 4. Puedo. 5. pedir. 6. parientes. 7. pasa. 8. parada. 9. pan. 10. Pretendo.
Quick answers
What are the most common Spanish words that start with P?
Among the most frequent are por, para, pero, porque, poder, poner, pasar, parecer, país, parte, persona and padre. Learn those first; they appear in almost every conversation.
Is the p in psicología pronounced?
In careful speech it can be, but many speakers drop it, and the Real Academia Española accepts sicología. Writing psicología is still the usual choice.
Why is it el problema and not la problema?
Many nouns that came from Greek and end in -ma are masculine: el problema, el programa, el poema, el tema, el sistema. Planeta is masculine for the same reason.
What is a Spanish word starting with P that is a false friend?
Pariente (relative, not parent), preservativo (condom, not preservative) and pretender (to intend, not to pretend) are the three that cause the most confusion.
Where can I find words for other letters?
Each letter has its own page; for example Spanish words that start with K (a short list, mostly borrowed words like kilo and kiwi) and Spanish words that start with Q.
