Spanish Words for Beginners

Here you will find all the top Spanish words for beginners. Full list.

NumberSpanishin English
1encimaabove
2añadiradd
3otra vezagain
4aireair
5todasall
6casialmost
7ademásalso
8siemprealways
9a.mam
10AmericaAmerica
11unan
12animalanimal
13otroanother
14responderanswer
15ningunaany
16sonare
17alrededoraround
18pedirask
19lejosaway
20espaldaback
21serbe
22estadobeen
23antes debefore
24empezóbegan
25empezarbegin
26siendobeing
27abajobelow
28grandebig
29librobook
30ambosboth
31niñoboy
32llamadacall
33vinocame
34puedencan
35cochecar
36llevarcarry
37cambiochange
38niñoschildren
39ciudadcity
40cercaclose
41vencome
42podríacould
43paíscountry
44cortarcut
45díaday
46hizodid
47diferentedifferent
48hacerdo
49hacedoes
50cadaeach
51tierraearth
52comereat
53finend
54suficienteenough
55inclusoeven
56cadaevery
57ejemploexample
58ojoeye
59caraface
60familiafamily
61lejosfar
62granjafarm
63padrefather
64piesfeet
65pocosfew
66encontrarfind
67primerofirst
68seguirfollow
69comidafood
70encontrófound
71cuatrofour
72obtenerget
73niñagirl
74dargive
75Vamosgo
76buenogood
77tienegot
78estupendogreat
79grupogroup
80crecergrow
81tenidohad
82manohand
83difícilhard
84tienehas
85tenerhave
86élhe
87cabezahead
88oírhear
89ayudahelp
90aquíhere
91altohigh
92casahome
93casahouse
94cómohow
95ideaidea
96importanteimportant
97indioIndian
98esis
99sólojust
100mantenerkeep
101tipokind
102saberknow
103tierraland
104grandelarge
105últimolast
106más tardelater
107aprenderlearn
108salirleave
109izquierdaleft
110dejarlet
111letraletter
112vidalife
113ligerolight
114me gustalike
115línealine
116listalist
117pequeñolittle
118En Vivolive
119largolong
120Miralook
121hechomade
122hacermake
123hombreman
124muchosmany
125mayomay
126mediamean
127hombresmen
128podríamight
129millamile
130pierdamiss
131másmore
132másmost
133madremother
134montañamountain
135moversemove
136muchomuch
137debemust
138nombrename
139cercanear
140necesitarneed
141Nuncanever
142nuevonew
143siguientenext
144nochenight
145Nono
146nonot
147ahoranow
148númeronumber
149apagadooff
150a menudooften
151antiguoold
152una vezonce
153unoone
154solamenteonly
155abiertoopen
156otroother
157afueraout
158propioown
159páginapage
160papelpaper
161partepart
162personaspeople
163imagenpicture
164sitioplace
165plantaplant
166tocarplay
167puntopoint
168ponerput
169leerread
170De Verdadreally
171derechoright
172ríoriver
173correrrun
174dijosaid
175mismosame
176Sierrasaw
177decirsay
178colegioschool
179marsea
180segundosecond
181versee
182parecerseem
183frasesentence
184conjuntoset
185deberíashould
186showshow
187ladoside
188pequeñasmall
189entoncesso
190algunossome
191a vecessometimes
192canciónsong
193prontosoon
194sonidosound
195deletrearspell
196comienzostart
197estadostate
198todavíastill
199detenerstop
200historiastory
201estudiarstudy
202talsuch
203tomartake
204hablartalk
205contartell
206luegothen
207allíthere
208cosathing
209pensarthink
210pensamientothought
211Tresthree
212horatime
213juntostogether
214tambiéntoo
215tomótook
216árboltree
217tratartry
218giroturn
219dostwo
220arribaup
221utilizaruse
222muyvery
223caminarwalk
224desearwant
225fuewas
226relojwatch
227aguawater
228caminoway
229bienwell
230fuimoswent
231fueronwere
232cuandowhen
233dóndewhere
234blancowhite
235por quéwhy
236seráwill
237palabraword
238trabajowork
239mundoworld
240haríawould
241escribirwrite
242añoyear
243jovenyoung

Learning a language isn’t as simple as growing a vocabulary. Learning any language requires speakers to reprogram their brains to both listen to and formulate speech. When we speak in English, we first think in concepts, so some of these Spanish words for beginners are actually phrases.

Basic Spanish words for beginners

Say Hello

Spanish words for beginners include knowing how to greet someone:

  • Hola is simply hello or hi.
  • Buenos días is usually used in the morning to say good day or good morning.
  • Buen día is also used to say good day, but it is less common.
  • Buenas tardes means both good afternoon and good evening.
  • Buenas noches can mean good evening, but it is more commonly used as a farewell.
  • Bienvenidos makes a good greeting if you are welcoming someone into your home; it literally means welcome.

If you’re in an informal situation (i.e., saying good morning to a friend), you could simply say buenos or buenas without referring to the time of day.

Say Farewell

Beginners should know how to bid farewell:

  • Adiós means goodbye.
  • Buenas noches is more common as a farewell and usually means good night.
  • Hasta luego basically means see you later.
  • Hasta pronto means see you soon.

Ask Basic Questions

Some Spanish words for beginners require conjugation. Conjugation is the transformation of the verbs to clarify who you are talking to or about:

  • ¿Cómo está? or ¿Cómo está usted? means how are you? in a formal setting.
  • ¿Cómo estás? is more informal.
  • ¿Cómo te llamas? is used to ask for someone’s name.
  • ¿Cuánto cuesta? is useful when you want to know the price of something. ¿Cuánto cuestan? is used to ask the price of two or more things.

Respond to Basic Questions

  • Estoy means I am, and you use it with adjects to describe how you are.
  • Bien means good, muy bien means very good, mal means bad, and aquí estamos is used to say I’m hanging in there.
  • Me llamo means I am called, and you follow this phrase with your name.
  • No sé means I don’t know.

Mind Your Manners

Some Spanish words for beginners include polite words.

  • Gracias means thank you.
  • De nada means you’re welcome.
  • Perdón means excuse me.

Other Basic Phrases

A few odds and ends couldn’t hurt:Por supuesto means of course, and buen trabajo means good job. Buena suerte is good luck, and te quiero means I love you.