Most Common Spanish Words

107 of the words Spanish speakers use most, in six groups, with pronunciation. Practice right here.

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Spanish articles and prepositions

The most used words in Spanish are the small ones. Spanish has four words for the: el and la, los and las, chosen by the noun's gender and number. Learn every noun with its article, as on the common nouns page.

De and a join a following el: del and al. They never join la: de la casa.

Por and para can both mean for: para is for a purpose or a person (para ti), por is for a cause, a route or an exchange (gracias por todo).

de+el=del

elthe (masculine) · EL
lathe (feminine) · LAH
losthe (masculine plural) · LOHS
lasthe (feminine plural) · LAHS
una, an (masculine) · OON
unaa, an (feminine) · OO-nah
deof, from · DEH
delof the · DEL
ato · AH
alto the · AHL
enin, on, at · EN
conwith · KOHN
sinwithout · SEEN
porby, through · POR
parafor, in order to · PAH-rah
sobreabout, on top of · SOH-breh
entrebetween · EN-treh
hastauntil · AHS-tah
desdesince · DEHS-deh

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Most common Spanish words: the full list

Every word on this page with its pronunciation, and how it changes.

Quick answer: the (masculine) is el, the (feminine) is la, the (masculine plural) is los, the (feminine plural) is las, a, an (masculine) is un, a, an (feminine) is una, of, from is de, of the is del, to is a, to the is al, in, on, at is en, with is con, without is sin, by, through is por, for, in order to is para, about, on top of is sobre, between is entre, until is hasta, and since is desde.

Spanish articles and prepositions

English	Spanish	Say it	Changes to
the (masculine)	el	EL	El libro. With an accent, él means he.
the (feminine)	la	LAH	La casa.
the (masculine plural)	los	LOHS	Los libros. Also for a mixed group.
the (feminine plural)	las	LAHS	Las casas.
a, an (masculine)	un	OON	Un libro. Uno when it stands alone or counts.
a, an (feminine)	una	OO-nah	Una casa.
of, from	de	DEH	El libro de Ana, Ana's book. Soy de México, I'm from Mexico.
of the	del	DEL	De + el always joins: la casa del niño.
to	a	AH	Voy a Madrid. Also before a person you see or call: veo a Ana.
to the	al	AHL	A + el always joins: voy al parque.
in, on, at	en	EN	En casa, at home; en la mesa, on the table.
with	con	KOHN	Conmigo, with me; contigo, with you.
without	sin	SEEN
by, through	por	POR	Gracias por todo, thanks for everything; por la mañana, in the morning.
for, in order to	para	PAH-rah	Para ti, for you; para aprender, in order to learn.
about, on top of	sobre	SOH-breh
between	entre	EN-treh	Also among.
until	hasta	AHS-tah	Hasta mañana, see you tomorrow.
since	desde	DEHS-deh	Also from a time or place: desde aquí, from here.

Spanish pronouns: I, you, he, she, this, that

English	Spanish	Say it	Changes to
I	yo	YOH
you (informal)	tú	TOO	Tu without an accent means your.
you (formal)	usted	oos-TEHD	Takes the él form of the verb: usted es.
he	él	EL	Keep the accent: el without it means the.
she	ella	EH-yah
we	nosotros	noh-SOH-trohs	Nosotras for an all-female group.
they	ellos	EH-yohs	Ellas for an all-female group.
you all	ustedes	oos-TEH-dehs	Vosotros is the informal you all in Spain.
my	mi	MEE	mis. Mis amigos, my friends.
your (informal)	tu	TOO	tus. No accent: tú with one means you.
his, her, their	su	SOO	sus. Also your, for usted and ustedes.
this	este	EHS-teh	esta · estos · estas. Esto for an idea or an unknown thing: ¿qué es esto?
that	ese	EH-seh	esa · esos · esas. Aquel is that one over there.
something	algo	AHL-goh	¿Algo más?, anything else?
nothing	nada	NAH-dah	De nada, you're welcome.
all, everything	todo	TOH-doh	toda · todos · todas. Todo el día, all day; todos, everybody.

Spanish conjunctions: and, or, but, because

English	Spanish	Say it	Changes to
and	y	EE	E before an ee sound: padre e hijo.
or	o	OH	U before an oh sound: siete u ocho.
but	pero	PEH-roh
because	porque	POR-keh	One word. ¿Por qué?, two words with an accent, asks why.
that (I think that…)	que	KEH	Creo que sí, I think so. ¿Qué? with an accent asks what.
if	si	SEE	Sí with an accent means yes.
like, as	como	KOH-moh	Como tú, like you. ¿Cómo? with an accent asks how.
when	cuando	KWAHN-doh	Cuando llego, when I arrive. ¿Cuándo? asks when.
where	donde	DOHN-deh	La casa donde vivo, the house where I live. ¿Dónde? asks where.
although	aunque	OWN-keh	Also even if.

Most common Spanish verbs

English	Spanish	Say it	Changes to
to be (what something is)	ser	SEHR	soy · eres · es. For who or what something is: soy profesor.
to be (how or where)	estar	ehs-TAR	estoy · estás · está. For how and where: estoy bien, está en casa.
there is, there are	hay	EYE	From haber, the same for one or many: hay un perro, hay dos perros.
to have	tener	teh-NEHR	tengo · tienes · tiene. Also for age: tengo 30 años.
to do, to make	hacer	ah-SEHR	hago · haces · hace. Also for weather: hace frío.
to go	ir	EER	voy · vas · va. Voy a comer, I'm going to eat.
can, to be able to	poder	poh-DEHR	puedo · puedes · puede. ¿Puedo pasar?, can I come in?
to say, to tell	decir	deh-SEER	digo · dices · dice
to see	ver	BEHR	veo · ves · ve. Also to watch: ver la tele.
to give	dar	DAR	doy · das · da
to know (a fact)	saber	sah-BEHR	sé · sabes · sabe. No sé, I don't know.
to know (a person)	conocer	koh-noh-SEHR	conozco · conoces · conoce. Also to meet: mucho gusto en conocerte.
to want	querer	keh-REHR	quiero · quieres · quiere. Also to love: te quiero.
to arrive	llegar	yeh-GAR	llego · llegas · llega
to happen, to pass	pasar	pah-SAR	paso · pasas · pasa. ¿Qué pasa?, what's happening?
must, should	deber	deh-BEHR	debo · debes · debe. Also to owe.
to put	poner	poh-NEHR	pongo · pones · pone
to believe	creer	kreh-EHR	creo · crees · cree. Creo que sí, I think so.
to think	pensar	pen-SAR	pienso · piensas · piensa
to speak, to talk	hablar	ah-BLAR	hablo · hablas · habla
to come	venir	beh-NEER	vengo · vienes · viene
to go out, to leave	salir	sah-LEER	salgo · sales · sale
to live	vivir	bee-BEER	vivo · vives · vive

Most common Spanish nouns

English	Spanish	Say it	Changes to
time	el tiempo	el TYEM-poh	No tengo tiempo, I don't have time. Also the weather.
time (occasion)	la vez	lah BEHS	las veces. Una vez, once; otra vez, again.
year	el año	el AH-nyoh	los años. Tengo 20 años, I'm 20. Keep the ñ: ano is a different word.
day	el día	el DEE-ah	los días. Masculine, though it ends in -a: buenos días.
life	la vida	lah BEE-dah	las vidas
world	el mundo	el MOON-doh	los mundos. Todo el mundo, everybody.
house, home	la casa	lah KAH-sah	las casas. En casa, at home.
thing	la cosa	lah KOH-sah	las cosas
person	la persona	lah pehr-SOH-nah	las personas. Always feminine, even for a man.
people	la gente	lah HEN-teh	Singular in Spanish: la gente es amable.
man	el hombre	el OHM-breh	los hombres
woman	la mujer	lah moo-HEHR	las mujeres. Also wife.
part	la parte	lah PAR-teh	las partes. En todas partes, everywhere.
country	el país	el pah-EES	los países
work, job	el trabajo	el trah-BAH-hoh	los trabajos
way	la forma	lah FOR-mah	las formas. Also shape. De esta forma, this way.

Common Spanish adjectives and adverbs

English	Spanish	Say it	Changes to
good	bueno	BWEH-noh	buena · buenos · buenas. Buen before a masculine noun: un buen día.
bad	malo	MAH-loh	mala · malos · malas. Mal before a masculine noun: un mal día.
big	grande	GRAHN-deh	grandes. Gran before a noun means great: un gran amigo.
small	pequeño	peh-KEH-nyoh	pequeña · pequeños · pequeñas
new	nuevo	NWEH-boh	nueva · nuevos · nuevas
same	mismo	MEES-moh	misma · mismos · mismas. Lo mismo, the same thing.
other, another	otro	OH-troh	otra · otros · otras. Never un otro: otro café is another coffee.
a lot, much	mucho	MOO-choh	mucha · muchos · muchas. Muchos for many: muchas gracias.
a little, few	poco	POH-koh	poca · pocos · pocas. Un poco, a little.
each, every	cada	KAH-dah	never changes. Cada día, every day.
more	más	MAHS	Keep the accent: mas without it means but.
less	menos	MEH-nohs	Also minus and fewer.
very	muy	MWEE	Muy goes before adjectives and adverbs: muy bueno, muy bien. On its own, use mucho.
well	bien	BYEN	Estoy bien, I'm fine.
also, too	también	tahm-BYEN	Yo también, me too.
already	ya	YAH	Ya no means no longer.
now	ahora	ah-OH-rah
here	aquí	ah-KEE	Acá is common in Latin America.
like this, like that	así	ah-SEE	Así es, that's right.
always	siempre	SYEM-preh
never	nunca	NOON-kah	After the verb it needs no: no voy nunca.
no, not	no	NOH	Before the verb for not: no sé, I don't know.
yes	sí	SEE	Keep the accent: si without it means if.

Chart of 107 of the most common Spanish words with English meanings, from el (the) to sí (yes). Download the chart · Printable worksheet · Save to Pinterest

Questions about most common spanish words

What are the most common Spanish words?

The small words: de (of), la and el (the), que (that), y (and), en (in), a (to), no and por. The most used verbs are ser, estar, tener, hacer and ir.

How many Spanish words do you need to know?

Start with frequent words for the situations you use most, then build your vocabulary with regular reading, listening and practice. There is no single word count that guarantees understanding.

What is the most common word in Spanish?

De (of, from) is the most frequent word in written Spanish, followed by la, que, el and en.

What is the difference between por and para?

Para is for a purpose or a person: es para ti. Por is for a cause, a route or an exchange: gracias por todo.

What is the difference between ser and estar?

Ser is for what something is (soy profesor), estar for how or where it is (estoy cansado, está en casa).

Why do some Spanish words have an accent and others don't?

The accent can mark a different word: tú (you) and tu (your), él (he) and el (the), sí (yes) and si (if), qué (what?) and que (that).

Are these the most common words in Mexico and Spain?

These core words are widely used across the Spanish-speaking world. Usage and frequency vary by region; ustedes and vosotros are one useful difference to learn.

Most Common Spanish Words

Most common Spanish words: the full list

Spanish articles and prepositions

Spanish pronouns: I, you, he, she, this, that

Spanish conjunctions: and, or, but, because

Most common Spanish verbs

Most common Spanish nouns

Common Spanish adjectives and adverbs

Questions about most common spanish words

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