30 Essential Spanish Phrases for Your First Trip to Latin America
Spanish is spoken from Mexico to Argentina, and a few words of it open doors in all of them. These are the words for the first days: a greeting, thanks, the toilet, the bill and help.
Spanish is spelled much as it sounds. Each phrase below has a guide to saying it, with the stressed syllable in capitals, and its meaning. Every word in these 30 phrases is taught in the course, so this page is a first taste of what you'll learn. Press a voice to hear it. The pronunciation is Latin American: c before e or i, and z, are said as s.
1holaOH-lah, hello
The h is silent. It works with strangers as well as friends; add buenos días or buenas tardes for a greeting by the time of day.
Hola, un café, por favor.
OH-lah, oon kah-FEH, por fah-VOR.
Hello, one coffee, please.
2adiósah-DYOHS, goodbye
The accent marks the stressed syllable. Hasta luego, see you later, is the everyday way to part.
Adiós, ¡que tenga un buen día!
ah-DYOHS, ¡keh TEN-gah oon bwen DEE-ah!
Goodbye, have a nice day!
3graciasGRAH-syahs, thank you
Muchas gracias is thank you very much.
Gracias, estuvo delicioso.
GRAH-syahs, es-TOO-boh deh-lee-SYOH-soh.
Thank you, it was delicious.
4bañoBAH-nyoh, toilet
¿Dónde está el baño? asks for the toilet. Ñ is a letter of its own, said like the ny in canyon. Signs may read sanitarios.
¿Dónde están los baños?
¿DOHN-deh es-TAHN lohs BAH-nyohs?
Where are the toilets?
5sísee, yes
The accent tells it apart from si, if. Sí, gracias is yes, thank you.
Sí, quisiera agua, gracias.
see, kee-SYEH-rah AH-gwah, GRAH-syahs.
Yes, I'd like water, thanks.
6nonoh, no
A plain no, and also "not" before a verb: no entiendo, I don't understand.
No, gracias, estoy bien.
noh, GRAH-syahs, es-TOY byen.
No, thank you, I'm fine.
7¡Ayuda!ah-YOO-dah, help!
The short call for urgent help. ¡Auxilio! and ¡Socorro! also work.
¡Ayuda! ¡Que alguien me ayude!
¡ah-YOO-dah! ¡keh AHL-gyen meh ah-YOO-deh!
Help! Somebody help me!
8por favorpor fah-VOR, please
Add it to any request: agua, por favor, water, please.
Tráiganos el menú, por favor.
TRY-gah-nohs el meh-NOO, por fah-VOR.
Bring us the menu, please.
9lo sientoloh SYEN-toh, sorry
An apology, or sympathy. Word for word, "I feel it". Perdón is common after a small mishap.
Lo siento, llego tarde.
loh SYEN-toh, YEH-goh TAR-deh.
Sorry, I'm late.
10disculpedees-KOOL-peh, excuse me
The polite way to get someone's attention before a question: disculpe, ¿dónde está el baño?
Disculpe, ¿puedo pasar?
dees-KOOL-peh, ¿PWEH-doh pah-SAR?
Excuse me, may I get past?
11dóndeDOHN-deh, where
¿Dónde está...? asks where a place is. Spanish opens a question with ¿ as well as closing it with ?.
¿Dónde hay una farmacia?
¿DOHN-deh eye OO-nah far-MAH-syah?
Where is there a pharmacy?
12entenderen-ten-DEHR, understand
The verb to understand. No entiendo, I don't understand, is the form to have ready.
Sí, entiendo.
see, en-TYEN-doh.
Yes, I understand.
13despaciodes-PAH-syoh, slowly
Más despacio, por favor asks for a slower pace.
Por favor, hable despacio.
por fah-VOR, AH-bleh des-PAH-syoh.
Please speak slowly.
14de nadadeh NAH-dah, you're welcome
The everyday reply to gracias. Con gusto, gladly, is another friendly one.
De nada, ¡es un placer!
deh NAH-dah, ¡es oon plah-SEHR!
You're welcome, my pleasure!
15cuántoKWAHN-toh, how much
¿Cuánto cuesta? asks the price.
¿Cuánto es?
¿KWAHN-toh es?
How much is it?
16cuentaKWEN-tah, bill
La cuenta, por favor asks for the bill. A recibo is the receipt.
La cuenta, por favor.
lah KWEN-tah, por fah-VOR.
The bill, please.
17farmaciafar-MAH-syah, pharmacy
¿Dónde está la farmacia? asks for the nearest one.
¿Hay una farmacia cerca de aquí?
¿eye OO-nah far-MAH-syah SEHR-kah deh ah-KEE?
Is there a pharmacy near here?
18aguaAH-gwah, water
Agua sin gas is still, con gas sparkling. Tap water is not safe to drink everywhere, so a bottle is the safe order.
Un agua sin gas, por favor.
oon AH-gwah seen gahs, por fah-VOR.
A still water, please.
19buenos díasBWEH-nohs DEE-ahs, good morning
The greeting until about noon. After that it's buenas tardes, and after dark buenas noches.
Buenos días, hoy hace un tiempo precioso.
BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs, oy AH-seh oon TYEM-poh preh-SYOH-soh.
Good morning, the weather is lovely today.
20alergiaah-LEHR-hyah, allergy
Tengo alergia a... names what you react to: tengo alergia a la leche, I'm allergic to milk. The g before i is a breathy h.
Tengo alergia a la leche.
TEN-goh ah-LEHR-hyah ah lah LEH-cheh.
I'm allergic to milk.
21tarjeta bancariatar-HEH-tah bahn-KAH-ryah, bank card
¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta? asks to pay by card; in speech tarjeta alone is enough. Markets and buses usually want cash.
¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?
¿PWEH-doh pah-GAR kohn tar-HEH-tah?
Can I pay by card?
22mesaMEH-sah, table
Una mesa para dos asks for a table for two. Swap dos for tres or cuatro as needed.
Una mesa para dos, por favor.
OO-nah MEH-sah PAH-rah dohs, por fah-VOR.
A table for two, please.
23metroMEH-troh, metro
Mexico City, Santiago and Medellín have one; in Buenos Aires it's el subte.
¿Dónde está el metro?
¿DOHN-deh es-TAH el MEH-troh?
Where is the metro?
24boletoboh-LEH-toh, ticket
Swap un for dos or tres as needed. For a long-distance bus, many countries say pasaje.
Un boleto, por favor.
oon boh-LEH-toh, por fah-VOR.
One ticket, please.
25ayudarah-yoo-DAR, help
The verb to help. ¿Me puede ayudar? is polite, with usted manners. It is the verb behind ¡Ayuda!, phrase 7.
¿Me puede ayudar?
¿meh PWEH-deh ah-yoo-DAR?
Can you help me?
26otra vezOH-trah bes, again
Word for word, "another time". In Mexico a quick ¿Mande? asks for a repeat too.
¿Podría decirlo otra vez?
¿poh-DREE-ah deh-SEER-loh OH-trah bes?
Could you say that again?
27pararpah-RAR, stop
The verb to stop. Pare is the polite command, for a taxi or bus driver. Aquí está bien, here is fine, works too.
Pare aquí, por favor.
PAH-reh ah-KEE, por fah-VOR.
Stop here, please.
28ambulanciaahm-boo-LAHN-syah, ambulance
Llamen speaks to everyone around you. Emergency numbers differ from country to country; look up the one where you are on arrival.
¡Llamen a una ambulancia!
¡YAH-men ah OO-nah ahm-boo-LAHN-syah!
Call an ambulance!
29deliciosodeh-lee-SYOH-soh, delicious
The ending follows the food: la sopa está deliciosa.
¡Está delicioso!
¡es-TAH deh-lee-SYOH-soh!
It's delicious!
30picantepee-KAHN-teh, spicy
Picante means hot with chilli. Say sin picante for none; how hot is hot varies a lot by country.
Lo quisiera muy picante.
loh kee-SYEH-rah mooy pee-KAHN-teh.
I would like it very spicy.
Keep them for the trip
A few minutes a day. Each phrase comes back just before you would forget it, with the rest of the words a traveller needs.
Start the course, free