100 Must-Know Basic Spanish Words for Beginners (with Audio)

When learning a new language, you reach a point when it all comes to vocabulary acquisition. But most people struggle to remember hundreds or thousands of new words. It makes sense: forming a vast vocabulary takes time.

But it’s also true that, in most languages, everyday talk needs only a couple of dozen words; no more than a hundred, in most situations.

That’s why in this article we’re going to present you a quick guide to 100 basic Spanish words — A fast, useful start for your conversation skills! This list contains the basic Spanish words used in everyday sentences. These should be enough for you to express yourself when traveling, and they should give you a strong foundation on your Spanish learning journey!

These are great to add to your vocab list or flashcards. For flashcards, we recommend using Anki, a free flashcard app. Check out our beginner’s guide on using Anki for learning languages.

Updated Feb 2023 with corrections, including some from a helpful reader.

The Most Common Easy Spanish words

This list contains 100 of the most common Spanish words. They’re divided by categories: nouns, verbs, adjectives and prepositions. We’ll also include a “miscellaneous” category for different kinds of functional words.

Note: functional words, like articles and prepositions, might be a little tricky, and in some cases, they’re easier to learn in a grammar lesson than in a vocabulary list. But it’s still helpful to know these words as it will give you a good foundation before getting into the grammar rules.

With that said, read on to get the ultimate Spanish Vocab List for beginners. ¡Vamos!

Basic Spanish Nouns

These are maybe the most useful Spanish vocabulary words. Nouns identify objects, places, people… Almost everything! If you don’t know any more words, but you can point and say a few nouns, you should be able to communicate. So pay attention to these words!

People

Spanish	English	Example sentence
la persona	the person	Esa persona habla mucho. That person talks a lot.
la mujer	the woman	Esa mujer trabaja conmigo. That woman works with me.
el hombre	the man	El hombre llegó ayer. The man arrived yesterday.
la niña	the girl	La niña tiene seis años. The girl is 6 years old.
el niño	the boy	Ese niño es mi hermano menor. That boy is my younger brother.

Home

Spanish	English	Example sentence
la casa	the house	La casa de María es muy bonita. Maria’s house is very beautiful.
la mesa	the table	La mesa está servida, ¡a comer! The table is set. Let’s eat!
la ventana	the window	La ventana está abierta. The window is open.
la silla	the chair	La silla es muy incómoda. The chair is very uncomfortable.
la puerta	the door	Abre la puerta, por favor. Open the door please.
el piso	the floor	El piso está muy sucio. The floor is very dirty.

Spanish Words about Time

Spanish	English	Example sentence
el tiempo	the time	Nunca tengo tiempo para nada. I never have time for anything.
el año	the year	¿Cuántos años tienes? How old are you?
el día	the day	Este es mi último día en la oficina. This is my last day in the office.
la semana	the week	Vi a Sandra la semana pasada. I saw Sandra last week.

Body parts

Below are some common body parts you’ll need in Spanish.

Spanish	English	Example sentence
los ojos	the eyes	Tienes unos ojos hermosos. You have beautiful eyes.
la boca	the mouth	Rodrigo nunca cierra la boca. Rodrigo never shuts his mouth.
la cabeza	the head	Me duele mucho la cabeza. My head hurts a lot.
las manos	the hands	Lucía es hábil con las manos. Lucía is skilled with her hands.

Everyday life

Spanish	English	Example sentence
la vida	the life	Mi vida es una gran aventura. My life is a great adventure.
la cosa	the thing	No encuentro una cosa. I can’t find something (lit: “a thing”).
el mundo	the world	Juan recorre el mundo en su motocicleta. Juan travels the world on his motorbike.
el problema	the problem	No hay problema. No problem.
el grupo	the group	Mi grupo de amigos es el mejor. My group of friends is the best.
el dinero	the money	No tengo mucho dinero. I don’t have a lot of money.
el coche	the car	Lucas compró un coche nuevo. Lucas bought a new car.
el trabajo	the work	Mi trabajo es bastante interesante. My work is quite interesting.
la calle	the street	La calle está vacía. The street is empty.
la tienda	the store	Esa tienda vende frutas frescas. That store sells fresh fruits.
el café	the coffee	Quiero tomar un rico café. I want to drink rich coffee.
el té	the tea	El té está muy caliente. ¡Cuidado! The tea is very hot. Careful!
el vino	the wine	Una copa de vino, por favor. One glass of wine, please.
la cerveza	the beer	¿Tienes cerveza artesanal? Do you have craft beer?
la leche	the milk	Debo comprar leche. I must buy milk.
el agua	the water	Quiero beber agua antes de partir. I want to drink water before leaving.
la comida	the food	Debo preparar la comida. I must prepare the food.

Read next: 18 Ways to Say How Are You in Spanish

Basic Spanish Verbs

Verbs describe actions and processes. They’re essential if you want to form complete sentences, so you should learn a few if you want to communicate in Spanish. Conjugation may be a little tricky at first —Spanish verbs change a lot more than English verbs— but don’t worry: the infinitive form should be enough to start. 

Spanish	English	Example sentence
ser	to be (permanent)	Yo soy español. I’m Spanish.
estar	to be (temporary)	Yo estoy en España. I am in Spain.
tener	to have	Martín tiene un coche nuevo. Martín has a new car.
hacer	to do/make	Adriana hace gimnasia. Adriana does gymnastics.
decir	to say	Señor, le digo la verdad. Sir, I’m telling you the truth.
hablar	to talk/to speak	Nosotros hablamos durante horas. We talked for hours.
ir	to go	Quiero ir a Rusia en el verano. I want to go to Russia in the summer.
saber	to know	No sé la dirección del hotel. I don’t know the address of the hotel.
tomar	to take	Andrea tomó la copa con las manos. Andrea took the cup with her hands.
ver	to see	Veo unos bonitos pájaros en el cielo. I see some pretty birds in the sky.
pensar	to think	Él pensó en su trabajo toda la noche. He thought about his work all night.
querer	to want	María quiere comprar ese libro. María wants to buy that book.
dar	to give	Carlos le dio un regalo a su hermana. Carlos gave his sister a gift.
usar	to use	Manuel usó su lápiz nuevo. Manuel used his new pencil.
encontrar	to find	He encontrado este teléfono en la calle. I found this phone on the street.
preguntar	to ask	Le pregunté al policía dónde estaba la salida. I asked the police officer where the exit was.
trabajar	to work	Trabajo en una oficina con mucha gente. I work in an office with a lot of people.
parecer	to seem	Esteban parece un hombre muy agradable. Estaban seems like a nice man.
sentir	to feel	Lucía siente miedo por las noches. Lucía feels scared at night.
intentar	to try	Jorge intenta cambiar de carrera. Jorge is trying to change career.
salir	to leave	Martina salió de casa por la mañana. Martina left the house in the morning.
llamar	to call	Lucas llama a su madre todas las tardes. Lucas calls his mother every afternoon.
llegar	to arrive/come	Armando llega a casa a las seis de la mañana. Armando arrives at his home at six in the morning.

Read next: You’re Welcome in Spanish — Regional Variations

Basic Spanish Adjectives

Adjectives are used to characterize or define things or people. Similar to English, there are many Spanish words to describe things. Unlike English, Spanish adjectives usually have to match the number and gender of the noun. 

In other words, if the noun is feminine, the adjective will change its ending to become feminine; if the noun is plural, the adjective will change its ending to become plural. Sounds like a real headache! But it’s not. It’s basically changing an “o” for an “a” to turn the adjective feminine and adding an “s” at the end, if it’s plural. For example, let’s take the adjective “alto” (tall):

• alto (singular masculine)
• alta (singular feminine)
• altos (plural masculine)
• altas (plural feminine)

On this list, we will present the adjectives in the masculine singular form. These are the most common Spanish adjectives:

Spanish	English	Example sentence
bueno	good	Mi perro es muy bueno. My dog is very good.
malo	bad	El perro malo huyó otra vez. The bad dog ran away again.
nuevo	new	Hoy empiezo mi trabajo nuevo. Today I start my new job.
viejo	old	José es un viejo compañero de escuela. José is an old schoolmate.
joven	young	Ese árbol es muy joven. This tree is very young.
primero	first	Yo llegué primero. I arrived first.
último	last	Soy el último de la fila. I am the last in line.
largo	long	Hoy fue un largo día. Today was a long day.
grande	big/large	Tu casa es muy grande. Your house is very big.
alto	high/tall	Diego es alto. Diego is tall.
pequeño	little/small	Ese gato es muy pequeño. That cat is very small.
otro	other	Hablemos de otro tema. Let’s talk about another topic.
mismo	same	Tengo el mismo pantalón. I have the same pants.
diferente	different	Quiero comer algo diferente. I want to eat something different.
correcto	right/correct	Este es el camino correcto. This is the right way.
incorrecto	wrong/incorrect	Era el momento incorrecto para hablar. It was the wrong time to speak.
temprano	early	Luciana siempre llega temprano. Luciana always arrives early.
tarde	late	Es muy tarde para mí. It is very late for me.
feo	ugly	Ese coche es feo. That car is ugly.
lindo	beautiful/nice	¡Qué lindo día! What a nice day!
poco	little/few	Tengo poco tiempo. I have little time.
mucho	a lot of/much	Te quiero mucho. I love you a lot.
público	public	Allí están los baños públicos. Over there there are public toilets.
privado	private	Estudié en un colegio privado. I studied in a private college.
próximo	next	Eres el próximo en la fila. You are the next in line.
importante	important	La familia es una parte importante de mi vida. Family is an important part of my life.

Basic Spanish Prepositions

Prepositions are functional words: they connect elements of the sentence. They’re quite difficult to translate, since both in English and Spanish they all have multiple meanings and uses.

We’ll give you here one possible translation for each preposition, but you’ll really get the feel of them by listening how people use them. There are 23 main prepositions in Spanish, but don’t worry! We’re only going to list the most common ones.

Spanish	English	Example sentence
a	to	¡Vamos a la playa! Let’s go to the beach!
con	with	Vivo con Miguel. I live with Miguel.
sin	without	Estoy sin dinero. I am without money.
de	of	El libro de Florencia. The book of Florence.
desde	since/from	Vengo desde el trabajo. I come from work.
durante	during	Mi vecino hace ruido durante la noche. My neighbor makes noise during the night
en	in/on/at	Vivo en México. I live in México.
hacia	towards	Iremos hacia allí. We will go towards there.
hasta	until	¡Hasta mañana! Until tomorrow!
para	for	Compré esto para ti. I bought this for you.
por	by/for	El tren pasa por aquí. The train goes by here.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. See for example this much longer article on all the ways in which you can write “for” in Spanish.

Other Useful Spanish Words

In this section, you will find Spanish words that are articles and connectors, which are the most common functional words. These are easy to learn and very frequently used. We’re sure you’ll find them very useful:

Spanish	English	Example sentence
el	the (masculine)	El hombre es alto. The man is tall.
la	the (feminine)	La mujer es rápida. The woman is fast.
y	and	Quiero un café y un vaso con agua. I want a coffee and a glass of water.
o	or	¿Vamos al cine o al teatro? Are we going to the cinema or the theater?
pero	but (See more on “but” in Spanish)	Tengo sueño, pero no puedo dormir. I’m tired but I can’t sleep.

Conclusion

Now you have 100 new words to your Spanish vocabulary! These are the most basic Spanish words, the ones that you’ll use every day in any Spanish-speaking country.

If you learn these, you’re ready to start comprehending and communicating —and also they can work as a starting point for improvement!

Naturally, the examples are just one of the many uses of many of these words, especially the prepositions.

You’ll see how, in a very short amount of time, these 100 words will become 200, and then 300… If you put your mind to it, you’ll be speaking fluent Spanish very soon! Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is your start: your basic Spanish vocab list.