During high school, I took three years of Spanish. Over those three years, I was able to learn hundreds of vocabulary words and phrases. The Spanish language is commonly known as one of the romance languages and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Because I know hundreds of vocabulary and phrases, I decided to share some that I think everyone should know. So, if you want to impress your friends and family, or just learn something that you haven't before, then this article is for you.
Hola (oh lah) means hi or hello and is an easy conversation starter.
¿Cómo está? (coh moh es tah) is "how are you?", if you don't know someone and ¿Cómo estás? (coh moh es tahs) if you do know them.
Bien, gracias (bee ayn, grah cee ahs) - "good, thank you" - can be used as a response if someone asks you how you are.
¿Cómo te llamas? - What's your name?
Buenos días (bway nos dee ahs) - Good morning.
Buenas tardes (bway nahs tar days) - Good afternoon.
Buenas noches (bway nahs noh chayss) - Good evening.
Please - por favor (por fah vohr) and thank you - gracias (grah cee ahs) are VERY important words in Spanish. Native speakers appreciate polite people, so don't forget about these words.
Mucho gusto (moo choh goos toh) - when you are introduced to someone, you say these words and they will say it back to you. It means, "nice to meet you."
¿Habla inglés? (ahblah een glays) – Do you speak English? While it is never correct to assume that someone speaks English, you can ask if they do, and they will like you so much better for asking in Spanish.
Other Words And Phrases That Might Be Useful:
Amigo (ahh me go) - friend
Sí (see) - yes
Adiós (ah thy ohs) - goodbye
Bien (bee un) - well
Bueno (b uu eh n oh)/mal (mahhl) - Good/bad
Muy (muoy) - very
baño (bon yo) - bathroom
I want, I don’t want – Yo quiero, yo no quiero (yoh kee ayr oh, yoh noh kee ayr oh)
I would like (more polite) – Me gustaría (may goo stah ree ah)
Where is – ¿Dónde está? (dohn des tah)
How much does it cost – ¿Cuánto cuesta? (cwahn toh cways tah)?
What time is it? – ¿Qué hora es? (kay orah ess)?
Do you have? – ¿Tiene? (tee ayn ay)?
I have, I don’t have – Yo tengo, yo no tengo (yoh tayn goh, yoh noh tayn goh)
Obviously, you're not going to be able to say everything that you want to see with these limited words and phrases. Practice saying everything aloud so that you will remember some of the phrases without looking, and learn how to say these phrases relatively quickly and smoothly. Just hearing them spoken aloud will also help in your comprehension, when people are speaking to you. If you can learn these words and phrases while also understanding how they're used, then you'll be on your way to communicating freely in Spanish!
