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Spanish for your holiday

The phrases you really need in Spain: in the restaurant, at the tapas bar, in the hotel, at the station and in the pharmacy. Every phrase comes with an English-friendly pronunciation, plus six rules that let you read almost any Spanish word correctly.

Pronunciation in six rules

Spanish is pronounced the way it is written. Once you know these six rules, you can read menus and signs straight away.

Five pure vowels

a, e, i, o, u are always short and clear, like ah, eh, ee, oh, oo. They never glide as in English ‘day’ or ‘go’: mesa = ‘MEH-sah’, todo = ‘TOH-doh’.

z and c

z, and c before e and i, sound like the th in ‘think’ in most of Spain: cerveza = ‘thehr-BEH-thah’. In Andalusia and the Canary Islands people often say ‘s’, and both are understood.

j and g

j, and g before e and i, sound like the ch in Scottish ‘loch’: jamón = ‘khah-MOHN’, gente (people) = ‘KHEHN-teh’.

ll, y and ñ

ll and y sound like the y in ‘yes’: paella = ‘pah-EH-yah’, calle (street) = ‘KAH-yeh’. ñ is the ny in ‘canyon’: España = ‘ehs-PAH-nyah’.

h, qu, b and v

h is silent: hola = ‘OH-lah’. qu is a plain ‘k’: queso = ‘KEH-soh’. b and v sound the same, like a soft b: vino = ‘BEE-noh’.

Stress

An accent marks the stressed syllable: café, autobús. Without an accent, words ending in a vowel, n or s stress the second-to-last syllable (tomate = ‘toh-MAH-teh’), all others the last (hotel = ‘oh-TEHL’).

In the transcriptions below the stressed syllable is in CAPITALS, syllables are joined with hyphens, words are separated by spaces and ‘·’ separates sentences. ‘th’ is the th in ‘think’, ‘kh’ the ch in Scottish ‘loch’, ‘r’ a single quick tap of the tongue and ‘rr’ a strongly rolled r. Read ‘ah, eh, ee, oh, oo’ as short, pure vowels.

Greetings and being polite

  • ¡Hola!OH-lahHello. (Works almost any time in Spain.)
  • ¡Buenos días!BWEH-nohs DEE-ahsGood morning (until lunch)
  • ¡Buenas tardes!BWEH-nahs TAR-dehsGood afternoon (from lunch until the evening)
  • ¡Buenas noches!BWEH-nahs NOH-chehsGood evening, good night
  • Por favor. / Gracias.por fah-BOR · GRAH-thyahsPlease. / Thank you.
  • Perdone.pehr-DOH-nehExcuse me (to get someone's attention)
  • No entiendo. ¿Puede repetirlo, por favor?noh ehn-TYEHN-doh · PWEH-deh reh-peh-TEER-loh por fah-BORI don't understand. Could you say that again, please?
  • ¿Habla inglés?AH-blah een-GLEHSDo you speak English?

In the restaurant

  • Una mesa para dos, por favor.OO-nah MEH-sah PAH-rah DOHS por fah-BORA table for two, please.
  • Tenemos una reserva a nombre de Smith.teh-NEH-mohs OO-nah reh-SEHR-bah ah NOHM-breh deh …We have a booking under the name Smith.
  • ¿Qué nos recomienda?KEH nohs reh-koh-MYEHN-dahWhat do you recommend?
  • Soy alérgico a los frutos secos.soy ah-LEHR-khee-koh ah lohs FROO-tohs SEH-kohsI'm allergic to nuts. (A woman says alérgica.)
  • Una copa de vino tinto.OO-nah KOH-pah deh BEE-noh TEEN-tohA glass of red wine. (White wine: vino blanco)
  • Una botella de agua sin gas / con gas.OO-nah boh-TEH-yah deh AH-gwah seen GAHS / kohn GAHSA bottle of still / sparkling water.
  • La cuenta, por favor.lah KWEHN-tah por fah-BORThe bill, please.
  • ¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta?PWEH-doh pah-GAR kohn tar-KHEH-tahCan I pay by card?

At the tapas bar

In a bar you order at the counter, often several rounds. You usually pay at the end.

  • Una caña, por favor.OO-nah KAH-nyah por fah-BORA small draught beer, please.
  • Un café con leche.oon kah-FEH kohn LEH-chehA white coffee. (A café solo is an espresso.)
  • ¿Qué tapas tienen?KEH TAH-pahs TYEH-nehnWhat tapas do you have?
  • Otra, por favor.OH-trah por fah-BORAnother one, please.

At the hotel

  • Tengo una reserva a nombre de Smith.TEHN-goh OO-nah reh-SEHR-bah ah NOHM-breh deh …I have a booking under the name Smith.
  • ¿A qué hora es el desayuno?ah KEH OH-rah ehs ehl deh-sah-YOO-nohWhat time is breakfast?
  • ¿Cuál es la contraseña del wifi?KWAHL ehs lah kohn-trah-SEH-nyah dehl WEE-feeWhat's the wifi password?
  • ¿Podemos dejar las maletas aquí?poh-DEH-mohs deh-KHAR lahs mah-LEH-tahs ah-KEECan we leave our suitcases here?

Getting around: station, bus, asking the way

  • ¿Dónde está la estación?DOHN-deh ehs-TAH lah ehs-tah-THYOHNWhere is the station?
  • Un billete para Sevilla, ida y vuelta.oon bee-YEH-teh PAH-rah seh-BEE-yah EE-dah ee BWEHL-tahA return ticket to Seville.
  • ¿A qué hora sale el próximo tren?ah KEH OH-rah SAH-leh ehl PROHK-see-moh TREHNWhat time does the next train leave?
  • ¿Este autobús va al centro?EHS-teh ow-toh-BOOS bah ahl THEHN-trohDoes this bus go to the centre?
  • ¿Está lejos?ehs-TAH LEH-khohsIs it far?

Shopping and at the market

  • ¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAHN-toh KWEHS-tahHow much is it?
  • Quería medio kilo de tomates.keh-REE-ah MEH-dyoh KEE-loh deh toh-MAH-tehsI'd like half a kilo of tomatoes.
  • Cien gramos de jamón serrano, por favor.THYEHN GRAH-mohs deh khah-MOHN seh-RRAH-noh por fah-BOR100 grams of serrano ham, please.
  • ¿Puedo probar?PWEH-doh proh-BARCan I try some?

Pharmacy and doctor

  • ¿Dónde está la farmacia más cercana?DOHN-deh ehs-TAH lah far-MAH-thyah mahs thehr-KAH-nahWhere is the nearest pharmacy?
  • Me duele la cabeza / la barriga.meh DWEH-leh lah kah-BEH-thah / lah bah-RREE-gahI have a headache / a stomach ache.
  • Mi hijo tiene fiebre.mee EE-khoh TYEH-neh FYEH-brehMy son has a temperature. (Daughter: mi hija)
  • Necesito un médico.neh-theh-SEE-toh oon MEH-dee-kohI need a doctor.

Emergency number throughout Spain: 112.

Good to know

Eat later

Lunch is usually served between 2 and 4 pm, dinner rarely before 9 pm. If you turn up at a restaurant at 7 pm, you will often find the door still closed.

Menú del día

On weekdays many restaurants offer a menú del día at lunchtime: starter, main course, dessert and a drink for a fixed price, usually much cheaper than ordering à la carte.

Tipping

Tipping is not expected. If you were happy, round up or leave a few coins. In a bar, leaving the small change is often enough.

Not only Spanish

Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country and Galicia have a second official language. Signs are often in both languages, but everyone understands Spanish.

A course for exactly your trip to Spain

A phrasebook can only guess what you're planning. In LingoTrip you tell it: a week of tapas in Seville, a family fortnight in Mallorca, a city break in Madrid with friends. LingoTrip builds a course around exactly those conversations, with audio, speech recognition and spaced review until you leave.

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FAQ

How long does it take to learn holiday Spanish?

For greetings, ordering, paying and asking the way, one to three weeks with a few minutes a day is enough. You won't hold long conversations yet, but you will manage the typical situations on your own.

Will this help me in Latin America too?

Yes, these phrases are understood everywhere. In Latin America z and c are pronounced like ‘s’, though, and some words differ: a ticket there is usually a boleto rather than a billete.

Should I say ‘usted’ or ‘tú’?

Spanish has two words for ‘you’. In Spain people switch to the informal tú quickly, even in cafés and shops. The formal usted is more polite with older people and in formal situations. The phrases on this page use usted, so they always work.

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