71 Common Spanish Phrases

Are you considering taking up Spanish?

Or planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country?
In order to get started and have your first basic conversations in Spanish, you're going to
need to learn some words!
In this post, you'll learn about 71 common Spanish phrases. And to make it easier for you,
I've divided the phrases up into the main sections that form the building blocks of
conversation:

1. Greetings
2. Small Talk
3. Being Polite
4. Dealing with Problems
5. Questions Words
6. Important Answers
7. Special Occasions
8. Saying Goodbye

Having a few common Spanish phrases up your sleeve when you are travelling or starting out
in the language allows you to experience local culture and hospitality in a completely different
way.
You never know, maybe learning these phrases will motivate you to learn to speak Spanish
fluently!
To make it as easy as possible for you to practice these phrases in your Spanish
conversations, I've created a special PDF version of this article with all the phrases that
you can print off or save on your phone to use read it anywhere, anytime, when you
encounter Spanish speakers.
 Spanish Greetings
Understanding what you should say when you meet and greet people is the least you can do
if you want to make a good impression.
After all, you're going to be using greetings every time you have a conversation in Spanish!
These phrases are simple, easy to remember and will go a long way to help you make friends
and have your first conversations in the language.

 #1 ¡Hola! – Hello
o (O-la)
 #2 ¡Buenos días! – Good morning!
o (BWAY-nos DEE-as)
 #3 ¡Buenas tardes! – Good evening!
o (BWAY-nas TAR-des)
 #4 ¡Bienvenido! – Welcome!
o (Bee-en-ven-EE-doh)

I've included tips for pronouncing each phrase in brackets, but it's always best to listen how
native speakers talk if you really want to master pronunciation.
If you're confused about how to pronounce any of these phrases, you can look them up on
Forvo (an online pronunciation dictionary) and hear them spoken by native speakers.
 Keeping The Conversation Going:
Small Talk
Making small talk is something you’re going to do a lot of, so there’s every reason to know
how to do it properly.
Besides, small talk is the gateway to real communication; you need to be able to do it in order
to really speak to a person.
Making small talk is not something most of us enjoy in our own language, so doing it in
Spanish can be a bit daunting. But trust me, being able to engage in
But trust me, being able to engage in small talk will allow you to get a conversation started.
Making conversation in whatever way you can as a beginner will allow you to grow in
confidence and figure out what you need to learn next.
Here are some phrases you can use to get the conversation going:

 #5 ¿Cómo estás? – How are you?

o (KOH-moh eh-STAHS)
 #6 ¿Cómo te va? – How’s it going?
o (KOH-moh te BAH)
 #7 ¿Cómo te ha ido? – How’ve you been?
o (KOH-moh te ha EE-doh)
 #8 Estoy bien ¡Gracias! – I’m fine, thanks
o (eh-STOY bee-en GRA-thee-as/GRA-see-as)
 #9 ¿Y tú? – And you?
o (ee too)
 #10 Bien/ Así así. – Good/ So-so
o (bee-en / a-SEE a-SEE)
 #11 ¿Qué tal? – How are you?
o (kay tal)
 #12 ¿Qué pasa? – What’s happening?
o (kay PA-sa)
 #13 ¿Qué haces? – What are you doing?
o (kay AH-says)

Did you notice anything strange about the pronunciation of the phrase ¿Cómo te va?
The ‘v' in va is pronounced almost like a ‘b'.
In English, the letter's ‘b' and ‘v' represent different sounds, but in Spanish, they represent the
same sound.
This sound is different from anything we have in English. It's like a B, but softer. Listen to
how I pronounce the word ¡Vale! (‘ok') in this recording to see how it sounds:
 Being Polite In Spanish
Of course, no matter what language you're speaking, politeness goes a long way. Whether
you need to make an apology or just want to thank someone, you're going to use these phrases
a lot!:

 #14 ¡Gracias! – Thank you!

o (GRA-thee-as/GRA-see-as)
 #15 ¡Muchas gracias! – Thank you (very much)!
o (MOO-chas GRA-thee-as/GRA-see-as)
 #16 ¡De nada! – You’re welcome!
o (de NA-da)
 #17 ¡Perdone! / ¡Oiga! – Excuse me (to ask for something)!
o (per-DON-ay/ OY-ga)
 #18 ¡Perdone! / Disculpe! – Excuse me (to get past)!
o (per-DON-ay/ dis-KUL-pay)
 #19 ¡Disculpe! – Sorry!
o (if you didn’t hear something) (dis-KUL-pay)
 #20 ¡Lo siento! – Sorry! (for a mistake)
o (lo see-EN-to)
 Dealing With Problems
Of course, not every conversation or language exchange will go smoothly.
What should you do when you don't understand something? Or if you need to ask someone
for help?
It's important to know some basic phrases you can use for dealing with problems when they
arise.If you need someone to speak more slowly or to repeat something, the best thing to do
is just ask them!
After all, if you need someone to speak more slowly or to repeat something, the best thing to
do is just ask them!

 #22 ¿Podría ayudarle? – Can I help you?

o (poh-DREE-a ay-oo-DAR-le)
 #22 ¿Puede ayudarme? – Can you help me?
o (PWE-day ay-oo-DAR-may)
 #23 ¡Sin problema! – No problem!
o (sin prob-LAME-ah)
 #24 ¡Puede repetirlo! – Can you say that again?
o (PWE-day re-pet-EER-lo)
 #25 No entiendo – I don’t understand!
o (no en-tee-EN-do)
 #26 No (lo) sé – I don’t know!
o (no lo say)
 #27 No tengo ni idea – I have no idea!
o (no TEN-go nee ee-DAY-ah)
 #28 No hablo español – I don't speak Spanish
o (no AB-lo es-pan-YOL)
 #29 Estoy perdido – I’m lost
o (eh-STOY per-DEE-do)
 #30 ¿Qué significa …? – What does … mean?
o (kay sig-nif-EE-ka)
 #31 Mi español es malo – My Spanish is bad
o (mi es-pan-yol es MA-lo)
 #32 ¿Puedes hablar más despacio? – Can you speak more slowly?
o (PWE-des ab-LAR mas des-PATH-ee-o)

The word despacio in the last phrase is interesting.Notice that the ‘c' is pronounced like ‘
Notice that the ‘c' is pronounced like ‘th' in this context.This is the traditional Spanish
pronunciation used in Spain. However, in Latin America, people pronounced a ‘c' like this as
This is the traditional Spanish pronunciation used in Spain. However, in Latin America,
people pronounced the ‘c' as a ‘s' sound (e.g. des-PAS-ee-o).
 Question Words In Spanish
Conversation is a two-way street. So if you want to really connect with people, you need to
be able to ask questions. Here the Spanish question words you need to know:

 ¿qué…? – what?
o (kay)
 ¿cómo…? – how?
o (KOH-moh)
 ¿cuándo…? – when?
o (KWAN-doh)
 ¿dónde…? – where?
o (DON-day)
 ¿quién…? – who?
o (KEE-en)
 ¿por qué…? – why?
o (por KAY)
 ¿cuál? – which?
o (kwal)

It's a good idea to just memorise these words right away. You're going to come across them
again and again so it's important you're comfortable with them.
Pro tip: Question words are always written with an accent and with opening/closing question
marks.
There are lots of questions which we use regularly in everyday conversation but we often
don’t realise how important they are.
Not having them in your repertoire will leave you tongue-tied and at a loss in many
situations.Here are some examples:
Here are some examples of questions that are useful to know:

 #33 ¿Como te llamas? – What is your name?

o (KOH-moh teh yah-mas)
 #34 ¿Qué hora tienes? – What time is it?
o (kay OH-ra tee-EN-es)
 #35 ¿Qué edad tienes? – How old are you?
o (kay ay-DAD tee-EN-es)
 #36 ¿Cuántos años tienes? – How old are you?
o (KWAN-tos AN-yos tee-EN-es)
 #37 ¿De dónde viene? – Where are you from?
o (de DON-day vee-EN-ay)
 #38 ¿Dónde vives? – Where do you live?
o (DON-day VEE-ves)
 #39 ¿Tienes hermanos o hermanas? – Do you have brothers or sisters?
o (tee-EN-es er-MA-nos o er-MA-nas)
 #40 ¿Cuánto cuesta eso? – How much is that?
o (KWAN-to KWES-ta eso)
 #41 ¿Qué es esto? – What is this?
o (kay es ES-to)
 #42 ¿Entiende? – Do you understand?
o (en-tee-EN-day)
 #43 ¿Comprende? – Do you understand?
o (com-prEN-day)
 #44 ¿Hablas inglés? – Do you speak English?
o (AB-las in-glAYs)
 #45 ¿Dónde está el baño? – Where is the bathroom?
o (DON-day es-TAH el BAN-yo)
 Talking About Yourself And
Answering Questions
Learning how to ask questions in Spanish is all good and well, but if you are dealing with
questions, you need to be able to deal with answers too!
Here's how you can respond to some of the questions above:

 #46 Me llamo… – My name is…

o (me YA-mo …)
 #47 Mi nombre es… – My name is
o (mi NOM-bray es …)
 #48 (Yo) tengo … años – I am … years old.
o (yo TEN-go … AN-yos)
 #49 (Yo) soy de… – I come from ….
o (yo soy de …)
 #50 Sí – Yes
o (see)
 #51 No – No
o (no)
 #52 Tal vez – Maybe
o (tal ves)
 #53 Siempre – Always
o (see-EM-pray)
 #54 Nunca – Never
o (NUN-kah)
 #55 A veces – Sometimes
o (A VE-says)
 #56 Claro – Of course
o (KLA-ro)
 Expressions For Special Occasions
There are a number of common expressions that are used regularly to denote special
circumstances or for special occasions.
These phrases are ideal for events like birthdays, meals with friends or even for ending the
conversation:

 #57 ¡Diviértete! – Have fun!

o (di-vi-EHR-te-te)
 #58 ¡Buen viaje! – Have a good trip!
o (bwu-en vi-AH-kay)
 #59 ¡Buen provecho! – Bon appetit!
o (bwu-en pro-VE-choh)
 #60 ¡Muy bien! – Well done!
o (mwee bee-en)
 #61 ¡Cuídate! – Take care!
o (kw-EE-dah-tay)
 #62 ¡Felicitaciones! – Congratulations!
o (fe-lis-i-ta-see-ON-es)
 #63 ¡Bienvenidos! / ¡Bienvenidas! – Welcome!
o (bee-en-ven-EE-dos / bee-en-ven-EE-das)
 #64 ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! – Happy Birthday!
o (fe-LEES kump-lay-AN-yos)
 #65 Salud! – Cheers!
o (Sa-LOOD)

Saying Goodbye In Spanish

Saying goodbye is never easy to do, especially when you don’t know how to do it!Whether
you are bidding farewell to friends you are going to see later or to somebody you will never
see again, make sure you know how to say your goodbyes appropriately.
Whether you are bidding farewell to friends you are going to see later or saying goodbye to
people you will never see again, Spanish has lots of different options:

 #66 Adiós – Goodbye

o (ah-dee-OS)
 #67 ¡Buenas noches! – Goodnight!
o (bway-nas no-ches)
 #68 ¡Hasta luego! – See you later
o (AS-ta loo-AY-go)
 #69 ¡Hasta pronto! – See you soon
o (AS-ta PRON-to)
 #70 ¡Hasta mañana! – See you tomorrow
o (AS-ta man-YAN-a)
 #71 Nos vemos – See you
o (nos VAY-mos)