135 Basic Spanish Words for Beginners: Essential Vocabulary

Knowing basic Spanish words can help you build a solid foundation to understand and communicate in different scenarios since daily conversations rely on essential vocabulary. In fact, many of these fundamental terms can be used in multiple contexts.

Since vocabulary is the backbone of communication, in this article, you’ll find a curated list of basic words in Spanish that all learners should know. To make things easier, I’ve classified these terms into:

Starting Point: Essential Words
Basic Spanish Pronouns
Common Words for Relationships
Basic Spanish Words for Places & Things
Spanish Basic Descriptive Words
Spanish Question Words
Spanish Must-Know Verbs
Next Steps
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I’ve included examples for you to use how to use this Spanish vocabulary.

Most Essential Words in Spanish

Expressions of politeness and Spanish greetings are some basic words you’ll need in most situations. Here are some of the terms you should focus on:

Adiós: Goodbye
Buenos días: Good morning
Buenas noches: Good night
Buenas tardes: Good afternoon
De nada: You’re welcome
Disculpe: Excuse me
Gracias: Thank you
Hola: Hi
No: No
Perdón: Sorry / Excuse me
Por favor: Please
Salud: Bless you / Cheers
Sí: Yes

Basic Pronouns in Spanish

Spanish pronouns are essential words we use to refer to people or things. As a beginner, you should learn subject pronouns first:

Yo: I
Tú: You (informal)
Él: He
Ella: She
Ellos / Ellas: They
Nosotros: We
Usted: You (formal)
Ustedes: You (plural)
Vosotros: You (plural Spain)

These common Spanish words can be combined with verbs to express the action a person is doing or with adjectives to describe them. Here are some simple phrases:

Yo soy Daniela.
I am Daniela.

Ella es maestra.
She is a teacher.

Ustedes parecen muy amables.
You guys seem very nice.

On top of subject pronouns, you should also know these basic Spanish pronouns:

Me: Myself / Me
Te: Yourself / You
Se: Herself / Himself / Yourself
Lo / La: It / Him / Her
Le: Him / Her / You (formal)
Nos: Us / Ourselves
Os: You (Spain)
Los / Las: Them
Les: You / Them

Tina se despierta muy tarde.
Tina wakes up very late.

Te llamé pero no me contestaste.
I called you but you didn’t answer me.

Check my guide to pronouns in Spanish to learn when and how to use each one of these words.

Spanish Words for People & Relationships

El amigo: Friend
La chica: Girl
El chico: Boy / Guy
El compañero: Classmate / Coworker
El esposo / La esposa: Husband / Wife
La familia: Family
La gente: People
El hermano / La hermana: Brother / Sister
Los hermanos: Siblings
El hijo / La hija: Son / Daughter
El hombre: Man
La mamá: Mom
La mujer: Woman
Los niños: Kids
El novio / La novia: Boyfriend / Girlfriend
El papá: Dad
La persona: Person
El señor: Mr. / Sir / Man
La señora: Mrs. / Madam / Woman
La señorita: Miss
El vecino: Neighbor

From a grammar point of view, these words are considered nouns. Spanish nouns are often followed by adjectives to describe how someone is or verbs to express what someone does.

No tengo vecinos.
I don’t have neighbors.

¿Tienes hermanos?
Do you have siblings?

Esa mujer es mi vecina.
That woman is my neighbor.

Take Note: Nouns in Spanish have gender and plural forms. In other words, they change to express whether the person or thing we refer to is singular, plural, masculine, or feminine.

Common Spanish Words for Places, Things & Time

El agua: Water
El banco: Bank
El año: Year
El árbol: Tree
El calor: Heat
La calle: Street
La casa: House
La ciudad: City
El clima: Weather
La comida: Food
El día: Day
La edad: Age
La escuela: School
La estación: Station
El frío: Cold
La habitación / el cuarto: Room
La hora: Hour / Time
El hospital: Hospital
La mañana: Morning
El mes: Month
La mesa: Table
La noche: Night
La oficina: Office
El país: Country
El parque: Park
La película: Movie
El restaurante: Restaurant
La ropa: Clothes
La semana: Week
La silla: Chair
El sol: Sun
La taza: Cup
La tarde: Afternoon / Evening
La tienda: Store
El vaso: Glass / Cup

And here are some examples using this Spanish vocabulary:

La silla es roja.
The chair is red.

Quiero un vaso de agua.
I want a glass of water.

Los niños están en su cuarto.
The kids are in their bedroom.

Disculpe, ¿dónde está el baño?
Excuse me, where is the bathroom?

Take Note: El and la are Spanish definite articles. They’re often used in vocabulary lists to express if a word is masculine (el) or feminine (la). Articles are not the only words that can be placed before nouns.

Spanish Vocabulary to Describe People & Things

The Spanish words below are basic terms that can help you describe people and things (adjectives) or actions (adverbs).

Ahora: Now
Amable: Kind / Nice
Alto: Tall
Allí: There
Aquí: Here
Ayer: Yesterday
Bien: Well / Good
Bonito: Pretty
Bueno: Good
Cerca: Near
Difícil: Difficult
Ese / Esa: That
Este / Esta: This
Fácil: Easy
Feo: Ugly
Grande: Big
Hoy: Today
Interesante: Interesting
Mal: Bad / Badly
Malo: Bad
Mucho: Much
Muy: Very
Lejos: Far
Lento: Slow
Pequeño: Small
Poco: Little
Rápido: Fast
Siempre: Always
Tarde: Late
Viejo: Old

Check these sentences:

Hoy hace mucho calor.
Today is very hot.

Tu hermano es muy amable.
Your brother is very nice.

Ellas siempre hablan rápido.
They always speak fast.

No tengo mucho tiempo.
I don’t have much time.

La tienda está lejos de aquí.
The store is far from here.

Take Note: In Spanish, adjectives are subject to adjective agreement, meaning that they must change to agree with the gender and number of the words they describe. Spanish adverbs, on the other hand, don’t have these types of changes.

Basic Question Words in Spanish

These are the basic Spanish interrogative words you can use to ask information questions:

¿Cómo? – How?
¿Cuándo? – When?
¿Dónde? – Where?
¿Qué? / ¿Cuál? – What? / Which?
¿Quién? – Who?
¿Por qué? – Why?
¿Cuánto? – How much?

¿Qué es eso?
What is that?

¿Cómo te llamas?
What’s your name?

¿Quién es ella?
Who is she?

¿Dónde está la estación de tren?
Where is the train station?

Keep in mind that question words in Spanish have particular uses that may not align with their English equivalents. So, make sure you understand how and when to use each term.

Spanish Basic Verbs

These are some of the most common verbs in Spanish you need to know:

Dar: Give
Estar: Be
Hacer: Do / Make
Hablar: Talk / Speak
Hay (haber): There is / There are
Gustar: Like
Ir: Go
Llamarse: Be named / Be called
Poder: Can
Querer: Want
Saber: Know
Ser: Be
Tener: Have
Ver: See
Vivir: Live

Check these simple sentences using these verbs:

Él se llama Sebastián.
His name is Sebastian.

Esas señoras viven en Madrid.
Those women live in Madrid.

Tú tienes un perro y un gato.
You have a dog and a cat.

Me gustan mucho las películas.
I like movies very much.

Nosotros vamos a ir al doctor.
We’re going to the doctor.

Your Next Steps to Level Up From Basic Words in Spanish

Now that you’ve learned the most common, basic words in Spanish, you should also check some basic questions and simple phrases that can help you kickstart your conversations.

When you’re ready, you should also check how to conjugate verbs in Spanish and a more thorough list of common verbs you must know. This list was meant to provide you with the most important terms. As a result, you may want to expand your Spanish vocabulary by learning the following set of words:

Download the Basic Spanish Words PDF

Congratulations, you’ve now learned the top most common Spanish words beginners should know. The trick to recalling these words when you need them is through practice and repetition. That’s why I’ve created a PDF for this guide which you can download for free. It contains all 135 basic words with their translations which you can use as cheat sheets when you need them!

Download PDF