Spanish Learning Guide
50 Essential Spanish Phrases for Beginners
If you’re just starting to learn Spanish, these are the phrases to know first. They cover greetings, good manners, and the questions you’ll use every day — each one with a simple “say it like” guide so you can read it out loud right away.
Greetings
| English | Spanish | Say it like |
|---|
| Hello | Hola | OH-lah |
| Good morning | Buenos días | BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs |
| Good afternoon | Buenas tardes | BWEH-nahs TAR-dess |
| Good evening / night | Buenas noches | BWEH-nahs NOH-chess |
| How are you? | ¿Cómo estás? | KOH-moh ess-TAHSS |
| I’m fine, thank you | Estoy bien, gracias | ess-TOY bee-EN GRAH-see-ahs |
| And you? | ¿Y tú? | ee TOO |
| Nice to meet you | Mucho gusto | MOO-choh GOOS-toh |
| What’s your name? | ¿Cómo te llamas? | KOH-moh teh YAH-mahs |
| My name is… | Me llamo… | meh YAH-moh |
| Goodbye | Adiós | ah-dee-OHS |
| See you later | Hasta luego | AHS-tah loo-EH-goh |
| See you tomorrow | Hasta mañana | AHS-tah mahn-YAH-nah |
Polite Words
| English | Spanish | Say it like |
|---|
| Please | Por favor | por fah-VOR |
| Thank you | Gracias | GRAH-see-ahs |
| Thank you very much | Muchas gracias | MOO-chahs GRAH-see-ahs |
| You’re welcome | De nada | deh NAH-dah |
| Excuse me | Perdón | per-DOHN |
| I’m sorry | Lo siento | loh see-EN-toh |
| Yes | Sí | SEE |
| No | No | NOH |
| Of course | Por supuesto | por soo-PWES-toh |
Practice these the fun way — free
Say It Twice is a free online word game where you spin the wheel and turn
everyday English phrases into Spanish, one letter at a time. It’s the
relaxing way to make these words stick.
Play Say It Twice →
Getting By in a Conversation
| English | Spanish | Say it like |
|---|
| I don’t understand | No entiendo | noh en-tee-EN-doh |
| I don’t speak Spanish well | No hablo bien español | noh AH-bloh bee-EN ess-pahn-YOL |
| Do you speak English? | ¿Hablas inglés? | AH-blahs een-GLESS |
| Can you help me? | ¿Me puedes ayudar? | meh PWEH-dess ah-yoo-DAR |
| Please speak slowly | Habla despacio, por favor | AH-blah dess-PAH-see-oh por fah-VOR |
| How do you say… in Spanish? | ¿Cómo se dice… en español? | KOH-moh seh DEE-seh ... en ess-pahn-YOL |
| What does… mean? | ¿Qué significa…? | keh sig-nee-FEE-kah |
| I have a question | Tengo una pregunta | TEN-goh OO-nah preh-GOON-tah |
Handy Everyday Questions
| English | Spanish | Say it like |
|---|
| Where is the bathroom? | ¿Dónde está el baño? | DOHN-deh ess-TAH el BAHN-yoh |
| How much is it? | ¿Cuánto cuesta? | KWAN-toh KWES-tah |
| What time is it? | ¿Qué hora es? | keh OH-rah ess |
| I would like… | Quisiera… | kee-see-EH-rah |
| The check, please | La cuenta, por favor | lah KWEN-tah por fah-VOR |
| I’m hungry | Tengo hambre | TEN-goh AHM-breh |
| I’m thirsty | Tengo sed | TEN-goh SED |
The Numbers 1 to 10
| English | Spanish | Say it like |
|---|
| One | Uno | OO-noh |
| Two | Dos | DOHS |
| Three | Tres | TRESS |
| Four | Cuatro | KWAH-troh |
| Five | Cinco | SEEN-koh |
| Six | Seis | SAYSS |
| Seven | Siete | see-EH-teh |
| Eight | Ocho | OH-choh |
| Nine | Nueve | NWEH-veh |
| Ten | Diez | dee-ESS |