100 Easy Spanish Words for True Beginners Aimee Hansen Homeschool Spanish Academy

If you learn just 100 easy Spanish words, you will have learned far more of the Spanish language than you might think!

Why? We repeat ourselves. We use certain words more frequently and more commonly in how we express in any language. This includes Spanish, where these easy Spanish words are often repeated. 

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The First Steps in Learning Spanish Take You Farthest

Once you know 1,000 words in Spanish, you will recognize 88% of spoken conversation. Beyond that, increasing vocabulary brings a diminishing return on recognition of additional words.

Save for later: 1,000 Most Common Spanish Words

In other words, your first learning of easy Spanish words will technically gain you more understanding of the language than the incremental learning you do once you’re already an established beginner. On any journey, the beginning steps often matter the most. 

For example, you can go a long way just by learning the basics of greetings, numbers, and a few Spanish grammar basics so you can differentiate your nouns from your verbs.

Easy Spanish Words for ‘True Beginners’: What’s True?

Sometimes you want to express or caveat that you don’t really know the language even if you know some easy Spanish words, so you claim “beginner” status until you feel you have enough Spanish chops. It’s true, you are a beginner.

But in official language learning speak, you’re a “false beginner” if you’ve actually absorbed or studied some Spanish at some point in your life, even if you feel rusty enough to want to review it all again. 

You don’t feel comfortable claiming to know or speak Spanish—yet, it is still familiar to you. Sure, you’re a beginner.

But this list of 100 easy Spanish words is for “true beginners” — literally, you have never really been exposed to the language in your life. If you’ve never studied Spanish, you are a true  beginner, and this list is for you!

Spanish Pronunciation Basics 

Before we go into easy Spanish words, keep in mind these Spanish pronunciation basics. 

Nothing will make more of a difference in whether you are understood by others then how you pronounce your Spanish! If you study strictly from written material without speaking and listening, you may have a greater knowledge of the language, but you’ll wonder why you can’t be understood when speaking. 

I’m talking from experience here, as it was at first more comfortable for me to study written material by myself on bus rides while traveling through South America than brave conversation. 

But when it came to saying tiburón (shark) while traveling in Peru, I was exasperated at why nobody knew what I was saying, after repeating it several times. You’ll see why below. 

Before we get into easy Spanish words, these pronunciation basics will get you started.

Vowels: Only 5 Vowel Sounds in Spanish!

In English, we have a habit of using a sharp vowel or a clear vowel with no clear rule why at times, just because we know how the word sounds. 

For example, a in “game” is sharp, while a in “cat” is flat. 

Similarly, e in “we” is sharp, while e in “bed” is flat. They are totally different sounds, with no clear rule as to why one we say one sharp and the other flat in these cases.

In Spanish, five vowel sounds exist that are always the exact same sound, every single time you see them by themselves. They sound like this.

Spanish VowelPronunciationaaheayieeoohuoo 

To make it even clearer with a comparison to English: 

a sounds like a relaxed exhale or sigh in English 

e sounds like how you say the English letter “a” 

i sounds like how you say the English letter “e”

o has the sound of “owl” or “down” in English, not “pot” or “dot” 

u has the sound of “moo” or “coo” in English, not “cue” or “you”

So, you see I was pronouncing tiburón as “ty-boo-ron” when I needed to be saying “tee-bur-ohn” to be understood. 

Beyond these vowel sounds, you will see multiple vowels together in Spanish (ai, ue, ia), as in English. (Study how to pronounce these diphthongs and hiatuses.)

Tricky Spanish Consonants to Note!

In Spanish, these consonants stand out as being pronounced differently from how we say them in English, also depending on where they appear in a word and with what vowels. 

Spanish Consonant Soundsb & vb like “beach” – at beginning of word
v like “live” – in middle of wordck like “key” – if before a, o, u
s like “sit” – if before e or ichch like “church”dd like “diet” – at beginning of word
softer “th” – middle of wordgg like “go” – if before a, o, u
h like “him” – if before i, ehsilent, not pronouncedjh like “him”lly ñny like “canyon”rrrrr like “grrrrr”zs like “simple”

You’ll notice that b and v sound the same in the middle of a word in Spanish. 

Also, note that ñ is specific to the Spanish alphabet, and the ch, ll, and rr are double consonants in Spanish that have a different pronunciation than when they appear as singular. 

The rolling sound of rr will take a little practice. Place the tip of your tongue at the top of your mouth behind your front two teeth and vibrate it, like a boat motor, creating a tickle feeling. It sounds crazy and may look strange in the line for groceries, but it’s exactly the effect you’re going for. 

Knowing these basics, let it come in stride as you learn these easy Spanish words. With time, you can go deeper into pronouncing tricky consonants and the Spanish alphabet.

Let’s Get Into 100 Easy Spanish Words!

13 Very Common Spanish Words

You will use these basic Spanish words on a daily basis. 

Note that, unlike English, nouns always have a gender in Spanish.

The Spanish versions of “a” and “the” vary based on the gender of a noun and whether you are referring to singular or plural object(s) or subject(s).

Hola – hello

Adiós – goodbye

Por favor – please

Gracias – thank you

Lo siento – sorry

Salud – bless you (after someone sneezes)

Sí – yes

No – no

Quizás – maybe

El, los – the (masculine version – singular, plural)

La, las – the (feminine version – singular, plural)

Un, una – an (masculine version, feminine version) 

Unos, unas – some (masculine plural, feminine plural) 

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8 One-Word Questions to Ask in Spanish

You will want to clarify with questions. As in English, you can often ask a question with just one of these easy Spanish words.

¿Quién? – Who?

¿Qué? – What?

¿Por qué?  – Why?

¿Cuándo? – When? 

¿Dónde? – Where?

¿Cómo? – How?

¿Cuánto(s), Cuánta(s)? – How much (how many, plural)?

¿Cuál? – Which?

15 Personal Spanish Pronouns

You’ll want to specify who is personally doing the action (who is speaking?), who is the action being directed towards (who to?), and what things belongs to who (whose words?). 

When you refer to “your foot,” you would use a singular tu pie. When you refer to “your feet,” you would use the plural, tus pies. Where appropriate, masculine and feminine pronouns apply.

Yo – I

Él /ella – he/she

Ellos, ellas – they

Nosotros – we

Tú – you (informal)

Usted – you (formal)

Me – (to) me

Te – (to) you

Le – (to) him, her, you

Les – (to) them

Nos – (to) us, ourselves

Mi(s) – my

Tu(s) – your

Su(s) – her, his, yours (formal)

Nuestro(s), nuestra(s) – our(s)

7 Basic Spanish Pronouns

When a specific person is not the focus of a sentence, you will still want to be specific about what or who is with these easy Spanish words. 

Lo, ello – it

Este, esto, esta – this, this one

Ese, eso, esa – that, that one

Algo – something

Nada – nothing

Alguien – somebody

Nadie – nobody

6 Spanish Words of Basic Orientation

You can convey the basic orientation of time and space with these easy Spanish words. 

Antes – before

Después – after

Lejos – far

Cerca – near

Aquí – here

Allí – there

14 Spanish Nouns Related to Time

You can say when something happened, is happening or will happen with these easy Spanish words that reflect time. 

Tiempo – time

Vez, veces – one time, times

Hoy – today

Mañana – tomorrow, also morning

Ayer – yesterday

Tarde(s) – afternoon

Noche(s) – evening

Anoche – last night

Hora – hour

Año – year

Semana – week

Mes – month

Día – day

Ahora – now

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13 Spanish Conjunctions

You will connect corresponding words and thoughts with these common conjunctions—the shortest of all easy Spanish words in some cases (just a single letter!)

Que – that, who, which, than

Y – and

O – or

Como – as, like

Pero – but, except

Si – if, whether

Porque – because

Cuando – when

Ni – nor, neither

Donde – where

Aunque – although, even though

Sino – but, except

Mientras – while

10 Spanish Nouns For People

You can get more specific about who you are talking about in relation to yourself and others with these easy Spanish words for people.

Hombre – man

Mujer – woman

Chico, chica – boy, girl

Madre (mamá) – mother (mom)

Padre (papá) – father (dad)

Hijo, hija – son, daughter

Amigo/a – friend

Pareja – partner, couple

Persona – person

Familia – family

14 Basic Spanish Prepositions

You can indicate a relationship between words or phrases with these common Spanish prepositions—most often indicating relationships of direction, time, or location. 

En – in, on, or at

Por – through, for (as a mean), along, or by

Para – in order to, for (as an end)

Con – with

Sin – without

Sobre – about, above, on top of, over

Entre – between, among

Hasta – until

Desde – from, since

Durante – during, for (time)

Contra – against

Hacia – toward

De – or or from 

A – to or at

Keep learning: Spanish Prepositions of Time, Place, and More

What About Easy Spanish Verbs, Adjectives and Adverbs? 

You’re right! 100 easy Spanish words is not enough!

We’ve just begun, but to get you started with even more tools in your easy Spanish words toolbox, here’s another 50 words!

16 Basic Spanish Adverbs

Like in English, you can use these common Spanish adverbs to modify or describe adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs. 

Más – more

Ya – already, now, soon

Muy – very

También – also, too

Así – so, like this, like that

Bien – well

Solo (solamente) – only

Ahora – now

Siempre – always

Tan – so

Entonces – then

Menos – less

Luego – then, later

Además – besides, in addition

Casi – almost

Nunca – never

16 Basic Spanish Adjectives

As in English, you can use these simple easy Spanish words to describe nouns, the people, places and things around you.

Otro/a, otros/as – other, another

Todo/a, todos/as – whole, all or every

Cada – each or every

Mismo – same

Gran – large or great, put before a noun

Más – more

Poco – little, few or not a lot of

Menos – less, least, few or fewer

Mucho/a, muchos/as – a lot

Pequeño – small

Grande – large

Tanto/a – so many, so much

Mejor – better

Alguno/a, algunos/as – some

Difícil – difficult

Fácil –  easy

18 Common Spanish Verbs 

You’ll use and hear these common Spanish verbs frequently. They are in infinitive form here (their base form).

When speaking, you usually conjugate them to reflect subject and tense—such as who is performing the action and at what moment in time the action is happening. 

Ser – to be (permanent)

Estar – to be (non-permanent)

Ir – to go

Hacer – to do, to make

Haber – to have (as an auxiliary verb)

Tener – to have, to possess

Poder – to be able to, can 

Decir – to tell, to say

Venir – to come

Ver – to see

Dar – to give 

Saber – to know (a fact), to find out

Querer – to want, to love

Llegar – to arrive

Pasar – to pass, to spend time

Creer – to believe

Poner – to put 

Llamar – to name

Use venir when the destination is the same place as the speaker using the verb. Learn more.

Ready to Put These Easy Spanish Words Into Practice?

If you’re a true beginner, then these 150 easy Spanish words are a great first step. 

You might want to make flashcards to help you memorize them. You can play with the different lists to string together basic sentences from these easy Spanish words. To make it easier yet, you can also download this list as a PDF resource to reference. 

Additionally, you might want to check out our ultimate beginner resources, as well as short stories for beginners and Spanish podcasts for beginners.

But what will make a bigger difference than anything else you can do in propelling your Spanish learning is live conversation with a native Spanish speaker. Why not put these easy Spanish words into practice? 

So if you’re ready to shed your “true beginner” status within no time, sign up for a free class and begin learning Spanish today. 

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