Spanish Phrases


Free lists of useful Spanish phrases. Feel free to print off these vocabulary list to study for your own personal use.



Table of Contents:



Greetings & Introductions


One of the first steps to learning a language is of course learning how to greet people and introduce yourself.

Spanish has many different options for greeting others. Here are the universally understood greetings.

¡Hola! - Hello!

¿Cómo está? - How are you? [formal]
¿Cómo estás? - How are you? [informal]
¿Qué tal? – How’s it going?

¿Cómo se llama usted? – What’s your name? [formal]
¿Cómo te llamas? - What’s your name? [informal]


If you are in México, you might instead hear:

¿Qué onda? – how’s it going?


Some common answers are:

Estoy bien or Bien. – Good.
Muy bien. – Great.


And of course, you can add “thank you”:

Gracias. – Thank you.
Estoy bien, gracias. – I’m fine, thank you.


To state your name, say:

Me llamo… [name] – My name is… [name]
Soy de [country] – I’m from [country]


In response to meeting someone, you say:

¡Mucho gusto! – Pleased to meet you!


To say goodbye, you have several options:

¡Adiós! - Goodbye
¡Hasta luego! - See you later!
¡Hasta pronto! - See you soon!
Nos vemos. - See you soon.
¡Chau! – Bye! (informal)

One special note is that many native English speakers assume that one answers the phone by saying “¿hola?”, but you will usually hear people say “bueno”, “aló”, or “diga”.



Common Phrases

Here are some of the most commonly used phrases in the Spanish language. Memorizing phrases such as these will go a long way toward improving your use of the language.


a causa de – because of
a eso de – at about
a fin de que – so that
a pesar de – in spite of
a la vez - at the same time
a lo lejos – in the distance
a menos que – unless
a menudo – frequently
a propósito - by the way
a tiempo – on time
a través de – across
a un lado – to one side
ahora mismo – right now
al fin - at last
al menos – at least
al parecer - apparently
al principio – at the beginning
ante todo – first of all
antes que - rather than
así pues - therefore
aun así - even so
boca abajo – face down
boca arriba – face up
bromas aparte – all joking aside
buen provecho! – enjoy your meal!
cada vez menos – less and less
calle abajo – down the street
calle arriba – up the street
cambiar de idea – to change one’s mind
cambiar de tema – to change the subject
camino de – on the way to
claro que no – of course not
claro que sí – of course
como en – in about
como siempre – as usual
con respecto a – with regard to
conforme a – in accordance with
consultarlo con la almohada – to sleep on it
contra viento y marea – against all odds
creer que no – to think not
creer que sí – to think so
cuanto antes – as soon as possible
cuesta abajo – downhill
cuesta arriba – uphill
dado el caso que – provided that
dar a conocer – to make known
dar ánimo – to cheer up
dar atención – to pay attention
dar fe de – to vouch for
dar gusto – to please
dar la noticia – to break the news
darse cuenta de – to realize
darse la mano – to shake hands
darse prisa – to hurry
de manera que – so that
de moda – fashionable
de pie – standing
de todos modos – at any rate
de una vez – once and for all
de veras – really
desde entonces – since then
en cambio – on the other hand
en cuanto – as soon as
en efecto – sure enough
 en fin – in short
en lugar de – instead of
en todas partes – everywhere
entre tanto – meanwhile
estar de vuelta – to return, be back
estar para – to be about to
faltar a la palabra – to not keep one’s word
hablar en contra de – to speak against
hacer apuntes – to take notes
levantarle el ánimo – to lift someone’s spirits
mal genio – bad temper
mal sufrido – impatient
más bien que – rather than
más de una vez – more than one
más que nunca – more than ever
menos mal – at least
mientras tanto – meanwhile
nada en absoluto – nothing at all
ni siquiera – not even
ningún otro – nobody else
no es mucho que – it’s no wonder that
no hay para que – there’s no need to
no importa – nevermind
no le hace – it makes no difference
para que – in order that
para variar – for a change
peor que – worse than
perder de vista – to lose sight of
poca cosa – not much
poco rato – very soon
poner en claro – to clarify
poner en duda – to doubt
poner en marcha – to get going
poner faltas – to find fault with
ponerse bien – to get well
por ahora – for the time being
por algo – for some reason
por encima de – on top of
por esa razón – for that reason
por fin – finally, at last
por lo menos – at least
respecto a – with regard to
resultar que – to turn out that
saber de memoria – to know by heart
sano y salvo – safe and sound
si bien – although
si no – or else
tal para cual – two of a kind
tan pronto como – as soon as
tarde o temprano – sooner or later
todavía no – not yet
todo el año – year round
todo el tiempo – all the time
todo lo demás – everything else
tomar el pelo – to tease
tomar tiempo libre – to take time off
un par de – a couple of
un tanto – somewhat
uno a la vez – one at a time
uno por uno – one by one
volver loco – to drive crazy
ya es hora de – it’s time to
ya no – no longer


Expressions with "tener"

Here are some common idiomatic expressions used with the verb "tener". A lot of these expressions are very commonly used, so it is necessary to memorize them.


tener calor - to be warm
tener celos - to be jealous
tener cuidado - to be careful
tener derecho a - to be entitled to
tener en cuenta - to bear in mind
tener éxito - to be successful
tener frío - to be cold
tener ganas de - to feel like (+ infinitive verb)
tener hambre - to be hungry
tener la culpa - to be to blame
tener lugar - to take place
tener miedo - to be afraid
tener prisa - to be in a hurry
tener que - to have to (+ infinitive verb)
tener razón - to be right
tener sed - to be thirsty
tener sueño – to be sleepy