71 Common Spanish Phrases To

Survive Your First Conversation

With A Native Speaker

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 Make sure you get my best language tips FREE by email...

Please go and click the activation link in the email I sent you!!

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:

 Greetings
 Small Talk
 Being Polite

 Dealing with Problems

 Questions Words
 Important Answers
 Special Occasions
 Saying Goodbye


Whether you are going to Mexico or Madrid chances are you'll find some of the
locals can speak a bit of English. But if you speak some Spanish, you'll be able to
have much more enjoyable and authentic experiences when you travel.
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.

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 You never know, maybe learning these phrases will motivate you to learn
to speak Spanish fluently!

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-la)
 #2 ¡Buenos días! – Good morning!

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 (BWAY-nos DEE-as)
 #3 ¡Buenas tardes! – Good evening!
 (BWAY-nas TAR-des)
 #4 ¡Bienvenido! – Welcome!
 (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.

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 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?

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

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 (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!

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 (GRA-thee-as/GRA-see-as)
 #15 ¡Muchas gracias! – Thank you (very much)!
 (MOO-chas GRA-thee-as/GRA-see-as)
 #16 ¡De nada! – You’re welcome!
 (de NA-da)
 #17 ¡Perdone! / ¡Oiga! – Excuse me (to ask for something)!
 (per-DON-ay/ OY-ga)
 #18 ¡Perdone! / Disculpe! – Excuse me (to get past)!
 (per-DON-ay/ dis-KUL-pay)
 #19 ¡Disculpe! – Sorry!
 (if you didn’t hear something) (dis-KUL-pay)
 #20 ¡Lo siento! – Sorry! (for a mistake)
 (lo see-EN-to)

DEALING WITH PROBLEMS

Of course, not every conversation or language exchange will go smoothly.

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 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?

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

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 #32 ¿Puedes hablar más despacio? – Can you speak more slowly?
 (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:

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

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

 (KOH-moh teh yah-mas)
 #34 ¿Qué hora tienes? – What time is it?
 (kay OH-ra tee-EN-es)
 #35 ¿Qué edad tienes? – How old are you?

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 (kay ay-DAD tee-EN-es)
 #36 ¿Cuántos años tienes? – How old are you?
 (KWAN-tos AN-yos tee-EN-es)
 #37 ¿De dónde viene? – Where are you from?
 (de DON-day vee-EN-ay)
 #38 ¿Dónde vives? – Where do you live?
 (DON-day VEE-ves)
 #39 ¿Tienes hermanos o hermanas? – Do you have brothers or sisters?
 (tee-EN-es er-MA-nos o er-MA-nas)
 #40 ¿Cuánto cuesta eso? – How much is that?
 (KWAN-to KWES-ta eso)
 #41 ¿Qué es esto? – What is this?
 (kay es ES-to)
 #42 ¿Entiende? – Do you understand?
 (en-tee-EN-day)
 #43 ¿Comprende? – Do you understand?
 (com-prEN-day)
 #44 ¿Hablas inglés? – Do you speak English?
 (AB-las in-glAYs)
 #45 ¿Dónde está el baño? – Where is the bathroom?
 (DON-day es-TAH el BAN-yo)

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 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…

 (me YA-mo …)
 #47 Mi nombre es… – My name is
 (mi NOM-bray es …)
 #48 (Yo) tengo … años – I am … years old.
 (yo TEN-go … AN-yos)
 #49 (Yo) soy de… – I come from ….
 (yo soy de …)
 #50 Sí – Yes
 (see)
 #51 No – No
 (no)

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 #52 Tal vez – Maybe
 (tal ves)
 #53 Siempre – Always
 (see-EM-pray)
 #54 Nunca – Never
 (NUN-kah)
 #55 A veces – Sometimes
 (A VE-says)
 #56 Claro – Of course
 (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!

 (di-vi-EHR-te-te)
 #58 ¡Buen viaje! – Have a good trip!

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

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

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 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

 (ah-dee-OS)
 #67 ¡Buenas noches! – Goodnight!
 (bway-nas no-ches)
 #68 ¡Hasta luego! – See you later
 (AS-ta loo-AY-go)
 #69 ¡Hasta pronto! – See you soon
 (AS-ta PRON-to)
 #70 ¡Hasta mañana! – See you tomorrow

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.

 (AS-ta man-YAN-a)
 #71 Nos vemos – See you
 (nos VAY-mos)
So there you have it: everyday common Spanish phrases to help you get started
on your Spanish journey.

With these phrases in your back pocket, you will soon find yourself having your
first basic conversations and getting excited about continuing to improve your
Spanish.

So now that you've learned the basics, are you ready to take the next step on your
Spanish journey?

One of my favourite ways to learn is through Short-Stories and that's why I've
written a book of short stories in Spanish especially for beginners!

These short stories are enjoyable and interesting while at the same time
providing all of the most important vocabulary and grammar you need to get
started improving your Spanish. You can get your copy here.

Or if you've already been learning Spanish for a little while, you might prefer
the Fluent Spanish Academy. The Academy has everything you need to go
from Intermediate Spanish to Fluency…and Beyond! Click here to get your hands
on some free samples of the material included in the Academy.

How many of these phrases did you know already? Which new phrases do you
think will be most useful for you in your conversations?

Copyrights © 2018 Olly Richards Publishing Ltd.

All Rights Reserved.