Spanish Phrases for a Holiday in Spain: The Ones You'll Actually Use

Off to Spain? Here are the Spanish phrases you'll actually use on holiday, from ordering a caña (KA-nya) to asking for the bill, with the pronunciation people use in Spain.

Most phrase lists online mix in Latin American Spanish, so you end up asking for a jugo (HOO-go) when every menu in Spain says zumo (THOO-mo). This guide is Spain Spanish (Castilian) from start to finish, written for UK holidaymakers. Learn a handful, have a go, and you'll be amazed how warmly people respond.

First, the "th" sound 🗣️

In most of Spain, z, and c before e or i, sound like the "th" in "thanks". It isn't a lisp, it's just how Spanish is spoken in Spain. In the pronunciation guides below, the bit in CAPITALS is the part to stress.

• gracias (thank you): GRA-thyas
• cerveza (beer): ther-BE-tha
• zumo (juice): THOO-mo
• hacer (to do or make): a-THER

Two more quick tips: the h is always silent (hola is O-la), and j is a throaty sound like the "ch" in "loch" (jamón is ha-MON, said from the back of your throat).

Hello, please and thank you 👋

• Hola (O-la): Hello
• Buenos días (BWE-nos DEE-as): Good morning (until lunch, which in Spain is around 2pm)
• Buenas tardes (BWE-nas TAR-des): Good afternoon or good evening (from lunch until it gets dark)
• Buenas noches (BWE-nas NO-ches): Good evening or goodnight (later at night)
• Buenas (BWE-nas): A friendly, casual "hi", any time of day. You'll hear it everywhere.
• Por favor (por fa-BOR): Please
• Gracias (GRA-thyas) / Muchas gracias (MOO-chas GRA-thyas): Thank you / Thank you very much
• De nada (de NA-da): You're welcome
• Perdona (per-DO-na): Excuse me (to get someone's attention, polite)
• Lo siento (lo SYEN-to): I'm sorry
• Hasta luego (AS-ta LWE-go): Bye, see you. Spaniards use it as a general goodbye, even if they'll never see you again.

The little words Spaniards say all the time 👍

• Vale (BA-le): OK. The most useful word in Spain. Agreeing, confirming, finishing a chat: vale (BA-le).
• ¿Qué tal? (ke TAL): How are you? / How's it going?
• Muy bien, ¿y tú? (mwee BYEN, ee TOO): Very well, and you?
• No pasa nada (no PA-sa NA-da): No worries, it's fine
• Un momento (oon mo-MEN-to): Just a moment
• ¡Qué bonito! (ke bo-NEE-to): How lovely!

When you get stuck 🤔

• Lo siento, hablo un poco de español (lo SYEN-to, A-blo oon PO-ko de es-pa-NYOL): Sorry, I speak a little Spanish
• ¿Puedes repetir, por favor? (PWE-des re-pe-TEER, por fa-BOR): Could you repeat that, please?
• Más despacio, por favor (mas des-PA-thyo, por fa-BOR): More slowly, please
• No entiendo (no en-TYEN-do): I don't understand
• ¿Cómo se dice ... en español? (KO-mo se DEE-the ... en es-pa-NYOL): How do you say ... in Spanish?
• ¿Hablas inglés? (A-blas een-GLES): Do you speak English? (Try the Spanish first, people really appreciate it.)

In bars and cafés ☕

This is where Spain Spanish really differs. In a Spanish bar you don't say "can I have", you say "will you put me".

• ¿Me pones una caña, por favor? (me PO-nes OO-na KA-nya, por fa-BOR): Can I have a small draught beer, please? (A caña (KA-nya) is the classic small beer in Spain.)
• Una cerveza sin alcohol (OO-na ther-BE-tha seen al-KOL): An alcohol-free beer
• Un tinto de verano (oon TEEN-to de be-RA-no): Red wine with lemonade, very popular in summer
• Un café con leche (oon ka-FE kon LE-che): A milky coffee, the closest thing to a latte
• Un café solo (oon ka-FE SO-lo): A small black coffee, like an espresso
• Un cortado (oon kor-TA-do): An espresso with a splash of milk
• Un zumo de naranja (oon THOO-mo de na-RAN-ha): An orange juice (often freshly squeezed)
• Agua con gas / sin gas (A-gwa kon GAS / seen GAS): Sparkling / still water
• ¿Me pones otra, por favor? (me PO-nes O-tra, por fa-BOR): Can I have another one, please?

Eating out 🥘

Lunch in Spain is usually between 2pm and 4pm, and dinner rarely starts before 9pm. Arrive at 6pm and you might have the restaurant to yourself.

• Una mesa para dos, por favor (OO-na ME-sa PA-ra DOS, por fa-BOR): A table for two, please
• ¿Tenéis la carta en inglés? (te-NEYS la KAR-ta en een-GLES): Do you have the menu in English? (In Spain, the menu is la carta (la KAR-ta).)
• ¿Qué es el menú del día? (ke es el me-NOO del DEE-a): What's the set menu of the day? (Usually a great-value lunch with starter, main, dessert and a drink.)
• Para mí, ... (PA-ra MEE, ...): For me, ... (the easiest way to order)
• Una ración de ... (OO-na ra-THYON de ...) / Media ración de ... (ME-dya ra-THYON de ...): A sharing plate of ... / A half portion of ...
• Soy alérgico (soy a-LER-hee-ko, man) / Soy alérgica (soy a-LER-hee-ka, woman) a ... (a ...): I'm allergic to ...
• Soy vegetariano (soy be-he-ta-RYA-no) / vegetariana (be-he-ta-RYA-na): I'm vegetarian
• ¡Qué rico! (ke REE-ko) / Está buenísimo (es-TA bwe-NEE-see-mo): Delicious! / It's really good
• La cuenta, por favor (la KWEN-ta, por fa-BOR): The bill, please
• ¿Me cobras? (me KO-bras): Can I pay? (Very common in Spanish bars, it literally means "will you charge me?")
• ¿Puedo pagar con tarjeta? (PWE-do pa-GAR kon tar-HE-ta): Can I pay by card?

Waiters may say ¿Qué queréis? (ke ke-RAYS) to a group. That's the vosotros (bo-SO-tros) form ("what do you all want?"), which you'll hear in Spain but not in Latin America.

Getting around 🚆

• ¿Dónde está ...? (DON-de es-TA ...): Where is ...?
• ¿Dónde están los servicios? (DON-de es-TAN los ser-BEE-thyos) / ¿Dónde está el aseo? (DON-de es-TA el a-SE-o): Where are the toilets? (These are the words you'll see on signs in Spain.)
• ¿Está lejos? (es-TA LE-hos) / ¿Está cerca? (es-TA THER-ka): Is it far? / Is it near?
• A la derecha / a la izquierda / todo recto (a la de-RE-cha / a la eeth-KYER-da / TO-do REK-to): On the right / on the left / straight on
• Un billete de ida y vuelta a ..., por favor (oon bee-YE-te de EE-da ee BWEL-ta a ..., por fa-BOR): A return ticket to ..., please (In Spain a ticket is a billete (bee-YE-te).)
• ¿A qué hora sale el tren? (a ke O-ra SA-le el TREN): What time does the train leave?
• Al aeropuerto, por favor (al a-e-ro-PWER-to, por fa-BOR): To the airport, please
• ¿Me puedes llamar un taxi? (me PWE-des ya-MAR oon TAK-see): Could you call me a taxi?

At the hotel or apartment 🏨

• Tengo una reserva (TEN-go OO-na re-SER-ba): I have a booking
• ¿A qué hora es el desayuno? (a ke O-ra es el de-sa-YOO-no): What time is breakfast?
• ¿Cuál es la contraseña del wifi? (kwal es la kon-tra-SE-nya del WEE-fee): What's the wifi password?
• El aire acondicionado no funciona (el AI-re a-kon-dee-thyo-NA-do no foon-THYO-na): The air conditioning isn't working
• ¿Puedo dejar las maletas aquí? (PWE-do de-HAR las ma-LE-tas a-KEE): Can I leave my suitcases here?

Shopping and the market 🛍️

• ¿Cuánto cuesta? (KWAN-to KWES-ta) / ¿Cuánto es? (KWAN-to ES): How much is it? / How much is that?
• Solo estoy mirando, gracias (SO-lo es-TOY mee-RAN-do, GRA-thyas): I'm just looking, thanks
• Me lo llevo (me lo YE-bo): I'll take it
• ¿Tienes una talla más grande / más pequeña? (TYE-nes OO-na TA-ya mas GRAN-de / mas pe-KE-nya): Do you have a bigger / smaller size?
• Una bolsa, por favor (OO-na BOL-sa, por fa-BOR): A bag, please

At the beach and pool 🏖️

• ¿Cuánto cuesta alquilar una sombrilla y dos hamacas? (KWAN-to KWES-ta al-kee-LAR OO-na som-BREE-ya ee dos a-MA-kas): How much to hire a parasol and two sunloungers?
• Crema solar (KRE-ma so-LAR): Sun cream
• ¿Se puede nadar aquí? (se PWE-de na-DAR a-KEE): Can you swim here?
• Bandera roja (ban-DE-ra RRO-ha): Red flag (no swimming!)

If something goes wrong 🩹

• ¿Dónde hay una farmacia? (DON-de ai OO-na far-MA-thya): Where is there a chemist? (Look for the green cross.)
• Me duele la cabeza / el estómago (me DWE-le la ka-BE-tha / el es-TO-ma-go): I've got a headache / a stomach ache
• Necesito un médico (ne-the-SEE-to oon ME-dee-ko): I need a doctor
• ¡Ayuda! (a-YOO-da): Help!
• He perdido mi pasaporte / mi móvil (e per-DEE-do mee pa-sa-POR-te / mee MO-beel): I've lost my passport / my phone (In Spain a mobile is a móvil (MO-beel).)

The emergency number in Spain is 112, and they can usually help in English.

Spain Spanish vs what you might have learnt 🇪🇸

If you learnt some Spanish from an app or a US website, a few words will be different in Spain:

• Juice: zumo (THOO-mo) in Spain (not jugo, HOO-go)
• Car: coche (KO-che) in Spain (not carro, KA-rro or auto, OW-to)
• Mobile phone: móvil (MO-beel) in Spain (not celular, the-loo-LAR)
• Ticket: billete (bee-YE-te) in Spain (not boleto, bo-LE-to)
• Computer: ordenador (or-de-na-DOR) in Spain (not computadora, kom-poo-ta-DO-ra)

Use these and you'll sound like you've learnt your Spanish in Spain, because you have.

One trick to make them stick 💡

Don't try to learn all of these. Pick five you know you'll use, and say each one out loud in a silly sentence. ¿Me pones una caña y un zumo para mi perro? (me PO-nes OO-na KA-nya ee oon THOO-mo PA-ra mee PE-rro): "Can I have a small beer and a juice for my dog?" It's daft, which is exactly why you'll remember it at the bar.

Want these words to stick? Save them in my app and practise with games and quizzes before you fly. It's free to start at app.funlearningspanish.com.

The short version ✅

• Say "th" for z and soft c: gracias is GRA-thyas.
• In bars, ask ¿Me pones ...? (me PO-nes ...), and pay with ¿Me cobras? (me KO-bras) or La cuenta, por favor (la KWEN-ta, por fa-BOR).
• Use Spain words: vale (BA-le), zumo (THOO-mo), móvil (MO-beel), billete (bee-YE-te), servicios (ser-BEE-thyos).

Keep learning: get to grips with "to be" in our guide to ser vs estar, then plan a trip north with Discovering Catalonia.

👉 Next steps

🏝️ Heading somewhere specific? Try Spanish for Mallorca (with the Catalan signs you'll see) or Spanish for Benidorm and the Costas.