DecksThe 100 Most Common Spanish Words, with Example Sentences
These are the 100 most frequent Spanish words, ranked by how often they appear in a large body of real Spanish text. The list is the first 100 cards of the Spanish Frequency 5000 deck, in the same order you would study them.
Most of the top of the list is grammar: articles (el, la, un), prepositions (de, en, a, con), pronouns and the most common verbs (ser, estar, haber, tener, hacer). They carry little meaning on their own, but almost every sentence uses several of them.
| # | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | el, la art el diccionario tenía también frases útiles | the (+m, f) the dictionary also had useful phrases |
| 2 | de prep es el hijo de un amigo mío | of, from he is the son of a friend of mine |
| 3 | que conj dice que no quiere estudiar | that, which he says that he doesn’t want to study |
| 4 | y conj saben leer y escribir | and they know how to read and write |
| 5 | en prep vivo en el segundo piso | in, on I live on the second floor |
| 6 | un art era un hombre simpático | a, an he was a nice man |
| 7 | ser v la primera persona narrativa puede ser por el protagonista | to be (norm) the first-person narrative can be through the protagonist |
| 8 | a prep me voy al extranjero por el verano | to, at I am going abroad for the summer |
| 9 | él pron él es bastante simpático | he, [ellos] them (m) he is very nice |
| 10 | lo art lo mejor es estudiar mucho | the (+neut) the best thing is to study a lot |
| 11 | no adv no tiene dinero | no he has no money |
| 12 | su adj ¿Quién era? ¿Su hermana? ¿Su amiga? | his/her/their/your (–fam) Who was it? His sister? Her friend? |
| 13 | haber v no ha dicho nada | to have (+Ved) he hasn’t said a thing |
| 14 | con prep hay un hombre con ella | with there is a man with her |
| 15 | por prep caminamos por el parque | by, for, through we walked through the park |
| 16 | para prep ¡Tengo una sorpresa sensacional para ti! | for, to, in order to I have a wonderful surprise for you! |
| 17 | mí pron el regalo era para mí | me (obj prep) the gift was for me |
| 18 | lo pron lo compré en la tienda | [3rd person] (dir obj-m) I bought it at the store |
| 19 | tener v Mi padre tiene varios relojes antiguos. | to have My father has several antique watches. |
| 20 | como conj ser compositor en España es como ser torero en Finlandia | like, as being a composer in Spain is like being a bullfighter in Finland |
| 21 | estar v él está en el trabajo | to be (location, change from norm) he is at work |
| 22 | me pron ¿Cuando me va a llamar? | me (obj) When is he going to call me? |
| 23 | más adj él necesitaba más dinero | more he needed more money |
| 24 | este adj es igual en el este como en el oeste | this (m) [esta (f)] it is the same in the east as in the west |
| 25 | le pron nunca le dijo la verdad | [3rd person] (indir obj) she never told him the truth |
| 26 | hacer v he podido hacer lo que me gusta | to do, make I have been able to do what I like |
| 27 | se pron el saber de los geógrafos griegos se difundió por Europa | [“reflexive” marker] Greek knowledge of geography spread throughout Europe |
| 28 | yo pron ¡Yo soy el padre! | I (subj) I am the father! |
| 29 | o conj sí esperaba uno o dos muertos | or yes, he expected one or two deaths |
| 30 | pero conj no significa nada para mí, pero no puedo olvidarla | but, yet, except it means nothing to me, but I can’t forget it |
| 31 | decir v Parece que dice la verdad. | to tell, say It seems like he is telling the truth. |
| 32 | poder v Con estos datos se puede tener una primera idea del mecanismo. | to be able to, can With these facts we can begin to understand the mechanism |
| 33 | ir v ¿Quieres ir a la playa este fin de semana? | to go Do you want to go to the beach this weekend? |
| 34 | ese adj ¿Dónde viven esas mujeres? | that (m) [esa (f)] Where do these women live? |
| 35 | otro adj No comparte su taxi nunca con otros viajeros a menos que les conoce. | other, another Don’t share your taxi with other travelers unless you know them. |
| 36 | si conj si quiere cazar, vamos a cazar | if, whether if he wants to hunt, let’s go hunting |
| 37 | mi adj mi casa es su casa | my my house is your house |
| 38 | ver v había que subir para ver las ruinas | to see you have to climb up to see the ruins |
| 39 | ya adv su marido ya ha dicho todo | already, still her husband has already said it all |
| 40 | porque conj lo vendo sólo porque tengo un problema muy grande | because I am only selling it because I am in a predicament |
| 41 | mucho adj por lo visto tienen mucho dinero | much, many, a lot (ADV) apparently they have a lot of money |
| 42 | dar v me dio esta carta para ud | to give he gave me this letter for you |
| 43 | muy adv está muy contento con mi trabajo | very, really she is very happy with my work |
| 44 | saber v se necesita humildad para saber reconocer las propias faltas | to know (a fact), find out you need humility to know how to recognize your own faults |
| 45 | sí adv quiero una respuesta concreta: sí o no | yes I need a solid answer: yes or no |
| 46 | año nm no lo supo hasta casi un año después | year he didn’t find out until almost a year later |
| 47 | ti pron no, la carta no es para ti | you (obj prep-sg/+fam) no, the letter is not for you |
| 48 | te pron ¿No te han hablado? | you (obj/+fam) They haven’t spoken with you? |
| 49 | también adv también habla italiano | also she speaks Italian as well |
| 50 | qué pron no sé qué voy a hacer | what?, which?, how (+ADJ)! I don’t know what I’m going to do |
| 51 | alguno adj habló algunas palabras con el agente de negocios | some, a few he spoke a few words with the business agent |
| 52 | nos pron nos vio en la calle | us (obj) he saw us on the street |
| 53 | tu adj ésta es tu casa y ésta es tu cama | your (+fam) this is your house and this is your bed |
| 54 | sin prep se habían quedado sin dinero | without they were left without money |
| 55 | mismo adj pronunciando el mismo discurso en siete idiomas | same giving the same speech in seven languages |
| 56 | eso pron y eso no es todo | that (n) and that isn’t everything |
| 57 | cuando adv aquel libro es de mis nietos, cuando eran bebes todavía | when that book belonged to my grandchildren, when they were still babies |
| 58 | querer v quiero que este proceso salga con limpieza | to want, love I want this process to go cleanly |
| 59 | vez nf es la primera vez que estoy junto al mar | time (specific occurrence); en v. de: instead of this is the first time that I have been near to the sea |
| 60 | hasta prep toda la noche, hasta las tres de la mañana | until, up to, even (ADV) all night long, until three in the morning |
| 61 | la pron la puso en su bolsillo | [3rd person] (dir obj-f) he put it in his pocket |
| 62 | sobre prep dejó el papel sobre la mesa y se fue | on top of, over, about he left the paper on top of the table and left |
| 63 | entre prep la cosa es entre tú y yo | between, among the matter is between you and me |
| 64 | dos num la familia se reúne cada dos años | two the family gets together every two years |
| 65 | día nm cada día hay más problemas | day every day there are more problems |
| 66 | grande adj tiene los grandes ojos negros y bonitos | large, great, big she has the biggest and most beautiful black eyes |
| 67 | así adv la vida es así | like that life is like that |
| 68 | pasar v no ha pasado ni un bus | to pass, spend (time) not a single bus has passed by |
| 69 | cosa nf estoy ya interesado en otra cosa | thing I am interested in a different matter |
| 70 | desde prep Lo habia pensado desde el principio que era una mal idea. | from, since I thought from the beginning that this was a bad idea. |
| 71 | deber v la cosa está en el lugar donde debe estar | should, ought to; to owe the thing is in the place where it should be |
| 72 | ella pron ella es muy estudiosa | she, [ellas] them (f) she is very studious |
| 73 | pues conj pues, venga usted cuando quiera | then, well then well then, come whenever you want |
| 74 | entonces adv vamos entonces a cambiarlo | so, then then we are going to change it |
| 75 | llegar v por fin llegamos al fondo de la catarata | to arrive we finally arrived at the bottom of the waterfall |
| 76 | poco adj trabajó poco tiempo con él | little, few, a little bit (adv) he worked a little while with him |
| 77 | nuestro adj no servía para nuestro país porque somos diferentes | our it was no good for our contry because we’re different |
| 78 | bien adv el número de bienes que pueda poseer en un momento dado | well the number of goods one possesses in a given moment |
| 79 | ni conj pero ni eso me tranquilizó | not even, neither, nor but not even that reassured me |
| 80 | tiempo nm ha estado mucho tiempo con ella | time (general) he has been with her a long time |
| 81 | ahora adv lo importante ahora es contarte lo que le pasó | now the important thing now is to tell you what happened |
| 82 | primero adj Primero, vamos a ir al supermercado. | first First, we are going to go to the grocery store. |
| 83 | creer v creo en la justicia de Dios | to believe, think I believe in the justice of God |
| 84 | donde adv no sé donde está la llave | where I don’t know where the key is |
| 85 | vida nf ha dedicado toda la vida a la música | life she has dedicated her life to music |
| 86 | dejar v ella no dejó que yo lo olvidara | to let, leave she didn’t let me forget it |
| 87 | nada pron no hay nada que hacer | nothing, (not) at all there is nothing to do |
| 88 | tanto adj no podía creer que haya tanta gente junta | so much, so many I couldn’t believe there were so many people together |
| 89 | parecer v Mi burra es tan flaca parece un esqueleto. | to seem, look like My donkey is so thin he looks like a skeleton. |
| 90 | hablar v algunos hablan quechua, español, e inglés | to speak, talk some of them speak Quechua, Spanish, and English |
| 91 | poner v puso el cuchillo en la mano | to put (on), get (+ADJ) he put the knife in his hand |
| 92 | parte nf el arte es una parte tan importante de la cultura | part, portion art is such an important part of culture |
| 93 | eh interj Te interesa esta bufanda, ¿eh? | eh You are interested in this scarf, eh? |
| 94 | nuevo adj marcaba el comienzo de una nueva vida para mí | new it marked the beginning of a new life for me |
| 95 | sólo adv no siempre vestía ropa de mujer; sólo en carnaval | only, just I don’t always wear women’s clothes; only during carnival |
| 96 | siempre adv siempre ha sido así | always, forever she has always been like that |
| 97 | hombre nm yo soy un hombre de pocas necesidades | man, mankind, husband I am a man of few needs |
| 98 | bueno adv Bueno, ¿y ahora qué hacemos? | well . . . Well, so what are we going to do now? |
| 99 | seguir v no la puedo seguir porque habla demasiado rápido | to follow, keep on I couldn’t keep up because she was speaking so quickly |
| 100 | quedar v El aire empezó a quedarse quieto. | to remain, stay The air began to remain still. |
How to study this list
- Learn the word with its sentence. Each card has an example sentence. Words like que, se and lo have several uses, and the sentence shows one of them in context.
- Learn nouns with their article. The list writes el, la for "the" because Spanish has both; for nouns, learn el libro rather than libro.
- Don't try to learn all 100 at once. With spaced repetition, 10 to 20 new words a day is a common pace, and the reviews for earlier words keep coming back on top of that.
What comes after the first 100
The full deck continues to 5,000 words in the same frequency order, so each new word is the next most useful one. Spanish Picture Starter is an alternative starting point: 800 beginner words.
Published 2026-10-07.