Spanish Language Survival Kit - Most common Spanish Phrases to Learn

Most common Spanish Phrases to learn

Picture this: You’re in Spain, enjoying the beautiful summer sun. COVID is a long-distant memory. It’s early evening and you’ve made friends with a few of the locals and try to impress them with a conversation in your beginner-level Spanish. You sit down at the beach bar, ready to impress them with your newly-learned phrases. Only, you get tongue tied and don’t know where to start. You feel yourself going red (and it’s not because of the sun!)

Conversing in Spanish can be tricky when you’re just starting out. To help you out, we’ve put together a Spanish Language survival kit with the most useful words and phrases that you’ll need to learn Spanish quickly and have lots of fun at the same time!

TOP TIPS for when you’re just starting out with learning conversational Spanish:

Don’t worry about grammar

We know, it's weird to hear from someone that claims to know their stuff about languages! In fact, studies have shown that diving into grammar (and as such, the theories and reasoning behind why words and sentences are formed in the way that they are) too early can actually slow down your progress. 

It might seem counterintuitive, but when you’re just starting out, the most important thing is to get out of your comfort zone. If that means throwing yourself head-first into language learning, then go for it! Fine-tuning the grammar can come later - connections with people are more beneficial.  

Think of it this way: You didn’t learn to swim by reading a manual. In reality, that would be really difficult. Because even if you understand the principles of kicking your legs, moving your arms and taking deep breaths, when you jump into the water, you won’t know what’s hit you (and you’ll probably end up with a mouth full of pool water). 

Laugh at your mistakes

If your gaffe gives someone the giggles, then seeing the funny side together might just help you make a new friend. Also, laughing releases dopamine, which some studies say can improve your ability to remember stuff (which probably explains why you can quote The Simpsons by heart. Or Friends. Or Monty Python).

The memory of the time you accidentally asked an Italian colleague to “passare il pene” (pass the penis) instead of “passare il pane” (pass the bread) is definitely going to stick around more easily than an uneventful dinner (and you definitely won’t make that mistake twice!).

Conversing in Spanish

Below, we’ve listed some of the most common phrases in general conversation, along with words that we think should be added to your very own survival kit! Why not start a new document or note in your phone with a select handful of these, and try and start learning? You’ll master them before you know it. Plus, for loads more useful Spanish phrases after you’ve mastered these, head to our Spanish Video Phrasebook!

How to say: Greetings and Names

Greetings are useful to know in Spanish, whether you’re saying good morning, good evening, a formal ‘hello’ or a more casual ‘hey’. There are a few different ways to say hello and greet people. Knowing someone’s name is also handy, especially if you’re a Spanish beginner, you can get someone’s attention easily if you need a little help with the language. 

How to say: Conversation starters/Open ended questions and phrases

Once you’re feeling a little more comfortable with the language, these phrases can help start and steer a conversation. You can also find out a lot about someone by asking simple questions!

Checking in to see how someone is doing is another useful set of Spanish phrases that you can learn. 

How to: End a conversation

Just as greeting someone politely is super important, knowing how to say goodbye (and knowing what variations to use at different times) in Spanish is also useful knowledge. 

How to say: Thank you 

Politeness is key when you’re learning a new language! If you’re struggling or need help finishing a sentence, it’s likely that a native speaker will help you if you’re polite. Saying thank you in Spanish is a useful skill that can serve you well in many situations.

Spanish variations:

Spanish has a lot of different variants, the most popular is Mexican Spanish with a whopping 121 million speakers! We’ve selected a few of the words and phrases from above and translated them into their Mexican Spanish variations, so they’ll be super handy to also know when chatting with your Mexican friends!

NOTE: These are really casual and informal, so don’t use these in a workplace setting! 

Other useful phrases:

To help your conversation flow nicely, we’ve included a few ‘miscellaneous’ phrases we think you should add to your Spanish Language survival kit! 

So there we have it! A clear and comprehensive start to your ultimate Spanish Survival Kit of phrases. Head to our social media and let us know if there’s any phrases we’ve missed, or your favourite word or sentence from this list. If you found this page useful, check out our other resources for learning Spanish!