Ready to visit a Spanish-speaking country and communicate with the locals? Before you reach you destination, you’ll need to know some basic Spanish phrases to help you get around.
Try the following essential Spanish phrases as you see the sights, try the food, and explore! Keep reading below the video for even more helpful vocabulary.
- While the most useful phrase might be inquiring about the location of the bathroom, another great phrase to master is the equivalent of “Hello, nice to meet you.” This phrase, expressed in Spanish as “Hola, mucho gusto” is useful in any personal situation where you’re meeting someone new. You’ll come across as polite and friendly, and it’ll get the interaction started.
- When you’re leaving a store or other location, a nice phrase to express your gratitude and your farewell is “¡Gracias, adiós!” This means “Thank you, goodbye!” You can’t go wrong with using it in almost any context when you are leaving.
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- Now that you are equipped with pleasantries to greet people upon your arrival and departure, let’s get into more specifics. At customs, or in a government office, you may have a need to state your nationality to receive the appropriate form, or indicate what language you speak. In order to communicate that you are from the United States and/or American, you can choose one of the following phrases: “Soy de los Estados Unidos” (I am from the United States) or “Soy americano/a” (I’m American – and end the second word with ‘o’ if you are male and ‘a’ if you are female).
With these Spanish phrases, you should be able to navigate the area you are in, interact politely with people you meet, and express needs. Learning these phrases can open the door to many more possibilities – as you are traveling, you may pick up many new phrases if you keep your ears open!
Photo by Lucy Nieto
Suzy S.