100 Spanish Words You Need To Know

Obviously, you're not going to be able to say everything you want to say with only 100 Spanish words — although you could do surprisingly well with fewer than 1,000. But if you can learn these 100 words and understand how they're used, you'll be a long way toward being able to communicate freely in Spanish.

Clicking on each word below will take you to the main lesson on the word, usually one that should be understandable to first-year students; usually, each lesson will include links to other lessons that relate to the word in some way.

Definitions below are for a quick reference; nearly all the words can be translated in additional ways.

1. gracias (thanks)
2. ser (to be)
3. a (to)
4. ir (to go)
5. estar (to be)
6. bueno (good)
7. de (of, from)
8. su (your, her, his, their)
9. hacer (to do, to make)
10. (friend)
11. por favor (please)
12. no (no)
13. en (on, in)
14. haber ("to have" as an auxiliary verb)
15. tener (to have, to possess)
16. un, uno, una (a, one)
17. ahora (now)
18. y (and)
19. que, qué (that, what)
20. por (for, by)
21. amar (to love)
22. quién (who)
23. para (for, to)
24. venir (to come)
25. porque (because)
26. el, la, los, las (the)
27. antes (before)
28. más (more)
29. bien ("well" as an adverb)
30. aquí, allí (here, there)
31. querer (to want, to love)
32. hola (hello)
33. tú (you)
34. poder (to be able)
35. gustar (to be pleasing)
36. poner (to put)
37. casi (almost)
38. saber (to know)
39. como (like, as)
40. donde (where)
41. dar (to give)
42.

pero (but)
43. se (itself, herself, himself, themselves)
44. mucho (much)
45. nuevo (new)
46. cuando (when)
47. chico, chica (boy, girl)
48. entender (to understand)
49. si (if)
50. (or)
51. feliz (happy)
52. todo (all, every)
53. mismo (same)
54. muy (very)
55. nunca (never)
56. yo, me (I, me)
57. sí (yes)
58. grande, gran (big, great)
59.

deber (to owe, should)
60. usted (you)
61. bajo (low, under)
62. otro (other)
63. salir (to leave)
64. hora (hour; see also lesson on telling time)
65. desde (from)
66. ver (to see)
67. malo, mal (bad)
68. pensar (to think)
69. hasta (until)
70. tanto, tan (used in making comparisons)
71. entre (between, among)
72. durante (during)
73. llevar (to wear, to carry)
74. siempre (always)
75. empezar (to begin)
76. él, ella, ellos, ellas (he, she, they)
77. leer (to read)
78. (thing)
79. sacar (to take out, to remove)
80. conocer (to know)
81. primero (first)
82. andar (to walk)
83. sobre (over, about)
84. echar (to throw)
85. sin (without)
86. decir (to say)
87. trabajar (to work)
88. nosotros (we, us)
89. también (also)
90. adiós (goodbye)
91. comer (to eat)
92. triste (sad)
93. país (country)
94. (to listen, to listen to)
95. hombre (man)
96. mujer (woman)
97. le (indirect-object pronoun)
98. creer (to believe, to think)
99. encontrar (to find)
100. beber (to drink)

See the following page for other important words, words that came very close to being part of this list.

It's tough to come up with the 100 most important Spanish words to learn, so here are some other words that very well could have made the list and are important to learn:

101. hablar (to speak)
102. ese, esa (demonstrative "that"; also see the demonstrative pronouns)
103. baño (bathroom)
104. después (afterwards, later)
105. gente (people)
106. ciudad (city)
106. sentir (to feel)
107. llegar (to arrive)
108.

pequeño (small)
109. escribir (to write)
110. año (year)
111. menos (minus, except)
112. lo (various uses)
113. cual (that, which)
114. este, esta (this)
115. dejar (to leave)
116. parte (part)
117. nada (nothing)
118. (each)
119. seguir (to continue, to follow)
120. (to divide)
121. ya (still, already)
122. parecer (to seem)