6 Basic Spanish Phrases for Surviving Most Any Situation
Spanish, Español, is a Romance language from the Indo-European language family, spoken as first languages by approximately 360 million people worldwide. Mexico had the most speakers (more than 85 million) in the early twenty-first century, followed by Colombia (more than 40 million), Argentina (more than 35 million), the United States (more than 31 million), and Spain (more than 30 million). Spanish is the (or an) official language of 18 American countries (Bolivia,
Cuba, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela), as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and is spoken in Europe and Africa by Spain and Equatorial Guinea.
Because of its practicality and wide reach, Spanish has always been a go-to language for English speakers to learn. It’s also one of the simplest languages for English speakers to learn. Spanish is the world’s second most spoken language, with over 450 million native speakers, according to recent statistics. Almost half of the letters in the Spanish alphabet are pronounced similarly to those in the English alphabet. Unlike English, where the rules of pronunciation appear to be arbitrary, Spanish pronunciation does not change (except for some combinations in diphthongs or vowels).
And it is certainly more than just ¡Hola! – Hello(O-la), ¡Buenos días! – Good morning!
(BWAY-nos DEE-as), ¡Buenas tardes! – Good evening! (BWAY-nas TAR-des)
or ¡Bienvenido! – Welcome! (Bee-en-ven-EE-doh)!
Here are 6 Spanish-language phrases that will come in handy should the need ever arise:
¡Puede repetirlo! – Can you say that again?
¡Perdone! / ¡Oiga! – Excuse me (to ask for something)!
¿Dónde hay un hospital? – Where is the hospital?.
Yo soy vegetariano. – If you don’t eat meat then you could say I’m vegetarian
¿Qué precio tiene…? – To ask for the price of an item when it’s unmarked; What is the price?
Estoy perdido – I’m lost. Necesito ayuda. – I need help.
Finally,
Despite the fact that many South and Central Americans speak native Indian languages as their first language, Spanish is spreading there. In order of numerical importance, the estimated numbers of speakers (both as a first and second language) are as follows: Mexico has 110 million people; Colombia has 41 million; Argentina has about 40 million; Spain has more than 38 million; Venezuela has 27 million; Peru has 26 million; Chile has more than 16 million; Ecuador has more than 14 million; Cuba has 11 million; Guatemala has almost 10 million; Bolivia has more than 8 million; El Salvador has 6 million; Honduras has 6 million; Nicaragua has almost 6 million, More than 4 million in Paraguay; approximately 4 million in Costa Rica; more than 3 million in Puerto Rico; more than 3 million in Uruguay; 3 million in Panama; and 627,000 in Equatorial Guinea (mostly second language).
So if you want to thank me for this information you could say:
Gracias – thank you
There’s an amazing new way to learn Spanish! Want to see what everyone’s talking about!