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A common question that first-time language-learners ask is “Where do I begin?” The answer? Guidance.

For native English-speakers who want to learn Asian languages, for example, timelines provided by the U.S. Foreign Service Institute can appear discouraging. However, defeating these odds is not unheard of. If you want to beat the odds yourself, one of the best learning options is a subscription to Premium PLUS from Innovative Language.

As an active Premium PLUS member of JapanesePod101.com and KoreanClass101.com myself, I have an enjoyable experience learning at an accelerated pace with at least thirty minutes of study daily. The following Premium PLUS features contribute to my success:

• Access to thousands of lessons
• A voice recorder 
• Spaced-repetition system (SRS) flashcards
• Weekly homework assignments
• A personal language instructor

As someone who decided to make Japanese her second language one year ago, I am extremely grateful for Premium PLUS.

Allow me to emphasize on how these Premium PLUS features strengthen my language studies.

Gain Unlimited Access to Audio and Video Lessons!

As a Premium PLUS member, I have full access to the lesson library and other Premium features. Best of all, I’m not limited to one level; I can learn to my heart’s content with upper-level courses.

There are lessons on various topics that tackle crucial language-learning elements, such as:

• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking
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Specifically, there are pathways. Pathways are collections of lessons that center on a specific topic. Some Innovative Language sites, like JapanesePod101.com, even have pathways geared toward proficiency tests. For example, the JLPT N3 Master Course pathway.

Because of the abundance of lessons, I’ve found pathways in the lesson library to help me prepare for certain events. Thanks to the “Speaking Perfect Japanese at a Restaurant” pathway, I spoke fully in Japanese while dining in Japan. Additionally, I participated in conversations at language exchange meetups in South Korea after completing the “Top 25 Korean Questions You Need to Know” pathway.

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• Dialogue
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Practice Speaking with the Voice Recording Tool!

Pronunciation is an essential ingredient in language-learning. Proper pronunciation prompts clear understanding during conversations with native speakers.

Prior to learning full Korean sentences, my online Korean language tutor assigned the “Hana Hana Hangul” pathway to me. It demonstrated the writing and pronunciation of Hangul, the Korean alphabet. Throughout this pathway, I submitted recordings of my Hangul character pronunciations to my language teacher for review.

I was given a similar task on JapanesePod101.com with the “Ultimate Japanese Pronunciation Guide” pathway. My Japanese language teacher tested my pronunciation of the Japanese characters kana. My completion of the two pathways boosted my confidence in speaking.

Speaking is one of the more challenging components of learning a language. The voice recording tool in particular was a great way for me to improve my speaking skills. Further, because the lesson dialogues are spoken by native speakers, I’m able to practice speaking naturally.

This feature is also available for vocabulary words and sample sentences. Being able to hear these recordings improves my pronunciation skills for languages like Japanese, where intonation can change the meaning of a word entirely. The voice recorder examines my speed and tone. I also follow up by sending a recording to my online language tutor for feedback.

A great way to boost one’s speaking confidence is to shadow native speakers. During the vocabulary reviews, it’s helpful for me to hear the breakdown of each word; doing so makes a word that was originally difficult to even read a breeze to say!

Some lessons create opportunities to speak your own sentences. For example, the “Top 25 Korean Questions You Need to Know” pathway presents opportunities to answer questions personally. This helps you gain the ability to give answers as the unique individual you are.

Example Scenario:

The host asks the following question:

어디에 살고 있습니까?

eodieseo salgo isseumnikka

“Where do you live?”

If you live in Tokyo, you would readily say the following:

도쿄에 살고 있습니다.

Tokyo-e salgo isseumnida.

“I live in Tokyo.”

Increase Your Vocab with Spaced-Repetition Flashcards and More!

Imagine having a conversation with a native speaker and hesitating because you lack a solid vocabulary base.

Premium PLUS offers various features to expand learners’ vocabulary, including Free Gifts of the Month. SpanishPod101’s free gifts for April 2020 included an e-book with “400 Everyday Phrases for Beginners,” and the content is updated every month. When I download free resources like this, I find opportunities to use them with co-teachers, friends, or my language tutors.

An effective way to learn vocabulary is with SRS flashcards. SRS is a system designed for learning a new word and reviewing it in varying time intervals.

You can create and study flashcard decks, whether it’s your Word Bank or a certain vocabulary list. For example, if you need to visit a post office, the “Post Office” vocabulary list for your target language would be beneficial to study prior to your visit.

In addition to the SRS flashcards, each lesson has a vocabulary slideshow and quiz to review the lesson’s vocabulary.

There’s also the 2000 Core Word List, which includes the most commonly used words in your target language. Starting from the 100 Core Word List, you’ll gradually build up your knowledge of useful vocabulary. These lists can be studied with SRS flashcards, too.

With the SRS flashcards, you can change the settings to your liking. The settings range from different card types to number of new cards per deck. Personally, I give myself vocabulary tests by changing the settings.

After studying a number of flashcards, I change the card types to listening comprehension and/or production. Then I test myself by writing the translation of the word or the spoken word or phrase.

The change in settings allow me to remember vocabulary and learn how to identify the words. This is especially helpful with Japanese kanji!

Complete Homework Assignments!

Homework assignments are advantageous to my language studies. There are homework assignments auto-generated weekly. They range from multiple-choice quizzes to writing assignments.

Language tutors are readily available for homework help. Some writing assignments, for instance, require use of unfamiliar vocabulary. In such cases, my language teachers assist me by forwarding related lessons or vocabulary lists.

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Your language tutors also provide assignments upon requests. When I wanted to review grammar, my Korean teacher sent related quizzes and assignments. Thus, you are not only limited to the auto-generated assignments.

Every weekend, I review by re-reading those written sentences. It helps me remember sentence structures, grammar points, and vocabulary to apply in real-world contexts.

Furthermore, I can track my progress with language portfolios every trimester. It’s like a midterm exam that tests my listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.

Get Your Own Personal Language Teacher!

My language teachers cater to my goals with personalized and achievable learning programs. The tangible support of my online language teachers makes it evident that we share common goals.

Once I share a short-term or long-term goal with my teacher, we establish a plan or pathway that will ultimately result in success. I coordinate with my teachers regularly to ensure the personalized learning programs are prosperous. For example, during my JLPT studies, my Japanese language tutor assigned me practice tests.

Your language tutor is available for outside help as well. When I bought drama CDs in Japan, I had difficulty transliterating the dialogue. My Japanese teacher forwarded me the script to read along as I listened.

Additionally, I often practice Korean and Japanese with music. I memorize one line of the lyrics daily. Every time, I learn a new grammar point and new vocabulary. I add the vocabulary to my SRS flashcards, locate the grammar in the Grammar Bank, and study the associated lessons online.

I send my teachers the name of the songs, making them aware of my new goal. One time, my song for Korean was “If You Do” by GOT7. My Korean teacher revealed that she was a huge fan of GOT7 like me! For Japanese, it was “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA,” also known as the Dragonball Z theme song. My Japanese teacher excitedly told me that she sang the song a lot as a kid!

A remarkable thing happened to me in South Korea. I was stressed about opening a bank account with limited Korean. I sought help from my Korean teacher. She forwarded me a script of a bank conversation.

After two days, I visited the local bank. It all started with my opening sentence:

은행 계좌를 만들고 싶어요

eunhaeng gyejwaleul mandeulgo sip-eoyo.

I want to open a bank account.

Everything went smoothly, and I exited the bank with a new account!

The MyTeacher Messenger allows me to share visuals with my teachers for regular interaction, including videos to critique my pronunciation mechanisms. I improve my listening and speaking skills by exchanging audio with my teachers. In addition to my written homework assignments, I exchange messages with my language teachers in my target language. This connection with my teachers enables me to experience the culture as well as the language.

Why You Should Subscribe to Premium PLUS

It’s impossible for me to imagine my continuous progress with Japanese and Korean without Premium PLUS. Everything—from the SRS flashcards to my language teachers—makes learning languages enjoyable and clear-cut.

You’re assured to undergo the same experience with Premium PLUS. You’ll gain access to the aforementioned features as well as all of the Premium features.

Complete lessons and assignments to advance in your target language. Increase your vocabulary with the “2000 Core Word List” for that language and SRS flashcards. Learn on-the-go with the Innovative Language app and/or Podcasts app for iOS users.

Learning a new language takes dedication and commitment. The Premium PLUS features make learning irresistibly exciting. You’ll look forward to learning daily with your language tutor.

As of right now, your challenge is to subscribe to Premium PLUS! Complete your assessment, and meet your new Spanish teacher.

Have fun learning your target language in the fastest and easiest way!

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We might not always like to admit this when we’re starting to learn a language, but the truth is that one can’t speak properly without knowing how to put sentences together. If you use the wrong word order, there’s a chance that what you’re saying might have a different meaning than what you intended, or it might have no meaning at all. 

To avoid this, here’s the perfect article for you to learn Spanish sentence structure. You’ll soon learn that Spanish word order is actually not so hard, and that, in some ways, it’s similar to word order in English. You’ll also learn that, in fact, it’s more flexible! That means you can change the order of words a little bit more than you can in English.

Table of Contents

1. Overview of Word Order in Spanish
2. Basic Word Order with Subject, Verb, and Object
3. Word Order in Negative Sentences
4. Word Order with Prepositional Phrases
5. Word Order with Modifiers
6. Changing a Sentence into a Yes-or-No Question
7. Translation Exercises
8. How to Master Spanish with SpanishPod101.com

1. Overview of Word Order in Spanish

Basic Spanish language word order refers to the usual order in which words are found in a sentence. Even though the sentences that we use day-to-day may have other elements in them, to learn this basic order, there are three basic elements that we use as a reference. These three elements are the subject, verb, and object.

Despite Spanish being more flexible than English in this sense, our basic word order is the same: 

subject + verb + object (SVO)

Yo + me comí + la tarta

I + ate + the cake

Sometimes, we might want to emphasize one element or another in a sentence. This leads us to moving these around the sentence, but they will keep the same (or very similar) meaning. In English, because the ability to move words in a sentence is quite limited, emphasizing an element is accomplished by intonation. 

Let’s look at two sentences. The first one has basic word order, and the other one has a different order. In the second sentence, the emphasized word is marked in bold:

Example: Yo me comí la tarta. 

Translation: “I ate the cake.”

Example: Me la comí yo, la tarta.

Translation: “I ate the cake.”

There’s a way of modifying the English sentence to emphasize this element even more: “It is I that ate the cake.” However, this wouldn’t be an accurate translation of our example in Spanish, because in English, we’re not just moving an element around: we’re changing the whole structure. 

Did you notice that we actually added an extra word in our second Spanish sentence? If you did, we just want to say: Nice job! The word that we added was a pronoun, and don’t worry, we’ll explain it a little bit later.

We could still modify our sample sentence a bit more:

Example: La tarta me la comí yo.

Translation: “The cake, I ate.”

In this case, we can translate this new structure pretty much literally, but in English, we feel like this sounds quite unnatural. In Spanish, this is completely normal.

2. Basic Word Order with Subject, Verb, and Object

Now, let’s go more into detail about the most basic Spanish word order rules.

1 – Subject

Subject is the person or thing performing the action of the verb. It’s usually a noun phrase, such as a noun or a pronoun: Juan come espaguetis. (“Juan eats spaghetti.”) / Él come espaguetis. (“He eats spaghetti.”). 

Sometimes, the subject might be a verb: Cantar es divertido. (“Singing is fun.”). However, as we’ve explained in previous articles, in Spanish, a subject isn’t always necessary and we often drop pronouns when we already know who the subject is: Como espaguetis. (“I eat spaghetti.”). 

As we saw in our previous article about verb conjugation in Spanish, the verb como is conjugated, and considering the verb is conjugated in the first person singular, we know it means “I eat,” so there’s no possible confusion.

2 – Verb

The second element in Spanish word order is verbs. You know what verbs are, don’t you? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a verb is “a word or phrase that describes an action, condition, or experience.” 

To give you a few examples: cantar (“to sing”), comer (“to eat”), and hablar (“to talk”) are all verbs. Without them, language wouldn’t make much sense.

3 – Object

The third and last element in basic word order is something we call an object. It isn’t an indispensable element in a sentence, as some verbs don’t require objects, but it’s undoubtedly common and helps us define sentence structure. 

Cambridge defines an object as “a noun or noun phrase that is affected by the action of a verb or that follows a preposition.” In the sentence Juan come espaguetis. (“Juan eats spaghetti.”), spaghetti is the thing that is being eaten by Juan.

3. Word Order in Negative Sentences 

In some languages, negative sentences can completely change an affirmative sentence. Lucky for you, in this sense, Spanish happens to be quite simple. So, what is the Spanish word order for these negative sentences?

To form a regular negative sentence, all we need to do is add the word no, which in this context is equivalent to “not,” to an affirmative sentence. No is always found before the verb. To illustrate this, let’s use the same example we did before: Juan no come espaguetis. (“Juan does not eat spaghetti.”).

As you know, there are other ways of making a negative sentence. One example would be to add nunca (“never”): Juan nunca come espaguetis. (“Juan never eats spaghetti.”). As you can see, it follows exactly the same structure as the previous example. Simple, right? 

Well, there are many other negative words: nada (“nothing”), nadie (“nobody”), ninguno (“none”)… When we use these words, the structure is a bit different, because they can be used in different ways. They can act as subjects or as objects. 

For example: Nadie ha comido espaguetis. (“Nobody has eaten spaghetti.”). Here we find the word nadie before the verb, just as we saw in the previous negative sentences. However, that makes sense, because it acts as a subject. 

Since we’re mentioning this, we should explain that sometimes these words might be found after the verb, even if they’re a subject. Here are a few examples:

• No hay nadie. → “There isn’t anyone.”
• No hay nada. → “There isn’t anything.”
• No queda ninguno. → “There is none left.”

The negative word in bold in each of these examples is the subject of the sentence, even though it might not be as obvious as in the other examples we’ve seen. We could say that the word in bold is “the thing that isn’t.” 

As you might have noticed, the adverb no does appear at the beginning of the sentence, something that happens similarly in the English translation. As you’ll find out in our lesson “How to Be Negative?” in Spanish, it’s quite common to have more than one negative word in one sentence.

4. Word Order with Prepositional Phrases

Another element that needs to be taken into account when talking about word order is prepositional phrases. A prepositional phrase is a type of phrase that always begins with a preposition, such as en (“in,” “on,” “at”) or con (“with”). If you would like to find out more about prepositions, we have an article just for you! Check out our article about Spanish prepositions.

Prepositional phrases are usually found at the end of a sentence, but some of them can be placed at the beginning if you want to emphasize said phrase. Let’s look at some examples of Spanish word order that show this: 

Estudio español en casa. → “I study Spanish at home.”

But what if someone asked us: 

¿Dónde estudias español? → “Where do you study Spanish?”

In this case, a possible answer we could give them would be:

En casa, estudio español. → “At home, I learn Spanish.”

There are many other prepositional phrases we could add to the same sentence, even together, such as: 

Estudio español en casa con SpanishPod101.com. → “I study Spanish at home with SpanishPod101.com.”

5. Word Order with Modifiers

We’ve already seen a type of modifier, which were the ones that turned affirmative sentences into negative sentences. However, there are many more elements in sentences that we call modifiers. These include words such as articles, adjectives, and pronouns.

Determiners are easy, because they always go in front of a noun, just like in English. These are, among others, articles, numerals, and possessives. Let’s look at examples for these types of modifiers:

Articles: El hombre come espaguetis. → “The man eats spaghetti.”

Numerals: Dos hombres comen espaguetis. → “Two men eat spaghetti.”

Possessives: Mi padre come espaguetis. → “My father eats spaghetti.”

However, in Spanish word order, adjectives normally go after the noun, but there are exceptions. For example, in literature, especially poetry, it’s common to write the adjective before the noun. Check out our article on adjectives for more information!

El coche blanco es de mi padre. → “The white car is my dad’s.”

La hermosa princesa abrió los ojos. → “The beautiful princess opened her eyes.”

Pronouns can go either before or after the verb, depending on the kind of pronoun they are, or sometimes depending on what you feel like saying. As we learned in our previous article about pronouns, there are different kinds of pronouns in Spanish. Even though we also talked about the order they follow in that article, we’ll look at them again, one by one:

1 – Personal Pronouns

If you read the article we just mentioned, you might remember that there are many kinds of personal pronouns. 

a) Subject Pronouns

Subject pronouns, which are the ones we use for the subject of a sentence, are always found before the verb. This is because, as we saw, in Spanish, the subject is always the first element in a sentence. 

Ellos quieren una casa nueva. → “They want a new house.”

b) Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns

You probably remember that basic word order in Spanish is subject + verb + object, don’t you? Well, when a direct or indirect object is substituted by a pronoun, the pronoun is actually found before the verb. We’ll illustrate this with a few examples:

Direct object: 

Quieren una casa nueva. → La quieren.

“They want a new house.” → “They want it.”

Both direct and indirect objects: 

Traigo un regalo para mi madre. → Le traigo un regalo. → Se lo traigo.

“I bring a present for my mom.” → “I bring her a present.” → “I bring it to her.”

Reflexive pronouns work in a very similar way and they’re always found before the verb:

Mis padres se van de vacaciones. → “My parents are going on vacation.”  

c) Prepositional Pronouns

Prepositional pronouns follow the same rules that prepositional phrases do, so they can be in different locations inside a sentence depending on what you would like to emphasize.

Sin ti todo es diferente. → “Without you, everything is different.”

Todo es diferente sin ti. → “Everything is different without you.”

d) Possessive Pronouns

A possessive pronoun can be a subject or an object, so its order will depend on the function it does in the sentence:

El nuestro es ese. → “Ours is that one.”

La casa es nuestra. → “The house is ours.” 

2 – Demonstrative Pronouns

Just like what happened with possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns can be in different places in the same sentence, depending on their function.

Este es mi hermano. → “This is my brother.”

Nunca he estado ahí. → “I have never been there.”

3 – Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are pronouns that help us ask questions, and they’re always the first word in a question:

¿Qué quieres? → “What do you want?”

4 – Indefinite Pronouns

Once again, indefinite pronouns don’t have a specific position in a sentence, because that depends on their function.

Todos quieren dinero. → “Everyone wants money.”

Puedes preguntárselo a cualquiera. → “You can ask anyone.”

5 – Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are never found in simple sentences. Rather, we find them in complex sentences. These pronouns always start the second part of the sentence, so they’ll always be in the middle. This might sound odd if you’re not sure what a relative pronoun is, but you’ll understand once you look at an example:

Esta es mi prima que vive en la ciudad. → “This is my cousin who lives in the city.”

6. Changing a Sentence into a Yes-or-No Question

In many languages, to transform a normal sentence into a yes-or-no question you must change it a fair bit, or change the order. In Spanish, this is way simpler. So, what is the Spanish word order in questions? Look at these examples:

Estudias español todos los días. → “You study Spanish every day.” 

¿Estudias español todos los días? → “Do you study Spanish every day?” 

As you probably noticed, it’s exactly the same structure. This doesn’t only happen with specific structures: it happens every time you turn a sentence, either affirmative or negative, into a yes-or-no question. 

We’re sure you enjoyed learning this, but you probably know that there are other kinds of questions. If you feel a bit lost when it comes to this topic, you might enjoy our lesson on 15 Questions You Should Know. 

7. Translation Exercises

We thought it would be useful to you to see how we transform a simple sentence into more complex sentences, and translate them to English. Below, you can see exactly what changes we make.

1. Bebiste agua. → “You drank water.”

2. Bebiste agua hace cinco minutos. → “You drank water five minutes ago.”

In this second sentence, the only thing we added was the time the action happened, hace cinco minutos, which means “five minutes ago.”

3. Bebiste dos botellas de agua hace cinco minutos. → “You drank two bottles of water five minutes ago.” 

In this third sentence, we made a bigger change. This time, what we’re drinking isn’t just water, but something slightly more specific: two bottles of water. The new object is dos botellas de agua instead of just agua.

4. ¿Bebiste dos botellas de agua hace cinco minutos? → “Did you drink two bottles of water five minutes ago?”

To end these examples, we thought it would be a good idea to show you once again how to turn an affirmative sentence into a question, to convince you that we don’t have to make any changes to it, just in case you didn’t believe us before!

8. How to Master Spanish with SpanishPod101.com

As we mentioned previously, Spanish word order is more flexible than English word order, so in some cases, if you don’t use our basic order, it might just seem as if you’re trying to emphasize some word or phrase in particular. The way we see it, it means you would have to try pretty hard to get it wrong! When learning a foreign language, this is exactly the kind of motivation you need.

For more information on Spanish word order, SpanishPod101.com has another short lesson on this as well! If you want to get a better understanding of Spanish grammar in general, also check out our relevant page.

No matter what your level is, give us a try and learn Spanish! From beginner to advanced, here you’ll find everything you need.

Before you go, let us know in the comments if there’s anything that’s still not clear about Spanish word order. We’ll do our best to help you out!

How do you say “time” in Spanish? And how do you say “What time is it?” in Spanish? 

Did you know that to tell the time you should never use the literal translation, tiempo? 

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. We’ll answer this and other questions more in-depth in this blog post! Learn everything about how to say the time in Spanish with SpanishPod101.com!

Learning about telling time in Spanish, along with how to introduce yourself in Spanish, is significantly important if you want to improve your conversation skills. 

Even in your native language, knowing the right way of telling the time can help you avoid misunderstandings. Well, time is so crucial in Spanish culture that learning how to tell time is as important as time itself. 

Let’s get started with our guide on time in Spanish for beginners! 

Table of Contents

1. How to Ask for the Time
2. The Hours in Spanish
3. The Minutes in Spanish
4. Hours Divided into Minutes in Spanish
5. General Time Reference of the Day
6. Time Adverbs
7. Time Proverbs and Sayings in Spanish
8. Conclusion

1. How to Ask for the Time

Telling the time in Spanish is simple if you know the cardinal numbers and the verb “to be” (ser). Once you practice and master those two things, asking and telling the time in Spanish will be so much easier. 

• ¿Qué hora es?

“What time is it?”

In some Latin American countries, you may hear ¿Qué hora son? instead of ¿Qué hora es?. Both are correct for asking the time in Spanish. The singular form is used mostly in Spain and the plural form is used mostly in Latin American Spanish-speaking countries.

• ¿Qué hora son?

“What time is it?”

To learn how to say the time in Spanish, you also need to know that “time” in Spanish is tiempo. Tiempo also means “weather,” but you never use tiempo to ask for the time. 

• Hoy hace buen tiempo.

“Good weather today.”

To learn how to ask the time in Spanish, you just have to change the word “time” to the word for “hour.” So “What time is it?” would be translated as ¿Qué hora es? This is the easiest way to learn how to say time in Spanish. But there are some other ways of asking what the time is in Spanish, such as ¿Tienes hora? which means “Do you have the time?”

Another way to learn how to ask the time is by asking what time something is (e.g. a meeting, a concert, or work): ¿A qué hora es el concierto? To ask “At what time is,” in Spanish (e.g. “What time is the concert?”), notice that you have to add an a before qué, which means “at.”

Once you have these few things in mind, it will be so much easier for you to ask for the time in Spanish. 

Asking correctly is as important as telling the time in Spanish. So let’s look at some formulas and tricks on how to say the time in Spanish in case you get asked. 

Verb to be (Es / Son) + la(s) + number from one to twelve + number of minutes

• Es la una de la mañana.

“It is 1 a.m.”

OR

• Es la una en punto.

“It’s one o’clock.”

Es + la + una + y + number of minutes

• Es la una y treinta minutos.

“It’s 1:30 a.m.”

• Es la una y diez minutos.

“It’s 1:10 a.m.”

If you want to say any hour between two and twelve, you have to use the third person of the plural son, as follows:

• Son las tres de la mañana.

“It’s three a.m.”

If someone tells you the time, make sure you say “thank you,” and do it the right way.

2. The Hours in Spanish 

If you can count from one to twelve, you’re already on the right path—cardinal numbers are essential for telling the time in Spanish. If you don’t know all of them yet, here you just need to know the numbers from one to twelve. 

Uno — “One”

Dos — “Two”

Tres — “Three”

Cuatro — “Four”

Cinco — “Five”

Seis — “Six”

Siete — “Seven”

Ocho — “Eight”

Nueve — “Nine”

Diez — “Ten”

Once — “Eleven”

Doce — “Twelve”

Once you have these memorized, you can try using them in one of the formulas we’ve covered. Another thing to keep in mind when learning how to say “What time is it?” is that “o’clock,” which is en punto, doesn’t always need to be added.

Example:

• Son las ocho.

“It’s eight o’clock.”

• Son las ocho en punto.

“It’s eight o’clock.”

Easy peasy, right? 

So, how do you know if it’s morning or evening? 

When telling the time in Spanish, know that you don’t need to use a.m. or p.m. Although it’s correct to say, most Spanish speakers don’t use them. We prefer to say ocho de la mañana (“eight in the morning”) or diez de la noche (“ten in the evening”). However, when it comes to writing the time in Spanish, we use the twenty-four-hour clock (also known as military time).

However, this is very subjective because some of the Latin American countries aren’t used to using the twenty-four-hour clock and use a.m. and p.m. more often than in Spain.

The general rule in Spain is: Write in military time and speak the time as numbers from one to twelve. For example, if you’re going to a theater show, you’ll see the time on their page or billboard as follows:

22:30 

But you’ll say to a friend by phone:

• Las diez y media de la noche.

“Ten thirty at night.”

For some Latin American countries, the night starts when it’s dark, around six p.m. This is because they’re near the equator, and thus the time the sun sets doesn’t change much during the summer. 

For the Spanish, on the other hand, the night starts after eight p.m. “Six p.m.” is still seis de la tarde.

It’s important to remember then that the Spanish language is gendered. So, when learning about time in Spanish, you need to know that you should always use the feminine article –las because it refers to la hora. The only exception is when you’re talking about one o’clock, in which case you use la.

• Es la una en punto.

“It is one o’clock.”

• Son las tres de la tarde.

“It is three p.m.”

3. The Minutes in Spanish

When learning how to tell time in Spanish, there are multiple levels that you can aim for once you start using the minutes in Spanish. You can start with the easy formula of saying the number of minutes after the hour. To reach the highest level, use phrases such as “quarter to,” in Spanish, “quarter past,” “half,” or “minutes to (hour).”

An easy way to say the minutes in Spanish is to just say the number of minutes. But to make things simpler, let’s learn the minutes by fives:

2:05 Las dos y cinco

3:10 Las tres y diez

4:15 Las cuatro y quince

5:20 Las cinco y veinte

6:25 Las seis y veinticinco

7:30 Las siete y treinta

7:35 Las siete y treinta y cinco

8:40 Las ocho y cuarenta

9:45 Las nueve y cuarenta y cinco

10:50 Las diez y cincuenta

11:55 Las once y cincuenta y cinco

After the number of minutes, you can add the word minutos. It’s the translation for “minutes,” and you’ll always use this word in the plural unless you say “one minute” (y un minuto).

• Son las tres y cinco minutos.

“It is three and five minutes.”

• Son las doce y un minuto.

“It is one minute past twelve.”

4. Hours Divided into Minutes in Spanish

So one way of improving your level of Spanish is to expand on your knowledge of hours in Spanish. What do I mean? You can identify your level of Spanish by whether you’re able to understand and tell the time in Spanish by half, quarter, and three quarters of an hour.

How do we do this? 

The same way we divide time in English. Dividing the clock into blocks of fifteen minutes. Every fifteen minutes, we’re talking about cuartos or “quarters.”

To talk about half an hour in Spanish, you need to use y media.

Unlike in English, in Spanish you say the hour first, then the minutes:

• 01:30 p.m. 

La una y media.

“Half past one.”

To say that it’s a quarter past an hour in Spanish, you need to use y cuarto.

• 01:15 p.m. 

Es la una y cuarto.

“It is a quarter past one.”

To say that it’s a quarter until an hour in Spanish, you need to use menos cuarto. This means that you tell the hour first, and then you have to take away the quarter from the time that’s approaching. It sounds like “one minus quarter” for 12:45 p.m. 

Like in English, the Latin American Spanish-speakers use the phrase “quarter till” in a similar manner. It’s okay to use this, especially if you’re learning. Then, once you get a better understanding and you need to improve your Spanish skills, you can start telling time like Spaniards do. 

Note that even for some Latinos it’s hard to tell the time the European Spanish way, so go easy on yourself! 

Latin American Spanish:

• 01:45 p.m

Faltan un cuarto para las dos.

“It is a quarter to two.”

The most difficult to learn and remember is the quarter until an hour. This is because you may still be thinking it in the English way. 

In English:

Minutes left to the time approaching + “to” + hour (from one to twelve)

Example:

01:45 p.m. — “A quarter to two.”

In Spanish:

Hour (from one to twelve) + menos + minutes left to the approaching time

Example:

01:45 p.m. — Las dos menos cuarto.

5. General Time Reference of the Day

As we said earlier, in Spanish we’re more used to saying “in the morning” or “in the evening” to refer to a.m. or p.m. While we do understand it if we see it, we don’t usually use these terms. 

Instead, we use other words that refer to certain times of the day, and these will be very good for you to learn. Let’s take a look! 

• Primera hora de la mañana — “Early morning”

Example: 

Tengo cita en el médico a primera hora de la mañana.

“I have a doctor’s appointment in the early morning.”

• Amanecer — “Sunrise”

Example:

El amanecer más bonito que he visto nunca ha sido en Cádiz.

“The most beautiful sunrise that I’ve never seen was in Cadiz.”

• Mediodía — “Noon” or “Midday”

Example:

La clase acaba en el mediodía. 

“The class ends at noon/midday.”

• Primera hora de la tarde — “Early afternoon”

Example:

¿Quedamos para el café a primera hora de la tarde?
“Shall we meet for coffee at early afternoon?”

• Noche — “Evening” or “Night”

Example:

¿Cuántas noches has tenido que trabajar esta semana?

“How many nights did you have to work this week?”

• Puesta de sol — “Sunset”

Example:

Me han contado que en Bali hay unas puestas de sol mágicas.

“I have been told that in Bali there are magical sunsets.”

• Medianoche — “Midnight”

Example:

Con 15 años mis padres me dejaban salir los fines de semana hasta medianoche.

“When I was 15 years old, my parents would let me go out on the weekends until midnight.”

6. Time Adverbs

In Spanish, we use adverbs of time, place, mode, or quantity all the time. With them, you add information to verbs, adjectives, and even to the whole sentence. 

You’ll quickly become very familiar with them since they’re essential when you’re learning how to tell time in Spanish. 

• Antes — “Before”

Example:

Kike, lávate las manos antes de comer.

“Kike, wash your hands before eating.”

• Después — “After”

Example:

Después de comer apetece una siesta.

“After eating, you want a nap.”

• Luego — “Later”

Example:
Llámame luego.

“Call me later.”

• Pronto — “Soon”

Example:

Te veo pronto.

“See you soon.”

• Tarde — “Late”

Example:

Se me está haciendo tarde para ir al supermercado.

“It’s getting late to go to the supermarket.”

• Temprano — “Early”

Example:

Hay que levantarse temprano para ir al colegio mañana.

“We have to wake up early to go to school tomorrow.”

• Todavía (This adverb has different meanings in English, depending on the time verb you’re using.):

– “Still”

– “Yet”

– “Even so”

Example:
Todavía estoy aquí esperándote.

“I am still here waiting for you.”

Example:
Todavía no he estado en París.

“I have not been to Paris yet.”

• Ayer — “Yesterday”

Example:
Ayer Luis me dejó esperando una hora en el café.

“Luis left me waiting for one hour in the coffee shop yesterday.”

• Hoy — “Today”

Example:
Tengo tres entrevistas de trabajo hoy.

“Today, I have three job interviews.”

• Mañana — “Tomorrow”

Example:
Sara, por favor, revisa mi agenda de mañana.

“Sara, check tomorrow’s agenda, please.”

• Antes de ayer o anteayer — “The day before yesterday”

Example:
Antes de ayer empecé con el entrenamiento.

“I started with my training the day before yesterday.”

• Pasado mañana — “The day after tomorrow”

Example:
Pasado mañana empieza el mes de julio.

“July starts the day after tomorrow.”

• Siempre — “Anytime”, “always,” or “forever”

The word “anytime” refers to “always” in terms of describing every time that something happens. But we translate the same word siempre, or with cada vez.

Example:

Siempre que Antonio va al parque se encuentra al gato perdido.

“Anytime Antonio goes to the park he runs into the lost cat.”

• “Always” is the most common way to translate siempre. It refers to “all the time” and “forever.”

Example:

Siempre te querré.

“I will always love you.”

• Nunca, Jamás — “Never”

Example:

Nunca más vuelvo a fiarme de un desconocido.

“I will never again trust a stranger.”

• Prontamente, Pronto — “As soon as possible”

Example:

Ven a recogerme pronto.

“Come and pick me up as soon as possible.”

• En un rato – “In a little while”

Example:

Estaré preparada en un rato.

“I’ll be ready in a little while.”

7. Time Proverbs and Sayings in Spanish

If you want to sound like a Spanish native, idioms and expressions are the best way to show off. However, it’s important that you know when and how to use them, or it can have the opposite effect! 

Some great phrases for latecomers include Voy en camino (“I’m on my way”) and Llego tarde (“I’m late” or “I’m running late”). These are great to send by text so you don’t keep people waiting.

The expressions “time is money” and “time flies” refer to moments in which time goes fast and you have to take advantage of it. Their translations are el tiempo es dinero and el tiempo vuela respectively.

Other common expressions in Spanish are:

• El tiempo cura las heridas. — “Time heals all wounds.”
• Más vale tarde que nunca. — “Better late than never.”
• A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda. — “The early birds get God’s help.”

8. Conclusion

So, reader, do you feel more confident about telling time in Spanish now? In the comments below, tell us what time it is where you are, in Spanish! 

Next time you’re late to an appointment or want to ask someone on a date, you can come back to this page for help setting up times or letting someone know you’re almost there. You can use all of our fun lessons, idiomatic expressions, and more resources at our SpanishPod101 website.

SpanishPod101 has many vocabulary lists for you for free, and of course, our Spanish Resource Corner for any other questions you may have. Why don’t you practice your Spanish by asking other Spanish speakers what they’re up to?

Happy Spanish learning! 🙂

Do you enjoy traveling? We do! And we know that even though it’s possible to travel to most places speaking only English, we love the feeling of being able to understand the locals, even if it’s only a few words.

There’s some vocabulary that’s especially useful in these cases, such as “left” in Spanish or the four basic map directions. Asking for directions is one of the basic bits of knowledge that you most definitely need every time you travel. Even with Google Maps, you’ll probably end up needing a little bit of help at some point during your trip. No battery, no data, or maybe just a complicated place to get to! In any case, it’s better to be safe.

Often, when you learn directions in Spanish (or other languages), you learn how to ask where something is, as well as a few random words for positions. But if you ask someone how to get to your hotel, are you sure you’re going to understand the answer?

If you’re not too sure, there’s no need to worry, because we’re about to make sure you learn everything you need to ask, give, and receive directions when you travel to a Spanish-speaking country. We’re going to go far beyond the usual “left” or “right” in Spanish.



Table of Contents

1. Cardinal Directions in Spanish
2. Describing Positions
3. Spanish Directions Using Landmarks
4. Must-Know Phrases for Asking for Directions
5. Must-Know Phrases for Giving Directions
6. Vehicles and Transportation
7. Example Situation
8. How SpanishPod101.com Can Help You Learn More Spanish

1. Cardinal Directions in Spanish

We’re not sure if people are going to tell you to head north or south when you ask them for directions, but cardinal directions are still important to know when you’re trying to find your way around or understand where you are. They’re quite easy to learn, so let’s start with them, followed by the ordinal directions in Spanish!

Norte (“north”)

Francia está al norte de España.
“France is north of Spain.”

Sur (“south”)

Este año me voy de vacaciones al sur de Alemania.
“This year I’m going on holiday to the south of Germany.”

Oeste (“west”)

Portugal está al oeste de España.
“Portugal is west of Spain.”

Este (“east”)

Barcelona está en el este de España.
“Barcelona is on the east of Spain.”

Noroeste (“northwest”)

Antes vivía en el noroeste de Inglaterra.
“I used to live on the northwest side of England.”

Noreste (“northeast”)

Dirígete hacia el noreste.
“Head northeast.”

Sudoeste (“southwest”)

Creo que tengo que seguir la carretera que va hacia el
sudoeste.
“I think I need to follow the road that goes southwest.”

Sudeste (“southeast”)

Australia está en el sudeste.
“Australia is in the southeast.”

Centro (“center”)

Madrid está en el centro de España.
“Madrid is in the center of Spain.”

Note: We realize that “center” isn’t a cardinal or ordinal direction, but we thought it was appropriate to include it in this section!

2. Describing Positions

Now, this might be more like the type of vocabulary you were looking for. The following list of directions and positions in Spanish will help you describe where things or people are. Some of these words are simple prepositions, and some are more complex words or expressions used to describe a position.

En (“in,” “on,” or “at”)

Estoy en casa.
“I’m at home.”

Delante de (“in front of”)

Ayer estuve delante de Marta, pero no me vio.
“Yesterday I was in front of Marta, but she didn’t see me.”

Detrás de (“behind”)

Tienes una avispa detrás de ti.
“There is a wasp behind you.”

Izquierda (“left”)

A vuestra izquierda veréis el castillo de la reina.
“To your left, you will see the castle of the queen.”

Derecha (“right”)

Tengo un lunar en la mejilla derecha.
“I have a mole on my right cheek.”

Dentro (“in” or “inside”)

¿Dónde estás? Yo estoy dentro.
“Where are you? I’m inside.”

Fuera (“out” or “outside”)

No quiero salir fuera, hace frío.
“I don’t want to go out, it’s cold.”

Hacia (“to”)

Estoy de camino hacia el aeropuerto.
“I’m on my way to the airport.”

Desde (“from”)

No sé cómo ir al hospital desde aquí.
“I don’t know how to go to the hospital from here.”

Cerca (“close”)

El restaurante de mi padre está cerca de tu casa.
“My father’s restaurant is close to your house.”

Lejos (“far”)

La estación de tren está lejos de aquí.
“The train station is far from here.”

Arriba (“up”)

¡Mira hacia arriba!
“Look up!”

Debajo (“down,” “under”)

El lápiz está debajo del libro.
“The pencil is under the book.”

Aquí (“here”)

¿Estás aquí?
“Are you here?”

Allí – ahí (“there”)

Ahí no hay nada.
“There’s nothing there.”

Al lado de (“next to”)

El banco está al lado de la farmacia.
“The bank is next to the pharmacy.”

Por ahí (“that way” or “around there”)

Sigue por ahí.
“Keep going that way.”

Mi móvil tiene que estar por ahí.
“My phone must be around there.”

Al otro lado (“on the other side”)

Mi casa está al otro lado del pueblo.
“My house is on the other side of town.”

A la vuelta de la esquina ( just around the corner”)

La casa de Ana está a la vuelta de la esquina de la mía.
“Ana’s house is just around the corner.”

En la esquina (“at the corner”)

Mis tíos viven en la esquina de la calle Mallorca con la calle Bruc.
“My aunt and uncle live at the corner between Mallorca Street and Bruc Street.”

Enfrente (“right in front”)

¿Vives aquí? Yo vivo enfrente.
“Do you live here? I live right in front.”

Al fondo (“back” or “end”)

El baño está al fondo a la derecha.
“The toilet is at the end on the right.”

Entre… y (“between… and”)

La escuela está entre el hospital y el parque.
“The school is between the hospital and the park.”

3. Spanish Directions Using Landmarks

Understanding or giving directions in Spanish isn’t all about where something is: you also need to know what that “something” is called so you can get to it! It sounds obvious, right? Well, as it turns out, it’s not that obvious to some people. Pay attention here; it’s important!

1- En la ciudad (“In the city”)

We’ll start with some places you can easily find in a city and that you might have to get to. Have you been to any Spanish cities before? Let us know in the comments!

Aeropuerto (“airport”)

Para llegar al aeropuerto tienes que seguir la carretera A-25.
“To get to the airport, you need to follow the A-25 road.”

Estación de tren (“train station”)

La estación de tren está en el centro del pueblo.
“The train station is in the town center.”

Estación de metro (“subway station”)

La estación de metro más cercana a mi casa es la de Collblanc.
“The closest subway station to my house is Collblanc.”

Parada de autobús (“bus stop”)

¡No encuentro la parada de autobús!
“I can’t find the bus stop!”

Centro de la ciudad (“city center”)

Hoy he estado todo el día en el centro de la ciudad.
“Today I’ve been at the city center all day.”

Parque (“park”)

¿Has pasado por el parque hoy?
“Have you been to the park today?”

Hotel (“hotel”)

Mi hotel en París era genial.
“My hotel in Paris was great.”

Banco (“bank” or “bench”)

En mi pueblo solo hay un banco.
“There is only one bank in my hometown.”

Note: Yes, the words for “bank” and “bench” in Spanish are both banco. You understand what they mean by the context.

Hospital (“hospital”)

¡Hay que llevarla al hospital!
“We need to take her to the hospital!”

Iglesia (“church”)

La iglesia de esta ciudad es preciosa.
“The church in this city is beautiful.”

Ayuntamiento (“city hall”)

Los ayuntamientos suelen estar en el centro.
“City halls are usually in the center.”

2- En la carretera (“On the road”)

The following words will be especially useful if you need directions to drive somewhere. As we mentioned before, nobody knows when your GPS might fail, so these words for road directions in Spanish will come in handy when you need to ask the locals!

Intersección (“intersection”)

Después de esta intersección sigue recto y verás un edificio azul a la derecha.
“After this intersection, keep going and you will see a blue building on the right.”

Rotonda (“roundabout”)

Gira a la derecha en esa rotonda.
“Turn right on that roundabout.”

Semáforo (“traffic light”)

No te olvides de pararte en el semáforo.
“Don’t forget to stop at the traffic lights.”

Paso de cebra or paso de peatones (“crosswalk”)

En este pueblo no hay ni un solo paso de cebra.
“There isn’t a single crosswalk in this town.”

Puente (“bridge”)

Este puente tiene por lo menos cien años.
“This bridge is at least 100 years old.”

3- En un edificio (“In a building”)

Have you ever been lost inside of a building? We have. Let’s try to help you prevent that from happening!

Baño or lavabo (“bathroom” or “toilet”)

Esta casa tiene dos baños.
“This house has two bathrooms.”

Ascensor (“elevator”)

El ascensor está detrás de ti.
“The elevator is behind you.”

Escaleras (“stairs”)

¡No te caigas por las escaleras!
“Don’t fall off the stairs!”

Entrada (“entrance”)

La entrada está cerrada.
“The entrance is closed.”

Salida (“exit”)

Ayer no encontraba la salida del centro comercial y tuve que pedir ayuda.
“Yesterday I couldn’t find the exit to the shopping mall and I had to ask for help.”

Aparcamiento or parking (“parking lot”)

El parking de este edificio está bajo tierra.
“This building’s parking lot is underground.”

If you feel this wasn’t enough, you might enjoy our Essential Spanish Vocabulary About Buildings.

4. Must-Know Phrases for Asking for Directions

Finally, we bring you what we’re sure you were looking for. Whenever you need to find your way in Spain, these are the questions you need to ask. The key to not getting lost anymore: Learn these phrases for asking directions in Spanish and, most importantly, don’t be shy. Ask someone when you can’t find what you’re looking for!

Disculpe… (“Excuse me…”) and ¿Me podría indicar…? (“Could you indicate to me…?”)

These two phrases are formal ways to begin asking someone for something. They both use the formal usted instead of the regular “you,” but this isn’t necessary and can be avoided.

If you don’t want to use the formal “usted,” you can say Disculpa and Me podrías indicar instead. They can be used separately, but also together, as in the following example: Disculpe, ¿me podría indicar dónde está el río? (“Excuse me, could you indicate to me where the river is?”).

If you’re interested, we have an article on other ways of saying sorry that might be helpful to you.

Estoy perdido/a (“I’m lost”) or Me he perdido (“I got lost”)

Estoy buscando la Alhambra, pero me he perdido.
“I am looking for the Alhambra, but I got lost.”

¿Dónde está…? (“Where is…?”)

¿Dónde está el baño?
“Where is the bathroom?”

¿Cómo se va a…? (“How do I go to…”)

¿Cómo se va a la playa?
“How do I go to the beach?”

¿Está lejos de aquí? (“Is it far from here?”)

¿El Hotel Don Juan está muy lejos de aquí?
“Is the Hotel Don Juan very far from here?”

¿Cómo se llega a…? (“How do I get to…?”)

¿Cómo se llega a la Plaza Mayor?
“How do I get to Plaza Mayor?”

¿Por dónde se va a…? (“How do I go to…”?)

¿Por dónde se va a Barcelona?
“How do I go to Barcelona?”

Gracias (“Thank you”)

Gracias is usually one of the first words to learn in Spanish, so you should already be quite familiar with it. You know how it goes: If someone helps you, you should thank them. If you want to learn a few more ways of thanking someone, you can check out our vocabulary list of Common Ways to Say Thank You.

Gracias por tu ayuda (Thank you for your help”)

We thought we would add another way of saying thank you to this list, because this one emphasizes that you’re thankful for the help you just got from them. Locals will definitely enjoy hearing this phrase.

a veo (“I see”)

This phrase is a rather simple one that will help you show the person you’re talking to that you understand what they’re saying. If you forget how to say it, remember you can just nod!

Muy amable (“You’re very kind”)

This is another common phrase that literally means “very kind,” omitting the “you are.” You can use it together with gracias, but it also works on its own.

5. Must-Know Phrases for Giving Directions

Now you know what to say when you’re lost, so it’s time to learn how someone will most likely answer. Once again, it’s important to pay attention! You won’t look too good in front of your friends or family if you mess this up! Here’s how to give directions in Spanish.

Ve recto (“go straight”)

Para llegar a la playa, ve recto.
“To get to the beach, go straight.”

Da la vuelta (“turn around”)

Te has equivocado, da la vuelta.
“You made a mistake, turn around.”

Ve hacia atrás (“go backwards”)

Te has pasado la casa, ve un poco hacia atrás.
“You missed the house, go a bit backwards.”

Gira a la derecha/izquierda (“turn right/left”)

Gira a la izquierda después de esta farola.
“Turn left after this street light.”

Sigue recto (“keep going straight”)

Una vez llegues a la farmacia sigue recto para llegar a mi casa.
“Once you reach the pharmacy, keep going straight to get to my house.”

Sigue por aquí (“keep going through here”)

Mira, aquí hay una señal, sigue por aquí.
“Look, there is a sign here, keep going through here.”

Dirígete hacia… (“head [to]…”)

Dirígete hacia el este.
“Head east.”

Cruza (“cross”)

Cruza el puente para llegar a mi casa.
“Cross the bridge to get to my house.”

Acelera (“accelerate”)

No vayas tan lento, ¡acelera!
“Don’t be so slow, accelerate!”

Frena (“slow down”)

Vas demasiado rápido, frena un poco.
“You’re going too fast, slow downa little.”

Sigue a ese coche (“follow that car”)

¡Corre, sigue a ese coche!
“Hurry, follow that car!”

Note: You probably won’t need this one, but haven’t you always wanted to do this like in the movies?

Es imposible perderse (“You can’t get lost”)

Ve recto por esta calle hasta que veas un edificio alto de color verde. Es imposible perderse.
“Go straight through this street until you see a tall green building. You can’t get lost.”

No tengo ni idea (“I have no idea”)

A: ¿Cómo se va al ayuntamiento?
B: No tengo ni idea, no soy de aquí.

A: “How do I go to the city hall?”
B: “I have no idea, I’m not from around here.”

Note: Let’s be honest, when you ask someone how to get to a place, there’s a chance they won’t know. We want you to be ready for that kind of answer.

6. Vehicles and Transportation

The last vocabulary list we’re including in this article is quite simple, but will come in handy even if you already know some of these words.

When you ask for directions, it’s not all about knowing where to go, but also about how to get there. Sometimes this includes public transportation, or some other kind of transportation. How about we take a look at some of these?

We also have a list of Spanish Words Related to Vehicles for you to check out. Be careful, though! In Mexican Spanish, a car is called carro, but in European Spanish, it’s coche (and carro just means “shopping cart”).

Autobús (“bus”)

El autobús llega a las cinco y media.
“The bus arrives at half past five.”

Tren (“train”)

Tienes que coger el tren que va a San Sebastián.
“You need to take the train that goes to San Sebastián.”

Coche (“car”)

Vamos a alquilar un coche para nuestras vacaciones.
“We’re going to rent a car for our holidays.”

Moto (“motorbike”)

Siempre me ha dado miedo montar en moto.
“I’ve always been scared of riding motorbikes.”

Bicicleta or bici (“bicycle” or “bike”)

Iremos a casa de Pedro en bici.
“We’ll go to Pedro’s house by bike.”

Taxi (“cab”)

¿Llamamos un taxi para ir al aeropuerto?
“Should we call a cab to get to the airport?”

Avión (“plane”)

Para ir a Japón vas a tener que coger un avión.
“To go to Japan, you’re going to need to take a plane.”

Helicóptero (“helicopter”)

Mi prima fue a Nueva Zelanda y sobrevoló Mordor en helicóptero.
“My cousin went to New Zealand and flew over Mordor on a helicopter.”

Barco (“boat”)

Solo puedes llegar a esa isla en barco.
“You can only get to that island by boat.”

Yate (“yacht”)

Mis amigos están ahorrando para comprar un yate el año que viene.
“My friends are saving up to buy a yacht next year.”

7. Example Situation

To help you better understand how to use all of these phrases and sentences together, we thought we would add this short example conversation:

A: ¡Hola! Estoy perdido, ¿me podrías ayudar? B: Por supuesto. A: ¿Cómo se va a la Plaza Mayor? B: Es muy fácil. Ve recto por esta calle y cuando llegues al río, crúzalo y gira hacia la derecha. La verás muy pronto. A: Muchas gracias. ¿Está cerca? B: Sí, se puede ir andando, pero puedes coger un autobús si quieres. A: ¿Dónde está la parada de autobús?  B: Está justo aquí, detrás nuestro. Tienes que coger el autobús L2. A: Gracias. Tengo otra pregunta: ¿cómo se llega al ayuntamiento desde la Plaza Mayor? B: Está en la misma plaza. Es un edificio alto y antiguo que está entre el banco y el hospital. A: ¡Perfecto! B: Si te gusta el arte, hay un museo precioso detrás del ayuntamiento. A: ¡Me encanta el arte! Gracias por la recomendación. B: De nada. ¡Disfruta la visita!

A: “Hello! I’m lost, could you help me?” B: “Of course.” A: “How do I go to the Main Square?” B: “It’s very easy. Go straight through this street and when you get to the river, cross it and turn right. You’ll see it really soon.” A: “Thank you very much. Is it close?” B: “Yes, you can go by foot, but you can catch a bus if you’d like.” A: “Where is the bus stop?” B: “It’s right here, behind us. You need to catch the L2 bus.” A: “Thank you. I have another question: how do I get to the city hall from the Main Square?” B: “It’s in that same square. It’s an old tall building between the bank and the hospital.” A: “Perfect!” B: “If you like art, there’s a gorgeous museum behind the city hall.” A: “I do love art! Thank you for your recommendation.” B: “You’re welcome. Enjoy your visit!”

8. How SpanishPod101.com Can Help You Learn More Spanish

We hope that after reading this article you feel like there’s no way you could possibly get lost when you travel to Spain. But even if you do get lost, we’re sure you’ll be able to ask for directions in Spanish and find your way to wherever you’re going. However, we wouldn’t suggest traveling to Spain only knowing this! If you want to talk to the locals, you’re going to need some more vocabulary.

If you’re planning on going to the beach, you’ll thank us for this list of twenty Spanish words you’ll need for the beach. You might also be interested in learning these ten verbs you’ll need for traveling, or if you’re organizing your next holiday, you might also like to learn how to talk about your winter holidays or summer holidays.

Before you go, let us know in the comments how you feel about asking and giving directions in Spanish now. Are there any words or phrases we didn’t mention? We look forward to hearing from you, and will do our best to help you out!

Happy Spanish learning!

It’s amazing how a person can permeate a country’s culture at one point in time, and have their influence carried over through the years.

While Spain certainly has a number of important historical figures, St. James is arguably one of the most popular. So much so that he has his own feast day each year, which we’ll talk about in this article.

Let’s get started.

1. What is Día de Santiago?

On Día de Santiago, or St. James Day, Spain celebrates its patron saint.

Saint James is credited with bringing Christianity to the country around the time of the Moorish occupation. However, upon returning to Israel, he was killed and his remains were sent back to Spain, near Galicia. From there, St. James’s remains were taken inland and buried in what the Spanish now call the Santiago de Compostela. The saint’s burial place received this name because it was rediscovered in 813 by a hermit who followed a star which led him to it. Today, people go to honor Saint James in Santiago de Compostela on his feast day.

Some say that, around the time of the Christian Reconquest, St. James also appeared alongside the Christian army to fight with them against the Moors.

→ See our lesson on the Five Things You Need to Know About Spanish-Speaking Cultures, and get prepared for your trip to Spain!

2. When is the Feast of St. James in Spain?

Each year, Spain celebrates Saint James Day on July 25.

3. St. James Day Traditions & Celebrations

Día de Santiago is a major occasion in certain parts of Spain, particularly Galicia and other autonomous regions. Thus, you can expect to see festivities begin up to two weeks prior to the actual holiday!

The real celebrations take place the evening before, the most notable of which is the Fuegos del Apóstol (“Apostle’s Fire”) at midnight. This is a special fireworks show that takes place near the St. James Cathedral. Spain can see the building in full light in the dead of night!

On Día de Santiago, many devoted Christians and admirers of the patron saint walk the St. James hiking trail in Spain. This trail is called the Camino de Santiago (“Way of St. James”), and this is considered a lugar de peregrinación (“place of pilgrimage”), leading to Santiago de Compostela. Over time, it’s become one of the most important and popular pilgrimages in Europe. More than 100,000 people from many countries show up to walk the St. James Way, Spain’s hotspot for tourists this time of year.

Another incredible sight to see on St. James Day is the botafumeiro. This is a large dispenser of incienso (“incense”) that’s swung using ropes under the expert control of tiraboleiros. Because this event is quite expensive to get underway and requires a skilled workforce, viewings and locations for it are limited. Generally, this takes place during the Ofrenda al Santo (“Offering to the Saint”), which is a mass celebration attended by government officials and even the Royal Family!

Anytime you’re in Spain for a celebration, you can’t forget the food! For Día de Santiago, the most popular food item is the Saint James cake. This is a cake from Galicia that contains almonds, is dusted with powdered sugar, and has a St. James cross on top.

→ What other activities might people do over the weekend? See our list of the Top 10 Weekend Activities!

→ While you’re at it, learn the most popular Spanish foods.

4. Why Scallop Shells?

If you visit Spain for St. James Day, you may be confused to see veneras (“scallop shells”) on display.

Well, according to Spanish-Fiestas.com, there are three reasons for this:

1. The scallop shell represents the many paths that can lead to Santiago (as the grooves meet at the focal point).

2. Scallop shells were used by pilgrims as eating and drinking utensils.

3. Some say that Saint James rescued someone covered in scallop shells from the sea.

5. Must-Know St. James Day Vocabulary

Here’s a quick list of some of the vocabulary words and phrases from this article! Practice these so you can talk about the Day of Saint James in Spanish!

• Santiago de Compostela — “Santiago de Compostela”
• Camino de Santiago — “Way of St. James”
• Fuegos del Apóstol — “Apostle’s Fires”
• Ofrenda al Santo — “Offering to the Saint”
• Incensario — “Thurible”
• Incienso — “Incense”
• Lugar de peregrinación — “Place of pilgrimage”
• Peregrino — “Pilgrim”
• Venera — “Scallop shell”
• Catedral — “Cathedral”
• Año santo — “Holy year”
• Botafumeiro — “Botafumeiro”

You can hear the correct Spanish pronunciation for each item on our free Saint James vocabulary list!

Final Thoughts

As you can see reflected in his feast day, St. James is a major figure in Spain’s history and culture!

Who are the most important religious or historical figures in your country? Do you have holidays or feast days to honor them? Let us know in the comments!

To continue learning about Spanish culture and the language, be sure to read these free articles on SpanishPod101.com:

• Semana Santa: Celebrating Holy Week in Spain
• Tomato Fight: Spain’s La Tomatina Festival
• How to Celebrate Corpus Christi in Spain
• Ultimate Guide of Untranslatable Spanish Words
• SpanishPod101’s Guide to Etiquette in Spanish-Speaking Countries

Stay safe out there, and happy learning! <3