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500 Optimal First Words to Learn in Spanish (that You Already Know)

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What are the most optimal first words to learn in Spanish for English speakers?

After putting more thought into it than I care to admit, the answer seems obvious (in retrospect.) Actually, you already know them, but probably didn’t realize they were Spanish words as well as English. More importantly, they are high frequently words. Spanish speakers use them all the time, and so will you if you learn Spanish. In fact, you already use them all the time, but in English.

Three Optimal Things

Three things about these words make them optimal first words to learn in Spanish:

  1. They are very frequently used.
  2. You already know them.
  3. You can focus exclusively on learning to pronounce them (since you already know them.)

Too good to be true? That was my first reaction when I created the list. As you’ll see, it’s more like “the time has finally come.”

Hiding in Plain Sight for Centuries

These words have been hiding in plain sight for centuries. They are perfect (285), and near-perfect (226), high-frequency English-Spanish cognates. That is, they have the same spelling and meaning in English and Spanish and are (very) frequency used in both languages.

What’s kept them hidden is not knowing which cognates (of thousands) are the most frequently used. All the words on the 500 Optimal First Words list are in the top 5000 most frequently used words in Spanish. And 277 of them are in the top 3000! That makes them pure gold for the student first learning Spanish.

To put that in perspective, you would understand ~90% of every word spoken or written in Spanish if you knew the top 3000 words. And, your comprehension would rise to 95% if you understood the top 5000 words.[1][2]

All this, and yet, for English speakers learning Spanish, it gets (much) better.

50% of the Top 5000 Words in Spanish are Cognates!

Yes, it’s true. English speakers who want to learn Spanish get a 50% head start on the most critical words in the language.

After learning that they exist, and how to pronounce them, English speakers can say plenty (in Spanish) after learning a bit of grammar. That’s a reversal of the common complaint of being made to learn grammar and having no vocabulary with which to say anything.

To get to 50%, the top cognate verbs must be included. Verbs make up 477 of these 2500 cognates in the top 50%. As in any language, you’ll have to learn how to use verbs. But, 477 of them will be words whose meaning you already understand.

Why Doesn’t Every Spanish Teacher Start with This List?

They probably will. But, until now, it’s been impossible to formulate such a list without a decent frequency dictionary.

There’ve been six efforts to create a Spanish frequency dictionary starting in 1927.[3] They all suffered from significant limitations before Mark Davies’ breakthrough version in 2006 (book title here). That was only 12 years ago.

It takes exposure and lots of time to incorporate new information into accepted pedagogy. To my knowledge, even online curriculum providers are just starting to integrate Davies’ work into their approach to teaching Spanish.

The Cost of Cognate Acquisition: Pronunciation

You already know what they mean, how to spell them, and how to pronounce them in English. But you can’t use them in Spanish until you can pronounce them in a way that a Spanish speaker can hear them. And you have to tune your ear so that you can hear and understand them when spoken in Spanish, as well.

English and Spanish share an almost identical alphabet. But Spanish is pronounced differently enough, that the same exact word (spelled the same, with the same meaning) is unlikely to be understood if you don’t pronounce it, correctly.

Listen to a Spanish Native Speaking Perfect English

If you don’t believe me about how important pronunciation is, (and have a smartphone or tablet) go to your settings and change your language to Spanish. Then, highlight an English sentence and have it read aloud to you by the Spanish voice (which uses the Spanish rules of pronunciation.)

Don’t be surprised when “Juan” or “Paulina,” says something incomprehensible. How could that be? You’ve highlighted a correctly written English sentence to be read aloud!? Yes, and you’re hearing how a native Spanish speaker would pronounce that English sentence using the Spanish rules of pronunciation. It sounds like gibberish to an English listener.

By the way, that’s the way you sound, in reverse, to Spanish speakers when you pronounce correctly written Spanish sentences using the English rules of pronunciation.

Same Words, Worlds Apart

When in Colombia on a recent trip and talking with my aunt (who only speaks Spanish) I was finally able to form perfect Spanish sentences and was excited to say something that involved the word ‘video.’ Imagine my surprise when she had no idea what I was talking about!

The problem? I pronounced ‘video’ like the English word that it is. In Spanish, ‘vidéo’ has an accent over the second syllable. Trust me when I tell you that ‘video’ and ‘vidéo’ mean the same thing, but are worlds apart when mispronounced from your listener’s point of view.

Unless each speaker adjusts their pronunciation to the listener’s language, even perfectly formed sentences using the same alphabet (In either English or Spanish) sound like gibberish!

We might remember this when tempted to criticize each other’s “accents.”

Perfect and Non-Perfect Cognates

285 words in the 500 Optimal First Words list are perfect cognates. They have the same meaning and are spelled the same, in English and Spanish. I’ve allowed for the Spanish accent mark placed over the same letter, e.g., mamá vs. mama, réplica vs. replica. I’ve also allowed for words spelled with two letters in English, ‘accessible,’ but only one letter in Spanish, ‘accesible.’

The 226 non-perfect cognates on the list allow for minor spelling changes such as replacing the ‘t’ with ‘c’ in ‘edición’ vs. ‘edition’ and ‘nacional’ vs. national. They also allow for an ‘o’ or ‘a’ after the word as in ‘humano’ vs. ‘human’ and ‘diferente’ vs. ‘different.’

It’s a rare (non-existent?) student who might be thrown off by the minor spelling changes I’ve allowed for in the ‘non-perfect’ portion of the list. I’ve kept it strict to enable the student to focus almost exclusively on pronunciation.

But What about Verbs & Grammar?

Cognates should come first. Every cognate you learn (to pronounce) in the top 5000 is pure gold! In fact, you rarely hear a Spanish sentence without one.

I’m teaching my children to go as far as they want with cognates until they’re ready for a change of subject or pace. Besides that, they are only 9 and 5 years old, and many of the cognates are words they are learning in English for the first time. That’s double points for homeschoolers!

Verb Cognates

There are 477 near-cognate Spanish verbs in the top 5000. But verb endings in the infinitive are “foreign” to the English ear, and more than two letters need be modified from their English counterpart. Therefore, the low-hanging fruit of noun and adjective cognates should come first, in my opinion. Only then can the student focus exclusively on pronunciation (crucial skill #1) and ear-training (crucial skill #2) from the start.

Grammar Madness

Putting grammar before words is demotivating. Why put students through a grammar lesson when they have no words with which to apply that grammar?

By learning cognates first, the student emerges with lots of words and excellent pronunciation.

The First 100

Here’s the first 100 of the 500 optimal first words list. Four words appear twice: once as a noun, and again as an adjective. The fact that these words (solo, final, presente, and total) appear twice in the top 5000 words makes them pure gold. Instead of being disappointed that they’re the same, celebrate them as getting two high-frequency words in one. But, just in case it makes you feel cheated, I’ve added four more to the list for a total of 104.

The First 100 Optimal First Words to Learn in Spanish
Word IPA Function Frequency
solo ’solo adv. 102
momento m.noun 108
solo ’solo adj. 160
problema m.noun 169
historia f.noun 192
idea i’ðea f.noun 193
familia faˈmi.lja f.noun 201
importante adj. 207
humano adj. 218
posible adj. 225
general xene’ɾal adj. 227
relación f.noun 230
situación f.noun 268
social so’θjal adj. 280
español adj. 285
final mf.noun 307
condición f.noun 341
color koˈloɾ m.noun 359
experiencia f.noun 361
diferente adj. 365
natural natu’ɾal adj. 414
atención f.noun 441
real re’al adj. 462
ocasión oka’sjon f.noun 463
favor fa’βoɾ m.noun 468
principal pɾinθi’pal adj. 496
animal a.niˈmal m.noun 497
base ’base f.noun 498
posición f.noun 503
nacional adj. 507
superior supe’ɾjor adj. 535
función f.noun 543
grave ’gɾaβe adj. 548
decisión deθi’sjon f.noun 549
música ˈmu.si.ka f.noun 550
expresión ekspɾe’sjon f.noun 555
producto m.noun 589
personal peɾ.soˈnal adj. 590
imposible im.poˈsi.βle adj. 592
plan ’plan m.noun 598
origen o.ɾiˈxen m.noun 606
interior in.te.ˈɾjoɾ m.noun 614
profesor pɾo.feˈsoɾ m-f.noun 621
total to’tal adj. 629
opinión o.piˈnjon f.noun 632
profesional pɾo.fe.sjoˈnal adj. 640
capital ka.pi.ˈtal mf.noun 651
material ma.teˈɾjal m.noun 656
simple ’simple adj. 661
normal noɾ’mal adj. 664
actual äk’twäl adj. 676
información f.noun 682
popular popu’laɾ adj. 709
error eˈroɾ m.noun 738
reunión rew’njon f.noun 746
final fi’nal mf.noun 771
civil θiˈβil adj. 774
doctor d̪okˈtor m-f.noun 778
construcción f.noun 794
presente m.noun 802
director di.ɾek’toɾ m-f.noun 816
radio ˈra.ðjo mf.noun 824
educación f.noun 845
operación f.noun 848
particular paɾtiku’laɾ adj. 854
solución f.noun 871
intención f.noun 876
control kon’tɾol m.noun 889
conversación f.noun 892
generación f.noun 906
visión bi’sjon f.noun 908
labor la’βoɾ f.noun 930
revolución f.noun 957
maestro ma’estɾo m.noun 961
plaza ’plaθa f.noun 1020
sensación f.noun 1023
obligación f.noun 1040
total to’tal m.noun 1043
región re.ˈxjon f.noun 1050
discusión dis.ku’sjon f.noun 1055
central θen.ˈtɾal adj. 1062
televisión te.le.βiˈsjon f.noun 1078
moral mo.ˈɾal adj. 1082
crisis ˈkɾi.sis f.noun 1085
presente m.noun 1088
sector sek’tor m.noun 1096
accidente m.noun 1098
oficial ofi’θjal adj. 1099
intelectual intelek’twal adj. 1103
institución f.noun 1115
conclusión konklu’sjon f.noun 1138
exterior eks.teˈɾioɾ adj. 1163
cámara ˈka.ma.ɾa f.noun 1172
creación f.noun 1173
internacional adj. 1189
original o.ɾi.xi’nal adj. 1191
profesión pɾofe’sjon f.noun 1206
honor o’noɾ m.noun 1211
organización f.noun 1243
café kaˈfe m.noun 1250
americano adj. 1261
interior in.te.ˈɾjoɾ m.noun 1263
cultural kul’tuɾal adj. 1277
hospital os.piˈtal m.noun 1298

Anki Deck with All 500 Words

I’ve made an Anki flashcard deck with all 500 words. Anki is a free digital flashcard program that enables the use of pictures, audio, video, and has lots of other great features to optimize recall. The cards can be viewed on a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

After you’ve viewed a card twice, Anki uses a spaced repetition algorithm to show you the card again at just the right time to optimize recall. This is called SRS or spaced repetition system and it was invented by Dr. Piotr Wozniak.

Each word in the 500 Optimal First Words deck has a picture, audio pronunciation in perfect Spanish, the IPA symbol, the function of the word, and its frequency rank in Spanish.

There are two cards for each word so they can be viewed forwards (Word on the front, picture and sound on the back) and backward (Picture on the front, word and sound on the back.)

These flashcards are suitable for anyone learning Spanish. The pictures are the best illustration of the word I could find and are also child-friendly. Here’s what the cards look like after both sides have been revealed.

Spanish Flashcard Cognate AnkiSpanish Flashcard Cognate Anki

Spanish Flashcard Cognate Anki Spanish Flashcard Cognate Anki


  1. Davies, Mark, 2006, A Frequency Dictionary of Modern Spanish, Routlegde: “Nation (1990) has shown that the 4,000–5,000 most frequent words account for up to 95 percent of a written text and the 1,000 most frequent words account for 85 percent of speech. While Nation’s results were for English, they do at least present the possibility that, by allowing frequency to be a general guide to vocabulary learning, one task facing learners – to acquire a lexicon which will serve them well on most occasions most of the time – could be achieved quite easily.”  ↩
  2. Nation, I. S. P. (1990), Teaching and learning vocabulary, Boston: Heinle and Heinle.  ↩
  3. There have been a number of other frequency dictionaries and lists for Spanish (Buchanan 1927, Eaton 1940, Rodríguez Bou 1952, García Hoz 1953, Juilland and Chang-Rodríguez 1964, Alameda and Cuetos 1995, Sebastián, Carreiras, and Cuetos 2000), but all of these suffer from significant limitations.  ↩

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