Spanish Language Basics

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Spanish Language Basics

Both Spanish and English are the official languages of Puerto Rico. English is widely spoken particularly in hotels, at resorts and other tourist areas. Spanish will predominate in the rural areas and off the beaten path, but no worries, you will usually find someone that speaks at least some English willing to assist you. Most road signs are in Spanish with highway markers and distances based on the metric system. Interestingly speed signs are posted in miles per hour and not kilometers per hour.

Basic Spanish Conversational Words and Phrases

Hello	Hola	o-la
Good Morning	Buenos dias	bwe-nos dee-as
Good Afternoon	Buenas tardes	bwe-nas tar-des
Good Evening / night	Buenas noches	bwe-nas no-ches
Goodbye / See you soon	Hasta Luego	as-ta lue-go
Yes	Sí	see
No	No	no
Please	Por favor	por fa-vor
Thank you	Gracias	gra-syas
Many thanks	Muchas gracias	moo-chas gra-syas
You’re welcome	De nada	de na-da
Pardon me	Perdón	per-don
Excuse me	Permiso	per-mee-so
Forgive me	Disculpe	dees-kool-pe
How are things?	¿Qué tal?	ke tal
What’s your name?	¿Cómo se llama? (pol)	ko-mo se ya-ma
	¿Cómo te llamas? (inf)	ko-mo te ya-ma
My name is…	Me llamo…	me ya-mo
It’s a pleasure to meet you	Mucho gusto	moo-cho goos-to
Where are you from?	¿De dónde es? (pol)	de don-de es
	¿De dónde eres? (inf)	de don-de eres
I’m from…	Soy de…	soy de
Where are you staying?	¿Dónde está alojado/a? (pol)	don-de es-ta a-lo-ha-do/a
	¿Dónde estás alojado/a (inf)	don-de es-tas a-lo-ha-do/a

Basic Directions

Can you show me (on map)?	¿Me lo podría indicar (en el mapa)?	me lo po-dree-a een-dee-kar (en el ma-pa)
Straight	Derecho	de-re-cho
Left	Izquierda	ees-kyer-da
Right	Derecha	de-re-cha
North	Norte	nor-te
South	Sur	soor
East	Este	es-te
West	Oeste	o-es-te
Here	Aqui	a-kee
There	Alli	a-yee
Avenue	Avenida	a-ve-ni-da
Street	Calle	ka-ye
Block	Cuadra	kwa-dra
Road	Carretera	ka-re-te-ra
Expressway	Expreso	es-pre-so
Toll Highway	Autopista	ow-toe-pees-ta

Signs

Entrada	Entrance
Salida	Exit
Información	Information
Abierto	Open
Cerrado	Closed
Prohibido	Prohibited
Servicios / Baños	Toilets
Hombres / Caballeros	Men
Mujeres / Damas	Women