Everyday food words in Spanish include el pan (bread), el queso (cheese), el pollo (chicken), el pescado (fish), el arroz (rice), la manzana (apple), la fruta (fruit) and el agua (water). Several words change between Spain and Latin America: la patata / la papa, el zumo / el jugo, el melocotón / el durazno.
Food vocabulary in Spanish
In the pronunciation column, capitals mark the stressed syllable. “h” stands for the jota, a throaty sound like the ch in Scottish “loch”. “th” is the Spain pronunciation of z, and of c before e or i; in Latin America it is “s”. The Spanish h is silent.
Fruit and vegetables
| Spanish | English | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| la fruta | fruit | FROO-tah |
| la manzana | apple | mahn-THAH-nah / mahn-SAH-nah |
| la naranja | orange | nah-RAHN-hah |
| el plátano | banana (Spain) | PLAH-tah-noh |
| la fresa | strawberry | FREH-sah |
| la uva | grape | OO-bah |
| la pera | pear | PEH-rah |
| el melocotón | peach (Spain) | meh-loh-koh-TON |
| el limón | lemon | lee-MON |
| la sandía | watermelon | sahn-DEE-ah |
| la verdura | vegetables | ber-DOO-rah |
| la patata | potato (Spain) | pah-TAH-tah |
| el tomate | tomato | toh-MAH-teh |
| la zanahoria | carrot | thah-nah-OH-ryah / sah- |
| la cebolla | onion | theh-BOH-yah / seh- |
| la lechuga | lettuce | leh-CHOO-gah |
Other food and drink
| Spanish | English | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| el pan | bread | pahn |
| el queso | cheese | KEH-soh |
| el jamón | ham | hah-MON |
| el huevo | egg | WEH-boh |
| el pollo | chicken | POH-yoh |
| la carne | meat | KAR-neh |
| el pescado | fish (as food) | pes-KAH-doh |
| el arroz | rice | ah-RROTH / ah-RROS |
| la pasta | pasta | PAHS-tah |
| la sopa | soup | SOH-pah |
| el bocadillo | baguette sandwich (Spain) | boh-kah-DEE-yoh |
| el helado | ice cream | eh-LAH-doh |
| la galleta | biscuit | gah-YEH-tah |
| la leche | milk | LEH-cheh |
| el agua | water | AH-gwah |
| el zumo | juice (Spain) | THOO-moh |
| el azúcar | sugar | ah-THOO-kar / ah-SOO-kar |
Spain and Latin America
Food is the theme where regional words matter most. Teach the variety you speak and recognise the others.
| Spain | Latin America | English |
|---|---|---|
| la patata | la papa (also in the Canaries) | potato |
| el zumo | el jugo | juice |
| el plátano | la banana, el banano, el plátano | banana |
| el melocotón | el durazno | peach |
| la fresa | la frutilla (Southern Cone) | strawberry |
| los guisantes | las arvejas, los chícharos (Mexico) | peas |
| la tarta | el pastel, la torta | cake |
Two words are true traps. La tortilla is a potato omelette in Spain (la tortilla de patatas) but a thin maize or wheat flatbread in Mexico. And in Mexico la torta is a filled sandwich roll, not a cake.
Meals and mealtimes in Spain
| Spanish | Verb | English |
|---|---|---|
| el desayuno | desayunar | breakfast |
| el almuerzo | almorzar | mid-morning snack (Spain), lunch (much of Latin America) |
| la comida | comer | lunch, the main meal (Spain) |
| la merienda | merendar | afternoon snack |
| la cena | cenar | evening meal |
In Spain, lunch is usually eaten later than in the UK, in the early afternoon, and dinner later in the evening too. La comida also simply means “food”, and comer “to eat”: ¿Qué hay de comida? can mean “What’s for lunch?”
Grammar for talking about food
- Gustar agrees with the food. Me gusta el chocolate, Me gustan las fresas. The thing liked is the subject.
- General statements keep the article. Me encanta el queso, Odio las cebollas: English says “I love cheese” without one.
- After eating verbs, no article for an unspecified amount. Como fruta todos los días. Bebo agua.
- El agua is feminine. Like el águila, it takes el because of the stressed a-: el agua fría, las aguas. El azúcar is usually masculine, though la azúcar is also accepted.
- Hunger and thirst use tener. Tengo hambre, Tengo sed.
- Tasty is estar rico. ¡La paella está muy rica! With ser, rico means “rich”.
Plurals to watch
- el limón → los limones, el melocotón → los melocotones: the accent disappears.
- la nuez → las nueces (walnuts): z becomes c.
- el pan → los panes, el café → los cafés.
Ordering and allergies
Para mí, una tortilla y un zumo de naranja, por favor.For me, a Spanish omelette and an orange juice, please.
¿Me trae la cuenta, por favor?Could you bring me the bill, please?
Soy vegetariano. / Soy vegetariana.I’m vegetarian.
Soy alérgica a los frutos secos.I’m allergic to nuts.
¡Que aproveche!Enjoy your meal!
Idioms and expressions
| Spanish | Literally | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ser pan comido | to be eaten bread | to be a piece of cake |
| ponerse como un tomate | to go like a tomato | to go bright red |
| me importa un pepino | it matters a cucumber to me | I couldn’t care less |
| dar calabazas | to give pumpkins | to turn someone down |
| al pan, pan, y al vino, vino | bread is bread and wine is wine | to call a spade a spade |
| estar como un fideo | to be like a noodle | to be very thin |
Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners
- “Estoy hambre”: it is Tengo hambre.
- “Me gusta las fresas”: plural food needs gustan.
- Dropping the article after gustar: “Me gusta chocolate” instead of Me gusta el chocolate.
- Pez for food: it is el pescado on a plate.
- “La agua fría”: it is el agua fría.
- “Es rico” for “it’s tasty”: use está rico.
- Embarazada is not embarrassed: it means pregnant, a classic trap when a pupil spills a drink.
- English j or h: jamón with a throaty jota, helado and huevo without h.
In class: food as a word of the day
Food is easy to show, easy to have an opinion about, and useful from the first week to GCSE.
- Show the picture and the English word: “carrot”.
- Ask ¿Cómo se dice en español? Pupils write a guess on mini whiteboards.
- Reveal la zanahoria with its pronunciation. The class repeats it, syllable by syllable, then two pupils alone.
- Show an example sentence: Me gustan las zanahorias, pero no me gusta la cebolla.
- Give the reuse task: each pupil gives an opinion with me gusta or me gustan and a reason: porque es sano, porque es dulce.
- Recall yesterday’s word and one from last week.
That is exactly what a daily routine does: one word a day, and a short, useful sentence built around it.
Riddles and games
Riddles work well from A1: Es amarilla, es una fruta y a los monos les encanta. ¿Qué es? (el plátano or la banana). For A2, a “menu of the day” game: pupils order three dishes from a mini-menu with de primero, de segundo and de postre. Sorting tasks also help: masculine or feminine, fruit or vegetable, healthy or not.
- A1The word with its article and gustar: Me gusta el queso.
- A2Meals and a routine: Para desayunar, como pan con tomate y bebo leche.
- B1Past meals and restaurant role-plays: Ayer cené pescado con patatas. ¿Me trae la cuenta?
- B2Healthy eating and opinions: Es importante que comamos más fruta y menos azúcar.
At KS2, a picture and a me gusta / no me gusta vote are enough. At KS3, insist on gusta / gustan and the article. At GCSE, food comes back through healthy lifestyle, festivals and eating out.
For more illustrated vocabulary between lessons, the free site unapalabrapordia.es, created by the maker of VocaDial, publishes an illustrated Spanish word every day, translated into French, English and German, with its pronunciation and an example sentence recorded in all four languages.
The “La palabra” module does it for you
A picture and the word in the pupils’ language: the class works out how to say it, then the word is revealed with its pronunciation and an example sentence to reuse. No preparation needed: try everything free for 15 days of use.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say "food" in Spanish?
La comida. The same word also means “lunch” in Spain, the main meal of the day, and comer means both “to eat” and “to have lunch”.
Is it patata or papa?
Both are correct. La patata is used in Spain; la papa in Latin America and the Canary Islands.
Why is it el agua if agua is feminine?
Feminine nouns beginning with a stressed a- take el in the singular to avoid two a sounds colliding. The word stays feminine: el agua fría, las aguas.
How do you say "I'm hungry" in Spanish?
Tengo hambre, literally “I have hunger”. “I’m thirsty” is Tengo sed.
What are the meals of the day in Spanish?
El desayuno (breakfast), el almuerzo (mid-morning snack in Spain, lunch in much of Latin America), la comida (lunch in Spain), la merienda (afternoon snack) and la cena (dinner).