Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish

How to say "bill" in Spanish

"Bill" in Spanish is cuenta, pronounced KWEN-tah (stress on the syllable in capitals). Its dictionary meaning: bill, account, bead. It is a feminine noun (la cuenta, plural las cuentas).

Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The speaker button uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice. Gender and plural: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

How to pronounce cuenta

Cuenta is pronounced KWEN-tah, in IPA /ˈkwenta/. Cuenta has two syllables, KWEN-tah, with the stress on the first. There is no written accent because the word follows the basic rule: words ending in a vowel, -n or -s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable.

Listen: normal and slow speed, in your browser's Spanish voice. IPA: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Is cuenta masculine or feminine?

Cuenta is feminine, so it takes la (the) and una (a): la cuenta. The plural is las cuentas. That fits the usual pattern: most nouns ending in -a are feminine.

Example sentences

¿Puedes traer la cuenta?
Can you bring the bill?

El sueldo llega a mi cuenta.
The salary arrives in my account.

Crea una cuenta.
Create an account.

"Bill" in Spain and Latin America

In a restaurant the bill is la cuenta; factura is an invoice; a banknote is un billete.

Regional words and roots: Diccionario de la lengua española (RAE). Spanish varies by region, so treat these as the most common patterns, not strict rules.

How to remember cuenta

cuenta [KWEN-tah] sounds like the English “count-a”. Picture this:

You count all the coins on the table to pay the restaurant bill after eating.

A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method, a well-studied way to learn vocabulary. How it works.

Practice cuenta

Two quick games, right here: no sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere.