Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish

How to say "food" in Spanish

"Food" in Spanish is comida, pronounced koh-MEE-dah (stress on the syllable in capitals). It is a feminine noun (la comida, plural las comidas).

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 comida

Comida is pronounced koh-MEE-dah, in IPA /koˈmida/. Comida has three syllables, koh-MEE-dah, with the stress on the second. 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 comida masculine or feminine?

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

Example sentences

La comida está lista
the food is ready

Me gusta la comida
I like the food

"Food" in Spain and Latin America

Comida is food in general and also a meal; in Spain la comida is often lunch, the main meal of the day.

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 comida

comida [koh-MEE-dah] sounds like the English “comedy”. Picture this:

Dinner turns into comedy: the food juggles itself and the meatballs tell jokes.

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

Practice comida

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

Word web: comida

Words that live next to comida in the Palabra word web, each with its own English sound-alike and scene. Learning them together makes each one easier to recall.