Palabra Lexi · words by topic · Spanish
Spanish Words: Food & Drink — with Pronunciation and Memory Hooks
Level A0 · first words · 20 words
Bread, water, cheese, meat, fruit and vegetables, breakfast and dinner: the basic words for the market, the supermarket and the menu.
Spanish is read almost exactly as it's written: stress falls on the second-to-last syllable when a word ends in a vowel, n or s, otherwise on the last one, and exceptions carry an accent mark (café, estación). Nouns are masculine (el) or feminine (la). Pronunciation below is spelled out in English, stressed syllable in capitals.
Food & Drink in Spanish: word list
| Spanish | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pan | PAHN | bread |
| agua | AH-gwah | water |
| leche | LEH-cheh | milk |
| queso | KEH-soh | cheese |
| huevo | WEH-boh | egg |
| carne | KAHR-neh | meat |
| pollo | POH-yoh | chicken |
| pescado | pehs-KAH-doh | fish |
| arroz | ah-RROHS | rice |
| manzana | mahn-SAH-nah | apple |
| naranja | nah-RAHN-hah | orange |
| tomate | toh-MAH-teh | tomato |
| patata | pah-TAH-tah | potato |
| cebolla | seh-BOH-yah | onion |
| azúcar | ah-SOO-kahr | sugar |
| sal | sahl | salt |
| café | kah-FEH | coffee |
| vino | BEE-noh | wine |
| desayuno | deh-sah-YOO-noh | breakfast |
| cena | SEH-nah | dinner |
Memory hooks for these words
A sound-alike is an English word or phrase that sounds like the foreign one. The scene ties it to the meaning: you recall the sound, the sound brings back the picture, the picture brings back the meaning. Read each scene once, then try to recall the meaning a minute later without looking at the list.
pan [PAHN] — bread
Sounds like: “pan”. You bake fresh bread dough right inside a frying pan sizzling on the stove.
pan — bread
agua [AH-gwah] — water
Sounds like: “awe-gua”. You gasp in awe at a guava fruit floating in a crystal-clear pool of water below.
leche [LEH-cheh] — milk
Sounds like: “letch”. An old letch spills a glass of milk down his shirt while staring, milk dripping everywhere.
leche — milk
queso [KEH-soh] — cheese
Sounds like: “kay-so”. You say 'kay, so' before slicing the melted cheese dripping off your sandwich onto the plate.
Me gusta el queso. — I like cheese.
huevo [WEH-boh] — egg
Sounds like: “whey-vo”. Farmer pours whey near the hen's nest, then finds a fresh egg sitting there.
huevo duro — hard-boiled egg
carne [KAHR-neh] — meat
Sounds like: “car knee”. You bang your knee on the car door, and it bruises purple like raw meat.
comer carne — to eat meat
pollo [POH-yoh] — chicken
Sounds like: “polo”. A chicken wearing a polo shirt struts across the yard, pecking corn near the fence.
El pollo está en el plato. — The chicken is on the plate.
pescado [pehs-KAH-doh] — fish
Sounds like: “pest cod”. A cod fish acts like a pest, flopping around and knocking things off the kitchen counter.
El pescado está frío — The fish is cold
arroz [ah-RROHS] — rice
Sounds like: “a-ROSE”. A rose flower is planted in the middle of a big bowl of steaming white rice.
El arroz está listo — The rice is ready
manzana [mahn-SAH-nah] — apple
Sounds like: “man's Anna”. A man's Anna hands him a shiny red apple and he takes a big juicy bite
La manzana es roja — The apple is red
naranja [nah-RAHN-hah] — orange
Sounds like: “narrow ninja”. A narrow ninja hides behind a giant orange, squeezing tight so juice drips down his mask
Me gusta el jugo de naranja. — I like orange juice.
tomate [toh-MAH-teh] — tomato
Sounds like: “toe mate”. Your toe becomes mates with a squishy red tomato rolling across the kitchen floor together.
El tomate está maduro. — The tomato is ripe.
patata [pah-TAH-tah] — potato
Sounds like: “pat-a-tar”. You pat a potato covered in black tar, leaving sticky fingerprints on its brown skin.
Compré una patata grande — I bought a big potato.
cebolla [seh-BOH-yah] — onion
Sounds like: “say boy-a”. A crying boy chops an onion and shouts 'say boy-a!' while tears stream down his face.
Corto la cebolla y lloro mucho. — I cut the onion and cry a lot.
azúcar [ah-SOO-kahr] — sugar
Sounds like: “a soo-car”. A zoo car pulls up dripping with white sugar spilling from its sacks onto the road.
azúcar — sugar
sal [sahl] — salt
Sounds like: “Sally”. SALLY spills salt on the kitchen floor and tosses a pinch over her shoulder for luck.
Necesito más sal para la sopa. — I need more salt for the soup.
café [kah-FEH] — coffee
Sounds like: “cafe”. You walk into a cozy cafe and order a steaming hot cup of coffee at the counter.
Quiero un café — I want a coffee
vino [BEE-noh] — wine
Sounds like: “wean-oh”. A baby is weaned off milk, and the parents celebrate with a big glass of wine, shouting 'oh!'
Quiero una copa de vino — I want a glass of wine
desayuno [deh-sah-YOO-noh] — breakfast
Sounds like: “dessa-you-know”. Your friend says 'dessa you know the meal we eat right after waking up' pointing at pancakes.
cena [SEH-nah] — dinner
Sounds like: “senna”. You sip senna tea after dinner, the steaming cup sits beside your empty plate at the table.
La cena está lista — Dinner is ready