Palabra Lexi · words by topic · Spanish
Spanish Words: Nature & Animals — with Pronunciation and Memory Hooks
Level A0 · first words · 20 words
Sea, mountains, forest, river, dog, cat, bird: words for walks, trips and talking about where you like to spend your time off.
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.
Nature & Animals in Spanish: word list
| Spanish | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| mar | mahr | sea |
| playa | PLAH-yah | beach |
| montaña | mohn-TAH-nyah | mountain |
| río | REE-oh | river |
| bosque | BOHS-keh | forest |
| árbol | AHR-bohl | tree |
| flor | flohr | flower |
| hierba | YEHR-bah | grass |
| piedra | PYEH-drah | stone |
| cielo | SYEH-loh | sky |
| perro | PEH-rroh | dog |
| gato | GAH-toh | cat |
| pájaro | PAH-hah-roh | bird |
| caballo | kah-BAH-yoh | horse |
| vaca | BAH-kah | cow |
| pez | pehs | fish (alive) |
| oveja | oh-BEH-hah | sheep |
| isla | EES-lah | island |
| campo | KAHM-poh | countryside |
| luna | LOO-nah | moon |
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.
mar [mahr] — sea
Sounds like: “mark”. You mark a big blue circle on the map showing where the sea meets the shore.
Vivo cerca del mar. — I live near the sea.
playa [PLAH-yah] — beach
Sounds like: “play-ah”. Kids shout 'play-ah!' as they run barefoot across the hot beach sand toward the ocean waves.
la playa es hermosa — the beach is beautiful
montaña [mohn-TAH-nyah] — mountain
Sounds like: “Montana”. Picture the US state Montana filled with towering snow-capped mountains stretching across the horizon.
La montaña nevada — The snowy mountain
río [REE-oh] — river
Sounds like: “reo (like 'ray-oh')”. A ray of sunlight hits the river's surface, sparkling as fish jump out of the flowing water.
El río refleja el sol — The river reflects the sun
bosque [BOHS-keh] — forest
Sounds like: “bosc-osk”. Picture a forest floor covered in oatmeal-like moss, you slip and shout 'bosc'! among tall dark trees.
El bosque es verde. — The forest is green.
árbol [AHR-bohl] — tree
Sounds like: “arbor”. You sit in a garden arbor covered by branches of a leafy tree growing overhead.
El árbol tiene hojas verdes — The tree has green leaves
flor [flohr] — flower
Sounds like: “flour”. White flour spills onto the table, shaped like a flower with soft powdery petals.
flores — flowers
hierba [YEHR-bah] — grass
Sounds like: “yer-bah (yeah-bah)”. A farmer shouts 'yeah-bah!' happily while lying down in tall soft grass.
Camina por la hierba. — He walks through the grass.
piedra [PYEH-drah] — stone
Sounds like: “pier-drop”. You drop a big stone off the pier and watch it sink into the water.
La piedra cayó al agua. — The stone fell into the water.
cielo [SYEH-loh] — sky
Sounds like: “see-hello”. You look up and see, saying 'hello' to birds flying across the wide blue sky above.
El cielo está azul. — The sky is blue.
perro [PEH-rroh] — dog
Sounds like: “pero”. You say 'but' (pero) to the dog, yet it still jumps up and licks your face.
El perro come — The dog eats
gato [GAH-toh] — cat
Sounds like: “gah-toe”. The cat bites your toe and you yell 'gah, toe!' while it runs away laughing.
Mi gato juega — My cat plays
pájaro [PAH-hah-roh] — bird
Sounds like: “pa-ha-ro”. A parrot lands on grandpa's shoulder shouting 'pa-ha-ro' as it flaps its colorful wings.
El pájaro vuela — The bird flies
caballo [kah-BAH-yoh] — horse
Sounds like: “cab, ballot”. A horse pulls a cab carrying a ballot box to the voting station in town
Monto el caballo — I ride the horse
vaca [BAH-kah] — cow
Sounds like: “vacuum”. A cow is stuck inside a giant vacuum cleaner, mooing loudly as it gets sucked into the tube.
La vaca — The cow
pez [pehs] — fish (alive)
Sounds like: “pest”. A tiny fish nibbles like a PEST at your toes while swimming in the shallow lake.
El pez es pequeño. — The fish is small.
oveja [oh-BEH-hah] — sheep
Sounds like: “over-ya”. The sheep jumps over ya, wool flying, as you duck under the fence to escape it.
Vi una oveja blanca. — I saw a white sheep.
isla [EES-lah] — island
Sounds like: “is law”. A judge stands alone on a tiny island shouting 'this is law here!' waving a flag over sand.
Vivo en una isla. — I live on an island.
campo [KAHM-poh] — countryside
Sounds like: “camp-oh”. Picture a camp oh-so far from the city, tents pitched in green countryside fields around you.
Vivimos en el campo. — We live in the countryside.
luna [LOO-nah] — moon
Sounds like: “lunar”. Astronauts in a lunar module land on the moon, planting a flag on its dusty gray surface.
veo la luna — I see the moon