How To Understand Spoken Spanish: A Simple 5-Part Guide

If you're learning Spanish then you may have noticed that spoken Spanish is tough to understand. But consider this:

• Do Spanish natives actually speak like the Spanish textbooks say they do?
• Do all Spanish natives use the same vocabulary?

The answer is: “Of course not!”

There are lots of things about Spanish that you might only notice when you immerse yourself 100% in a real conversation with Spanish speakers.

The goal of this guide is to get you closer to everyday spoken Spanish, so you can sound just like a native and surprise the locals when you get there!

So time to discover the five aspects of spoken Spanish that can make understanding natives so hard!

1. Spanish Idioms

An idiomatic expression, or ‘idiom’, is a sequence of words whose meaning is not literal but is understood by speakers of that language.

In other words: it’s a common phrase that only makes sense in certain contexts. So as you can imagine, Spanish idioms can make spoken Spanish pretty hard to understand.

Some idiomatic expressions in Spanish are:

Tener Que Ver Con (Algo/Alguien)

Tener que ver means, literally, “to have to see”. However, a more accurate translation is “to have to do” (with something/someone). In other words, it means “to be related to”.

For example:

• No tengo nada que ver con esa persona (I have nothing to do with that person).
• Ese artículo tiene que ver con tu investigación (That paper is related to your research).

Tomar El Pelo

Yes, tomar is “to take” and pelo translates as “hair”, but tomar el pelo is just an equivalent for “to make fun of someone”. 

• ¿Me estás tomando el pelo? (Are you kidding me?).

Meter La Pata

This can be translated as “to screw up” or “to mess up”. You can use this phrase to express that someone has made a mistake or said something inappropriate:

• Metí la pata y revelé que le estaban preparando una fiesta sorpresa (I messed up and revealed that they were preparing her a surprise party for her).

Irse La Olla A Alguien

Se le va la olla (“His/her pot is leaving”, literally), is a classic phrase used in Spain. It means “to go mad” or “to go crazy”:

• ¡A mi perro se le va la olla cuando le abro la puerta! (My dog goes crazy when I open the door!).

Liarlo Parda

This is a super colloquial expression you could hear from young people in Spain (Seriously! Don’t use it when you are addressing people in a formal context). You use it when someone make a real mess:

• La hemos liado parda en la fiesta de anoche (We made a huge mess at the party last night).

Valer Or Merecer La Pena

This means “to be worth”. While in Latin America is more common to say valer; in Spain they prefer merecer:

• No pienses en él. ¡No merece la pena! (Don’t think about him. He’s not worth it!).

Irse Por Las Ramas

This Spanish idiom literally means “to go through the branches”, but its actual meaning is “to avoid the subject”. Its English equivalent is “to beat around the bush”.

For example:

• No te vayas por las ramas y cuéntame lo que hiciste (Don’t beat around the bush and tell me what you did!).

Check out this post about Spanish idioms to learn even more.

2. Common Interjections In Spoken Spanish

In English, it’s common to use the sounds “Uhm…” or “Ah…” when speaking. You use them when you need to pause to think about what you're going to say next.

Or even for no reason: They just come out! In spoken Spanish, the equivalent of those sounds is Eh… You can also use the words este… and esto…:

• Este… ¿Mañana estás disponible a la tarde? (Uhm… Are you available tomorrow afternoon?).
• Eh… ¡Creo que sí! (Ah… I think so!).

Another typical expressive resource of Spanish is ¡Ay!, used when we feel pain or when we get scared:

• ¡Ay! ¡Tu gato me rasguñó! (Ouch! Your cat scratched me!).

Meanwhile, ¡Ah! can be considered an equivalent to the English “Oh!”: It's used when you suddenly remember something, or when you realise something:

• ¡Ah! No puedo juntarme contigo mañana. ¡Es el cumpleaños de mamá! (Oh! I can’t meet you tomorrow. It’s my mom’s birthday!).
• ¡Ah, tienes razón! (Oh! You’re right!).

Uh or Uy express surprise:

• ¡Uy! Este puré de tomate está vencido (Oh! This tomato puree has expired!).

And puaj expresses disgust:

• Sí, ¡puaj! (Yes, ugh!).

¡Guau! is the equivalent of the English “Wow!”. 

• ¿Te gusta mi nuevo coche? (Do you like my new car?).
• ¡Guau! ¡Me encanta! (Wow! I love it!). 

Finally, ajá is the interjection used as the English “a-ha!”:

• Nos conocimos el año pasado en Colombia (We met last year in Colombia).
• ¡Ajá! ¡Ya lo recuerdo! (Ah-ha! I remember now!).

3. Slang In Different Spanish-Speaking Countries

You'll find 21 Spanish-speaking countries across the world!

This means that the Spanish variation spoken in one of these countries is very different from that spoken in another one. And slang can vary a lot between regions, making spoken Spanish hard to understand.

Let’s learn some common Spanish slang expressions from different regions:

Spanish From Spain (Iberian/Castilian/Peninsular Spanish)

• ¡Guay! (Cool!)
• Chaval or chavala (boy or girl)
• Vale (OK)
• Tío or tía (man, dude, friend)
• Mogollón (a lot)
• Curro (work)
• Chuches (candy)

Let’s see an example with some of these words:

• Ha entrado un chaval nuevo a mi curro. Parece un tío bastante guay. Nos hemos divertido mogollón durante el turno de ayer (A new guy has started working with me. He seems like a pretty cool guy. We had a lot of fun during yesterday’s shift).

Río De La Plata Spanish (Argentina And Uruguay)

• Che or Bo (filler words in Argentina and Uruguay, respectively)
• Laburo (work)
• Pibe or piba (kid or child)
• Boludo or boluda (it’s an insult, meaning “stupid”, but it’s also used as an informal way to simply address people)
• Dale (OK)
• Morfar (to eat)
• Por ahí (maybe)

Don’t forget that Argentina and Uruguay use voseo; this is, the replacement of the pronoun tú (you) by the pronoun vos.

Verbs are also conjugated a little differently: tú tienes (you have) becomes vos tenés, and tú quieres (you want) becomes vos querés.

Now, let’s see a colloquial dialogue with some of these words.

• Che, ¿querés ir a morfar algo con los pibes? (Hey, do you want to go out to dinner with the guys?).
• Dale, pero hoy no. Tengo mucho laburo. Por ahí mejor mañana (Ok, but not today. I have a lot of work. Maybe tomorrow will be better).

Other Regionalisms In Spoken Spanish

Now let’s see other typical words of Chilean Spanish, Mexican Spanish, and Colombian Spanish.

• Chilean Spanish
  • ¿Cachái? (Do you get it?)
  • Fome (boring)
  • Poh (classic word filler, it comes from pues, “well” or “then”).

• Mexican Spanish
  • Chido (cool)
  • Chafa (crappy)
  • ¡No manches! (Really?)
• Colombian Spanish
  • Chévere (cool)
  • Bacano (cool)
  • Parcero/Parce (friend)

4. Spoken Spanish: Accent Differences

Now, it’s time to look at some of the most important accent differences that make spoken Spanish hard to catch:

• In Mexico and Central America, you will notice that most people pronounce every letter S: las casas (the houses).
• In the Caribbean area (Venezuelan Spanish, for example), the S is aspirated when it comes before a consonant, or the sound is directly eliminated. For example: las casas sound like lah casah.
• In Spain, the Z and the S sounds are pronounced distinctly. So, the pronunciation of caza (hunt) is different from the pronunciation of casa (house). The rest of the Spanish-speaking countries, and also the Canary Islands and some provinces in the Andalusia region in Spain, don’t follow this rule: they always pronounce the Z as an S.
• In Puerto Rican Spanish, it's common to transform the R into an L at the end of words or when it comes before a consonant. So, amor can sound like amol.
• In Argentina and Uruguay (Río de La Plata Spanish), people pronounce Y and LL as SH. So, lluvia (rain) sounds like shuvia.

5. Shorter Words In Spoken Spanish

The pronunciation of Spanish is relatively simple because, unlike in English, phonemes are usually pronounced in a single way.

However, the way people actually speak isn't the same as the pronunciation you learn in the textbook. Sometimes, Spanish-speaking people talk too fast and miss some letters. Even entire syllables! No wonder spoken Spanish can be hard to understand.

For example:

• Para (for) sometimes becomes pa. If the article el (the) comes immediately after pa, it becomes pa’l: Me voy pa’l trabajo (I’m leaving for work).
• Todo (all) and nada (nothing) sometimes become to and na, respectively. For example: ¡To esto pa na! (All this for nothing!). This phenomenon happens in the southern region of Spain and in some Central American countries. If you want a real life example, check out this song: Na de na, by the Puerto Rican duo Ángel & Khriz.
• In some regions of Latin America (such as Mexico), vowels are elided when they are between two consonants. For example: perros (dogs) can sound like perr’s, and casas (houses) can sound like cas’s.

Keep Improving Your Spoken Spanish!

Spanish is a language spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

That means, of course, that there are a bunch of accents, regionalisms, vocabulary and all kinds of changing characteristics depending on the region.

Immersing yourself in conversations with locals, watching videos, and listening to the StoryLearning Spanish podcast are excellent ways to train your ear and continue to incorporate elements of the Spanish language into your daily life.

¡Buena suerte!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.