The five Spanish phrases that do 80% of the work
First time? Do this
- Audio is built in. Tap any phrase to hear it in a native voice — pre-recorded and cached, so it just works offline, no setup. (The voice bar can still pick a phone voice as a backup.)
- Phrases — drilled by situation: the taquería, cantinas, directions, the market. Hit play, then say it back out loud.
- Sounds — nine letters unlock almost everything. Ten minutes here pays off the most.
- Customs — the unspoken rules. This is where tourists actually give themselves away.
- Practice — hear / read / recall / speak. Use it on the plane.
Right thing, right moment.
Tap a chip to jump to a scene — or just search. Common holds the go-anywhere basics (hello, thanks, where's the toilet); a few phrases like drinks live under more than one scene.
Common — useful everywhere · greetings · basics · the toilet
Greetings & manners · the social handshake
At the taquería & fonda · ordering & eating
taquería tah-keh-REE-ah — a taco counter, usually standing room and a queue
fonda FOHN-dah — a small family kitchen serving one set lunch a day
Cantinas & nights out · your scene
cantina kahn-TEE-nah — an old-school neighbourhood bar, drinks with free snacks
Mezcal & tequila tasting · agave, done properly
Finding your way · asking directions
Taxis, buses & getting around · rides & fares
Ferries & boat trips · islands & open water
Markets & getting by · everyday
Sea & scenery · quick vocab
Numbers & pesos · prices & ordering
Same alphabet — and it always plays by the rules.
Spanish says exactly what it spells: five pure vowels that never drift, and stress you can hear. Mexican Spanish lands clearer and a shade slower than Spain's, with no lisped "th" anywhere in it.
Knowing what a letter sounds like isn't the same as being able to make it. These five are where English mouths actually go wrong: what to do, what to stop doing, and a native recording you can slow down and copy.
What your mouth doesA single r between vowels is one flick of the tongue tip — the middle of butter in an American mouth. For rr (and r starting a word), keep the air flowing so the tip flutters: cerrado, and the r of ronda.
The mistakeThe English R for either. pero (but) and perro (dog) differ only by the roll — to Mexican ears they are unrelated words.
What your mouth doesj is an h said further back, with a light rasp, like fogging a mirror hard: jamaica is "hah-MY-kah". In México and other place names, x is that same sound: "MEH-hee-koh".
The mistakeThe English j — "jam-AY-ka" — or reading México with a "ks". The x in the country's own name has been an h-sound for centuries.
What your mouth doesñ is the "ny" of canyon said in one beat: mañana is "mahn-YAH-nah". ll is simply the y of yes: tortilla is "tor-TEE-yah".
The mistakeSaying the l's. "tor-TIL-lah" is the single most common taquería mistake — the double l stopped being an l centuries ago.
What your mouth doesBoth are the same soft b, lips barely meeting: vino is "BEE-noh", veinte is "BAYN-teh". Which letter a word takes is spelling history, not a difference you can hear.
The mistakeThe English v, teeth against lip. It does not exist in Spanish — saying "VEE-noh" carefully is working hard to get it wrong.
What your mouth doesWritten h says nothing at all: hola is "OH-lah". And hold every vowel on one steady note — no drift, no lazy "uh": hermoso is "ehr-MOH-soh", each vowel full.
The mistakeBreathing an h into hola, or letting the o slide into "OH-luh". The h is the one letter you can ignore completely.
- Five vowels, and they never drift. a e i o u are "ah eh ee oh oo" every time, short and clean. English vowels wander; Spanish ones don't.
- Stress has a rule; the accent marks the exception. Words ending in a vowel, n or s stress the second-to-last syllable, everything else the last. The written accent appears exactly where a word breaks that: autobús, estación.
- No lisp anywhere here. c, s and z are all a plain "s": cerveza = "ser-VEH-sa". Save the Castilian "th" for Spain.
- One r or two is a different word. pero is "but", perro is "dog". Tap the single r, roll the double one.
- x is a chameleon in place names. México and Oaxaca take an "h", Xochimilco takes an "s", and Maya names like Xcaret take a "sh". Local habit beats any rule.
The rules nobody prints on the menu.
Your Spanish rarely outs you. These do. Read once, and you'll move differently.
Greet first, always
Walking into a shop, a taxi, a waiting room or even a lift without buenos días (BWEH-nohs DEE-ahs) reads as cold. Use usted (oo-STED) with anyone older than you or anyone serving you.
Say ¡Provecho! on your way out
Passing strangers mid-meal as you leave a restaurant, say provecho (proh-VEH-choh) — a small, universal courtesy. To call a waiter, catch their eye and say joven (HOH-vehn) or señor (seh-NYOR); never snap or wave.
Sip the mezcal, don't shoot it
The saying goes para todo mal, mezcal; para todo bien, también (PAH-rah TOH-doh mahl, mehs-KAHL; PAH-rah TOH-doh byehn, tahm-BYEHN). Kiss the glass, take small sips, nibble orange with sal de gusano (sahl deh goo-SAH-noh). Throwing back good agave marks you instantly.
Tipping: 10–15%, in cash
Leave 10–15% at restaurants, after checking the bill for propina incluida (proh-PEE-nah een-kloo-EE-dah). Also tip the supermarket bagger (often an unpaid pensioner or kid), the petrol attendant, and hotel staff — in pesos.
"Ahorita" bends time
Ahorita (ah-oh-REE-tah) looks like "right now" but means anything from five minutes to never — it's a softener, not a schedule. A gentle Mexican "no" often sounds like a yes; read the warmth, not the words.
The clock runs late
La comida (lah koh-MEE-dah), the big meal, runs 2–4pm; la cena (lah SEH-nah) is lighter and after 8 or 9pm. Turn up for dinner at six and you'll have the place to yourself, which is not the goal.
Take a sitio or an app, not a street cab
In Mexico City especially, use Uber or DiDi, or a sitio (SEE-tyoh) taxi called by your hotel or restaurant, rather than flagging one down. Carry small notes — few drivers can break a 500.
Don't drink the tap water
Stick to agua embotellada (AH-gwah em-boh-teh-YAH-dah) or the purified garrafón (gah-rrah-FOHN) water hotels refill. Ice in restaurants and established stalls is factory-made and generally fine; when in doubt, ask.
Don't call Cinco de Mayo Independence Day
May 5 marks the Battle of Puebla and is a far bigger deal in the United States than in most of Mexico. Independence is el 16 de septiembre (ehl dyeh-see-SAYS deh sep-TYEHM-breh), celebrated the night before with El Grito (ehl GREE-toh).
Don't treat Día de Muertos as Halloween
November 1–2 is a warm family reunion with the dead — marigolds, photographs and favourite foods on an ofrenda (oh-FREN-dah). It isn't spooky, and a cemetery is not a photo backdrop; ask before you shoot.
The plates and glasses worth going out of your way for — each with the name as you'd say it out loud.
Test the four channels.
Understanding Spanish by ear, reading, recall, and your own mouth. Quick rounds — do them twice.