Vocabulary: everyday words, adverbs and phrases

Common adverbs, short phrases and nouns from the vocabulary list. Many listening and reading answers depend on them.

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Adverbs

Most of these are -mente adverbs: the adjective is easy to spot.
SpanishEnglish
absolutamenteabsolutely
completamentecompletely
directamentedirectly
exactamenteexactly
finalmentefinally
generalmentegenerally
inmediatamenteimmediately
especialmenteespecially
probablementeprobably
realmentereally
recientementerecently
solamenteonly
desafortunadamenteunfortunately
seguramentesurely, probably
todavíastill, yet

Short phrases

These come up in conversations and role plays.
SpanishEnglish
¡Buen provecho!Enjoy your meal!
¿Qué te pasa?What's wrong?
de nadayou're welcome
me da igualI don't mind
de vez en cuandofrom time to time
en este momentoat this moment
tener ganas deto feel like
ir de comprasto go shopping
al aire librein the open air
al lado denext to
encima deon top of
debajo deunderneath
delante dein front of
detrás debehind
estar de acuerdoto agree

Everyday nouns

Tener razón = to be right. No tener razón = to be wrong.
SpanishEnglish
la aventuraadventure
el cariñoaffection
la citaappointment, date
la zonaarea
la actitudattitude
la marcabrand, make
el descansorest, break
la bolsabag
el errormistake
la respuestaanswer
la razónreason
la verdadtruth
el sueñodream, sleep
la mitadhalf
el nivellevel
el idiomalanguage
Worked example

Translate: Unfortunately I made a mistake in my answer.

  1. Unfortunately = desafortunadamente / por desgracia
  2. I made a mistake = cometí un error (cometer un error)
  3. in my answer = en mi respuesta

Answer: Desafortunadamente, cometí un error en mi respuesta.

Key idea

Absolutamente, completamente, finalmente, inmediatamente, probablemente, solamente, desafortunadamente, todavía. ¡Buen provecho!, ¿Qué te pasa?, me da igual, de vez en cuando, tener ganas de, al aire libre, encima / debajo / delante / detrás de, estar de acuerdo. La cita, la marca, el descanso, el error, la respuesta, la razón, la mitad, el idioma.

Quick check

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Extra practice

2 more questions

Try each one, then tap to check.

  1. What does inmediatamente mean?

    1. unfortunately
    2. exactly
    3. immediately
    4. absolutely
    Show the answer

    Answer: immediately

    Inmediatamente = immediately.

  2. Which is the Spanish for "recently"?

    1. seguramente
    2. especialmente
    3. completamente
    4. recientemente
    Show the answer

    Answer: recientemente

    Recently = recientemente.

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Sources and references

Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

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