Spanish Frequency List

Every word list is unique, as there is a variety in the sources used. Word lists are often created to help people learn new words. Word lists can consist of thematic vocabulary, like vocabulary regarding the grocery store, at the airport, or about things you’ll find in the bathroom. A drawback is that you might learn words that you will not use often, thus slowing your pace of learning. Other word lists are based on frequency. Frequency lists are a great start, because you use some words way more than others. The top 1000 words in any language account for roughly 80% of all language you will use in your daily life. The drawback is that learning by frequency gets diminishing returns. If a language has 150,000 words in current use, the top 10,000 are enough to cover 98% of all spoken and 97% of a written language. At this point, you’ll be better off learning from thematic lists. Look them up, or create your own thematic vocabulary list that is relevant to your situation. Work in finance? Look up relevant terms and make your own list.

An important fact that you should know before you begin to learn Spanish vocabulary by a Spanish frequency list is that spoken and written language differ. This is because written Spanish uses different words than the spoken Spanish language. Written language is usually more complex, and has a wider variety of words. You can go even further, and subdivide written language by historic, fiction, non-fiction and academic vocabulary. But, that is often more of use to linguists than it is to language learners. This means that if you are trying to learn Spanish vocabulary by a word list, you would need a list that bases itself on both spoken and written language. We suggest finding a Spanish frequency list that includes both written and spoken Spanish, like the ones that we offer. We base our dictionaries on subtitles, because subtitles correlate both to spoken and written language.

Learning the right Spanish words first can help you do daily activities abroad. It makes you more confident in communicating, and can also help you better understand and respond to people from different cultures. If you learn some basic grammar rules, learn between 10 and 30 new words per day, and focus on reading, listening, speaking and writing, you will improve your proficiency. 

Our website has a collection of frequency dictionaries made for language learners. These dictionaries would prove invaluable in your learning journey. These contain the most frequent Spanish words in context. Each entry comes with a Spanish to English parallel text sample sentence. We also provide IPA phonetic spelling of Spanish words, so you’ll always know how to correctly pronounce foreign vocabulary. 

Below are links to the paperbacks on Amazon. They are affiliate links. That means we might get a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking these links: 

• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries Book 1
• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries Book 2
• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries Book 3
• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries Book 4

If you prefer ebooks, you can also download the ebooks in PDF format directly from our website. Check out what our customers have to say here in the Spanish Frequency dictionary reviews.

Is Learning Through A Spanish Frequency List Effective?

For beginners, learning low frequency words like "equivocal" is not necessary. Research shows that we often repeat the same words and phrases over and over again. Even though there are better terms and phrases, we still use the exact same words every day. An example of this is the word “big”. Although there are many synonyms for "big", it is still used in 90% of all situations. It is important that you pay attention to words that deliver the most results quickly.

How Many Words Should You Know For Varying Levels of Fluency?

Beginner: If you're just starting to learn a language, 250-500 words will be enough to help you get by in everyday conversations. After just a week of study, you'll be able to hold basic conversations and get around in tourist situations. In most languages, 500 words will be plenty to help you get by in everyday life.

Conversational: You can get by in most languages with just 1,000 to 3,000 words. With that, you can ask people how they are doing, tell them something about your day, and get around in everyday situations like shopping and using public transportation.

Advanced: With 4,000-10,000 words, you become more proficient in a language. You will find yourself using more specialized vocabulary to discuss your professional field, current events, opinions, and other complex topics. Our bundle of the 5000 most common Spanish words will help you take your language skills to the next level.

Fluent: You've reached an almost native level of vocabulary in many languages if you know around 10,000 words, with the requisite words for talking about nearly any topic in detail. In addition, you know enough words to recognize the meaning of the unfamiliar ones. Get an even bigger discount and save more if you buy the 10,000 most common Spanish words at once.

Native: World languages have different word counts, so it is hard to tell how many words native speakers actually know. The estimation of words that a native English speaker can know ranges from 10,000 to 65,000+.

A Spanish Frequency List For Learners

Here is a short list of the most frequent Spanish words you can use to acquire essential vocabulary. We compiled them for you to help make your own personal word list. You can also check out our e-book with the 100 most common Spanish words for free from our website.

• el or la means the
• de means of / from
• que means that / which
• y means and
• a means to / at
• en means in / on
• un means a / an
• ser means to be (norm)
• haber means to have
• por means by / for / through
• con means with
• su means his / her / their / your (-fam)
• para means for / to / in order to
• como means like / as
• estar means to be
• tener means to have
• todo means all / every
• pero means but / yet / except
• más means more
• hacer means to do, make
• poder means to be able to / can
• decir means to tell, say
• este means this (masculine)
• esta means this (feminine)
• ir means to go
• otro means other, another
• ese means that (masculine)
• esa means that (feminine)
• si means if / whether
• me still means me (obj)
• ya means already / still
• ver means to see
• porque means because
• dar means to give
• cuándo means when
• él means he
• ella means she / her
• ellos means them (masculine)
• ellas means them (feminine)
• muy means very, really
• sin means without
• vez means time (specific occurrence)
• mucho means much / many / a lot (adv)
• saber means to know
• descubrir means find out
• qué means what / which
• cómo means how
• sobre means on top of / above / about
• mi means my
• alguno means some
• alguien means someone
• mismo means same
• yo means I (subj)
• también means also
• hasta means until / up to / even (adv)
• año means year
• uno means one
• dos means two
• querer means to want / love
• entre means between, among
• así means like that
• primero means first
• desde means from / since
• grande means large / great / big
• eso means that (n)
• ni means not even / neither / nor
• nos means us (obj)
• llegar means to arrive
• pasar means to pass / spend (time)
• tiempo means time (general) / weather
• sí means yes
• no still means no
• día means day
• bien means well
• deber means should / ought to / to owe
• entonces means so / then
• poner means to put (on) / get (+adj)
• cosa means thing
• tanto means so much / so many
• hombre means man / mankind / husband
• parecer means to seem / look like
• nuestro means our
• tan means such / as / too / so
• dónde means where
• ahora means now
• parte means part / portion
• después means after
• vida means life
• quedar means to remain / stay
• siempre means always / forever
• creer means to believe / think
• hablar means to speak / talk
• llevar means to take / carry
• dejar means to let / leave
• nada means nothing / (not) at all
• cada means each / every
• menos means less, fewer
• nuevo means new
• encontrar means to find

Above, we have given you a small Spanish frequency list so you can begin learning instantly, but this is not nearly enough to help you become fluent in the language. Get more valuable words with the MostUsedWords Spanish Frequency Dictionaries. Each dictionary follows the exact same format, that is Spanish vocabulary listed by frequency, frequency per part of speech and by alphabet. The only thing that differs is the vocabulary itself. 

• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries for Beginners
• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries for Intermediate Learners
• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries for Advanced Learners
• Spanish Frequency Dictionaries for Master Vocabulary

Expanding your vocabulary can be as easy as learning new words in context. By understanding the meaning of words in the context of a sentence or conversation, you can quickly add new words to your ever-growing vocabulary. By seeing how new words are used in relation to other words and phrases, you can start to understand their meaning and how to use them yourself. And when you are repeatedly exposed to the words, you will be able to retain them more quickly.

Conclusion: Learning From a Frequency List Helps In Quickly Learning Spanish

The most frequent words in Spanish are worth focusing on. These are useful in daily conversations, and you'll find them in most texts. Get a reliable Spanish frequency list for language learning, so that you can better understand vocabularies, while using the words correctly.

We recommend our Spanish Frequency Dictionaries and bilingual books available on our website. Our dictionaries have sample sentences for each Spanish word on the list. The context in which each word is used will help you understand its meaning. We provide books for all levels of fluency, from beginner and intermediate level, to advanced and master vocabulary.