Spanish Sentences to Practise Speaking: 30 for Spain

Most lists of Spanish sentences are built for reading. You scroll, you nod, you understand every line, and then someone in a bar in Valencia asks you a question and none of it comes out.

This page is built for your mouth instead. It has 30 sentences you could really say in Spain, in three levels, and each one has a slot where you put something from your own life. The idea is simple: one sentence you can say and change is worth ten you can only recognise.

What makes a good Spanish sentence to practise speaking?

A good practice sentence is one you would actually say, that sounds right in Spain, and that has a part you can change. If it passes those three tests, every repetition also prepares you for the next conversation.

• You would say it. “My uncle’s pen is on the table” is grammatical, but you will never need it. “I’ve been to the market today” you might need this week.
• It sounds like Spain. If you’re learning for Spain, practise the forms people there use, so you don’t build a habit you later have to undo. Our guide to Spain Spanish vs Latin American Spanish explains the main differences.
• It has a swap slot. Vivo en un piso en el centro becomes Vivo en una casa en las afueras by changing the place. The frame stays, the content becomes yours.

That third test is what the tables below are built around. The swap it column gives a change to try, but don’t stop there: replace that part with whatever is true for you.

How are these sentences graded?

They are grouped by the first three levels of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages), the Council of Europe’s six-level scale. The grouping is our own rough match to what the CEFR describes, not an official list.

The Council of Europe’s global scale describes A1 as being able to “interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help”. A2 covers “simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters”. B1 is being able to “deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken”.

So the A1 sentences are about who you are and what you need. The A2 ones add plans, errands and what you did today. The B1 ones let you tell a short story, give an opinion and react to people. If you want to know how long each level tends to take, see how long it takes to learn Spanish.

A1: 10 sentences about you and what you need

These are short, present-tense sentences for the first weeks. Say them until they come out without reading.

For móvil meaning a mobile phone, the RAE’s dictionary marks that sense as used mostly in Spain. ¿Me pones...? (“will you put me...?”) is a friendly way to order at a counter; if it feels odd, ¿Me pone...? is the usted version, and simply Un zumo de naranja, por favor is fine too.

A2: 10 sentences for plans, errands and today

At A2 you start talking to more than one person, making plans and saying what you’ve done. This is where the Spain habits matter most, so the notes after the table are worth reading.

Four things in this table are typical of Spain:

• Vosotros. Queréis, os apetece and abrís are the vosotros forms: “you” when talking to a group informally. The RAE’s Diccionario panhispánico de dudas says these forms aren’t used in the Americas or in some southern parts of Spain, such as the Canary Islands and western Andalusia, where people say ustedes instead.
• He comido for today. Hoy he ido and esta semana he trabajado use the perfect tense for something done in a period that runs up to now. The RAE’s Nueva gramática básica (section 15.4.3) explains this contrast, and notes that large areas usually use the simple past instead, including much of Argentina, Chile, north-western Spain and the Canary Islands, while in Mexico, much of Central America and some Caribbean countries the simple past is used for finished actions even when they are recent. El fin de semana pasado fuimos uses the simple past because last weekend is over.
• Quedar. Quedar has many meanings, and one of them, in the RAE’s dictionary, is to arrange to meet someone. ¿Quedamos? is how plans start.
• Coger and ordenador. Coger el autobús is everyday Spanish in Spain. The RAE’s dictionary lists a vulgar sexual sense of coger in several Latin American countries, including Mexico and Argentina, so with people from those countries tomar el autobús is the safer choice. Ordenador is marked as Spain in the same dictionary.

B1: 10 sentences for stories, opinions and reactions

B1 sentences are longer and join ideas together. They let you tell someone what happened, say what you think and react to what they tell you.

Notice the mix of tenses. Llegué and conocía tell a finished story, while no te he entendido is about something that has just happened, which takes the perfect in the Spanish this page uses, as explained in the A2 notes. No creo que llueva, cuando salga and hayáis venido use the subjunctive. Practising it inside whole sentences like these is a gentler way in than starting from the rule.

How do you practise a sentence out loud?

Say it, swap it, answer it, use it. Those four moves turn a line on a page into something you can say in a conversation.

1. Say it. Read the sentence aloud at a normal speaking pace, not a whisper. Then look away and say it again from memory.
2. Swap it. Change the swap part, then change it again with something true for you. Vivo en un piso en el centro becomes your own street, your own town.
3. Answer it. Treat the sentence as a reply and ask yourself the question that comes before it. For Esta semana he trabajado mucho, the question is ¿Qué tal la semana? Then answer it a different way.
4. Use it. Find one moment today to say it, even to yourself while making a cup of tea.

Two more points help with sound. Where there is a z, or a c before e or i (centro, hace, Cádiz, conocía), many speakers in Spain use a th sound. The RAE’s DPD entry on seseo says pronouncing them as s is general across Latin America and, in Spain, in the Canary Islands and part of Andalusia, so either is correct; just pick one and be consistent. And if you want to work on rhythm rather than single sentences, the shadowing technique is built for that.

For more ways to fit speaking into your day without a partner, our guide to practising speaking Spanish on your own has five methods and a weekly routine. If your practice time is the drive to work, see learning Spanish while driving.

Which level should you start at?

Start at the level where most of the sentences feel slightly hard to say without reading. If you can say every A1 sentence from memory and swap the words easily, move up. If the A2 table leaves you reading every line, stay at A1 for now.

A quick test: cover the Spanish column of a table, look at the English and try to say each sentence. If you get most of them out, even with mistakes, that level is right for you. If you get only a couple, step down one level. Either way, it isn’t a test you can fail, and you can come back to it whenever you like.

The answer you’re after doesn’t need to be perfect. Vale (the RAE’s dictionary lists it as an interjection for agreeing) is a complete reply in a conversation, and so is a sentence with a wrong ending that still gets the meaning across. What matters is that something comes out.

How do you go beyond a list of sentences?

A list gets you started, but a conversation goes where the other person takes it. The next step is answering questions you didn’t prepare for, at a speed you can’t control, and hearing how a real reply sounds.

That’s what we’re building Spanish Out Loud for. It isn’t out yet: it’s coming soon to iPhone, and with it you’ll practise speaking Spain Spanish out loud with Carlitos, a friendly AI conversation partner. You can see how it will work on the homepage.

Until then, take three sentences from the level that suits you, make them yours with the swap slot and say them out loud today. Tomorrow, add three more.