Beginner Spanish phrases: what to learn first.

Random vocabulary will not survive week one.

You have a move date, a folder of saved Spanish links and a short study window each day. What you do not have is an order. So the time goes on colours, animals, the days of the week and three ways to say “the pen is on the table” — and none of it is there when someone behind a counter asks ¿Algo más?

That is a sorting problem, not a talent problem. A list organised by grammar or by the alphabet does not match how your first week in Mexico City runs: a greeting, a name, a drink, a question you miss, a price you need twice, and the quiet fear that your mouth will open and nothing will come out.

So this page fixes the order: twelve phrases, a recall check before you add a thirteenth, and one café dialogue that puts them to work.

The twelve Spanish beginner phrases, in order.

A short list you can recall beats a long list you can only recognise. Twelve phrases are small enough to say aloud in one sitting, and wide enough to carry a greeting, an introduction, an order and a misunderstanding. The order matters: greeting, name, courtesy, then repair, then place and price. Repair phrases come early because in your first month you will need ¿Puede repetir? more often than you expect. Learn each one as a block you can say without building it: No entiendo is three sounds, not a conjugation exercise.

Phrases nine and ten use the polite form: puede, not puedes. The RAE’s Diccionario panhispánico de dudas explains that usted behaves grammatically like a third-person pronoun, so the verb follows the él / ella pattern. With a stranger at a counter or a new colleague, that is the safer choice; switch to tú forms (puedes, ¿Cómo te llamas?) when someone uses them with you first.

Accents and the opening ¿ are part of the spelling, not decoration. The RAE covers the accent that marks question words such as cómo, cuánto and dónde — write them in, even in a text message.

Run the cover-and-recall check.

Reading the Spanish column and nodding is the trap that makes study feel productive. Recognition is not recall, so use a folded sheet of paper, not a screen, for the first pass.

Repeat the check after a gap: tomorrow, then in three days, then in a week. Each pass takes less time, and the phrases you keep failing are the ones to say first.

Use them in one café dialogue.

You did not need a thirteenth phrase to order: Un café, por favor is a drink plus number five, and ¿Cuánto es? asks the same thing as ¿Cuánto cuesta? at a till. Read both parts aloud twice, then read only A and let the English stand in for B. Finally change one detail: Un té, por favor or Un vaso de agua, por favor. Day 4 of the free 7 Day Spanish Starter Plan is this exchange with audio at normal and slower speed, and the café ordering guide walks through it line by line.

What to add once ten come back.

Then add these five. Each reuses a pattern you already have, so the load is one word, not a new structure.

• Un café, por favor. (A coffee, please.) A new noun, the same request.
• La cuenta, por favor. (The bill, please.) For the end of a meal.
• ¿Dónde está la estación? (Where is the station?) The same frame as the toilet question.
• ¿Puede escribirlo? (Can you write it down?) The same puede as phrases nine and ten, handy for addresses.
• Muchas gracias. / De nada. (Many thanks. / You’re welcome.) The polite pair you will hear back.

That is seventeen phrases: a first-week set, not a wish list. Day 1 of the free plan covers the greeting and the name, Day 2 the repair phrases, Day 5 the place questions. The 10 Minute Practice Planner has a seven-day log for a set this size.

Is this another app that gives points, not speech?

Fair question, and it deserves a plain answer rather than a slogan.

• No account, no microphone, no score. The twelve phrases, the check and the dialogue are on this page. Nothing here counts streaks or asks you to speak into your phone to continue.
• The free plan is complete on the web. All seven days of the 7 Day Spanish Starter Plan are readable without signing in, with a dialogue a day at normal and slower speed. The ten everyday scenarios add role plays for a shop, a pharmacy and a building entrance.
• Downloads are separate from reading. The free Conversation Rescue Card and Practice Planner are PDFs, and a download click opens a short form (first name and email). We send a short email with no link; reply VERIFY and the file follows. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
• Spanish checked automatically. AI and rule-based checks, no teacher review; our Editorial Policy explains exactly what is done.

If you later want more than a page, there are three phrase packs at $9 each or $19 for all three, and the self-paced course Spanish Conversation Foundations is $49 for 28 lessons in 8 modules, with no live sessions, teacher or feedback. Payments are one-time through Stripe, with a full refund within 30 days. See pricing and the refund policy; this page and the seven-day plan work without either.

What this page cannot do is make the first morning easy. Twelve phrases will not carry a whole conversation. What it can do is make the first fifteen seconds predictable, so your mouth has something to do while your ears catch up.

Common questions.