Let’s Sound More Spanish – Part 1

Photo by Mitchell Nijman on Unsplash

Watching a Spanish movie is a totally different experience than reading a textbook in class. Have you ever tried using subtitles and still felt confused? Don’t worry — today I’ll guide you through some of the most common everyday Spanish expressions. Let’s help you sound more like a native!

Many of the phrases you’ll find here can give your conversations a real Spanish feel. But be careful — sometimes you can’t translate them directly into English or Czech without losing their natural meaning.

If you’ve already learned body parts in Spanish, you probably know “cabeza” means head. But did you know you can also call it “el coco” (coconut)? For example:
👉 No le des mucho al coco – Don’t overthink it!

Now, how do you say you don’t understand something — like, at all? You could try:
👉 No me cabe en la cabeza – I don’t get it
Or casually ask someone:
👉 ¿Pillas? – Do you get it?
Sounds way more native, right? So far so good... ¿pillas?

Let’s talk about flipar – a very common verb. You use it when something really excites or surprises you:
👉 Me flipan las pelis españolas – I love Spanish movies
Or: Vas a flipar, tía – You’re gonna love it, girl!

Speaking of tía and tío, it might feel strange, but they’re often used like dude or mate in Spain.
👉 ¿Qué pasa, tío? – What’s up, man?
👉 Venga, tío, disfruta – Come on, man, enjoy it!

Venga is another classic. It doesn’t mean “come” here — it’s more like OK, alright, let’s go.
👉 ¡Venga, hasta ahora! – OK, see you soon!

When chatting with friends, you might hear chaval (kid) or chavales (guys).
👉 ¿Qué pasa, chavales? – What’s up, guys?

And finally… ¡hostia! Literally, hostia means the small round bread given by a priest during church ceremonies, a symbol of accepting Jesus. But in everyday language, it’s used as a strong exclamation — kind of like OMG or No way!
👉 ¡Hostia, qué sorpresa! – Wow, what a surprise!
You can even say something is amazing:
👉 La peli está de la hostia – The movie is awesome.
Or describe someone cool:
👉 Ese tío es la hostia – That guy is the best.

Now you're one step closer to sounding like a native! Which expression was your favorite? Or which one surprised you the most?

Each language is a world to discover. If you’d like to explore more phrases to add to your Spanish, don’t miss the next post.

¡Venga, hasta ahora, chavales!

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