Everyday life and routine in Spanish
12 words Spanish words on the topic “everyday life and routine”: el trabajo — work, trabajar — to work, despertarse — to wake up, levantarse — to get up. 12 words can be played from recordings.
12 words on the topic
- el trabajoworkThe j sounds like a throaty h: trah-BAH-hoh. Both the workplace and being busy: tengo trabajo — I'm busy
- trabajarto workThe j is a throaty h: trah-bah-HAR. Working on something is trabajar en; working as something is trabajar de
- despertarseto wake upThe stem breaks: me despierto. Without -se it means to wake somebody up
- levantarseto get upWaking and getting up are two different jobs and two different verbs — Spanish never mixes them
- lavarseto wash oneselfBody parts come with the article, not my: me lavo la cara — literally I wash myself the face
- peinarseto comb one's hairFrom peine, a comb. Regular, no broken stem
- afeitarseto shaveWithout -se it means to shave somebody else. At the barbershop they ask exactly that: le afeito?
- vestirseto get dressedThe stem swaps e for i: me visto. Vestido is the same word as a dress
- desvestirseto get undressedThe prefix des- undoes the action, like un- in English. In live speech people more often say quitarse la ropa
- sentarseto sit downIt breaks: me siento. Exactly the same shape as me siento from sentirse — I feel
- acostarseto go to bedIt breaks: me acuesto. For sleep it's acostarse; for lying down on the sofa it's tumbarse
- descansarto rest (lie down)Rest as a breather. A vacation is vacaciones, and the verb there is different: estar de vacaciones
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Salgo del trabajo a las seisI leave work at six
- Empiezo a trabajar a las nueveI start work at nine
- Me despierto a las sieteI wake up at seven
- Me levanto media hora despuésI get up half an hour later
- Me lavo la cara con agua fríaI wash my face with cold water
- Se peina delante del espejoShe combs her hair in front of the mirror
What is worth knowing about these words
el trabajo — work. The j sounds like a throaty h: trah-BAH-hoh. Both the workplace and being busy: tengo trabajo — I'm busy
trabajar — to work. The j is a throaty h: trah-bah-HAR. Working on something is trabajar en; working as something is trabajar de
despertarse — to wake up. The stem breaks: me despierto. Without -se it means to wake somebody up
levantarse — to get up. Waking and getting up are two different jobs and two different verbs — Spanish never mixes them
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is el trabajo — work.
- What is this word?
It is vestirse — to get dressed.
- What is this word?
It is despertarse — to wake up.
- What is this word?
It is sentarse — to sit down.
- What is this word?
It is lavarse — to wash oneself.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “work” in Spanish?
The j sounds like a throaty h: trah-BAH-hoh. Both the workplace and being busy: tengo trabajo — I'm busy
- How do you say “to get dressed” in Spanish?
The stem swaps e for i: me visto. Vestido is the same word as a dress
- How do you say “to wake up” in Spanish?
The stem breaks: me despierto. Without -se it means to wake somebody up
- How do you say “to sit down” in Spanish?
It breaks: me siento. Exactly the same shape as me siento from sentirse — I feel
- How do you say “to wash oneself” in Spanish?
Body parts come with the article, not my: me lavo la cara — literally I wash myself the face
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Work, home, rest, errands. The words the answer to “how are things?” is made of.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “work” in Spanish?
«el trabajo». The j sounds like a throaty h: trah-BAH-hoh. Both the workplace and being busy: tengo trabajo — I'm busy. It is one of 12 words in the set “everyday life and routine” — the rest are in the table above.
How many everyday words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 12 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 12 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.