el papel
“el papel” — paper as a material in Spanish. Noun, level A2, topic — shopping and money. The same word is a role: hacer un papel is to play a part, un papel importante an important role. In the plural los papeles are documents. In a live sentence: “Necesito una hoja de papel y un boli” — I need a sheet of paper and a pen. You can hear how it sounds right here.
In short
| Written in Spanish | el papel |
| Translation | paper as a material |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
- el papelpaper as a material
Why it looks that way
The same word is a role: hacer un papel is to play a part, un papel importante an important role. In the plural los papeles are documents
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Necesito una hoja de papel y un boliI need a sheet of paper and a pen
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- ¿cuánto cuesta?how much does it cost?For one thing it's cuánto cuesta, for several cuánto cuestan: the verb agrees with the goods, not the buyer
- el euroeuroIt pluralizes: un euro, dos euros. Cents are called los céntimos
- la tiendashopBoth a shop and a tent: una tienda de campaña is a camping tent
- el mercadomarketThe covered city market is el mercado; the street one that comes on certain days is el mercadillo
- el puestomarket stallA stall or counter at a market. A shop counter is el mostrador
- el vendedorvendorFrom vender, to sell. A woman selling is la vendedora
- el compradorbuyerFrom comprar, to buy. In a shop the same person is el cliente
- la básculascaleBAS-koo-lah: stress on the first syllable, exactly where the accent mark sits
- el kilokiloIn conversation always kilo; the full kilogramo stays on paper
- frescofreshFresh about food and cool about weather: hace fresco — it's cool out
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “paper as a material” in Spanish?
The same word is a role: hacer un papel is to play a part, un papel importante an important role. In the plural los papeles are documents
- How do you say “buyer” in Spanish?
From comprar, to buy. In a shop the same person is el cliente
- How do you say “shop” in Spanish?
Both a shop and a tent: una tienda de campaña is a camping tent
- How do you say “fresh” in Spanish?
Fresh about food and cool about weather: hace fresco — it's cool out
- How do you say “vendor” in Spanish?
From vender, to sell. A woman selling is la vendedora
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “paper as a material” in Spanish?
«el papel». In a live sentence: “Necesito una hoja de papel y un boli” — I need a sheet of paper and a pen. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A2, from the set “shopping and money”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The same word is a role: hacer un papel is to play a part, un papel importante an important role. In the plural los papeles are documents. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.