el taxi
“el taxi” — taxi in Spanish. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. Masculine: el taxi. In Spain you take a cab at the rank, la parada de taxis, not by waving from the curb. In a live sentence: “¿Me pide un taxi, por favor?” — Could you call me a taxi, please? You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 24 words in the set “transport” in the Spanish course.
In short
| Written in Spanish | el taxi |
| Translation | taxi |
| Other translations | cab |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- el taxitaxi
Why it looks that way
Masculine: el taxi. In Spain you take a cab at the rank, la parada de taxis, not by waving from the curb
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.
- ¿Me pide un taxi, por favor?Could you call me a taxi, please?
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- la estaciónstationBoth a metro stop and a train station: la estación de metro, la estación de tren
- el metrometroMasculine and never declined: el metro, voy en metro. The same word is the meter of measurement
- el autobúsbusIn the plural the accent disappears: los autobuses. The long-distance coach has a name of its own, el autocar
- el semáforotraffic lightseh-MAH-foh-roh
- la bicicletabicycleLa bici in speech. To go by bike: ir en bici
- la parada del autobúsbus stopFrom parar, to stop. A metro stop is a different word: la estación
- el abono de transportetravel passIn Madrid this is simply el abono; in Barcelona the card is called la T-casual
- la rutarouteA travel route and a hiking trail alike. A city route's number is la línea
- el paso de peatonescrosswalkEl peatón is a pedestrian. The painted stripes are colloquially la cebra — the zebra
- el atascotraffic jamOnly about cars. A cork in a bottle is el corcho, a clog in the sink el tapón
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “taxi” in Spanish?
Masculine: el taxi. In Spain you take a cab at the rank, la parada de taxis, not by waving from the curb
- How do you say “travel pass” in Spanish?
In Madrid this is simply el abono; in Barcelona the card is called la T-casual
- How do you say “bus” in Spanish?
In the plural the accent disappears: los autobuses. The long-distance coach has a name of its own, el autocar
- How do you say “traffic jam” in Spanish?
Only about cars. A cork in a bottle is el corcho, a clog in the sink el tapón
- How do you say “bus stop” in Spanish?
From parar, to stop. A metro stop is a different word: la estación
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 “taxi” in Spanish?
«el taxi». In a live sentence: “¿Me pide un taxi, por favor?” — Could you call me a taxi, please? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Masculine: el taxi. In Spain you take a cab at the rank, la parada de taxis, not by waving from the curb. 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.