LingoflyEveryday life and routine in Spanish
12 words in Spanish 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
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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.
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.
- Study spread over days wins 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?
The whole set on this page is 12 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
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.