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The city and its places in Spanish

98 words in Spanish on the topic “the city and its places”: el restaurante — restaurant, la ciudad — city, la calle — street, la tienda — shop. 98 words can be played from recordings.

Updated September 1, 2026 · Lingofly

98 words on the topic

  • el restaurante
    restaurant
    Masculine. In Spain people more often head to el bar — morning coffee, lunch, and an evening beer all happen there
  • la ciudad
    city
    Feminine, like every word in -dad. Stress at the end: syoo-DAHD
  • la calle
    street
    The ll sounds like the y in 'yes': KAH-yeh. In addresses it's abbreviated: c/ Mayor, 12
  • la tienda
    shop
    Both a shop and a tent: una tienda de campaña is a camping tent
  • el mercado
    market
    The covered city market is el mercado; the street one that comes on certain days is el mercadillo
  • la farmacia
    pharmacy
    Look for the green cross on the sign. The one on night duty is a farmacia de guardia, listed on every door
  • el banco
    bank
    The same word also means 'bench'. Both come from a Germanic word for bench: the money changers worked at one
  • la estación
    station
    Both a metro stop and a train station: la estación de metro, la estación de tren
  • el semáforo
    traffic light
    seh-MAH-foh-roh
  • la bicicleta
    bicycle
    La bici in speech. To go by bike: ir en bici
  • la parada del autobús
    bus stop
    From parar, to stop. A metro stop is a different word: la estación
  • el abono de transporte
    travel pass
    In Madrid this is simply el abono; in Barcelona the card is called la T-casual
  • la ruta
    route
    A travel route and a hiking trail alike. A city route's number is la línea
  • el paso de peatones
    crosswalk
    El peatón is a pedestrian. The painted stripes are colloquially la cebra — the zebra
  • el atasco
    traffic jam
    Only about cars. A cork in a bottle is el corcho, a clog in the sink el tapón
  • el aparcamiento
    car park
    The Spanish word; Latin America says el estacionamiento. The verb is aparcar
  • la gasolinera
    gas station
    From la gasolina. To fill up is echar gasolina — literally 'pour some gasoline'
  • el parque
    park
    Masculine even ending in -e. El parque de atracciones — an amusement park
  • la biblioteca
    library
    The false friend in reverse: la librería is a bookshop, not a library
  • el museo
    museum
    Masculine. Many Spanish museums are free at set hours: entrada gratuita
  • el teatro
    theater
    The building and the art form. Hacer teatro figuratively means to put on an act
  • el cine
    cinema
    Both the movie house and film as art. Ir al cine — to go to the movies
  • la iglesia
    church
    The building and the church as an institution. A big cathedral is la catedral
  • el estadio
    stadium
    Masculine. The same word means a stage of a process, though in that sense etapa is more usual
  • el lugar de interés
    the place of interest
    Literally 'place of interest' — the way guidebooks and signposts put it. In conversation people more often just ask ¿qué hay que ver aquí?
  • el guía
    the tour guide
    the u after g is silent, it only keeps the g hard: GEE-ah, stress on the i
  • la guía
    the guidebook
    The same guía with a feminine article — a book or an app. La guía de la ciudad is the guidebook, el guía de la ciudad is the guide; the article carries all the meaning
  • el mirador
    the viewing point
    From mirar, to look: 'a place people look from'. The same word is used for an enclosed glazed balcony on a house
  • la entrada para la excursión
    the tour ticket
    For museums, concerts and tours you buy an entrada, not a billete: billete is for transport only. Mixing them up gives you away at once
  • el grupo de turistas
    the group of tourists
    A guided tour is la visita guiada, as opposed to la visita libre, when you walk on your own with an audio guide
  • el turista
    tourist
    Words in -ista do not change their ending for gender, only the article changes: el turista, la turista. The same pattern as el periodista and el artista
  • la fortaleza
    fortress
    Also 'strength, resilience': la fortaleza de carácter. A Moorish fortress in Spain is called el alcázar or la alcazaba
  • el monumento
    monument
    A statue on a square and a listed building alike: monumento nacional. Whoever it is dedicated to goes with a: un monumento a Cervantes
  • el cruce
    intersection
    From cruzar, to cross. El cruce de caminos is a crossroads. The pedestrian crossing is a separate word: el paso de peatones
  • la acera
    sidewalk
    Latin America more often says la banqueta or la vereda. Ir por la acera de la sombra — walking the shady side — is no figure of speech in a Spanish summer
  • la avenida
    avenue
    A wide street with trees; addresses shorten it to Avda. El paseo is wide too but built for strolling: el Paseo del Prado
  • el callejón
    alley
    From la calle with the suffix -ón: a narrow passage between houses. Un callejón sin salida is a dead end, literally and figuratively
  • el paseo marítimo
    seafront promenade
    A promenade by the sea and only by the sea. Along a river they say el paseo fluvial, or just the name: el paseo del río
  • el puente
    bridge
    A bridge — and a long weekend: when a holiday falls on a Tuesday, Monday is turned into a bridge, hacer puente. In the Spanish calendar the word matters more than it looks
  • el túnel
    tunnel
    stress on the first syllable: TOO-nel
  • la farola
    street lamp
    A street lamp on a post. The pocket kind is la linterna, the desk lamp la lámpara: Spanish keeps all three apart
  • el banco
    bench
    The same word as the bank — Spanish does not tell them apart at all. To dodge the ambiguity people specify: el banco del parque
  • la papelera
    trash bin
    From el papel, paper: a street bin for small litter. The big container is el contenedor de basura. On a computer la papelera is the trash
  • el conductor del autobús
    bus driver
    El conductor drives anything; el chófer is a personal driver. The train conductor is el revisor — a completely different word
  • la última parada
    last stop
    La parada is any stop along the way. Timetables write final de trayecto, and drivers say la cabecera — the end the route starts back from
  • el número de línea
    route number
    A route is la línea: la línea 27, la línea 6 del metro. La ruta exists but is for tourist or long-distance routes
  • la hora punta
    rush hour
    Literally 'peak hour', no preposition inside. In the plural las horas punta — punta never agrees. Latin America says la hora pico
  • el horario de autobuses
    bus schedule
    El horario is a schedule in general. A single departure is la salida; how often the buses come is la frecuencia
  • pagar el billete
    to pay the fare
    On the bus you pay the driver; in the metro you tap the card — pasar la tarjeta. A paper ticket gets clipped in the machine: picar el billete
  • coger sitio
    to grab a seat
    El sitio is a place in general, el asiento the actual seat. Saving one for someone else is guardar sitio: guárdame sitio
  • pedir un taxi
    to call a taxi
    By phone or app you pedir; hailed on the street you coger un taxi. The rank is la parada de taxis
  • bajarse en la siguiente
    to get off at the next stop
    Bajarse is getting off, subirse getting on. Squeezing toward the door, people ask briefly: ¿baja usted?
  • el barrio
    neighborhood
    A district where people live; the administrative one is el distrito. Ser del barrio is to be a local, and el bar de barrio the corner bar
  • el centro
    city center
    Spaniards just say el centro: voy al centro. The historic part is el casco antiguo. El centro comercial, the mall, is a different place
  • las afueras
    the edge of town
    Plural only: vivo en las afueras. The commuter belt is el extrarradio or la periferia; a singular la afuera does not exist
  • la obra
    construction site
    In the singular also a work of art: una obra de teatro. In the plural las obras are repair works, as in hacer obras
  • las obras en la carretera
    roadworks
    Road works are always plural. The sign just says obras, and the detour is el desvío
  • el cartel indicador
    signpost
    A sign with an arrow and a name. The traffic sign is la señal de tráfico; el cartel alone is a poster
  • el aseo público
    public restroom
    The polite words in Spain are el aseo and el servicio: ¿dónde están los servicios? El baño suggests the bathroom at home, and el váter is blunt
  • limpio
    clean
    A street, a shirt, a conscience. Limpiar is to clean, la limpieza the cleaning, and jugar limpio is to play fair
  • sucio
    dirty
    The partner of limpio. About air and water they say contaminado, polluted. Lavar los trapos sucios — washing the dirty rags — is airing dirty laundry
  • hay mucha gente
    it's crowded
    Built as 'there are many people': la gente stays singular — la gente dice, not dicen. The crowd is la multitud
  • el pueblo
    village
    Two senses: a village, and the people — el pueblo español. Spaniards say mi pueblo about their home place of any size. La aldea is a tiny hamlet
  • la capital
    capital
    About the city it's feminine: la capital. Masculine el capital is money, capital. One article tells them apart
  • el transporte público
    public transport
    Público is public and open to all. Madrid's all-zone travel card goes by el abono transporte
  • la guardería
    daycare
    the ia is two syllables: guar-de-REE-a
  • el parque infantil
    playground
    Infantil — for children. The swing there is el columpio, the slide el tobogán, the sandbox el arenero
  • la fuente
    fountain
    The same word already means 'source' — Spanish doesn't split them. A street drinking fountain is la fuente too
  • el cementerio
    cemetery
    There's an old-fashioned word — el camposanto, the holy field. On November 1st Spaniards visit the cemetery: el Día de Todos los Santos
  • el camión de bomberos
    fire truck
    El camión is a truck, los bomberos the firefighters. Its medical neighbor is la ambulancia
  • la manzana
    city block
    The same word as apple: to a Spaniard a block of houses is an apple on the map. In Latin America it's la cuadra
  • el jardín público
    public garden
    Smaller than a park and open to everyone; a bare jardín is the garden of your own house
  • la torre
    tower
    A cathedral tower and a high-rise home alike: vivo en una torre. On a chessboard it's the rook
  • la periferia
    outskirts
    A newspaper word, always singular; in conversation people say las afueras
  • el poblado
    small village
    Smaller than a pueblo and with no town hall of its own: a few streets by the road
  • el transeúnte
    passer-by
    A news-and-notices word; in speech people say la gente que pasa — the people passing by
  • el peatón
    pedestrian
    From pie, foot. Hence calle peatonal and paso de peatones — the crosswalk
  • el letrero
    signboard
    From letra, letter — a board with letters on it. Cartel is a poster, señal is a road sign
  • la papelera de la calle
    litter bin
    A bare papelera is also the wastebasket under your desk, which is why the street one gets spelled out. A big container is el contenedor
  • el poste de luz
    streetlight
    In Spain it goes by la farola; poste de luz is heard more across the ocean but understood everywhere
  • el césped
    lawn
    The lawn in the yard and the grass of a football pitch. Grass as a plant is la hierba
  • el parterre
    flower bed
    A French borrowing, stressed on the second-to-last syllable. In Latin America you'll more often hear el macizo de flores
  • el porche
    porch
    A roofed space in front of the door. Bare steps without a roof are just la entrada
  • el escalón
    step
    One single step; the staircase as a whole is la escalera. Doorsteps warn you: cuidado con el escalón!
  • el número de la casa
    house number
    In the address itself the word número drops out: the number just follows the street after a comma — calle Mayor, 12
  • el nombre de la calle
    street name
    El nombre covers both a person's name and the name of a thing. In speech people often drop calle: vivo en Mayor
  • el poste
    pole
    Any pole — telegraph, road, fence. The lamp kind with a light on top is the poste de luz
  • el casco antiguo
    old town
    The same casco as in a helmet; here it means the core, the kernel of the city. El centro is downtown in general, not necessarily old
  • el edificio de viviendas
    residential building
    La vivienda is housing as such. The contrast is with the office kind, el edificio de oficinas
  • el silencio
    silence
    Silence and keeping quiet in one word: guardar silencio is to keep quiet, and silencio! shouted means quiet!
  • la cafetería
    cafe
    Stress on the í: kah-feh-teh-REE-ah
  • el edificio
    building
    The c before i is an s in Latin America and a soft th in Spain: eh-dee-FEE-syoh
  • la sala
    hall
    A big room for people: la sala de espera, la sala de conciertos. The living room at home is el salón, a gym is el gimnasio
  • terraza
    terrace
    Asking ¿nos sentamos en la terraza? — shall we sit on the terrace? — is how any get-together starts
  • chiringuito
    beach bar
    Sardines on a skewer are called espeto, and they are grilled in exactly such a boat
  • plaza mayor
    main square
    The arcades are called soportales: under them people traded and sheltered from rain
  • casco antiguo
    historic center
    Casco here is not a helmet but a core, a frame — the historic skeleton of the city
  • mercado
    covered market
    Madrid's San Miguel and Barcelona's Boqueria are the most famous examples

Download the word set (CSV) · Open the printable sheet

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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 restaurante — restaurant. Masculine. In Spain people more often head to el bar — morning coffee, lunch, and an evening beer all happen there.

la ciudad — city. Feminine, like every word in -dad. Stress at the end: syoo-DAHD.

la calle — street. The ll sounds like the y in 'yes': KAH-yeh. In addresses it's abbreviated: c/ Mayor, 12.

la tienda — shop. Both a shop and a tent: una tienda de campaña is a camping tent.

Test yourself

First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.

  1. What is this word?

  2. What is this word?

  3. What is this word?

  4. What is this word?

  5. What is this word?

Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.

  1. How do you say “restaurant” in Spanish?

  2. How do you say “pharmacy” in Spanish?

  3. How do you say “bus stop” in Spanish?

  4. How do you say “car park” in Spanish?

  5. How do you say “theater” in Spanish?

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.

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.

Frequently asked

How do you say “restaurant” in Spanish?

«el restaurante». Masculine. In Spain people more often head to el bar — morning coffee, lunch, and an evening beer all happen there. It is one of 98 words in the set “the city and its places” — the rest are in the table above.

How many street and place words do you need to start?

The whole set on this page is 98 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, 98 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.

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