An essential Phrasebook for walking the Camino de Santiago in Galicia. Includes the most common words and expressions in Spanish and Galician translated into English and some clues on the differences between Spanish and Galician.
Created by Ultreya Tours
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SPANISH
Spanish, also known as Castilian (Castellano or Español), originated from Northern Spain, near Burgos, and
it is spoken by almost 500 million people worldwide. However, if you have learned Latin American Spanish
you will notice slightly different pronunciations and few vocabulary differences.
Spanish is closely related to other romance languages and is sometimes mutually intelligible with Portuguese,
Catalan, Italian, Romanian and to an extend French. English and Spanish share variants of approximately
one third of their words (via Latin), although the pronunciation tends to be very different.
The Spanish verb tense system is fairly similar to English, but all six person/number combinations take
different endings in the indicative. The formal âyouâ (usted(es)) takes a third-person verb. Spanish has
genders, so a man says encantado and a woman says encantada. The indirect object and the animate
direct object are both marked by a.In Spain, it is very common tu use the non-formal âyouâ: âtuâ when
speaking to people even if you donât know them well.
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Spanish spelling has the pleasant characteristic of being very phonetic. This means that if you know how to
pronounce the letters of a word, itâs relatively easy to sound out the word itself.
Besides having a very small number of vowel sounds and a high predictability of exactly what sound is
represented by each letter, Spanish has a very clear set of rules about where a stress normally falls, and
exceptions are noted with an âacute accent markâ (âÂŽ â) over the vowel of the stressed syllable. Normally,
words that end in a vowel, or in n or s, have the stress on the next-to-last syllable (muchacho = âmu-CHA-
choâ); all other words without an explicit accent mark are stressed on the final syllable (hospital = âos-pee-TALâ).
There are no secondary stresses within words.
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SPANISH PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
VOWELS
The vowels in Spanish are short crisp sounds. They are
not dragged out like the English vowels.
a like âaâ in âfatherâ
e like âayâ in âpayâ or âaiâ in âhailâ when stressed; may
take on more of a âeâ in âpetâ sound when unstressed
i like âeeâ in âseeâ
o like âoâ in âstoneâ
u like âuâ in âruleâ
y like âeeâ in âseeâ.
CONSONANTS
b like âbâ in âbedâ (but no aspiration) a soft vibration
sound almost like English âvâ.
c in most cases it is pronounced like âkâ in âkidâ: calle,
doctor. When followed by âeâ or âiâ, it is âthâ like in âthinâ.
ch like âchâ in âtouchâ: muchacho
d like âdâ in âdogâ: de.
f like âfâ in âfineâ: faro
g when followed by âeâ or âiâ, like a throaty âhâ (general =
heh-neh-RAHL), otherwise like âgâ in âgoâ (gato).
gu, gĂŒÂ when followed by another vowel, like âGwâ in
Gwen (agua, cigĂŒeña, CamagĂŒey)
h silent: hora= OR-ah. Pronounced like a softer âjâ only in
foreign words.
j like a throaty âhâ in âhaâ: jamĂłn;
k like âkâ in âkidâ: kilo
l like âlâ in âloveâ: lĂĄpiz
ll like âyâ in âyearâ; also sometimes pronounced like âlyâ as
in the English word âmillionâ.
m like âmâ in âmotherâ: mano
n like ânâ in âniceâ, and like ânâ in âanchorâ: noche, ancla
ñ like ânyâ in âcanyonâ: cañón, piñata
p like âpâ in âpigâ: perro
q like âqâ in âquicheâ (always with a silent âuâ): queso,
pronounced KAY-so
r, rr Spanish has two ârâ sounds:
âą single r: This sound is created by putting the tip
of the tongue up against where the front of the roof of the
mouth meets the upper teeth. To an English-speaking
ear, it may sound a bit like a combined âd-râ.
âą rolled r: Written ârâ at the beginning of the word,
or ârrâ between vowels (cerro). Itâs a multiply vibrating
sound. Many find this sound impossible to produce; in
this case, pronouncing it like a Spanish r or fumbling out
a d-r will be better understood than pronouncing it like a
long English r.
s like âsâ in âsonâ: sopa; in Spain, it is often pronounced
like a soft, palatised âshâ at the end of a word or syllable.
t like âtâ in âtopâ: tapa
v like âbâ in âbedâ (but no aspiration) at the beginning of
a word and after âmâ: vaca, pronounced BAH-kah. A soft
vibration sound almost like English âvâ elsewhere.
w like âwâ in âweightâ in English words, whisky,
pronounced WEESS-kee).
x like âxâ in âflexibleâ (flexible). Like âssâ in âhissâ at
beginning of a word (xilĂłfono).
y like âyâ in âyesâ: payaso. Like âyâ in âboyâ: hoy.
z like âthâ in âthinâ : zorro. See c above.
DIPHTHONGS
Most diphthongs can be approximated by blending
the first vowel into the second in a single syllable.
ai, ay like âeyeâ: baile (BAI-lay)
au like âowâ in âcowâ: causa (KOW-sah)
ea like âay-ahâ: fea (FAY-ah)
ei, ey like âayâ in âsayâ: reina, rey. (RAY-nah)
eu like âeh-ooâ: euro (eh-OO-roh)
ia like âee-ahâ: piano (pee-AH-noh)ie like âee-ehâ: pie (PEE-
eh)
io like âee-awâ: dio (DEE-aw)
iu like âewâ in âfewâ: ciudad (syoo-DAHD)
oi, oy like âoyâ in âboyâ: soy (soy)
ua like âwaâ in âwashâ: cuatro (KWAH-traw)ue like âweâ in
âwellâ: puedo (PWAY-daw)
ui, uy like âooeyâ in âphooeyâ: ruido (ROOEE-doh)
uo like âwoâ in âwonâtâ: averiguo (ah-beh-REE-gwaw)
ACCENTS AND STRESS
Word stress can affect the meaning of the word and
generally follows these rules:
âą If a word is marked with an accent, then that
syllable receives the stress. Additionally, if the accent
marks a diphthong a syllable break occurs between the
two vowels of the diphthong.
âą If a word is NOT marked with an accent, then
1 if the word ends in a consonant other than
N or S, the stress occurs on the last syllable.
2 if the word ends in a vowel, N or S, the
stress occurs on the next to last syllable.
An accent can also be used to differentiate between
words that are pronounced the same but have different
meanings.
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GALICIAN
Galician is a Romance language spoken by about 3 million people in Galicia, in the north-west corner of
Spain. Galician is more or less mutually intelligible with Portuguese but uses Spanish spelling conventions.
In fact, whether Galician and Portuguese are separate languages or dialects of the same language, is a
question that has been hotly debated for decades, and is loaded with political and cultural implications.
Galician emerged as a standardized literary language during the 19th century when there was a revival
(rexurdimento) in the language and culture of Galicia. An attempt in the 1930s to give autonomy to Galicia
and official status to Galician was never promulgated due to the Civil War (1936-1939), and speaking of
Galician in public was banned during Francoâs dictatorship (1939-1975).
Galician gained official status in 1978 and is recognized as one of Spainâs five official languages (lenguas
españolas), along with Spanish (Castilian), Catalan, Basque and Aranese. Primary and secondary schools
in Galicia teach bilingually in Galician and Spanish, and Galician is the main medium of instruction in
universities in Galicia.
Some one thousand or so books are published in Galician each year and there is a Galician TV channel,
established in 1985, a Galician radio station (set up in 1996), and a daily Galician language newspaper,
O Correo Galego. In cities in Galicia more Spanish than Galician tends to be spoken, however Galician is
widely-spoken in rural areas.
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
A characteristic feature of the Galician pronunciation that differs from the standard Castilian is its use of the
ân ensureâ that sounds quite like ng as in âsingâ in English. It is pronounced by lifting the back of the tongue.
Galician sounds are similar to Portuguese, but nasalization is not nearly as pervasive. The letter x, pronounced
sh in both languages, is used mainly in Galician words; whereas in Portuguese words the letters j or gare
used, where it is pronounced like âzhâ.
ch like âtchâ in âmatchâ: chave (âkeyâ)
ll like âlliâ in âmillionâ: ollo (âeyeâ)
nh like the nasal ânâ in âbangâ : unha (âoneâ fem.)
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ryah-noh)
Can you make it âlightâ, please? (less oil/butter/
lard) Â â PĂłdemo facer mĂĄis lixeiro? (POH-deh-moh
FAH-thehr MAIS lee-SHEI-roh?) (con menos aceite/
manteiga/graxa)
Ă la carte â  å carta (AH KAHR-tah)
breakfast â  almorzo (ahl-MOHR-soh)
lunch â  xantar (SHAHN-tahr)
tea (meal)Â â Â merenda (meh-REHN-dah)
supper â  cea (THEA)
I want ... â  Quero ... (KEH-roh)
I want a dish containing ... â  Quero un prato que
teña ... (KEH-roh oon PRAH-toh keh TEH-nyah )
chicken  â polo (POH-loh)
beef  â carne de vaca (KAHR-neh de BAH-kah)
fish  â peixe (PAY-sheh)
ham  â xamĂłn (shah-MOHN)
sausages â  embutidos (ehm-boo-TEE-dohs)
cheese â  queixo (KAY-shoh)
eggs â  ovos (OH-bohs)
salad â  ensalada (ehn-sah-LAH-dah)
(fresh) vegetables â vexetais (frescos) (beh-SHEH-tais
(FREHS-kohs))
(fresh) fruit  â froita (fresca) (FROY-tah (FREHS-kah))
bread â  pan (pahn)
toast â  torrada/tosta (tohr-RAH-dah/TOHS-tah)
noodles â  fideos (FEE-deh-ohs)
rice â  arroz (AH-rrohz)
beans â  fabas/feixĂłns (FAH-bahs/fay-SHOHNS)
juice â  zume (SOO-moh)
(bubbly) water â  auga con gas (OW-gah kohn gahs)
water â  auga (OW-gah)
beer â  cervexa (sehr-BEH-shah)
butter â  manteiga (mahn-TAY-gah)
Excuse me, waiter?  â Desculpe, garçom? (dehs-
KOOL-peh, GAHR-sohm?)
Iâm finished â  Xa rematei (shah reh-MAH-tay)
It was delicious â  Estivo moi bo (ehs-TEE-boh moy
boh)
The check, please â A conta, por favor (ah KOHN-tah,
pohr FAH-bohr)
Your phrases
GALICIAN PHRASEBOOK
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Ultreya Tours wishes
you a Buen Camino!