Spanish Words That Start With B (30 Essentials)
🇪🇸 Spanish · 30 cards · A1 · by Lucía Herrera
These are the 30 B-words my students meet in their first months of Spanish: adjectives like bueno, bajo and barato, verbs like beber, buscar and bajar, and everyday nouns from baño to bolsillo.
A few of them produce the same mistake every week. Biblioteca is a library, never a bookshop. Bien goes with verbs, bueno with nouns. In Spain you buy a billete; in Mexico, where I live now, it's a boleto. And beber is correct everywhere, although here I hear tomar far more often.
Read each example out loud before you flip the card — that is where the gender and the prepositions stick.
Flip through the cards, then switch to Quiz. Tap the play button on any row to hear it. The full table below is there to read, print or copy into your own flashcard app.
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All 30 cards
| # | Spanish | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bueno Adjective: bueno/buena/buenos/buenas. Shortens to buen before a masculine singular noun (un buen café). With ser it means 'good in quality'; with estar, about food, it means 'tasty'. | good, tasty | Este café está muy bueno. This coffee is really good. | |
| 2 | bien Adverb, invariable. Use bien with verbs (canta bien) and bueno with nouns (un buen cantante). | well, fine | Al final todo salió bien. In the end everything turned out fine. | |
| 3 | bajo Adjective: baja/bajos/bajas. Also a preposition meaning 'under' (bajo la mesa) and a masculine noun for the bass (instrument or voice). | short (in height), low | Mi hermano es bajo y lleva gafas. My brother is short and wears glasses. | |
| 4 | blanco Agrees with the noun: una camisa blanca, unos zapatos blancos. Colour adjectives go after the noun. | white | Quiero un vino blanco, por favor. I'd like a white wine, please. | |
| 5 | bonito Very common in Spain; in much of Latin America 'lindo' is heard just as often. El bonito is also a type of tuna. | pretty, nice, lovely | Tienes un piso muy bonito. You have a really nice flat. | |
| 6 | barato Not negative in Spanish; it simply means low-priced. Opposite: caro. | cheap, inexpensive | Encontré un hotel barato cerca del centro. I found a cheap hotel near the centre. | |
| 7 | bastante As an adverb it means 'quite' and never changes (bastante caro); before a noun it means 'enough/plenty' and takes -s in the plural (bastantes personas). | quite, fairly; enough | Ya he comido bastante, gracias. I've eaten enough, thanks. | |
| 8 | beber Regular -er verb. Standard everywhere, but in Mexico and much of Latin America 'tomar' is the everyday choice, and beber can suggest alcohol. | to drink | ¿Quieres beber algo? Do you want something to drink? | |
| 9 | buscar No preposition after it: busco piso, never 'busco por piso'. Spelling change in the preterite: busqué. | to look for, to search for | Voy a buscar trabajo este verano. I'm going to look for a job this summer. | |
| 10 | bailar Regular -ar verb: bailo, bailas, baila. 'Saber bailar' = to know how to dance. | to dance | No sé bailar salsa, pero lo intento. I can't dance salsa, but I try. | |
| 11 | bajar For files, 'bajar una app' is colloquial; 'descargar' is the neutral word. | to go down, to lower, to download | ¿Puedes bajar el volumen un poco? Can you turn the volume down a bit? | |
| 12 | borrar Informal tú imperative in the example. Used for files, messages and writing on a board. | to delete, to erase | Borra esa foto, que salí fatal. Delete that photo, I look terrible in it. | |
| 13 | banco Masculine. Same word for a park bench: nos sentamos en un banco. | bank; bench | Tengo que ir al banco antes de las dos. I have to go to the bank before two. | |
| 14 | baño Masculine. In Spain bars and restaurants often say 'los servicios'; in Mexico 'el baño' is used everywhere. | bathroom, toilet | ¿Dónde está el baño, por favor? Where's the bathroom, please? | |
| 15 | barrio Masculine. Completely neutral in Spanish, unlike the English loanword 'barrio'. | neighbourhood, district | Vivo en un barrio muy tranquilo. I live in a very quiet neighbourhood. | |
| 16 | boca Feminine: la boca. Example uses the formal usted imperative (typical at the dentist). With body parts Spanish uses the article, not a possessive. | mouth | Abra la boca, por favor. Open your mouth, please. | |
| 17 | brazo Masculine. Note 'me duele el brazo', not 'mi brazo duele'. | arm | Me duele el brazo derecho. My right arm hurts. | |
| 18 | botella Feminine. Contents come with de: una botella de vino, never 'con vino'. | bottle | Trae una botella de agua, por favor. Bring a bottle of water, please. | |
| 19 | bolsa Feminine. In Spain a handbag is 'el bolso' and 'la bolsa' is a plastic or shopping bag; in Mexico 'bolsa' covers both. La Bolsa is also the stock exchange. | bag | ¿Me da una bolsa, por favor? Could you give me a bag, please? | |
| 20 | billete Masculine. Spain: billete for transport tickets and for banknotes. Latin America: 'boleto' for tickets, billete for money. | ticket; banknote | Compré el billete de tren por internet. I bought the train ticket online. | |
| 21 | biblioteca Feminine. False-friend trap: a bookshop is 'la librería'. | library | Estudio en la biblioteca los sábados. I study at the library on Saturdays. | |
| 22 | bicicleta Feminine. Shortened to 'la bici' in everyday speech. Transport takes en: en bici, en coche. | bicycle | Voy al trabajo en bicicleta. I go to work by bike. | |
| 23 | boda Feminine. The ceremony/party; marriage as a state is 'el matrimonio'. | wedding | La boda es en junio, en el pueblo. The wedding is in June, in the village. | |
| 24 | bebé Usually 'el bebé' for either sex; 'la bebé' is common in Latin America for a girl. | baby | El bebé se durmió en el coche. The baby fell asleep in the car. | |
| 25 | bosque Masculine, despite the -e ending: el bosque. | forest, woods | Dimos un paseo por el bosque. We went for a walk in the woods. | |
| 26 | barco Masculine. A small rowing boat is 'una barca'; 'un buque' is a large vessel. | boat, ship | Cruzamos a la isla en barco. We crossed over to the island by boat. | |
| 27 | bolsillo Masculine. 'De bolsillo' means pocket-sized: un libro de bolsillo. Móvil (Spain) = celular (Latin America). | Llevo el móvil en el bolsillo. I keep my phone in my pocket. | ||
| 28 | beso Masculine. 'Un beso' or 'besos' is a normal sign-off in messages between friends and family. | kiss | Dale un beso a la abuela. Give grandma a kiss. | |
| 29 | broma Feminine. 'Lo dije en broma' = I said it as a joke. A joke you tell with a punchline is 'un chiste'. | joke, prank | Era una broma, no te enfades. It was a joke, don't get annoyed. | |
| 30 | basura Feminine, uncountable. The bin is 'el cubo de la basura' in Spain, 'el bote de basura' in Mexico. | rubbish, trash, garbage | Saca la basura antes de salir. Take the rubbish out before you leave. |
Native Spanish speaker from Valencia, now in Mexico City. I tutor Spanish online and keep a notebook of the words my students trip over. Every deck here comes from that notebook.
Questions about this deck
- What is the difference between bien and bueno?
- Bien is an adverb: it describes how something is done and never changes form — habla bien español, todo salió bien. Bueno is an adjective and agrees with the noun — un libro bueno, una idea buena — and shortens to buen before a masculine singular noun: un buen amigo. With estar, 'está bien' means it's fine or OK, while 'está bueno' said about food means it tastes good.
- Is biblioteca a library or a bookshop?
- Biblioteca is a library, where you borrow books. A bookshop, where you buy them, is 'la librería' — the classic false friend for English speakers. A stationery shop is 'la papelería', and a bookcase at home is 'la estantería' in Spain or 'el librero' in Mexico.
- Should I say billete or boleto for a ticket?
- In Spain use billete for bus, train, plane and metro, and 'entrada' for a cinema, concert or museum ticket. In Mexico and most of Latin America transport and event tickets are 'boleto', while billete normally means a banknote. Both words are understood everywhere, so you will still be understood either way.
- Do beber and tomar mean the same thing?
- Both can mean 'to drink'. Beber is the standard dictionary verb and is normal in Spain for any drink: bebo mucha agua. In Mexico and much of Latin America 'tomar' is the everyday verb — tomar un café, tomar agua — and beber often hints at alcohol. Tomar also means 'to take' (tomar el autobús), so context tells you which is meant.
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