Spanish Words That Start With F
🇪🇸 Spanish · 30 cards · A2 · by Lucía Herrera
F looks like the easy letter: familia, favor, fácil. Then a student writes "el foto" or "yo falto tiempo" and the sentence falls apart. These are the 30 F-words I keep copying into my tutoring notebook — the frequent nouns first, then the adjectives, then six verbs that behave in ways English doesn't prepare you for. Watch the gender traps (la foto, la flor, la frente for forehead but el frente for a front), remember that faltar is built like gustar, and that funcionar is what machines do, not people. Say each example out loud before you flip the card.
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.
The Reji iPhone app is being rebuilt and returns to the App Store soon.
All 30 cards
| # | Spanish | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | familia Feminine: la familia. Always takes a singular verb, unlike English 'my family are'. | family | Mi familia es muy grande. My family is very big. | |
| 2 | favor Masculine. Also in por favor (please) and a favor de (in favour of). | favour | ¿Me haces un favor? Will you do me a favour? | |
| 3 | fácil Same form for masculine and feminine; plural fáciles. Opposite: difícil. | easy | El examen fue más fácil de lo que pensaba. The exam was easier than I thought. | |
| 4 | feliz Same form for both genders; plural felices. For a passing mood, contento/a is more common. | happy | Te veo muy feliz hoy. You look really happy today. | |
| 5 | frío Noun (el frío) and adjective (frío/fría). Weather: hace frío. A person: tengo frío. An object: está frío. | cold | Hace mucho frío en la calle. It's very cold outside. | |
| 6 | fuerte Same form for both genders; plural fuertes. Also for sound: habla más fuerte = speak up. | strong, loud | Este café está muy fuerte. This coffee is very strong. | |
| 7 | fiesta Feminine. In Spain it also means a day off: el lunes es fiesta. | party, public holiday | El sábado hay una fiesta en casa de Marta. There's a party at Marta's place on Saturday. | |
| 8 | fruta Feminine and usually singular: como mucha fruta, not muchas frutas. | fruit | ¿Quieres fruta de postre? Do you want fruit for dessert? | |
| 9 | flor Feminine even though it ends in -r: la flor, las flores. | flower | Le regalé una flor a mi madre. I gave my mother a flower. | |
| 10 | fuego Masculine: el fuego. ¿Tienes fuego? is the normal way to ask for a lighter. | fire | ¿Tienes fuego? Have you got a light? | |
| 11 | foto Feminine despite the -o (short for fotografía). Spain: hacer una foto; Mexico: tomar/sacar una foto. | photo | Te saco una foto aquí. I'll take a photo of you here. | |
| 12 | fútbol Masculine. Written futbol (no accent, stress on the last syllable) in Mexico and much of Latin America. | football, soccer | Los domingos jugamos al fútbol. On Sundays we play football. | |
| 13 | fin Masculine: el fin. Common phrases: por fin (at last), a fin de mes (at the end of the month). | end | El fin de semana descanso. At the weekend I rest. | |
| 14 | fecha Feminine. A romantic date is una cita, never una fecha. | date (calendar) | ¿Cuál es la fecha de hoy? What's today's date? | |
| 15 | frase Feminine: la frase. Grammar books say oración; in speech frase covers both. | sentence, phrase | No entiendo esta frase. I don't understand this sentence. | |
| 16 | fuerza Feminine; often plural in that sense. A la fuerza = by force, unwillingly. | strength, force | No tengo fuerzas para levantarme. I don't have the energy to get up. | |
| 17 | fondo Masculine. En el fondo also means deep down: en el fondo te quiere. | bottom, background | Las llaves están en el fondo del bolso. The keys are at the bottom of the bag. | |
| 18 | frente La frente = forehead; el frente = front (weather, war). Enfrente = opposite, across the way. | forehead; front | Me di un golpe en la frente. I banged my forehead. | |
| 19 | futuro Masculine noun (el futuro) and also an adjective: mi futura jefa. | future | Piensa un poco en tu futuro. Think about your future a bit. | |
| 20 | feo Feminine fea. Also 'nasty' about situations: el asunto se puso feo. | ugly, nasty | Ese sofá es muy feo. That sofa is really ugly. | |
| 21 | falso Feminine falsa. Applied to people it means two-faced: es muy falsa. | false, fake | Ese billete es falso. That banknote is fake. | |
| 22 | fresco Feminine fresca. Fresh (food), cool (weather) and, colloquially, cheeky: ¡qué fresco eres! | fresh; cool; cheeky | Hoy hace fresco, lleva chaqueta. It's chilly today, take a jacket. | |
| 23 | fijo Feminine fija. In colloquial Spain, fijo que... means 'I bet...': fijo que llega tarde. | fixed, permanent | Por fin tengo un trabajo fijo. I finally have a permanent job. | |
| 24 | fuera Adverb. Latin America usually prefers afuera for the physical place. | outside, out | Esta noche cenamos fuera. Tonight we're eating out. | |
| 25 | faltar Works like gustar: the thing missing is the subject — me falta tiempo (I'm short of time). | to be missing, to be lacking | Le falta sal a la sopa. The soup needs salt. | |
| 26 | fumar Regular -ar verb. Dejar de fumar = to quit smoking. | to smoke | Aquí no se puede fumar. You can't smoke here. | |
| 27 | firmar For signing documents. A signature is una firma. | to sign | Firma aquí abajo, por favor. Sign down here, please. | |
| 28 | funcionar For machines, systems and plans — never for a person's job (that's trabajar). | to work, to function | El ascensor no funciona. The lift isn't working. | |
| 29 | fijarse In this meaning it is reflexive and takes en; plain fijar means to fix/fasten. ¡Fíjate! alone means 'get this!' | to notice, to pay attention | Fíjate en los detalles del contrato. Pay attention to the details of the contract. | |
| 30 | fallar For things breaking down and for people breaking a promise: no me falles. Failing an exam is suspender (Spain) / reprobar (Mexico). | to fail (stop working); to let someone down | Me falló el internet en plena reunión. My internet failed right in the middle of the meeting. |
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
- Why is it "la foto" and not "el foto"?
- Because foto is short for fotografía, which is feminine, so the article stays feminine: la foto, las fotos, una foto bonita. The same shortening explains la moto (motocicleta) and la bici (bicicleta). Ending in -o does not automatically make a Spanish noun masculine.
- How do I use "faltar" correctly?
- Faltar works like gustar: the missing thing is the grammatical subject and the person affected takes an indirect object pronoun. "I need two euros" is me faltan dos euros; "we're short of time" is nos falta tiempo. With no pronoun it just states an absence: falta sal, faltan tres alumnos. Never say yo falto tiempo.
- What's the difference between "fuera" and "afuera"?
- They overlap. In Spain fuera covers both location and direction (está fuera, vamos fuera), while in Mexico and most of Latin America afuera is the everyday word for the physical outside (espérame afuera) and fuera survives in fixed phrases like fuera de casa or fuera de lugar. Careful: fuera is also the past subjunctive of ser and ir.
- Is it "la frente" or "el frente"?
- Both exist, with different meanings. La frente is your forehead: me duele la frente. El frente is a front — weather (un frente frío), military, or political. And enfrente, written as one word, means opposite or across the street: vivo enfrente del mercado.
More Spanish decks: spanish words starting with f
100 Basic Spanish Words for Beginners (A1)
The 100 most useful Spanish words for beginners (A1): greetings, pronouns, core verbs, question words, everyday nouns, adjectives and connectors, with examples.
100 Most Common Spanish Verbs (with yo & tú forms)
The 100 Spanish verbs you will hear every day, each with its meaning, the yo and tú present-tense forms, and a short natural example. For A1 beginners.
Colors in Spanish: 25 Words with Gender Rules
Learn 25 Spanish color words for beginners: basic colors, shades like celeste and turquesa, plus light/dark combinations and gender agreement notes.
Common Spanish Phrases for Beginners (50 Essentials)
Fifty everyday Spanish phrases for absolute beginners: greetings, thank-yous, apologies and survival questions, with notes on tú vs. usted and Spain vs. Mexico usage.
Hard Spanish Words to Pronounce (rr, j, ñ + slang)
Thirty Spanish words my students stumble over: the trilled rr, the raspy j, ñ, vowel pile-ups, long words and a few slang traps. With tips and examples.
Irregular Spanish Verbs: 40 You Really Need (A2)
Forty common irregular Spanish verbs for A2 learners: stem changes, irregular yo forms and preterites, each with a natural example sentence and a usage note.
Numbers in Spanish 1–100 (Plus Dates and Prices)
Spanish numbers from 0 to 100, plus hundreds, mil, un millón and the ordinals first–tenth, with cards for prices, ages and dates. For A1 beginners.
Spanish Adjectives: The 100 Most Useful
The 100 Spanish adjectives beginners really need, with natural examples, gender-agreement notes and warnings about ser vs estar. Ideal for A1 learners.