Spanish Words That Start With M (30 Essentials)
🇪🇸 Spanish · 30 cards · A2 · by Lucía Herrera
These are the M-words my students meet in their first months, plus the traps that come with them, straight out of my tutoring notebook. The deck starts with the highest-frequency words (más, muy, mucho, mano, madre), moves through everyday nouns, and ends with the verbs that change their stem when you conjugate them: mover, morir, mostrar, mentir. Three things to watch: muy and mucho are not interchangeable, mano is feminine even though it ends in -o, and molestar has nothing to do with the English "molest". Read every example out loud — that is how the genders and the stem changes 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 | más Always written with the accent; 'mas' without it is a literary, old-fashioned word for 'but'. | more, most | ¿Quieres más café? Do you want more coffee? | |
| 2 | mucho Before a noun it agrees: mucha gente, muchos libros. After a verb it stays invariable: duerme mucho. | a lot, much, many | Hoy tengo mucho trabajo. I have a lot of work today. | |
| 3 | muy Only before adjectives and adverbs, and it can never stand alone: '¿Te gusta?' — 'Sí, mucho', not 'Sí, muy'. | very | Está muy cansada hoy. She's very tired today. | |
| 4 | mano Feminine despite the -o ending: la mano, las manos, mi mano derecha. | hand | Dame la mano para cruzar. Give me your hand to cross. | |
| 5 | madre Feminine. In Mexico, expressions with 'madre' (¡qué poca madre!, a toda madre) are slang — handle with care. | mother | Mi madre cocina de maravilla. My mother cooks wonderfully. | |
| 6 | mujer Feminine. 'Mi mujer' for 'my wife' is common in Spain; 'mi esposa' is preferred in most of Latin America. | woman; wife | Esa mujer es mi jefa. That woman is my boss. | |
| 7 | mundo Masculine. 'Todo el mundo' usually means 'everybody', not 'the whole world'. | world | Quiero viajar por todo el mundo. I want to travel all over the world. | |
| 8 | mañana As an adverb = tomorrow; 'la mañana' (feminine noun) = the morning. | tomorrow; morning | Mañana por la mañana salimos temprano. Tomorrow morning we leave early. | |
| 9 | mes Masculine: el mes, los meses. | month | El mes que viene cumplo treinta. Next month I turn thirty. | |
| 10 | mesa Feminine. 'Poner la mesa' = to set the table. | table | Pon los platos en la mesa. Put the plates on the table. | |
| 11 | minuto Masculine. 'Un minutito' is very common for 'just a sec'. | minute | Espérame cinco minutos, por favor. Wait five minutes for me, please. | |
| 12 | mirar Mirar is deliberate looking, ver is seeing. No preposition before the object: mira el cielo. | to look at, to watch | No me mires así. Don't look at me like that. | |
| 13 | malo Shortens to 'mal' before a masculine singular noun: un mal día. 'Estar malo' about a person means to be ill. | bad | Este café está malo. This coffee is bad. | |
| 14 | mejor Irregular comparative of bueno, same form for masculine and feminine: el mejor, la mejor. For quality say mejor, not 'más bueno'. | better, best | Este es el mejor pan del barrio. This is the best bread in the neighbourhood. | |
| 15 | mayor Comparative of grande/viejo. 'La gente mayor' = older people; 'ser mayor de edad' = to be of legal age. | older, bigger; elderly | Mi hermana mayor vive en Sevilla. My older sister lives in Seville. | |
| 16 | menos Also used for telling the time: las tres menos cuarto = quarter to three. | less, fewer | Hoy tengo menos hambre. I'm less hungry today. | |
| 17 | mientras 'Mientras que' adds contrast; 'mientras tanto' = meanwhile. | while, meanwhile | Escucho música mientras cocino. I listen to music while I cook. | |
| 18 | mover Stem change o→ue: muevo, mueves. 'Moverse' = to move (yourself); for moving house use 'mudarse'. | to move (something) | ¿Me ayudas a mover el sofá? Will you help me move the sofa? | |
| 19 | morir Stem change o→ue: muero. Very common figuratively: me muero de hambre, de risa, de frío. | to die | Mi abuelo murió en invierno. My grandfather died in winter. | |
| 20 | mandar 'Enviar' is slightly more formal. 'Aquí mando yo' = I'm the one in charge here. | to send; to order, to be in charge | Te mando la foto por WhatsApp. I'll send you the photo on WhatsApp. | |
| 21 | mostrar Stem change o→ue: muestro. In everyday speech 'enseñar' is often used instead. | to show | El guía nos mostró el castillo. The guide showed us the castle. | |
| 22 | mantener Conjugates like tener: mantengo, mantiene, mantuve, mantendré. | to keep, to maintain; to support financially | Hay que mantener la calma. We have to keep calm. | |
| 23 | mentir Stem change e→ie: miento. The noun is 'la mentira' (a lie); a liar is 'un mentiroso'. | to lie, to tell a lie | No me mientas, por favor. Don't lie to me, please. | |
| 24 | molestar False friend: it does not mean 'to molest'. Often used like gustar: me molesta, me molestan. | to bother, to annoy | ¿Te molesta el ruido? Does the noise bother you? | |
| 25 | mezclar Reflexive 'mezclarse' = to blend in, to mingle. | to mix | Mezcla la harina con el huevo. Mix the flour with the egg. | |
| 26 | mercado Masculine. In Mexico an open-air street market is 'el tianguis'. | market | Compro la fruta en el mercado. I buy fruit at the market. | |
| 27 | maleta Feminine. 'Hacer la maleta' = to pack; in parts of Latin America you'll also hear 'la valija'. | suitcase | Todavía no he hecho la maleta. I haven't packed yet. | |
| 28 | médico Masculine; the feminine is 'la médica'. To address or refer to one directly, 'el/la doctor(a)' is more usual. | doctor | Tengo cita con el médico el jueves. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday. | |
| 29 | maduro For fruit use 'estar maduro'; for someone's character, 'ser maduro'. | ripe; mature | El aguacate ya está maduro. The avocado is ripe now. | |
| 30 | mejorar Regular -ar verb, built on 'mejor'. '¡Que te mejores!' = Get well soon. | to improve, to get better | Mi español mejora poco a poco. My Spanish is improving little by little. |
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 muy and mucho in Spanish?
- Muy goes before an adjective or adverb: muy cansado, muy rápido, muy bien. Mucho modifies nouns and then agrees with them (mucha agua, muchos amigos), or follows a verb without changing: trabajo mucho, llueve mucho. Muy can never stand alone, so the answer to '¿Te gusta?' is 'Sí, mucho', never 'Sí, muy'.
- Why is 'mano' feminine if it ends in -o?
- Because it comes from Latin manus, a feminine fourth-declension noun; Spanish kept the gender and changed only the ending. So: la mano, las manos, mi mano derecha, una mano fría. Other feminine words ending in -o are la foto, la moto and la radio, all shortenings of feminine nouns (fotografía, motocicleta, radiodifusión).
- When do I use 'mal' instead of 'malo'?
- Use 'mal' before a masculine singular noun (un mal día, mal tiempo) and as an adverb with verbs (canta mal, dormí mal). Use malo/mala/malos/malas after the verb or after the noun: este pescado está malo, una película mala. Remember that 'estar malo' about a person means to be ill, while 'ser malo' means bad or evil.
- Which M verbs in this deck are irregular?
- Four change their stem in the present: mover and mostrar go o→ue (muevo, muestro), morir goes o→ue (muero) and also changes in the third person of the preterite (murió, murieron), and mentir goes e→ie (miento). Mantener follows tener exactly: mantengo, mantienes, mantuve, mantendré. Mandar, mezclar, mirar, molestar and mejorar are fully regular.
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