Spanish Words That Start With O (30 Essentials)
🇪🇸 Spanish · 30 cards · A2 · by Lucía Herrera
Thirty everyday Spanish words that begin with O, taken straight from the notebook where I write down what my students get wrong. They run from day-one vocabulary (ojo, otro, ocho) to words you meet a bit later, like obtener and oportunidad.
Some of them cause trouble every single week. Oír is not escuchar, and its forms (oigo, oyes, oye) catch people out. La oreja is the flap on the side of your head; el oído is what's inside. Oler becomes huelo. And orden changes meaning with its article: el orden is tidiness, la orden is a command.
Read the notes, not just the translations — that's where the mistakes hide.
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 | ojo Masculine: el ojo. On its own, "¡Ojo!" means "Careful!" or "Watch out!" | eye | Me ha entrado algo en el ojo. Something has got into my eye. | |
| 2 | otro Never say "un otro": it's just otro/otra, otros/otras. | another, other | ¿Me traes otro café, por favor? Could you bring me another coffee, please? | |
| 3 | ocho The ordinal is octavo/octava (eighth). | eight | Nos vemos a las ocho en la plaza. See you at eight in the square. | |
| 4 | once Don't confuse it with English "once" (= una vez). | eleven | El tren sale a las once y media. The train leaves at half past eleven. | |
| 5 | oír Irregular: oigo, oyes, oye, oímos, oís, oyen. Oír is passive hearing; escuchar is listening on purpose. | to hear | No te oigo bien, hay mucho ruido. I can't hear you well, there's a lot of noise. | |
| 6 | oreja Feminine: la oreja. The inner ear and the sense of hearing are el oído. | ear (outer) | Me duele la oreja derecha desde ayer. My right ear has hurt since yesterday. | |
| 7 | oficina Feminine: la oficina. A doctor's room is el consultorio; a private office at work is el despacho. | office | Hoy trabajo desde casa, no voy a la oficina. I'm working from home today, I'm not going to the office. | |
| 8 | oscuro Adjective: oscuro/oscura. With colours it doesn't agree: una camisa azul oscuro. | dark | Está muy oscuro aquí, enciende la luz. It's very dark in here, turn the light on. | |
| 9 | ocupado Agrees with the subject: estoy ocupada if you're female. Used for people (busy), seats (taken) and toilets (occupied). | busy, occupied, taken | Ahora estoy ocupado, te llamo luego. I'm busy right now, I'll call you later. | |
| 10 | olvidar Three options: olvidé tu cumpleaños / me olvidé de tu cumpleaños / se me olvidó tu cumpleaños. The last one is the most natural in speech. | to forget | Se me olvidó tu cumpleaños, perdóname. I forgot your birthday, forgive me. | |
| 11 | oler Stem change plus an h: huelo, hueles, huele, olemos, oléis, huelen. Use an adverb (huele bien/mal), not an adjective. "Oler a" = to smell of something. | to smell | Esta sopa huele muy bien. This soup smells really good. | |
| 12 | olor Masculine: el olor. On its own it often suggests an unpleasant smell, so a nice one is un buen olor or un aroma. | smell, odour | Hay un olor raro en la cocina. There's a strange smell in the kitchen. | |
| 13 | otoño Masculine: el otoño. Seasons are written in lowercase. | autumn, fall | En otoño me encanta caminar por el parque. In autumn I love walking through the park. | |
| 14 | octubre Months are lowercase in Spanish and take en: en octubre (in October). | October | Mi hermana se casa en octubre. My sister is getting married in October. | |
| 15 | oro Masculine: el oro. "De oro" = made of gold; the colour is dorado. | gold | Le regalaron un anillo de oro. They gave her a gold ring. | |
| 16 | oso Masculine; the female is la osa. In Mexico, "¡qué oso!" means "how embarrassing!" | bear | El niño duerme abrazado a su oso de peluche. The boy sleeps hugging his teddy bear. | |
| 17 | ola Feminine, with no h — unlike hola (hello), which sounds identical. Also ola de calor = heatwave. | wave (of water) | Una ola muy grande nos tiró al agua. A really big wave knocked us into the water. | |
| 18 | oeste Masculine: el oeste. Compass points are written in lowercase. | west | El pueblo está al oeste de la ciudad. The village is west of the city. | |
| 19 | opinión Feminine: la opinión, plural las opiniones (no accent). Verb: opinar; cambiar de opinión = to change your mind. | opinion | En mi opinión, la película es demasiado larga. In my opinion, the film is too long. | |
| 20 | oportunidad Feminine: la oportunidad. One p only: oportunidad, not "opportunidad". | opportunity, chance | No pierdas esta oportunidad de viajar. Don't miss this chance to travel. | |
| 21 | ofrecer Irregular yo form: ofrezco (like conocer). Ofrecerse a + infinitive = to volunteer to do something. | to offer | Me ofrecieron trabajo en otra empresa. They offered me a job at another company. | |
| 22 | ocurrir With an indirect pronoun it means "to come to mind": se me ocurre una idea. | to happen, to occur | ¿Qué ocurre? Te veo preocupado. What's going on? You look worried. | |
| 23 | odiar Regular -ar verb. Common in everyday speech and not as strong as it looks; used for small annoyances too. | to hate | Odio levantarme temprano los lunes. I hate getting up early on Mondays. | |
| 24 | obvio Adjective: obvio/obvia. In Mexico, "obvio" on its own works as "duh, of course". | obvious | Era obvio que iban a ganar. It was obvious they were going to win. | |
| 25 | orgulloso Followed by de: orgulloso de. With ser instead of estar it can mean arrogant: es muy orgulloso. | proud | Mi padre está muy orgulloso de mí. My father is very proud of me. | |
| 26 | organizar Spelling change in the yo preterite: organicé (z → c). | to organize, to arrange | Vamos a organizar una fiesta sorpresa. We're going to organize a surprise party. | |
| 27 | obtener Conjugates like tener: obtengo, obtuve. Fairly formal; in conversation people usually say conseguir. | to obtain, to get | Obtuvo la beca después de mucho esfuerzo. She got the scholarship after a lot of effort. | |
| 28 | orden The article changes the meaning: el orden = order, sequence, tidiness; la orden = a command (and, in Mexico, a restaurant order). | order, tidiness; command | Deja tu cuarto en orden antes de salir. Leave your room tidy before you go out. | |
| 29 | olla Feminine: la olla. Pressure cooker = olla a presión (in Spain also olla exprés). | pot, cooking pot | Pon el agua a hervir en la olla grande. Put the water on to boil in the big pot. | |
| 30 | ordenador Masculine: el ordenador. Used in Spain; in Latin America it's la computadora, informally la compu. | computer | Se me ha estropeado el ordenador otra vez. My computer has broken down again. |
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 oír and escuchar?
- Oír is the physical fact of hearing: "No te oigo" means your voice isn't reaching me. Escuchar means paying attention on purpose: "Escucho música", "Escúchame". On the phone both "¿me oyes?" and "¿me escuchas?" are used, but when the issue is noise or distance, oír is the safer choice.
- Oreja or oído — which ear do I use?
- La oreja is the visible outer ear, the part you pierce or that goes red in the cold. El oído is the inner ear and the sense of hearing: "tengo una infección de oído", "tiene buen oído para la música". Earache from inside is "me duele el oído".
- Why is orden sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine?
- Because they are two different words. El orden is order as arrangement or tidiness: el orden alfabético, todo en orden. La orden is a command, a religious order, or a restaurant order in Mexico: dio la orden de salir, mi orden de tacos. The plurals are los órdenes and las órdenes.
- Should I say olvidé or se me olvidó?
- All three structures are correct. "Olvidé las llaves" is neutral and slightly formal, "me olvidé de las llaves" is very common, and "se me olvidaron las llaves" is what most native speakers say in conversation, presenting the forgetting as something that happened to you. In that last structure the verb agrees with the thing forgotten, not with you.
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