Spanish Words That Start With P (30 Essentials)
🇪🇸 Spanish · 30 cards · A2 · by Lucía Herrera
The letter P covers a lot of ground in Spanish, and a good share of the notes in my tutoring notebook. Here you get thirty high-frequency words: everyday nouns like pan, puerta, precio and pueblo, the workhorse verbs poder, poner, pasar and parecer, and adjectives such as pequeño, pesado and propio. The traps I correct most: problema is masculine despite the -a, persona stays feminine even when it refers to a man, preguntar is not pedir, pariente means relative and never "parent", and piso is a flat in Spain but the floor under your feet in Mexico. Read each example out loud, then rebuild it with your own subject.
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 | padre Masculine. The plural los padres usually means "parents". | father, dad | Mi padre trabaja en un taller. My father works in a repair shop. | |
| 2 | pan Masculine and normally uncountable: un poco de pan, dos barras de pan. | bread | ¿Puedes comprar pan de camino a casa? Can you buy bread on the way home? | |
| 3 | puerta Feminine. At the airport it's the boarding gate: la puerta 12. | door, gate | Cierra la puerta, que hace frío. Close the door, it's cold. | |
| 4 | país Masculine. The written accent on the í stays in the plural too: un país, dos países. | country | México es un país enorme. Mexico is a huge country. | |
| 5 | palabra Feminine. En otras palabras = in other words. | word | No entendí la última palabra. I didn't understand the last word. | |
| 6 | pequeño Agrees with the noun: pequeña, pequeños, pequeñas. | small, little | El apartamento es pequeño pero luminoso. The apartment is small but bright. | |
| 7 | poder Irregular: puedo, puedes, puede, podemos, podéis, pueden. | to be able to, can | No puedo ir mañana, lo siento. I can't go tomorrow, sorry. | |
| 8 | pensar e→ie: pienso. Pensar en = think about; pensar + infinitive = plan to. | to think, to plan | Estoy pensando en cambiar de trabajo. I'm thinking about changing jobs. | |
| 9 | pasar Very wide use: pasar por casa (drop by), pasar el verano (spend the summer). | to happen, to pass, to spend (time) | ¿Qué te pasa? Tienes mala cara. What's wrong? You don't look well. | |
| 10 | poner Irregular yo pongo. Ponerse = to put on (clothes) or to become. | to put, to place | Pon los platos en la mesa, por favor. Put the plates on the table, please. | |
| 11 | persona Always feminine, even when it refers to a man: Juan es una persona muy alta. | person | Es una persona muy honesta. She's a very honest person. | |
| 12 | pregunta Feminine. You say hacer una pregunta, never "preguntar una pregunta". | question | Tengo una pregunta rápida. I have a quick question. | |
| 13 | preguntar Use pedir when you ask for a thing or a favour. | to ask (a question) | Pregúntale a tu hermana a qué hora llega. Ask your sister what time she's arriving. | |
| 14 | playa Feminine. Ir a la playa covers both a day trip and a beach holiday. | beach | El domingo fuimos a la playa. On Sunday we went to the beach. | |
| 15 | pelo Masculine, normally singular for hair on the head. Cabello is more formal. | hair | Mañana me corto el pelo. Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut. | |
| 16 | precio Masculine. Ask ¿Qué precio tiene? or ¿Cuánto cuesta? | price | El precio incluye el desayuno. The price includes breakfast. | |
| 17 | primero Drops the -o before a masculine singular noun: el primer día. | first | Es la primera vez que vengo aquí. It's the first time I've come here. | |
| 18 | problema Masculine despite ending in -a: el problema, los problemas. | problem | No hay ningún problema con el pago. There's no problem with the payment. | |
| 19 | pueblo Masculine. Also means a nation's people: el pueblo mexicano. | village, small town; the people | Mis abuelos viven en un pueblo de montaña. My grandparents live in a mountain village. | |
| 20 | parte Feminine. Common phrases: por otra parte, en alguna parte. | part, section | Esta es la parte más difícil del examen. This is the hardest part of the exam. | |
| 21 | pagar No preposition before the thing: pagar la cuenta, pagar el taxi. | to pay, to pay for | Hoy pago yo la cena. Dinner's on me today. | |
| 22 | perder e→ie: pierdo. Perder el tren = to miss the train. | to lose, to miss | Siempre pierdo las llaves del coche. I always lose the car keys. | |
| 23 | parecer Me parece + adjective is the everyday way to say "I think". Parecerse a = to resemble. | to seem, to look like | Me parece buena idea. That seems like a good idea to me. | |
| 24 | probar o→ue: pruebo. Probarse = to try on clothes. | to try, to taste | Prueba la sopa, está buenísima. Try the soup, it's delicious. | |
| 25 | prestar To borrow is pedir prestado: le pedí prestado el coche a mi hermano. | to lend | ¿Me prestas el cargador un momento? Can you lend me the charger for a moment? | |
| 26 | piso "Flat" in Spain; in Mexico piso means floor/storey and a flat is un departamento. | flat, apartment; floor, storey | Alquilamos un piso cerca del centro. We rented a flat near the centre. | |
| 27 | pariente Same form for both genders: un pariente, una pariente. False friend: it never means "parent" — parents are los padres. | relative, relation | Es un pariente lejano de mi madre. He's a distant relative of my mother's. | |
| 28 | peor Irregular comparative of malo. With the article it means worst: el peor día. | worse, worst | Hoy me siento peor que ayer. Today I feel worse than yesterday. | |
| 29 | pesado Informal about people: ¡No seas pesado! = Stop being a pain! | heavy; annoying (person) | La maleta está muy pesada. The suitcase is really heavy. | |
| 30 | propio Before the noun it means "own"; after it, "characteristic of": un error propio de novatos. | own; typical of | Tiene su propio negocio desde los treinta. He's had his own business since he was thirty. |
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 "el problema" masculine if it ends in -a?
- Because it comes from Greek. Nouns ending in -ma of Greek origin are masculine in Spanish: el problema, el tema, el sistema, el programa, el idioma. So you say un problema grave, los problemas económicos. Endings are only a clue, not a rule: compare el día and la mano, feminine despite the -o.
- What is the difference between preguntar and pedir?
- Preguntar is to ask a question or ask for information: le pregunté la hora, pregunta dónde está el baño. Pedir is to ask for a thing, a favour or an order: pedí un café, te pido un favor. Note also pedir prestado for "to borrow", while prestar means "to lend".
- Does piso mean the same thing in Spain and Latin America?
- Not quite. In Spain un piso is a flat you live in (alquilar un piso), and it can also mean a storey. In Mexico and most of Latin America a flat is un departamento or apartamento, and piso means the floor you walk on or the storey of a building: vivo en el tercer piso.
- Which P verbs in this deck are irregular?
- Most of the frequent ones. Stem changes: poder and probar (o→ue: puedo, pruebo), pensar and perder (e→ie: pienso, pierdo). Irregular yo forms: poner (pongo, preterite puse) and parecer (parezco). Pagar is regular but changes spelling before -e: pagué, pague. Pasar, preguntar and prestar are fully regular -ar verbs.
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