Colombian Spanish — top 399 words
High-frequency vocabulary for English speakers. Reveal each card, then rate your recall — the schedule adapts (SM-2) and is stored on your device.
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| # | Colombian Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | buddy, mate (very common, esp. Medellín/Antioquia, now national) | |
| 2 | buddy, close friend (m/f) | |
| 3 | close friend, best mate (esp. Cali) | |
| 4 | friend, pal | |
| 5 | guy, dude | |
| 6 | affectionate address, lit. 'my son/daughter' | |
| 7 | older person, parent (affectionate) | |
| 8 | kid, young person | |
| 9 | expert, someone very good at something | |
| 10 | affectionate address to a woman/man (lit. old woman/man) | |
| 11 | cool, great (shared with Venezuela, Ecuador) | |
| 12 | cool, great, easygoing | |
| 13 | awesome / rubbish depending on context (versatile slang) | |
| 14 | how cool! (exclamation) | |
| 15 | great, cool / how great! | |
| 16 | tough, hardcore, impressive (colloquial sense) | |
| 17 | tough, determined, impressive person | |
| 18 | how impressive! what a big deal! | |
| 19 | skilled, tough (lit. hard) | |
| 20 | fired up, intense (context-sensitive; vulgar in some countries) | |
| 21 | thing, stuff (all-purpose filler noun) | |
| 22 | what a mess / what a pain | |
| 23 | aguardiente, the national anise liquor | |
| 24 | anise-flavored Colombian liquor | |
| 25 | black coffee (small cup, no milk) | |
| 26 | hangover | |
| 27 | hungover | |
| 28 | job, hard work (lit. camel) | |
| 29 | to work hard | |
| 30 | to hang out, to chill | |
| 31 | the crew, the hangout group/spot | |
| 32 | to party, to go out dancing | |
| 33 | the party, night out | |
| 34 | the party, night out | |
| 35 | money | |
| 36 | child, kid (regional; from Chibcha per encyclopedic sources) | |
| 37 | to expose oneself to unnecessary risk | |
| 38 | don't make yourself an easy target | |
| 39 | to be broke / in trouble (lit. to be in the pot) | |
| 40 | at your service / you're welcome (used constantly in shops) | |
| 41 | what's up? (greeting) | |
| 42 | what's up? (contracted greeting) | |
| 43 | you good? how's it going? | |
| 44 | the group, the crew | |
| 45 | the errand, the task, the deal | |
| 46 | to run an errand, sort something out | |
| 47 | to arrange, set up a plan or meeting | |
| 48 | the story, the situation | |
| 49 | relax, don't worry, chill out | |
| 50 | to be exhausted, fed up | |
| 51 | to mess around, kid someone, waste time | |
| 52 | to joke around, tease, flirt | |
| 53 | to tease, mock someone (colloquial) | |
| 54 | to rip off, cheat someone (colloquial) | |
| 55 | snitch, gossip (lit. toad) | |
| 56 | to flirt with someone | |
| 57 | to be tipsy, buzzed | |
| 58 | damn! shoot! (mild oath) | |
| 59 | how embarrassing / sorry to bother you (Colombian sense differs from standard) | |
| 60 | sorry to bother you (polite apology) | |
| 61 | go for it! sure! let's do it! | |
| 62 | no way! come on! (mild vulgar intensifier) | |
| 63 | silly, dumb (mild) | |
| 64 | cheese bread from Valle del Cauca | |
| 65 | fried cheese ball, Christmas snack | |
| 66 | corn cake, Colombian staple food | |
| 67 | iconic Bogotá potato-and-chicken soup | |
| 68 | large traditional Antioquian mixed platter | |
| 69 | peach-palm fruit common in Cali | |
| 70 | hot spiced aguardiente drink | |
| 71 | fried stuffed pastry, common snack | |
| 72 | cold lulo-fruit drink typical of Cali | |
| 73 | traditional fermented corn drink | |
| 74 | Bogotá milk-and-egg breakfast soup | |
| 75 | traditional Colombian stew | |
| 76 | soda, soft drink (general Colombian usage) | |
| 77 | deferential/affectionate 'you' (Cundinamarca, Boyacá) | |
| 78 | familiar 'you' (voseo; Paisa region, Valle del Cauca) | |
| 79 | 'you' used even among close friends/family in many regions | |
| 80 | person from Bogotá (regional nickname) | |
| 81 | person from Bogotá (regional nickname) | |
| 82 | person from Antioquia / the coffee region | |
| 83 | person from the Caribbean or Pacific coast | |
| 84 | person from the Eastern Plains (Llanos) | |
| 85 | person from Valle del Cauca (Cali) | |
| 86 | person from Nariño (Pasto) | |
| 87 | person from Tolima or Huila | |
| 88 | person from Santander | |
| 89 | very strong insult/slang intensifier — vocabulary for recognition only, not polite use | |
| 90 | streetwise, from a rough neighborhood (context-dependent) | |
| 91 | wow! oh! (surprise) | |
| 92 | what a shame! poor thing! (lit. what a sin) | |
| 93 | see you in a bit | |
| 94 | in a little while / right now (diminutive of ahora, flexible timing) | |
| 95 | little cat (regional -ico diminutive after /t/) | |
| 96 | just a little moment (regional diminutive) | |
| 97 | maybe, perhaps (Colombian usage) | |
| 98 | isn't that right? / well then? (tag question) | |
| 99 | what do you mean? how come? | |
| 100 | toughness, grit, impressive feat | |
| 101 | rough/dangerous neighborhood (colloquial) or 'the pot' | |
| 102 | the bus / small city bus | |
| 103 | the corner store, small neighborhood shop | |
| 104 | the guy / the woman (very colloquial) | |
| 105 | to like someone, get along well | |
| 106 | blond(e) or light-skinned person (Colombian usage; not 'monkey') | |
| 107 | posh, preppy person (slang) | |
| 108 | makeshift shelter, shanty (regional) | |
| 109 | nagging, scolding | |
| 110 | street food stall / grilled skewer (regional) | |
| 111 | beer (colloquial) | |
| 112 | to pick someone up (romantically, colloquial) | |
| 113 | toughness / impressive feat (variant spelling) | |
| 114 | snacks, junk food (regional) | |
| 115 | beer and appetizers (social gathering) | |
| 116 | little car / any small vehicle (diminutive) | |
| 117 | just a tiny bit (extended diminutive) | |
| 118 | hello | |
| 119 | good morning | |
| 120 | good afternoon | |
| 121 | good evening / good night | |
| 122 | how are you? (informal) | |
| 123 | how are you? (formal) | |
| 124 | fine, thanks | |
| 125 | bad, unwell | |
| 126 | so-so | |
| 127 | thank you | |
| 128 | thank you very much | |
| 129 | you're welcome | |
| 130 | please | |
| 131 | sorry, excuse me | |
| 132 | I'm sorry | |
| 133 | excuse me (to pass by) | |
| 134 | yes | |
| 135 | no | |
| 136 | goodbye | |
| 137 | see you later | |
| 138 | see you tomorrow | |
| 139 | bye (informal) | |
| 140 | what's your name? (informal) | |
| 141 | my name is... | |
| 142 | nice to meet you | |
| 143 | likewise | |
| 144 | I | |
| 145 | you (informal singular) | |
| 146 | he | |
| 147 | she | |
| 148 | we | |
| 149 | you all (plural, general in Colombia) | |
| 150 | they | |
| 151 | you (formal, and widely used informally in Colombia) | |
| 152 | my | |
| 153 | your (informal) | |
| 154 | his/her/your (formal)/their | |
| 155 | man | |
| 156 | woman | |
| 157 | boy / girl | |
| 158 | baby | |
| 159 | mother / mom | |
| 160 | father / dad | |
| 161 | son / daughter | |
| 162 | brother / sister | |
| 163 | grandfather / grandmother | |
| 164 | uncle / aunt | |
| 165 | cousin | |
| 166 | husband / wife | |
| 167 | boyfriend / girlfriend | |
| 168 | friend | |
| 169 | family | |
| 170 | water | |
| 171 | to eat | |
| 172 | to drink | |
| 173 | bread | |
| 174 | rice | |
| 175 | beans | |
| 176 | potato | |
| 177 | plantain / banana | |
| 178 | fruit | |
| 179 | vegetable | |
| 180 | meat | |
| 181 | chicken | |
| 182 | fish (as food) | |
| 183 | egg | |
| 184 | cheese | |
| 185 | milk | |
| 186 | coffee | |
| 187 | sugar | |
| 188 | salt | |
| 189 | breakfast | |
| 190 | lunch | |
| 191 | dinner | |
| 192 | one | |
| 193 | two | |
| 194 | three | |
| 195 | four | |
| 196 | five | |
| 197 | six | |
| 198 | seven | |
| 199 | eight | |
| 200 | nine | |
| 201 | ten | |
| 202 | eleven | |
| 203 | twelve | |
| 204 | twenty | |
| 205 | thirty | |
| 206 | forty | |
| 207 | fifty | |
| 208 | one hundred | |
| 209 | one thousand | |
| 210 | first | |
| 211 | second | |
| 212 | third | |
| 213 | to go | |
| 214 | to come | |
| 215 | to be (identity/traits) | |
| 216 | to be (state/location) | |
| 217 | to have | |
| 218 | to do / to make | |
| 219 | to say / to tell | |
| 220 | to see | |
| 221 | to hear | |
| 222 | to speak | |
| 223 | to know (a fact) | |
| 224 | to know (a person/place) | |
| 225 | to want / to love | |
| 226 | to be able to / can | |
| 227 | to sleep | |
| 228 | to read | |
| 229 | to write | |
| 230 | to work | |
| 231 | to study | |
| 232 | to live | |
| 233 | to walk | |
| 234 | to run | |
| 235 | to buy | |
| 236 | to sell | |
| 237 | to pay | |
| 238 | to need | |
| 239 | to help | |
| 240 | to understand | |
| 241 | to think | |
| 242 | to feel | |
| 243 | to arrive | |
| 244 | to leave / to go out | |
| 245 | to return | |
| 246 | to begin | |
| 247 | to finish | |
| 248 | to look for | |
| 249 | to find | |
| 250 | to give | |
| 251 | to take / to drink | |
| 252 | to carry / to take (something/someone) | |
| 253 | to bring | |
| 254 | to put | |
| 255 | good | |
| 256 | bad | |
| 257 | big | |
| 258 | small, little | |
| 259 | hot | |
| 260 | cold | |
| 261 | pretty | |
| 262 | ugly | |
| 263 | fast | |
| 264 | slow / slowly | |
| 265 | new | |
| 266 | old | |
| 267 | easy | |
| 268 | difficult | |
| 269 | happy | |
| 270 | sad | |
| 271 | tired | |
| 272 | busy | |
| 273 | important | |
| 274 | interesting | |
| 275 | what? | |
| 276 | who? | |
| 277 | where? | |
| 278 | when? | |
| 279 | how? | |
| 280 | how much? | |
| 281 | how many? | |
| 282 | why? | |
| 283 | which? | |
| 284 | and | |
| 285 | or | |
| 286 | with | |
| 287 | without | |
| 288 | but | |
| 289 | because | |
| 290 | also | |
| 291 | neither, not either | |
| 292 | always | |
| 293 | never | |
| 294 | sometimes | |
| 295 | today | |
| 296 | tomorrow / morning | |
| 297 | yesterday | |
| 298 | now | |
| 299 | after, later | |
| 300 | before | |
| 301 | late / afternoon | |
| 302 | early | |
| 303 | night | |
| 304 | week | |
| 305 | month | |
| 306 | year | |
| 307 | Monday | |
| 308 | Tuesday | |
| 309 | Wednesday | |
| 310 | Thursday | |
| 311 | Friday | |
| 312 | Saturday | |
| 313 | Sunday | |
| 314 | house | |
| 315 | apartment | |
| 316 | door | |
| 317 | window | |
| 318 | table | |
| 319 | chair | |
| 320 | bed | |
| 321 | kitchen | |
| 322 | bathroom | |
| 323 | street | |
| 324 | city | |
| 325 | country | |
| 326 | world | |
| 327 | school | |
| 328 | university | |
| 329 | work, job | |
| 330 | money | |
| 331 | time / weather | |
| 332 | day | |
| 333 | car | |
| 334 | bus | |
| 335 | airplane | |
| 336 | train | |
| 337 | airport | |
| 338 | head | |
| 339 | hand | |
| 340 | foot | |
| 341 | eye | |
| 342 | mouth | |
| 343 | heart | |
| 344 | body | |
| 345 | red | |
| 346 | blue | |
| 347 | green | |
| 348 | yellow | |
| 349 | black | |
| 350 | white | |
| 351 | purple | |
| 352 | orange (color/fruit) | |
| 353 | oneself | |
| 354 | dog | |
| 355 | cat | |
| 356 | bird | |
| 357 | cow | |
| 358 | horse | |
| 359 | pig | |
| 360 | sea | |
| 361 | river | |
| 362 | mountain | |
| 363 | sky | |
| 364 | sun | |
| 365 | moon | |
| 366 | rain | |
| 367 | wind | |
| 368 | cold (weather) | |
| 369 | heat | |
| 370 | book | |
| 371 | paper | |
| 372 | pencil | |
| 373 | telephone | |
| 374 | computer | |
| 375 | internet | |
| 376 | music | |
| 377 | movie | |
| 378 | party | |
| 379 | dance | |
| 380 | song | |
| 381 | careful, be careful | |
| 382 | danger | |
| 383 | safe, sure | |
| 384 | doctor | |
| 385 | hospital | |
| 386 | police | |
| 387 | church | |
| 388 | market | |
| 389 | store, shop | |
| 390 | restaurant | |
| 391 | town square | |
| 392 | park | |
| 393 | beach | |
| 394 | mountains (the Andes, defining Colombian geography) | |
| 395 | coffee (drink and crop, key to Colombian identity) | |
| 396 | traditional Colombian folk music genre | |
| 397 | traditional Colombian dance/music genre | |
| 398 | popular dance/music genre strong in Cali | |
| 399 | Afro-Colombian dance/music genre from the Caribbean coast |