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Word pairs where Mexican and Peninsular Spanish part ways: carro and coche, camión and autobús, banqueta and acera, cajuela and maletero. Includes the words best avoided on one side of the Atlantic, shown side by side.

Spanish vocabulary for an ordinary working day: oficina, escritorio, jefe, empleado, compañero, departamento, plus equipment and job titles. Includes phrases for asking a colleague for something or raising a problem.

Spanish idioms that make no sense translated word by word — meter la pata, tomar el pelo, dar en el clavo, echar una mano. Each comes with its real meaning, the closest English equivalent and the situation that prompts it.

Spanish slang as it is actually spoken rather than taught: tío, guay, mola, currar, flipar, pasta, chaval. Each entry says what it means, how informal it sounds and in which countries it will actually be understood.

Business Spanish for the situations that carry the most weight: reunión, cliente, contrato, negocio, empresa. Covers running a meeting, presenting and negotiating terms, plus the phrases that open and close correspondence.

Romantic Spanish phrases in the order a relationship tends to follow: me gustas, te quiero, te amo, te extraño — with a note on how serious each one sounds. Plus compliments, asking someone out and everyday endearments.

Spanish vocabulary for sport and training: fútbol, partido, equipo, gol, jugador, plus exercises and gym equipment, and the words needed to follow a match — rules, scoring and the commentary around a competition.

Spanish vocabulary for the world outside: sol, lluvia, cielo, mar, río and the phrases used in a weather forecast, plus the animals, plants and landscapes that come up in ordinary conversation. Each with an English translation.

Body parts in Spanish from cabeza, brazo and mano to the organs that come up at a doctor's appointment, together with the vocabulary of symptoms and common conditions needed to say what hurts and for how long it has hurt.

Spanish vocabulary for shopping in person: tienda, precio, comprar, vender, pagar, barato, plus sizes, colours and payment methods. Includes the phrases used at the till and when negotiating a price at a market stall.

Spanish vocabulary for describing how you feel: feliz, triste, contento, miedo, and the finer words that separate annoyed from furious. Each with a translation and a sentence showing the register the word belongs to.

Spanish prepositions and connectors sorted by what they do in a sentence — de, en, a, con, que, por, para — including the por and para split that no single rule survives. Each use is shown with an example rather than a grammar label.

Spanish words that look like English ones and mean something else: embarazada is not embarrassed, éxito is not exit, sensible is not sensible, carpeta is not carpet. Each pair gives the real meaning and the word you needed instead.

Spanish irregular verbs grouped by the kind of change they make: ser, estar, ir, tener and hacer first, then the stem-changing and spelling-change groups. The forms that most often trip learners up come with an example sentence.

Spanish verb forms across the tenses used most in speech: yo soy, yo fui, yo seré and the same three-way split for every verb that matters. Regular patterns sit beside the irregular forms that break them, each with an example.

Spanish food vocabulary for reading a menu without guessing: dishes, ingredients and cooking methods, plus everything around the table — menú, camarero, cuenta, propina, reserva. Includes the questions waiting staff ask in return.

Family words in Spanish from madre, padre, hijo and hermano out to the extended family and in-laws, along with the vocabulary of friendship, dating and long relationships. Each word with a translation and an example sentence.

Spanish vocabulary for an ordinary day at home: casa, cocina, baño, dormitorio, sala, comedor and the furniture in each, plus the verbs that carry a routine from waking up to going to bed. Each word with an English translation.

Spanish phrases for opening a conversation and keeping it going: ¿cómo estás?, ¿cómo te llamas?, ¿de dónde eres?, ¿qué tal? and the small talk that follows. Each with an English translation and a natural reply to use back.

Numbers in Spanish from uno and dos upward, with everything built on them: months, days of the week, telling the time and the date formats used in Spain and Latin America. Each entry with an English translation and an example.

Basic Spanish phrases for the situations that come first: buenos días, buenas tardes, mucho gusto, hasta luego, plus the wording for ordering, asking for help and getting directions. Whole phrases, ready to use exactly as they are.

Ready-made Spanish phrases for getting through an airport, checking into a hotel and ordering in a restaurant, from ¿dónde está el aeropuerto? to reporting a delayed or cancelled flight. Usable exactly as they are written, with translations.

The Spanish words worth learning before anything else: hola, sí, no, gracias, por favor, and the handful of verbs that hold a sentence together — ser, estar, tener. Each with an English translation and a short example of its use.

The Spanish words that appear most often in everyday speech and writing, starting with the verbs everything else hangs on — ser, estar, tener, hacer, poder, ir, decir. Each with an English translation and a sentence showing it in use.