English Spanish Opposites

Oposites, opuestos.

If you want to discover more words in less time opposites are great, they give you double bang for your buck as you’re learning two words at once!

Our brains are wired to remember opposing pairs of things. Learning opposite pairs makes them easier to recall and speeds up how quickly we progress.

Let’s take a look at pairs of words that oppose each other, because sometimes the word you really need is the opposite of the one you’re thinking! 

Quick pronunciation tips

Spanish consonants aren’t as consistent, some of those can totally change sound depending on the letters they’re near, others work the same way you know. 

Consonants aren’t even consistent in the Spanish speaking world! South America, Cuba, Venezuela and the Canary Islands, have different pronunciations from the mainland, peninsular.

• Ca like cabin
• Ce as in cerveza, seh – Lat-Am / Canaries
• Ce as in cerveza, th as in think on the mainland
• Ch like cheese
• Ci like cinema, see – Lat-Am / Canaries
• Ci like cinema, th as in thin on the mainland
• Cu like cultura 
• Ga like gato
• Ge as in gente, guttural H (hen-tee)
• Gi as in gigantic, guttural H (hee-gan-tic)
• H is silent, Hola = oh-la
• J as in José = H like hot
• LL as in amarillo = Y as in yellow
• Ñ as in caña = NY as in canyon
• Qu as in que = K as in okay
• RR as in perro = a rolled R
• V as in vibrante = B as in brilliant, but subdued 
• Y as in uno y dos = EE like happy
• Y as in yo = YO!
• Y as in hoy = EE (that flows from the vowel before it)
• Z as in zoo = S as in Sue (Lat-Am / Canaries) Th as in Theo elsewhere

Family and personal relationships

Personality and human character

Physical states and sensory quantities

Action and movement in daily life

Time, space and logic