Hello! Thank you very much for learning Spanish with us This time, we will learn the vocabulary for grains, meats, dairy products and others that are normally consumed in many countries around the world. We hope that the images, examples and exercises in the lesson help you to speak about food in Spanish more easily. Let’s start…
Vegetables, meats, dairy and other products in Spanish
First, let’s learn the vocabulary we need to talk about food in Spanish, starting with basic grains, fruits and vegetables, meats, and more. Pay attention to the picture and try to memorize the most important words in it. We will be using them later in sentences and a listening activity.
Interactive exercise No. 1
Write the name of each drink or food in Spanish under the vocabulary flashcards below and check your answers.
Making sentences about food in Spanish
Using the verbs GUSTAR, ENCANTAR and FASCINAR
Many sentences about food in Spanish use verbs like GUSTAR, ENCANTAR y FASCINAR, following this structure:
Pronombre de objeto directo + GUSTAR + verbo
The verb “gustar” will be used with a pronoun such as “ME, NOS, TE”. These indirect object pronouns will be placed before the verb “gustar” to indicate who likes something, for example: “Me gusta comer camarones” (I like to eat shrimp). Pay attention to the examples in the following image:
- Me gusta comer vegetales y algunos granos básicos. No me gusta la carne.
- like to eat vegetables and some basic grains. I do not like meat.
- ¿Te gusta comer arroz? – Claro que sí, mi favorito es el arroz integral.
- Do you like to eat rice? – Of course, my favorite is brown rice.
- A nosotros nos encanta comer frutas y verduras en el desayuno.
- We love eating fruits and vegetables for breakfast.
- A los niños les fascina comer pizza y hamburguesas, aunque no son saludables para nada.
- Children love to eat pizza and hamburgers, even though they are not healthy at all.
Using “GUSTARÍA” to talk about “la comida”
The conjugation “GUSTARÍA” is the conditional form of the verb GUSTAR and is used similarly to the structure “would like” from the English language, for example: ¿Te gustaría comer cerdo, res o pollo?” (Would you like to eat pork, beef, or chicken?). It is commonly used as shown in the following examples about food in Spanish:
- Me gustaría comerme una hamburguesa de res doble con papas fritas.
- I’d like to eat a double beef burger with fries.
- ¿Qué te gustaría comer en la cena? – Me gustaría comer carne de cerdo asada.
- What would you like to eat for dinner? – I would like to eat roast pork.
- ¿Qué postre les gustaría probar a ustedes chicos? – Nos gustaría probar el helado, por favor.
- What dessert would you guys like to try? – We’d like to try the ice cream, please.
Using PREFERIR (to prefer) and PREFERIRÍA (would prefer)
It is also very common to use the verb “preferir” plus another verb to talk about what we like or prefer in this case, for example: “Yo prefiero comer aguacate con queso que huevo con tomate”. ( I prefer to eat avocado with cheese than egg with tomato)
- ¿Qué prefieres, filete de pollo o filete de res? – Creo que comeré pollo mejor.
- Which do you prefer, chicken fillet or beef fillet? – I think I’d better eat chicken.
- Yo preferiría comer pescado que comer cerdo porque el pescado es menos grasoso.
- I would prefer to eat fish rather than pork because fish is less fatty.
Interactive exercise No. 2
Read these sentences and questions about food in Spanish, and complete them by dragging the missing words to the correct spaces.
Other ways to talk about food in Spanish
There are many more verbs we can use to talk about “la comida”, including: desayunar (to have breakfast), almorzar (to have lunch), cenar (to have dinner), probar (to try) y cocinar (to cook). Here are some examples of these verbs:
- ¿Qué comes en el desayuno normalmente? – Un huevo y una tortilla de maíz
- What do you usually eat for breakfast? – An egg and a corn tortilla
- ¿Qué desayunaste hoy? – Desayuné aguacate con queso y frijoles fritos.
- What did you have for breakfast today? – I ate avocado with cheese and fried beans for breakfast
- ¡Qué rico! Estás comiendo pescado frito con arroz y ensalada.
- Delicious! You are eating fried fish with rice and salad.
- Mesero, ¿Qué lleva este platillo? – Lleva camarones, arroz, repollo, cebolla picada, pimentón y un poquito de ajo.
- Waiter, what’s in this dish? – It has shrimp, rice, cabbage, chopped onion, bell peppers and a little garlic.
- ¿Tenemos queso en casa? – No, solo tenemos leche y mantequilla.
- Do we have cheese at home? – No, we only have milk and butter.
- Tengo que ir al mercado a comprar berenjenas, una coliflor y soya para la dieta que me recomendó el doctor.
- I have to go to the market to buy aubergines, cauliflower and soy for the diet that the doctor recommended.
My favorite food in Spanish
Read the following text about a boy’s favorite food in Spanish and look at how we can use the verbs we covered in this lesson to create a short description of what we like or dislike eating in the language.
Interactive exercise No. 3
Read the text above and choose the correct answer for each of the following questions about food in Spanish.
Interactive exercise No. 4
Match these questions about food and drinks in Spanish with the most appropriate answers in each case. Then, check your answers.
Spanish Listening Practice: What are you cooking? – ¿Qué estás cocinando?
Related Spanish PDF worksheets:
- The Vocabulary for Food and Drinks in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
- Food and Drinks in Spanish (with photos)
- Healthy Food in Spanish – Dialogues in PDF
- Healthy Food in Spanish – Dialogues in PDF
- Food in Spanish – PDF Conversation cards
- Shopping at the market in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
- At a Fast Food Restaurant in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
- Food and Drinks in Spanish – PDF Crossword Puzzle
- Cooking Verbs in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
- My Weekly Diet Plan in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
- Making a Restaurant Reservation in Spanish – Conversation in PDF