THE TOP 400 SPANISH WORDS - Spanish core vocabulary checklist

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr

THE TOP 400 SPANISH WORDS compiles the most frequent Spanish words by analyzing thousands of movie and television subtitle transcripts to approximate everyday spoken language. It explains how this list differs from other frequency lists by separating forms like el vs. la and includes conjugated verb forms. It instructs learners to mark the words they recognize, then count how many of the 400 they know to assess progress for reading comprehension.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Instructions

Core vocabulary value

How to complete the checklist

Nombre Fecha Clase THE TOP 400 SPANISH WORDS Source: [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Frequency_lists/Spanish1000](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Frequency_lists/Spanish1000) This list was compiled by analyzing the most common words from thousands of movie and television show subtitles with the goal of approximating the spoken language in real life. It is different than other such lists because it is more specific. This list contains the actual forms of words, be they masculine, feminine, singular or plural. It also contains the conjugated forms of verbs (highlighted below). Almost all of the top words on this type of list are similar. What is counted as a word is the main difference. For example, el and la are grouped as one word on some lists, but on this one they are counted separately. YOU MAY NOT KNOW ALL OF THESE RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU PROBABLY KNOW MANY OF THEM. Beginning students will know a certain number of words, upper levels will know more. Core vocabulary is important because the top 300 words make up 65% of all reading material. Many people get by in life using only 500-800 different words a day. 400 splits the difference. Knowing the 400 most common words well (plus some cognates) will allow you to read and understand a LOT of Spanish. Instrucciones: Indicate which words you recognize below. You do not have to write them out in English, just mark the ones that you could either write in English or that you could use in a sentence in Spanish. When you are finished, write the total number of words you know out of 400 at the top of your paper. 1. que [2.](2. de)[ de](2. de) [3.](3. no)[ no](3. no) [4](4). a [5.](5. la)[ la](5. la) [6](6). el [7.](7. es)[ ](7. es)[es](7. es) 8. y 9. en 10. lo 11. un 12. por | | | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13. qué [14.](14. me)[ me](14. me)[ ](14. me)[15](15). una 16. te 17. los [18.](18. se)[ se](18. se)[ ](18. se)[19](19). con 20. para 21. mi 22. está [23.](23. si)[ si](23. si)[ ](23. si)24. bien | | | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 25. pero 26. yo 27. eso 28. las 29. sí [30.](30. su)[ su](30. su)[ ](30. su)[31](31). tu 32. aquí 33. del [34.](34. al)[ al](34. al) 35. como 36. le | | | --- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | [Brycehedstrom.com](Brycehedstrom.com) 37. más 79. he 121. solo 38. esto 80. ese 122. años 39. ya 81. voy 123. sobre 40. todo 82. puede 124. decir [41.](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________)[ esta _____________](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________)[ 83.](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________)[ ](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________)[sabes](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________)[ _____________](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________)[ 125.](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________)[ uno _____________](41. esta _____________ 83. sabes _____________ 125. uno _____________) [42](42). vamos 84. hola 126. siempre [43.](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________)[ muy _____________](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________)[ 85.](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________)[ sus _____________](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________)[ 127.](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________)[ ](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________)[ir](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________)[ _____________](43. muy _____________ 85. sus _____________ 127. ir _____________) [44](44). hay 86. porque 128. cosas 45. ahora 87. dios 129. también 46. algo 88. quién 130.

FAQs

What method does the list use to select the top words?

The list was compiled by analyzing the most common words from thousands of movie and television subtitles.

How does this list differ from other Spanish frequency lists?

It is more specific because it counts the actual word forms separately and includes conjugated verb forms.

How should a learner use the worksheet to measure progress?

Indicate which words you recognize, then write the total number of words you know out of 400 at the top of your paper.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Bulrr