Basic Vocabulary in Romance Languages

Level I 1. Alphabet & Pronunciation 2. Similarities to English 3. Gender & Plural 4. Cardinal Numbers 5. Subject Personal Pronouns 6. Present Indicative Tense I 7. The Articles 8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives 9. Basic Vocabulary Level II 1. Prepositions 2. Present Indicative Tense II – Irregular Verbs 3. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns 4. Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives 5. Object Personal Pronouns 6. Relative Pronouns 7. Ordinal Numbers I 8. “Por” vs. “Para” in Spanish & Portuguese 9. The Verb “To Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar” in Spanish & Portuguese Level III 1. Verbs like “Gustar” in Spanish & “Piacere” in Italian 2. Present Perfect Tense 3. The Verb “To Know” 4. Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns 5. Conjunctions 6. Simple Future Tense 7. Telling Time & Describing Weather 8. Adverbs 9. Present Participle & Gerund in French Level IV 1. Degrees of Comparison: Comparatives & Superlatives 2. Past Tense: Preterite vs. Imperfect 3. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs 4. Expressions Using “To Have” & “To Do” 5. Present Subjunctive Tense I 6. Present Progressive Tense 7. Future Perfect Tense 8. Personal “a” in Spanish Level V 1. The Pronouns “Ci” & “Ne” in Italian and “Y” & “En” in French 2. Past Absolute Tense in Italian & Simple Past Tense in French 3. Imperative Mood & Giving Commands 4. The Conditional Tenses 5. Present Subjunctive Tense II & Future Subjunctive Tense 6. Perfect Subjunctive Tense 7. Partitives 8. Past & Conditional Progressive Tenses 9. The Verb “Acabar” in Spanish & Portuguese Level VI 1. Ordinal Numbers 2. Imperfect Subjunctive Tense 3. Pluperfect Indicative Tense 4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense 5. Passive Voice 6. Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs 7. Diminutives & Augmentatives 8. The Past Infinitive

See in Store

book-anki-decks-package-spanish-portuguese-italian-french

learn-romance-languages-at-the same-time-book-cover

Learn & Retain SP, PT, IT, & FR with Spaced Repetition

600+ Anki Notes for Level I with Vocabulary, Grammar, & Audio Pronunciation

Buy Now

book-cover-learn-and-retain-spanish-with-spaced-repetition-5000-anki-notes-flashcards

Learn & Retain Spanish with Spaced Repetition

5,000+ Anki Notes for Level I with Vocabulary, Grammar, & Audio Pronunciation

Buy Now

Learn & Retain Italian with Spaced Repetition

700+ Anki Notes for Level I with Vocabulary, Grammar, & Audio Pronunciation

Buy Now

Learn & Retain French with Spaced Repetition

700+ Anki Notes for Level I with Vocabulary, Grammar, & Audio Pronunciation

Buy Now

Free Lessons – Study Now

Spanish Lessons to learn Spanish with Anki flashcards decks

Italian Lessons to learn Italian with Anki flashcards decks

French Lessons to learn French with Anki flashcards decks

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French, we study some basic vocabulary in each language.

We will examine and compare some basic vocabulary in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. The five categories that we will examine are: colors, times and seasons, directions, family, and anatomy.

Colors
Times & Seasons
Directions
Family
Anatomy
Level I – Basic

Colors

SP	color	color^m	orange	naranja^m,f
PT		cor^f		laranja^m,f
IT		colore^m		arancione^m,f
FR		couleur^f		orange^m,f
SP	black	negro/-a	pink	rosa^m,f rosado/-a
PT		preto/-a		rosa^m,f
IT		nero/-a		rosa^m,f
FR		noir(e)		rose^m,f
SP	blue	azul^m,f	purple	morado/-a púrpura^m,f
PT		azul^m,f		roxo/-a
IT		blu^m,f azzurro/-a		viola^m,f porpora^m,f
FR		bleu(e)		violet(te) pourpre^m,f
SP	brown	marrón^m,f	red	rojo/-a
PT		marrom^m,f		vermelho/-a
IT		marrone^m,f bruno/-a		rosso/-a
FR		marron^m,f brun(e)		rouge^m,f
SP	gray	gris^m,f	white	blanco/-a
PT		cinza^m,f		branco/-a
IT		grigio/-a		bianco/-a
FR		gris(e)		blanc^m blanche^f
SP	green	verde^m,f	yellow	amarillo/-a
PT		verde^m,f		amarelo/-a
IT		verde^m,f		giallo/-a
FR		vert(e)		jaune^m,f

Times & Seasons

SP	day	día^m	week	semana^f
PT		dia^m		semana^f
IT		giorno^m		settimana^f
FR		jour^m		semaine^f
SP	month	mes^m	year	año^m
PT		mês^m		ano^m
IT		mese^m		anno^m
FR		mois^m		an^m
SP	today	hoy	weekend	fin^m de semana
PT		hoje		fim^m de semana
IT		oggi		fine^m settimana
FR		aujourd’hui		fin^f de semaine
SP	tomorrow	mañana	tomorrow morning	mañana por la mañana
PT		amanhã		amanhã de manhã
IT		domani		domattina
FR		demain		demain matin
SP	yesterday	ayer	day after tomorrow	pasado mañana
PT		ontem		depois de amanhã
IT		ieri		dopodomani
FR		hier		après-demain
SP	tonight	esta noche	day before yesterday	anteayer
PT		esta noite		anteontem
IT		stanotte		avantieri
FR		ce soir		avant-hier
SP	tomorrow night	mañana por la noche	last night	anoche
PT		manhã à noite		noite passada ontem à noite
IT		domani notte		ieri notte
FR		demain soir		hier soir
SP	afternoon	tarde^f	morning	mañana^f
PT		tarde^f		manhã^f
IT		pomeriggio^m		mattina^f
FR		après-midi^m		matin^m
SP	decade	década^f	night	noche^f
PT		década^f		noite^f
IT		decennio^m		notte^f
FR		décennie^f		nuit^f
SP	season	estación^f	century	siglo^m
PT		estação^f		século^m
IT		stagione^f		secolo^m
FR		saison^f		siècle^m

The days of the week are:

SP	Monday	lunes^m	Friday	viernes^m
PT		segunda-feira^f		sexta-feira^f
IT		lunedì^m		venerdì^m
FR		lundi^m		vendredi^m
SP	Tuesday	martes^m	Saturday	sábado^m
PT		terça-feira^f		sábado^m
IT		martedì^m		sabato^m
FR		mardi^m		samedi^m
SP	Wednesday	miércoles^m	Sunday	domingo^m
PT		quarta-feira^f		domingo^m
IT		mercoledì^m		domenica^f
FR		mercredi^m		dimanche^m
SP	Thursday	jueves^m	weekend	fin^m de semana
PT		quinta-feira^f		fim^m de semana
IT		giovedì^m		fine^m settimana
FR		jeudi^m		fin^f de semaine

Notice that the days of the week are significantly different in Portuguese from other Romance languages. The reason is that most Romance languages, derived from Latin, were named by the Romans after celestial bodies. For example, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, and so on. But in Portugal, a 6th-century bishop named Martin of Braga rejected the idea of associating days with pagan deities, so he opted for a radical change.

Martin adopted the Latin word “feria,” meaning “feast day” or “day of rest,” and used it to create a new naming system, counting from Sunday. Thus, Monday became “segunda-feira,” meaning “second feria,” Tuesday turned into “terça-feira” (third feria), and so on. This system made sense because, in early Christianity, Sunday was considered the first day of the week and the day of worship.

The existing names for Saturday and Sunday were not changed. These names already held religious significance. Saturday is derived from the Hebrew “sabbath” and Sunday signifies “dies Dominica” (Lord’s Day) in Latin.

The months of the year are:

SP	January	enero^m	July	julio^m
PT		janeiro^m		julho^m
IT		gennaio^m		luglio^m
FR		janvier^m		juillet^m
SP	February	febrero^m	August	agosto^m
PT		fevereiro^m		agosto^m
IT		febbraio^m		agosto^m
FR		février^m		août^m
SP	March	marzo^m	September	septiembre^m
PT		março^m		setembro^m
IT		marzo^m		settembre^m
FR		mars^m		septembre^m
SP	April	abril^m	October	octubre^m
PT		abril^m		outubro^m
IT		aprile^m		ottobre^m
FR		avril^m		octobre^m
SP	May	mayo^m	November	noviembre^m
PT		maio^m		novembro^m
IT		maggio^m		novembre^m
FR		mai^m		novembre^m
SP	June	junio^m	December	diciembre^m
PT		junho^m		dezembro^m
IT		giugno^m		dicembre^m
FR		juin^m		décembre^m

Notice from the two tables above that the days and months are not capitalized.

The seasons of the year are:

SP	autumn, fall	otoño^m	summer	verano^m
PT		outono^m		verão^m
IT		autunno^m		estate^f
FR		automne^m		été^m
SP	spring	primavera^f	winter	invierno^m
PT		primavera^f		inverno^m
IT		primavera^f		inverno^m
FR		printemps^m		hiver^m

Directions

SP	direction	dirección^f	map	mapa^m
PT		direção^f		mapa^m
IT		indicazione^f		mappa^f
FR		direction^f		carte^f
SP	street	calle^f	compass	brújula^f
PT		rua^f		bússola^f
IT		via^f		bussola^f
FR		rue^f		boussole^f

The four geographical directions are:

SP	east	este^m	south	sur^m sud^m
PT		leste^m^[1] este^m		sul^m
IT		est^m		sud^m
FR		est^m		sud^m
SP	north	norte^m	west	oeste^m
PT		norte^m		oeste^m
IT		nord^m		ovest^m
FR		nord^m		ouest^m

^[1]Both “leste” and “este” are equally correct when referring to the direction of the “east.” However, “este” is rarely used to avoid confusion when the definite article is added to “este.” In such case, “o este” (the east) may sound the same as “oeste” (west).

And the four main directions right, left, up, and down are:

SP	right	derecha	up	arriba
PT		direita		acima
IT		destra		su
FR		droite		haut
SP	left	izquierda	down	abajo
PT		esquerda		abaixo
IT		sinistra		giù
FR		gauche		bas

To describe the location of an object with respect to another, one can use:

SP	above on top (of)	sobre encima (de)	there	ahí allá allí
PT		em cima (de) acima (de) sobre		lá ali aí
IT		sopra		lì là
FR		au-dessus de		là
SP	here	acá aquí	to the left of	a la izquierda de
PT		aqui cá		à esquerda de
IT		qui qua		a sinistra di
FR		ici		à gauche de
SP	inside	dentro (de)	to the right of	a la derecha de
PT		dentro (de)		à direita de
IT		dentro		a destra di
FR		à l’intérieur (de)		à droite de
SP	near	cerca (de)	far (from)	lejos (de)
PT		perto (de)		longe (de)
IT		vicino (a)		lontano (da)
FR		près de		loin (de)
SP	outside	fuera (de)	toward	hacia
PT		fora (de)		na direção
IT		fuori (da)		verso
FR		dehors		vers
SP	straight ahead	derecho recto	under beneath	bajo debajo (de)
PT		direto em frente sempre em frente		debaixo (de) sob
IT		dritto		sotto
FR		tout droit		sous

Family

SP	family	familia^f	family members	miembros^m de la familia
PT		família^f		membros^m da família
IT		famiglia^f		membri^m della famiglia
FR		famille^f		membres^m de la famille
SP	aunt	tía^f	girlfriend	novia^f
PT		tia^m		namorada^f noiva^f
IT		zia^f		fidanzata^f
FR		tante^f		petite amie^f copine^f
SP	boyfriend	novio^m	grandson	nieto^m
PT		namorado^m novio^m		neto^m
IT		fidanzato^m		nipote^m
FR		petit ami^m copain^m		petit-fils^m
SP	couple	pareja^f	husband	marido^m
PT		casal^m		marido^m
IT		coppia^f		marito^m
FR		couple^m		mari^m
SP	cousin	primo/-a	married	casado/-a
PT		primo/-a		casado/-a
IT		cugino/-a		sposato/-a
FR		cousin(e)		marié(e)
SP	daughter	hija^f	mother	madre^f
PT		filha^f		mãe^f
IT		figlia^f		madre^f
FR		fille^f		mère^f
SP	daughter-in-law	nuera^f	relatives	parientes^m familiares^m
PT		nora^f		parentes^m,f
IT		nuora^f		parenti^m famigliari^m
FR		belle-fille^f bru^f		parents^m
SP	father	padre^m	single	soltero/-a
PT		pai^m		solteiro/-a
IT		padre^m		celibe^m nubile^f
FR		père^m		célibataire^m,f
SP	granddaughter	nieta^f	son	hijo^m
PT		neta^f		filho^m
IT		nipote^f		figlio^m
FR		petite fille^f		fils^m
SP	grandfather	abuelo^m	son-in-law	yerno^m
PT		avô^m		genro^m
IT		nonno^m		genero^m
FR		grand-père^m		gendre^m beau-fils^m
SP	grandmother	abuela^f	spouse	esposo/-a cónyuge^m,f
PT		avó^f		esposo/-a cônjuge^m,f
IT		nonna^f		sposo/-a coniuge_m
FR		grand-mère^f		époux^m/épouse^f conjoint(e)
SP	uncle	tío^m	wife	mujer^f esposa^f
PT		tio^m		mulher^f esposa^f
IT		zio^m		moglie^f sposa^f
FR		oncle^m		femme^f épouse^f

Anatomy

SP	body	cuerpo^m	body parts	partes^f del cuerpo
PT		corpo^m		partes^f do corpo
IT		corpo^m		parti^f del corpo
FR		corps^m		parties^f du corps
SP	arm	brazo^m	hand	mano^f
PT		braço^m		mão^f
IT		braccio^m		mano^f
FR		bras^m		main^f
SP	back	espalda^f	head	cabeza^f
PT		costas^f		cabeça^f
IT		schiena^f		testa^f
FR		dos^m		tête^f
SP	blood	sangre^f	heart	corazón^m
PT		sangue^m		coração^m
IT		sangue^m		cuore^m
FR		sang^m		cœur^m
SP	brain	cerebro^m	leg	pierna^f
PT		cérebro^m		perna^f
IT		cervello^m		gamba^f
FR		cerveau^m		jambe^f
SP	ear	oreja^f	lip	labio^m
PT		orelha^f		lábio^m
IT		orecchio^m		labbro^m
FR		oreille^f		lèvre^f
SP	eye	ojo^m	mouth	boca^f
PT		olho^m		boca^f
IT		occhio^m		bocca^f
FR		œil^m		bouche^f
SP	face	cara^f	nose	nariz^f
PT		rosto^m face^f cara^f		nariz^m
IT		faccia^f		naso^m
FR		visage^m figure^f face^f		nez^m
SP	finger	dedo^m	shoulder	hombro^m
PT		dedo^m		ombro^m
IT		dito^m		spalla^f
FR		doigt^m		épaule^f
SP	foot	pie^m	stomach	estómago^m
PT		pé^m		estômago^m
IT		piede^f		stomaco^m
FR		pied^m		estomac^m
SP	hair	pelo^m	toe	dedo^m del pie
PT		cabelo^m		dedo^m do pé
IT		capelli^m		dito^m del piede
FR		cheveux^m		doigt^m de pied orteil^m

Next: Prepositions

Back to: Comparative Grammar Lessons

Other lessons in Level I:

Level I – Basic

1. Alphabet & Pronunciation

2. Similarities to English

3. Gender and Plural

4. Cardinal Numbers

5. Subject Personal Pronouns

6. Present Indicative Tense I

7. The Articles

8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives

9. Basic Vocabulary

Comparative Grammar 1.9. Basic Vocabulary in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French

Table of Contents

Colors

Times & Seasons

Directions

Family

Anatomy

Level I – Basic