Puerto Rican Spanish 101

My spanish studies didn’t equip me with the colloquialisms of Puerto Rican Spanish .

I learned Spanish in high school from a Cuban.
My kid’s babysitters were Mexican and Columbian.
I traveled to Spain four times and practiced my Spanish there.

So in the two plus months I’ve been here, here are the differences I’ve picked up:

Banana = guineo
Peanut = mani
Beans = habichuela
Refrigerator = Nevera
Hamburguesa = hamburger
Drinking straw = sorbete

Ice cream = mantecado (but I’ve seen helado too)
Snack= merienda

guineo

I bought these from D’s school (grown on the property). I learned the word from his teacher, and wrote it (incorrectly) right on the banana to remember it

And since colors can vary by country:
Pink = rosa
Brown = marron
Purple = violeta

Oh and don’t say S’s

Buenas Dias= buen dia

Gracias = gracia

dry erase board in my kitchen

dry erase board in my kitchen

And speak veryfastandmusheverythingtogether.
Even a Columbian man I met here says they speak fast and it took a while for him to understand. Great.

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3 Responses to Puerto Rican Spanish 101

  1. Brenda Bravo-Kapper says:

    Hi,
    Mantecado is custard. Hey the Cuban should be close to PRican. We drop the ‘s also but it’s not considered good.
    BBK

  2. Joe says:

    I think we aspirate Ss more than we drop them (graciah rather than gracia’). Either way, it’s to quicken speech.

    And buen día =/= buenos días (good morning), though it can be used as such. Buen día is more like “good day” and people use it all day long, not just mornings.

    Brown is marrón, but truth be told, most people just say brown. Even my driver’s license says BRN for my eyes and hair. lol

    Oh, and it’s sorbeto, not sorbete. 🙂

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