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Kitchen words in Spanish: 40 words to know

Last updated July 7, 2026 · 7 min read

Phrases you can actually say

1. La taza está en la mesa. — The cup is on the table.
2. ¿Dónde está el abrelatas? — Where's the can opener?
3. Necesito una cuchara limpia. — I need a clean spoon.
4. El café está en la cafetera. — The coffee is in the coffee maker.
5. Pon el plato en el fregadero. — Put the plate in the sink.
6. La leche está en el refrigerador. — The milk is in the fridge.
7. Voy a lavar la sartén. — I'm going to wash the pan.
8. ¿Me pasas la sal, por favor? — Can you pass me the salt, please?

Catch them instead of memorizing them

A list like this is a starting point, not the finish line. The fastest way to make these words stick is to photograph the actual objects in your own kitchen. Point your camera at your cup, your knife, your stove, and CatchFrase names it in Spanish, reads it aloud, and builds an example sentence around it — so the word arrives already attached to the object you use every day, not to a row in a table.

Each catch becomes a collectible card with the word, a phrase, audio, and a spot in your review queue. Spaced-repetition review (CatchFrase calls it smart review) brings each word back just before you'd forget it, so you're not re-reading this list next week hoping it stuck.

Being honest about the free tier: it's 10 catches a day, so a full kitchen — cup, plate, fork, knife, spoon, pot, pan, fridge, stove, sink, and the rest — takes about 4 days at that pace. That's still faster than most people learn a kitchen's worth of vocabulary any other way, and there's no account required to start.

Common questions

Which Spanish should I learn — Mexican, Colombian, Argentine, or Spain?

Whichever the people around you actually speak. The words in this list are understood everywhere, but a few common items change by region — the table notes them. CatchFrase lets you pick your regional Spanish so the words you catch match what you'll actually hear.

Do I need to memorize all 40 words before I start cooking?

No. Learn a handful, use them while you're actually in the kitchen, and let the rest come from the objects around you as you need them. Vocabulary tied to something you're doing right now sticks better than a list studied cold.

Is CatchFrase free to use for this?

Yes. The free tier includes 10 catches a day, a 75-card collection, and daily review — plenty to work through a kitchen's worth of objects over a few days. CatchFrase Plus adds unlimited catches and deeper practice.