One of the most important parts of learning a language is communicating with it. Communication today is easier than ever before, with technology, social media, and messaging apps, and language has had to adapt to the fast pace of instant messaging. Spanish is no exception, and in this post, we are going to show you the most common Spanish ‘text’ phrases, so that you can text in Spanish like a native.
How to text in Spanish: Abbreviations with numbers
Much like English text speak, with words like ‘gr8’ and ‘l8er’, Spanish speakers modify certain words with numbers, because they have similar sounds. Some of these include:
- Salu2: A creative way of saying ‘saludos’, translating to ‘greetings’ in English
- A2/a10: Another way of saying ‘adiós’ or ‘goodbye’ in English
- Re100: This means ‘recién’, which means ‘recently’ in English
- 100pre: A quicker way of typing ‘siempre’, ‘always’ in English.
It makes sense when you say them out loud, right?!
How to text in Spanish: Switching letters
This is also something that we do in English, as we often substitute letters and shorten words like ‘your’ to simply ‘ur’ or ‘you are’ to ‘u r’. Spanish does this as well, often substituting q’s for k’s, as phonetically, they make the same sound. This occurs with words such as:
- Kiero: This means ‘quiero’, from the verb ‘querer’, which translates to ‘to want’.
- K: This is just a simple way of typing ‘que’, a frequently-used Spanish word that can mean ‘what’, ‘which’, ‘that’ or ‘who’.
- Aki: An abbreviation of ‘aquí’, which means ‘here’ in English
Similarly, Spanish speakers also swap the word ‘por’ for a simple ‘x’. This derives from the use of the word in Maths for multiplication, which is represented in with the same letter ‘x’. Frequent abbreviations that replace ‘por’ with ‘x’ are:
- Xfa: This is an abbreviation of ‘Por favor’ or ‘please’ in English
- Xq: A shortening of the word ‘porque’, meaning ‘because’ in English, or a shortening of the phrase ‘Por qué’ when accompanied by a question mark, which means ‘why’ in English.
How to text in Spanish: Acronyms
Another common feature of Spanish text speak is the use of acronyms, the abbreviation of a phrase using the initials of each of its words. This is apparent in English text speak with words like ‘gtg’, and ‘omg’. Some examples in Spanish are:
- Npn: This stands for ‘no pasa nada’, the equivalent of ‘no worries’ in English
- PTI: This means ‘Para tu información’ which translates directly to the English equivalent ‘For your information’, also abbreviated to ‘FYI’.
- Tqm: One for the romantics, this stands for ‘te quiero mucho’ or ‘I love you loads’ in English.
How to text in Spanish: Other abbreviations
Sometimes Spanish text speak just sticks to the first letter of a word, or spells it phonetically in order to shorten it, a bit like how in English we abbreviate words like ‘weekend’ to ‘w/e’ and ‘good’ to simply ‘gd’, because they either sound similar or just to save time. Examples of this include:
- Fin d: An abbreviation of ‘Fin de’ or ‘Fin de semana’ which means ‘Weekend’ in English
- Kyat: A phonetic spelling of the word ‘Cállate’, meaning ‘Shut up!’ in English
- B: this simply means ‘bien’, which translates to ‘well’ in English,
Those are just some of the common abbreviations that Spanish people use when texting and instant messaging their friends. Can you think of any more? Write them in the comments down below! If you want to make friends with natives in Spain and put these words into practice, head over to our website and book a Spanish course in Spain!
Sophie Lauro