It is very useful to learn and memorise useful phrases for writing Spanish essays – this is probably the easiest way to improve your essays and hence your marks as a Spanish beginner.
This article is a collection of Spanish phrases to firstly help you start and conclude a Spanish essay; secondly how to present themes and argue points, and finally contains a range of connectives to make a Spanish essay flow more naturally.
The first sentence…
Voy a discutir acerca del tema de…
Voy a hablar sobre…
Voy a discutir
Introducing your opening argument…
Para empezar – to begin with
Al principio – at the start
En primer lugar – to begin with
Introducing new themes and arguments…
Para continuar – to continue
Para ilustrar… – to illustrate…
Concluding the essay…
Por fin – in short
Finalmente – finally
Para concluir – to conclude
En conclusión – in conclusion
Para terminar – to finish
En resumen – in summary
Presenting an argument…
Por un lado – on the one hand
Por otro lado – on the other hand
En cambio – in contrast
Por otra parte – on the other hand
Hay que tomar en cuenta – you have to take into account
Indicating time…
Durante – during
Mientras – while
Mientras tanto – meanwhile
Despues de infinitive – after
Antes de infinitive – before
Luego – then
Entonces – then
Because / as a result of…
A causa de – because
Como consecuencia de – as a consequence of
Debido a – due to
Porque – because
Como resultado – as a result
Spanish connectives and conjunctions…
Además – in addition, moreover
También – also
Sin embargo – however
A pesar de – in spite of
Así (que) – so
Aunque – although
Sino que – but
Pero – but
Por ejemplo – for example
Common subjunctive triggers…
Es probable que
Es necesario que
No creo que
Dudo que
Aconsejo que
Espero que
Quiero que
Presenting opinions (no subjunctive)
Creo que – I believe/ think
Pienso que – I think
Opino que – In my opinion
En mi opinión – in my opinion
Afotunadamente – fortunately
Desafortunadamente – unfortunately
Me parece que – it seems to me
Therefore
Por eso – therefore
Por lo tanto – therefore
Por consiguiente – therefore
Asi – so
Other useful Spanish words / phrases
Todavía – still
Ya – already / now
Apenas – scarcely (casi no)
En realidad – in reality
Actualmente – currently
Ahora mismo – right now
En seguida – immediately
Hoy en día – nowadays
The most… is that
Lo mejor es que
Lo malo es que
Lo importante es que
Common uses of the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish
Si tuviera… – if I had… (notes: this should be followed by a verb in the conditional tense)
Si fuera… – if I was… (as above)
I hope this collection of Spanish phrases is useful for you Spanish writing – please visit http://topspanishtips.weebly.com for more useful Spanish resources like this one.