Spanish words that sound like Hindi

Learn the Spanish word mesatableThe piece of furniture you eat or work at. and any Hindi speaker smiles. Table? मेज़! It feels like Spanish is winking at you. And it's not the only one. The more Spanish you learn, the more little Hindi echoes you find: in words, in sounds, even in the way sentences work.

So let's go hunting. In this post I've collected Spanish words similar to Hindi that are real and checkable, not wishful thinking. For each one I'll tell you honestly why they look alike, because the reason is half the fun. Some are distant cousins from an ancient shared family, some travelled through Arabic and Persian, and quite a few came to India with Portuguese sailors. Then we'll look at sounds and grammar patterns that feel like home, and finish with a warning about false friends.

Why do some Spanish and Hindi words sound alike?

There are three main reasons, and it helps to know them, because they tell you how much to trust a lookalike.

1. The ancient family. Hindi comes from Sanskrit and Spanish comes from Latin, and both Sanskrit and Latin belong to the same huge language family, Indo-European. So some very old, basic words (numbers, family, body parts) are related from thousands of years ago.
2. The Arabic and Persian road. Arabic was spoken in Spain for centuries, and Spanish kept many Arabic words. Arabic and Persian also shaped Hindi and Urdu. So some words reached both languages from the same source, sometimes one that started in Sanskrit!
3. The Portuguese ships. The Portuguese traded and settled on India's west coast, and Hindi picked up a handful of everyday Portuguese words. Portuguese and Spanish are close sisters, so those words often look almost the same in Spanish.

The first group are true cousins. The other two are borrowings: real connections, but through travel and trade rather than family. Either way, they're a gift for your memory.

Words that came to Hindi from Portuguese

These are the easiest to spot, because they're everyday household words.

• mesatableThe piece of furniture you eat or work at. and मेज़. Most likely from Portuguese mesa, though Persian has a similar word too, so the two may have joined forces.
• armariowardrobe, cupboardWhere clothes or things are kept. and अलमारी. From Portuguese armário. Say them one after the other and you'll hear it.
• toallatowelWhat you dry yourself with. and तौलिया. From Portuguese toalha.
• panbreadBread of any kind. and पाव, as in पाव भाजी! From Portuguese pão, which means bread, exactly like Spanish panbreadBread of any kind..
• botellabottleA bottle for water, wine or anything else. and बोतल. Probably from Portuguese botelha, helped along by English bottle, which shares the same root.
• padrefatherAlso how you address a Catholic priest. and पादरी. Hindi पादरी means a Christian priest and comes from Portuguese padre. In Spanish, padrefatherAlso how you address a Catholic priest. first of all means "father", and it's also a title for a priest.
• baldebucketA bucket. In Spain people more often say cubo. and बाल्टी. From Portuguese balde. Spanish has baldebucketA bucket. In Spain people more often say cubo. too, though in Spain you'll more often hear cubobucketThe usual word for bucket in Spain..

Words that travelled through Arabic and Persian

These ones are my favourites, because they made a long trip, often starting in India.

• azúcarsugarSugar. The accent is on the u. and शक्कर. Spanish took it from Arabic sukkar, which goes back through Persian to Sanskrit शर्करा. An Indian word went all the way to Spain!
• naranjaorangeThe fruit, and also the colour. and नारंगी. Spanish took it from Arabic, which took it from Persian, which took it from Sanskrit. Hindi kept the Indian word, and Spain kept the travelled version.
• ajedrezchessThe board game. and शतरंज. Chess was born as चतुरंग in India, became shatranj in Persian and Arabic, and arrived in Spain as ajedrezchessThe board game.. Hindi शतरंज is the same Persian form. The sound has shifted a lot, but the line is clear.
• camisashirtA shirt, usually with a collar and buttons. and कमीज़. Hindi got कमीज़ through Arabic and Persian. Spanish camisashirtA shirt, usually with a collar and buttons. comes from Latin, and many experts think the Arabic word itself came from that same Latin word. So when you wear a camisashirtA shirt, usually with a collar and buttons., you're wearing a word that went round the world.

Ancient cousins: the Indo-European family

These are the oldest links of all. Not borrowed, just inherited from the same distant ancestor. Some are obvious, some you only see once someone points them out.

• nombrenameYour name. Also the grammar word "noun". and नाम. Latin nomen, Sanskrit नामन्.
• dostwoThe number 2. and दो. Almost identical!
• nuevenineThe number 9. and नौ.
• nuevonewNew, for a masculine noun. Nueva for a feminine one. and नया (Sanskrit नव). Funny, right? In Spanish "nine" and "new" look alike, and in Hindi नौ and नया do too. It's the same ancient pair in both families.
• dientetoothOne tooth. The plural is dientes. and दाँत.
• madremotherMother. and माता.
• viudawidowA woman whose husband has died. and विधवा. This one surprises everyone.

The full table of lookalikes

Here's everything in one place, so you can screenshot it and revise.

Flip and remember

Try these flashcards. Look at the Spanish, think of the Hindi lookalike, say the English, then flip.

Sounds that feel familiar

Words are only half the story. When Indian students first hear Spanish, many of them say it "sounds easy", and they're right. A lot of Spanish sounds already live in your mouth.

Clean vowels, like Hindi

Spanish has five vowels and they never change: a, e, i, o, u sound close to आ, ए, ई, ओ, ऊ. No English-style surprises where one letter has five different sounds. If you can read Devanagari, you already have the right instinct: say what's written.

Soft t and d

The Spanish t and d are made with the tongue touching the back of the teeth, just like त and द. English speakers say them further back, closer to ट and ड, and sound "foreign" straight away. You won't. tomatetomatoSame word as in English, Spanish sounds. sounds like तो-मा-ते, not the English "tuh-MAY-toe".

No puff of air

Spanish p, t, k have no puff of air after them. They're प, त, क, never फ, थ, ख. Hold your hand in front of your mouth and say patoduckThe bird.. If you feel a puff, you're saying it the English way.

The rolled r

Spanish has a single tapped r, as in perobutThe everyday word for but., and a strong rolled rr, as in perrodogThe double r is a strong rolled sound.. The single one is basically Hindi र. For the double one, just roll your र a little longer. Many Indian learners get this on day one, while others practise for months.

ñ, ch, j and ll

• ñ, as in niñoboy, childA young boy or a child., is like न्य in कन्या.
• ch, as in chicoboy, guyA boy or young man., is simply च.
• j, as in jardíngardenThe j sounds like a throaty h., is like ख़ in ख़ुश or ख़राब.
• ll, as in llamoI call (myself)From llamarse, used in Me llamo., sounds like य for most people in Spain today.

The one sound Hindi doesn't really have is the Spain z, and c before e or i, as in graciasthank youThe everyday way to say thanks.. That's the th of English "think". But your English has you covered.

Grammar patterns that feel like home

Some of the biggest Hindi–Spanish connections aren't words at all. They're ways of building sentences.

• Masculine and feminine. In Hindi, अच्छा लड़का but अच्छी लड़की. In Spanish, un chico altoa tall boyMasculine noun, masculine adjective. but una chica altaa tall girlFeminine noun, feminine adjective.. Nouns have a gender and adjectives follow it. English speakers struggle with this. You've done it all your life.
• Two kinds of "you". तुम for friends, आप for respect. Spanish has túyou (informal)For friends, family and people your age. and ustedyou (formal)For older people, strangers and formal situations., and you choose between them in a very similar way.
• Dropping "I". In Hindi you can just say "जा रहा हूँ" without मैं, because the verb already tells you who. Spanish does exactly that: voyI'm goingFrom ir, to go. No need to say yo. already means "I'm going". The verb ending carries the person.
• Questions by tone. "तुम आ रहे हो?" becomes a question just by raising your voice at the end. So does ¿Vienes?Are you coming?A yes or no question made with tone alone. in Spanish. No extra "do" or "does" needed.

A warning about false friends

Now the fun part with a catch. Not every lookalike means the same thing, and these "false friends" trip up Indian students all the time. Two quick examples:

• panbreadBread of any kind. is bread. It has nothing to do with पान! Ask for panbreadBread of any kind. in Madrid and you'll get a loaf, not a mouth freshener.
• Hindi कमरा (room) came from Portuguese too, but Spanish cámaracamera, chamberA camera, or a chamber such as a parliament house. means a camera, or a chamber. A room in Spanish is habitaciónroomA room, especially a bedroom or hotel room..

There are plenty more, and I'll give them a whole post of their own soon. For now, the rule is simple: use lookalikes to remember words, but always check the meaning before you use them.

Learn the connections live

This is exactly how I like to teach: starting from what you already know in Hindi and English, so Spanish feels familiar from the very first class. If you'd like to learn this way, join a small live batch. We meet on Google Meet in groups of up to 5, starting from A1, and you'll be using words like mesatableThe piece of furniture you eat or work at. and panbreadBread of any kind. in real sentences sooner than you think. ¡Vamos!Let's go!Used to cheer someone on or get moving.