¿Un café?
Coffee?
This is what people offer you when they can see you're not fully awake yet. With un, it means one cup.
From Cómo ser un latin lover · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "coffee" in Spanish
el café
nounmasculineplural: los cafésstress on the é
"Coffee" in Spanish is el café, with the stress on the last syllable: kah-FEH. It's masculine even though it ends in -é, and the same word names the place where you drink it. To order one, say Un café, por favor.
Hear "café" in a real movie scene
A cup offered to someone who's still half asleep. The video starts and stops on that line.
Ordering coffee in Spain
Six orders you'll hear at any bar counter in Spain.
| Spanish | What you get |
|---|---|
| un café solo | a black coffee, an espresso |
| un café con leche | coffee with plenty of hot milk |
| un cortado | an espresso with a splash of milk |
| un café americano | an espresso topped up with hot water |
| un descafeinado | a decaf |
| un café con hielo | a coffee with a glass of ice on the side |
Tip: Names change across Latin America. In Mexico, café de olla is coffee brewed with cinnamon and piloncillo, a raw cane sugar.
Grammar: el café, los cafés
Four points for ordering and talking about coffee.
Masculine with an -é
el café, un café. The ending gives no hint, so learn it with el: un café bueno, el café frío.Plural: add -s
los cafés. Dos cafés, por favor gets you two cups.Un café or café
Un café is one cup. Without un it's coffee in general: No bebo café. A little coffee is un poco de café.The drink and the place
el café is also a café: Quedamos en el café de la plaza. La cafetera is the coffee maker.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
Un poco de café.
A little coffee.
Es un café muy bueno.
It's a very good coffee.
Sí, un café.
Yes, a coffee.
Un café, por favor.
A coffee, please.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗la café
✓el café
The -é ending fools people, but café is masculine.
✗KAH-feh (pronunciation)
✓kah-FEH
The written accent puts the stress on the last syllable.
✗dos café
✓dos cafés
Order two or more and the word takes an -s.
Real conversation: a drink at the market
A short dialog at a market stall. Tap to listen.
At a market stall, the vendor offers you the local drink and puts the mug in your hand.
Es una bebida de aquí.
It's a drink from around here.
¿Es café?
Is it coffee?
No, es de la selva.
No, it comes from the jungle.
Your turn to answer
In the app you reply in Spanish for the last 2 lines.
Continue the conversation in WordyPractice: 3 quick exercises
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1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 22 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Café is spelled like the café on your corner. Order un café in a café and you've used both meanings at once.
Questions about "coffee" in Spanish
How do you say coffee in Spanish?
El café, stressed on the last syllable: kah-FEH. One coffee is un café.
Is café masculine or feminine in Spanish?
Masculine: el café, un café caliente. The plural is los cafés.
How do you say coffee with milk in Spanish?
Café con leche. For a black coffee in Spain, ask for un café solo.
How do you order a coffee in Spanish?
Un café, por favor. At a bar in Spain you'll also hear ¿Me pones un café?
