¿Es una chica norteamericana?
Is she an American girl?
The old barber grills his customer about a young woman. Chica is the word for her, and the nationality follows with a feminine -a.
From Un príncipe en Nueva York · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "girl" in Spanish
la chica
nounfeminineplural: las chicasmasculine: el chico
"Girl" in Spanish is la chica. Spanish uses it for teenagers and young women, such as a classmate or a friend's sister. A girl who is still a child is la niña, and a woman you speak to politely is la señora.
Hear "chica" in real movie scenes
A barbershop question and a girl from school. Each video starts and stops on that line.
Es una chica de mi escuela.
She's a girl from my school.
Spider-Man talks about a girl who goes to his school. Chica fits a girl around your own age, and de mi escuela says where he knows her from.
From Spider-Man: De regreso a casa · Spanish audio
Chica, niña, muchacha or señora?
Spanish picks the word by age and by how formal you want to be.
| Spanish | English | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| la niña | little girl | For a child: una niña de seis años. |
| la chica | girl, young woman | The everyday word for teens and women in their twenties. |
| la muchacha | girl, young woman | Very common in Latin America. |
| la hija | daughter | Only when she's someone's child: Es mi hija. |
| la señorita | miss, young lady | Polite and a bit formal. |
| la señora | woman, ma'am | The respectful word for a grown woman you don't know. |
Tip: Women friends in Spain often greet each other with ¡Hola, chicas!, whatever their age.
Grammar: la chica, las chicas
Four points for talking about a girl.
La and -a go together
la chica, una chica, las chicas. Change the ending to -o and you're talking about a boy.Adjectives turn feminine
Words in -o switch to -a: una chica norteamericana, una chica alta. Words in -e stay put: una chica estadounidense.Asking who she is
Use quién for people: ¿Quién es la chica? The answer: Es mi prima, Es una amiga.De for origin and context
Use de for origin: La chica es de Argentina. It also tells where you know her from: una chica de mi clase.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
¿Quién es la chica?
Who's the girl?
La chica es de Argentina.
The girl is from Argentina.
La chica es estudiante.
The girl is a student.
Para la chica, la sopa, y para el chico, el pescado.
The soup for the girl, and the fish for the boy.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗una chica norteamericano
✓una chica norteamericana
A nationality ending in -o takes -a when it describes a girl.
✗una chica estadounidensa
✓una chica estadounidense
Adjectives that end in -e have one form for boys and girls.
✗la niña (for a 20-year-old)
✓la chica
Niña describes a child, so for a young woman chica is the safer word.
Practice: 3 quick exercises
Free, and you don't need an account.
1 of 3 · Watch and choose
What do you hear in the video?
The other 28 exercises on this topic are in the app.
How to remember it
Chica ends in -a, like Ana, Lucía and María. Most Spanish girls' names and the word for girl share that last letter.
Questions about "girl" in Spanish
How do you say girl in Spanish?
La chica for a teenager or young woman and la niña for a little girl. Several girls are las chicas.
What's the difference between chica and niña?
Niña means a girl who is still a child. Chica is for teens and young women, including adults in their twenties.
How do you say "pretty girl" in Spanish?
Una chica guapa in Spain, or una chica bonita in much of Latin America.
How do you say "little girl" in Spanish?
La niña, or with affection la niñita.
