Este es el autobús del colegio.
This is the school bus.
A yellow bus at eight in the morning, and everyone knows where it goes. Spanish calls it the bus of the school, with del for de plus el.
From Forrest Gump · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "school" in Spanish
el colegio
nounmasculineplural: los colegios
"School" in Spanish is el colegio, the everyday word in Spain for the school children go to. La escuela also means school and is understood everywhere. Watch out for the look-alike: college is la universidad, never colegio.
Hear "colegio" in real movie scenes
A school bus and a strange request. Each video starts and stops on that line.
Quiero ir al colegio.
I want to go to school.
Faking an illness at home, he begs to go to school, the last thing you'd expect to hear, and ir al colegio is the phrase for going there.
From Un experto en diversiones · Spanish audio
Colegio, escuela and other school words
Which word fits depends on the country and the age of the students.
| Spanish | English | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| el colegio | school | The usual word in Spain, mostly for schools that children attend. |
| la escuela | school | The general word, used across Latin America and understood in Spain. |
| el instituto | high school (Spain) | The name for a public secondary school in Spain. |
| la universidad | college, university | Use this when you mean college. |
| el autobús escolar | school bus | In Spain you'll also hear el autobús del colegio. |
Tip: The adjective for school is escolar: el año escolar is the school year.
Grammar: el colegio, los colegios
Four points you need to talk about school.
Masculine
el colegio, los colegios. Adjectives follow it: un colegio mexicano, un colegio grande.Al and del
a + el merges into al, and de + el into del: Voy al colegio. el autobús del colegio.At school keeps the article
English says at school, but Spanish says en el colegio: Caleb está en el colegio.Say the g like an h
Before e and i, g is a throaty h sound: koh-LEH-hyoh. The io at the end glides into one syllable.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
El colegio está en el centro.
The school is downtown.
Hay un colegio en el pueblo.
There's a school in the village.
Es un colegio mexicano.
It's a Mexican school.
Caleb está en el colegio, tiene nueve años.
Caleb is at school. He's nine years old.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗Voy al colegio (meaning university)
✓Voy a la universidad
A colegio is a school for kids and teens. The Spanish for college is universidad.
✗Voy a el colegio
✓Voy al colegio
A followed by el always merges into al.
✗Está en colegio
✓Está en el colegio
English drops the article in at school. Spanish keeps el.
Real conversation: school's out
A short chat at the school gate. Tap to listen.
You and a friend are waiting for the kids at the school gate when Beatriz, someone you know, comes over with news.
¡Oye! Quince días sin colegio.
Hey! Two weeks with no school.
¡Qué bien! También estoy de vacaciones.
Great! I'm on vacation too.
¡Ah! ¿Y queréis la costa?
Oh! So do you two want to go to the coast?
Your turn to answer
In the app you reply in Spanish for the last line.
Continue the conversation in WordyPractice: 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
Colegio looks like college, so picture a tiny college full of kids with backpacks. That's a colegio.
Questions about "school" in Spanish
How do you say school in Spanish?
El colegio in Spain, or la escuela, which works in every Spanish-speaking country.
Does colegio mean college?
No. A colegio is a school for children and teenagers. College or university is la universidad.
How do you say "I go to school" in Spanish?
Voy al colegio or Voy a la escuela. Al is the short form of a plus el.
What's the difference between colegio and escuela?
Both mean school. Colegio is what most people say in Spain, and escuela is the general word heard across Latin America.
