Apartment Life
Understand your lease, question a bill, and report a repair — in Spanish, out loud.
The two words English speakers mix up first: el alquiler is the rent you pay each month; el arrendamiento is the lease agreement you signed. In everyday speech, electricity is just la luz — la electricidad sounds like a textbook — and your apartment shrinks by region: el depa in Mexico, el depto in Argentina. When something breaks, say how urgent it is in plain terms: es urgente, no funciona, or cuando sea posible if it can wait.
Below: the words that run a rental conversation, what locals actually call them, the mix-ups that cost tenants money — and a way to practice saying them in a real exchange, not on flashcards.
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Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| apartment | el depa | el depto |
| security deposit | la fianza | la garantía |
| the utility bill | el recibo | la boleta |
| the roof is leaking | se está goteando | se llueve |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
No flashcards, no matching games. In the Apartment Life lessons you learn each word by needing it: Olivia puts you on the phone with your landlord because la calefacción stopped working — you describe the problem, say how urgent it is, and pin down when the repair visit happens. Then you're at the utility office, bill in hand, asking ¿puede explicarme los cargos? because this month came in high. You say the words out loud, in sentences that do something — and that's why they stick.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Apartment Life is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
El alquiler is the monthly rent payment; el arrendamiento is the lease contract itself. If you're talking about money changing hands, it's alquiler — save arrendamiento for the document. In Colombia and Venezuela you'll also hear el contrato de arriendo for the lease.
In Mexico it's el recibo de la luz — recibo covers any utility bill there, not just a receipt. In Argentina it's la boleta de la luz. The formal word everywhere is la factura, and in Colombia and the Caribbean people just say la cuenta.
La fuga is a leak (pipes), la gotera is a drip from the roof or ceiling. Mexicans cover both with se está goteando; Argentines say se llueve when the roof leaks. Add es urgente if it can't wait — vagueness about urgency is what delays repairs.
La fianza is the security deposit. In Mexico, landlords often also ask for un aval — a guarantor — on top of it (necesito un aval is a phrase to expect). In Argentina the deposit is usually called la garantía, and el depósito en garantía is the unambiguous pan-regional version.
Ask for the breakdown before you pay: ¿puede explicarme los cargos? The line item is el cargo extra, and the Mexican way to say you were overcharged is me cobraron de más. Confirm the total and the plazo de pago — the payment deadline — before you hang up.
