01 · The word that opens every request
Por favor.
Please.
Two words turn any demand into a request. Drop it into anything and you'll sound polite even with shaky grammar.
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Buenos Modales
Say please, thank you, and sorry like a local — automatically, out loud.
Por favor and gracias carry you further than perfect grammar ever will — say them constantly. The real skill is matching the word to the moment: perdón for a small bump, lo siento for a genuine apology, disculpe to get a stranger's attention, con permiso to get past someone. Then warm it up the way locals do: mil gracias instead of plain gracias, porfa among friends in Mexico, and in Colombia and the Caribbean con gusto instead of de nada.
Below: the phrases lesson by lesson, the regional warmth upgrades, the two mix-ups that mark you as a beginner — and a way to rehearse it all out loud in real situations, no flashcards, no matching drills.
The warm-up pack
The polite lines that do the real work — said, not memorized.
01 · The word that opens every request
Por favor.
Please.
Two words turn any demand into a request. Drop it into anything and you'll sound polite even with shaky grammar.
02 · How close friends actually say it
Porfa.
Please. (Mexico, casual shortening, among friends)
Por favor is fine anywhere. Porfa is what you'll hear once you're actually friends with someone.
03 · Warmer than 'you're welcome'
Con gusto.
My pleasure. (Caribbean/Colombia, instead of de nada)
De nada is correct everywhere. Con gusto, used across the Caribbean and Colombia, sounds like you meant it.
04 · The reassurance that isn't 'no pasa nada'
No te preocupes.
Don't worry about it. (Mexico/Colombia)
No pasa nada shrugs it off. No te preocupes actually reassures the other person — reach for this when someone apologizes to you.
05 · The formal apology
Le pido una disculpa.
I offer you my apologies.
Save this for a stranger, a boss, someone you don't know well. Perdón is for everything smaller.
06 · How Argentina says sorry
Perdoná.
Sorry. (Argentina/Uruguay, voseo)
Same word, different ending — Argentina and Uruguay use voseo, so perdona becomes perdoná.
07 · The warmest welcome you'll hear
Pásale, estás en tu casa.
Come in, make yourself at home. (Mexico/Central America)
Literally "come in, you're in your house." It's meant to make a guest feel instantly at home.
08 · The cute version of 'enjoy your meal'
Provechito.
Enjoy your meal. (diminutive of buen provecho)
Buen provecho is standard. Provechito is what a friend says with a smile.
09 · One step up from 'con mucho gusto'
Es un placer.
It's a pleasure.
Con mucho gusto works everywhere. Es un placer is what you reach for in a slightly more formal moment.
10 · Argentina's all-purpose good wish
Que la pases bien.
Take care / have fun / all the best. (Argentina, voseo)
Voseo again — one line that covers "have fun," "take care" and "good luck" all at once.
11 · What to say when someone's sick
Que te recuperes pronto.
Get well soon. (Mexico/Colombia)
Que te mejores works too — this one just sounds a little warmer.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/buenos-modalesRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
No flashcards, no matching exercises — in the Buenos Modales lessons you're dropped into the situations themselves, and Olivia plays them with you: squeezing through a crowded bus (con permiso… ay, perdón), thanking a host for a wonderful dinner before you leave (muchas gracias, muy amable), congratulating a colleague at an office birthday (¡felicidades! ¡feliz cumpleaños!). You say each one out loud, in the moment, until being polite stops being translation and becomes reflex.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 4 lessons and Buenos Modales is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Perdón is for small accidents — bumping someone, interrupting. Save lo siento for genuine apologies or sympathy. Using lo siento for a minor slip sounds oddly dramatic.
Disculpe = I need your attention (asking a stranger something). Con permiso = I need to get through (passing someone in a crowded space). Physical space vs attention — that's the whole rule.
De nada works everywhere. Friendlier options locals prefer: con gusto in Colombia and the Caribbean, or no hay de qué — don't mention it.
Felicidades covers almost everything, with feliz cumpleaños for birthdays. In Spain, ¡enhorabuena! is more common than felicidades for big news like a new job.
Buena suerte for luck — though locals more often just say ¡suerte! or ¡mucha suerte!. Add que te mejores for someone sick and que te vaya bien as a warm send-off.