Academic Spanish Phrases & Parts of Speech
Here’s a list of some more academic phrases that will help your writing skills and make you sound like more of a competent, proficient speaker and writer!
a partir de ___ = starting from ___, From ___ on
actualmente = nowadays, in the present day
hoy en día = nowadays, in the present day
con respecto a = with respect to, regarding
respeto a / de* = regarding
en absoluto = absolutely not, not at all
alrededor de = around, surrounding
a su alrededor = all around
en torno a = about, concerning, around
acerca de = about, concerning
cerca de = circa (date/time period), close to (date/time period)
junto a = along with, by, next to
junto con = together with, in addition to
incluso = “even ___”, including
ni siquiera = “not even ___”, not including
sea lo que sea = whatever the case may be
sea como fuere = be that as it may
fuera lo que fuese = whatever it was, whatever the case may have been
cueste lo que cueste = whatever the cost
pase lo que pase = whatever happens
viniera lo que viniera/viniese = come what may
es discutible que + (subjunctive) = it’s debatable that…, one could argue that…, arguably…
sino [followed by noun] = rather
sino que [followed by conjugated verb] = rather than (doing something)
por lo visto = apparently
por el contrario = conversely, on the contrary
en cambio = however / conversely
quienquiera = whoever / whomever
por doquier = all over the place / every which way
comoquiera = how ever, in any way possible
por todos lados = everywhere [lit. “on all sides”]
por todas partes = everywhere [lit. “on every part”]
todo el mundo = everyone [lit. “the whole world”; hyperbolic]
que yo sepa = as far as I know
que yo recuerda = from what I remember
acuérdese = “keep in mind / do recall” [polite 3rd person singular command of acordarse]
nótese bien = “take note / be aware” [polite 3rd person singular command of notarse]
en todo sentido = in every sense
a todos los efectos = for all intents and purposes [sometimes seen as para todos los efectos]
por mucho/a que sea = No matter what it might be…
por mucho/a que + subjuntivo = No matter how much… [e.g. por mucho que le duela decirlo “as much as it hurt (him/her) to say it…”]
mediante = by means of, through
por medio de = by means of, through
tender a concordar con = to be inclined to agree with
coincidir con alguien = to concur with someone
coincidir en algo = to agree on/about something
estar de acuerdo = to be in agreement, to agree
tampoco = neither, either
igualmente = likewise, alike, in equal fashion
de todos modos = in any event, anyway, all the same
de todas formas = in any event, anyway, all the same
de todas maneras = in any event, anyway, all the same
el susodicho / la susodicha = the aforementioned
si fuera / fuese yo = if it were me
para mí = for me, in my opinion
en mi opinión = in my opinion
a mi parecer = in my opinion, in my mind
a su parecer = in his/her/Your/their opinion
cambiar de parecer = to change one’s mind / to have a change of heart
ser de la opinión de que = to be of the opinion that
por otro lado = on the other hand
por otra parte = on the other hand
sin embargo = nevertheless
no obstante = not withstanding
a la vez = at the same time
sumamente = extremely, incredibly
súbitamente = suddenly, without warning
por añadidura = in addition
vale la pena ___ = it is worth it to ___ [lit. “it is worth the effort/pain to ___”]
vale agregar que = it is worth adding
vale mencionar que = it is worth mentioning
cabe acotar que = it is worth noting, it is worth mentioning
hacer hincapié que = to emphasize that
se trata de = it concerns
tener que ver con / no tener que ver = to have to do with / to not have anything to do with
tener sentido / no tener sentido = to make sense / to not make sense
tener razón / no tener razón = to be right / to not be right
darse cuenta = to realize, to achieve an understanding
se entiende que… = it is understood that…
hay que entender que… = one must understand that…
hay que darse cuenta que… = one must realize that…
realizar = to make reality, to finalize, to achieve
en concreto = particularly, especially
podría decir que / (yo) diría que = I would say that…
se puede decir que… = it can be said that…
la preocupación predominante = the biggest concern
(haber) dicho eso = that being said / having said that
estar entre la espada y la pared = to be between a rock and a hard place, to be in a difficult position, to be in dire straits [lit. “to be between the sword and the wall”]
tener lugar = to take place
en lugar de = instead of, in place of
en vez de = instead of, in place of
quizá(s) = maybe, perhaps
no dar para más = to be of no use / to be be unable [lit. “to not give for more”; dar must be conjugated depending on the subject]
para nada = to no avail / without results [lit. “for nothing”]
tarde o temprano = sooner or later
de cabo a rabo = totally, completely, from head to toe [lit. “from head to tail”]
al fin y al cabo = at the end of the day, when all’s said and done
debe + infinitive = “should / has to + (do something)” [duty / obligation / responsibility]
debe de + infinitive = “must + (be / do something)” [possibility / conjecture / supposition]
*I typically see respecto a more than de … and it’s always con respecto a
Grammar Note: por/durante/llevar and a lo largo de
In general, for “for” a period of time there are three basic options:
He vivido en España por tres años. = I have lived in Spain for three years.
He vivido en España durante tres años. = I have lived in Spain for three years.
Llevo tres años viviendo en España. = I have spent three years living in Spain.
por and durante are largely synonymous; I would say durante “during/for” is maybe a bit more formal… There are also cases where you just don’t include a preposition
a lo largo de means “throughout” or “over the course of” - literally “at the length of”
A lo largo de tres años… = For three years… / Throughout these three years… / Over the course of three years…
This is a more… “continuous” expression; saying that something has been happening “throughout” a certain time period.
llevar is very common for “to spend X time (doing something)” - llevo varios años estudiando español “I have been studying Spanish for many years”
Typically if you’re using llevar the next verb is in the gerund/progressive form; estudiar -> estudiando as an example
Grammar Note 2: hace + time for “ago”
This expression is always 3rd person, and either present tense hace or imperfect hacía but implies “ago”
Hace tres años… = Three years ago…
Hacía tres años… = Three (long) years ago…
Using imperfect is less common as it places more distance in the past
Be aware that if you’re using a fuller clause you will use que
Viví en la ciudad hace/hacía años. = I lived in the city years ago.
Hace años que vivo en la ciudad. = It’s been years since I’ve lived in the city.
It can be very confusing for non-native English speakers to see the expressions used in negative so beware!
Hace años que no te veo. = I haven’t seen you in years.
Hace siglos que no te escucho. = I haven’t heard from you in ages.
For even more distance people might use desde hace/hacía
Briefly I’m going to touch on ordinal numbers because they will come up if you start reading/writing about anything even vaguely historical
If you’re using numbers, whether they’re ordinal or just regular numbers, they typically get put as Roman numerals.
en el siglo XVI [dieciséis] = in the 16th century
desde el siglo XI [once] hasta el (siglo) XV [quince] = from the 11th century to the 15th
The regnal numbers - ordinal numbers for royalty and reigns - are their own little issue. Basically, anyone who’s past “tenth” you just use the regular number:
Isabel I [Primera] de España = Isabel the First/I of Spain
Carlos V [Quinto] = Charles/Carlos the Fifth/V
Alfonso X [Décimo] = Alfonso the Tenth/X
Luis XIV [Catorce] de Francia = Louis the Fourteenth/XIV
…so instead of having to know the word for “fourteenth”, it’s common to say it as catorce which is just “fourteen”
It’s just important to note that regnal numbers for women are gendered; thus Isabel II de Inglaterra sounds like Isabel Segunda; this is the translation for “Elizabeth II of England”
But if they’re ordinal numbers not relating to royalty, it’s more common to just write it out, unless it’s a specific book or volume… like if you ever saw XXX you’d just read it as treinta “30″, so like el volumen XXX is el volumen treinta most likely.
So fall back to your normal cardinal and ordinal number rules:
en el capítulo tres / 3 = in chapter 3
en el tercer capítulo = in the third chapter
en la página uno = on page one
en la primera página = on the first page
en la página tres = on page three
en su primer libro = in their first book
en su primera obra = in their first work
su octavo retrato = their eighth portrait
en su octava obra = in their eighth work
su noveno poema = their ninth poem
la novena estrofa = the ninth stanza
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