Havana Nights: The Cuban Spanish Lessons You Need for Authentic Island Fun

If you want to learn how to speak Spanish like a Cuban, you’ve come to the right place!

Cuba is a true fusion of African and European influences. It also uses a lot of vibrant slang—making it a wonderful challenge for the more advanced Spanish learner to master.

This dialect is a great introduction to the diversity of the Spanish language for anyone who’s traveling to Cuba or who has Cuban friends.

Let’s get started with these tips and tricks for your brand-new Cuban adventure!

Contents

Cuban Spanish 101

Pronunciation and Speech

Much of Cuban speech can be seen as informal, a feature of most Caribbean Spanish varieties. Here are some of the relaxed pronunciations you might come across:

  • If a syllable ends in r or l, the sound becomes the same as the first sound of the next syllable. This might sound confusing, but it’s a really easy one in practice. For example, Carlitos becomes Cal-li-tos. 
  • If d is at the beginning of a syllable within a word, it might not be said at all, e.g. dedo (finger) is pronounced dé-o.
  • S at the end of a syllable is often aspirated, and occasionally it’s omitted altogether.
  • Occasionally, r becomes l at the end of a syllable or end of a word.
  • Consonants at the beginnings of syllables are often spoken more softly than usual Spanish pronunciation dictates.

One of the main differences you’ll find between Cuban Spanish and general Latin American Spanish is the nasal accent and rhythmic intonation. This is the influence of African settlers on the language and makes it sound very different from most other Spanish varieties.

Provinces and Language Differences

Cuba has sixteen provinces in modern day. Linguistically speaking, it’s less complicated to consider the historical six provinces of Cuba. These are:

  • Pinar del Río — Here you’re most likely to hear r become l at the end of a word or syllable, and occasionally the other way around. This can be hard to understand, so you might have to train your ear to it.
  • La Habana — Occasionally, speakers may be heard to speak as in Pinar del Río. The rest of the island outside of Havana is also referred to as campa in Havana.
  • Mantanzas and Las Villas — These two provinces in the middle of Cuba have no special Cuban dialect.
  • Camagüey — This place has some of the different vocabulary of the Oriente province but mostly follows the language of the rest of the island. They use balance instead of sillón for “rocking chair” and pluma or llave instead of faucet, which is used on the rest of the island for a tap.
  • Oriente — The language here is far more similar to Dominican Republic Spanish than the rest of the island. They also have a set of vocabulary words that’s different from the rest of the Cuban island. For example, balde instead of cubo for bucket and guineo instead of plátano for banana/plantain. Here the s sound is also most likely to go unaspirated. The unusual intonation of this province may also be the last remnants of the indigenous language.

Cuban Spanish Grammar

There are some elements of Cuban Spanish grammar that are different to European and Latin American Spanish. These are some features you might want to be aware of:

  • comes before the verb, not after it, in a question.

Example: ¿Qué tú haces aquí? (what are you doing here?)

  • Le and les become la and las when after se in a sentence.

Example: A Juana se la ve en la tienda todos los días. (Juana is seen in the store every day.)

  • Decir a is used to show the start of an action.

Example: Si el niño dice a crecer, tendremos que comprarle ropa nueva. (If the boy starts to grow, we’ll have to buy him new clothes.)

  • Para instead of en for saying that someone is somewhere.

Example: Carmen está para la Habana. (Carmen is in Havana.)

  • The phrase ¡Cómo no! (Of course) is ¡Cómo que no! in Cuban Spanish.
  • Uno (one, number or pronoun) is used instead of the indefinite article una.

Example: Está uno cansada de tanto hablar. (Is one tired of talking.)

  • Más (more) comes before nada/nadie (nothing) to produce the phrase “nothing else.”
  • Clarito, feo, fuerte and rapidísimo can all be used as adverbs (to describe an action) as well as adjectives (to describe a person or thing.) In European Spanish, each of these adjectives has an alternative equivalent adverb but these aren’t used in Cuban Spanish.
  • -ico and -ica are used at the end of words instead of -ito and -ita to indicate a smaller or lesser version. This only applies to words ending in to/ta.

Example: Plato (plate) becomes platico (saucer.)

Cuban Slang Overview

Cuban slang, much like slang in many other languages, is a vibrant mix of constantly changing words and meanings.

Cuban slang derives some of its influences from African languages and also features quite a lot of anglicisms.

What we’ll give you has a splash of everything, and they’re all slang words that you might find useful in a Cuban club.

Basic Spanish Knowledge

Of course, you can’t just rely on slang terms and grammar to get you by in a conversation. In order to use these terms and phrases effectively, you’ll have to know basic Spanish grammar.

How do you learn it? It depends on your learning style. 

If your non-partying alter ego is willing to sit down with a textbook, then you should make one your new best friend. 

If you’re too busy to sit down at all (probably dancing instead, I bet!), try a vocab/grammar driller like Duolingo, with its “throw it at you until you get it” approach. 

You can also enjoy native music and entertainment while learning Spanish with a virtual immersion program like FluentU. This option lets you learn with engaging short videos like music videos, movie trailers, commercials and other native Spanish media.

Videos come with interactive dual-language subtitles that you can click on for any word’s contextual definition without needing to leave the video player. Keep the party going with multimedia flashcards, post-video quizzes, personalized flashcard exercise sets, downloadable transcripts and even speaking questions on the iOS and Android app versions.

Whatever you do, stick with it, because these slang words are waiting for you to be ready to use them!

23 Key Cuban Slang Words

1. Absorbente

cuban spanish

This is something you might ask for in your mojito. Yep, it’s a drinking straw! Pretty easy one to remember—just imagine yourself absorbing your drink through a straw. This is also a great word to practice aspirating your s with.

2. Aguajirarse

cuban spanish

Maybe feeling a little aguajirarse (timid) is keeping you off the dance floor? Well, stop being shy and get out there! In typical Cuban style, the j is likely to be pronounced more softly than you’d expect.

3. ¡Alabao!

Couple of chicos (friendly term for peers) rocking the dance floor? Show your admiration by shouting ¡Alabao!

4. Ambia 

cuban spanish

Always a good idea to take your ambia (friend) along to a club, for safety as well as fun.

5. Bachata

The bachata (party) is where it’s at! This word can also be used for noise in a more derogatory way, so watch out for that.

6. Baracutey 

cuban spanish

If you identify yourself as a baracutey (a person who lives alone) you might not want the party to end if you’re going home alone. The r here might become an l in pronunciation.

7. Baro

cuban spanish

Make sure you take plenty of baro (money) with you for drinks.

8. Burumba

cuban spanish

Another word for party, burumba can also mean to have fun. If last night was a burumba, it was a very good night. The r in this can also be pronounced as an l.

9. Caché

cuban spanish

If you’re looking totally caché (stylish/elegant) then you’ve done a good job.

10. Candela al jarro

If your dancing isn’t quite what you’d like it to be, you must candela al jarro (persevere until you reach your goal).

11. Chola

cuban spanish

Music hurting your chola (head)? Time to get a breath of fresh air!

12. Coger un aire

If you’re wearing a little dress or a light shirt without a jacket, prepare to coger un aire (going out at night without proper clothing and being pained by the cold)!

13. Dar la punzada del guajiro

Drink your frozen daiquiri too fast and you’ll definitely dar la punzada del guajiro (get a brain freeze). Don’t fret, just put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and it will go away.

14. Darse tremendo tanganazo

Be careful on the dance floor. It can be easy to darse tremendo tanganazo (bump yourself.) This phrase is a good one to practice leaving the d out on tremendo, Cuban style.

15. De carretilla

Once you’ve spent enough time on the dance floor, you might know some of the steps de carretilla (by memory).

16. Drinqui

cuban spanish

An obvious anglicism, drinqui (alcoholic drink) has quite a fun and unusual spelling.

17. Echar un tacón

cuban spanish

If someone asks, you might like to echar un tacón (to dance).

18. Emperifollado

If you’re ready to go out dancing and you’re wearing your best clothes, you might say that you’re emperifollado (polished up).

19. Fachao

cuban spanish

If all that dancing has made you fachao (hungry), it’s time to try some Cuban cuisine.

20. Jugar a los bomberos

cuban spanish

After dancing all night and starting to ache, you might like to jugar a los bomberos (to take a bath.) This one is very fun to say. Don’t forget the Cuban pronunciation of l for the letter r, and be sure to leave out the s in bomberos.

21. Machacar las teclas

cuban spanish

It could really get on your nerves if someone were to machacar las teclas (play the piano badly). Tell them to stop or show them how it’s done!

22. Vacilón

If you find that a Cuban party is a vacilón (something you enjoy a lot), then you’ll love the rest of Cuban life.

23. Zurdo

Who cares if you’re a zurdo (a really bad dancer.) Get out there and have fun!

 

Now that you have a vocabulary full of dancing slang and an introduction to general Cuban Spanish, it’s time to get practicing!

Get out there, dance, enjoy.

And soak up every bit of Cuban language, culture and party life that you possibly can!

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