Communicating in a foreign language is hard enough, even in everyday situations, when no sophisticated or academic vocabulary is needed.
Being able to write an actual essay in Spanish requires you not only to have a solid grammar base but also be knowledgeable about specific phrases and words typically used in school and university writing.
For those of you who study in one of the Spanish speaking countries or are toying with the idea of signing up for an exchange program, I have prepared a summary of useful Spanish phrases for essays. They are divided into the following categories:
- Connectors (sequence, contrast, cause and effect, additional information, and conclusion)
- Expressions to give your opinion, agree and disagree with a thesis
- fancy academic expressions
Spanish Connectors to Use in Essays
Written language tends to be more formal than the spoken one. Ideas get explained in complex sentences showing how they relate to each other. A fantastic tool to achieve that is connectors.
What are some useful Spanish connectors for essays? Let’s have a look at the ten examples below:
- 🇪🇸 primero – 🇬🇧 first
- 🇪🇸 segundo – 🇬🇧 second
- 🇪🇸 el siguiente argumento – 🇬🇧 the next argument
- 🇪🇸 finalmente – 🇬🇧 finally, last but not least
- 🇪🇸 sin embargo – 🇬🇧 however, nevertheless, nonetheless
- 🇪🇸 por lo tanto – 🇬🇧 therefore, thus
- 🇪🇸 además – 🇬🇧 besides
- 🇪🇸 por un lado….por el otro lado – 🇬🇧 on the one hand….on the other hand
- 🇪🇸 a menos que – 🇬🇧 unless
- 🇪🇸 a pesar de (algo) – 🇬🇧 despite / in spite of (something)
- 🇪🇸 aunque / a pesar de que – 🇬🇧 although / even though
- 🇪🇸 debido a – 🇬🇧 due to
- 🇪🇸 puesto que / dado que – 🇬🇧 given that
- 🇪🇸 ya que – 🇬🇧 since
- 🇪🇸 mientras que – 🇬🇧 whereas
- 🇪🇸 en conclusión – 🇬🇧 in conclusion
- 🇪🇸 para concluir – 🇬🇧 to conclude
Do you think you would know how to use these connectors in an essay? Let’s suppose you are writing about ecology:
🇪🇸 Los paises han estado cambiando sus politicas. Sin embargo, aún queda mucho por hacer.
🇬🇧 Countries have been changing their policies. However, there is still a lot to do.
🇪🇸 Una de las amenazas climáticas es el efecto invernadero. Además está la contaminación del agua que presenta un serio riesgo para la salud.
🇬🇧 One of the climate threats is the greenhouse effect. Besides, there is water pollution that presents a severe health hazard.
🇪🇸 A pesar de los acuerdos internacionales, varios países no han mejorado sus normas ambientales.
🇬🇧 Despite international agreements, many countries haven’t yet improved their environmental standards.
🇪🇸 Debido a la restricción en el uso de bolsas de plástico desechables, Chile ha podido reducir su huella de carbono.
🇬🇧 Due to the restrictions in the use of disposable plastic bags, Chile has been able to reduce its carbon print.
Spanish Phrases to Express Your Opinion in Essays
Essay topics commonly require you to write what you think about something. Or whether you agree or disagree with an idea, a project, or someone’s views.
The words below will allow you to express your opinion effortlessly and go beyond the typical “creo que” – “I think”:
- 🇪🇸 (yo) opino que – 🇬🇧 in my opinion
- 🇪🇸 me parece que – 🇬🇧 it seems to me
- 🇪🇸 desde mi punto de vista – 🇬🇧 from my point of view
- 🇪🇸 (no) estoy convencido que – 🇬🇧 I am (not) convinced that
- 🇪🇸 no me cabe la menor duda – 🇬🇧 I have no doubt
- 🇪🇸 estoy seguro que – 🇬🇧 I’m sure
- 🇪🇸 dudo que – 🇬🇧 I doubt
- 🇪🇸 sospecho que – 🇬🇧 I suspect
- 🇪🇸 asumo que – 🇬🇧 I assume
- 🇪🇸 estoy (totalmente, parcialmente) de acuerdo – 🇬🇧 I (totally, partially) agree
- 🇪🇸 no estoy de acuerdo en absoluto – 🇬🇧 I absolutely disagree
- 🇪🇸 opino diferente – 🇬🇧 I have a different opinion
- 🇪🇸 me niego a aceptar – 🇬🇧 I refuse to accept
- 🇪🇸 estoy en contra / a favor de – 🇬🇧 I am against / in favor of
- 🇪🇸 no podría estar más de acuerdo – 🇬🇧 I couldn’t agree more
- 🇪🇸 encuentro absolutamente cierto / falso – 🇬🇧 I find it absolutely correct / false
Phrases like these can really give shape to your essay and increase its formality level. This time, let’s verify it with views on education:
🇪🇸 Opino que estudiando remotamente los jóvenes están perdiendo las habilidades sociales.
🇬🇧 In my opinion, remote schooling makes youngsters lose their social skills.
🇪🇸 Dudo que esta decisión traiga verdaderos cambios para el sistema educacional en mi país.
🇬🇧 I doubt this change will bring any real changes to the educational system in my country.
🇪🇸 Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con que todos deberían tener acceso a educación de calidad.
🇬🇧 I totally agree that everyone should have access to good quality education.
🇪🇸 Estoy en contra de escuelas solo para niñas o solo para niños.
🇬🇧 I am against girls-only or boys-only schools.
Pay attention to certain language differences between English and Spanish versions. The most common mistake that my students make is to say “I am agree” ❌ (direct translation from “Estoy de acuerdo”) instead of “I agree”✔️.
Fancy Academic Verbs and Expressions for Essays in Spanish
Would you like to impress your professor with sophisticated academic vocabulary or get extra points on your DELE? Grab a pen and take notes:
- 🇪🇸 afirmar – 🇬🇧 to state
- 🇪🇸 refutar – 🇬🇧 to refute, to reject
- 🇪🇸 argumentar – 🇬🇧 to argue that
- 🇪🇸 poner en duda – 🇬🇧 to cast doubt
- 🇪🇸 poner en evidencia – 🇬🇧 to shed light
- 🇪🇸 demostrar – 🇬🇧 to demonstrate
- 🇪🇸 refutar – 🇬🇧 to refute, to reject
- 🇪🇸 argumentar – 🇬🇧 to argue that
- 🇪🇸 concentrarse en – 🇬🇧 to focus on
- 🇪🇸 sostener – 🇬🇧 to sustain
- 🇪🇸 reflejar– 🇬🇧 to reflect
- 🇪🇸 considerando (que) – 🇬🇧 considering (that)
- 🇪🇸 siendo realista – 🇬🇧 realistically speaking
- 🇪🇸 de cierto modo – 🇬🇧 in a way
- 🇪🇸 en lo que se refiere a – 🇬🇧 with regards to
- 🇪🇸 en vista de – 🇬🇧 in view of
- 🇪🇸 de acuerdo a – 🇬🇧 according to
- 🇪🇸 no obstante – 🇬🇧 nevertheless
So many great words to work with! And some of them sound really similar to English, right? This is exactly why Spanish is such a good option when you want to learn a second language.
Let’s see how to make all these verbs and phrases work:
🇪🇸 Los resultados de los nuevos estudios ponen en duda la relación entre el consumo de huevos y altos niveles de colesterol.
🇬🇧 The recent study findings cast doubt on the relation between egg consumption and high cholesterol levels.
🇪🇸 Los autores del estudio argumentan que los azucares y los carbohidratos juegan un rol importante en este asunto.
🇬🇧 The authors of the study argue that sugars and carbs play an important role in this topic.
🇪🇸 En lo que se refiere al consumo de carne, este influye directamente los niveles de colesterol malo, sobre todo si es carne con mucha grasa.
🇬🇧 Regarding meat consumption, it directly influences the levels of “bad” cholesterol, especially in the case of greasy meat.
