Day of the Dead - Día de los Muertos

Beginner Spanish · Día de los Muertos

Día de los Muertos in Spanish

Día de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition centered on remembering and honoring loved ones who have died. This lesson focuses on respectful language for talking about ofrendas, photographs, candles, flowers, traditional items, and remembrance.

Your next small win: name common Día de los Muertos items, describe a simple ofrenda, use recordar and honrar, and ask respectful questions about photographs and traditions.

Start with the key symbols

Core Día de los Muertos Vocabulary

These words help you recognize some of the most common items connected with Día de los Muertos.

Día de los Muertos
Day of the Dead
ofrenda
Offering / remembrance display
altar
Altar
vela
Candle
cempasúchil
Marigold
fotografía
Photograph

Name four important items

Say “ofrenda, candle, marigold, and photograph” in Spanish.

More traditional items
pan de muerto
Bread of the Dead
calavera de azúcar
Sugar skull
calavera decorada
Decorated skull
papel picado
Decorative cut paper
flores
Flowers
comida favorita
Favorite food

Describe what you see

Talking About an Ofrenda

An ofrenda may include photographs, candles, flowers, food, drinks, and personal objects connected with the person being remembered. The exact traditions can vary between families and regions.

Preparamos una ofrenda para nuestros seres queridos.
We prepare an ofrenda for our loved ones.
Decoramos la ofrenda con flores de cempasúchil.
We decorate the ofrenda with marigolds.
Hay fotografías en la ofrenda.
There are photographs on the ofrenda.
Hay velas y flores.
There are candles and flowers.
El papel picado decora muchas ofrendas.
Papel picado decorates many ofrendas.
El pan de muerto es un alimento tradicional de esta celebración.
Pan de muerto is a traditional food associated with this celebration.

Useful pattern: use hay to describe what is present: Hay fotografías, Hay velas, Hay flores.

Talking about an ofrenda

A
La ofrenda es muy bonita.
The ofrenda is very beautiful.
B
Gracias. La preparamos para recordar a nuestros abuelos.
Thank you. We prepare it to remember our grandparents.
A
¿De quién son estas fotografías?
Whose photographs are these?
B
Son fotografías de nuestros seres queridos.
They are photographs of our loved ones.

Describe an ofrenda

Say that there are photographs, candles, and marigolds on the ofrenda.

Talk about remembrance

Recordar and Honrar

Two useful verbs in this lesson are recordar, to remember, and honrar, to honor.

recordar
To remember
honrar
To honor
seres queridos
Loved ones
recuerdo
Memory / remembrance
Recordamos a nuestros seres queridos con amor.
We remember our loved ones with love.
Encendemos velas en memoria de nuestros seres queridos.
We light candles in memory of our loved ones.

Useful expression: en memoria de means “in memory of.”

Talk about remembrance

Say that you remember loved ones with love and light candles in their memory.

More remembrance vocabulary
familia
Family
cementerio
Cemetery
celebración
Celebration
visitar el cementerio
To visit the cemetery

Ask and learn respectfully

Useful Questions About the Tradition

These questions help you learn about an ofrenda and the celebration without assuming that every family follows the same customs.

¿Cuándo se celebra el Día de los Muertos?
When is Día de los Muertos celebrated?
¿Qué ponen en la ofrenda?
What do they put on the ofrenda?
¿Qué significan las flores de cempasúchil?
What do the marigolds symbolize?
¿De quién es esta fotografía?
Whose photograph is this?
¿De quién son estas fotografías?
Whose photographs are these?
¿Visitan el cementerio durante la celebración?
Do you visit the cemetery during the celebration?

Cultural note: Día de los Muertos is traditionally observed in Mexico and by Mexican communities elsewhere. Customs vary between families and regions. Although skull and skeleton imagery is common, the tradition has a different cultural meaning from Halloween.

Ask about an ofrenda

Ask what people put on the ofrenda, whose photograph you are looking at, and what the marigolds mean.

Your turn · 8 quick questions

Practice: Día de los Muertos

Choose the answer that best fits each situation. Focus on ofrendas, traditional items, photographs, remembrance, and respectful questions.

Audio uses your device's Spanish text-to-speech voice. Listen to each phrase, then practice describing an ofrenda and asking respectful questions about remembrance and tradition.