🥤 Drinks - Bebidas
Beginner Spanish · Drinks and ordering
Drinks in Spanish
Drink vocabulary becomes much more useful when you can order something, ask for water, choose ice or no ice, and say what you normally drink. Start with a few common drinks, then put them into real café and restaurant situations.
Your next small win: name common drinks, order politely, ask for sparkling or still water, customize a drink, and talk about what you like to drink.
Start with everyday choices
Common Drinks
These drinks are enough to handle many everyday situations.
Water
Coffee
Tea
Milk
Juice
Soft drink / soda
Sparkling water
Still water
Regional note: jugo is widely used in Latin America, while zumo is common in Spain. Words for soft drinks also vary by region.
Choose your water
Say “sparkling water and still water.”
Agua con gas y agua sin gas.
More café and restaurant drinks
Orange juice
Lemonade
Coffee with milk
Black coffee
Hot chocolate
Milkshake
Fruit smoothie
Iced coffee
Use the vocabulary in a real situation
Ordering a Drink
You do not need a long sentence to order successfully. These patterns cover many café and restaurant situations.
I would like a coffee, please.
Could you bring me a glass of water, please?
For me, an orange juice.
What drinks do you have?
Useful polite pattern: Quisiera... is a practical way to say “I would like...” when ordering.
Order coffee
Politely order a coffee.
Quisiera un café, por favor.
Make the drink the way you want it
With, Without, Hot, or Cold
A few small words let you customize drinks without learning complicated grammar.
With ice
Without ice
With milk
Without sugar
Hot
Cold
No ice, please.
Do you have sparkling water?
I would like water without ice, please.
I prefer coffee without sugar.
I want a very cold lemonade.
Customize your water
Ask for water without ice.
Quiero agua sin hielo, por favor.
Talk about what you normally drink
Beber and Tomar
Both verbs appear naturally with drinks, although they are not identical in every possible context.
To drink
To have / drink, in this lesson's context
I drink a lot of water.
I drink coffee in the morning.
I drink coffee every morning.
I try to drink plenty of water during the day.
I like to drink fruit smoothies in the afternoon.
Beginner takeaway: beber directly means “to drink.” tomar is also commonly used when talking about having a beverage.
Add a few useful drink words
Glasses, Cups, Bottles, and Ice
Ice
Glass
Cup
Bottle
Drink / beverage
I need a glass of water.
Put a little more ice in my drink.
The milk is in the refrigerator.
Order and respond naturally
Everyday Drink Conversations
At a café
What would you like to drink?
A coffee with milk, please.
At a restaurant
What do you want to drink?
I would like sparkling water, please.
Asking about ice
Do you want ice?
Yes, but only a little.
Place your own drink order
Choose a drink, order it politely, and add one preference such as milk, ice, sparkling water, or no sugar.
Quisiera un café, por favor.
Con leche y sin azúcar.
Your turn · 8 quick questions
Practice: Drinks and Ordering
Choose the phrase that fits each situation. Focus on ordering, water choices, ice, drink preferences, and beber versus tomar.
Practice complete
You can order and talk about everyday drinks.
A few drink phrases to revisit
One last step: order without choices.
Imagine you are at a café. Order one drink politely, add one preference, and ask for a glass of water too.
Quisiera un café con leche, por favor.
Sin azúcar.
¿Me trae un vaso de agua, por favor?
A server asks what you would like to drink. You want coffee with milk. Which answer fits?
- Un café con leche, por favor.
- Un café solo, por favor.
- Un té con hielo, por favor.
- Una limonada fría, por favor.
Café con leche means coffee with milk.
Un café con leche, por favor.
You want a polite way to order a coffee. Which sentence uses the pattern taught in the lesson?
- Quisiera un café, por favor.
- Tomo café todas las mañanas.
- Prefiero el café sin azúcar.
- El café está caliente.
Quisiera is a useful polite way to say what you would like when ordering.
Quisiera un café, por favor.
You want sparkling water rather than still water. Which phrase fits?
- agua con gas
- agua sin gas
- agua sin hielo
- agua fría
Agua con gas means sparkling water. Agua sin gas means still water.
agua con gas = sparkling water
You do not want ice. What do you say?
- Sin hielo, por favor.
- Con hielo, por favor.
- Con gas, por favor.
- Sin leche, por favor.
Sin means “without,” so sin hielo means “without ice.”
Sin hielo, por favor.
You want a server to bring you a glass of water. Which request fits?
- ¿Me trae un vaso de agua, por favor?
- ¿Tiene agua con gas?
- ¿Qué bebidas tienen?
- ¿Quieres algo de beber?
¿Me trae un vaso de agua, por favor? is the polite request taught in this lesson.
¿Me trae un vaso de agua, por favor?
Which verb directly means “to drink”?
- beber
- tomar
- servir
- comer
Beber directly means “to drink.” Tomar is also commonly used when talking about having a beverage.
beber = to drink
In much of Latin America, juice is commonly called jugo. Which word is common in Spain?
- zumo
- refresco
- batido
- hielo
Zumo is commonly used for juice in Spain.
jugo / zumo = juice
You want to offer someone something to drink. What do you ask?
- ¿Quieres algo de beber?
- ¿Qué va a tomar?
- ¿Me trae un vaso de agua?
- ¿Tiene agua con gas?
¿Quieres algo de beber? means “Would you like something to drink?”
¿Quieres algo de beber?