French Words Used In Spanish: Friendly Loanwords You Already Half Know

You’ve probably met a lot of palabras prestadas /paˈla.βɾas pɾesˈta.ðas/ — borrowed words — in Spanish without realizing it. You’re walking past un hotel /oˈtel/ — hotel, you park in un garaje /ɡaˈɾa.xe/ — garage, you send un mensaje /menˈsa.xe/ — message, and boom, you’re casually using French DNA in your Spanish.

This guide is all about loanwords from French that Spanish speakers use every day. You’ll learn:

The most common French-origin words you actually need
How their pronunciation and spelling changed in Spanish
A few “fancy” food and fashion words
Mini-dialogues to start using them right away

By the end, you’ll see how much Spanish you already “kind of” know thanks to French… and you’ll sound 10% more sophisticated without doing 10% more work.

Quick Primer: What Is A Loanword?

A préstamo lingüístico /ˈpɾes.ta.mo liŋˈɡwis.ti.ko/ — loanword — is a word borrowed from another language and adapted to local spelling and pronunciation.

In our case:

French gives Spanish words like garaje /ɡaˈɾa.xe/ — garage, bulevar /buleˈβaɾ/ — boulevard, chalet /tʃaˈlet/ — chalet, pantalón /pan.taˈlon/ — trousers.
Spanish “makes them its own” with different stress, sounds, and sometimes different meanings.

Three things to notice:

The spelling often looks familiar (hotel–hôtel, garaje–garage).
The pronunciation is completely Spanish-ified (no French nasal vowels here).
Some words feel “fancy” in Spanish too: bufé /buˈfe/ — buffet, chalet /tʃaˈlet/ — chalet.

Let’s group them by theme so your brain doesn’t have to work overtime.

Everyday French Loanwords You Hear All The Time

These are words you’ll see in cities, emails, and daily life.

Examples in sentences:

El hotel está en el bulevar principal.
/el oˈtel esˈta en el buleˈβaɾ pɾinθiˈpal, pɾin.siˈpal/
The hotel is on the main boulevard.

Déjame un mensaje en el buzón si no estoy en casa.
/ˈde.xa.me un menˈsa.xe en el buˈθon, buˈson si no esˈtoj en ˈka.sa/
Leave me a message in the mailbox if I’m not home.

Usage notes:

hotel is pronounced with a clear /oˈtel/, not like French /oˈtɛl/.
etiqueta can be a physical label (clothes, products) and also “etiquette” (social rules).

Food, Drinks, And Fancy Menus

Restaurants and food are full of French-origin words in Spanish. Good news for your vocabulary and your stomach.

Example phrases:

Hoy hay bufé libre en el hotel.
/oj aj buˈfe ˈli.βɾe en el oˈtel/
Today there’s an all-you-can-eat buffet at the hotel.

¿Quieres una galleta con tu café?
/kjeˈɾes ˈu.na ɡaˈʝe.ta kon tu kaˈfe/
Do you want a cookie with your coffee?

Pronunciation tips:

menú is stressed on the last syllable, with the accent mark telling you: me–NÚ.
croissant often keeps a French-ish shape in writing, but the pronunciation is usually fully Spanish: /kɾo.iˈsan/ or /kɾwaˈsan/ depending on the speaker.

Clothes And Fashion: Very French, Very Useful

Fashion loves French, and Spanish borrowed a lot here too.

Examples:

Me compré una chaqueta nueva en las rebajas.
/me komˈpɾe ˈu.na tʃaˈke.ta ˈnwe.βa en las reˈβa.xas/
I bought a new jacket in the sales.

Hace frío, ponte la bufanda.
/ˈa.θe, ˈa.se ˈfɾi.o ˈpon.te la buˈfan.da/
It’s cold, put your scarf on.

Usage notes:

pantalón in singular often means “a pair of trousers”; plural pantalones is also common.
blusa, chaqueta, bufanda are core everyday words; they don’t feel fancy at all.

Culture, Leisure, And “Boring Adult Things”

From ballet class to bank meetings, more French-origin words quietly work for you.

Example sentence:

Trabajo en un bufete de abogados cerca del centro.
/tɾaˈβa.xo en un buˈfe.te ðe aβoˈɣa.ðos ˈseɾ.ka ðel ˈθen.tɾo, ˈsen.tɾo/
I work in a law firm near the city centre.

Dejo el coche en el garaje y voy andando.
/ˈde.xo el ˈko.tʃe en el ɡaˈɾa.xe i ˈboj anˈdan.do/
I leave the car in the garage and walk.

How French Words Change In Spanish

When Spanish borrows from French, three big changes happen:

Pronunciation becomes “Spanish-friendly.”
- French garage /ɡaˈʁaʒ/ → garaje /ɡaˈɾa.xe/
- French boulevard /buləˈvaʁ/ → bulevar /buleˈβaɾ/
Spelling adapts to Spanish patterns.
- Final -age often becomes -aje: garage → garaje.
- Final -et often becomes -ete or -ete/-et patterns in Spanish: buffet → bufé /buˈfe/, ballet → ballet /baˈʝe/.
Sometimes the meaning narrows or shifts.
- etiqueta can be “label, tag” or “etiquette,” not just etiquette.
- mensaje is used for all kinds of messages (SMS, email, voicemail) in modern Spanish.

The good news: if you know some French or English, these words feel familiar, but their Spanish pronunciation is much easier.

Tricky Bits And Mini False Friends

Not every French-origin word behaves exactly how you expect.

Examples:

El chalet tiene jardín y piscina.
/el tʃaˈlet ˈtje.ne xaɾˈðin i pisˈθi.na, pisˈsi.na/
The chalet has a garden and a pool.

Cierra la etiqueta del producto antes de imprimir.
/ˈθje.ra, ˈsje.ra la etiˈke.ta ðel pɾoˈduk.to ˈan.tes ðe im.pɾiˈmiɾ/
Close the product’s label (field) before printing.

Notice how bufete is not food-related at all in Spanish, even though it feels like buffet.

Region Notes

Most of these loanwords are used across the Spanish-speaking world, but there are a few small differences:

In some places, instead of bulevar, you’ll also see avenida /aβeˈni.ða/ — avenue, which is more common on street signs.
Bufé /buˈfe/ can appear as bufet, bufé libre (“all-you-can-eat buffet”), or just buffet in hotel advertising; pronunciation stays Spanish.
Fashion terms like chaqueta, blusa, pantalón are universal, while English forms like jeans /dʒins/ are layered on top.

For learner purposes, all the words in this article are safe to use in Spain and Latin America.

Mini Dialogues

Dialogue 1: At The Hotel

¿Tienen bufé en el hotel?
/ˈtje.nen buˈfe en el oˈtel/
Do you have a buffet at the hotel?

Sí, tenemos bufé de desayuno hasta las diez.
/si teˈne.mos buˈfe ðe ðesaˈʝu.no, ðesaˈʝu.no asˈta las ˈdjes/
Yes, we have a breakfast buffet until ten.

Genial, me encantan los hoteles con bufé.
/xeˈnjal me enˈkan.tan los oˈte.les kon buˈfe/
Great, I love hotels with a buffet.

Dialogue 2: In The City

¿Sabes dónde está el garaje del hotel?
/ˈsa.βes ˈdon.de esˈta el ɡaˈɾa.xe ðel oˈtel/
Do you know where the hotel garage is?

Sí, está al final del bulevar, a la derecha.
/si esˈta al fiˈnal ðel buleˈβaɾ a la ðeˈɾe.tʃa/
Yes, it’s at the end of the boulevard, on the right.

Perfecto, voy a dejar el coche allí.
/peɾˈfek.to ˈboj a deˈxaɾ el ˈko.tʃe aˈʝi/
Perfect, I’ll leave the car there.

Dialogue 3: Clothes And Shopping

Me gusta esta chaqueta y esa blusa.
/me ˈɣus.ta ˈes.ta tʃaˈke.ta i ˈe.sa ˈblu.sa/
I like this jacket and that blouse.

El pantalón también es francés, ¿lo llevas?
/el pan.taˈlon tamˈbjen es fɾanˈθes, fɾanˈses lo ˈʝe.βas/
The trousers are French too, are you taking them?

Sí, mándame el precio por mensaje, por favor.
/si ˈman.da.me el ˈpɾe.sjo poɾ menˈsa.xe poɾ faˈβoɾ/
Yes, send me the price by message, please.

Quick Reference

Five-Minute Practice Plan

Spot the French family:
Pick five words from the Quick Reference table and write their “family” in English or French if you know it (hotel–hôtel, garaje–garage, etc.). Say the Spanish version out loud three times.
City mini-map:
Invent a tiny city description using at least four loanwords: hotel, garaje, bulevar, bufé, mensaje. Two or three sentences are enough.
Restaurant roleplay:
Write a short order using food words: menú, bufé, croissant/cruasán, galleta, vinagre. Then read it aloud as if you’re talking to a waiter.
Fashion check:
Describe what you’re wearing (or wish you were wearing) using blusa, chaqueta, pantalón, bufanda if they fit. One line per item.
Dialogue shadowing:
Choose one Mini Dialogue, read each Spanish line and its IPA slowly, then shadow it (repeat immediately after) two or three times.
Real-life test:
Next time you see any of these words in a sign, menu, or app interface, quickly whisper the Spanish pronunciation and one example sentence to yourself.

Yak-Style Closing Spark

French loanwords in Spanish are like the stylish cousin who moves in and never leaves: at first they feel foreign, then suddenly they’re just part of the family. Learn a handful of them well, and you’ll read menus, city signs, and clothing labels with that smug little “oh yeah, I know you” feeling — in very comfortable, very natural Spanish.