Add Color & Depth To Spanish With These Must-Know Common Spanish Phrases

When non-native speakers want to express that they like or don't like something in particular, they will mostly use one of the most common and easy Spanish phrases:

Me gusta or No me gusta

Although these common Spanish phrases do the job, let's now add some really cool yet common Spanish phrases used by native Spanish speakers to help you express your enjoyment and appreciation of things and your disapproval of things that you don't like. Me gusta simply doesn't have enough color and just isn't streetwise enough so let's breakout from this colorless phrase and brighten up your Spanish!

As well as being a much cooler alternative than me gusta to express that you like a particular thing, this first Spanish phrase is especially cool to use during those lovely moments when you have received a gift from someone.

Es la bomba means: It's brilliant! It's wonderful! Literally: It's the bomb!

Así, you receive a very nice present:

Mil gracias por tu regalo, el collar ¡es la bomba! - Many thanks for your gift, the necklace is fabulous!

If you enjoy watching sports, you can also use es la bomba, like this:

Disfruto mucho de ver MotoGP, ¡es la bomba! - I like to watch MotoGP, it's ace!

These are much better alternatives to me gusta and are very useful Spanish phrases to sprinkle into your spoken Spanish.

Vale, now let's see how we can state that we don't like something without using no me gusta. These next two easy and practical Spanish language phrases are ones I use frequently and are just the job.

First of the two is: Me irrita - It irritates me.

Let's say you see someone drop their garbage onto the streets:

Me irrita cuando la gente tira la basura en las calles - It irritates me when people throw their garbage onto the streets

It's a real bugbear of mine and I say this often! But this next Spanish phrase is a little cracker and will add an authentic flair to your spoken Spanish. Just as we say: It gets on my nerves in English when we don't like something, the equivalent in Spanish is:

Tocarse Las Narices - To Get On Ones Nerves. Literally: To Touch Ones Nostrils.

Por ejemplo:

Me toca las narices si tengo que pelar las gambas - It gets on my nerves if I have to peel the prawns

Really easy, yes?

These are all very cool phrases to sprinkle into your spoken Spanish and they break you out of basic Spanish like me gusta. It's perfectly fine to use me gusta of course, but it can be a tad repetitive and dull. Sprinkle in each of the common Spanish phrases above and you'll give your Spanish a vibrant, polished edge and a touch of realism that will earn you great respect from the locals wherever you are in the Spanish-speaking world.