Taking a Taxi In Spanish
Phrases to give directions in Spanish and get to your destination easily
For many of us living abroad in Mexico, taking a taxi is a convenient way to get around or get things done. The challenge is trying to communicate in Spanish with your taxi driver to explain where to turn, stop, or to keep going!
This article will give you some key phrases and some insight into how taxi drivers think and the questions they are going to ask while trying to understand where you are heading.
Whether you have too many groceries to carry, you’re on your way to an appointment on the other side of town, or your car is in the shop for a few days, these handy phrases will help you to communicate in Spanish with your driver to explain how to arrive at your destination or doorstep without charades. ¡Vámonos! Mexico!
Taxi Spanish Essentials for Beginners
If you don’t yet have a foundation of Spanish, learning these key words can help you to get your message across. I’ve broken down each of these words and phrases into English friendly phonetics that you can use to sound them out.
To get started, these are the phrases you should learn first:
| English | Spanish | Sound it out (bold = stressed syllable) |
|---|---|---|
| To the right | A la derecha | ah-la day-ray-cha |
| To the left | A la izquierda | ah-la ihs-key-air-dah |
| Here | Aquí | ah-key |
| Further ahead | Más adelante | mass ah-dah-lan-tay |
When we think about living abroad in Mexico, it really requires us to hit the ground running with our Spanish but taking several months to fully learn the basics isn’t always a reality. When working with new Spanish students, my top priority is getting people to be functional as quickly as possible. Learn more about our Spanish from Zero Course here.
Taking a Taxi to Your House
In Mexico, a neighborhood is known as a ‘colonia’ (colony) and it can be helpful to know which colonia you are going to as well as other colonias or landmarks that are nearby because the driver might reference other colonias that are nearby to confirm you are heading to the correct place.
Normally, el taxista (taxi driver) will ask you where you are going. You might hear:
| English | Spanish | Sound it out |
|---|---|---|
| Where are you going? | ¿A dónde va? | ah doan-day bah |
| Where am I taking you? (female passenger) | ¿A dónde la llevo? | ah doan-day lah yay-bo |
| Where am I taking you? (male passenger) | ¿A dónde lo llevo? | ah doan-day low yay-bo |
You can respond with:
- “Hola. Buenas tardes. Voy a la colonia _____.”
- Hello. Good afternoon. I am going to the colonia _____.
The taxi driver may want to know which street you are going to. In which case you might hear and use these phrases:
| English | Spanish | Sound it out |
|---|---|---|
| To what street? | ¿A qué calle? | ah kay k-eye-eh |
| To _____ street. | A calle _____. | ah k-eye-eh ____. |
| To _____ avenue. | A avenida _____. | ah av-en-ee-dah ____. |
Using Landmarks as a Reference for the Taxi Driver
It is important to keep in mind that taxi drivers don’t always use Google maps and they may not know the specific name of the business, restaurant or place you want to go.
To be prepared for your trip, figure out what neighborhood you are going to, know the name of the street, and try to find a landmark that is in the area. It could be a supermarket, a church, a park, a bank or market.
To explain where your destination is clearly in reference to the landmark you can use these helpful words:
| English | Spanish | Sound it out |
|---|---|---|
| I’m going to…. | Voy a …. | boy ah |
| the neighborhood (colony) | la colonia | la ko-low-knee-ah |
| It is (referring to location) | está | eh-sta |
| close to | cerca de | ser-ka day |
| across from | enfrente de | en-fren-tay day |
| behind | atrás de | ah-trass day |
| beside | al lado de | al lah-doe day |
Some examples:
- Está cerca de la colonia Los Sauces
It’s close to la colonia Los Sauces - Está al lado de la iglesia (ee-glay-see-ah)
It’s beside the church - Está atrás del Walmart cerca de la marina
It’s behind the Walmart close to the marina
Remember: In Spanish when we have the words A + EL (becomes AL) or DE + EL (becomes DEL), we need to use the contraction.
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Asking to Go to a General Location
Sometimes you just need to go to a specific type of business or store to shop for groceries, take out cash, or stop at different destinations along the way. Here are a list of common locations or places you might need to go to:
| English | Spanish | Sound it out |
|---|---|---|
| I need to go… | Necesito ir… | nes-seh-see-toe ear |
| I’m going to…. | Voy a …. | boy ah |
| to an ATM | a un cajero | ah oon kah-hair-oh |
| to the supermarket | al supermercado | al soo-per-mehr-kah-doe |
| to the waterfront walkway | al malecón | al mah-lay-kon |
| to the pharmacy | a la farmacia | a la far-mah-see-ah |
| to (the) center (downtown) | al centro | al sen-tro |
Some examples:
- Necesito ir a un cajero
I need to go to an ATM - Voy al malecón
I am going to the malecón
Approaching to Your Destination
As you get closer to your destination, it’s often necessary to give more specific directions to arrive precisely where you are going. Although we can achieve this with hand gestures using words to communicate this last part is easier and safer. Afterall, we want the eyes of the driver on the road, not looking at us in the rearview mirror….
Let’s start with these verbs that instruct the driver what they need to do:
| English | Spanish | Sound it out |
|---|---|---|
| turn | gire | here-eh |
| keep going | siga | (see-gah) |
| wait | espere | esp-pear-eh |
These words will help us to instruct the taxi driver in Spanish to where to turn, to keep going, or that we have arrived to our destination:
| English | Spanish | Sound it out |
|---|---|---|
| next | siguiente | see-ghee-en-tay |
| block | cuadra | kwah-drah |
| corner | esquina | eh-ski-nah |
| street | calle | k-eye-yay |
| on the next street | en la siguiente calle | en la see-ghee-en-tay k-eye-yay |
| further ahead | más adelante | mass add-del-an-tay |
| to the right | a la derecha | ah la day-ray-cha |
| to the left | a la izquierda | ah la ihs-key-air-dah |
| here | aquí | ah-key |
Some examples:
- Gire a la derecha en la siguiente calle
Turn to the right on the next street. - Está más adelante.
It’s further ahead.
Get Practicing Your Taxi Spanish!
Action step: Write down 3 or 4 phrases that you will definitely use the next time you catch a taxi. Put the phrases in your wallet so they are handy and challenge yourself to use a couple of them during the cab ride.
Learning to use Spanish with confidence takes time and practice. Be proud of your efforts when you try to use something new and gentle with yourself when you make a mistake. With time, the right attitude, and practice, you will get this language!
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