Essential Vocabulary for Hospitality and Culinary Professionals

Posted on Jan 26, 2025 in Hospitality and Tourism

Food and Taste Descriptors

  • Bland/Spicy: Insípido/Especiado
  • Cooked/Raw: Cocinado/Crudo
  • Rare/Well done: Poco hecho/Muy hecho
  • Overdone/Underdone: Demasiado cocido/Poco cocido
  • Still/Sparkling: Sin gas/Con gas
  • Sweet/Dry: Dulce/Seco
  • Tasty/Tasteless: Sabroso/Sin sabor
  • Fresh/Stale: Fresco/Duro (pan)
  • Sour: Ácido
  • Tender/Tough: Tierno/Duro

Hotel Staff and Items

  • Room Attendant: Camarera de pisos
  • Porter: Portera
  • Maintenance Man: Mantenimiento
  • Housekeeper: Gobernanta
  • Service Engineer: Ingeniero
  • Luggage: Equipaje
  • Suitcases: Maletas
  • Smells bad: Huele mal
  • Light bulb: Bombilla
  • The shower head leaks: La alcachofa gotea

American and British English Equivalents

  • Downtown/City Centre: Centro
  • Diapers/Nappies: Pañal
  • Restroom/Toilets: Baños
  • Trash Cans/Bin: Basura
  • Trash, Garbage/Rubbish: Basura
  • Check/Bill: Cuenta
  • Vacation/Holiday: Vacaciones
  • Faucet/Tap: Grifo
  • Candy/Sweet: Dulce
  • Chips/Crisps: Patatas
  • Gas Station/Garage: Gasolinera
  • Fall/Autumn: Otoño
  • Drugstore/Chemist: Farmacia
  • Band-Aid/Plaster: Tirita
  • Freeways/Motorway: Autovía
  • Purse/Handbag: Bolso
  • Subway Station/Underground Station: Estación de metro
  • Cookies/Biscuit: Galletas

Condition Descriptors

  • Empty: Vacío
  • Torn: Rasgado
  • Full: Lleno
  • Corked: El corcho huele mal
  • Off: Malo
  • Flat: Desbravado
  • Filthy: Muy sucio
  • Rude: Maleducado
  • Noisy: Ruidoso

Cooking Verbs

  • To make food hot (warm): Calentar
  • To crush food to a soft paste (mix): Machacar
  • To reduce fruit (liquefy): Licuar
  • To boil gently (simmer): Hervir a fuego lento
  • To cut (chop): Cortar
  • To pour (strain): Colar
  • To remove the outer skin (peel): Pelar
  • To combine: Combinar
  • To mix (stir): Remover
  • To heat (boil): Hervir

Past Tense Verbs

  • Received: Recibir
  • Wasn’t: No era/estaba
  • Gave: Dar
  • Didn’t want: No quiero
  • Booked: Reservar
  • Made: Hecho
  • Waited: Esperar
  • Took: Tomar
  • Was: Era/Estaba
  • Complain: Quejarse
  • Spoke: Hablar

Verb Tenses

  • Present Simple: To be
  • Present Continuous: To be + being (-ing)
  • Simple Past: Was/Were
  • Past Continuous: Was being + ed (were -ing)
  • Present Perfect: Has been + ed (has + ed)
  • Past Perfect: Had been made (had made)
  • Future: Will be + ed

Example Sentences

  • “Take away this bread; it’s stale.” (Llévate este pan, está duro)
  • “I don’t like lemons; they’re too sour for me.” (No me gustan los limones, son demasiado ácidos para mí)
  • “Could I have my steak very rare? I don’t like it cooked for more than a couple of minutes.” (¿Podría hacerme el filete muy poco hecho? No me gusta cocinado más de 2 minutos)
  • “We never use any frozen ingredients in this restaurant; everything is bought from the market on the day it is served.” (Nosotros nunca usamos ingredientes congelados en este restaurante. Todo se compra en el mercado el día que se sirve)
  • “There’s still blood in it.” (Todavía hay sangre)
  • “Salty foods like peanuts and crisps make you thirsty.” (Me gusta la comida salada, los cacahuetes y patatas hacen tener sed)
  • “This is very good; it’s so tasty.” (Esto está muy bueno; está muy sabroso)
  • “Can you take away this steak? It’s so tough, I can hardly cut it.” (¿Puedes llevarte este filete? Está muy duro, apenas puedo cortarlo)
  • “I love spicy foods like chili con carne and curries.” (Me gusta la comida especiada como chile con carne y curry)

Irregular Verbs

  • Break, Broke, Broken
  • Bring, Brought, Brought
  • Buy, Bought, Bought
  • Choose, Chose, Chosen
  • Do, Did, Done
  • Eat, Ate, Eaten
  • Freeze, Froze, Frozen
  • Give, Gave, Given
  • Go, Went, Gone
  • Make, Made, Made
  • Mean, Meant, Meant
  • Meet, Met, Met
  • Pay, Paid, Paid
  • Shake, Shook, Shaken
  • Speak, Spoke, Spoken
  • Steal, Stole, Stolen
  • Take, Took, Taken

Food Vocabulary

  • Apricot: Albaricoque
  • Avocado: Aguacate
  • Basil: Albahaca
  • Duck: Pato
  • Goose: Oca
  • Haddock: Abadejo
  • Hake: Merluza
  • Parsley: Perejil
  • Raspberry: Frambuesa
  • Red Mullet: Salmonete
  • Rosemary: Romero
  • Sole: Lenguado
  • Strawberry: Fresa
  • Thyme: Tomillo
  • Trout: Trucha
  • Turbot: Rodaballo
  • Turkey: Pavo
  • Veal: Ternera