Dominican Spanish

How Dominican Spanish sounds

If you took Spanish in high school or picked up some Mexican Spanish in the US, the Dominican version will surprise you at first. It is fast, rhythmic and clipped. Final letters disappear, words run together, and a sentence like ¿Para dónde vas? (Where are you going?) can come out as something close to "pa' 'onde va'?" Dominicans know this about themselves and will happily slow down if you ask.

In the resorts of Punta Cana, Bávaro and Puerto Plata, front-desk staff, bartenders and tour guides speak English, often very well. Outside them, from colmados (corner stores) to bus terminals, gas stations, clinics and police posts, you need Spanish. Even a few phrases change how people treat you, and Dominicans are generous listeners. Pair this page with etiquette, since greeting properly matters as much as vocabulary.

Pronunciation basics

Spanish spelling is consistent, so once you know a few rules you can read anything aloud. In the guides below, capital letters show the stressed syllable.

• Vowels are short and pure: a as in "father" (ah), e as in "bet" (eh), i as in "machine" (ee), o as in "note" without the glide (oh), u as in "rule" (oo).
• h is silent: hola is OH-lah, habichuelas is ah-bee-CHWEH-lahs.
• j, and g before e or i, sound like a soft English h, often just a breath in Dominican speech: jugo is HOO-goh.
• ll and y both sound like the y in "yes": calle is KAH-yeh.
• ñ is "ny" as in "canyon": mañana is mah-NYAH-nah.
• r is a quick tap like the tt in American "butter"; rr and an r at the start of a word are trilled.
• c before e or i, and z, sound like s, as everywhere in Latin America: cerveza is sehr-VEH-sah.
• v and b sound the same, a soft b.
• Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable for words ending in a vowel, n or s, and on the last syllable otherwise, unless an accent mark says otherwise.

Greetings and basics

Restaurants and colmados

At a comedor (a simple lunch restaurant) there is often no printed menu. Ask what they have today and you will hear a fast list of meats and sides; pick one. A colmado sells everything from cold beer and phone top-ups to rice by the pound, and many deliver by motorbike. For dishes, see Dominican food and eating in Santo Domingo.

Getting around

On a guagua (minibus) or carro público (shared route taxi), you tell the driver or conductor where to stop; there are few marked stops. With taxis and motoconchos (motorcycle taxis), agree on the fare first. Full details are on getting around and driving.

Shopping and haggling

Bargaining is normal at markets and with beach vendors and out of place in stores with fixed prices; see etiquette for where and how. For larimar, amber, cigars and rum, see shopping.

Emergencies and health

The emergency number is 911, which covers most of the country, including all the main tourist areas. Private hospitals are usually called clínicas or centros médicos, and pharmacies (farmacias) sell many medicines over the counter and often deliver. For what to do in a crisis, see safety and health.

Numbers and money

Prices outside resorts are in pesos, written RD$ on this site. Banknotes come in RD$50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000, and coins in RD$1, 5, 10 and 25. Remember that Dominicans drop the final s, so dos mil can sound like "do' mil" and tres like "tre'." When in doubt, ask the vendor to type the price on a phone or calculator. See money for exchange rates and cards.

Time and days

¿Qué hora es? (keh OH-rah ehs) asks the time; a las ocho (ah lahs OH-choh) is "at eight." Days of the week: lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo. Hoy is today, mañana tomorrow (and also morning), ayer yesterday. Ahorita means "in a bit," with a lot of flexibility.

Dominican pronunciation habits

These habits are what make Dominican Spanish hard for learners. Once you know them, you start to hear the full words underneath.

The disappearing s

An s at the end of a syllable weakens to a breath or vanishes. Los dos becomes "lo' do'," está becomes "'tá," más o menos becomes "má o meno'." Plurals are often signaled only by the article, so listen for the first word. Speakers sometimes add an s in the wrong place when trying to talk formally, which Dominicans tease as hablar fisno, talking fancy.

Dropped d and clipped words

A d between vowels drops out: cansado becomes "cansao," pescado becomes "pescao." Common words shrink to one syllable: para to "pa'," nada to "na'," todo to "to'." Para adelante becomes "pa'lante," forward, which is also a way of saying "keep going."

R and l by region

• Cibao (Santiago, La Vega, Moca): an r or l at the end of a syllable turns into an "i" sound. Porque sounds like "poique," comer like "comei," Carlos like "Cailo'." It is the most recognizable rural accent in the country; see Santiago and the Cibao.
• Santo Domingo and the south: the r often becomes an l. Porque sounds like "polque," amor like "amol."
• The east and the north coast mix these, and the young everywhere borrow from dembow lyrics and social media.

Dominican slang

Dominicans are proud of their slang, and using a word or two correctly gets a laugh and a warmer welcome. Some words below are casual, so save them for friends, bars and beaches rather than a bank or a police post.

Words borrowed from English

Generations of contact with the US, from the 1916–1924 occupation to baseball and the New York diaspora, left many English loans: parquear (to park), chequear (to check), jonrón (home run), delivery, full (full, packed, or "very": estaba full, it was packed), un break, el mall. If you are stuck for a word, an English one said with Spanish vowels sometimes works.

Menu words

Dominican menus use local names for many foods, even in places that also print English. These come up constantly; see food and drinks for the full picture.

Sign words

Road signs follow international symbols, and speed limits are in km/h; see driving. These words appear on signs, doors and roads.

Learning more

A week of practice before you fly pays off. Language apps cover standard Latin American Spanish, which every Dominican understands. To tune your ear to the local sound, listen to merengue and bachata lyrics (see music and dance), Dominican comedians and talk radio, and watch a LIDOM game broadcast during the winter baseball season.

Santo Domingo, Santiago, Sosúa and Cabarete have Spanish schools offering week-long courses, often with homestays, which suit long stays and students. Prices and schedules vary; book directly and ask whether homestay meals and airport pickup are included.