In this article, you will find a list of popular Spanish words with Ñ. This letter has its origins in the Middle Ages, when scribes used to write the symbol ~ over a letter to indicate it was a double letter. That way, nn became ñ. For instance, you can see this evolution in the word año, which comes from the Latin word annus.

Now let’s listen to how the name of the letter Ñ is called in Spanish.

Even though, its origins dates back to the Middle Ages, it was not introduced in the Spanish Royal Academy dictionary until 1803. Nowadays, there are more than 15,000 Spanish words with Ñ. Let’s see some of them.

100 Spanish Words with Ñ

It is important to understand that N and Ñ are two different letters, and so they are pronounced differently. The letter N is always pronounced as N (like in note or night). However, the letter Ñ is pronounced similar to the letters in in the word onion.

There are also some words with different meanings depending on whether they are spelled with N or with Ñ. For example, sonar means to sound whereas soñar means to dream.

Verbs with Ñ

Take a look at some Spanish words with Ñ. Let’s start with verbs.

  1. acompañar (to accompany)
  2. amañar (to fix, to rig)
  3. añadir (to add)
  4. arañar (to scratch)
  5. bañar (to bathe)
  6. dañar (to injure)
  7. diseñar (to design)
  8. empeñar (to pawn)
  9. engañar (to fool)
  10. enseñar (to teach)
  11. escudriñar (to scrutinize)
  12. extrañar (to miss)
  13. guiñar (to wink)
  14. ordeñar (to milk)
  15. pestañear (to blink)
  16. regañar (to tell off)
  17. refunfuñar (to grumble)
  18. señalizar (to signal)
  19. soñar (to dream)
  20. teñir (to dye)

Nouns with Ñ

Let’s continue reviewing Spanish words with Ñ with the following nouns.

  1. el año (year)
  2. la araña (spider)
  3. la artimaña (trick, ruse)
  4. el buñuelo (cream puff)
  5. la cabaña (cottage)
  6. la campaña (campaign)
  7. el cañón (canyon)
  8. el cariño (affection, care)
  9. la castaña (chestnut)
  10. las castañuelas (castanets)
  11. el champiñón (mushroom)
  12. la cigüeña (stork)
  13. la compañía (company)
  14. la contraseña (password)
  15. el coñac (cognac)
  16. el cumpleaños (birthday)
  17. el daño (damage)
  18. el diseño (design)
  19. España (Spain)
  20. el español (Spanish language)
  21. el estreñimiento (constipation)
  22. Gran Bretaña (Great Britain)
  23. la lasaña (lasagne)
  24. la leña (firewood)
  25. la mañana (morning)
  26. el meñique (little finger)
  27. la montaña (mountain)
  28. la muñeca (doll)
  29. la niñez (childhood)
  30. el otoño (fall, autumn)
  31. el pañal (diaper)
  32. el pañuelo (handkerchief)
  33. el peñón (crag, rock)
  34. la pestaña (eyelash)
  35. la piña (pineapple)
  36. la piñata (piñata)
  37. el pintauñas (nail polish)
  38. el piraña (piranha)
  39. el puño (fist)
  40. el rasguño (scratch)
  41. el rebaño (flock of sheep)
  42. la reseña (review, outline)
  43. el riñón (kidney)
  44. el ruiseñor (nightingale)
  45. la señal (signal)
  46. el sueño (dream)
  47. el tamaño (size)
  48. la telaraña (spiderweb)
  49. la uña (nail)
  50. la viña (vineyard)

Here is a list of animate nouns with Ñ. As you know, nouns referring to people may have two different forms: one for a male person or animal and the other one for a female person or animal.

  1. el or la albañil (builder)
  2. el compañero or la compañera (partner)
  3. el compañero de clase or la compañera de clase (classmate)
  4. el compañero de trabajo or la compañera de trabajo (workmate, co-worker)
  5. el cuñado (brother-in-law) or la cuñada (sister-in-law)
  6. el diseñador or la diseñadora (designer)
  7. el dueño or la dueña (owner)
  8. el niñero or la niñera (babysitter)
  9. el niño or la niña (child)
  10. el señor (sir) or la señora (madam)

Adjectives with Ñ

Here is a list of adjectives containing the letter Ñ.

  1. añejo (very old, mature)
  2. cariñoso (loving, affectionate)
  3. castaño (chestnut-colored)
  4. ceñido (tight-fitting)
  5. dañino (harmful)
  6. desaliñado (scruffy)
  7. estreñido (constipated)
  8. extraño (strange)
  9. pequeño (small)
  10. tacaño (mean)

The popular suffix –eño forms nationalities in Spanish. These words can be both adjectives or nouns. For example, mis amigos brasileños (my Brazilian friends) vs los brasileños (the Brazilians). In Spanish, unlike in English, nationalities are always written with lowercase.

  1. angoleño (Angolan)
  2. bahameño (Bahamian)
  3. beliceño (Belizean)
  4. brasileño (Brazilian)
  5. congoleño (Congolese)
  6. hondureño (Honduran)
  7. mozambiqueño (Mozambican)
  8. panameño (Panamanian)
  9. puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican)
  10. salvadoreño (Salvadorian)

Exercises

Here are some exercises to practice Spanish words with Ñ. In our blog, you can practice words containing CH, H, J, K, Q, R, W, X, Y or Z.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Categorized in:

Vocabulary