español · A1 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Basic food
Build simple meals from useful staple-food vocabulary.
Understand the choice
Build simple meals from staple foods, proteins, fruit, and vegetables. Learn what is normally counted and what is treated as a general food category.
Core rule: Spanish normally omits an article when food is mentioned as an uncounted substance or general category after comer, beber, or tomar.
Notice it in context
Desayuno pan, queso y fruta.
I have bread, cheese, and fruit for breakfast.
The foods are general breakfast items, so no article is needed.
Comemos arroz con pescado.
We eat rice with fish.
Con links the two parts of the meal.
Quiero dos huevos y una manzana.
I want two eggs and an apple.
Counted items take numbers or articles.
What to remember
- Pescado is fish as food; pez is a living fish.
- Verdura is a vegetable or vegetables as a category.
Common trap: Do not use an article before every food automatically; compare como pan with como un bocadillo.