The Complete Spanish B1 Vocabulary Guide
You have the A2 foundation. Now build the Spanish that lets you hold a real conversation. At B1, the language stops being about survival and starts being about genuine communication: expressing opinions, telling stories in the past, asking for things politely, and engaging with Spanish in professional and media contexts.
B1 covers roughly 2,000 words in total. Not all of them carry equal weight in daily use. This guide focuses on the vocabulary and structures that come up again and again, the ones that make your Spanish sound noticeably more fluent rather than just technically correct.
Each of the seven phases below comes with a ready-to-use AI prompt. Paste it into the MindCards app and it builds a custom flashcard deck in seconds. Spaced repetition then schedules each card just before you are likely to forget it, so you retain more with less time spent reviewing.
Phase 1: The Subjunctive Mood (Presente de Subjuntivo)
Nothing separates A2 from B1 Spanish more clearly than the subjunctive. Spanish speakers use it constantly to express wishes, doubts, recommendations, and emotions. Avoiding it keeps you stuck sounding like a tourist; mastering it makes you sound like someone who actually speaks the language.
Why start here? The subjunctive appears in some of the most common conversational structures in Spanish. Once you recognise the triggers (querer que, esperar que, es importante que), you will spot them everywhere and start using them naturally.
The Strategy: Copy this prompt into the MindCards app AI Topic Generator. The deck focuses on high-frequency subjunctive triggers with conjugated examples so you absorb the pattern through use, not memorisation.
Generate 60 Spanish B1 examples of the Present Subjunctive. Include three categories: (1) Wish and desire structures: querer que, esperar que, desear que, ojalá + subjunctive with everyday subjects. (2) Recommendation and obligation: es importante que, es necesario que, te recomiendo que. (3) Emotion and opinion: me alegra que, es una pena que, me sorprende que. Front: Spanish sentence. Back: English translation + subjunctive trigger label.
Phase 2: Narrating the Past (Imperfecto vs. Indefinido)
At A2 you learned the preterite for completed actions. B1 adds the imperfect, the tense for ongoing states, habits, and descriptions in the past. Using both together is how real storytelling works in Spanish, and it is what DELE B1 tasks will test directly.
Why this matters: The contrast between Comí (I ate, once) and Comía (I used to eat, regularly) is subtle but essential. Getting it right transforms your Spanish from functional to genuinely fluent.
The Strategy: This deck builds contrast pairs, one sentence in each tense, so you internalise when each feels natural rather than just learning conjugation tables.
Generate 50 Spanish B1 contrast pairs for the Pretérito Indefinido versus Pretérito Imperfecto. Each entry should have two sentences using the same verb: one in Indefinido (completed action) and one in Imperfecto (habitual or ongoing state). Use verbs like ser, estar, tener, vivir, trabajar, querer, saber, poder, ir, hacer. Front: two Spanish sentences (Indefinido vs. Imperfecto). Back: English translations + brief usage note explaining the difference.
Phase 3: Conditionals and Hypotheticals
The conditional tense (hablaría, comería, viviría) lets you talk about what would happen under certain circumstances. At B1 it covers polite requests, speculation, and real-world hypotheticals. It also pairs with the subjunctive in si clauses for more complex reasoning.
Why add this now? The conditional unlocks politeness in Spanish. Quisiera instead of quiero, podría instead of puede, and that subtle shift changes how native speakers perceive you.
The Strategy: This deck covers standalone conditional sentences, si clause pairings, and polite request formulas, the three most useful applications at B1.
Generate 50 Spanish B1 examples of the Conditional Tense in three sections: (1) Polite requests and suggestions: Podría usted..., ¿Le importaría...?, Debería + infinitive. (2) Speculation about the present: Tendrá unos 40 años, Estará en casa. (3) Real conditionals with si: Si tuviera tiempo... (conditional result). Use high-frequency verbs: poder, querer, tener, ser, estar, hacer, ir. Front: Spanish sentence. Back: English translation + usage label (polite / speculation / si clause).
Phase 4: Work and Professional Vocabulary
B1 is the level where Spanish becomes useful in professional settings. Whether you are writing an email, joining a meeting, or navigating an interview, work vocabulary is where the language meets real life. This phase covers the core terms for office environments, job applications, and workplace communication.
Why this is essential: DELE B1 includes formal writing tasks, and professional contexts appear in listening comprehension. Building this vocabulary pays off both in the exam and in actual working situations.
The Strategy: Copy this prompt to generate a deck covering job roles, office vocabulary, formal correspondence phrases, and common workplace verbs.
Generate 80 Spanish B1 words and phrases for Work and Professional Contexts. Include four groups: (1) Job roles and departments: ingeniero/a, contable, director/a de recursos humanos, autónomo/a, empleado/a. (2) Workplace actions: contratar, despedir, ascender, solicitar, presentar un informe, cumplir plazos. (3) Formal email phrases: Me dirijo a usted para..., En relación con su consulta..., Quedo a su disposición. (4) Meetings and presentations: orden del día, tomar la palabra, resumir, concluir, proponer. Front: Spanish. Back: English + context label.
Phase 5: Health, Body, and Medical Language
Health vocabulary is one of the categories where gaps in your Spanish feel most urgent. At B1 you should be able to describe symptoms, navigate a pharmacy or clinic, and discuss general wellbeing. This is also a consistent topic in DELE B1 reading and listening sections.
Why this comes next: Health situations are unpredictable and high stakes. Having this vocabulary before you need it is far better than searching for words when you are already stressed.
The Strategy: This deck covers body parts (beyond A1 basics), symptoms and conditions, pharmacy vocabulary, and useful phrases for medical appointments.
Generate 80 Spanish B1 words and phrases for Health, Body, and Medical Contexts. Include: body parts beyond A1 basics (muñeca, tobillo, pulmón, riñón, hombro, rodilla, codo), symptoms and conditions (me duele, tengo fiebre, estoy mareado/a, tengo alergia, me he torcido el tobillo), pharmacy vocabulary (jarabe, pastilla, receta, paracetamol, pomada), and medical appointment phrases (Tengo cita con el médico, ¿Qué le pasa?, Le voy a recetar). Front: Spanish. Back: English.
Phase 6: News, Media, and Current Affairs
At B1 you should be able to read a Spanish news article, understand a radio bulletin, and discuss a current event in broad terms. This requires vocabulary that does not come up in everyday conversation: political terms, media language, and the vocabulary of public discourse.
The Goal: To give you the tools to engage with authentic Spanish-language media, which is one of the most effective ways to maintain and grow your language skills once you reach this level.
Generate 80 Spanish B1 words and phrases for News, Media, and Current Affairs. Cover: media vocabulary (titular, reportaje, editorial, medio de comunicación, fuente, informar, publicar), political and social terms (gobierno, oposición, elecciones, huelga, manifestación, propuesta de ley), discussion phrases (Según las últimas noticias..., Se ha informado que..., El gobierno ha anunciado que...), and opinion connectors (sin embargo, por otro lado, en cambio, a pesar de eso). Front: Spanish. Back: English.
Phase 7: Advanced Connectors and Discourse Markers
B1 writing and speaking tasks reward coherent argument structure. Connectors and discourse markers, the words that link ideas, show contrast, introduce examples, and signal conclusions, are what make your Spanish sound structured rather than improvised. They are also the most transferable vocabulary in the language.
The Milestone: With this deck, your B1 vocabulary set is complete. You now have the subjunctive for nuance, two past tenses for storytelling, the conditional for politeness and speculation, and vocabulary for the four key domains: work, health, news, and discourse. That covers the full B1 communicative range for DELE and real-world use.
Generate 60 Spanish B1 discourse markers and connectors organised into five groups: (1) Adding information: además, asimismo, también, por si fuera poco. (2) Contrasting: sin embargo, no obstante, aunque, a pesar de que, por el contrario. (3) Giving examples: por ejemplo, es decir, o sea, como es el caso de. (4) Expressing cause and result: por lo tanto, por eso, debido a, a consecuencia de, dado que. (5) Conceding a point: si bien, es cierto que..., pero, aun así. Front: Spanish connector + example sentence. Back: English equivalent + function label.
Why Flashcards Work for Spanish B1 Vocabulary
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Building Your Full Spanish Path
B1 vocabulary sits above A2 and prepares you for advanced B2 fluency. Use the links below to move between levels or return to the full Spanish guide.
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