How to Introduce Yourself in Spanish
Introducing yourself isn't a speech — it's an exchange. Spanish introductions run as turns: you share, they ask, you hand it back. Below is the complete first-minute script: name, origin, what you do, and the question-mark handoff that keeps it from feeling like a monologue.
Quick answer
Me llamo [name]. Mucho gusto.
My name is [name]. Nice to meet you.
"Me llamo" (meh YAH-moh) — literally "I call myself" — is the natural way. "Mucho gusto" (MOO-choh GOO-stoh) means "nice to meet you." To ask theirs: "¿Cómo te llamas?"
1. Saying your name
| Spanish | English | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Me llamo… | My name is… (lit. I call myself…) | meh YAH-moh |
| Soy… | I am… (short and direct) | soy |
| Mi nombre es… | My name is… (slightly more formal) | mee NOHM-breh ehs |
2. Saying where you're from
| Spanish | English | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Soy de… | I'm from… | soy deh |
| Vengo de… | I come from… | BEHN-goh deh |
| Vivo en… | I live in… | BEE-boh ehn |
| Estoy aquí de visita. | I'm here visiting. | ehs-TOY ah-KEE deh bee-SEE-tah |
3. Sharing what you do
| Spanish | English | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Estudio… | I study… | ehs-TOO-dee-oh |
| Trabajo como… | I work as… | trah-BAH-hoh KOH-moh |
| Soy estudiante. | I'm a student. | soy ehs-too-dee-AHN-teh |
| Tengo [veinticinco] años. | I'm [25] years old. (lit. I have 25 years) | TEHN-goh BEYN-teeh-SEEN-koh AH-nyohs |
4. Handing the question back
| Spanish | English | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| ¿Cómo te llamas? | What's your name? (informal) | KOH-moh teh YAH-mahs |
| ¿Y tú? | And you? (hands any question back) | ee TOO |
| ¿De dónde eres? | Where are you from? (informal) | deh DOHN-deh EH-rehs |
| ¿A qué te dedicas? | What do you do? (informal) | ah keh teh deh-DEE-kahs |
Common mistakes English speakers make
Saying "Soy [25] años" (word-for-word from English)
Spanish uses tener (to have) for age: "Tengo 25 años" — never "soy 25 años". Same goes for hunger/thirst: "tengo hambre", not "soy hambre".
Adding the subject pronoun everywhere
"Soy de Madrid" — never "Yo soy de Madrid". The verb already tells the listener who's speaking; "yo" sounds like a translation, not Spanish.
Rolling the intro as a monologue
After each thing you share, hand the turn back with "¿Y tú?" Spanish intros run as turns — share, return, share — not a speech.
Watch a beginner do it — live
A real beginner's first coached conversation — watch the freeze and the English rescue pattern, the same coaching your intro script will run on. Tap for sound.
The rule that makes intros feel Spanish instead of translated
Once your name is out — "Me llamo…", "Soy de…" — the conversation expects the same information back from them. "¿Y tú?" is the one-syllable handoff. Without it, your introduction sounds like a rehearsed speech. With it, you're in a conversation already.
Me llamo Daniel. Soy de Canadá. ¿Y tú? — name, origin, and the question handed back.
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