If Spanish is not your first language, memorizing specific phrases can help you improve your essay-writing skills and make you sound more like a native speaker. Thus below, you will find a list of useful phrases categorized by groups to help you appear more proficient and take your essays to the next level!

Introductory Phrases

Based on my vast experience as a freelance writer, I can say that starting an essay is undoubtedly the most challenging part of essay writing. Nonetheless, many phrases have proven to help organize my thoughts and form cohesive and intriguing introductions, such as:

• “Para empezar” – To begin with

• “Al principio” – At the beginning… 

• “En primer lugar” – To start… 

• “Empecemos por considerar” – Let’s begin by considering/acknowledging 

• “A manera de introducción” – We can start by saying…

• “Como punto de partida “ – As a starting point

• “Hoy en día” – Nowadays…

You can also use phrase to introduce a new topic in the text such as:

• En lo que se refiere a – Regarding to
• Respecto a – Regarding to
• En cuanto a – Regarding to
• Cuando se trata de – When it comes to
• Si pasamos a hablar de – If we go ahead to talk about

Concluding Phrases

It is also crucial that you know how to finish your essay. A good conclusion will allow you to tie all your ideas together and emphasize the key takeaways. Below, a few ways in which you can begin a concluding argument:

• “En conclusion” – In conclusion

• “En resumen/resumiendo…” – In summary

• “Como se puede ver…” – As you can see

• “Para concluir” – To conclude

• “Para finalizar” – To finish

• “Finalmente, podemos decir que…” – We can then say that…

• “En consecuencia, podemos decir que…” – As a result, one can say that…

• “Por fin” – Finally

Transitional Phrases

Transitions phrases are crucial if you wish your essay to flow smoothly. Thus, I recommend you pay special attention to the following sentences:

• “Además” – Besides

• “Adicionalmente” – In addition…

• “Dado que…” – Given that…

• “Por lo tanto” – Therefore

• “Entonces” – Thus/So

• “Debido a…” – Hence

• “Mientras tanto” – Meanwhile

• “Por lo que” – This is why

• “Desde entonces” – Since then

Argumentative Phrases

When writing essays, it is very common for us to need to include argumentative phrases to get our message across. Hence, if you are looking for new ways to introduce an argument, below a few ideas:

• “Por otro lado…” – On the other hand…

• “En primera instancia…” – First of all 

• “A diferencia de…” – As oppossed to

• “De igual forma” – More so

• “Igualmente” – The same goes for… 

• “En otras palabras” – In other words

• “A pesar de que…” – Although 

• “Aunque” – Even though 

• “En contraste” – By contrast 

• “De hecho…” – In fact… 

• “Sin embargo” – Nevertheless

• “No obstante” – However

Opinion Phrases

There are many formal (and less formal ways) to express your opinions and beliefs in Spanish. Here, a few examples: 

• “Considero que…” – I considerthat…

• “Mi opinión es” – It is my opinion

• “Pienso que…” – I think that…

• “Opino que” – In my opinion…

• “Afortunadamente” – Fortunately

• “Lamentablemente” – Unfortunately

• “Me parece que…” – It seems to me that…

• “En mi opinión” – I believe that…

• “En mi experiencia” – Based on my experience

• “Como yo lo veo…” – As I see it…

• “Es mi parecer” – My pointview 

General Phrases

Finally, I wanted to include a group of useful common phrases that can enrich your essay’s vocabulary:

• “En realidad” – In reality

• “Actualmente” – Today/Nowadays 

• “De acuerdo a…” – According to… 

• “Por ejemplo” – For example

• “Cabe recalcar que…” – It is important to note that… 

• “Vale la pena resaltar que…” – It is important to highlight that… 

• “No podemos ignorar que…” – We can’t ignore that… 

• “Normalmente” – Usually/Normally 

• “Por lo general” – In general

• “Es normal que…” – It is normal to…

• “Otro hecho importante es…” – Another relevant factor is… 

• “Podría decirse que…” – One could say that… 

• “Para ilustrar” – To illustrate 

There you have it! A list of 60 useful phrases you can memorize to make your essays sound more professional and become more appealing to readers. However, if you are struggling and need further assistance with your essay, here you can see an Spanish essay example that can help you to structure and edit your work.