How to Say “Check” in Spanish

Ways to say it

The verb forms are used to describe the act of verifying or comparing something against a source of information. Note that if you mean 'the check' as in a restaurant bill, you should use the noun cuenta or if you mean the chess term for a king being threatened, use jaque.

Which one should you use?

While all three verbs relate to checking, they have different nuances. comprobar is the most common way to express checking or verifying a fact or information. verificar is used in more formal, technical, official or administrative contexts. comparar is used specifically when the act of checking involves comparing one thing against another to find similarities or differences.

Related words

Bill, particularly at a restaurant (noun): cuenta.

Chess: when the king is directly threatened by an enemy piece (noun): jaque.

How do you pronounce it?

/kompɾoˈbaɾ/

What mistakes should you avoid?

English speakers may be tempted to use the Spanglish verb chequear, which is an Anglicism. While it is common in some Latin American dialects, it is not considered standard Spanish in many regions.

When do people say it?

When you are at a restaurant or cafe and need to request the check, the most common phrase is La cuenta, por favor. For a more polite or formal approach, you can say Me puede traer la cuenta, por favor or ¿Podría traerme la cuenta, por favor? In very informal settings, people may use abbreviations like La cuenta, porfa or La cuenta, porfis. If you want to split the bill with others, you can say Vamos a dividir la cuenta, por favor.