helado
/eˈlado/masculine
Ice cream in Spanish is helado. Wiktionary also lists nieve and sorbete.
Meaning: dessert (noun)
Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| helado | /eˈlado/ | masculine |
| nieve | /ˈnjebe/ | Mexico |
| sorbete | /soɾˈbete/ | El Salvador, masculine |
The term refers to the frozen dessert. Common flavors you may encounter include chocolate or the very popular Argentine flavor dulce de leche.
Which one should you use?
While helado is the standard term for ice cream, nieve is used specifically in Mexico to refer to ice cream or water ice. In most other Spanish-speaking countries, nieve means snow.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, people use nieve to refer to ice cream. In El Salvador, the masculine noun sorbete is used.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word helado is a masculine noun, so it is used with the article el (e.g., el helado). The plural form is helados. The word nieve, when used to mean ice cream, is a feminine noun and requires the feminine article la (e.g., la nieve).
How do you pronounce it?
/eˈlado/
Did you know?
- The term sorbete has an unexpected journey through history, tracing its roots back to the Arabic word for 'a drink'.
- The term helado is related to the English word 'gelid', which describes something extremely cold or icy.
- The word helado is a perfect example of a word that acts as both a noun and a past participle, meaning 'frozen'.
Examples in context
- Me gusta la nieve.I like ice cream.This sentence shows how to express a preference for nieve.Tatoeba #741809 by Shishir, translation #4439455 by fanty
- Le gusta la nieve.She likes ice cream.Tatoeba #4482228 by cueyayotl, translation #650986 by CK
- Me gusta el helado.I love ice cream.This sentence shows how to express a preference for helado.Tatoeba #1249536 by Shishir, translation #740936 by CK
- ¿Me recomendaría un helado de dulce de leche, por favor?Could you recommend me a dulce de leche ice cream, please?
- Vamos a comer un helao bien rico en la heladería de la esquina.Let's go eat a really tasty ice cream at the ice cream shop on the corner.
- un cucurucho chicoa small ice cream cone
- 178 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofía and Javier are at a dessert shop on a hot day.
- SofíaJavier, ¿vamos a comer un helado?Javier, shall we go eat an ice cream?
- JavierSí, Sofía, tengo mucho calor.Yes, Sofía, I am very hot.
- SofíaYo quiero un helado de fresa.I want a strawberry ice cream.
- JavierA mí me gusta el de chocolate.I like the chocolate one.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “ice cream” translations and entries helado, nieve, sorbete, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries helado, nieve, sorbete, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
