Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| dinero | /diˈneɾo/ | masculine |
| cash | /ˈkaʃ/ /ˈkas/ (Spain) |
|
| lana | /ˈlana/ | Mexico |
| pasta | /ˈpasta/ | Spain |
| pisto | /ˈpisto/ | El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, masculine |
| plata | /ˈplata/ | Latin America, feminine |
| real | /reˈal/ | Venezuela, masculine |
| el vil metal | /el ˌbil meˈtal/ | colloquial, masculine |
| vento | /ˈbento/ | South America, masculine |
| pecunia | /peˈkunja/ | feminine |
| efectivo | /efeɡˈtibo/ | masculine |
| guita | /ˈɡita/ | feminine |
The word 'dinero' is a common and neutral term for 'money' in Spanish. If you need to specify physical cash or liquid funds, use efectivo. In professional or elevated conversations, the word capital can be used to refer to money. To refer specifically to banknotes or bills, use billete.
Which one should you use?
While dinero refers to money in general, efectivo specifically refers to physical cash or liquid funds.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The term el vil metal is a colloquial way to refer to money. For formal or professional contexts, use capital.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, lana is used for money. In Spain, pasta is used. In El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, pisto is used. In Venezuela, real is used. In South America, vento is used. In Argentina, guita is used. In many Latin American countries, plata is a word used to refer to 'money'.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word dinero is a masculine noun and requires the masculine article 'el' when used in the singular, as in el dinero. The word plata is feminine. Pisto, real, vento and dinero are masculine. Lana and pasta also function as slang, where lana literally means wool and pasta literally means dough or pasta.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation of dinero is /diˈneɾo/.
Did you know?
- The word dinero may have been influenced by the Byzantine Greek word dinárion, which refers to a specific type of coin.
- The word pecunia is the root of the English word 'pecuniary', but in Spanish it is rarely used outside of very formal or legal texts.
- The term el vil metal describes money as 'the vile metal', reflecting a historical or moral distrust of wealth.
Examples in context
- Le di el dinero.I gave him the money.This sentence shows how to use dinero to mean 'the money'.Tatoeba #1082695 by Shishir, translation #6956282 by kaiperkins271
- Él nos da dinero.He gives us money.Tatoeba #2224459 by Shishir, translation #1817019 by Amastan
- El dinero es todo.Money is everything.Tatoeba #1011075 by hayastan, translation #277172 by CM
- Necesito dinero para comprar un boleto de aviónI need money to buy a plane ticket
- ¿Acepta usted efectivo?Do you accept cash?
- Necesitamos invertir más capital en este proyectoWe need to invest more money in this project
- ¿Tienes algo de pasta para prestarme?Do you have some money to lend me?
- Voy a ganar mucha plata trabajando en este nuevo proyectoI'm going to make a lot of money working on this new project
- No tengo suficientes billetes para pagar la cuentaI don't have enough bills to pay the bill
- Me quedé sin guita para el fin de semanaI ran out of money for the weekend
- 2050 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Javier and Sofía are discussing their travel budget at a cafe.
- JavierSofía, ¿tenemos suficiente dinero para el hotel?Sofía, do we have enough money for the hotel?
- SofíaNo estoy segura, creo que falta un poco.I am not sure, I think we are a little short.
- JavierTengo un poco de dinero extra en mi cartera.I have a little extra money in my wallet.
- SofíaPerfecto, entonces podemos pagar sin problemas.Perfect, then we can pay without any problems.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “money” translations and entries dinero, cash, lana, pasta, pisto, plata, real, el vil metal, vento, pecunia, efectivo, guita, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dinero, lana, pasta, pisto, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
