How to Say You’re Beautiful in Spanish and Woo Your Dream Date

“Maybe, I’m willing to take that risk.” – Tessa Dare

As social beings, we humans live in constant interaction with others. In fact, our very nature is to accompany a person or group as a primal drive to survive. Somewhere along our journey of connecting with others, we start to notice that certain people seem special to us in a romantic way. You already know that falling in love with another person is an essential part of being human. You can thank your pheromones for that, as an essence of our biological makeup, and because of them, we are able to feel more connection and attraction with others who light a spark within us. Herein lies the desire to woo another! As we become interested in someone as more than just friends, we naturally want to make them interested in us—but sometimes it seems too risky. Today, we’ll see how to woo that special person, along with the right words and phrases to say in Spanish to tell them they’re beautiful. 

Let’s do this!

Words that Mean “Beautiful” in Spanish

Don’t expect to run without knowing how to walk first! You can’t effectively tell someone they’re beautiful in Spanish if you know only one word for it. That’d be so boring! So, let’s go through a list of words to use in Spanish that allow you to tell a person that they’re pretty. Boost your confidence further by being amazingly prepared to woo your special person.

Note that all the words that end in -o are masculine, and the ones that end in -a are feminine. We’ll explore each of them in-depth later on.

All these words are synonyms for “beautiful,” however, they have different intensity or meaning depending on how you use them in Spanish. Let’s look at each one in more detail for you to understand how to use them properly and to the greatest effect.

Hermoso / hermosa

This is the literal translation for beautiful, so you should use it the same way as in English when wooing someone. However, you should know that hermoso is not very common for telling a guy he’s cute, so if you’re trying to flirt with a guy in Spanish, I wouldn’t recommend using this word. My personal notes are written at the end of a phrase in parentheses for extra tips!

• Eres muy hermosa – You (girl) are so beautiful.  
• Eres muy hermoso – You (guy) are so beautiful. (This sounds weird.)

On the other hand, this adjective can also be used when describing babies or kids. Usually, women tell their friends that their sons or daughters are hermosos, so if you want to compliment your friend’s child you could say:

• Qué hermosa está tu hija, ha crecido tanto – How beautiful is your daughter, she has grown so much. 
• ¡Tu hijo es hermoso! Me encantan sus ojos verdes – Your son is beautiful! I love his green eyes. 

Lindo / linda

This means “cute.” If you tell a girl she looks linda, she will feel flattered. However, if you tell a guy that he’s lindo, he might feel like he just got friendzoned, so you should be careful with the tone you use.

• Te ves muy linda con ese vestido – You (girl) look very cute with that dress. (I want someone to say this to me!)
• Scenario 1 for wooing a guy (DON’T):

Qué lindo te ves con esa camisa – How cute do you (guy) look in that shirt. (He would be like “Ummm thanks?”)

• Scenario 2 for wooing a guy (DO):

Guy: Sophia, ¿quieres que te compre algo de la tienda? – Sophia, do you want me to get you anything from the store?

Girl: ¡Sí! Tú siempre tan lindo, muchas gracias. – Yes! You’re always so nice (or cute), thank you. (Here, the girl is showing some flirting or acceptance.)

Guapo / guapa

Guapo means “handsome,” and guapa means “pretty.” You can use these words the same way you use them in English.

• Te ves muy guapo con ese traje – You (guy) look very handsome in that suit.
• Qué guapa sales en esa foto, como siempre – You (girl) look so pretty in that picture, as always.

Bonito / bonita

These words are basically the same as lindo and linda, so you should take the same precautions.

• Qué bonita te ves con la luz del sol – How beautiful do you (girl) look in the sunlight. (This is amazing and very romantic.)
• Scenario 1 for wooing a guy (DON’T):

Qué bonito eres – How beautiful are you (guy)! (This sounds strange.)

• Scenario 2 for wooing a guy (DO):

Qué bonito se te ve ese sueter – That sweater looks so good on you. (This works well as a flattering compliment.)

Note that in scenario 2, I used bonito to describe an object that the guy is wearing. That works because you’re telling him that something looks good on him. 

Precioso / preciosa

This word means “gorgeous,” and, much like the previous words, it works best for wooing a girl. I don’t recommend you tell a guy he’s precioso, because it sounds odd.

• Eres una mujer preciosa – You’re a gorgeous woman.
• Te ves preciosa cuando sonríes – You (girl) look gorgeous when you smile.

Bello / bella

This is similar to hermoso and hermosa, but less intense. However, it’s not very common in the Spanish of Latin America, only in Spain. It’s more appropriate for telling a girl that she’s beautiful in Spanish, not for a guy.

• Te ves muy bella con ese estilo maquillaje – You look beautiful with that make-up style. 
• Tú siempre tan bella, me impresionas cada vez más – You’re always so beautiful, you impress me more every time.

Perfecto / perfecta

Think about Ed Sheeran’s song “Perfect.” Well, it’s the same. This expression is very intense and romantic (and cheesy!), so use it only when you’re 100% sure that the other person won’t feel like you’re coming on too strong. However, if you use the right tone it will absolutely make the other person’s heart melt.

• Cada vez que te veo, me pregunto cómo puede haber una persona tan perfecta – Everytime I see you, I wonder how can a person be so perfect.
• Te miro a los ojos y solo pienso en lo perfecta que eres – When I look in your eyes, the only thing I can think about is how perfect you are.

Atractivo / atractiva

This is a cognate for “attractive,” and you can use it the same way you would in English.

• Te ves muy atractivo cuando sonríes – You (guy) look so attractive when you smile.
• Qué atractiva te ves cuando hablas de lo que te apasiona – How attractive you (girl) look when you talk about what you’re passionate about.

Apuesto

This is a synonym for “handsome,” so you should only use it for a guy. However, this word is more formal, so if you’re in your teenage years or are a young adult, I would say it’s better to use guapo.

• Eres muy apuesto – You’re very handsome.
• Te ves muy apuesto cuando usas camisas de botones – You look very handsome when you wear button down shirts.

Mango: Slang

Slang time! This word literally means “mango.” Yes, like the fruit. However, it’s usually used by people in Guatemala, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Mexico for saying that a guy is a total cutie. Girls usually say it among them (when referring to a guy), but you can also say it to him. Note that this is slang, so it’s more informal and you shouldn’t tell this to a guy if you don’t know him at all.

• ¡Chicas, Christian me parece un mango! – Girls, I think Christian is such a total cutie!
• ¿Por qué eres tan mango? ¡Me encanta cuando me sonríes! – Why are you such a total cutie? I love it when you smile at me! 

Plural adjectives

All the expressions we saw before can be applied in plural. So, if you want to woo some group of girls (or guys), hoping that they’ll hang out with you and your friends, here are some things to say!

• Señoritas, qué hermosas se ven el día de hoy – Ladies, you all look so beautiful today.  
• Tú y tus amigas son muy lindas, ¿quisieran almorzar con nosotros mañana? – You and your girlfriends are so pretty, would you like to have lunch with us tomorrow?
• Qué guapos se ven cuando nos guiñan el ojo – You guys look so handsome when you wink at us.
• Se ven tan bonitas con el pelo suelto – You girls look so pretty with your hair down.
• Todas ustedes son preciosas, ¿de dónde son? – You girls are so beautiful, where are you from?
• ¡Qué mujeres tan bellas las que encuentras en Guatemala! – The girls you find in Guatemala are so pretty!
• Ustedes son los hombres perfectos, tienen todo lo que una mujer busca – You guys are perfect, you have everything a woman wants.
• Tú y tus amigos se ven muy atractivos cuando hacen ejercicio – You and your guy friends look so attractive when you work out.
• ¿Todos los hombres de Colombia son tan apuestos como ustedes? – Are all men in Colombia as handsome as you guys are?
• ¡Todos ustedes son unos mangos! Nos encantan sus sonrisas – You guys are all such total cuties! We love your smiles.

Adding Some Intensity – The Most Beautiful

We’ve seen some of the words and phrases you can use to tell someone they’re beautiful in Spanish, but what about adding some intensity and telling them they’re the most beautiful?

It’s very simple, just use these small formulas: 

Singular

Eres + (la for women) (el for men) + más + adjective

Plural

Son + (las for women) (los for men) + más + adjective

Check these examples!

• Eres la mujer más hermosa que he visto – You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.
• Eres el más lindo de toda la clase – You’re the cutest in the whole class.
• Eres el hombre más guapo en este vecindario – You’re the most handsome guy on this neighborhood.
• Son las mujeres más bonitas de esta fiesta – You’re the most beautiful girls in this party. 
• Son los hombres más perfectos, de verdad son demasiado caballerosos – You’re the most perfect men, you really are very  chivalrous.
• Son las mujeres más atractivas que he visto por aquí – You`re the most attractive women I`ve seen around here.
• Son los hombres más apuestos de la universidad – You’re the most handsome men in school.

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Now you’re ready to woo that person you’ve been thinking about through this entire blog post and to tell them that they’re beautiful in Spanish! If you’d like to prepare yourself well, learn more Spanish and become a total master, sign up for a free class with us at Homeschool Spanish Academy. Our  native Spanish-speaking professional teachers will be happy to help you achieve your language goals!

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Mariana Gómez

Freelance writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Industrial Psychology Student in Guatemala, lover of cultures, family, love and new experiences. Writing is the way I connect with the world and myself. My goal is to make of this world a better place, so I constantly get out of my comfort zone to achieve that. I strongly believe that “we ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop”.

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