Online in Spanish: 100 Useful Words Related to the Internet

Do you find being online in Spanish an interesting adventure or an excruciating experience? Your answer may depend on your level of Spanish. 

The truth is that to experience something as interactive, complex, and diverse as the internet in a language that you haven’t mastered can be a real challenge. I thought I could manage, but when I tried to send an email on my wife’s Polish computer, I couldn’t even log in to my account. 

Going online in Spanish doesn’t have to be a problem, though. All you need to do is learn some basic vocabulary and build on that to navigate the Spanish web without trouble. 

In today’s post, we’ll explore what it’s like to be online in Spanish, learn why so many technology terms are “Anglicisms,” and discover 100 internet-related words in Spanish. 

Are You Online in Spanish? 

While the internet is a global network where English is king, every other language has its particular way of dealing with it. Being online in Spanish means entering a world of computadoras, ordenadores, descargas, and redes sociales where you can get lost if you don’t know your way. 

The online world in Spanish is full of internet-related vocabulary that you need to learn in order to move at ease in this medium. 

A Note About Anglicisms

According to the Oxford dictionary, an Anglicism is “a word or phrase borrowed from English by a foreign language.” You’ll find a lot of these Anglicisms when you’re online in Spanish, as many of the latest inventions and new tech terms come from English-speaking countries. 

In a way, that makes it easier for you. But soon, you’ll see that these words take on a life of their own in their adopted language. A quick example is the word formatear. A few years back, you had to format your hard disk to clean it. No Spanish word existed for that, so a new verb came to life—formatear—which means to give format to your disk. From there, words like formateado and formateaste started to circulate in a beautiful example of how languages are constantly evolving.

Online in Spanish: 100 Internet Words 

Check out this list of important internet-related terms in Spanish, organized by different areas of the online world, followed by a selection of internet-related Spanish verbs. 

El Equipo – Equipment

When going online in Spanish, you’ll need to know how to refer to the equipment you’re using to access information. Consider it the first step. 

El Correo Electrónico – Email

I find it astonishing that younger generations think of email as “unfashionable and outdated,” as I still use it as my main way of professional communication. I guess the times are changing faster than I thought. 

Las Redes Sociales – Social Media

Since the advent of Facebook and Twitter to our lives the importance of social media has grown exponentially. The amount of time we spend on social media has also grown accordingly, and that’s why these terms come in handy. 

El Internet – The Internet

These common technical terms will help you surf the web in Spanish.  

Verbos – Verbs

Sometimes we need more than one word to accurately express the action we want to communicate. For example, it’s not the same to “log” as to “log in,” or to “turn” as to “turn on.” 

When we need to use more than one word to express an action, we call these terms “phrasal verbs.” I’ve included a few of them both in English and Spanish in the following list. 

Ready to Go Online in Spanish?

These words and phrases are a good starting point for going online in Spanish. Now you can handle yourself with confidence while sending a correo electrónico, posting on redes sociales, or simply navegando el internet. 

My recommendation is to set all your devices to Spanish. This way, you’ll soon familiarize yourself with this vocabulary for going online in Spanish. To keep building upon that knowledge, join HSA on Facebook where we share loads of Spanish vocabulary, interactive quizzes, and free resources every day!  

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Luis F. Dominguez

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Luis F. Domínguez is a freelance writer and independent journalist interested in travel, languages, art, books, history, philosophy, politics and sports. He has written for Fodor’s, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated, Telemundo, and Villa Experience, among other brands of print and digital media in Europe and North America.

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