The Ultimate List of Common Spanish Abbreviations

There are nearly 400 fully recognized Spanish abbreviations — and thousands of accepted ones. You can even invent your own if you follow the rules.

Read this article to learn all about Spanish abbreviations. Access multiple Spanish abbreviation lists that are useful even for beginners. 

Why Use Abbreviations?

Abbreviations are shortened forms of words that help us to communicate faster.

People started using abbreviations long ago, even if using Spanish abbreviations for texting is a relatively new phenomenon. Romans, as early as in the 6th century, started using so many abbreviations that it led to many communication errors. The vast empire depended on effective communication. To save stability, Emperor Justinian had to enforce some rules and regulations.

People always try to communicate more economically, but the struggle for comprehensibility is real, and you must follow the rules. 

La Real Academia Española (The Royal Spanish Academy) in charge of regulating the Spanish language gives clear rules about possible formation, spelling, punctuation, and use. 

Types of Spanish Abbreviations

The Spanish language distinguishes four types of officially accepted abbreviations:

• Abbreviations – Dr. for doctor
• Symbols – m for metro (meter)
• Initialisms (Siglas) – DNI – documento nacional de identidad (identity card)
• Acronyms – ONU – Organización de Naciones Unidas (United Nations/UN)

Let me show you each of them in detail:

1. Abbreviations

Proper abbreviations are sets of letters that together represent a word. They use either the initial part of the original word —edit. – editorial (publisher)–or a mixture of the initial and the final part –Avda. – Avenida (Avenue).

They always have a period at the end or a slash (‘/’), with some exceptions. 

For example: C/ – calle (street); Dr. – doctor.

Other common examples:

• a. C. (antes de Cristo) – B.C. (before Christ)
• EE.UU (Estados Unidos) – U.S.A. (United States of America)
• Adv. (adverbio) – ADV (Adverb)

2. Symbols

Symbols are abbreviations of words of scientific or technical origin. They have the same form internationally. They are written in lowercase.

Common examples:

• m (metro) – meter
• d (dia) – day
• kg (kilogramo) – kilogram

3. Acronyms

Acronyms are also shortened forms of words and formed by initials. They may be pronounced by syllable or as complete words. You should write them in capital letters. Grammatically, they are nouns, although they may be composed of different types of words.

Common examples:

• ADENA (Asociación para la defensa de la naturaleza) – Association for the defense of nature
• RAE (Real Academia Española) – Royal SPanish Academy
• RENFE (Red Nacional de Ferrocarriles Españoles) – Spanish National Railway Network

4. Initialisms

Initialisms are called siglas in Spanish. They’re Spanish abbreviations of words also formed by the first letter of the words they represent. 

They work as nouns, too, and usually follow the grammar rules that apply to nouns. They do not end in a period. 

People tend to use siglas as acronyms, although La RAE does not accept it. Unlike acronyms, you shouldn’t pronounce siglas as complete words, but letter by letter, but do not be surprised to hear people disrespect this rule.

You should also write them in capital letters.

Common examples:

• DNI (documento nacional de identidad) – ID
• ONG (organización no gubernamental) – NGO (non-governmental organization)
• AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) – Spanish High Speed (trains)

The Ultimate List of Common Spanish Abbreviations 

Let’s have a look at the most common abbreviations that you need to be able to understand and use.

Spanish Abbreviations for International Organizations

Here is a list of Spanish abbreviations for International Organizations. Usually, the letters used in the English and Spanish abbreviations are the same, just the order changes. Some of them look the same as their English translations. In Spanish, they are linguistic borrowings.

Spanish Abbreviations for Academic and Job Titles

These are useful and common abbreviations. I divided them into two categories: titles and professions.

Spanish Abbreviations for Titles

Use the following Spanish abbreviations when writing an email or applying for a job. Remember, although you do not capitalize Spanish titles, you do when they come as abbreviations. Most titles have masculine and feminine forms but not all of them.

Spanish Abbreviations for Professions

Time Abbreviations

Spanish also has many abbreviations to talk about time. On a printed calendar, you’ll rarely see full names of months or weekdays. 

Spanish Abbreviations for Months

Apart from enero (January), marzo (March), mayo (May), and agosto (August), all the other months have their abbreviations.

Spanish Abbreviations for Days of the Week

Spanish abbreviations for days of the week are easy to learn, and you have two options to choose from: single-letter and two-letter abbreviations. They are intuitive for most of the days, but watch out for Wednesdays.

Single-letter abbreviations:

The two-letter abbreviations:

Other Time Abbreviations

Here are other useful Spanish abbreviations to use when writing about time:

Spanish Abbreviations for Map Locations

You also need abbreviations to read a map or to read and write somebody’s address.

Spanish Abbreviations for Cardinal Directions

Spanish Abbreviations for Addresses

Here are some abbreviations you may see written on an envelope, a package, or Google maps:

Spanish Abbreviations for Measurements

Most measurement abbreviations are international symbols. So, abbreviations for cooking measurements are the ones that you already know in your language!

Spanish Abbreviations for Length

Spanish Abbreviations for Mass

Spanish Abbreviations for Capacity

Spanish Abbreviations for Area

Spanish Abbreviations for Volume

Practice Speaking Spanish

Of course, reading long lists of abbreviations alone won’t get you very far. It’s key to practice your speaking skills, too. Remember that while you’re working on becoming bilingual, you’re also improving your cognition and decision-making abilities! Sign up for a free trial class at Homeschool Spanish Academy to improve your Spanish skills in all four key areas: speaking, listening, writing, and reading. Increase your comprehension by practicing abbreviations with a friendly, certified Spanish instructor from Guatemala. 

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Olga Put

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

I'm a Spanish philologist, teacher, and freelance writer with a Master's degree in Humanities from Madrid. I speak Polish, Spanish, and English fluently, and want to get better in Portuguese and German. A lover of literature, and Mexican spicy cuisine, I've lived in Poland, Spain, and Mexico and I'm currently living and teaching in Madeira, Portugal.

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