Texting in Spanish – All the Abbreviations You Need to Know

Nowadays, you’re most likely to go through a texting phase as you build a relationship with a Spanish speaker, whether for a friendship or a romance.

Texting in another language is helpful to improve your spoken Spanish. You have more time to think out your sentences, more confidence using new words, and most importantly, you can check google translate anytime!

For native Spanish speakers, it’s always enjoyable to chat on text with a foreigner who writes like a native!

But it’s tough. When Spanish speakers text, they use a lot of abbreviations that you probably won’t learn in regular Spanish lessons.

So, here are the abbreviations that Spanish people use the most when texting.

1) Sending messages in Spanish – the most common abbreviations:

Tqm / Tkm	Te quiero mucho	I love you
Tel.	Teléfono	Phone
Cel.	Celular	Cell phone
Ud.	Usted	You (formal)
Uds.	Ustedes	You all (Latin American way)
X	Por	By, For
Xq / Pq / Pk	¿Por qué? / Porque	Why? / Because
Xfa	Por favor	Please
No c	No sé	I don’t know
Bn	Bien	Good
Tb	También	Also / Too
Cdt	¡Cuídate!	Take care of yourself!
Ej / Xej	Ejemplo / Por ejemplo	Example / For instance
Sr.	Señor	Mister/ Grown-up man / Gentleman
Sra.	Señora	Missis / Grown-up woman / Madam
P.D.	Posdata	Postscript
Atte.	Atentamente	Literally: attentively (Yours sincerely)
Esq	Es que	The thing is / It’s just that
Msj.	Mensaje	Message
Qepd	Que en paz descanse	Rest in peace
Maso	Más o menos	More or less

2) Answering the phone in Spanish:

To answer the phone, just remember: ¿Aló? (Hello?) 

¿Aló? / ¿Hola?	Hello?
¿Quién es? / ¿Quién habla?	Who is it?
¿A quién necesita(s)?	Who do you need?
¿Qué se le ofrece?	How can I help you? / What do you want? (formal)
¿Qué se te ofrece?	How can I help you? / What do you want? (informal)
Estoy ocupado	I’m busy
Sí, me interesa	Yes, I’m interested
No me interesa, gracias	I’m not interested thanks
¿Podría(s) llamarme más tarde?	Could you call me later?
¿Te puedo llamar más tarde?	Can I call you later?
Está(s) equivocado(a) / Número equivocado	You’re wrong / Wrong number
No lo(a) escucho bien	I can’t hear you well (formal)
¿Podría hablar más fuerte, por favor? (formal)	Could you speak louder, please?
¿Podría hablar más lentamente, por favor?(formal)	Could you speak more slowly, please?
Se escucha entrecortado	It sounds choppy (breaking up, intermittent)
¡Adiós!	Bye!

3) Sending and answering emails:

Estimado(a) Señor / Señora	Dear Sir/Madam,	Formal
Queridos amigos	Dear friends	Slightly informal
Apreciado(a) Señor/ Señora	Dear Sir/ Madam	Slightly informal
Atentamente,	Best,	Slightly Formal (At the end)
Cordialmente,	Sincerely,	Formal (At the end)
Afectuosamente, / Amablemente, / Mis mejores deseos,	Warmly, / Kindly, / Best wishes,	Dear Sir/ Madam (At the end)

Check out our series of Complete Spanish Grammar articles – everything you’ll ever need to know about Spanish grammar.

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