A good Spanish-English dictionary is something that will stay with you as long as you study Spanish. You will use dictionaries a lot for looking up definitions, examples, word forms, and making flashcards. I recommend using Reverso Context and one English-Spanish dictionary for most of your translation needs, but the dictionary you choose to use will be the one that best suits your study methods and needs. All of these dictionaries are available on both PC and mobile devices.

Reverso Context

Reverso Context is a fantastic tool for learning a word’s meaning through context. Many words don’t translate one to one or are only used in specific circumstances. This is why you should never use a traditional dictionary to translate sentences directly. With Reverso Context, when you type in a word or phrase, it will give you a bunch of example sentences, so you can see how a word is used. This is very useful when you practice writing in Spanish.

When you search for a verb on Reverso, you can also easily see the different forms of it by clicking on the conjugation tab. Spanish has a lot of irregular verbs, so you’ll use this tool a lot for checking conjugations.

Reverso is also a great place to look up phrases and expressions. If you’re translating something or want to make your Spanish sound more natural, you can look up phrases to add to your writing and speech. For example, if I want to use the phrase “under the weather,” I can’t translate it directly into Spanish, it just doesn’t make sense. However, I can look it up on Reverso and see that the Spanish equivalent would be “indispuesto.” Using this Spanish expression will make my writing sound more fluent and native-like.

Spanish Dictionary

Spanish Dictionary is an easy-to-use, well-developed dictionary that is perfect for Spanish learners, especially beginners. Each entry is detailed with lots of examples and additional information. When you search for either a Spanish or English word, you will be given all possible uses and translations, as well as a few example sentences.

For more example sentences, click on the “examples” tab. These sentences are great additions to flashcards if you are making your own.

If you’re looking up a verb, you can click on the “conjugation” tab to see all the conjugations for that word.

On the “pronunciation” tab, you can watch a video of how the word is pronounced with detailed phonetics.

There is also a “thesaurus” tab, where you can find synonyms for your vocabulary word.

WordReference

WordRefrence is a simple, straightforward dictionary for any level of Spanish learner. When you search for a word, you will see it’s usage and translation.

If you scroll down, you can see conjugations, grammar usage, synonyms, and more.

To view the Spanish definition of a word, you can change the dictionary type using the drop-down menu right of the search bar.

The Free Dictionary

Farlex’s Free Dictionary is a great tool for advanced learners who want to use a Spanish-only dictionary. This dictionary is easy to use with clear definitions and examples.

Each entry has definitions for all uses of the word including colloquial terms, phrases, and expressions. Most definitions also come with an example sentence, and you can click on any unknown word to instantly view their dictionary entry.

If you scroll down, you also see grammar usage, synonyms, and translations. Overall, Farlex’s Free Dictionary is a straightforward and easy-to-use dictionary, perfect for non-native speakers.

That’s everything you need to know to get started using Spanish-English dictionaries. Depending on your needs and study style you will likely prefer one of these options over the others. I highly recommend having one dictionary you use most of the time because it will make your study process much simpler. Try them out to see what you like, and above all have fun learning!