Spanish words that start with G: Giant gorillas and glorious galleons

Spanish words that start with G offer a glimpse into various aspects of life, from animals and places to everyday objects and actions. In today’s post we’ll start with a history of the Spanish letter G including its pronunciation, and then we’ll take a deep dive into the wide variety of Spanish words that start with G.

Whether you’re curious about how this letter evolved or its unique phonetic rules, or you just want to expand your vocabulary with a nice variety of Spanish G nouns, verbs, adjectives, and more, you’ve come to the place. Plus, we’ll explore fun topics like animal names, country names, and even some slang terms starting with G in Spanish.

Let’s go!

The letter G in Spanish: History

As we explained in our post on Spanish words that start with C, the letters G and C share a fascinating history that dates back to ancient Egypt. Their shared origin is in a hieroglyph that symbolized a sling staff. That glyph later evolved into the Semitic letter “gimel,” which represented a sound similar to the English /g/. The Greeks adopted this character into their alphabet as “gamma,” retaining its original sound. When the Romans developed the Latin alphabet, their letters distinguished between two similar sounds by creating both G and C.

The Latin G was primarily a hard consonant, and this trait carried over into Spanish. As Latin evolved into the Romance languages, including Spanish, pronunciation became more diversified. Today, our Spanish G pronunciation depends on the vowels that follow it, which brings us to our next section on how to pronounce G in Spanish.

How to pronounce G in Spanish

We have two possible pronunciations of G in Spanish: a soft G and a hard G. Let’s take a look at each one here.

Soft G

When the Spanish letter G appears before the vowels E and I, it takes the same pronunciation as the Spanish letter J. This sound is pronounced differently in Latin America and Spain, however.

In much of Latin America, the soft Spanish G is pronounced with a soft /h/ sound, resembling the English h in hello. In Spain, however, it has a much scratchier sound that has no counterpart in English, represented by the phoneme /x/.

• Gente – People
• Gitano – Gypsy

Hard G

If the Spanish letter G appears before the vowels A, O, or U, or if the G comes before a consonant like R or L, then it’s pronounced as a hard /g/ like in the English word go.

• Gato – Cat
• Gorra – Cap
• Guapo – Handsome
• Gripe – Flu

The hard /g/ sound is also pronounced before the vowels E and I, but in this case we need to add a silent U in between them to form the digraph gu.

• Guerra – War
• Guitarra – Guitar

When a word contains this same vowel combination and the U should be pronounced distinctly, however, it is written with a diarésis as Ü. In this case, the Spanish G is still pronounced with the same hard /g/ sound.

• Vergüenza – Shame
• Güero  – Blonde man

For a deeper explanation of the vowel combinations we’ve just mentioned, including diphthongs and triphthongs, check out our advanced post on rules for Spanish syllables.

Spanish words that start with G

Now that we’ve seen the history and the pronunciation of this letter, it’s time to explore a selection of typical Spanish words that start with G. In the next sections we’ll break down our Spanish G word lists by grammatical category, looking at nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Since there are enough of them to merit their own sections, we’ll even look specifically at animals and countries that start with G in Spanish!

Nouns that start with G in Spanish

Let’s start with Spanish G nouns, which cover a wide variety of objects and concepts.

Spanish G nouns	English translation
El gabinete	Cabinet
Las gafas*	Glasses
El galeón	Galleon
La galleta	Cookie, Biscuit
El ganado	Livestock
El garaje	Garage
La garganta	Throat
La gasolina	Gasoline
El gemelo	Twin
La generación	Generation
El general	General
El género	Gender, Genre (of music, literature, etc)
La generosidad	Generosity
La gente	People
El gerente	Manager
El gigante	Giant
El gimnasio	Gym
La glaciación	Glaciation
El globo	Balloon, Globe
La gloria	Glory
El gobierno	Government
La golosina	Candy, Sweets
El golpe	Hit, Blow
La goma	Rubber, Eraser
El gorro*	Hat
La gorra*	Cap
La gracia	Grace, Charm
El granizo	Hail
La granja	Farm
La gratificación	Gratification
La gratitud	Gratitude
La gravedad	Gravity
El grupo	Group
El guante	Glove
La guardia	Guard
La guerra	War
El guía	Guide
La guitarra	Guitar
El gusto	Taste, Pleasure

*Las gafas is almost exclusively used in plural to refer to eyeglasses, although the singular version of una gafa is still possible. El gorro and la gorra are examples of Spanish words that change meaning based on their gender.

Animal names that start with G in Spanish

Many animal names begin with the letter G in Spanish, ranging from common creatures to more exotic ones. Check out our related post on animals in Spanish for more comprehensive lists!

Spanish G animals	English
La gacela	Gazelle
La gallina	Hen
El gallo	Rooster
La gamba	Prawn
El ganso	Goose
La garza	Heron
El gato	Cat
El gavilán	Hawk
La gaviota	Seagull
El geco	Gecko
El gerenuc	Gerenuk
El glotón	Wolverine
La golondrina	Swallow
El gorgojo	Weevil
El gorila	Gorilla
El gorrión	Sparrow
El grillo	Cricket
La guacamaya	Macaw
El guepardo	Cheetah
El gusano	Worm

Countries that start with G in Spanish

Since there are so many countries and territories that start with the letter G in Spanish, we’re presenting them in their own section. To dive deeper, don’t miss our full post covering every country name in Spanish!

Interestingly, only two of these countries are among the 21 countries where Spanish is an official language.

Spanish	English
Gabón	Gabon
Gambia	Gambia
Gaza	Gaza
Georgia	Georgia
Ghana	Ghana
Granada	Grenada
Grecia	Greece
Guatemala	Guatemala
Guinea	Guinea
Guinea Ecuatorial	Equatorial Guinea
Guinea-Bisáu	Guinea-Bissau
Guyana	Guyana
Guadalupe	Guadeloupe

Verbs that start with G in Spanish

Now let’s see many of the most common verbs that start with G in Spanish, covering a fun variety of actions.

Spanish G Verbs	English
Galantear	To flirt
Galopar	To gallop
Gambetear	To dodge
Ganar	To win
Gañir	To yelp
Garabatear	To scribble
Garantizar	To guarantee
Gargarizar	To gargle
Gastar	To spend
Gatear	To crawl
Generalizar	To generalize
Generar	To generate
Germinizar	To germinate
Gesticular	To gesticulate
Gestionar	To manage
Gimotear	To whine
Girar	To turn
Glorificar	To glorify
Glosar	To gloss
Gobernar	To govern
Golosear	To crave
Golpear	To hit
Gorjear	To chirp
Gorrear	To freeload
Gotear	To drip
Gozar	To enjoy
Grabar	To record
Graduar	To graduate
Grafitear	To tag or paint with graffiti
Granjear	To earn
Grapar	To staple
Gratificar	To gratify
Gritar	To shout
Gruñir	To growl
Guardar	To keep
Guarecer	To shelter
Guarnecer	To garnish
Guiar	To guide
Guiarse	To be guided
Gustar	To be pleasing, To like

Adjectives that start with G in Spanish

Spanish adjectives that start with the letter G span a wide range of categories, offering diverse ways to describe things. Let’s take a look!

Spanish G Adjectives	English
Galante*	Gallant
Gallego	Galician
Ganador	Winning
Gaseoso	Gaseous
Gelatinoso	Gelatinous
Gélido	Icy
Generoso	Generous
Genial*	Brilliant
Gentil*	Gentle
Genuino	Genuine
Germánico	Germanic
Giratorio	Rotating
Glamuroso	Glamorous
Glorioso	Glorious
Glotón	Gluttonous
Goloso	Greedy
Gordo	Fat
Gótico	Gothic
Gozoso	Joyful
Grácil*	Graceful
Gracioso	Funny
Gráfico	Graphic
Gran, Grande	Big, Great
Gratis*	Free
Grave*	Serious
Gris*	Gray
Grueso	Thick
Guapo	Handsome
Guerrero	Warrior-like

*These adjectives are invariable. All the other adjectives change form to respect the gender and number of the nouns they modify.

Adverbs that start with G in Spanish

Adverbs give us more context about how actions happen. An impressive number of Spanish words that start with G are adverbs, so let’s take a look at some of the most important ones.

Spanish G Adverbs	English
Garantizadamente	Guaranteedly
Gélidamente	Icily
Generalmente	Generally
Generosamente	Generously
Genialmente	Brilliantly
Gentilmente	Gently
Genuinamente	Genuinely
Geográficamente	Geographically
Geométricamente	Geometrically
Gesticularmente	Gesticulatively
Gigantescamente	Gigantically
Globalmente	Globally
Gloriosamente	Gloriously
Glotonamente	Gluttonously
Golosamente	Greedily
Gozosamente	Joyfully
Graciosamente	Gracefully
Gradualmente	Gradually
Gráficamente	Graphically
Grandemente	Greatly
Grandiosamente	Grandiosely
Gratuitamente	Freely
Gravemente	Seriously
Gravitacionalmente	Gravitationally
Groseramente	Rudely
Gustosamente	Pleasantly

Other important Spanish words that start with G

In the main sections above, we presented vocab lists of Spanish G words that are all fairly easy to translate. A few Spanish G words deserve additional explanations, so in this section, we introduce a few particular Spanish words that start with G. They all have full posts that go into much more detail, so click through the links for additional insight.

We’ll start with the list of the particular words in Spanish that start with G we’re introducing here, followed by their specific sections.

Spanish	English
Gabacho	Foreigner
Gringo	Foreigner
Güero	Light-skinned or blond person
Guiri	Foreigner
Gilipollas	Idiot, Moron, Asshole
Gracias	Thanks
Gerundio	Gerund
Guau	Wow, Woof

Gabacho, Gringo, Güero, Guiri

These four words are all slang terms referring to foreigners or tourists. Each one has its own nuances relating to the perceived origin of the foreigner, though none of them is particularly precise. Remember, these are all slang terms, so their use reflects the perceptions of the speakers as much as the tourists they allegedly describe.

Gabacho is mostly used in Spain to describe tourists from France or of French descent.

Gringo is typically used to refer to people from the United States or other English-speaking regions.

Güero is Mexican slang for blonde or light-skinned people. This term is used more for physical than cultural descriptions, so it’s not exclusively applied to tourists.

Finally, guiri is another slang term used in Spain to describe fair-skinned tourists, particularly British or German.

Gerundio

El gerundio is the Spanish name for the verb form known in English as the gerund. We use el gerundio in the progressive forms, similar to how you use the -ing verb form in English. Let’s see some example sentences in the present progressive, where we highlight the Spanish and English gerunds in bold:

• Mi hermana está comiendo ensalada. – My sister is eating salad.
• Los niños están jugando fútbol. – The children are playing soccer.
• Yo estoy estudiando español. – I am studying Spanish.

Gilipollas

Gilipollas is a curse word used in Spain that means idiot or moron, but with a much stronger connotation closer to asshole. Keep in mind that it’s a fairly vulgar word, so be careful who you use it with. Of course gilipollas figures in our popular list of Spanish insults and curse words, even though it’s primarily a slang term from Spain.

Gracias

Gracias is the Spanish word for thank you. You probably already know this straightforward way to say thanks that works well in every context. If you want to get more nuanced, we recommend our full post on alternative expressions for thank you in Spanish.

Guau

Guau in Spanish has two very distinct meanings, used either as an interjection or as an onomatopoeia.

As an interjection, ¡guau! is the equivalent to the English expression wow!. In this sense, it’s used to express emotions like surprise or admiration.

Guau is also used as the onomatopoeic representation of a dog barking in Spanish. In this context it’s often repeated as “guau, guau” to mimic the sound more accurately.

Conclusion: Spanish words that start with G

We’re just about done! In today’s post, we focused entirely on the letter G in Spanish.

Before getting into vocabulary, we started off with a brief story of the letter G’s historical origins. We then discussed how to pronounce the letter G in Spanish, explaining when it gets enunciated as a hard /g/ sound vs a softer /h/ sound.

The main body of the post was then comprised of several vocabulary lists of Spanish words that start with G. We broke down this vocab section primarily by grammatical category, listing nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, while we also included individual lists of animals and countries that start with G in Spanish. We ended with deeper explanations of a few important G words in Spanish that are mostly colloquial, providing links to our other posts that examine them in more depth.

Whether you’re a language enthusiast, a student, or just curious about Spanish vocabulary, today’s focus on the letter G should give you inspiration to use some of these words as you practice the language. Remember, every word you learn brings you closer to fluency, so keep exploring the beauty of Spanish, one letter at a time!