31 Compliments in Spanish: Latinos Love to Hear + Audio
Who doesn’t looooove getting compliments in Spanish?!
e might not always know how to react to them well… But yes, a nice cumplido (compliment) can really be the key to unlocking a Latino/a heart… and not only while flirting!
Compliments in Spanish can also help you get better service at a restaurant or in a shop… or make your cuñada (sister-in-law) instantly like you at your first family dinner.
So, today you’re going to learn the top 20 compliments in Spanish Latinos love to hear…
Using them will make you instantly liked by your Latino friends, lovers, and family.
1. Compliments in Spanish for your crush or significant other
Whether it’s DĂa de San ValentĂn (Valentine’s Day) or just any day, if you want to tell that special person how nice they look or how good-looking they are, you can use these ones:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Qué guapa/guapo! | You look very nice! |
| ¡Te ves espectacular! | You look spectacular! |
| ¡Eres hermosa! | You are very pretty! |
| Nunca habĂa visto ojos tan bonitos como los tuyos! | I had never seen eyes as pretty as yours! |
| ¡Me encanta tu sonrisa! | I love your smile! |
 Let’s listen to a conversation our Spring Spanish YouTube Channel:
GUY
¡Qué guapa/guapo! ¡Te ves espectacular!
(You look very nice! You look spectacular!)
GIRL
¡Gracias! ¡Qué lindo!
(Thank you! That’s very nice of you!)
GUY
¡Eres hermosa!
(You are very pretty!)
GIRL
¿Crees? ¡Gracias!
(Do you think so? Thank you!)
GUY
Nunca habĂa visto ojos tan bonitos como los tuyos!
(I had never seen eyes as pretty as yours!)
GIRL
¡Qué romántico!
(How romantic!)
GUY
¡Me encanta tu sonrisa!
(I love your smile!)
GIRL
¡Tú también eres muy guapo!
(You are very handsome too!)
GUY
¡Obvio! Caen rendidas a mis pies.
(Obviously! They (women) fall at my feet.)
OR… if you don’t want to exaggerate that much, just use ONE of them.
CHUNK ALERT!
¡Qué guapa/guapo! is an example of a chunk you may learn by heart. Literally, it means “how hot ” or “how good-looking”, but it is more often used as a synonym of “you look very nice”.
If you learn this chunk by heart, as a whole, not only will you use it correctly every single time without even worrying about knowing the rules behind it, but you will also sound like a native speaker because guess what? We use it very often!
If you want to learn more chunks like this one, why don’t you download our free Spanish Dating Chunks cheat sheet It gives you a list of the most common Spanish chunks you’ll need while you’re on a date or when talking to your significant other in a relationship!
✔️ Cheat Sheet with 54 essential Spanish Chunks you’ll hear and use yourself in ANY Spanish conversation (and example sentences). Taken from our YouTube Teacher’s most popular videos!
✔️ 2 Bonus Cheat Sheets with Travel Chunks and Dating/Relationship Chunks
✔️ A Spanish Chunking Tutorial showing you the 1 technique that’ll help you make 100% of the Spanish from our videos roll off the tongue in just 5 minutes a day (you’re probably only using 50% of our lessons’ potential right now…)
2. Best Spanish compliments for someone’s cooking
Whether you are at a restaurant and want to compliment the chef, or whether you want to say you truly enjoyed the dish cooked by your partner or your partner’s abuelita (grannie), these are the compliments you may use:
Or, in a table:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Esto está delicioso! | This is very tasty! |
| ¡Qué cosa tan rica! | What a delicious thing! |
| ¡Esto está exquisito! | This is really tasty! |
| ¡Nunca habĂa probado algo tan rico! | I had never tried something this tasty! |
| ¡Felicitaciones al chef! | Shout out to the chef! |
Sometimes, especially when the chef happens to be the owner of the place, they may come out of the kitchen to thank you for the compliment and, perhaps, gift you something, like a dessert or a drink. This is obviously not a rule, but it might happen!
If it does, lucky you!
So, let’s imagine this situation because it can happen in real life, too:
[In a small restaurant, a couple is enjoying their meal]
Cliente: ¡Esto está delicioso! Nunca habĂa probado una paella tan buena. (Customer: This is very tasty! I’ve never had such good paella.)
Mesero: Me alegro de que les guste. Le dirĂ© al chef. (Waiter: I’m glad you like it. I’ll tell the chef.)
[A few minutes later, the chef comes out of the kitchen]
Chef: Buenas noches. Me dijeron que les gustĂł mucho la paella (Chef: Good evening. I was told you really enjoyed the paella.)
Cliente: ¡SĂ, muchĂsimo! ¡Felicitaciones al chef! Es la mejor que he probado. (Customer: Yes, very much! Shout out to the chef! It’s the best I’ve ever had.)
Chef: Muchas gracias. Es un honor escuchar eso. Como agradecimiento, les invito un postre de la casa. (Chef: Thank you very much. It’s an honor to hear that. As a thank you, I’d like to offer you a dessert on the house.)
Cliente: ¡Qué amable! Muchas gracias. (Customer: How kind! Thank you very much.)
Now, you probably already know that food is very important for Latino families. So, if you compliment someone’s cooking skills, they will probably offer you more. Therefore, be prepared to gain some weight or to feel stuffed by the end of the day!
3. Give compliments in Spanish to praise someone’s clothes
It’s hard not to tell someone when you like something they’re wearing, right? But what should you say in Spanish if that’s the case? Here are some options:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Me gusta tu corbata! | I like your tie! |
| ¡Qué bonito vestido! | What a nice dress! |
| ¡Qué chido tu saco! | Your blazer is really cool! |
Another set of chunks that is very useful to compliment how someone looks is:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Qué bien te queda ese color! | That color suits you very well! |
| ¡Qué elegancia la de Francia! | Lit.: How elegant France is! |
CHUNK ALERT!
¡Qué elegancia la de Francia! is yet another chunk you should learn by heart because you can’t imagine how often it is used and, as you can probably tell, saying “How elegant France is” doesn’t make a lot of sense if you try to translate it into English! This is just a word play that means “you look stunning”.
Now, when you make someone a compliment about their clothes, in addition to gracias, people may also respond using either of these chunks:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Cuando quieras! | Lit.: Whenever you like! |
| ¡A la orden! | Lit.: At your command! |
Both chunks are used when the other person is sort of offering to lend you the garment you complimented.
4. Learn Spanish compliments to praise your coworkers
Another situation where compliments come in handy is at work…
If a colleague or someone you supervise did a great job, you may say:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡Excelente trabajo! | Great job! |
| ¡Me encantó tu traducción! | I loved your translation! |
| ¡MagnĂfico evento! | Wonderful event! – This one is often used to compliment the committee that organized somer sort of event, like a party or a conference. |
| ¡Qué buen video! | What a good video! |
5. Other ways to use compliments in Spanish
These were only the most popular ones but we have other options for compliments in Spanish. Let’s say you want to compliment someone on how intelligent they are or that they have a charming personality:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¡QuĂ© inteligente eres! | You’re so intelligent! |
| Me encanta tu sentido del humor | I love your sense of humor |
| Tienes una personalidad encantadora | You have a charming personality |
| ¡QuĂ© talentoso/a eres! | You’re so talented! |
| Admiro tu determinaciĂłn | I admire your determination |
| Eres una persona muy especial | You’re a very special person |
| Tu amabilidad es contagiosa | Your kindness is contagious |
| Tienes un estilo Ăşnico | You have a unique style |
| ¡Qué voz tan hermosa tienes! | What a beautiful voice you have! |
| Eres una inspiraciĂłn para todos | You’re an inspiration to everyone |
Now, everyone loves compliments, but what if they just don’t deserve that compliment… and you want to complain about, say, bad behavior or bad service?
Let my colleague Cory show you how you can complain in Spanish respectfully and get the treatment you deserve.
