“He who knows only his own side of the argument knows little of that.” — John Stuart Mill.
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy a good healthy debate every once in a while.
Provided the discussion doesn’t get personal and participants don’t get offended, it can be a great way to learn.
Moreover, if you are learning a second language, having a debate in your target language is a great way to practice and refine your skills.
So, if you want to win an argument in Spanish, what should you do?
Over my years of arguing with friends and colleagues, I have come to one important conclusion. The key to winning an argument is not how strongly you can assert your ideas. The secret is to simply have better logic.
The more logical your points, the more likely you are to win.
If you want to start logically defining your arguments in Spanish, you will need some key vocabulary called Spanish transition phrases.
What transition phrases allow you to do is to set up an argument in a logical sequence.
Some examples of transition phrases in English would be ‘on the one hand’, ‘therefore’, ‘thus’, and ‘in conclusion’.
For this article, instead of giving you a list of random examples of these types of phrases in Spanish, I thought I would provide a flowing argument the whole way through.
And the point that I’m going to argue is:
‘Why every English native should learn Spanish.’
So there is my challenge. Let’s see if I can pull it off.
And feel free to debate me in the comments—even if you agree 😉
1. How to open your argument
The first place you need to start building your argument is with a solid opening.
A strong opening will help you transition your listener into your main points in a logical way.
There are two Spanish transition phrases you can use to open your argument:
English: In the first place…
Español: En primer lugar…
English: To begin with…
Español: Para empezar…
For the point I’m going to argue in the article, I will start with why you should learn a language in general because this is the first place where someone could argue against me.
English: To begin with, I have to talk about the importance of language learning.
Español: Para empezar, tengo que hablar de la importancia del aprendizaje de idiomas.
English: In the first place, the goal of learning another language is very important…
Español: En primer lugar, el objetivo de aprender otro idioma es muy importante…
Here I have taken a good position—language learning is super important. But, I’ll need to explain why.
Note, I’ve also written an article detailing many more reasons to learn Spanish, you can also use any one of these ideas if you also wanted to take on this debate amongst your friends.
2. Two Spanish transition phrases to back up your point
If you want to be convincing, it is always a good idea to back up your point with logic or evidence.
To do this in English you can use phrases such as ‘because’ and ‘since’. In Spanish, these are:
English: Because…
Español: Porque…
English: Since…
Español: Ya que…
So to back up, and complete, my opening statement I’ll say:
English: In the first place, the goal of learning another language is very important since it improves your brain, it helps you with opportunities to find work, and it increases your knowledge of other cultures.
Español: En primer lugar, el objetivo de aprender otro idioma es muy importante ya que mejora el cerebro, te ayuda con las oportunidades para encontrar trabajo, y aumenta tu conocimiento de otras culturas.
Now that I have set up the importance of language learning, I’ll next need to transition to more specific arguments for Spanish.
3. How to add to your case
Once you have successfully opened your argument, you’ll need to further build your case.
I have already said that language learning is important. Now I need to start building towards Spanish being the number one language to choose.
In order to strengthen your argument you can use these two transitional phrases:
English: Second(ly), third(ly)…
Español: En segundo lugar, tercer lugar…
English: Further / also / additionally…
Español: Además…
Here is why I think Spanish is the best:
English: Secondly, you should learn Spanish because it is the second most spoken language in the world by the number of native speakers, and is spoken in the fourth-largest number of countries by language.
Español: En segundo lugar, deberías aprender español porque es la segunda lengua más hablada en el mundo por el número de los hablantes nativos, y se habla en el cuarto mayor número de países por idioma.
English: Further, Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn.
Español: Además, el español es uno de los idiomas más fáciles de aprender.
English: Also, Spanish is a good language to learn because the food is amazing, the culture is fascinating and people are very friendly.
Español: Además, el español es un buen idioma para aprender porque la comida es increíble, la cultura es fascinante y la gente es muy amable.
If you are curious as to where I got my facts above, here are the sources I used from Wikipedia: List of languages by the number of countries and List of languages by the number of native speakers.
4. How to introduce the other side of the argument
One of the best techniques to win an argument is to not only present your side but to rebut the opposing views before the opposition has a chance.
I mentioned in the previous section that Spanish is the second most spoken language by the number of native speakers. The obvious thought may be: why not learn the first language?
To introduce opposing sides of an argument, use these phrases:
English: About / regarding…
Español: Respecto a…
English: As to / with regards to…
Español: En cuanto a…
English: On the other hand…
Español: Por otra parte…
Here is how I’ll introduce the opposing side:
English: With regards to the most spoken language by the number of natives, mandarin, yes it is true that it is spoken by a lot of people…
Español: En cuanto a la lengua más hablada por el número de nativos, mandarina, sí es cierto que se habla por muchas personas…
This is how you can introduce the opposing idea, but you’ll need a few more Spanish transition phrases to rebut it.
5. How to argue against the opposing idea
To refute the opposing sides of your argument, you’ll need these phrases:
English: But…
Español: Pero…
English: However / nevertheless / nonetheless…
Español: Sin embargo…
Now I can complete the idea from the last section:
English: With regards to the most spoken language by the number of natives, mandarin, yes it is true that it is spoken by a lot of people, nonetheless it is difficult to learn and is only spoken in three countries.
Español: En cuanto a la lengua más hablada por el número de nativos, mandarina, sí es cierto que se habla por muchas personas, sin embargo es difícil aprender y sólo se habla en tres países.
6. How to deduce or infer
What can you deduce or infer from a rock-solid argument?
In English, you would transition to make a deduction with phrases like ‘so’ or ‘therefore’. There are five phrases you can use to do this in Spanish:
English: Therefore…
Español: Por (lo) tanto…
English: So…
Español: Así que…
English: Hence / therefore…
Español: Por eso…
English: Then…
Español: Entonces…
English: Accordingly / in consequence…
Español: En consecuencia…
Before I wrap up with the final conclusion, here is the obvious deduction from the points made thus far:
English: Language learning is important and Spanish is the best language to learn, therefore, if you haven’t already started, you have to start right away.
Español: El aprendizaje de idiomas es importante y español es el mejor idioma para aprender, por lo tanto, si todavía no lo has empezado, tienes que empezar ahora mismo.
7. How to conclude or finish
Of course, the last thing to do is finish your argument well.
When you want to transition to your final statements, try to use the following Spanish phrases:
English: Ultimately…
Español: Por último…
English: To end…
Español: Para terminar…
English: In conclusion…
Español: En conclusión…
Note, you’ll need to be careful with prepositions here, especially for por and para.
Here are my final thoughts on a debate that is very close to my heart:
English: In conclusion, Spanish is not only one of the most widely spoken languages in the world but it is easy to learn and you will have incredible experiences if you travel to Spanish-speaking countries. I have enjoyed learning Spanish a lot and I think you will too.
Español: En conclusión, el español no sólo es uno de los idiomas más hablados en el mundo, sino es fácil de aprender y tendrás experiencias increíbles si viajas a los países hispanohablantes. He disfrutado mucho de aprender español y creo que tú también lo disfrutarás.
In the end, the most important thing to do is remind the audience of all of your strongest arguments.
Your Turn
Are you convinced? Did I win you over?
If you want to build a solid argument, use the above Spanish transition phrases to logically move from your first point to the next, to the next.
If you make the right transitions logically, you’ll hopefully win the hearts and minds of your listeners.
How else can you use Spanish transition phrases to win an argument?
I’m loving your articles. They are very well-written and researched and presented, and they should be an asset to any language instructor’s material bank! I just have a couple of minor suggestions regarding a couple of your Spanish translations of your English arguments above. The first thing I noticed was in your 3rd point at the bottom: “El español es un buen lenguaje aprender porque……” You need a preposition in between “lenguaje” (por cierto, yo pondría idioma o lengua en vez de lenguaje) and “aprender”, such as “Es un buen idioma para aprender….” or “es un buen idioma de aprender..” Also, the last paragraph of your post, you need a “de” after “fácil” (fácil de aprender) and “he disfrutado mucho DEL aprendizaje….” Hope that helps 🙂
Hola Laura, thanks for your kind words and for the suggestions. You’re right, “es un buen idioma para aprender” is better, and so is “fácil de aprender”, I have updated both of these suggestions. For “del aprendizaje”, I have updated this to “aprendiendo” because it sounds more natural. ¡Gracias de nuevo!
Can you address the cultural issue that Latinos tend to want to create division when in a debate, even or perhaps especially with family?
Haha, thanks for the comment Brad. I think debates around the family dinner table are in fact universal everywhere!! (At least they are at my family gatherings)
I’d say that rather than “create division”, it’s more of a healthy debate (or maybe just “create a diversion”) rather than the overly careful some of us may have been raised (never discuss politics, religion…) I love this about my Hispano-American friends! Much more fun than discussing what color to paint the living room.
Thanks for sharing Ela! 🙂
I really liked this article, lots of good connector words included. One thing though surely it was ‘una broma’ when you said Spanish is easy to learn 😄
Hahaha, yes Sorcha, that’s a great point!! 🙂 I should have said ‘easier’ than other languages but definitely not easy!!!
Tiene raison, en su primero argument (sera buen tener la plabra en espnanol) que es importante aprender un otro idioma.
Pero por un hablador (?speaker) de ingles, sera mejor aprender su propio idioma primero. Por lo tanto, Aprenderia los idiomas del cual viene ingles — el frances y el germano.
Lo siento, no puedo anadir los accentos espanol.)
Gracias Goyo 🙂
An excellent presentation . . .
Thanks Garry! 🙂
Thank you for this exposition and for the phrases which I must add to my spreadsheet. I really enjoyed reading the article. It would be nice to remember it!!
Thanks Dianne, I’m glad you enjoyed the article! 🙂
Thank you, Andrew. This was an excellent lesson. Not only did I learn important transition phrases, but your manner of teaching reinforced each phrase in a way that enabled me to integrate the lesson more easily.
Thanks Jay, I appreciate the feedback! 🙂
I’m always looking for easier / more natural (for me) ways to say things.. and ChatGPT just helped me realize that “por último” is only to be used while presenting a list of things.
I was trying to say ultimately as in “at the end of the day”. I will just stick with “a fin de cuentas” jajaja but now I know! Thanks Andrew! 😊
Is there an article for the Spanish versions of our most common English expressions?
Hola Simone, we have to be really careful with ChatGPT as it is a probabilistic algorithm and it is not fact checked. I have seen it get several things wrong in my own testing of Spanish sentences. It’s a fun tool but it must be checked by a human.
I’ve done a Youtube video on the top 50 Spanish expressions. In the video I talk about the best translations of common English expressions where they fit with the Spanish expressions.