Over the years, I had many outstanding students that were more than able to hold a conversation with native speakers. For that reason, it was surprising to find that they didn’t know how to write their address in Spanish.
To write an address in Spanish, you need to use the name of the street, followed by the number of the house or building, postal code, city, state and country. Depending on the situation and country, you may need to include your neighborhood name, the floor and interior number.
Writing your address seems like an easy topic until you try to do it in another language. Since the rules that we follow in Spanish may differ from your own language, in this article, I’ll teach the most common ways to write an address in Spanish.
On top of providing you with examples and formulas, I’ll also include some questions that you can use to ask someone for their address. By the end of this, you’ll be ready to write your address in different contexts.
How to Write Your Address in Spanish
Overall, addresses in Spanish always have to contain the street name, your house, building or apartment number, postal code, and city. However, depending on the details you need to provide, sometimes, you may also need to specify your floor and interior number.
As you can imagine, the elements and the way we write addresses in Spanish vary depending on the country. For example, in Spain, you need to include the following information:
- “C/” which is an abbreviation of the word calle. This abbreviation needs to precede your street name.
- Exterior number accompanied by the symbol ‘ª’.
- Floor number followed by a period and the letter º (for example: 1.º). You only need to provide this information if you live in a building.
- Interior number, also known as número de puerta in Spain.
- Postal code and city.
- Neighborhood name is not required.
So, based on this information, the formula to write an address in Spain looks something like this:
[Street / Av.] + (exterior number) + (floor number) + (interior) + [ZIP code] + [city / town]
Av. de América, 22, 28002
C. del Príncipe de Vergara, 101, 2, 28002, Madrid
C/ Tales De Mileto, 32, Alcala Henares Madrid, 28806, Madrid
How to write your address in Mexican Spanish
On the other hand, in Mexico, we do need to include our neighborhood name, but we’re not required to write our floor number and neither do we need to use the abbreviation ‘C’. As a result, if you want to write an address in Mexican Spanish, this is what you do:
[Street] + [exterior number] + [interior] + [neighborhood] + [ZIP code] + [city / town]
Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas, 3254, Int. 4, Chapalita, 44500, Guadalajara, Jalisco.
Vivero Tenochtitlan 253, Casa Blanca, 20266, Aguascalientes, Ags.
Blvd. Adolfo López Mateos 1181, San Pedro de los Pinos, 01180 Ciudad de México, CDMX.
If you compare these examples against the ones above, you’ll notice that there are certain elements that you cannot forget when writing an address in Spanish. These are:
- Street or road name
- Number of your house or apartment
- Zip code
- City or town
- Interior number (if applicable)
In some cases, you may be required to add the name of your country to the end of the previous structures. We usually do this in formal documentation or when providing our address for an international package.
Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas, 3254, Int. 4, Chapalita, 44500, Guadalajara, Jalisco. México.
Take Note: When ordering food over the phone, it’s common for people to ask you for extra details about your address. In Mexico, this information is the name of the streets that are next to your address.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Repartidor: ¿Entre qué calles? | Delivery guy: Between which streets? |
| Tú: Entre San Luis Gonzaga y Santo Tomás de Aquino. | You: San Luis Gonzaga y Santo Tomás de Aquino |
Spanish Address Vocabulary
Below is a list of useful words that you can use when giving or asking for someone’s address in Spanish.
| Calle / C/ | Street |
| Avenida / Av. | Avenue |
| Boulevard / Blvd. | Boulevard |
| Ciudad | City |
| Código Postal | Postal Code |
| Colonia / Col. | Neighborhood |
| Dpto / Departamento | Apartment |
| Entre | Between |
| Esquina | Corner |
| Estado | State |
| Exterior | Exterior |
| Interior | Interior |
| Municipio | Locality |
| Número | Number |
| Paseo | Boulevard |
| Planta / Piso | Floor |
| Puerta | Door |
Take Note: When writing our address in Spanish, we need to keep in mind el número de exterior, which is the number of the building complex where we live. Interior refers to the specific number of your home or apartment.
How to Ask for People’s Address in Spanish
In addition to providing your address, there might be many situations where you need to know where a person lives. For this reason, in this section, I’ll teach you some common phrases and expressions that you can use to ask for someone’s address in Spanish.
The questions listed below are standard phrases that you can use for this purpose. Remember that you can make them more formal by changing the Spanish possessive adjective:
- ¿Cuál es tu dirección? – What’s your address?
- ¿En dónde vives? – Where do you live?
- ¿Cuál es tu domicilio? – What’s your address?
Although these expressions can be used to ask for someone’s address, keep in mind that ¿en dónde vives? is slightly more informal than the other expressions. On the other hand, ¿cuál es tu domicilio? is a formal expression that people can use when filling out paperwork.
Si quieres puedo llevarte a tu casa, ¿en dónde vives?
If you want, I can take you home, where do you live?
Sí tenemos servicio a domicilio, ¿cuál es su dirección?
We do have home delivery, what is your address?
Disculpe, señor, ¿cuál es su dirección de facturación?
Excuse me, sir, what’s your billing address?
Take Note: When filling papers or forms, you’re more likely to use the formulas listed in previous sections. However, if a friend asks you for your address, you can simply provide him with your street address and apartment/house number 😉
Vivo en Avda. Europa, número 234. Ke
I live on Europe Avenue, 234.
Mi dirección es Calle Balmes, 195.
My address is Balmes Street, 195.
Key Points
Knowing how to write your address is a basic and necessary skill. Although you may not use it all the time, there may be some occasions where you need to do this in Spanish. For that reason, in this article, I’ve gathered some general rules and vocabulary that can help you write your address in Spanish.
In addition to this, you’ve also learned some common expressions that you or someone else can use to ask for a person’s address. Here are some key points that you want to keep in mind:
- ‘Domicilio’ and ‘dirección’ are two Spanish terms that mean ‘address’.
- In all Spanish-speaking countries, there are some standard elements that you need to include when writing your address. This include:
- Street name
- City or town
- House or apartment number
- Zip code
- Unlike English, in Spanish, the street name comes before the number of the house.
- In Mexico, the name of your neighborhood needs to be included in the address.
- In Spain, your street name must be preceded by the letter “C/”, which is the abbreviation of the word ‘calle’.