The 50 essential words and short expressions
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hello | Greeting |
| 2 | Good morning | Morning greeting |
| 3 | Good evening | Evening greeting |
| 4 | Please | Polite request |
| 5 | Thank you | Expressing thanks |
| 6 | Excuse me | Getting attention politely |
| 7 | Yes | Agreement |
| 8 | No | Negative answer |
| 9 | I don’t understand | Asking for clarification |
| 10 | Please speak slowly | Requesting slower speech |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Could you repeat that? | Requesting repetition |
| 12 | Where is…? | Asking for a location |
| 13 | Here | This place |
| 14 | There | That place |
| 15 | Left | Direction to the left |
| 16 | Right | Direction to the right |
| 17 | Entrance | Way in |
| 18 | Exit | Way out |
| 19 | Bathroom | Toilet or washroom |
| 20 | Drinking water | Water intended for drinking |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Still water | Non-carbonated water |
| 22 | Sparkling water | Carbonated water |
| 23 | Menu | List of food and drinks |
| 24 | Bill | Amount to pay for a meal or service |
| 25 | How much is it? | Asking the price |
| 26 | Cash | Physical money |
| 27 | Card | Payment card |
| 28 | Change | Money returned after payment; context matters |
| 29 | Reservation | Booking |
| 30 | Room | Accommodation room |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Passport | Identity document for international travel |
| 32 | Airport | Place for aircraft arrivals and departures |
| 33 | Bus | Road passenger vehicle |
| 34 | Taxi | Hired passenger car |
| 35 | Terminal | Transport station or passenger building |
| 36 | Fare | Transport price |
| 37 | Return ticket | Ticket for travel there and back |
| 38 | Stop | Stopping place; also a command to halt |
| 39 | Market | Place with stalls or traders |
| 40 | Help | Assistance |
| No. | Word or expression | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | I need help | Requesting assistance |
| 42 | Pharmacy | Place selling medicines |
| 43 | Oil down | Grenadian one-pot dish with breadfruit and coconut milk; recipes vary |
| 44 | Nutmeg | Aromatic spice from the seed of the nutmeg fruit |
| 45 | Cocoa | Cacao beans or products used in chocolate and drinks; context matters |
| 46 | Callaloo | Leafy greens or a dish made with them; ask about local preparation |
| 47 | Breadfruit | Tropical fruit used in cooked dishes |
| 48 | Spice | A plant-derived seasoning |
| 49 | Eastern Caribbean dollars | Currency used in Grenada; often abbreviated EC$ |
| 50 | Ferry | Boat service carrying passengers or vehicles |
Choose a conversation to practise today
Start with one clear request and connect practical English with local food names, journeys and payment conversations.
Openings · Local food names · Ingredients and menus · Payment and transport · Directions and review
Chapter contents
Chapters 1–5
Chapters 6–10
A day in Grenada can connect a hotel conversation, a market visit and a meal. Begin each exchange with Hello or Good morning, then explain the one thing you need. Reservation and Room help at accommodation; Menu helps when choosing food. Keeping the task small gives you more attention for the answer.
Please and Thank you fit throughout the day. Excuse me politely gets attention. Practise greeting a host and explaining that you have a reservation, with the booking name ready. Then move the same opening to a market question. You are learning how to carry a familiar expression into a new setting, rather than treating every conversation as a completely new test.
Oil down names Grenada’s national one-pot dish, associated with breadfruit and coconut milk. Its name is not an instruction about cooking oil or a direction to move downwards. Read the expression as a complete food name, then ask about the version being served. Recipes can include different meats, fish and vegetables.
Point to the menu item and ask what is in the dish. Ask about accompaniments separately, since the ingredient question and the serving question do different jobs. Explain dietary needs directly. A short definition helps you recognise oil down, while the person preparing your meal can explain that particular recipe. This keeps learning tied to a real plate.
Breadfruit is a tropical fruit used in cooked dishes. It can appear as an ingredient in oil down or in another preparation. The ingredient name alone does not tell you how it is cooked, seasoned or served. Ask about the particular menu item and listen for the preparation.
A useful question is ‘How is the breadfruit prepared?’ Follow with a question about what comes with it if needed. Point to the correct item while speaking. In practice, place one ingredient beside two imaginary dish descriptions and explain why the descriptions are different. This trains you to distinguish a material from the finished food it becomes.
Callaloo can refer to leafy greens or a preparation made with them. In Grenadian food descriptions, it is connected with dishes such as oil down. Ask whether the speaker means the greens as an ingredient or a finished dish. The surrounding sentence often answers that question.
If you want to know what else is included, ask specifically about the recipe being offered. A local food word can travel between ingredient and dish meanings, so avoid assuming every menu uses it identically. Could you repeat that? helps when you missed part of the explanation. Repeat the meaning you understood and let the speaker confirm or correct it.
Nutmeg is an aromatic spice, and Spice is the broader seasoning word. Grenada’s tourism authority highlights spices in its food culture, including nutmeg-flavoured foods. A product label may identify an ingredient without explaining the form or amount. Ask whether the item is whole, ground or part of another product.
At a market, choose one item before asking How much is it? Confirm the quantity covered by the price. If you are interested in where it was made, ask the seller instead of assuming that the place of sale proves its origin. A small, curious question can teach you a new vocabulary distinction and help you understand the item you are considering.
Cocoa can appear in conversations about cacao beans, chocolate ingredients or a drink. Grenada’s tourism material connects cocoa with chocolate experiences, but the exact product still needs identifying. Ask what the person is showing you and whether it is intended for eating, drinking or further preparation.
Read the full label and ask about an ingredient that matters to your choice. A familiar chocolate association does not establish sweetness, serving size or everything in a product. Practise comparing two pretend labels, then ask a partner to explain the difference. The goal is to connect the word with the actual object rather than attach one fixed meaning to every use.
Source: Grenada Tourism Authority: cocoa
Eastern Caribbean dollars is the currency name used in Grenada, often shown as EC$. When asking a price, confirm the unit and whether the amount is for one item, one person or the whole purchase. How much is it? begins the conversation; a clear total completes the price part.
Cash and Card describe payment methods, but the business decides which it accepts. Ask before completing the order. Change means cash returned after payment in this setting; Bill identifies the amount due. Practise with a small receipt: explain each item, confirm the total and currency, then name the payment method. This is a language check, not an exchange-rate prediction.
Ferry names a boat service, while Bus and Taxi identify road transport. For any journey, begin with the complete destination and ask where to board. A familiar transport word does not provide the departure details for your own booking. Keep the written place name ready so both speakers are discussing the same journey.
Fare means transport price and Return ticket describes there-and-back travel. Ask about return arrangements separately, including the meeting point. Terminal identifies a hub, not a guaranteed service to every destination. Rehearse with a partner who changes one travel detail, then repeat what changed. That makes the vocabulary useful for listening and confirmation as well as asking.
Where is…? works with Entrance, Exit, Bathroom or a specific meeting point. Left and Right explain turns, while Here and There may accompany a gesture. Ask for a landmark if a direction leaves the destination unclear. Repeat the next step before moving on.
At a meal, Drinking water states your request. Still water and Sparkling water distinguish carbonation where those options are available. Ask about the serving rather than assume its size. A good rehearsal combines two simple scenes: find the café entrance, then order a drink. Each familiar expression gains a job you can practise and recognise.
I need help is a direct assistance request. Add your location and the problem clearly. I don’t understand explains that you need clarification, and Please speak slowly asks for a gentler pace. Pharmacy helps identify a medicine shop; explain your actual need when seeking help.
At the end of the day, remember three words beside the scenes where you used them: perhaps Oil down at lunch, Cocoa on a label and Fare in a journey question. Tell someone what you asked and what you learned. Small remembered exchanges turn the fifty entries into a working travel vocabulary, one useful moment at a time.
Connected travel guides
This guide in Simplified Chinese · Trinidad and Tobago travel vocabulary · Bahamas travel vocabulary · Barbados travel vocabulary