Spanish riddles are called adivinanzas (from the verb adivinar, “to guess”). They are short, often rhyming, and a fun way to practice everyday nouns and descriptions. This page gives classic riddles with answers and translations, explains the wordplay, and shows how to use them in study. Try to guess each answer before reading it.
What is an adivinanza?
An adivinanza is a short riddle, often in verse, that describes an object, animal or idea indirectly. They are part of a long oral tradition in Spanish-speaking countries and are popular with children, which makes their vocabulary beginner-friendly. Versions of the same riddle can differ slightly from country to country.
Easy riddles with answers
Cover the answer and try to guess.
1. La pera
Blanca por dentro, verde por fuera. Si quieres que te lo diga, espera. White on the inside, green on the outside. If you want me to tell you, wait.
Answer: la pera (the pear). Notice the clever clue: espera (“wait”) contains pera.
2. El reloj
Tengo agujas y no sé coser, tengo números y no sé leer. I have needles and I don’t know how to sew; I have numbers and I don’t know how to read.
Answer: el reloj (the clock or watch). Agujas means both needles and clock hands.
3. El huevo
Una cajita blanca como la cal, todos la saben abrir y nadie cerrar. A little white box, white as lime; everyone knows how to open it and nobody can close it.
Answer: el huevo (the egg).
4. La llave
Chiquito como un ratón y guarda la casa como un león. Small as a mouse, yet it guards the house like a lion.
Answer: la llave (the key).
5. El anillo
Redondo, redondo, barril sin fondo. Round, round, a barrel with no bottom.
Answer: el anillo (the ring).
6. El ajo
Tiene dientes y no come, tiene cabeza y no es hombre. It has teeth but doesn’t eat; it has a head but isn’t a man.
Answer: el ajo (garlic). A head of garlic has cloves, called dientes de ajo (“garlic teeth”).
7. El viento
Vuelo sin alas, silbo sin boca, azoto sin manos y nadie me ve. I fly without wings, whistle without a mouth, whip without hands, and no one sees me.
Answer: el viento (the wind).
8. El aguacate
Agua pasa por mi casa, cate de mi corazón. Water passes by my house, “cate” of my heart.
Answer: el aguacate (the avocado). This is a pun: the answer is hidden by joining agua and cate into aguacate.
9. El plátano
Oro parece, plata no es. ¿Qué es? It looks like gold, but it isn’t silver. What is it?
Answer: el plátano (banana). The gold-colored fruit is the clue (the riddle is also traditionally answered “plátano” in Spain). In some countries the fruit is called banana or banano, while plátano can mean a cooking banana (plantain). This is a good reminder of how fruit names vary by region.
How to ask and answer riddles
- ¿Qué es, qué es? – What is it, what is it? (the traditional way to begin a riddle)
- Adivina, adivinanza. – Guess, riddle.
- ¿Qué cosa es? – What thing is it?
- Me rindo. – I give up.
- Dime la respuesta. – Tell me the answer.
- ¿Es…? – Is it…?
- Es… / Creo que es… – It’s… / I think it’s…
- ¡Correcto! / ¡Muy bien! – Correct! / Very good!
- Casi. – Almost.
- Inténtalo otra vez. – Try again.
Vocabulary from these riddles
- adivinar – to guess
- la adivinanza – riddle
- la respuesta – answer
- la pista – clue
- rimar – to rhyme
- el juego de palabras – wordplay, pun
- el acertijo – brain teaser, puzzle (a more general word)
How to answer “¿Qué hora es?”
Riddle collections sometimes include time questions, and “¿Qué hora es?” (“What time is it?”) is an everyday question too. Answer with Es la una for one o’clock, and Son las + number for other times:
- Es la una. – It’s one o’clock.
- Son las dos. – It’s two o’clock.
- Son las tres y media. – It’s three thirty.
- Son las cuatro y cuarto. – It’s a quarter past four.
- Son las cinco menos cuarto. – It’s a quarter to five. (Latin America also uses un cuarto para las cinco.)
Learning with riddles
- Read the riddle aloud and listen for the rhyme.
- Guess the answer before checking.
- Look up unfamiliar words, then say the riddle again.
- Try to retell it to someone else from memory. Short rhymes are easy to remember.
- Write your own simple riddle about an object around you.
Riddles pair well with other light, playful study: see our list of easy Spanish songs to learn, or practice describing everyday items with the words in our Spanish clothing vocabulary.
A few quick facts
What are 10 interesting facts about Spanish? Instead of a fixed list, here are a few widely cited points: Spanish is a Romance language that comes from Latin; it is spoken in Spain, much of the Americas and parts of other regions; it uses inverted question and exclamation marks (¿…? and ¡…!); and its spelling is generally more phonetic than English. Of course, vocabulary and some grammar vary by region.
What is the 80/20 rule for Spanish? It usually refers to the idea that a relatively small group of common words covers a large share of everyday speech, so studying high-frequency vocabulary first pays off. It is a rule of thumb, not a precise figure. Our guide to how many hours it takes to learn a language discusses the idea in more detail.