Go to Cancun

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to go to Cancun in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use common travel-related vocabulary

• use the ustedes command form

• give advice

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjectives

Spanish	English
amigable	friendly
autorizado	licensed
cristalino	crystal-clear
internacional	international
maleducado	rude

examples
No sean maleducados con la gente. Don't be rude to people.
Disfruten del agua cristalina. Enjoy the crystal-clear water.
Sean amigables con la gente. Be friendly to people.

Adverb

Spanish	English
encima	on

examples
No lleven mucho efectivo encima. Don't carry a lot of cash on you.

Nouns

Spanish	English
el bolso	purse
Cancún	Cancun
el cenote	cenote
el, la mar	sea
el marisco	seafood
la Riviera Maya	Mayan Riviera
el vuelo	flight

Note that certain proper nouns, like la Riviera Maya or el Reino Unido(the United Kingdom) tend to be used with an article.

examples
Siéntense al lado del mar. Sit by the sea.
Prueben los mariscos. Try the seafood.
Tomen un vuelo directo. Take a direct flight.

What’s a Cenote?

Cenotes are sinkholes or caves that are partially filled with water. Some of the limestone above the water collapses, creating a gorgeous natural pool. There are a number of cenotes on the Yucatán Peninsula.

The word mar is sometimes treated as a feminine noun, particularly in poetic or literary contexts, as well as in set phrases.

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
el agua de la llave	tap water
el guía turístico	tour guide
el protector solar	sunblock
la Semana Santa	Holy Week
los sitios arqueológicos	archeological sites
la temporada baja	off season

examples
No beban agua de la llave. Don't drink tap water.
Sí, pero no los visiten sin guía turístico. Yes, but don't visit them without a tour guide.
Lleven protector solar. Wear sunblock.

Prepositional Phrase

Spanish	English
al máximo	to the max

examples
Relájense al máximo. Relax to the max.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Recomendar

Recomendar(to recommend) is a stem-changing verb. That means that its "stem," recome, changes to recomie in all forms except for the vos, nosotros/nosotras, and vosotros/vosotras forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	recomiendo	I recommend
tú	recomiendas	you recommend	informal singular you
vos	recomendás	you recommend	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	recomienda	he, she recommends
usted	recomienda	you recommend	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	recomendamos	we recommend
vosotros, vosotras	recomendáis	you recommend	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	recomiendan	they recommend
ustedes	recomiendan	you recommend	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Verbs: Ustedes Command Forms

In this skill, you learn the command forms for the following verbs!

Infinitive	English	Ustedes Command Form	Negative Ustedes Command Form
beber	to drink	beban	no beban
comer	to eat	coman	no coman
disfrutar	to enjoy	disfruten	no disfruten
ir	to go	vayan	no vayan
llegar	to arrive	lleguen	no lleguen
llevar	to carry, to wear	lleven	no lleven
pedir	to ask (for), to order, to book	pidan	no pidan
practicar	to practice	practiquen	no practiquen
preocuparse	to worry	preocúpense	no se preocupen
probar	to try	prueben	no prueben
quedarse	to stay	quédense	no se queden
relajarse	to relax	relájense	no se relajen
ser	to be	sean	no sean
sentarse	to sit	siéntense	no se sienten
tener	to have, to be	tengan	no tengan
tomar	to take	tomen	no tomen
viajar	to travel	viajen	no viajen
visitar	to visit	visiten	no visiten

Forming Affirmative Commands

For regular verbs, you will simply use the ustedes form of the present subjunctive. That means regular -ar verbs will end in -en, and regular -er and -ir verbs will end in -an.

examples
Viajen en temporada baja. Travel in the off season.
Disfruten del agua cristalina. Enjoy the crystal-clear water.
Beban jugos de fruta. Drink fruit juices.

There are also irregular verbs in the ustedes command form. Tengan and vayan are some of the irregular verbs that we studied in this lesson. You can learn more about irregular present subjunctive verbs in this article.

Pronoun Placement in Affirmative Ustedes Commands

Pronouns are attached to the end of affirmative commands. If the command form of the verb has more than one syllable, a written accent is added when attaching a pronoun.

examples
Quédense en un buen hotel. Stay in a good hotel.
Relájense al máximo. Relax to the max.

Forming Negative Commands

To form a negative command, all you have to do is put a negative word such as noin front of the affirmative ustedes command.

examples
No se preocupen por nada. Don't worry about anything.
No beban agua de la llave. Don't drink tap water.
No vayan en julio. Don't go in July.

Pronoun Placement in Negative Ustedes Commands

Pronouns come between the negative word (such as no) and the verb in negative ustedes commands.

examples
Sí, pero no los prueben sin limón. Yes, but don't try them without lime.
Sí, pero no los visiten sin guía turístico. Yes, but don't visit them without a tour guide.

Learn more about ustedes commands in this article.

Phrases

Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
Relájense al máximo.	Relax to the max.
No se preocupen por nada.	Don't worry about anything.

Culture

You learned the term Semana Santa or Holy Week in this lesson. Just what is Holy Week? In much of the Spanish-speaking world, Easter is not just one day—it lasts a week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday! Each region or country tends to have its own traditions surrounding Holy Week, and it’s also a popular time to travel in many parts of the Spanish-speaking world.

Lemons and Limes

Did you know that limón can mean lemon and lime, depending on where you are in the Spanish-speaking world? Read more in this article.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Sofía:

Luciano, viajas mucho a Cancún. Queremos ir allí. ¿Qué nos recomiendas?

Luciano, you travel to Cancun a lot. We want to go there. What do you recommend we do?

Luciano:

Primero, tomen un vuelo directo. Vayan a la Riviera Maya.

First, take a direct flight. Go to the Mayan Riviera.

Sofía:

Queremos ir a la Riviera Maya en julio.

We want to go to the Mayan Riviera in July.

Luciano:

No vayan en julio. Viajen en temporada baja, pero no viajen en Semana Santa.

Don’t go in July. Travel in the off season, but don’t travel during Holy Week.

Sofía:

¿Conoces un hotel barato?

Do you know of any cheap hotels?

Luciano:

Quédense en un buen hotel, Sofía, y no se queden lejos de la playa. ¡Relájense al máximo!

Stay in a good hotel, Sofía, and don’t stay far from the beach. Relax to the max!

Want to learn more about how to go to Cancun in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• How to Sound Like a Local in Mexico

• Plan a Trip to a Spanish-Speaking Country

• Spanish-Speaking Travel Destinations for Every Type of Person