Same thing, eight ways to say it
How to say “an apartment” in Spanish — country by country
Apartment can be apartamento, piso or departamento in Spanish. Piso is common in Spain; departamento is common in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Apartamento is used in Colombia and Puerto Rico.
Sources for the short answer: Source 1 · Source 2
Try it in a sentence
Original practice examples using the vocabulary above.
- Spain
Busco un piso de dos habitaciones.
I’m looking for a two-bedroom apartment.
- Mexico
¿Cuánto cuesta alquilar este departamento?
How much does it cost to rent this apartment?
Pronunciation: syllables and stress
Capital letters mark the stressed syllable. These are Spanish syllables, not English phonetic spellings; pronunciation varies by region.
- apartamentoa-par-ta-MEN-to
- pisoPI-so
- departamentode-par-ta-MEN-to
What people actually say
| Where | They say | Also · notes |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina Buenos Aires | departamento | Regional usage Also: depto (abbrev., unsourced) apartamento is not said. |
| Chile Santiago | departamento | Regional usage Also: depa (colloquial; only seen in a search snippet attributed to DUECh, not verified) |
| Colombia Medellín | apartamento | Regional usage Also: apto. (written abbrev.) departamento is understood; Bogotá is the same (Saúl Ortega, Bogotá, uses apartamento). |
| Dominican Republic Santo Domingo | not sourced yet | Not yet verified No lexicographic entry or Dominican native testimony found. Only indirect evidence: a real Santo Domingo address posted on WordReference reads «Calle Arena, Apartamento 102, Edificio C-IV... Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional» (official register, not testimony). From Santo Domingo? Tell us what you say. |
| Spain Madrid | piso | Regional usage Also: apartamento (= small flat, studio) departamento is not used for housing. |
| Mexico Mexico City | departamento | Regional usage Also: apartamento (heard); depa (colloquial, unsourced) piso is NOT used for the dwelling. |
| Peru Lima | departamento | Regional usage Also: depa (colloquial, unsourced) |
| Puerto Rico San Juan | apartamento | Regional usage |
Grey = the pan-Hispanic dictionary word is what people really say there. Blank = we couldn't source it yet.
Watch out
- piso means floor/storey everywhere; only in Spain is it the normal word for the dwelling. Bilma (Mexico): «We do not use piso» (WR 265226). Saúl Ortega (Colombia) treats piso as a flat occupying a whole storey (WR 3431353). [1][2]
- departamento = an administrative region (province) in Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Guatemala: DAMER departamento lists only territorial senses for Co, Pe, Bo / Ar / Ur; duvija (Uruguay): «'departamento' es en lo que se divide el país (Uruguay tiene 19 departamentos)» (WR 1923049). In Uruguay the flat is apartamento, so AR and UY differ (Moritzchen, WR 262506). [1][2][3]
- apartamento in Spain implies a small flat (Argi, Miguel On Ojj citing DLE «Esp. Piso pequeño para vivir», WR 3431353), whereas in Colombia/PR it is size-neutral (ika_verde, Colombia: used for «una vivienda de un edificio de varias viviendas, que generalmente tienen 3 dormitorios», WR 1923049). [1][2]
- Colombia/Mexico: both apartamento and departamento are heard (boyaco, Bilma); the Say column gives the one each poster calls predominant.
- Colloquial clipping depa (MX/PE/CL): widely claimed but no acceptable source found (only a search snippet attributing it to DUECh, which could not be opened). Treat as unsourced.
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Start speaking — freeSources
Every filled cell above is backed by human-authored lexicography or a native speaker who says where they're from — ASALE's Diccionario de americanismos, El Colegio de México's Diccionario del español de México, the Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, the Peruvian Academy's DiPerú, and country-stated posts on language forums. Nothing here comes from a model's recall. Spot a mistake? Tell us — corrections from native speakers go straight in.
Read the sources and research notes
- Argentina — departamento
- WordReference · joseluisblanco (Argentina):
En Argentina se utiliza departamento
↗ - WordReference · Ushuaia (castellano rioplatense):
en castellano rioplatense, francamente, no decimos apartamento. Sí tenemos departamentos
↗ - WordReference · Moritzchen:
En Argentina, departamento. En Uruguay, apartamento
↗ - Chile — departamento
- WordReference · gvergara (Chile), quoted by Lurrezko:
en Chile tampoco decimos apartamento, sino departamento
↗ - WordReference · fsabroso (Perú):
En Perú y Chile es 'departamento'
↗ - Colombia — apartamento
- WordReference · boyaco (Colombia):
en colombia predomina apartamento, pero seguro que todos han oido departamento tambien
↗ - WordReference · oa2169 (Colombia):
Apartamento decimos en Colombia
↗ - WordReference · Saúl Ortega (Bogotá):
En la mayoría de edificios residenciales de Bogotá hay más de un apartamento por piso
↗ - Dominican Republic —
- WordReference · posted Santo Domingo address (not testimony):
Calle Arena, Apartamento 102, Edificio C-IV... Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional
↗ - Spain — piso
- WordReference · Holes (Spain):
En España vivimos en 'pisos', casi nunca decimos 'apartamento' o 'departamento'
↗ - WordReference · Argi (Spain):
en España usamos 'piso', pero cuando este es de dimensiones reducidas también... 'apartamento'
↗ - WordReference · Manuel Herman (Spain):
el 'piso' (vivienda en un bloque de edificios)
↗ - Mexico — departamento
- DEM (COLMEX):
Cada una de las secciones de un edificio destinadas para vivienda: departamento amueblado, departamento de soltero
↗ - WordReference · oso (Mexico):
En México decimos 'departamento'
↗ - WordReference · Bilma (Mexico):
In Mexico we also use departamento and apartamento. We do not use piso
↗ - Peru — departamento
- WordReference · fsabroso (Perú):
En Perú y Chile es 'departamento'; Coincido con fsabroso (ERASMO_GALENO, Perú)
↗ - Castellano Actual (Univ. de Piura):
en gran parte de América se prefiere el término departamento
↗ - Puerto Rico — apartamento
- Tesoro PR:
Piso. Vivienda unifamiliar que, junto a otras similares, se encuentra en un edificio... Anglicismo adaptado, usual.
↗
Where we're less sure
- DO: UNVERIFIED — no source at all beyond a Santo Domingo street address using «Apartamento». Needs a Dominican.
- CL: one Chilean poster (gvergara) plus a Peruvian poster's claim; DUECh not consulted directly. Have a santiaguino confirm departamento and whether depa is everyday.
- MX: CDMX vs rest — Janis Joplin (northern Mexico) also says «Por esta parte de México lo común es departamento» (WR 1923049), so no regional split found; still worth a chilango check on how common apartamento is.
- ES: piso vs apartamento size nuance is native-attested; fine.
- DLE returned 403 to every fetch; DLE wording (dle.rae.es) is cited via search snippets only.
Dictionary context and regional notes
The dictionary word is apartamento — DLE headword; understood everywhere, but the everyday word splits three ways: piso (Spain), departamento (Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina), apartamento (Colombia, Caribbean, Uruguay). DAMER has no apartamento entry and its departamento entry only carries territorial-division senses, so those two are not cited for the housing sense. Here is what you'll actually hear in eight cities, with a cited source for every filled cell.