How to Say "garbage" in Spanish
The most common Spanish word for “garbage” is “basura” — use 'basura' when referring to physical waste, trash, or refuse, especially household garbage that needs to be thrown out..
English → Spanish
basura
/ba-SOO-ra//baˈsuɾa/
nounA1general
Use 'basura' when referring to physical waste, trash, or refuse, especially household garbage that needs to be thrown out.
Examples
Por favor, saca la basura.
Please, take out the trash.
El camión de la basura pasa los martes por la mañana.
The garbage truck comes on Tuesday mornings.
No tires basura en el parque.
Don't throw litter in the park.
Always Feminine
Remember that 'basura' is a feminine word, so you'll always use 'la basura' or 'una basura', never 'el' or 'un'.
porquería
nounB2informal
Use 'porquería' to describe an object or product that is of extremely low quality, worthless, or a 'piece of junk'.
Examples
No compres ese teléfono, es una porquería.
Don't buy that phone, it's a piece of junk.
Trash vs. Junk
The most common mistake is using 'porquería' when you simply mean physical trash. Remember that 'basura' is for waste you throw away, while 'porquería' describes something of very poor quality.
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