DGT exam vocabulary: 208 Spanish words in English

DGT-style practice questions reuse the same Spanish road words again and again: in ruta's bank of 6,175 practice questions, vehículo appears in 1,660 and calzada in 852. Many of the words that trip up English speakers are close pairs, such as carril (a lane), calzada (the part of the road for vehicles) and carretera (a road outside towns), which an English dictionary can turn into one word: road.

Start here: the 30 words that appear most

Each number is how many questions in our bank of 6,175 practice questions use the word. The last section explains how we count.

Spanish	English	Questions
vehículo	vehicle	1,660
conductor	driver	1,467
velocidad	speed	1,298
circular	to travel	1,137
vía	road	968
calzada	carriageway	852
señal	sign	826
sentido	direction	672
accidente	accident	667
carril	lane	634
prohibido	prohibited	535
conducir	to drive	532
distancia	distance	498
marcha	gear	483
motor	engine	461
luz	light	453
turismo	passenger car	451
circulación	traffic flow	450
riesgo	risk	410
visibilidad	visibility	404
adelantar	to overtake	396
tráfico	traffic	390
motocicleta	motorcycle	384
conducción	driving	376
obligatorio	mandatory	374
alcohol	alcohol	334
prioridad	priority	311
detenerse	to stop	298
cruce	junction	279
fatiga	fatigue	273

Add up the question counts of all 208 words and you get 29,754. These 30 words account for 18,273 of them, about 61%, and the other 178 words share the rest.

To drill these words, use ruta's vocabulary trainer, which works from this list. It is part of the ruta app, which is in Spanish and needs an account. A free account gets 30 word reviews a day, and Pro has no daily limit.

All 208 words, grouped by exam topic

Even if you take the exam in English, its photos show Spanish signs. ruta's practice questions are in Spanish too.

Each table runs from the most used word to the least used. Where a sign shows the idea, the English column links to that sign's page.

Definitions (Definiciones): 4 words

Spanish	English	Questions
transporte	transport	259
ciclomotor	moped	142
travesía	through road	56
peatón	pedestrian	47

Use of the road (Uso de las vías): 12 words

Spanish	English	Questions
turismo	passenger car	451
circulación	traffic flow	450
remolque	trailer	168
combustible	fuel	147
distancia de seguridad	safe distance	127
autovía	divided highway, sign S-1a	105
ciclista	cyclist, sign P-22	60
emisiones	emissions	56
luces de emergencia	hazard lights	44
firme	road surface	38
auriculares	headphones	19
congestión	congestion	5

Speed (Velocidad): 8 words

Spanish	English	Questions
velocidad máxima	maximum speed, sign R-301	208
autopista	controlled-access highway, sign S-1	174
titular	holder	114
velocidad mínima	minimum speed, sign R-411	41
límite	limit	29
luz de freno	brake light	23
semirremolque	semi-trailer	23
límite de velocidad	speed limit, sign R-301	5

Maneuvers (Maniobras): 29 words

Spanish	English	Questions
prohibido	prohibited	535
marcha	gear	483
visibilidad	visibility	404
adelantar	to overtake	396
emergencia	emergency	260
estacionar	to park	249
arcén	hard shoulder	230
parada	halt, sign R-307	185
adelantamiento	overtaking, sign R-305	183
intermitente	turn signal	120
marcha atrás	reversing	100
túnel	tunnel, sign S-5	98
incorporarse	to merge	85
cambio de sentido	U-turn, sign R-304	75
chaleco	high-visibility vest	63
avería	breakdown	53
desplazamiento	journey	50
autobús	bus	47
pendiente	slope	47
glorieta	roundabout, sign P-4	37
rebasar	to overtake	34
incorporación	merging	33
aceleración	acceleration	28
inmovilización	vehicle immobilization	28
doble fila	double parking	27
carril de aceleración	acceleration lane	23
vía pública	public road	20
bordillo	curb	19
carril bus	bus lane, sign S-51	10

Right of way (Prioridad de paso): 9 words

Spanish	English	Questions
prioridad	priority	311
ceder	to yield	210
prioridad de paso	right of way	122
camión	truck	101
vehículo prioritario	priority vehicle	20
refugio	pedestrian refuge	19
ambulancia	ambulance	11
bomberos	fire department	10
señal horizontal	road marking	4

Carrying people and goods (Transporte de personas y mercancías o cosas): 11 words

Spanish	English	Questions
obligatorio	mandatory	374
anchura	width, sign R-204	144
pasajero	passenger	123
altura	height, sign R-205	80
mercancías	goods	76
ruido	noise	36
normativa	regulations	30
mercancías peligrosas	dangerous goods, sign R-108	28
bicicleta	bicycle	27
conductor novel	novice driver	22
maletero	trunk	19

Vehicle lights and signaling (Alumbrado y señalización óptica de los vehículos): 10 words

Spanish	English	Questions
sentido contrario	oncoming	264
estacionamiento	parking, sign R-308	223
alumbrado	lighting	212
niebla	fog	106
luz antiniebla	fog light	67
humo	smoke	49
luz de posición	position light	26
matrícula	license plate	23
luz de carretera	high beams	20
luces de cruce	low beams	8

Signs (Señales): 32 words

Spanish	English	Questions
circular	to travel	1,137
vía	road	968
calzada	carriageway	852
señal	sign	826
sentido	direction	672
carril	lane	634
luz	light	453
motocicleta	motorcycle	384
detenerse	to stop	298
cruce	junction	279
salida	exit	221
intersección	intersection, sign P-1	187
dirección	direction	167
señalización	signage	150
semáforo	traffic light, sign P-3	136
agente	traffic officer	120
entrada	entry	97
obras	roadwork, sign P-18	95
detención	stop, sign R-2	75
longitudinal	lengthwise	66
paso a nivel	railroad crossing, sign P-7	59
marca vial	road marking	52
prohibición	prohibition	44
puente	bridge	40
señal vertical	vertical sign	34
ceda el paso	yield, sign R-1	30
carril reservado	reserved lane, sign S-51a	27
carril reversible	reversible lane	22
ganado	livestock, sign P-23	20
triángulo	warning triangle	7
desnivel	level difference	5
curva peligrosa	dangerous curve, sign P-13a	3

Documents (Documentación): 12 words

Spanish	English	Questions
permiso	license	253
responsable	liable	76
permiso de conducción	driver's license	66
puntos	points	58
inspección técnica	technical inspection	53
ley	law	48
infracción	offense	39
sanción	penalty	26
multa	fine	20
documento	document	15
grúa	tow truck	6
examen	exam	5

The driver's physical condition (Estado físico del conductor): 13 words

Spanish	English	Questions
conductor	driver	1,467
riesgo	risk	410
alcohol	alcohol	334
fatiga	fatigue	273
volante	steering wheel	271
somnolencia	drowsiness	146
drogas	drugs	130
alcoholemia	blood alcohol level	124
medicamentos	medication	106
teléfono móvil	cell phone	55
seguridad vial	road safety	37
zona urbana	built-up area	30
desvío	detour	2

Other road users (Otros usuarios): 7 words

Spanish	English	Questions
lesiones	injuries	165
giro	turn	72
zona peatonal	pedestrian zone, sign S-30a	28
reglamento	regulation	27
paso de peatones	pedestrian crossing, sign S-13	18
carril bici	cycle lane	17
ángulo muerto	blind spot	6

Road hazards (Peligros de la vía): 17 words

Spanish	English	Questions
vehículo	vehicle	1,660
conducir	to drive	532
conducción	driving	376
nieve	snow, sign P-34	88
adherencia	grip	80
hielo	ice, sign P-34	73
curva	curve	66
deslumbramiento	glare	44
camino	road	42
aquaplaning	aquaplaning	18
arrancar	to start a vehicle	17
faros	headlights	17
derrape	skid	10
helada	frost	7
botiquín	first-aid kit	4
atasco	traffic jam	3
resbaladizo	slippery, sign P-19	1

The vehicle (El vehículo): 14 words

Spanish	English	Questions
distancia	distance	498
freno	brake	169
cinturón de seguridad	seat belt	120
rueda	wheel	112
parabrisas	windshield	57
frenada	braking	43
acelerador	accelerator pedal	42
rueda de repuesto	spare wheel	35
freno de mano	parking brake	29
neumático	tire	24
extintor	fire extinguisher	15
freno motor	engine braking	10
sillita	child seat	10
siniestro	crash	10

Accidents (Accidentes): 13 words

Spanish	English	Questions
velocidad	speed	1,298
accidente	accident	667
tráfico	traffic	390
casco	helmet	138
seguro	insurance	118
atropello	pedestrian run-over	89
auxilio	assistance	80
acera	sidewalk	70
herido	injured person	49
exceso de velocidad	speeding	31
policía	police	19
socorro	emergency help	16
trayecto	journey	5

Car maintenance (Mantenimiento del automóvil): 6 words

Spanish	English	Questions
motor	engine	461
gasolina	gasoline	42
contaminación	pollution	20
suspensión	suspension	16
testigo	warning light	9
prevención	prevention	1

Words without a topic: 11 words

Spanish	English	Questions
descenso	descent	1
educación vial	road safety education	1
carril de frenado	deceleration lane	0
casco urbano	town center	0
discapacitado	disabled person	0
fauna	wildlife, sign P-24	0
imprudencia	recklessness	0
invasión	encroachment	0
isla	traffic island	0
paso subterráneo	underpass	0
rotonda	roundabout, sign P-4	0

A carril sits inside a calzada, and a calzada is part of a carretera

Spain's traffic law defines these words in its annex of basic concepts.¹ Learn them as a set, from the biggest to the smallest:

• Carretera (road): a paved public road outside a built-up area (poblado), except the stretches that run through a town, which are a travesía.¹
• Calzada (carriageway): the part of the road for vehicles. It is made up of a number of lanes.¹ 852 questions in our bank use the word.
• Carril (lane): one lengthwise strip of the calzada, with or without painted lines, wide enough for one line of cars.¹ 634 questions use it.
• Arcén (hard shoulder): the paved strip next to the calzada. Motor vehicles may use it only in exceptional circumstances.¹
• Acera (sidewalk): the strip of the road for pedestrians.¹

The law uses them together. A car driver "debe circular por la calzada y no por el arcén, salvo por razones de emergencia": drive on the carriageway, not on the hard shoulder, except in an emergency.²

Turismo means car, and a parada is not parking

Two more traps come from words that look familiar.

• Turismo (passenger car): not tourism. The law defines it as a motor vehicle for carrying people, with at least four wheels and at most eight seats besides the driver's.¹ 451 questions in our bank use it.
• Detención (stop): the vehicle stops because of an emergency, the traffic, or a rule, such as at a STOP sign R-2.¹
• Parada (halt): the vehicle stops for less than two minutes, and the driver may not leave it.¹
• Estacionamiento (parking): any stop that is not a detención or a parada.¹

Signs follow the same split. R-307 bans both parada and estacionamiento, and R-308 bans estacionamiento only.

The law says glorieta, not rotonda

Our list has two words for a roundabout, rotonda and glorieta, and the questions in our bank pick one: rotonda appears in none of the 6,175 questions, singular or plural, while glorieta appears in 37. Glorieta is also the legal word, defined in the same annex,¹ and the name of the roundabout warning sign P-4.

Learn the word the question uses, not only the one you hear in the street. For sign words, the English sign directory gives each sign's official Spanish name next to its English meaning.

The top 30 words in example questions

Each of the 30 words comes with one question from our bank that uses it.

1. vehículo: vehicle. El vehículo azul…
2. conductor: driver. Conductor es la persona…
3. velocidad: speed. Una velocidad elevada…
4. circular: to travel. Por esta vía deben circular…
5. vía: road. Por esta vía deben circular…
6. calzada: carriageway. La señal indica, calzada…
7. señal: sign. Esta señal…
8. sentido: direction. Esta señal indica dirección y sentido…
9. accidente: accident. Si presencia un accidente, debe…
10. carril: lane. En un carril reversible…
11. prohibido: prohibited. Está prohibido parar…
12. conducir: to drive. ¿Cómo debe conducir con nieve?
13. distancia: distance. La distancia de reacción es…
14. marcha: gear. ¿Se puede circular marcha atrás?
15. motor: engine. El motor, al actuar como freno, lo hace sobre…
16. luz: light. ¿Qué luz obliga a detenerse?
17. turismo: passenger car. Se prohíbe conducir un turismo…
18. circulación: traffic flow. La circulación de peatones por autovía…
19. riesgo: risk. ¿La velocidad es siempre un factor de riesgo?
20. visibilidad: visibility. En esta curva sin visibilidad, ¿está permitido adelantar?
21. adelantar: to overtake. Está prohibido adelantar…
22. tráfico: traffic. Los accidentes de tráfico…
23. motocicleta: motorcycle. Si conduce una motocicleta…
24. conducción: driving. La conducción preventiva es…
25. obligatorio: mandatory. ¿Es obligatorio llevar este panel?
26. alcohol: alcohol. El alcohol puede…
27. prioridad: priority. ¿Cuándo tienen prioridad los ciclistas?
28. detenerse: to stop. ¿Qué luz obliga a detenerse?
29. cruce: junction. En este cruce, ¿qué se debe hacer?
30. fatiga: fatigue. El sueño y la fatiga…

Where the numbers come from

The list is a snapshot of ruta's vocabulary data as of 2026-11-05. Each entry reads as follows:

• Questions: the number of questions in our bank that contain the word in the question, in an answer option or, where the question has one, in its explanation. Each question counts once.
• Exact word: accents and capital letters are ignored, but other forms count separately. Carril's 634 does not include carriles, so read each number as a floor.
• Example: a sentence from the bank, usually the shortest question that uses the word. Most are question stems that end in "…", because the answer options follow in the exam.
• Topic: the exam topic of the example question, out of the 15 topics in our bank. Each word is filed under its example's topic, so a few words sit in unexpected places, like velocidad under accidents.
• English: ruta's own glossary, not a DGT translation. It uses the DGT's English exam wording where that is confirmed (carriageway, overtaking, hard shoulder) and American spelling elsewhere. ruta's sign pages use American pairs such as roadway.
• Zero counts: nine words in the list appear in no question as written, and the tables show them with 0. They and the two words whose only question has no topic make up the last table.

This list is also the glossary behind word translations in ruta. With a free account, you can tap a word in a practice question and see its English meaning when the word is on this list.

What to take away

• A carril is one lane, a calzada is all the lanes for vehicles, and a carretera is the whole road outside towns.
• Turismo means passenger car, not tourism.
• A parada lasts under two minutes with the driver staying; anything else that is not a detención is an estacionamiento.
• The questions in our bank say glorieta, never rotonda.
• The counts are exact-word matches across 6,175 questions; plurals and other forms are not included.

Footnotes

1. BOE, RDL 6/2015, Ley sobre Tráfico, anexo I (Conceptos básicos), points 15, 55, 56, 58, 61, 63, 65, 71 and 80 to 82, consolidated text, last updated June 26, 2026, retrieved November 5, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. BOE, RDL 6/2015, article 16.1, consolidated text, retrieved November 5, 2026. ↩