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Metro and Metrobús Spanish when everyone is moving

Transit Spanish is short, physical, and polite enough: permiso, baja, sube, transbordo, and aguas.

Use This First

  • Learn permiso, ¿baja?, bajo en la que sigue, and ¿por dónde transbordo?
  • Do not overtalk on crowded platforms. Short phrases are kinder.
  • Aguas works when someone is about to trip, bump, or miss a step.

Say it early, say it short

The Metro moves millions of people every weekday and the doors stay open for a matter of seconds. That is the whole reason transit Spanish is clipped. Permiso is not curt, it is the standard word for moving through people, and it works at any density of crowd. Con permiso is the slightly softer version. Neither one needs a sentence around it.

The move that actually matters is asking ahead of you. ¿Baja? - are you getting off? - said to the person between you and the door, one stop before yours, is how everybody does it. If they say no, they step aside. If they say sí, you queue behind them. Waiting until the train stops to start apologising is how you end up at the next station.

For transfers the word is transbordo, and the signs also use correspondencia. Line colours and terminal-station names do more work than line numbers in spoken directions - people say dirección Cuatro Caminos, not line 2 westbound. And aguas, the all-purpose watch out, gets used constantly on the stairs and at the gap.

People crossing a street in central Mexico City
Photo by Kaden Taylor on Unsplash
A narrow Mexico City sidewalk lined with shops
Photo by Jimmy Woo on Unsplash

Memorize these first

inside the train

  • Permiso. Excuse me. moving through people safe
  • ¿Baja? Are you getting off? door crowd safe
  • Bajo en la que sigue. I get off at the next one. door crowd safe
  • Con permiso, porfa. Excuse me, please. squeezing through safe

station confusion

  • ¿Por dónde transbordo? Where do I transfer? transfer safe
  • ¿Esta línea va a Centro Médico? Does this line go to Centro Médico? route check safe
  • Aguas con el escalón. Watch the step. warning local
  • Me equivoqué de dirección. I went the wrong direction. confession safe

One-screen cheat sheet

🚇
Metro / Metrobús cheat sheet Screenshot this before you go.
Spanish English Use case Safety
Permiso. Excuse me. moving through people safe
¿Baja? Are you getting off? door crowd safe
Bajo en la que sigue. I get off at the next one. door crowd safe
Con permiso, porfa. Excuse me, please. squeezing through safe
¿Por dónde transbordo? Where do I transfer? transfer safe
¿Esta línea va a Centro Médico? Does this line go to Centro Médico? route check safe
Aguas con el escalón. Watch the step. warning local
Me equivoqué de dirección. I went the wrong direction. confession safe

the gringo trap

Do not say this by default

don't say this

Do not say disculpe in a long full sentence when you just need to get off.

say this

Say permiso or ¿baja? early.

Crowded transit has its own grammar: short, clear, and timed before the doors open.

safe / local / spicy

Pick your register

safe

Permiso, bajo en la que sigue.

local

¿Baja? Yo bajo aquí.

spicy

Aguas, sí bajo.

The spicy version is firm. Use it only when the doorway is not moving.

How it sounds

door crowd

¿Baja? Are you getting off?
No, hasta la que sigue. No, at the next one.
Permiso, yo sí bajo aquí. Excuse me, I do get off here.
Va. Okay.

transfer

Disculpe, ¿por dónde transbordo a la línea tres? Excuse me, where do I transfer to line three?
Siga derecho y baje las escaleras. Go straight and go down the stairs.
Gracias. Thanks.
De nada. No problem.

Practice cards

three fast taps before you try it outside.

You need to get off but someone is blocking the door.

You need the safest version for Metro / Metrobús. What do you pick first?

Which move avoids the gringo trap?

Words you'll hear

¡aguas! - a woman throwing an arm across a friend to stop her walking into a wet floor
sale - two friends at a cafe table agreeing on something with a thumbs up
¿mande? - a young man stopping on the sidewalk to take a call, hand in pocket
¿qué onda? - two friends clasping hands in greeting on a tree-lined street
¡aguanta! - a woman running after a departing microbus with her arm out
aventón - a woman leaning into a car window before getting in for a lift
cabrón - two friends shoving each other around laughing outside an Oxxo
cálmate - a woman with her head in her hands at a table while a friend puts a hand on her arm
chingar - a woman rolling her eyes and covering her ears at the drilling coming through the ceiling
güey - two friends sitting on a curb outside an Oxxo laughing at a phone
¡híjole! - a woman standing over a fresh dent in her parked car with a hand on her cheek
me caga - a man at a desk shutting his laptop while a colleague keeps talking

Deep dives

Getting around CDMX Metro Spanish: Empujones, Transbordos, and Your Stop
Learn CDMX Metro Spanish for directions, transfers, crowded cars, stop questions, permiso, se baja, transbordo, and platform panic. May 31, 2026
Getting around Mexican Spanish for Directions When Google Maps Betrays You
Learn practical Mexican Spanish for asking directions: por dónde, derecho, hasta, esquina, enfrente, cruzando, queda, and landmarks. Jun 1, 2026
Manners ¡Aguas! The Mexican Warning Words That Save You From Trouble
"¡Aguas!" doesn't mean water, it means watch out. The warning words Mexicans really use (aguas, cuidado, ojo) for traffic, scams, and hot pans. May 26, 2026

FAQ

What do you say to get through a crowd on the Metro?

Permiso, or con permiso. It is the standard phrase for moving past people and nobody hears it as impatient. Say it before you need to move, not as the doors are closing.

What does ¿baja? mean on the Metro?

Are you getting off? You ask it of whoever is standing between you and the door, one station before yours. If they say no, they step aside so you can move up.

How do you ask about a transfer?

¿Por dónde transbordo? Transbordo is the transfer, and the signs also say correspondencia. Directions are given by terminal station rather than by compass direction, so knowing the name at the end of your line helps.

Related situations

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