How to Say "Piece" and "Slice" in Spanish

Quick Answer

How do you say piece and slice in Spanish? Though this question is a simple one, the answer is not so simple. Piece and slice have numerous translations in Spanish, and knowing which one to use can be tricky.

No matter how you slice it, it is frustrating when a word in English has several equivalents in Spanish, multiplying the amount of vocabulary you have to memorize. After reading this article, choosing which translation of piece/slice to use will be a piece of cake!

10 Ways to Talk about a Piece or Slice of Food

“Why are there so many words for the same thing in Spanish?” is a question most students of Spanish undoubtedly ask themselves at some point. It's almost hard to believe that there are a whopping ten ways to talk about a piece or slice of a food in Spanish. Here they are!

Word in Spanish	English Translation	Usage
trozo	piece/slice	Trozo is the most widely-used translation for piece/slice. It should be your go-to translation. It's used for a wide variety of foods of any shape or size, but is most commonly used to refer to a piece/slice of cake or pizza.
pedazo	piece/slice	Pedazo is used in the same way as trozo, but it is less common.
porción	piece/slice	Refers to a portion of food, often a triangular-shaped portion of a circular-shaped food, such as pizza, cake, pie, watermelon, or a wheel of cheese.
rodaja	slice	Typically used to refer to a circular-shaped slice of something, like a cucumber or tomato. It is also used for slices of lemon/lime.
rebanada	slice	Refers to a slice of bread.
loncha	slice	Refers to a thin slice of something, generally cheese, ham, or other deli meats.
lonja	slice	Also used for a thin slice of something.
tajada	slice	Generally refers to a slice of cooked meat, such as chicken or lamb.
troncha	slice	Used in Latin America to refer to meat (cooked and uncooked) or cheese.
raja	slice	Generally refers to a slice of melon.

Now it's time to check out some examples!

examples
Me gustaría un trozo del pastel de chocolate. I'd like a piece of the chocolate cake.
¿Quieres un pedazo de este queso? Do you want a piece of this cheese?
Se comió cinco porciones de pizza. He ate five slices of pizza.
Pon unas rodajas de cebolla roja en la ensalada. Put some slices of red onion in the salad.
¿Me das una rebanada de pan? Can I have a slice of bread?
Una loncha de jamón es suficiente. One slice of ham is enough.
Puso las tajadas de cordero en el gyro. He put the slices of lamb in the gyro.
Quiero una raja de melón. I want a slice of melon.

By this point, you may be asking yourself how to say to slice in Spanish. Use cortaras the general term for slicing things. Rebanaris a more specific term to talk about slicing something into thin, uniform pieces.

Is there one word in Spanish that can always be used for piece/slice?

When used in a culinary sense, trozo and pedazo pretty much cover all your bases. However, there isn’t one single word in Spanish that we can use for piece/slice beyond the culinary sense. For example, you use piezato refer to something that is part of a game or set, but you would never use it for a piece of cake.

Let’s take a look at some examples of piece/slice in a non-culinary sense.

examples
Al rompecabezas le faltan tres piezas. The jigsaw puzzle has three missing pieces.
El empleado exigió una parte de las ganancias de la empresa. The employee demanded a slice of the company's profits.
¿Leíste el artículo acerca del calentamiento global? Did you read the piece about global warming?
Mi ficha es la del dedal. My piece is the thimble.