Do you know what a phrasal verb is? According to the Oxford Language Dictionary, it is "an idiomatic phrase consisting of a verb and another element, typically either an adverb... a preposition... or a combination..." Some common examples of the countless English phrasal verbs are "break down," "break up, "put in," "put on," and so forth, and while there are far less phrasal verbs in Spanish, there are many common ones it would behoove you to know. For this purpose, we have comprised a list of 35 with examples from Yabla's Spanish video library.
While some Spanish phrasal verbs can be translated literally into English, others employ a different preposition than their English counterparts or have totally different literal translations. With this in mind, let's look at the list.
The verb acabar (to finish) plus the preposition de (from/of) plus an infinitive Spanish verb (the "to" or -ing form) means that one "has just" completed some action. Let's take a look:
Acabamos de disfrutar de Jarabe de Palo.
We just enjoyed Jarabe de Palo.
Caption 25, Tu Música Rock en español
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The reflexive verb acordarse de is a synonym for recordar (to remember) in Spanish. Both are used to talk about what one "remembers" or "remembers to" do:
Me acuerdo de estar aquí con mi perro,
I remember being here with my dog
Caption 53, Amaya Recordando - Part 1
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The reflexive verb acostumbrarse plus the preposition a means "to get used to" or "accustomed to" something:
y nos acostumbramos a ir a playas,
and we got used to going to beaches,
Caption 40, El coronavirus La cuarentena en Coro, Venezuela - Part 1
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Yet another reflexive verb, alegrarse de, is used to talk about one being happy or pleased about something. You will often see it alongside the conjunction que plus a verb in the subjunctive mood, as we see below:
Me alegro de que le guste.
I'm glad you like it.
Caption 15, Los casos de Yabla Problemas de convivencia - Part 2
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Although caer bien literally means "to fall well," like the verb gustar, it is used to describe the idea of "liking." Like gustar and other verbs like gustar, it is usually employed with an indirect object pronoun in sentences where, grammatically speaking, it is the object of the sentence (what is liked) that performs the action. Let's see an example:
Creo que a Lola no le cae bien.
I think Lola doesn't like her.
Caption 60, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 8: La prima de la dueña - Part 6
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You might have guessed that caer mal (literally "to fall badly") means the opposite of caer bien and functions similarly to convey the idea that one does not like someone or something:
Creo que le caigo mal a mi jefe.
I think that my boss doesn't like me.
Caption 21, El Aula Azul La Doctora Consejos: Subjuntivo y condicional
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Interestingly, while we get married "to" someone in English, the Spanish verb for "to marry" contains the preposition con, making its translation "'to marry with":
El príncipe se casó con ella
The prince married her
Caption 61, Cleer La princesa y el guisante
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Whereas the Spanish verb contar by itself can have such diverse meanings as "to tell" and "to count," with the preposition con, it means "to count on" (not with!).
Sabes que puedes contar con todas en cualquier momento, en cualquier necesidad que tengamos.
You know that you can count on all of them at any time, for any need that we might have.
Captions 28-29, Mari Carmen La amistad
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As you can see, the phrasal verb dar con does not mean "to give with"! Let's see its correct translation in an example sentence:
Ayer di con mis zapatos.
Yesterday I found my shoes.
Caption 26, Lecciones con Carolina Verbo - dar
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As our friend Carolina explains in her video on the verb dar, which means "to give" on its own, the phrasal verb dar por can mean different things when used with an adjective vs. a participle. Let's see an example of each:
A su marido lo dieron por muerto en la guerra.
Her husband was presumed dead in the war.
Caption 32, Lecciones con Carolina Verbo - dar
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Doy la fiesta por terminada.
I consider the party finished.
Caption 30, Lecciones con Carolina Verbo - dar
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In this case, the reflexive form of the verb dar is employed along with the noun prisa (hurry/rush) to mean "to hurry" or "hurry up":
Pues, dese prisa, se lo está llevando la grúa.
Well, hurry up, the tow truck is taking it.
Caption 38, Los casos de Yabla El perrito malcriado - Part 2
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The Spanish verb dejar plus de plus an infinitive verb means "to stop" or "quit" doing something:
"Mi marido dejó de fumar hace ya cuatro años".
"My husband quit smoking four years ago now."
Caption 26, Aprendiendo con Silvia Significados del verbo dejar - Part 2
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We should mention that the negative version of this phrasal verb, no dejar de, can be utilized to express the idea of "always," as we see here:
no deja de haber muchísima gente.
there are always a ton of people.
Caption 18, Con Marta por Madrid La Plaza del Sol - Part 1
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The Spanish version of "to depend on" would be "to depend of" if translated literally:
depende de la porción que vayan a hacer;
it depends on the portion you're going to make;
Caption 27, Hispanoamericanos en Berlín Karla y el pozole - Part 2
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Similarly, one falls in love "of" someone instead of "with" them in Spanish:
Me enamoré de un chico, que es el padre de mis hijos,
I fell in love with a guy, who is the father of my children,
Caption 11, Hispanoamericanos en Berlín Adriana y la fiesta de los muertos - Part 1
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While encontrarse con sounds like it would mean "to find oneself with," its actual meaning is "to get together" or "meet up with" (which is not too far off!):
Y "anteayer" me encontré con unas amigas,
And "the day before yesterday," I met up with some friends,
Caption 12, Aprendiendo con Silvia Horas, fechas y períodos de tiempo - Part 3
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The Spanish verb echar can have different meanings from "to throw" to "to fire." In conjunction with the preposition a and a verb in the infinitive, however, it means "to start to" do something, usually in a sudden fashion. Let's see two examples:
Se asustó, echó a correr y no hubo manera de cogerlo.
It got scared, it took off running, and there was no way to get it.
Caption 62, Soledad Positivo y negativo
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El marido se echó a reír al ver la cara de sorpresa de su esposa.
The husband burst out laughing when he saw his wife's surprised face.
Caption 32, Cleer El espejo de Matsuyama
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We bet you wouldn't guess that something that seems to mean "to throw of less" is a synonym for extrañar (to miss) in Spanish:
Ay, yo os he echado de menos.
Oh, I've missed you.
Caption 4, Con Marta por Madrid El Palacio Real y Doña Manolita - Part 1
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Estar para literally means "to be for," which is pretty close to its English equivalents "to be up for" or "in the mood" for something:
Es que ya no estoy para tantas vueltas y me siento cansado.
It's just that I am not up for so many rounds and I feel tired.
Caption 44, Guillermina y Candelario El parque de diversiones - Part 1
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Estar por, in contrast, typically means "to be in" or "around" some area or, when accompanied by an infinitive, becomes a phrasal verb that means "to be about to" do something. Let's see an example of each of these uses:
Yo estaba por ahí, todavía estaba caminando, ¿no?
I was around there, still walking, right?
Caption 21, Federico Kauffman Doig Arqueólogo - Part 3
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que todo está por... por... por empezar,
when everything is about to... to... to start,
Caption 65, Amaya Recordando - Part 3
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While hablar alone means "to speak" or "to talk," if you want to express the idea of "talking about" something, use the Spanish phrasal verb hablar de:
Mi amiga Amaya os habló de este lugar maravilloso
My friend Amaya talked to you about this wonderful place,
Caption 7, Montserrat El burrito Luz
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Since the Spanish phrasal verb llevar a cabo can be literally translated as "to take to the ending," it makes sense that its various English equivalents include "to carry out," "do," "perform" and "accomplish":
Para llevar a cabo estas funciones se necesitan tres figuras claves en el proceso terapéutico:
To carry out these roles, three key figures are needed in the therapeutic process:
Captions 35-36, Isabel Lavesa Terapia asistida con animales
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Although the idea of "forgetting" in Spanish is often expressed as a no fault construction (something more like "it slipped my mind"), the more straightforward way to say that one forgot something in Spanish is with the Spanish phrasal verb olvidarse de:
¡Ah! Me olvidé de estos dos elementos.
Oh! I forgot these two items.
Caption 63, Dayana Rutina de belleza y aseo
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Like the English "think of" or "about," the Spanish phrasal verb pensar de is used to talk about the belief or opinion one has of something or someone.
¿Qué piensas de tu nuevo jefe?
What do you think of your new boss?
Caption 77, Carlos explica Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Conjugación
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Pensar en, on the other hand (literally "to think on") is used to talk about one's process of thinking "about" something:
pensamos en un país, en una época, en un pueblo.
we think about a country, an era, a people.
Caption 3, Silvina Una entrevista con la artista
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Similar to echar a, ponerse a plus an infinitive verb refers to "starting" an action.
y al verlas como antes se puso a bailar."
and when she saw them like before, she started to dance."
Caption 60, Cleer Rafael Pombo y "Pastorcita"
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If you wish to talk about what you "worry about," use the Spanish phrasal verb preocuparse por:
que sepan que hay personas que se preocupan por ellas.
so that they know that there are people who are concerned about them.
Caption 8, Transformación Estética
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In her video series on the verb quedar, Silvia mentions the phrasal verb quedarse con, which can have several different meanings including "to keep," "end up with" or "be left." Let's take a look at two captions that include it:
"Tras el divorcio, ella se quedó con el chalé
"After the divorce, she kept the chalet,
Caption 56, Aprendiendo con Silvia Significados, usos y expresiones con "quedar" - Part 3
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Toda la familia "se quedó con la boca abierta".
The whole family "was left open-mouthed."
Caption 8, Aprendiendo con Silvia Significados, usos y expresiones con "quedar" - Part 7
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As you might imagine, quedarse sin often means the opposite of quedarse con ("to be left" or "end up without"), but it can also mean "to run out of" something:
Nos quedamos sin guitarrista, sin banda y sin concurso; ¡no!
We are left without a guitarist, without a band and without a contest; no!
Caption 16, X6 1 - La banda - Part 6
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No, se quedó sin nafta. -¿Qué?
No, it ran out of gas. -What?
Caption 4, Yago 7 Encuentros - Part 11
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To talk about something or someone you "laughed at," use the Spanish phrasal verb reírse de:
Nos reímos de la muerte.
We laugh at death.
Caption 28, Hispanoamericanos en Berlín Adriana y la fiesta de los muertos - Part 3
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As you probably know, salir by itself means "to leave." That said, when referring to leaving a particular place, salir de is the correct Spanish phrasal verb to choose.
Y cuando salimos de la iglesia me dice mi padre:
And when we left the church my father says to me:
Caption 52, María Marí Su pasión por su arte - Part 1
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While it might seem strange to English speakers, the literal translation for this Spanish phrasal verb is "to dream with" (rather than "about"):
y muchas veces incluso sueño con aquellos tiempos.
and very often I even dream about those times.
Caption 49, Clara y Cristina Saludar
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Rather than meaning "to have that," the Spanish phrasal verb tener que plus an infinitive means "to have to" do something:
Todos tenemos que superarlo y tenemos que empeñarnos en ello.
We all have to overcome it, and we have to be set on doing it.
Captions 74-75, Soledad Compartir tus problemas
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When you want to describe something that you're "trying to" do, use the infinitive following the Spanish phrasal verb tratar de:
trato de alimentarme bien, de tomar agua,
I try to eat well, to drink water,
Caption 26, Otavalo Ejercicios
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When talking about "coming to" a place, use the phrasal verb venir a, which translates very literally to English.
¿qué consejos le darías a un turista que viene a Barcelona?
what advice would you give to a tourist who's coming to Barcelona?
Caption 51, Carlos y Xavi Part 4 Tradiciones y comida de Barcelona
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And finally, when used with an infinitive, volver a (literally "to return to") means to perform some action again. Let's see two examples:
volvimos a revalidar el título
we locked in the title again
Caption 90, Viajando con Fermín Final Copa del Rey
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y mi mamá no se volvió a casar,
and my mother didn't remarry,
Caption 55, La Sub30 Familias - Part 2
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After perusing our list of 35 Spanish Phrasal Verbs, we have compiled a list of all of them along with their English translations so that you may study or review them at your leisure:
1. Acabar de: to have just (done something)
2. Acordarse de: to remember/remember to
3. Acostumbrarse a: to get used to/accustomed to
4. Alegrarse de: to be glad/happy/pleased about
5. Caer(le) bien (a alguien): to please (equivalent of "to like")
6. Caer(le) mal (a alguien): to displease (equivalent of "to not like")
7. Casarse con: to marry/get married to
8. Contar con: to count on
9. Dar con: to find
10. Dar por: to presume/consider
11. Darse prisa: to hurry/hurry up
12. Dejar de: to quit or stop (doing something)
13. Depender de: to depend on
14. Enamorarse de: to fall in love with
15. Encontrarse con: to meet up/get together with
16. Echar a: to suddenly start to (do something)
17. Echar de menos: to miss
18. Estar para: to be up for/in the mood for
19. Estar por: to be about to (do something)
20. Hablar de: to talk about
21. Llevar a cabo: to do/carry out/perform/accomplish
22. Olvidarse de: to forget
23. Pensar de: to think of/about (hold a belief)
24. Pensar en: to think about (the thought process)
25. Ponerse a: to start to (do something)
26. Preocuparse por: to worry/be concerned about
27. Quedarse con: to keep/end up with/be left with
28. Quedarse sin: to be left without/end up without/run out of
29. Reírse de: to laugh at
30. Salir de: to leave/leave from (a place)
31. Soñar con: to dream about
32. Tener que: to have to (do something)
33. Tratar de: to try to (do something)
34. Venir a: to come to (a place)
35. Volver a: to do (something) again
That's all for today. We hope that this lesson has helped you to better navigate many of the most common phrasal verbs in Spanish, and don't forget to write us with your questions and comments.
The shortest adverb in Spanish, the word ya derives from the Latin iam, which is also the origin of the Portuguese já, French déjà, and Italian già. Iam also originated another Spanish adverb: jamás ("never," iam + magis).
But the use of the word ya in Spanish has evolved beyond its function as an adverb of time meaning “already.” Nowadays, ya can be used as a conjunction, an interjection, a different type of adverb, or even as part of idiomatic phrases. It's actually a very popular word! Let's see a few examples.
First, let's see an example where ya simply means "already":
Ya tenemos listo aquí nuestro pollo.
We already have our chicken ready here.
Caption 17, [Bears in the Kitchen] Osos en la cocina - Pollo asiático
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One interesting usage of the word ya is as a conjunción distributiva (the equivalent in English are correlative conjunctions). The classic way to do so is by repeating the word ya before each option in a given list of items, for example: Ya con alegría, ya con tristeza (whether with happiness, whether with sorrow). However, this is a little bit too poetic for everyday speech, so you would find that people substitute the second ya with a more common conjunction, the disjunctive o (or). For example:
...ya sea en ayunas o luego de haber comido algo.
...whether fasting or after having eaten something.
Caption 12, Los médicos explican - La diabetes
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You may have noticed the use of the verb sea, subjunctive of the verb ser (to be). This combination is very common, so you may want to add ya sea (whether it be) as a single expression in your vocabulary. Take note that sea can be omitted too in Spanish, so you can say: ya en ayunas, o luego de haber comido.
Another common use of ya is when it's combined with the conditional si (if). It may translate as "already" in some cases:
Si ya estás instalado en Barcelona...
If you are already settled in Barcelona...
Caption 63, Blanca - Cómo moverse en Barcelona
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Or as "now":
Si ya no nos queda nada porque luchar
If now there is nothing left for us to fight for
Or as "anymore":
Si ya no me quieres...
If you don't love me anymore...
Ya meaning "not anymore" is always accompanied by negation, of course. Ya no (“no more,” sometimes also translated as “enough”) is a very common expression too, definitely worth adding to your lexicon.
Los medicamentos caducados o
Expired medications or
que ya no vayas a necesitar...
[ones] that you are not going to need anymore...
Caption 69, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje
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Here's another one, with a little extra (the idiom hacer caso means "to pay attention"):
Lo que pasa es que ya no le hago caso.
The thing is that I don't pay attention to him anymore.
Caption 50, Guillermina y Candelario - El parque de diversiones
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The use of the interrogative pronouns qué (what) and cuál (which) in Spanish can sometimes be confusing for English speakers. There are certain rules about the proper use of these words, but, as usual, sometimes grammar doesn't quite catch up with how things work in the real world.
Witht that being said, our best advice is always to listen more and practice more. So let's see some examples of how questions with qué (what) and cuál (which) are used in real context!
Generally speaking, we can say that cuál (which) is used to ask about the identity of a person or a thing in a group. Cuál is a question about choice. The pronoun qué is for questions about identity as well, but it's used in direct questions rather than in ones that involve making a choice. Here's an example where the question cuál (which) is used before a verb:
¿Pero cuál es el peor trabajo?
But which is the worst job?
Caption 40, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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It would be really odd to hear someone saying ¿Qué es el mejor trabajo? It's rare, but possible, because making this substitution alters the meaning of the question completely. It's easier to understand the distinction if we compare what kind of answer these two questions would likely get:
¿Pero cuál es el peor trabajo? / But which is the worst job?
- El peor trabajo es el de recogedor de basura. / The worst job is that of a garbage hauler.
¿Pero qué es el peor trabajo? / But what is the worst job?
-El peor trabajo es el menos deseable. / The worst job is the least desirable.
Now, let's check the following example. Here cuál is used before a noun:
¿Pero cuál juego les gusta más?
But which attraction do you like the most?
Caption 36, Guillermina y Candelario - El parque de diversiones
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This is a great example, because when used before a noun, cuál is equivalent to qué. So the following is also correct:
¿Pero qué juego les gusta más?
But which attraction do you like the most?
We believe it's actually better to see it the other way around: sometimes qué (what) is also used to ask about choices. It happens in English as well, right?
¿Qué color te gustaría?
What color would you like?
Caption 50, Raquel y Marisa - Agente del concesionario
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But most of the time it's just not right to use qué to ask about choices. Let's see an interesting phenomenon. In Spanish, you can use the preposition de (of) to introduce a group of things from which to pick a choice. And you can use cuál (which) before this preposition:
¿Cuál de esos países te gustó más?
Which one of those countries did you like most?
Caption 86, Cleer - Hobbies
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You can also use qué (what) before de (of), but then you wouldn't be asking someone to pick a favorite country from a list of countries (the ones the other person visited), you would be asking something else:
¿Qué de esos países te gusto más?
What [aspect] of those countries did you like the most?
It's very useful to imagine possible answers to both questions:
¿Cuál de esos países te gustó más? / Which one of those countries did you like most?
- Italia y Francia. / Italy and France.
¿Qué de esos países te gustó más? / What aspect of those countries did you like most?
- Su rica cultura y deliciosa comida. / Their rich culture and delicious food.
But, if you place the preposition de (of) before and not after qué or cuál, you can again use them as equivalents! Why? Because now they are both right before a noun.
¿De qué sabor quieres? = ¿De cuál sabor quieres?
What flavor do you want? = Which flavor do you want?
We'll continue to explore the use of cuál (which) and qué (what) in future lessons.
Let's continue studying phrases that combine prepositions, articles, and pronouns, since these are always a source of confusion for many Spanish learners. One of the main functions of this type of phrase is to connect simple sentences to transform them into more complex utterances, thus allowing a speaker to participate in real conversations. Take a look at Part 1 of the series here and Part 2 here.
Today, we'll focus on the use of the pronoun cual (plural cuales), which should not be mixed up with the interrogative adjective cuál (plural cuáles) that modifies and accompanies a noun, as in the following example:
¿Pero cuál juego les gusta más?
But which attraction do you like the most?
Caption 36, Guillermina y Candelario - El parque de diversiones
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Or with the interrogative pronoun cuál (plural cuáles) that takes the place of a noun. In the following example, when having a conversation about cars, someone uses it to ask:
¿Cuál te gusta a ti?
Which one do you like?
Caption 13, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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The focus of our lesson today, the pronoun cual/cuales (without the accent mark) is not used to ask questions. Rather, it's used in fixed phrases (called locusiones in Spanish) that usually involve the combination of articles, prepositions, and other pronouns. In this case, the core is always a definite article + cual: el cual, la cual, lo cual, for the singular, and los cuales, las cuales, los cuales, for the plural. Other parts of speech can then be added to that: prepositions before, pronouns after. Let's see an example using the preposition en (on, in) and the personal pronoun nos:
Y el segundo tiene que ver con el lugar
And the second one has to do with the place
en el cual nos encontramos.
in which we are located.
Caption 35, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Conceptos básicos
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Here's an example with the preposition por (for). These are the words of a Mexican politician. We've transcribed a big chunk of what he says so you can see the phrase in context:
Yo sé que este país que me ha tocado conocer de cerca, palparlo de cerca...
I know that this country that I've had the fortune to know closely, to sense it closely...
sentirlo muy, muy profundamente y por el cual tengo una enorme pasión...
to feel it very, very deeply and for which I have an enormous passion...
Captions 2-3, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad
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Here's another long example using the plural feminine form las cuales and the preposition con (with):
Básicamente este era un juguete que era un amplificador,
Basically this was a toy that was an amplifier,
con algunas pistas,
with some tracks,
con las cuales los niños juegan a cantar, ¿no?
that kids sing along with, right?
Captions 62-63, Lo que no sabías - Arte electrónico
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Now an example using the preposition de (for) and the neutral form lo cual:
Es básicamente lo mismo que hicimos
It's basically the same thing we did
en el laboratorio pero a escala industrial,
in the laboratory but on an industrial scale,
de lo cual están encargados otros colegas.
which other colleagues are in charge of.
Captions 61-62, Una Historia de Café - La Catación
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You can find many other combinations in our catalog of videos, with other prepositions and pronouns, or without them. Here's just one example with the preposition de (of) and the pronoun me:
De lo cual me siento muy orgulloso.
I'm very proud of that [of which I'm very proud].
Caption 41, Escuela Don Quijote - Jesús Baz
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Something important to note is that it's possible to substitute the pronoun cual with the pronoun que. This is especially true in colloquial Spanish, though considered less correct in formal or written speech. Take the first example above, el lugar en el cual nos encontramos: people also say el lugar en el que nos encontramos. The same substitution can be made with all the other subsequent examples.
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