In this lesson, we talk about the plural in Spanish. In particular, we talk about the plural when it refers to nouns. Let's start this lesson with a little quiz. Do you know the plural form of the following nouns?:
1. Casa (house)
2. Perro (dog)
3. Universidad (university)
4. Lápiz (pencil)
5. Jabalí (wild boar)
6. Análisis (analysis)
If you are not sure about how to make a singular noun plural in Spanish, we invite you to take a look at the following simple rules. While going through these rules, we will be unveiling the plural form of the 6 nouns we included in our quiz. Let's take a look.
- Casa (house) - Casas (houses)
- Estudiante (student) - Estudiantes (students)
- Perro (perro) - Perros (dogs)
Se escucha un perro.
You can hear a dog.
Caption 43, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 2: Cafe y bocadillos
Play Caption
Tus perros también son muy bonitos.
Your dogs are very beautiful too.
Caption 58, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 2: Cafe y bocadillos
Play Caption
- Papá (dad) - Papás (dads)
- Dominó (domino) - Dominós (dominoes)
- Café (coffee) - Cafés (coffees)
Y les voy a mostrar el proceso de control de calidad de café de Colombia.
And I'm going to show you the quality-control process for coffee from Colombia.
Caption 5, Una Historia de Café - La Bodega
Play Caption
Cada uno de estos cafés tiene distintas cualidades tanto físicas como sensoriales.
Each one of these coffees has different qualities both physically and sensorially.
Caption 14, Una Historia de Café - La Bodega
Play Caption
- Bisturí (scalpel) - Bisturíes or bisturís (scalpels)
- Jabalí (wild boar) - Jabalíes or jabalís (wild boars)
- Tabú (taboo) - Tabúes or tabús (taboos)
Generally speaking, however, it is preferred to use the plural formed with 'ES'.
Also, this rule is very common when you are dealing with adjectives of nationality:
- Iraní (Iranian) - Iraníes or iranís (Iranians)
- Árbol (tree) - Árboles (trees)
- Profesor (teacher) - Profesores (teachers)
- Universidad (university) - Universidades (universities)
- Rey (king) - Reyes (kings)
La rata esta es el rey de la estafa por allá en Europa.
This rat is the king con artist over there in Europe.
Caption 45, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1
Play Caption
Actualmente es la residencia oficial de los reyes de España.
Currently, it's the official residence of the King and Queen of Spain.
Caption 23, Madrid - Un recorrido por la capital de España
Play Caption
Notice that the singular noun árbol has a graphic accent in the second-to-last syllable (palabra grave). However, when you form the plural, the graphic accent moves to the third-to-last-syllable becoming a proparoxytone word (palabra esdrújula). Similarly, singular nouns like profesor and universidad that are stressed in the last syllable (palabras agudas) become paroxytone words (palabras graves) in the plural form.
- Lápiz (pencil) - Lápices (pencils)
- Raíz (root) - Raíces (roots)
- Voz (voice) - Voces (voices)
Tengo muy buena voz.
I have a very good voice.
Caption 91, Los casos de Yabla - Problemas de convivencia
Play Caption
Vuelven esas voces a mi cabeza.
Those voices come back to my head.
Caption 37, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos - Subjuntivo y condicional
Play Caption
Paroxytone or proparoxytone nouns ending in 's' or 'x' keep the same form in plural. Let's see some examples:
- Cactus (cactus) - Cactus (cactuses/cacti)
- Tórax (thorax) - Tórax (thoraxes/thoraces)
- Análisis (analysis) - Análisis (analyses/tests)
Y en un análisis de nuestras debilidades, oportunidades, fortalezas y amenazas.
And an analysis of our weaknesses, opportunities, strengths and threats.
Caption 37, Raquel y Marisa - Español Para Negocios - Crear una empresa
Play Caption
...para hacerle los análisis de sangre, de heces.
...to do the blood tests, stool (tests).
Caption 54, Santuario para burros - Santuario
Play Caption
That's it for now. We hope these rules help you to use the plural in Spanish. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, take 20 nouns and try to form their plural forms. And of course, don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
How well do you know the Spanish alphabet? Do you know how many letters are in the Spanish alphabet? What about the number of consonants and vowels that are part of it? This lesson answers these questions and provides a series of audio clips that will help you to learn the letters and improve the pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet. Let's take a look.
Believe it or not, there are actually two words in Spanish that we use to talk about the alphabet. While the most literal translation would be the word alfabeto, you can also use the word abecedario when referring to the Spanish alphabet. In fact, and according to the Real Academia Española (RAE), these two words are synonyms.
There are 27 letters in the Spanish alphabet. But do you know how many of those letters are consonants and how many vowels are in the Spanish alphabet? The answer is very simple. In the Spanish alphabet there are 22 consonants and 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u). Let’s go over all the Spanish alphabet letters with the following 27 words:
A as in agua (water)
¿También tienes agua?
Do you have water too?
Caption 35, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 2: Cafe y bocadillos
Play Caption
B as in burro (donkey)
El burro es un animal ideal para este tipo de actividades.
The donkey is an ideal animal for this kind of activity.
Caption 71, Rosa - Yoga con burros
Play Caption
C as in coche (car)
Hoy, voy en coche porque hace mucho frío.
Today, I'm going by car because it's very cold.
Caption 16, Ariana - Cena especial
Play Caption
D as in difícil (difficult)
Es muy difícil. -Muy complicado.
It's very difficult. -Very complicated.
Caption 31, Blanca y Mariona - Planificación de cena
Play Caption
E as in ellos (they)
Ellos se llevan muy bien.
They get along very well.
Caption 41, El Aula Azul - Mis Primos
Play Caption
F as in fácil (easy)
Basta, es muy fácil.
Enough, it's very easy.
Caption 72, Español para principiantes - Los números del 1 al 100
Play Caption
G as in gente (people)
Barcelona se llena de gente.
Barcelona fills up with people.
Caption 17, Blanca - Sobre la ciudad de Barcelona
Play Caption
H as in hotel (hotel)
El hotel también cuenta con un bar.
The hotel also has a bar.
Caption 73, Cleer y Lida - Recepción de hotel
Play Caption
I as in iglesia (church)
Esta iglesia fue construida en mil seiscientos ochenta y uno.
This church was built in sixteen eighty one.
Caption 14, Viajando con Carlos - Popayán - Colombia
Play Caption
J as in jamón (ham)
Fíjate: jamón, Javier.
Check it out: ham, Javier.
Caption 27, Fundamentos del Español - 10 - La Pronunciación
Play Caption
K as in kilo (kilo)
Reciclando un kilo de vidrio...
[By] recycling a kilo of glass...
Caption 70, 3R - Campaña de reciclaje - Part 1
Play Caption
L as in lago (lake)
Hay un lago.
There is a lake.
Caption 11, Natalia de Ecuador - Los adverbios de orden
Play Caption
M as in mercado (market)
...y están presentes en el mercado internacional.
...and are present in the international market.
Caption 73, Europa Abierta - Champagne en Andalucía
Play Caption
N as in nunca (never)
Nadie, nada, nunca.
Nobody, nothing, never.
Caption 21, Fundamentos del Español - 5 - La Negación
Play Caption
Ñ as in the middle of the word niño (boy)
La frase, el niño quiere el juguete.
The sentence, "the boy wants the toy."
Caption 17, Raquel - Diminutivos y aumentativos
Play Caption
O as in objeto (object)
...y "tendedero" es un objeto para la ropa
...and "tendedero" is an object for clothes
Caption 27, Karla e Isabel - Palabras
Play Caption
P as in parque (park)
Aquí en Parque Fundidora.
Here in Fundidora Park.
Caption 38, Paseando con Karen - Sitios Culturales en Parque Fundidora
Play Caption
Q as in queso (cheese)
Un vaso de leche y queso.
A glass of milk and cheese.
Caption 16, Recetas de Clara - Los aborrajados
Play Caption
R as in rápidamente (quickly)
Vamos a ver rápidamente una frase.
We are going to look quickly at a phrase.
Caption 2, Lecciones con Carolina - Esta noche vs anoche
Play Caption
S as in sal (salt)
Muchos mercaderes venían a recoger la sal.
Many merchants came to get the salt.
Caption 14, Rosa - Fuente de Piedra
Play Caption
T as in trabajo (job)
¿Qué trabajo es?
What job is it?
Caption 23, Sofy y Caro - Entrevistar para un trabajo
Play Caption
U as in universidad (university)
¿La biblioteca de la universidad?
The university library?
Caption 21, Español para principiantes - Hablando de ubicaciones
Play Caption
V as in viento (wind)
...y un viento muy fuerte nos arrastró a mar abierto.
...and a very strong wind dragged us out to the open sea.
Caption 21, Guillermina y Candelario - La Isla de las Serpientes
Play Caption
W as in wifi (wifi)
Tenemos también wifi y hay ordenadores disponibles.
We also have wifi and there are computers available.
Caption 20, El Aula Azul - Cursos y actividades de la escuela
Play Caption
X as in xilófono (xylophone)
Entonces, había una persona contando un cuento y él tocando un xilófono.
So, there was a person telling a story and he [was] playing a xylophone.
Caption 28, La Sub30 - Familias - Part 4
Play Caption
Y as in yuca (yucca)
Aquí tenemos la yuca.
Here we have the yucca.
Caption 7, Recetas de cocina - Carimañolas
Play Caption
Z as in zona (area)
Es la primera vez que vengo a esta zona de la ciudad.
It's the first time I've come to this area of the city.
Caption 8, Karla e Isabel - Alquilar una habitación
Play Caption
If you want to improve your pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet, please take a look at the following audio clips where Marta, one of our Spanish teachers, will teach you how to properly pronounce the Spanis alphabet letters:
A, be, ce, de, e,
A, b, c, d, e,
Caption 19, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
Play Caption
efe, ge, hache, i, jota,
f, g, h, i, j,
Caption 20, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
Play Caption
ka, ele, eme, ene, eñe,
k, l, m, n, ñ,
Caption 21, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
Play Caption
o, pe, cu, erre, ese,
o, p, q, r, s,
Caption 22, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
Play Caption
te, u, uve, uve doble,
t, u, v, w,
Caption 23, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
Play Caption
equis, i griega
x, y [literally: "Greek i"]
Caption 24, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
Play Caption
y zeta.
and z.
Caption 25, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
Play Caption
Keep in mind that you can also refer to the letter W as doble ve (double v) or doble u (double u). Similarly, you can also call the letter Y ye instead of i griega (Greek i).
That's it for now. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, try to write one word with each one of the 27 Spanish alphabet letters. And of course, don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
Let’s talk about accentuation and pronunciation. Today, we’ll discuss the so-called palabras esdrújulas (proparoxytone words). That’s a weird name, isn’t? Before we talk about palabras esdrújulas, we need to remember something important.
As we previously mentioned, all words in Spanish are stressed on one syllable. Depending on where that stress falls, words are divided into the following groups:
Palabras agudas (oxytone words) | accent on the last syllable
Palabras graves (paroxytone words) | accent on the second-to-last syllable
Palabras esdrújulas (proparoxytone words) | accent on the third-to-last syllable
Palabras sobresdrújulas (over-proparoxytone words) | accent on any syllable before the third-to-last syllable
Let’s get into palabras esdrújulas with the following example:
Palabras como micrófono, pirámide.
Words like "micrófono," [microphone], "pirámide" [pyramid].
Caption 44, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 4: Clasificación de las palabras según el acento
Play Caption
The word micrófono has four syllables (mi | cró | fo | no) and the stress goes on the third-to-last syllable “cró.” Similarly, the word pirámide has four syllables (pi | rá | mi | de) and the stress also goes on the third-to-last syllable “rá.”
If you noticed it, the two proparoxytone words that we just mentioned bear a graphic accent (tilde) on their stressed syllables. And that’s exactly the beauty of the palabras esdrújulas. Unlike palabras agudas and palabras graves, which follow complex rules regarding the use of the graphic accent, the esdrújulas ALWAYS need to have a graphic accent. Let’s see more examples:
También nos dedicamos a música clásica.
Also, we do classical music.
Caption 13, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Paty
Play Caption
...ya construimos la cámara para grabar la película.
...we already built the camera to film the movie.
Caption 16, Guillermina y Candelario - Una película de terror
Play Caption
Yo realmente prefiero no dar mi número de mi tarjeta de crédito por teléfono.
I really prefer not to give my credit card number on the phone.
Caption 50, Cleer y Lida - Reservando una habitación
Play Caption
As you can see from the examples above, there are lots of palabras esdrújulas in the Spanish language and some of them are quite common. Before we go, one last curious thing to remember:
The word esdrújula is also an esdrújula word!
That's it for now. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, take one of our videos and try to find all the proparoxytone words in it. And of course, don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Are you ready to learn some hard Spanish words? Don’t worry! We don’t want to scare you but rather we would like to highlight some of the issues that transform even simple words into difficult ones. Let’s review the following list featuring 100 of the most difficult Spanish words for English speakers.
Pronunciation is definitely the issue to keep in mind when we talk about hard Spanish words. In fact, if you are a native English speaker, there are several sounds that are quite challenging. Let’s start with some of the most difficult words to pronounce in Spanish for English speakers. We have divided these words in groups according to the pronunciation challenge they represent.
For many foreigners, words with the letter “j” are some of the most difficult Spanish words to say. If you are an English speaker, you can try to say the “j” in Spanish as a very strong “h” in English. Think of how you pronounce the letter “h” in the word ham. Let’s take a look:
1. Ají (chili or bell pepper)
¿Ají?
"Ají" [chili pepper]?
Caption 37, Ricardo - La compañera de casa
Play Caption
2. Bajo (short)
Es bajo, es gordo.
He's short, he's fat.
Caption 33, El Aula Azul - Mis Primos
Play Caption
3. Caja (box)
...y ellos también mandaron una caja grandísima.
...and they also sent a huge box.
Caption 25, Diana Quintana - En Navidad regalemos una sonrisa
Play Caption
4. Anaranjado (orange)
Adentro, son de color anaranjado.
Inside, they are orange-colored.
Caption 13, Otavalo - Conozcamos el Mundo de las Frutas con Julia
Play Caption
5. Empujar (to push)
6. Equipaje (luggage)
¿Puedo dejar aquí mi equipaje?
Can I leave my luggage here?
Caption 59, Cleer y Lida - Recepción de hotel
Play Caption
7. Espantapájaros (scarecrow)
8. Cojear (to limp)
9. Injusticia (injustice)
10. Jamón (ham)
Fíjate: jamón, Javier.
Check it out: ham, Javier.
Caption 27, Fundamentos del Español - 10 - La Pronunciación
Play Caption
11. Jirafa (giraffe)
12. Jornada (day)
13. Jota (J - the sound of the letter J in Spanish)
14. Jugar (to play)
También podemos jugar a las cartas.
We can also play cards.
Caption 12, Clara y Cristina - Hablan de actividades
Play Caption
15. Junio (June)
16. Lujoso (luxurious)
17. Lejano (far, far away)
Érase una vez en un lejano reino, ahí vivía una joven niña.
Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there lived a young girl.
Caption 2, Cuentos de hadas - La Cenicienta
Play Caption
18. Majo (nice)
19. Mojado (wet)
20. Pájaro (bird)
21. Sonrojar (to blush)
22. Tajada (slice)
Just as it happens with the letter “j,”, there are several tricky words in Spanish with the letter “g”. What’s hard about this consonant is that there is a soft and a hard way to pronounce it. For example, you have a soft “g” in the word gato (cat). Think about the pronunciation of the syllable “ga” in the word gather. On the other hand, you have a hard “g” in the word gente (people), which is kind of similar to how you pronounce the “h” in the word helmet. Let’s see some tough Spanish words with the letter “g”:
23. Acogedor (cozy, welcoming)
Perfecto, porque es un barco muy marinero, muy acogedor para la gente.
Perfect, because it's a very seaworthy boat, very welcoming for the people.
Caption 16, La Gala - El bote de Dalí
Play Caption
24. Agente (agent)
25. Agitar (shake)
26. Aguja (needle)
27. Agujero (hole)
Tiene un cuerpo con un agujero en el centro.
It has a body with a hole in the center.
Caption 45, Karla e Isabel - Instrumentos musicales
Play Caption
28. Apagar (to turn off)
29. Coger (to take, to get)
El segundo paso es coger la cebolla.
The second step is to get the onion.
Caption 25, Clara cocina - Una tortilla española
Play Caption
30. Garganta (throat)
Me duele la garganta.
My throat hurts.
Caption 11, Ariana - Cita médica
Play Caption
31. General (general)
En general, los nombres acabados en "a" son femeninos.
In general, nouns ending in "a" are feminine.
Caption 10, Fundamentos del Español - 2 - Nombres y Género
Play Caption
32. Geneaología (genealogy)
33. Geología (geology)
34. Gigante (giant, gigantic)
Una de las piezas más llamativas es este ajedrez gigante.
One of the most appealing pieces is this gigantic chess board.
Caption 35, Europa Abierta - Taller de escenografía en Olivares
Play Caption
35. Ginecólogo (gynecologist)
36. Girasol (sunflower)
37. Guapo (handsome)
38. Juguetón (playful)
39. Tangible (tangible)
40. Tigre (tiger)
41. Zoológico (zoo)
There are plenty of tricky words in Spanish with the strong sound of the double “rr”. The following are some of them:
42. Aburrido (bored)
Ah, esto está muy aburrido, ni siquiera se entiende.
Oh, this is very boring, you can't even understand it.
Caption 24, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 2
Play Caption
43. Carrera (career)
El presidente empezó su carrera política...
The president began his political career...
Caption 29, Lecciones con Carolina - El gerundio
Play Caption
44. Carretera (road)
45. Carro (car)
¿Ha venido en carro?
Have you come in a car?
Caption 64, Cleer y Lida - Recepción de hotel
Play Caption
46. Correr (to run)
47. Desarrollar (Develop)
Pero el reto era desarrollar proyectos de biomedicina.
But the challenge was to develop biomedical projects.
Caption 10, Club de las ideas - Lego Fest en Sevilla
Play Caption
48. Error (mistake)
Esto es un error.
This is a mistake.
Caption 21, Lecciones con Carolina - Errores comunes
Play Caption
49. Ferrocarril (railroad, train)
...en un carrito tipo ferrocarril tirado por un caballo.
...in a little train-like car pulled by a horse.
Caption 8, Mérida y sus alrededores - Haciendas de Cuzamá
Play Caption
50. Garrote (club)
51. Guerra (war)
La palabra más fea es guerra.
The ugliest word is war.
Caption 61, Karla e Isabel - Palabras
Play Caption
52. Guitarra (guitar)
53. Herradura (horseshoe)
54. Irresponsable (irresponsible)
55. Morral (backpack)
56. Ornitorrinco (platypus)
57. Perro (dog)
Se escucha un perro.
You can hear a dog.
Caption 43, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 2: Cafe y bocadillos
Play Caption
58. Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican)
Without any doubt, words that have a syllable where the consonant “t” is followed by the consonant “r,” are some of the most difficult words for English speakers to pronounce in Spanish. If you want to improve this sound, please listen carefully to some of the audio clips we have included for the next set of words.
59. Abstracto (abstract)
60. Astronomía (astronomy)
61. Astrología (astrology)
...y voy a entender lo que es la astrología.
...and I am going to understand what astrology is.
Caption 60, Conversaciones con Luis - Astrología
Play Caption
62. Atracción (atraction)
Porque es en el centro... el sitio donde hay mayor atracción.
Because it's at the center... the place where there are more attractions.
Caption 21, Yabla en Lima - Miraflores
Play Caption
63. Cuatro (four)
Número cuatro: microscopio.
Number four: microscope.
Caption 19, Aprendiendo con Karen - Útiles escolares
Play Caption
64. Entretener (to entertain)
65. Entretenido (entertaining)
66. Patrón (patron)
67. Patrulla (patrol)
68. Petróleo (oil)
69. Poltrona (easy chair)
70. Potro (colt)
71. Tradicion (tradition)
Uno de los mitos más conocidos de la tradición indígena colombiana.
One of the best known myths of the indigenous Colombian tradition.
Caption 13, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - Mitos y leyendas Muiscas
Play Caption
72. Traicionar (to betray)
73. Trampa (trap)
No, no, me tendió una trampa y yo caí.
No, no, she set a trap for me and I fell into it.
Caption 29, Muñeca Brava - 44 El encuentro
Play Caption
74. Treinta y tres (thirty-three)
Treinta y tres
Thirty-three
Caption 49, Español para principiantes - Los números del 1 al 100
Play Caption
75. Tres (three)
76. Trilogía (trilogy)
77. Triste
Estoy triste.
I am sad.
Caption 10, El Aula Azul - Estados de ánimo
Play Caption
78. Tronco (trunk)
Unlike English, Spanish vowels are very clearly defined. Five vowels equals five sounds, period. While that may sound simple, the problem is that English speakers are used to pronouncing vowels in many more different ways. Here are some hard Spanish words that highlight this challenge.
79. Aguacate (avocado)
Este es guacamole hecho con aguacate...
This is guacamole made with avocado...
Caption 33, Tacos Emmanuel - Cómo hacer tacos de pescado
Play Caption
80. Estadounidense (American)
Paul es estadounidense, de los Estados Unidos.
Paul is American, from the United States.
Caption 16, Carlos explica - Geografía y gentilicios
Play Caption
81. Eucalipto (eucalyptus)
82. Euforia (euphoria)
83. Idiosincrasia (idiosyncrasy)
84. Licuadora (blender)
85. Paraguas (umbrella)
Voy a coger un paraguas, por si acaso.
I am going to grab an umbrella, just in case.
Caption 42, Clara explica - El tiempo - Part 1
Play Caption
86. Triángulo (triangle)
Después pones este triángulo con la base hacia abajo.
Afterwards you put this triangle with the base toward the bottom.
Caption 42, Manos a la obra - Separadores de libros: Charmander
Play Caption
87. Vergüenza (shame)
There is a ‘cute’ joke in Spanish that goes like this:
- Do you know what the longest word in Spanish is?
- No. What is it?
- Arroz (rice)!
- Arroz? That’s a very short word.
- No, arroz is the longest word in Spanish because it starts with ‘a’ and ends with ‘z’!
Of course, that’s only a joke! Arroz is one of the easiest words in Spanish. However, the following are some of the most challenging and longest Spanish words:
88. Electroencefalograma (electroencephalogram)
89. Esternocleidomastoideo (sternocleidomastoid)
90. Contrarrevolucionario (counter-revolutionary)
91. Constitucionalidad (constitutionality)
92. Internacionalización (internalization)
93. Otorrinolaringólogo (otolaryngologist)
Apart from these very complicated words, all those adverbs that end in -mente are also some of the longest Spanish words. Let’s look at a few:
94. Constitucionalmente (constitutionally)
95. Desafortunadamente (unfortunately)
Cuando tú creces, desafortunadamente te das cuenta que.
When you grow up, unfortunately, you realize that.
Caption 23, La Sub30 - Familias - Part 9
Play Caption
96. Desconsoladamente (inconsolably)
97. Fuertemente (heavily)
98. Tradicionalmente (traditionally)
Y nos dedicamos al cultivo del champiñón tradicionalmente.
And we are dedicated to the cultivation of the mushroom traditionally.
Caption 4, La Champiñonera - El cultivo de champiñón
Play Caption
99. Tristemente (sadly)
And finally, can you think of any Spanish word that has all the vowels on it? We have a long word for you, which is actually quite short in English:
100. Murciélago (bat)
La palabra más larga es murciélago.
The longest word is bat.
Caption 43, Karla e Isabel - Palabras
Play Caption
That's it for now. We know that there are many more hard Spanish words that we should include in this list. If you feel like it, please share some additional difficult Spanish words with us, and we’ll be happy to add them to this lesson. And don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
These days, it feels like football or soccer (as it is known in the US) is everywhere! Are you enjoying the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France? What about the exciting Copa América? Are you following the Total Africa Cup of Nations? If you like the game and want to expand your Spanish vocabulary of football terms, this lesson introduces some of the most common football/soccer vocabulary words in Spanish.
First things first. The Spanish word for football or soccer is fútbol, a word whose stress goes on the second-to-last syllable:
Y este... y juego al fútbol también a veces.
And well... I also play soccer sometimes.
Caption 11, Bajofondo Tango Club - Mar Dulce
Play Caption
However, in Mexico and other places across Central America people usually say futbol, with the stress on the last syllable:
Antes también jugué al futbol.
Before, I also played football.
Caption 28, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Manuel Orozco Sánchez
Play Caption
By the way, if you are American and you are wondering how to say “football” in Spanish, the answer to that is fútbol americano.
From the word fútbol, we got the word futbolista (football player / soccer player). We can also use the term jugador as an alternative to futbolista. As a general rule, un equipo de fútbol (a soccer team) has eleven players (futbolistas / jugadores) on the field. Let’s see the names of the different kinds of players that you see in a typical partido de fútbol (soccer game / soccer match):
Portero, arquero, guardameta (goalkeeper)
Defensor (defender)
Mediocampista, centrocampista, volante (midfielder)
Delantero, atacante (forward)
You can also find various and more specific names for the different players in the field. For instance, in the defense you can hear names like the following:
Defensa central (central defender)
Lateral derecho (right back)
Lateral izquierdo (left back)
By the way, you can use the terms campo de juego, cancha de fútbol or terreno de juego to refer to the playing field.
Mirá a Carlitos. La ves en la cancha de fútbol y no te imaginás.
Look at Carlitos. You see her on the soccer field and you can't imagine.
Caption 27, Muñeca Brava - 8 Trampas
Play Caption
In terms of other people that are involved in the game, we also have the following:
Árbitro (referee)
Juez de línea (assistant referee)
Entrenador (coach)
Suplente (substitute player)
El capitán del equipo (the captain of the team)
Keep in mind that substitute players sit on the banca or banquillo (bench). And let’s not forget about the fans who sit in the estadio (stadium). You can call them hinchas or aficionados or you can also use the corresponding collective nouns hinchada or afición (a group of fans).
If you want to say soccer ball in Spanish, you can either use balón de fútbol or pelota de fútbol. Or simply, pelota or balón. Some people call the soccer ball esférico.
And what about that magical moment when the ball enters the goal (the netted structure behind the goalkeeper)? Of course, we are talking about the goal, which in Spanish is called gol… or as many Latin sportscasters would very loudly say: ¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Another option you may hear for the term goal is the word tanto.
By the way, there are many words you can use in Spanish to talk about the goal (the netted structure). You can refer to as la portería, el arco or la valla. Each one of the two vertical goal posts is called palo or poste while the horizontal crossbar is called travesaño or larguero. Also, the small area that the goalkeeper guards (the goal area) is known in Spanish as área chica or área de meta. The bigger area (the penalty area) is known as área de penal.
There are many more things that are connected to the game. Let’s learn some more words:
El pito (the whistle)
Las botas de fútbol, los guayos, los botines de fútbol (soccer shoes)
Los tacos (the studs)
Las canilleras or las espinilleras (shin guards)
La camiseta (the t-shirt)
La copa (the cup)
El Mundial (the World Cup)
Campeonato europeo de fútbol, Mundial en Sudáfrica...
The European soccer championship, the World Cup in South Africa...
Caption 26, Marta - Se presenta
Play Caption
Tarjeta amarilla (yellow card)
Tarjeta roja (red card)
Bandera (flag)
El césped (the pitch / the grass)
Mediocampo or media cancha (midfield)
Los vestidores, los camerinos (locker rooms)
Now, when it comes to playing the game, there are many calls and moves that are part of a standard game. Let’s learn some of those football/soccer vocabulary words in Spanish:
Saque inicial (kickoff)
Saque lateral (throw-in)
Saque de meta (goal kick)
La asistencia (the assistance)
Un pase (a pass)
Un pase largo (a long pass)
Un cabezazo (a header)
Córner or tiro de esquina (corner)
Fuera de lugar or fuera de juego (offside)
Falta (foul)
Fútbol de toque (a passing game)
La jugada (the move)
La lesión (the injury)
El marcador (the score)
El medio tiempo or el descanso (halftime)
La ocasión (the chance)
Penalti (penalty)
La prórroga (the extra time)
Regate (dribble)
El tiro or el disparo (the shot)
Tiro libre (free throw)
Un error (a mistake)
Una remontada (a comeback)
Victoria (victory)
Empate (tie)
Derrota (defeat)
Now, it is time to review some of those verbs you can easily hear if you watch a soccer/football game in Spanish.
Aprovechar (take advantage)
Arbitrar (to referee)
Atacar (to attack)
Buscar (to look for)
Caer (to fall)
Calentar (to warm up)
El entrenador nos ordena calentar antes de cada partido de fútbol.
The coach orders us to warm up before each soccer match.
Caption 44, Lecciones con Carolina - Pedir, preguntar, y ordenar
Play Caption
Clasificar (to classify)
Correr (to run)
Defender (to defend)
Derrotar (to defeat)
Disputar (to play, to fight for)
Eliminar (to eliminate)
Empatar (to tie)
Ganar (to win)
Igualar (to even)
Imponerse (to prevail)
Intentar (to try)
Jugar (to play)
Marcar (to score or to defend)
Pelear (to fight)
Perder (to lose)
Recuperar (to recover)
Reponerse (to recover)
Romper (to break)
Seguir (to follow)
Sudar (to sweat)
En el campo de fútbol, empecé a sudar.
On the soccer field, I started to sweat.
Caption 11, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 2
Play Caption
Toparse (to run/bump into)
Tirar, chutar (to shoot)
That's it for this lesson. We hope you enjoy this brief guide to some of the most common football/soccer vocabulary words in Spanish. Are there any words/terms that we didn’t mention? Please, let us know and don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
Spanish may seem quite different from English and that could be very intimidating for people learning the language of Cervantes. However, if you are an English speaker, there are many words in Spanish that you already know! In this lesson, we will discover 100 words that are identical in Spanish and English.
In English, many words ending in ‘or’ are exactly the same in Spanish. Let’s start with the first one:
Con el actor Fred Savage.
With the actor Fred Savage.
Caption 8, Carlos comenta - Los Años Maravillosos - La década de los 80 y música
Play Caption
In the example above, the spelling of the word “actor” is the same in English and Spanish. While the pronunciation is different, it is worth noting that the stress of the Spanish word goes on the last syllable while its English equivalent has the stress on the second-to-last syllable. Let’s see some words that follow the same pattern:
2. Color
3. Director
4. Editor
5. Error
6. Exterior
7. Favor
Para mí como un honor y también un... un reto poder hacer...
For me, like an honor and also a... a challenge to be able to make...
Caption 55, Leonardo Rodriguez Sirtori - Una vida como pintor
Play Caption
9. Horror
10. Humor
11. Inferior
12. Instructor
Y ¿prefieren habitación exterior o interior?
And do you prefer an interior room or an exterior room?
Caption 15, Raquel - Reservación de Hotel
Play Caption
14. Motor
15. Rumor
16. Sector
17. Superior
18. Tenor
19. Tractor
20. Tumor
21. Tutor
We know that some words like color and favor are spelled differently in some English speaking countries (colour, favour) but if you remove the ‘u’ you will find the same words in Spanish.
Now, let’s see some words that end in ‘al,’ which share the same spelling in both English and Spanish:
El estanque artificial es la primera imagen.
The artificial pond is the first image.
Caption 46, Marisa en Madrid - Parque de El Retiro
Play Caption
23. Animal
24. Brutal
25. Capital
26. Central
27. Cereal
Esta ciudad se caracteriza por su arquitectura colonial.
This city is characterized by its colonial architecture.
Caption 7, Mérida y sus alrededores - Ciudad de Mérida
Play Caption
29. Continental
30. Criminal
Luego tenemos proyectos de cooperación cultural.
Then we have cultural cooperation projects.
Caption 54, En el hub - Madrid
Play Caption
32. Decimal
33. Dental
34. Editorial
35. Electoral
36. Elemental
37. Experimental
Y una crema hidratante facial es netamente para tu rostro.
And a moisturizing facial lotion is purely for your face.
Caption 34, Los médicos explican - Consejos para la piel
Play Caption
39. Fatal
40. Federal
41. Festival
42. Final
43. Formal
44. Fundamental
45. Funeral
46. General
47. Gradual
48. Horizontal
El hospital da hacia el mar.
The hospital faces the sea.
Caption 20, Lecciones con Carolina - Verbo - dar
Play Caption
50. Ideal
51. Imperial
52. Industrial
53. Informal
54. Instrumental
55. Legal
56. Liberal
57. Literal
58. Local
59. Manual
Todo este material servirá para decorar los puestos y las calles de Olivares.
All this material will serve to decorate the stands and streets of Olivares.
Caption 72, Europa Abierta - Taller de escenografía en Olivares
Play Caption
61. Mental
62. Metal
63. Monumental
64. Moral
65. Mortal
66. Musical
67. Natural
68. Neutral
Yo tengo una familia que es una familia normal.
I have a family that is a normal family.
Caption 1, El Aula Azul - Mi familia
Play Caption
70. Oral
71. Original
72. Personal
73. Plural
74. Radical
75. Regional
76. Rival
77. Rural
78. Social
79. Superficial
Llegaréis a la terminal nueva.
You will arrive at the new terminal.
Caption 23, Blanca - Cómo moverse en Barcelona
Play Caption
81. Total
82. Tropical
83. Universal
84. Vertical
85. Visual
86. Viral
87. Vital
Finally, there are many English words that end in ‘ble’ that are identical in Spanish. Let’s see some of them:
88. Adorable
89. Deplorable
90. Flexible
91. Honorable
92. Invisible
93. Irresistible
94. Miserable
Porque él también es muy sociable, le encanta estar con la gente...
Because he also is very sociable, he loves to be with people...
Caption 11, El Aula Azul - Mis Amigos
Play Caption
96. Tangible
97. Terrible
98. Variable
99. Visible
100. Vulnerable
In English, most of these words are stressed on the third-to-last syllable. On the contrary, in Spanish these words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable.
That's it for this lesson. Isn’t it nice to see that you already know so many Spanish words without even trying? In fact, there are many more words ending in ‘or,’ ‘al’ and ‘ble’ that have the same meaning and spelling in English and Spanish. Can you find more words to add to these 100? Give it a try and don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
As with any other language, Spanish can be tricky sometimes. Do you know how to use the word entorno? What about the expression en torno? Which one would you use in the following sentence?:
Fuengirola es un importante punto turístico. Su economía gira ________ a este sector.
Fuengirola is an important touristic spot. Its economy revolves around this sector.
Captions 12-13, Fuengirola - Mercado
Play Caption
What about this sentence:
Encontró en su _________ un atractivo natural para los amantes del ecoturismo.
Found in its environment a natural beauty for the lovers of ecotourism.
Caption 94, Tecnópolis - El Coronil
Play Caption
Let’s find out what the answer is.
To begin with, entorno is a noun and the meaning of this word is environment or surroundings. However, it is important to say that entorno encompasses the same broad meaning of the English word “environment,” meaning “the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded.” Let’s take a look at some examples:
... las calles, la gente... lo que es el entorno urbano.
... the streets, the people... what the urban environment is.
Captions 39-40, Leif - El Arquitecto Español y su Arte
Play Caption
Para modificar el entorno, desarrolló herramientas, ¿no?
In order to modify the environment, he developed tools, right?
Caption 50, Lo que no sabías - Arte electrónico
Play Caption
Regarding the last example, the word entorno is very common in information and computer science, especially when talking about the features that define the execution and placement of a particular application.
As far as the expression en torno goes, we can use it to mean about, around or approximately. Let’s take a look:
que hay en torno a cincuenta millones, eh, hispanohablantes en Estados Unidos.
that there there are about fifty million, um, Spanish speakers in the United States.
Captions 42-43, El Instituto Cervantes - Director del Instituto
Play Caption
Puede andar en torno a los dos mil seiscientos...
It could be around two thousand six hundred...
Caption 50, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
Play Caption
Finally, keep in mind that en torno is either followed by the preposition a or the preposition de:
That's it for this lesson. Now that you know the difference between entorno and en torno, you can answer the questions we posed at the beginning, right? And don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
In this lesson, we’ll talk about Spanish words that have the accent on the second-to-last syllable. We call these words palabras graves. In a previous lesson, we talked about palabras agudas, which are words with the accent on the last syllable.
Before we talk about palabras graves, let’s briefly discuss the meaning of the word “accent” in Spanish.
When we pronounce words in Spanish, the accent is the emphasis we give to a particular syllable of a word. We create that emphasis by giving the syllable a greater intensity, a longer duration, or a higher pitch. With that in mind, let’s review the way we categorize words in Spanish, according to their accent:
- Palabras agudas (oxytone words) | accent on the last syllable
- Palabras graves (paroxytone words) | accent on the second-to-last syllable
- Palabras esdrújulas (proparoxytone words) | accent on the third-to-last syllable
- Palabras sobresdrújulas (over-proparoxytone words) | accent on any syllable before the third-to-last syllable
Now we can focus on palabras graves, which are also known as palabras llanas. Let’s look at a couple of words:
Palabras como "lápiz" o "cereza" son palabras graves.
Words like "lápiz" [pencil] or "cereza" [cherry] are paroxytone words.
Caption 33, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 4: Clasificación de las palabras según el acento
Play Caption
The word lápiz has two syllables (lá | piz) and the accent goes on the second-to-last syllable “lá.” Similarly, the word cereza has three syllables (ce | re | za) and the accent also goes on the second-to-last syllable “re.”
We note that the word lápiz has a graphic accent (tilde) on the “á,” while the “e” in the second-to-last syllable of cereza doesn’t have that accent. Why not? It’s because paroxytone words need that graphic accent ONLY if they DO NOT end with “n,” “s,” or a vowel: Cereza ends in a vowel, so we don’t need the tilde.
y luego pasa en botella, donde se añade azúcar y eh... levadura.
and then goes into the bottle, where sugar is added and um... yeast.
Caption 26, Feria de Vinos Españoles en Londres - Bodegas Castell D'Age
Play Caption
The word azúcar has three syllables (a | zú | car) and the accent goes on the second-to-last syllable “zú”. Since this word doesn’t end in “n,” “s” or a vowel, we need to put a tilde on the vowel of the second-to-last syllable.
La vida de músico es muy difícil, Kevin, es muy sacrificada.
The musician's life is very difficult, Kevin, it's very demanding.
Caption 16, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
Play Caption
Likewise, the word difícil (di | fí | cil) has the accent on the second-to-last syllable “fí” and we need to put the graphic accent on the “í” since this word ends in a consonant (“l”), which is neither an “n,” an “s” nor a vowel.
There are, however, many palabras graves in Spanish that don’t need a graphic accent. Let’s take a look:
El lunes, por ejemplo, fui a trabajar.
On Monday for example, I went to work.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - La Doctora Consejos: El pasado
Play Caption
Both lunes ( lu | nes) and ejemplo (e | jem | plo) have the accent on the second-to-last syllable. However, since lunes ends in “s” and ejemplo ends in a vowel, neither word needs the tilde.
One last thing: There are many words that are agudas in the singular and graves in the plural. Take a look at the following list (stressed syllable are in boldface):
- Organización [organization] | organizaciones [organizations]
- Nación [nation] | naciones [nations]
- Doctor [doctor] | doctores [doctors]
- Pared [wall] | paredes [walls]
That's it for now. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, take one of our videos and try to find all the paroxytone words with and without a tilde. And of course, don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions.
Palabras agudas: Stress at the end
Some Unique Words and Expressions
Too Fast? Blame the Sinalefas - Part 1
We use idiomatic expressions all the time in our conversations. However, learning to use idiomatic expressions in a foreign language is something that most students find particularly challenging. Let’s find out how to say “a piece of cake,” “raining buckets,” “get away with it,” and “feel like” in Spanish.
In English, when something is extremely easy to do we say that it"s “a piece of cake.” In Spanish, the equivalent expression is pan comido (eaten bread):
porque componer para mí es pan comido.
because for me composing is a piece of cake.
Caption 80, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso - Part 9
Play Caption
In English, there’re several expressions that can be used to express that it’s raining heavily, for example “to rain buckets” or “to rain cats and dogs.” If we want to express the same idea in Spanish we must use the expression llover a cántaros [literally "to rain jugs"]:
Sí, llueve a cántaros.
Yes, it's raining buckets.
Caption 45, Español para principiantes - Saludos y encuentros
Play Caption
In English, when someone manages to do something bad without being punished or criticized for it, we say that he/she “gets away with it.” In Spanish, the phrase used to express the same idea is salirse con la suya:
Yo no pienso dejar que esa sifrina se salga con la suya.
I don't plan to let that snob get away with it.
Caption 79, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso - Part 10
Play Caption
Finally, when we want to say that someone has the desire to do something, we use the expression “to feel like.” In Spanish people use the phrase tener ganas de:
Si tienes ganas de más aventuras,
If you feel like more adventures,
Caption 20, Marta - Los Modos de Transporte
Play Caption
¿Tienes ganas de practicar más? [Do you feel like practicing more?]. Try finding more idiomatic expressions in our catalog of videos! And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
In all Spanish words, there's one syllable that gets stressed, so we divide words into four groups according to which syllable gets the stress. Let's take a look:
Palabras agudas (Oxytone words) | Last syllable
Palabras graves (Paroxytone words) | Second-to-last syllable
Palabras esdrújulas (Proparoxytone words) | Third-to-last syllable
Palabras sobresdrújulas (Over-proparoxytone words) | Any syllable before the third-to-last syllable
Today, we will talk about palabras agudas. Let’s look at a couple of words:
Palabras como "corazón" o "tambor" son palabras agudas.
Words like "corazón" [heart] or "tambor" [drum] are oxytone words.
Caption 22, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 4: Clasificación de las palabras según el acento
Play Caption
The word corazón has three syllables (co | ra | zón) and the stress falls on the last syllable “zón.” Similarly, the word tambor has two syllables (tam | bor) and the stress falls on the last syllable “bor.”
However, the word corazón has an accent mark (tilde) on top of the “ó,” while the “o” in the last syllable of tambor doesn’t have that accent. Why? Because oxytone words need that accent ONLY when they end in “n”, in “s” or in a vowel:
La manera más simple de llegar a Barcelona es con el autobús
The simplest way to get to Barcelona is by bus
Caption 27, Blanca - Cómo moverse en Barcelona
Play Caption
El coquí es un sapito que tenemos aquí en Puerto Rico.
The coquí is a little frog that we have here in Puerto Rico.
Caption 31, Carli Muñoz - Niñez - Part 1
Play Caption
The word autobús has three syllables (au | to | bús) and the stress falls on the last syllable. Since this word ends in “s,” we need to put a tilde on the vowel of the last syllable. Likewise, the word coquí (co | quí) is stressed on the last syllable and we need to put the tilde on the “í” since this word ends in a vowel.
Important! In Spanish the accent mark ( ´ ) can only be placed on top of a vowel.
There are many oxytone words in Spanish. In fact, all verbs in the infinitive are palabras agudas:
¿Quieres tomar algo de beber, Raquel?
Do you want to have something to drink, Raquel?
Caption 22, Raquel - Presentaciones
Play Caption
Both tomar ( to | mar) and beber (be | ber) have two syllables and the stress falls on the last one. However, since they both end in “r,” the accent mark is not needed.
That's it for now. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, take one of our videos and try to find all the oxytone words without a tilde. And of course, don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Let’s talk about numbers today. Ordinal numbers such as "first," "second," and "third," express position, order or succession in a series. Let's take a look at some of the rules that you need to keep in mind when using ordinal numbers in Spanish.
The first ten ordinals are very often used in spoken Spanish so let’s take a moment to review them: Primero (first), segundo (second), tercero (third), cuarto (fourth), quinto(fifth), sexto (sixth),
séptimo (seventh), octavo (eighth), noveno (ninth) and décimo (tenth).
Generally speaking, the ordinal numbers in Spanish go before the noun and agree in gender and number with the noun they are describing:
Las primeras imágenes que veo son impactantes, la verdad,
The first images that I see are shocking, truthfully,
Caption 34, Iker Casillas - apoya el trabajo de Plan
Play Caption
A very important rule regarding the ordinals primero (first) and tercero (third) is that they drop the final ‘o’ before a masculine noun:
Y por ejemplo este nuevo disco es vuestro tercer disco creo... tercero o cuarto.
And for example this new record is your third record I believe... Third or fourth.
Caption 65, Bajofondo Tango Club - Mar Dulce - Part 1
Play Caption
Ordinal numbers can be simple or compound. Simple ordinals have their own form while compound ordinals are made by joining simple numbers. The ordinal numbers “eleventh” and “twelfth” are unique in Spanish because they can have both simple and compound forms. For example, we could write the ordinal “twelfth” as a simple number (duodécimo) or as a compound one (décimo segundo):
En el dos mil diecisiete, El Real Madrid ganó su décima segunda '"Champions".
In two thousand seventeen, Real Madrid won its twelfth championship.
Caption 39, Carlos explica - Los Números: Números Ordinales
Play Caption
Also, let’s remember that we use ordinal numbers for sovereign figures like kings, queens and popes. In this case, the ordinals are placed after the noun they describe:
Fuimos a la beatificación del Papa Juan Pablo Segundo.
We went to the beatification of Pope John Paul the Second.
Caption 9, Latinos por el mundo - Chilenas en Venecia
Play Caption
That's it for now. Remember to memorize and practice the first 10 ordinals as they are commonly used in everyday language! And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Let's talk about gentilicios (demonyms)! Gentilicios are words that we use as adjectives when we want to say the place where someone or something comes from. In other words, they are adjectives of nationality in Spanish! Some examples of demonyms are words like “Brazilian,” “African” or “Chinese.”
Unlike English, we don’t capitalize demonyms in Spanish:
Mejor dicho, esas que son una mezcla entre peruana y colombiano.
In other words, those that are a mix between a Peruvian girl and a Colombian guy.
Caption 35, La Sub30 - Familias - Part 1
Play Caption
We form demonyms using suffixes, which most of the time need to be consistent with the gender and the number of the noun they are describing. Let’s take the suffix ano:
Roberto es mexicano | Roberto is Mexican (singular masculine)
Claudia es mexicana | Claudia is Mexican (singular feminine)
Roberto y Claudia son mexicanos | Roberto and Claudia are Mexicans (plural masculine)
Claudia y Daniela son mexicanas | Claudia and Daniela are Mexicans (plural feminine)
cuando realmente veo otros mexicanos, otros latinos,
when I see other Mexicans, other Latin people,
Caption 13, Arturo Vega - Entrevista - Part 5
Play Caption
Other suffixes that are very often used to form gentilicios are és (singular masculine) and esa(singular feminine) as well as co (singular masculine) and ca (singular feminine):
De padre austriaco y madre francesa, es casi políglota de nacimiento.
From an Austrian father and French mother, he's pretty much multilingual from birth.
Caption 12, Europa Abierta - Alejandro Hermann - El arte de pintar
Play Caption
We also have the suffix eño (singular masculine) as in limeño (from Lima, the capital of Peru), and the suffix í as in the demonym iraní (from Iran). The latter is used for both masculine and feminine and only changes in its plural form (iraní becomes either iranís or iraníes, both forms are correct):
o madrileño, madrileña, de Madrid, la capital de España.
or "madrileño," "madrileña," [from Madrid], from Madrid, the capital of Spain.
Caption 34, Carlos explica - Geografía y gentilicios
Play Caption
Just like iraní, the demonym estadounidense (from the United States) is the same for the masculine and feminine forms. Some people use americano or americana when referring to someone from the US. However, if you are travelling across Latin America try to use estadounidense instead. Most people in Latin America treat the word América as a continent and not a country so using that demonym when referring to the US will certainly leave a nice impression across the Americas.
That's all for now. We would like to leave you with the following exercise: Choose 20 countries from the world and try to write the gentilicios for each one. And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Let's continue learning idiomatic expressions that use names of body parts. This lesson focuses on the word boca (mouth).
The expression llevarse algo a la boca (literally "to put something in one's mouth") means "to eat." You can see an example in the following quote from our catalog of videos:
que te lleves algo a la boca. -¡Hombre, algo a la barriga!
you put something in your mouth. -Man, something to put into my belly!
Caption 88, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 10
Play Caption
Somewhat similar is the expression no tener nada que llevarse a la boca (literally, "to lack something to put in one's mouth"), which basically means "to be very poor."
Two very useful phrases using the word boca (mouth) are boca arriba (face up) and boca abajo (face down):
Túmbese, boca arriba.
Lay down, face up.
Caption 34, Club de las ideas - Técnico en imagen para diagnóstico
Play Caption
The expression abrir la boca (to open one's mouth) means "to speak out," "to confess or reveal a secret," or "to spill a gossip," depending on the context:
Eso sí, miralo y no abras la boca hasta que volvamos a hablar vos y yo, ¿eh?
Mind you, watch it and don't open your mouth until we speak again, you and I, OK?
Caption 6, Muñeca Brava - 9 Engaños - Part 8
Play Caption
Also similar is irse de boca (literally "to go mouth on"), that is "to run off at the mouth" or simply "to be indiscreet":
No te habrás ido de boca diciéndole la verdad a ese Sirenio, ¿no?
You wouldn't have been indiscreet by telling that Sirenio guy the truth, right?
Caption 52, Yago - 9 Recuperación - Part 12
Play Caption
El presidente se fue de boca otra vez.
The president ran his mouth off again.
Finally, keep in mind that irse de boca is also a synonym phrase of caerse de boca (to go headlong, to fall flat on your face). This is a very colloquial expression that you probably won't use in a formal situation:
Se fue de boca y se fracturó la nariz.
He went headlong and fractured his nose.
That's all for now. We challenge you to try finding more expressions using the word boca in our catalog of videos! And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Learning how to combine prepositions such as a, ante, con, de, desde, en, para, por, and sin (among others) is key to being able to build complex ideas in Spanish. For example, you can use them to introduce a subordinate clause in a very simple sentence:
Voy al banco a cambiar un cheque (I go/I'm going to the bank to cash a check)
Voy al banco para cambiar un cheque (I go/I'm going to the bank to cash a check)
Voy al banco con María (I go/I'm going to the bank with Maria)
Voy al banco de la esquina (I go/I'm going to the bank on the corner of the street)
Voy al banco desde temprano (I go/I'm going to the bank early in the morning)
Voy al banco en carro (I go/I'm going to the bank by car)
Voy al banco por unos documentos (I go/I'm going to the bank to get some documents)
Voy al banco según me indicaste (I go/I'm going to the bank as you told me to)
Voy al banco sin mi paraguas (I go/I'm going to the bank without my umbrella)
You can also combine prepositions with other particles in Spanish. One interesting case is the combination of prepositions with the word que. Let's focus on the combination a que (entirely different from a qué), which is very useful! Here's an example:
Pues yo te invito a que lo pruebes.
Well, I invite you to try it.
Caption 87, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 6
Play Caption
Another way to express the same idea in Spanish is te invito a probarlo (I invite you to try it). Do you notice the difference? The preposition a introduces a verb in the infinitive (probarlo) while the combination a que introduces a clause with a conjugated verb (pruebes).
Another example/meaning of a que is:
Mi padre era muy reacio a que [yo] las tocara.
My father was very reluctant for me to touch them.
Caption 57, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 10
Play Caption
As you can see, English has a different, more convoluted way to express this idea of being reluctant about an action performed by a third person. But the Spanish a que construction can be combined with a conjugated verb in the subjunctive. If you were wondering, you can't express this precise idea in Spanish using the infinitive. But if the subjunctive is still hard for you, try something simple and depersonalized: Mi padre era muy reacio a tocarlas (My father was very reluctant to touch them).
The phrase a que can be used to answer someone who's asking an a qué question:
¿A qué viniste? -Vine a que me pagues.
What did you come for? - I came for you to pay me.
Finally, there's an expression using the combination a que that you will surely like. It's used to confirm that we are on the same page with somebody, that we agree about something:
¿Tú la cuidas bien a que sí?
You take good care of her, right?
Caption 23, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 16
Play Caption
In Spanish this expression a que sí is equivalent and very similar to ¿verdad que sí? (literally "is it true that yes?"). It can also be used in the negative form:
¿A que no adivinas dónde estuvimos?
I bet you won't guess where we were?
Caption 9, Guillermina y Candelario - Carrera de Relevos
Play Caption
You can think of this expression as a short version of the phrase apuesto a que no (I bet that you don't...), which is also used in positive terms: apuesto a que sí (I bet you do...), by the way. It's just much more common to use the negative form to stress the daring nature of this expression. But it's perfectly correct to say: ¡A que sí puedes. Inténtalo! (I bet you can. Try!).
That's all for now! We'll explore more of these combinations in future lessons. Don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Let's continue learning idiomatic expressions in Spanish that use body parts. This lesson focuses on the word mano (hand).
The expressions echar una mano (to throw a hand) or dar una mano (to give a hand) mean "to help." Frequently, people use this expression with negation in the interrogative form: ¿no me echas una mano? or ¿no me das una mano? are common ways to ask for help in Spanish:
¿No me das una manita con Pablo?
Won't you give me a little hand with Pablo?
Caption 44, Muñeca Brava - 30 Revelaciones - Part 4
Play Caption
See? You can even throw in a diminutive like manita (little hand)! Native Spanish speakers use diminutives a lot, so you can use this truquito (little trick) to make your Spanish sound more natural.
Now, dar una mano (to give a hand, to help) is different from dar la mano (literally, "to give the hand"), which means "to shake hands" or "to hold hands." Usually the verb dar (to give) is used with a pronoun in these expressions. So you can say: le doy la mano (I shake his/her/your hand), nos damos la mano (we shake hands, we shake each other's hands). In other cases the pronoun can be added to the verb dar as a suffix, for example: ¡dame la mano! (shake my hand!), or:
En ocasiones más formales también podemos darnos la mano.
For more formal occasions, we can also shake each other's hands.
Captions 11-12, Raquel Presentaciones
Play Caption
Slightly different is tomar la mano de alguien (to take somebody's hand):
Bachué se despidió llorando y tomó la mano de su esposo.
Bachué said goodbye crying and took her husband's hand.
Caption 49, Aprendiendo con Carlos - América precolombina - El mito de Bachué
Play Caption
If you add the preposition de (by) you get the expression de la mano (by the hand, holdings hands). Tomar de la mano is "to hold by the hand," estar de la mano is "to be holding hands," cruzar la calle de la mano de tu mamá means "to cross the street holding your mom's hand," and caminar de la mano con tu novia means "to walk with your girlfriend holding hands". Here's one more example:
Un helado, un paseo, tomados de la mano
An ice cream, a stroll, holding hands
Caption 4, Alberto Jiménez - Causalidad - Part 2
Play Caption
On the other hand, estar a mano (literally, “to be at hand") means "to be even:"
Estaríamos a mano. ¿Eh?
We would be even. Huh?
Caption 30, Muñeca Brava - 2 Venganza - Part 6
Play Caption
The expression hecho a mano means "made by hand." And the phrase a mano can either mean "by hand":
Los que se pueden coger con la mano desde abajo, se cogen a mano.
The ones that can be picked by hand from below are picked by hand.
Captions 88-89, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 16
Play Caption
or "at hand," which can also be spelled a la mano:
Ponte lo que tengas a [la] mano.
Wear whatever you have at hand.
To do something mano a mano (hand in hand) means to do something together:
Los investigadores trabajan con los pescadores mano a mano.
The researchers work with the fishermen hand in hand.
In Mexico, Dominican Republic, and other Spanish speaking countries, people use mano to shorten hermano/a (brother, sister), just like “bro” and “sis” in English. For example: No, mano, así no se hace (No, bro, that's not how you do it), Oye, mana, vámonos a casa (Hey, sis, let's go home).
And that's all for this lesson! Don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
The word in Spanish for empathy is empatía, and the word for sympathy is simpatía. You can combine either noun with verbs like tener (to have), mostrar (to show), or expresar (to express), among others:
La gente le tendría simpatía y admiración al mismo tiempo. Y hasta lástima.
People would feel sympathy and admiration for you at the same time. And even pity.
Captions 72-73, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión - Part 3
Play Caption
To use the verbs mostrar and expresar instead of tener, you might say:
La gente le mostraría simpatía | People would show sympathy for you.
La gente le expresaría simpatía | People would express sympathy to you.
But how can you directly express your sympathy to a person? The expressions te tengo simpatía ("I sympathize with you" but also "I like you" in some contexts) and soy empático contigo (I'm empathetic toward you) are correct but not very colloquial. You can use other expressions instead, for example, estoy contigo (I'm with you):
¿Confías en mí? -Sí. Yo estoy contigo.
Do you trust me? -Yes. I'm with you.
Another good way to show support is by simply saying te apoyo (I support you):
Ay, amigui, yo te apoyo.
Oh, friend, I support you.
Caption 8, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso - Part 11
Play Caption
In the case of more serious situations, for example, when receiving bad news about something, the most common way to show your support is by saying lo siento mucho (I'm very sorry), or the more emphatic cuánto lo siento (literally "how sorry I am"). There are different ways to use these phrases, depending on what you want to say. For example:
Mi papá está muy enfermo. -Oh, lo siento mucho.
My dad is very sick. -Oh, I'm so sorry.
Siento mucho que no puedas visitar a tu familia ahora.
I'm very sorry that you can't visit your family right now.
¡Cuánto lo siento que tuvieras que pasar por eso tú sola!
I'm so, so sorry that you had to go through that all by yourself.
Just pay close attention to the context and tone because, like in English, lo siento is also used commonly in less serious situations:
Lo siento, pequeña, pero aquí las cosas hay que ganárselas.
I'm sorry, little one, but here things have to be earned.
Captions 30-31, NPS No puede ser 1 - El concurso - Part 5
Play Caption
You can also use lo siento mucho to offer your condolences. Altenatives include te ofrezco mis condolencias (I offer you my condolences) or recibe mis condolencias (receive my condolences), expressions that many people shorten to just mis condolencias (my condolences), or mis más sentidas condolencias (my heartfelt condolences):
Mis condolencias, Sr. Gutiérrez. -Gracias.
My condolences, Mr. Gutierrez. -Thank you.
Finally, showing support is also about extending a helping hand, right? In Spanish you can use expressions such as ¿en qué te puedo ayudar? (how can I help you?), ¿te puedo ayudar en algo? (can I help you with something?), cuenta conmigo (you can count on me), estoy para lo que necesites (I'm here for whatever you need), among others. A very colloquial expression is echar una mano (to lend a hand):
...para echarle una mano a la familia.
...to lend a hand to the family.
Caption 61, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 5
Play Caption
We hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to leave us your comments and suggestions.
In the first installment of Tu Voz Estéreo, our brand new series from Colombia, we hear a conversation between two not very pleasant characters who are planning to steal a guide dog (ಠ_ಠ!) from his blind owner:
Ay, pero ¿cómo y de cuándo acá nos gustan tanto los perros?
Oh, but how and since when do we like dogs so much?
Caption 9, Tu Voz Estéreo - Laura - Part 1
Play Caption
The idiom de cuándo acá (since when) is a rhetorical question. In Spanish, asking ¿Desde cuándo te gustan los perros? is not the same as saying ¿De cuándo acá te gustan los perros? The first one is a simple question, while the second one is asked in order to create a dramatic effect of surprise, outrage, disbelief, or disapproval:
¿Y de cuándo acá eres mi juez?
And since when are you my judge?
Órale, ¿de cuándo acá tan bien vestidos? ¿Dónde es la fiesta?
Wow, since when you dress so well? Where's the party?
There are different ways to translate the English expression "how come?" into Spanish. As a standalone expression, you can use questions such as ¿cómo es eso? (literally "how is that"), ¿cómo así? (literally "how this way"), ¿cómo? (how), or ¿por qué? (why). It's important to add a special emphasis to the way you pronounce these questions:
No había nada interesante que hacer. ¿Cómo?
There was nothing interesting to do. - How come?
Captions 38-39, Guillermina y Candelario - Una aventura extrema - Part 1
Play Caption
But when the expression is part of a sentence (for example, "How come you don't know that?") you can use the idiom cómo que (literally "how that") or cómo es que (how is that):
¿Cómo es que no sabes eso!
How come you don't know that?!
¿Cómo que no trajiste nada de dinero?
How come you didn't bring any money?
You could say that by using this phrase cómo que we're simply omitting the verb decir (to say), as shown in this example:
¿Cómo (dices) que te echaron?
How come (you say) they fired you?
Caption 8, Verano Eterno - Fiesta Grande - Part 5
Play Caption
In Colombia and other Latin American countries, some people add the word así after que:
¿Cómo así que chucho?
How come it's the chucho?
Caption 33, Festivaliando - Mono Núñez - Part 4
Play Caption
Thank you for reading!
Have you ever found yourself in a foreign country and needing to do some banking other than just using an ATM? Here's a useful list of Spanish banking vocabulary.
The Spanish word for "bank" is banco. Occasionally, you may hear people using the expressions institución bancaria (banking institution) or entidad bancaria (banking entity) as well, but these two are more commonly used in written documents:
Las condiciones, mm... no se las acepta, eh... o no se las concede la entidad bancaria.
The conditions, mm... are not accepted, um... or are not granted by the banking entity.
Captions 56-57, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 12
Play Caption
Note that in Spanish el banco (the bank) is not the same as la banca (banking), a feminine noun you can hear or read quite often if you follow Spanish-speaking world news. Here’s an example:
El candidato a la presidencia de México afirmó que "la banca es uno de los mejores negocios del país".
The candidate for the presidency of Mexico affirmed that "banking is one of the best businesses in the country."
In Spanish the acronym ATM is rarely used. Instead, Spanish speakers use the expression cajero automático (automatic cashier), which is frequently shortened to cajero.
¡Oh! ¿Dónde está el cajero automático?
Oh! Where's the ATM?
Caption 36, Natalia de Ecuador - Palabras de uso básico
Play Caption
As in English, the word cajero or cajera (cashier) is also used to refer to the person who handles the caja (cash register, literally "box"). This word can be used anywhere a financial transaction takes place—at stores, banks, entertainment venues, and even zoquitos clubs:
Hay días que la caja tiene más zoquitos que euros? -No.
Are there days when the register has more zoquitos than euros? -No.
Caption 70, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 5
Play Caption
Finalmente, debes ir a la caja y pagar lo que quieras comprar.
Finally, you should go to the cash register and pay for whatever you want to buy.
Captions 40-41, Raquel Haciendo compras
Play Caption
In Spanish as in English, if a cash register is located behind a glass wall or a small window, you may call it ventanilla (window); hence the use of expressions such as pague en ventanilla (pay at the window) or pase a ventanilla 8 (go to window 8). In movie theaters, for example, you may hear people say ventanilla instead of taquilla (box office) quite often. Of course, sometimes a ventanilla is just a window:
¿Y quiere asiento de ventanilla o de pasillo?
And do you want a window or aisle seat?
Caption 36, Raquel - La Compra de un Billete de Tren
Play Caption
The word depósito means "deposit," and depositar means "to make a deposit." Some useful expressions are: quiero hacer un depósito or quiero depositar (I want to make a deposit, I want to deposit). And the same formula applies for transferencia (transfer), giro (wire), and retiro (withdrawal).
The word for "currency" is moneda (which also means "coin"):
"Zoquitos" es una... una red de moneda local.
"Zoquitos" is a... a network of local currency.
Caption 23, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 2
Play Caption
The word divisa means "foreign currency." To ask for a currency conversion, you can say quiero hacer un cambio de divisas (I want to make a currency exchange). However, for a more colloquial touch, use something like quiero cambiar dólares a pesos (I want to exchange dollars for pesos).
To learn more about financial terms, try our series Cuentas claras.
French
German
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Français
Deutsch
Español
Italiano
Português