Have you ever heard the word venga in Spanish? If you have been studying Spanish for a while or have ever been to Spain, you have probably heard someone say this word. But, do you really know the meaning of the Spanish word venga? In this lesson, we will teach you seven different ways to employ this very useful colloquial term.
But first, let's establish three important things. First, the word venga is the conjugation of the verb venir in the formal imperative (for the second person singular pronoun usted, which means "you"). Let's take a look at this very simple example of the traditional use of this word:
¡Estoy hablando con usted, señor! ¡Venga aquí, por favor!
I'm talking to you, sir! Come here, please!
Second, in addition to its formal use, as venga is a word that is used colloquially in multiple ways throughout Spain, if you are planning a visit to that country, we recommend familiarizing yourself with as many of these uses as possible.
And third, much of the time, the Spanish word venga is roughly translated with the English expression "Come on." That said, let's take a look at the following uses of the colloquial term venga.
One of the most common uses of the Spanish word venga is to motivate or encourage someone to do something. We can see this use in the following clips from our popular series Extr@: Extra en español:
Venga, cuéntamelo, Sam. No pasa nada.
Come on, tell me, Sam. It's no big deal.
Caption 50, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 7: La gemela - Part 4
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Venga, díselo.
Come on, tell him.
Caption 5, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 1 - La llegada de Sam - Part 6
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In this context, you might also use venga to dare someone to do something:
No vas a atreverte. ¿Cómo que no? Venga.
You won't dare. What do you mean I won't? Go ahead.
Captions 1-3, Cortometraje Flechazos
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Sometimes, in the context of giving orders, the word venga can be used in a more decisive manner:
¿Hay alguien? Conteste, venga.
Is anyone there? Answer, come on.
Captions 28-29, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 2: Sam va de compras - Part 4
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In this context, the word venga is usually used as a call to action to do something specific:
¿Sí? ¡Venga va! Vamos a corregir.
Yes? Come on! Let's correct [this].
Caption 91, Escuela BCNLIP Clase con Javi: el futuro - Part 6
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Venga, vámonos.
Come on, let's go.
Caption 60, 75 minutos Gangas para ricos - Part 3
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Similar to the previous use, the word venga can be used to express agreement between two people. In this case, venga would be equivalent to saying "OK" in English. Let's see an example:
La semana que viene sin falta, a cenar a mi casa. Vale, te llamo. -Venga,
Next week no matter what, dinner at my house. OK, I'll call you. -OK,
Captions 95-96, Blanca y Mariona Vida en general
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You may notice that this use of venga very often comes up at the end of spoken conversations, especially on the telephone when one person indicates the end of the conversation with this word and the other person repeats it:
Venga. -Venga. Hasta luego.
OK. -OK. Bye.
People tend to repeat the word venga when they want to encourage someone to do something quickly. Let's see this use in action:
Venga, venga que es noche y... y las castañas sin coger.
Come on, come on, as it's getting late and... and the chestnuts haven't been picked.
Caption 63, 75 minutos Del campo a la mesa - Part 4
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Just like we use "come on" in English, we can use the word venga to ask someone to do something for us. Let's look:
Venga, Sam. Tienes que vestirte de basurero.
Come on, Sam. You have to dress as a garbage man.
Caption 37, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 6: El día de la Primitiva - Part 5
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Just like the English expression "Come on," the Spanish word venga can additionally be used as an interjection to express astonishment, disbelief, or disapproval about something, as in the following example:
Pero venga, tío. Eso no tiene sentido.
But come on, man. That doesn't make sense.
That's all for today. We hope that this lesson has helped you to understand the many meanings of the Spanish word venga, and if you ever go to Spain, we encourage you to use it. And, ¡venga! Don't forget to send us your suggestions and comments.
In an interview appearing in the Spanish series, 75 minutos, we can hear a beautiful gypsy voice singing the following:
Me dormí pensando en ti; pensando en ti, me desperté
I fell asleep thinking about you; thinking about you, I woke up
Soñé contigo, estoy sin ti y así llevo to' mi vi'a
I dreamed about you, I am without you, and I carry on like that all my life
Captions 10-11, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Do you see that "ti" in the example above? That's a prepositional pronoun, or pronoun that follows a preposition. As prepositional pronouns may have been outshone in your studies by the complexity of object pronouns (me, te, se, le, etc.), let’s focus on them for a change.
When pronouns follow prepositions, they take on a special form in the first and second person singular, as follows:
Tú sabes que una fiesta sin mí no es una fiesta
You know that a party without me is not a party
porque yo soy el alma de las fiestas.
because I am the soul of parties.
Caption 19, Club 10 - Capítulo 1 - Part 2
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He sentido un flechazo por ti.
I felt love at first sight with you.
Caption 7, Cortometraje - Flechazos
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Note that, unlike the possessive adjective mi (e.g. Mi nombre, or "My name"), the prepositional pronoun mí has a graphic accent (tilde) whereas ti does not.
In contrast to the first and second persons, the other persons utilize the same form as the subject pronoun (él, ella, nosotros, etc.) and do not require any special form:
Es un poco estresante para nosotros.
It's a bit stressful for us.
Caption 6, Animales en familia - Un día en Bioparc: Cachorro de leopardo
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No, estoy hablando de ella.
No, I'm talking about her.
Caption 22, Muñeca Brava - 41 La Fiesta
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O en los brazos de ella.
Or in her arms.
Caption 21, El Ausente - Acto 3 - Part 8
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The third person is the only grammatical person to employ a specific form exclusively for reflexive use: sí. Although this form does not indicate gender or number, these aspects are apparent (and the agreement with the subject achieved) with the words mismo(s) and misma(s), which often follow the prepositional pronoun sí when expressing the idea of "himself" or "herself."
Agente, Pierre Bernard no habló mucho de sí mismo.
Agent, Pierre Bernard didn't talk much about himself.
Caption 24, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 4
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Sí can also come after the preposition entre in the third person plural to express the idea of "with each other," as follows:
Entonces, ellas son amigas entre sí, también.
So, they are friends with each other also.
Caption 48, Clase Aula Azul - Información con subjuntivo e indicativo
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However, entre can be also followed by the subject pronouns yo and tú:
Pues lo que está sucediendo
Because what's happening
es entre tú y yo
is between you and me
Captions 26-27, Vivanativa - Si tú me quieres
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Soñé contigo, estoy sin ti / I dreamed about you, I am without you
Considering the fact that pronouns do not often merge with the prepositions that preceed them, you may have wondered why conmigo, contigo and consigo are written as a single word. The fact is that the prepositional pronouns mí, ti, and sí have special forms when used with the preposition con.
Quédate conmigo
Stay with me
Caption 42, Carlos Baute y Marta Sanchez - Colgando en tus manos
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Bailar contigo y perdernos esta noche
Dancing with you and losing ourselves tonight
Caption 9, Monsieur Periné - Bailar Contigo
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Porque si no, muchas personas
Because otherwise, many people
tienen conflictos consigo mismas.
have conflicts with themselves.
Captions 2-3, Natalia de Ecuador - Los tipos de temperamento
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Some years ago, a politician in Latin America gained notoriety after saying conmigo o sinmigo, an egregious error for a native speaker of Spanish, let alone a public figure! Now that you have read this lesson, you can rest assured that contigo no tendremos ese problema (we won’t have that problem with you). We hope you liked this lesson, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
Let's enhance our vocabulary today! As you know, nouns in Spanish are defined by number and gender. However, there are some nouns that can be both masculine and feminine. Moreover, depending on the gender they have, these nouns change their meanings completely. With that being said, let's take a look at some Spanish words that change meaning with gender.
Feminine: la capital (a capital city)
Está ubicada a ciento diez kilómetros de Quito, la capital del Ecuador.
It is located one hundred and ten kilometers from Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
Caption 6, Otavalo - El mercado de artesanías de Otavalo
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Masculine: el capital (capital: money)
No buscar la acumulación de capital
It's not seeking the accumulation of capital,
sino buscar la satisfacción de necesidades sociales.
but seeking the satisfaction of social necessities.
Captions 74-75, De consumidor a persona - Short Film
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Feminine: la cólera (anger, rage)
Masculine: el cólera (cholera - the illness)
Feminine: la coma (a comma - punctuation)
Masculine: el coma (a coma - medicine)
Feminine: la cometa (a kite)
Pero la cometa estaba muy alta para cogerla.
But the kite was too high to grab.
Caption 22, Guillermina y Candelario - El Gran Descubrimiento
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Masculine: el cometa (a comet - astronomy)
Feminine: la corte (a court of law OR the royal court of a king)
Creo que voy a apelar esta decisión a la Corte Suprema.
I think I'm going to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
Caption 83, Los casos de Yabla - Problemas de convivencia
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...que le habían sido cedidos para recreo de la corte.
...that had been handed over to him for the court's recreation.
Caption 59, Marisa en Madrid - Parque de El Retiro
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Masculine: el corte (a cut - injury OR the cut of hair or a suit)
Y ahora voy a hacer el corte aquí.
And now I am going to make the cut here.
Caption 42, Instrumentos musicales - Ocarinas
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Feminine: la cura (the cure)
Tu madre no tiene cura.
Your mom has no cure.
Caption 45, Muñeca Brava - 44 El encuentro
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Masculine: el cura (a priest)
Aquí no habrá noche de bodas mientras no vayan con un cura.
Here, there will be no wedding night until you go to a priest.
Caption 23, El Ausente - Acto 4
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Feminine: la final (the sports final, the playoffs)
Jueguen como si fuera la final.
Play as if it were the finals.
Caption 46, Carlos explica - Tuteo, ustedeo y voseo: Ustedes y vosotros
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Masculine: el final (the end)
Al final le he pedido disculpas y todo.
In the end, I apologized to him and everything.
Caption 55, Cortometraje - Flechazos
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Feminine: la frente (the forehead)
"María le tocó la frente a su hijo para ver si tenía fiebre".
"Maria touched her son's forehead to see if he had a fever."
Caption 17, Carlos explica - Vocabulario: El verbo “tocar”
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Masculine: el frente (the front - military)
Los soldados están en el frente de batalla.
The soldiers are on the battle front.
Feminine: la guía (a guide book OR a female guide OR a telephone book OR guidance)
Todo bajo la guía de un profesor de educación física.
All with the guidance of a P.E. teacher.
Caption 7, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1
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¡Pippo, traé una guía!
Pippo, bring me a phone directory.
Caption 55, Yago - 5 La ciudad
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Masculine: el guía (a male guide)
Mi nombre es Mauricio y soy un guía turístico.
My name is Mauricio and I'm a tour guide.
Caption 27, Pipo - Un paseo por la playa de Atacames
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Feminine: la orden (a command OR a restaurant order)
Normalmente, cuando estás haciendo una orden...
Usually, when you're placing an order...
Caption 28, Natalia de Ecuador - Ordenar en un restaurante
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Masculine: el orden (order)
Listo, señor Rolleri; todo en orden.
Done, Mister Rolleri; everything's in order.
Caption 68, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 2
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That's if for today. Do you know more Spanish words that change meaning with gender? We challenge you to find more and don't forget to send us your questions and comments.
While there are many words that are identical in Spanish and English (e.g. original, horror, etc.), other words play different tricks on us. This short lesson is about one of those "false friends," or words that are written the same as or similar to words in another language but have very different meanings.
An age-old mistake among English speakers is to use the verb realizar as a means of conveying "to come to know" or "realize." Of course, most of you know by now that this is a false cognate as realizar usually means "to achieve," "bring to fruition," etc.
In fact, the correct way to say "to realize" is darse cuenta. Let's take a look at a couple of clips in order to see that verb in action:
Eh, darse cuenta que... que hay mucha gente, muchos chavales, que han podido perder una familia en'... a sus padres, se pueden quedar huérfanos.
Um, realizing that... that there many people, many young people, who have managed to lose an [entire] family... their parents; they can end up orphans.
Captions 12-13, Iker Casillas - apoya el trabajo de Plan
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Y de pronto te das cuenta de que... de que no quieres estar con nadie más.
And suddenly you realize that... that you don't want to be with anyone else.
Captions 29-30, Cortometraje - Flechazos
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And now, let's see how the Spanish verb realizar is used throughout this El Aula Azul video:
Entonces voy a coger los datos para realizar la inscripción.
Then I'm going to take down the information to carry out the registration.
Caption 1, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Los cursos de español
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Y ahí tendrá toda la información para realizar el pago.
And there he'll have all of the information to make the payment.
Caption 31, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Los cursos de español
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Y toda la información que pueda necesitar para... para realizar su curso.
And all the information that he might need to... to take his course.
Caption 32, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Los cursos de español
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As you can see, the verb realizar can be used in many different ways, just not in the way in which a native English speaker might initially expect!
That's all for today. We hope this lesson helps you to avoid making this common mistake. And don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.
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