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.
¿Cómo te llevas con el español? (How do you get along in Spanish?) Wait— didn't llevar mean "to take"? Well, yes... you're right! The verb llevar often translates as "to take," and not just in phrases like "take your umbrella" or "take your children to school," but also in collocations like "to take time." And these are just a few of the uses of the verb llevar that we'll examine in this lesson. Actually, llevaría más de una lección (it would take more than one lesson) to cover all of its uses. But let's try and do our best here!
We can llevar something from one place to another and also accompany or guide someone somewhere, as in the following examples:
Tengo la posibilidad de llevar todos los días al colegio a mi hijo.
I have the chance to take my son to school every day.
Caption 53, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 18
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Le voy a llevar de compras.
I'm going to take him shopping.
Caption 7, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 2: Sam va de compras
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It is no wonder, then, that the term for "takeout food" (comida para llevar) in Spanish can be literally translated as "food for taking":
Aquí había unas comidas para llevar.
There were some takeout places here.
Caption 8, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 10
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Note that while the speaker uses the term for "takeout food" to refer to the location, it is more common to say casa de comidas para llevar to refer to a takeout restaurant. By the way, in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, these places are also called rotisería.
When this idea of direction goes beyond space to express cause, llevar means something closer to the verbs "to lead" or "to drive" in English, as in the following example:
Una cosa llevó a la otra, ¿no?
One thing led to another, right?
Caption 13, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 3
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A person might llevarte a la desesperación, a la ruina o a la locura ("lead" or "drive you to despair, bankrutpcy, or madness"), or maybe you are lucky and end up being very successful, like in this Yabla video:
Muchas veces, incluso nos puede llevar al éxito profesional.
Many times, it can even lead us to professional success.
Caption 13, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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Llevar also resembles "to take" when used with time, work, or effort to express that it is necessary to invest such time or effort in something. For instance, in one of our videos, María Sol explains that learning Spanish is a long process by saying that:
...de que puede llevar mucho tiempo.
...that it can take a long time.
Caption 29, GoSpanish - Entrevista con María Sol
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Yet, it can also be used to refer to the time that has gone by since the inception of something:
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas en Marbella? -En Marbella, cuarenta y un años.
How long have you been in Marbella? -In Marbella, forty-one years.
Caption 10, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 11
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Llevamos más de dos semanas sin agua.
We've been without water for more than two weeks.
Caption 24, Kikirikí - Agua
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We also use llevar to refer to the clothing or glasses we "wear," or the way we have our hair, in sentences such as Llevaba lentes (He/She was wearing glasses) or María llevaba el cabello largo (María had long hair).
...y me gusta llevar faldas normalmente.
...and I like to wear skirts usually.
Caption 6, El Aula Azul - Actividades Diarias
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Another instance in which llevar can be translated as "to take" is when we use the expression llevar a cabo (to take place), which might also mean "to carry out" or "conduct" depending on the case/collocation.
Aquí se va a llevar a cabo el Campeonato WK.
Here, the WK Championship is going to take place.
Caption 3, Adícora, Venezuela - Víctor
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We'll often hear people inviting us to let go, relax, and enjoy the feeling of dejarse llevar (letting oneself go), another expression which incorporates this verb:
Hay que estar relajado y dejarse llevar, ¿no?
You should be relaxed and let yourself go, right?
Caption 12, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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Finally, we'll can state that nos llevamos bien/mal with a person or people to describe how well or poorly we "get along with" others.
Que la puedes llevar a una... a un sitio,
That you can take her to a... to a place,
y sabes que se va a llevar bien con todo el mundo...
and you know she'll get along with everyone...
Caption 61, Biografía - Enrique Iglesias
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As you can tell, there are so many uses of llevar that se hace difícil llevar la cuenta (it's hard to keep track) of all of them. We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions. ¡Hasta la próxima!
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