Unfortunately, this year that is about to end wasn't the brightest. From the Ukraine war and the never-ending COVID-19 pandemic to global economic woes and the ongoing climate change crisis, this year's Word of the Year summarizes, in just six letters, all of these unfortunate events. With that being said, let's reveal Yabla's Spanish Word of the Year 2022.

banner2 PLACEHOLDER

"Crisis": The Spanish Word of the Year 2022

The word crisis (with the same spelling as in English) is our Spanish Word of the Year 2022. Let's see how to pronounce this word in Spanish with a sentence we could easily apply to the present times:

Vivimos en tiempos de crisis.

We live in times of crisis.

Caption 3, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 2 - Part 1

 Play Caption

By the way, the word crisis in Spanish doesn't necessarily mean something negative, but rather a drastic change in a particular situation. However, for the context of this lesson, we are using the following definition from the Diccionario de la lengua española:

Situación mala o difícil (Bad or difficult situation)  

Do you know what the plural of the word crisis is in Spanish? Let's find out with the following clip:

por las crisis que genera,

for the crises it generates,

Caption 40, De consumidor a persona Short Film - Part 6

 Play Caption

Yes, the plural of the Spanish word crisis is... crisis! Why? Because words that have the accent on the second-to-last syllable and end in "s" don't change in the plural. In addition to crisis, words like virus and apocalipsis also follow this rule. For more information about this topic, check out our lesson about Rules for Forming the Plural of Nouns in Spanish.

Runners-up for 2022 Spanish Word of the Year

Considering the coverage that the war in Ukraine received this year, we were tempted to choose the word guerra (war) as our Spanish Word of the Year 2022. However, we opted for a word that takes into consideration all of the other problems affecting our world. Let's take a look at some of this year's runner-up terms.

guerra (war)

Yo soy "antiguerra", no me gusta la guerra.

I'm "antiguerra" [antiwar], I don't like war.

Captions 52-53, Ana Carolina Prefijos y sufijos - Part 1

 Play Caption

incertidumbre (uncertainty)

creo que debido a la incertidumbre que teníamos todas las personas,

due, I think, to all of our uncertainty

Caption 46, El coronavirus Confinamiento en España - Part 1

 Play Caption

inflación (inflation)

La inflación en América Latina será más alta que la media.

Inflation in Latin America will be higher than average

invasión (invasion)

Durante la invasión francesa en mil ochocientos ocho,

During the French invasion in eighteen o-eight,

Caption 60, Marisa en Madrid Parque de El Retiro

 Play Caption

Did you notice anything? That was a lot of words that start with the letter i, which even appears twice in the word crisis! That said, i is definitely the Spanish letter of the year!

And that wraps up Yabla's Spanish Word of the Year for 2022. What do you think of our choice? Please feel free to share your comments and suggestions with us, and here's to hoping that 2023 will be a better year!

banner4 PLACEHOLDER

Aplicarle la palabra "solidario" a las finanzas tiene que ver con que todo el mundo pueda acceder a ese... elemento de intermediación que es el dinero para poder hacer lo que de verdad importa ¿no?

Applying the word "solidarity" to finance has to do with everybody being able to access that... element of intermediation, which is money, to be able to do what's really important, no?

Captions 51-54, De consumidor a persona - Short Film - Part 6

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

There are some complicated thoughts being expressed in this short film about the social consequences of consumerism. The number of verbs in the above quote alone could make your head spin. But here we want to home in on just two of those verbs, joined together in a common phrase: tener que ver.

In Spanish, tiene que ver con means, basically, "has to do with" or "got to do with" in English. But, of course, ver means "to see" and not "to do" (that's hacer). That's just the way it is.

En este cuadro, represento a Bachué, que tiene que ver con la cultura muisca de las montañas en Colombia.

In this painting, I represent Bachué, who has to do with the Muiscan culture from the mountains in Colombia.

Captions 16-17, Beatriz Noguera - Exposición de Arte

 Play Caption

¿Y eso qué tiene que ver?
What's that got to do with it? [Or, more simply:] So what?

No tiene nada que ver. 
It's got nothing to do with it.

One of the points that comes across loud and clear in the film De consumidor a person is that a lot of social issues have to do with $money$ (el dinero). Eso es la verdad. ("That's the truth.")

Pero yo no me lo creo, así que decido hacer este documental. Con ánimo de lucro

But I don't believe it, so I decide to do this documentary. With Intent to Profit

Captions 26-27, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje - Part 1

 Play Caption

Lucro means "gain" or "profit." Think "filthy lucre" as a mnemonic device.

Nosotros no somos coherentes si ponemos nuestro dinero primero, buscándole un gran lucro.

We're not being logical if we put our money first, looking for a big profit.

Captions 32-34, De consumidor a persona - Short Film - Part 6

 Play Caption

...si predomina la lógica del beneficio y del lucro sin límite.

...if the logic of benefit and unlimited profit predominates.

Caption 67, De consumidor a persona - Short Film - Part 7

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Frankly, it's a little surprising to have a documentary ostensibly about the quest to end poverty and hunger with the title Con ánimo de lucro ("With Intent to Profit" / i.e. "For-profit"). After all, to describe non-profit (or, not-for-profit) ventures in the Spanish-speaking world, the phrase "sin ánimo de lucro" (or, "sin fines de lucro") is commonly used... Well, future installments of this documental promise to explain this cryptic title.