Christmas (Navidad) is one of the most important celebrations in Spanish-speaking countries. Today, we'll explore essential Christmas vocabulary in Spanish along with authentic examples from native speakers. Let's dive into the festive spirit!
One of the most cherished Christmas traditions in the Hispanic world is setting up nativity scenes at home or in public places. These displays are called belenes or nacimientos:
Lo más tradicional además del turrón, el champán y los Reyes Magos, es montar el belén en casa.
The most traditional [thing] besides nougat candy, champagne and the Three Wise Men, is to put up a Nativity scene at home.
Captions 2-4, Europa Abierta Joaquín Pérez - Escultor de belenes
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el pesebre - the manger
el niño Jesús - baby Jesus
los pastores - the shepherds
la estrella - the star
el ángel - the angel
Villancicos are Spanish Christmas carols, an essential part of holiday celebrations. Lida and Cleer sing for us one of the most popular villancicos, El burrito de Belén (The Little Donkey from Bethlehem) also known as El burrito sabanero (The Little Donkey from the Savannah):
Con mi burrito sabanero voy camino de Belén Con mi burrito sabanero voy camino de Belén Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén Si me ven, si me ven, voy camino de Belén
With my little savanna donkey I'm heading to Bethlehem With my little savanna donkey I'm heading to Bethlehem If they see me, if they see me, I'm heading to Bethlehem If they see me, if they see me, I'm heading to Bethlehem
Captions 42-45, Cleer y Lida Buñuelos
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En Colombia, la palabra cena se usa para ocasiones especiales, como la cena de Nochebuena o la cena de Nochevieja.
In Colombia, the word "cena" is used for special occasions, like the Christmas Eve dinner or the New Year's Eve dinner.
Captions 23-25, Carlos comenta Los Años Maravillosos - Costumbres alimenticias y conflicto
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El día de los Reyes es una festividad que viene de tradición cristiana
Three Kings Day is a celebration that comes from the Christian tradition
Caption 7, Isabel y Paula contigo Día de Reyes - Part 1
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Las Posadas is a beloved Mexican Christmas tradition that has also spread to some Central American countries. These celebrations take place during the nine days before Christmas (December 16-24), representing the nine months of Mary's pregnancy. The word posada means "lodging" or "accommodation."
In Mexico, these celebrations include:
- Reenacting Mary and Joseph's search for lodging
- Processing through neighborhoods with candles
- Traditional songs specific to Las Posadas
- Breaking star-shaped piñatas
- Sharing traditional Mexican Christmas foods like ponche (fruit punch) and tamales
In Colombia, families and friends gather for nine consecutive nights before Christmas (December 16-24) to celebrate la Novena de Aguinaldos. This tradition consists of praying the Christmas novena and singing villancicos.
The Novena includes several important elements:
- Gozos: Traditional verses sung between prayers
- Villancicos: Colombian Christmas carols
- Traditional foods: natilla (custard), buñuelos (cheese fritters), and hojuelas (fried pastries)
- Prayer gatherings: Different families host each night
- Children's participation: Kids often lead parts of the prayers and songs
Some popular Colombian villancicos sung during the Novena include:
- "Tutaina"
- "Los peces en el río"
- "Noche de Paz" (Silent Night)
- "A la nanita nana"
Speaking of "A la nanita nana," let's hear Jacky performing this beautiful villancico:
A la nanita, nana, nanita, nana, nanita, eh-ah Mi Jesús tiene sueño, bendito sea, bendito sea
To [sing] a little lullaby, lullaby, little lullaby, lullaby, little lullaby, eh-ah My Jesus is sleepy, blessed be he, blessed be he
Captions 4-5, Villancicos Jacky canta "A La Nanita Nana"
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In many Spanish-speaking countries, workers receive a Christmas bonus called aguinaldo:
Vaya a ver, y yo veré la propina, ¿no? -¿La propina? -Cuando lo cobre. Espere y verá el aguinaldo que le voy a dar.
Go see, and I'll see about the tip, right? -The tip? -When you collect it. Wait, and you'll see the bonus that I'm going to give you.
Captions 8-9, Confidencial: Broma pesada Capítulo 2 - Part 6
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el turrón - nougat candy
el champán/champagne - champagne
los buñuelos - fritters
el ponche - punch
las galletas - cookies
el pavo - turkey
el árbol de Navidad - Christmas tree
las luces - lights
la estrella - star
la flor de Nochebuena - poinsettia
los adornos - ornaments
el musgo - moss (used in nativity scenes)
los regalos - presents
Papá Noel - Santa Claus
los Reyes Magos - the Three Wise Men
la carta a los Reyes - letter to the Three Wise Men
el espíritu navideño - Christmas spirit
las fiestas - the holidays
Understanding these Christmas terms will help you fully participate in holiday celebrations throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Whether you're singing villancicos, attending posadas, participating in novenas, or simply wishing someone ¡Feliz Navidad!, you'll now have the vocabulary you need to embrace the Christmas spirit in Spanish.
Did we miss any important Christmas terms? Are there other holiday traditions from Spanish-speaking countries you'd like to learn about? Don't forget to send us your comments and questions. We love hearing from you!
Let's continue studying examples of the use of the Spanish word ya.
Used emphatically, ya is equivalent to para (stop) and basta (enough):
Ya, ya, ya, para, para, para, para, para, para. -¿Ya?
Enough, enough, enough, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. -Already?
Caption 35, Yago - 7 Encuentros
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But also to "now," "go," or "start":
A partir de este momento comienza la prueba. Ya. -¡Ya!
From this moment the test begins. Now. -Now!
Captions 39-40, Misión Chef - 2 - Pruebas
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Or something similar to "that's it":
Pues, ya.
Well, that's it.
Caption 104, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 9
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Ya is also a short answer meaning "yes," "right," "agreed." It may be the case that this use originated from common phrases like ya entiendo (I understand [already]) and ya veo (I see [now]):
Mira que hasta en la forma de... de ejecutarlo varía mucho. -Ya.
Notice that, even the manner of... of playing it varies a lot. -Yeah.
Caption 1, Festivaliando - Mono Núñez
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Sí, ya veo.
Yes, I see.
Caption 77, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso
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Ya can also mean "since" when combined with the pronoun que:
Ya que es muy pequeña y por... tener dos océanos,
Since it is very small and due to... having two oceans,
Caption 39, World Travel Market en Londres - Maria nos habla de Guatemala
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But also "once" or "now that":
Ya que tenemos todo dentro de la licuadora,
Once we have everything inside of the blender,
Caption 26, [Bears in the Kitchen] Osos en la cocina - Carne asada
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Ya mismo means "right now"
¿Está bien? -Esperando, ya mismo vamos a las castañas.
Are you OK? -Waiting, right now we're going to the chestnuts.
Caption 11, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 4
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Ya está is a common phrase meaning "it's ready" but it can also be used as "that's it":
Se pone en la caja y ya está.
It's put into the box and that's it.
Caption 86, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 16
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Llevar (to take) and traer (to bring) are very similar verbs. Both refer to the action of moving objects from one location to another. Llevar is used when an object is being taken to a place other than where the person who is talking is. On the other hand, traer is used when an object is being transported towards the speaker. It sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, it is, but deciding when to use llevar or traer in context is sometimes tricky. That's because in many cases there is only a subtle difference of meaning between these two verbs, and because both are used in many idiomatic expressions, and, finally, because in some cases they can be used as synonyms.
So let's start with the basic difference between llevar (to take) and traer (to bring). When Luciana and Julia save Valente from being beaten to death by some thugs, Luciana says:
Ayúdame, vamos a llevarlo a mi casa.
Help me. We are going to take him to my house.
Caption 3, El Ausente - Acto 2
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But when Guillermina finds that her Grandpa has fallen into a pit, she says:
Ya sé, abuelo.
I know, Grandfather.
Voy a traer la red de pescar para intentar subirte.
I'm going to bring the fishing net to try to get you up.
Captions 34-35, Guillermina y Candelario - Una película de terror
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When the direction of the movement is being stated in the phrase, it's possible to use traer or llevar to express the same idea, with just a subtle difference in meaning. In the next caption, we included "traer/to bring" between parentheses so you can compare:
Trabajan duramente
They work hard
para llevar el producto del campo a la mesa.
to take the produce from the field to the table.
Captions 5-6, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa Part 1
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Note that the only difference between the two options is the perspective from which the person is talking. With llevar, the person's perspective is from the field; with traer, the person's perspective is from the table.
You should also remember that llevar and traer are both transitive verbs, so they will always be accompanied by a direct object, or direct pronoun. If we add to that the inclusion of indirect objects or indirect pronouns, the many possible ways to combine all these elements can be a real challenge. We suggest you study the rules on how to correctly place and combine all these pronouns. You may also like to check out your conjugation tables, especially for traer, since it's an irregular verb. Study these examples too:
Julio trae el dinero para Raquel. | Julio lo trae para Raquel. | Él lo trae para Raquel. | Él se lo trae.
Julio brings the money to Raquel. | Julio brings it to Raquel. | He brings it to Raquel. | He brings it to her.
No olvides llevar el carro a mamá. | No olvides llevarlo a mamá. | No olvides llevárselo. | ¡Llévaselo!
Don't forget to take the car to mom | Don't forget to take it to mom. | Don't forget to take it to her. | Take it to her!
Now, for the good part: both llevar and traer are used figuratively in so many expressions that we are going to need a second part of this lesson to explore them. Let's just see a couple now.
Llevar and traer are used to express that something or someone has, contains, or wears something:
En español, todas las palabras tienen una sílaba fuerte.
In Spanish, all the words have a strong syllable.
Y muchas de ellas llevan tilde.
And many of them have a written accent.
Captions 50-51, Fundamentos del Español - 1 - El Alfabeto
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Me gusta llevar faldas normalmente, sobre todo en invierno.
I like to wear skirts usually, especially in winter.
Captions 6-7, El Aula Azul - Actividades Diarias
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It's also correct to say Me gusta traer faldas ("I like to wear skirts"). Check out this one:
Por eso traen pantalones.
That's why they wear pants.
Captions 47-48, El Ausente - Acto 2
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You will find llevar and traer meaning "to have" or "to contain" when talking about food or recipes:
Le pusimos una pancetita y lleva pollo.
We put in some bacon and it has chicken.
Caption 92, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa Part 9
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Le quitamos la posible arenita que pueda traer.
We remove the possible bit of sand that it might have.
Caption 68, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli
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We'll stop here to leave some for Part 2. Thanks for reading!
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