There are some Spanish expressions that come from “who knows where” and follow no syntax rule, but they appear often. Here are the most popular ones: ‘a fuerza’, ‘por poco’,'en serio’,'de golpe’, ‘de veras’,'de milagro’,'poco a poco’, ‘de memoria’ and ´tarde o temprano’
They mean “forcefully, almost, seriously, suddenly, really, miraculously, little by little, by heart, sooner or later”. They all add-up “flavor” to the language and there is no other choice but to memorize and try to use them often.
Example:
To help you do story-telling when your Spanish past tenses are not that polished, you can do it the American way: by using the ‘presente histórico’ [historical present, which means you talk about something from the past using the present tense, something typically done by historians.
You can see in the following example how a happening of the past is told using the present tense, as if things were happening that very moment. You can use this rhetorical resource when your past-tense skills are yet to be fully learned.
Example:
Y ahí estoy, todo mojado, cuando de repente pasa todo un equipo de futbol y me ayuda a empujar el coche.
Translation:
And there I am, all wet, when all of a sudden, a whole soccer team passes by and helps me push the car.
When asking a question, starting the sentence with ‘me’ helps you keeping it simple, as in ‘¿Me puede decir… ?’ [can you tell me... ?] as opposed to ‘¿Puede decirme… ?, where the ‘me’ is joined with the verb, forming a complex word form called an “enclítical”
It clearly is simpler, to start with the pronoun ‘me’ (or plural form ‘nos’) and continue with a verb in infinitive, instead of the alternative: an enclitical.
What’s a foreigner to do when the Spanish name of something is unknown but -nevertheless- it is part of the conversation? Well, just say “esa cosa”, as locals do when they are talking so fast they don´t want to slow down and remember the exact name of “that thing”
This phrase is used more frequently in Spanish than in English, so you won’t be taken for someone lazy if you use it, just don’t forget to point it out if you can see “that stuff”.
Example:
¿Cuánto vale eso?… esa cosa que cuelga del techo.
Translation:
How much is that?….that thing hanging from the ceiling.
The rule of thumb calls for putting the words right to left when it comes to a string of adjectives, like in ‘el coche nuevo azul marino’ [the ocean blue new car]. But that’s not the case always, as in the example below.
It is because “freshly” clearly refers to “ground” first than to the noun “pepper”, that the order is not quite from right to left, as it would have been the case if “freshly” had been “fresh” as in: “ground black fresh pepper”
Interjections in Spanish, as in English, are used to show surprise, disagreement, even pain. In general, you can use ‘Ojalá’ and all the vowels: ah, eh, i, oh, uh (although ‘i’ is not an official one, but is used to show disbelief, just the same as English ‘So?’)
Ojalá’ is pretty much used as ‘god willing’ is used in English, but it lacks the religious feeling of its English counterpart. The vowels are followed by an ‘h’ when written: ‘ah’, ‘eh’, ‘oh’ y ‘uh’; they show surprise, estrangement, shock and disbelief, respectively (if you want to sound Caribbean and show an interested surprise, say the one Bart Simpson uses: ¡Caramba!)
What’s a foreigner to do when the Spanish name of something is unknown but -nevertheless- it is part of the conversation? Well, just say “esa cosa”, as locals do when they are talking so fast they don´t want to slow down and remember the exact name of “that thing”
This phrase is used more frequently in Spanish than in English, so you won’t be taken for someone lazy if you use it, just don’t forget to point it out if you can see “that stuff”.
Example: ¿Cuánto vale eso?… esa cosa que cuelga del techo.
Translation: How much is that?… that thing hanging from the ceiling.
Spanish Phrase: Me gusta.
Pronunciation:meh’ goos-tah’
Translation: I like it.
This Spanish phrase is useful for those who are going on a shopping spree. Aside from your bargaining skills, you can also express how you feel about a particular purchase that you are trying to make. If you like a particular item, you say “Me gusta.”
For “I like this bag”, the Spanish equivalent is “Me gusta este bolso.”
Pronunciation: no foon-thyona
Translation: Does not work/ Is not working.
If you’re booked at a local hotel, there would be instances when you do not know exactly why something is not working. It could be the air conditioning, the lights or the heating. So how would you say to a staff or the manager that something is not working?Here goes.
If you want to say that the light doesn’t work, you say “La luz no funciona.” If there’s a problem with the air conditioning, you say “El aire acoondicionado no funciona.”
Spanish Phrase: La cuentaPronunciation: lah’ koo-wen-tah’
Translation: The bill
If you’re eating out in a local restaurant in a Spanish speaking country and you would like to get the bill, you need to say “La cuenta, por favor.” That literally means, “The bill, please.”
As you may already know, the Spanish phrase por favor translates to please in English – and if you’re asking anybody a favor, it does pay to always add that at the end of your sentence.
Even if you’ve already studied the basics of the Spanish language, there are nuances to it that you may not necessarily understand when speaking with a native.As such, it pays to know exactly what you need to say if you can’t hold your own in a conversation anymore.
To express that you don’t understand, you simply say “No intiendo.”
You may have noticed that the function of the word nocturno as it is described here is an adjective. This is because in Spanish, the word is used not as a noun – but as an adjective to describe how things are happening at night, or how clubs or establishments are still open during the evenings.
Function: verb
Let’s say that you are out traveling in Spain or in any Spanish-speaking country and you want to ask directions to the restaurant. How will you communicate what you want to ask? Uttering the word quiero – which directly translates to “I want”, is a good place to start as any.
Example: Quiero ir a un restaurante. Translation: I want to go to the restaurant.
Translation: You are welcome.
If someone says “Gracias” or thank you to you, the appropriate response would be to say “You are welcome.” In Spanish, this translates to “De nada.”
Familiarizing yourself with courtesy phrases and proper words like Gracias (Thank you), De nada (You’re welcome), ¡Hola! (Hello), ¡Adios! (Goodbye) and other similar phrases is the best way to soak in the culture of Spanish people – so practice speaking in what is soon-to-be-your-native-tongue now!
Translation: Where is the bank?
By now, you may have already learned that the Spanish term for the phrase “Where is..?” is donde está. If you want to ask for directions, all you need to do is combine this phrase with the Spanish term of where it is that you want to go.
For example, “Donde está el banco?” means “Where is the bank?” “Donde está el bar más cercano?” means “Where is the nearest bar?” and “Donde está el hotel?” means “Where is the hotel?”
Pronunciation: pu-weh’-doh ver’-lah
Translation: May I see it?
Again, let us use the scenario of a foreigner in a Spanish-speaking country who is looking forward to booking a room. After negotiating about the terms of staying and the price that you will get billed on a per day basis, you would naturally want to see what the room looks like. If you want to ask permission to see a room, you say “Puedo verla?”
Pronunciation: es-toy-boos-kan-doh’
Translation: I am looking for…
Whether it’s a person or a place that you’re looking for, it would be helpful if you will learn how to say “I am looking for…” in Spanish. For example, if you want to book a room for yourself but you are on a limited budget, you would say “Estoy buscando un hotel barato.” This literally means “I am looking for a cheap hotel.”
Translation: Fine, thank you.
If you’ve already graduated to learning Spanish phrases rather than just mere words, then you probably already know when you are politely being asked how you are doing. When a local says “Hola, como estas?” – it literally means “Hello, how are you?”
If this is the case, then the proper response would be “Bien, gracias” which means “ Fine, thank you”.
Instead of having just one Spanish word for the day, let’s amp things up a bit and make it seven.
If you’re vacationing in some exotic beach in Central America, you might be tempted to laze away the time – but you don’t want to miss your return flight – so you need to learn about the Spanish terms for the days of the week!
However, if you want to ask a local what the day is today, the correct sentence would be “¿Cuál es hoy?”. Then, you will get the above responses which correspond to the days of the week.
Function: noun
No matter which part of the world it is that you are in, paying a fine for a traffic violation or a similar offense is something that some individuals just have to bear. If you do need to pay a fine, the Spanish term that you will hear is multa.
Example: ¿De cuánto es la multa?
Translation: How much is the fine?
Function: noun
Let’s say that you’re a backpacker and you stumbled upon a charming bed and breakfast or guesthouse. Naturally, you would check first whether there are any vacancies – this is how you would ask the question:
Example: ¿Tiene alguna habitación libre?
Translation: Do you have any vacancies?
Pronunciation: lyo-bya Function: noun
When visiting any tropical country in South or Central America, the one thing that might put a damper on your vacation is the often unpredictable rain showers. As such, it would definitely if you will know how to ask a local in their native tongue whether you’re bound to have a good weather or not.
Example: Cree usted que es la lluvia?
Translation: Do you think it will rain?
English Meaning: a man from the United Sates
(The feminine term is gringa.)
Pronunciation: \’gri?-(,)g?\
Function: noun
In a broader sense, the term gringo or gringa refers to a foreigner in Spain or in Latin America, who are usually from the United States or the United Kingdom. This reference to a non-Hispanic person is often disparaging.
Example: Que es que la gringa?
Translation: Who is that gringa?
Translation: Can I pay…?
Whether you’re on business or on vacation, settling payments is the one transaction that you would always have to do. As such, it would help if you know the Spanish equivalent of whether you can pay using your credit card or a check.
For example, if you want to ask if you can pay via credit card, the correct sentence is”¿Se puede pagar con tajeta de crédito?” If you want to ask if you can pay using your check, the correct sentence is “”¿Se puede pagar con talon?”
Translation: Where are you from?
You might often hear this question addressed to you. You don’t need to be all panicky and flip through your Spanish phrase book when someone asks you this: what it simply means is where you are from. A simple answer of the city or country that you are from should suffice.
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