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Spanish Noun: Magnate, milmillonario

Pronunciation: Mahg-nahn-tay, meel-mee-yoh-nah-reeoh

Translation: Magnate, billionaire

Function: Nouns

There are gradations is Spanish too for the very rich, so magnate doesn’t change: ‘magnate’, a billionaire is a ‘milmillonario’ (still to be widely accepted), a multi-millionaire is a ‘multimillonario’ and a millionaire a ‘millonario’

‘Milenario’ has nothing to do with money, but with time: it means “millennial”.

Example:

Ahora es un millonaria… antes de 2007 era multimillonaria

Translation:

She is now a millionaire… before 2007 she was a multimillionaire

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Spanish Adjective: Bien

Pronunciation: Bee-ayn

Translation: Very

Function: Adjective

‘Bien’ [good] has a second meaning: [very] and it is very much alive in the Spanish language. You can find in food praising ‘está bien rico’ [it is very tasty] or -for example- in the time of day: ‘ya es bien tarde’ [it is very late already]

This adjective works very much like the word “well”, but it has to appear before the adjective to function as “very” -and praising something too-

Example:

Es un muchacho bien malo

Translation:

He is a very bad boy

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Spanish Noun: Moral

Pronunciation: Moh-rahl

Translation: Moral

Function: Noun

In Spanish, this word has a clear different meaning than ‘ética’ [ethics], as ´moral’ refers to a way to achieve the ethical principles. The first is about practice and the second about theory.

Furthermore; ‘Moral’ is taken in Spanish as a series of ‘modos’ [ways] and ´etica’ as a series of principles.

Example:

Ética

Translation:

Ethics

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Spanish Noun: Cometa

Pronunciation: Koh-may-tah

Translation: Comet

Function: Noun

‘Cometa’ can be translated straightforwardly as “comet”, but it could also mean “kite” in both Spain and America. The context will tell you what people are talking about.

There are still more terms for ‘Cometa’ as a kite too, at least in some Latin-America countries: ‘papalote’ and ‘papagayo’ are the words used in Mexico and some Central American nations. In South America you will find them as ‘barriletes’

Example:

Papalote

Translation:

Kite

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Spanish Word: Comidas

Pronunciation: Coh-mee-dahs

Translation: foods

Function: Usage

Beware when asking for fruits and some vegetables in Latin-America or Spain. They may look the same, but their local names can vary: USA’s zucchini is known as ‘calabacin’ is Spain, ‘calabacita’ in Mexico, ‘zuquini’ in Bolivia, and many more instances -almost one different per country-

The same goes for beans of Latin-American: ‘frijoles, frijoles, frejoles y porotos’, they all are ‘judías’ in Spain. The same goes for some fruits, like South-American ‘damascos’, a.k.a. ‘chabacano’ in Mexico and ‘albaricoque’ in Cuba or Peru.

Example:

Maíz, Elote

Translation:

Corn

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Spanish Adjective: Rubio

Pronunciation: Roo-beeoh

Translation: Blond

Function: Adjective

‘Rubio’ [blond] is used referring to people’s light hair color, skin color or both. If hair color is very light, then ‘platino’ [platinum] is used more often.

Instead, ‘güero’ is much more used in Mexico and Venezuela. In formal writing or talking, ‘rubio’ is the right word. ‘Güero’ might be used when referring to a whitish objects color too.

Example:

¿Quiere que le ayude, güera?

Translation:

Can I help you, blonde?

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Spanish Noun: Dolor

Pronunciation: Doh-lohr

Translation: Pain

Function: Noun

Sometimes it is very important to get across your feelings, especially when you have to do it in a foreign language, and it is about some pain you are feeling. It is a good thing to know if you need to tell a foreign doctor.

You should know how to convey at least three different intensities, as in ‘dolor’ [pain], ‘molestia’ [bothersome,] and ‘sensación’ [feel], all three going from a high to a low discomfort. They all accept to be qualified with ‘intenso’ [intense] or ‘leve’ [mild], in case you want to emphasize.

Example:

Tengo una molestia en la pierna

Translation:

I have a bothersome pain in my leg

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Spanish Interjecciones (Interjection): ¡Ah!, ¡Eh!, ¡Ojalá!

Pronunciation: Ah, Ayh, Ohhah-lah

Translation: Interjections ¡Ah!, ¡Eh!, ¡God willing!

Function: Interjection

Interjections in Spanish, as in English, are used to show surprise, disagreement, even pain. Generally speaking, 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’ and ‘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!)

Example:

¡Ojalá esté aquí en el verano’

Translation:

God willing, he´ll be here in summer

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