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The Spanish expression una vez (once, one time) is usually combined with different prepositions to convey different meanings.
In one of our newest videos in the series Curso de guitarra, you can hear the teacher saying:
Una vez resuelta esta progresión, ahora sí podemos cantar.
Once this progression [is] done, now we can sing.
Caption 5, Curso de guitarra - Para los que empiezan desde cero
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Notice how una vez, in this case, was placed before a participle (resuelta) used as an adjective (that's why it agrees in gender and number with the noun that it modifies: la progresión [the progression]). See the following similar examples:
Una vez rota, no puedes pegar la taza de nuevo.
Once broken, the cup can't be put back together.
Una vez muertos, los peces empezaron a flotar.
Once dead, the fish started to float.
If using the participle is still a little too complicated for you, you can work your way around it using una vez + que (once) and an indicative verb:
Una vez que la taza se rompe, no puedes pegarla de nuevo.
Once the cup is broken, you can't put it back together.
Una vez que los peces murieron, empezaron a flotar.
Once the fish were dead, they started to float.
Take a look at a similar example from our video catalog:
Una vez que la cría se hace mayor, ¿qué pasa?
Once the baby gets older, what happens?
Caption 17, Animales en familia - El hipopótamo pigmeo
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What would this look like if we use the participle construction instead? Want to give it a try?
Una vez hecha mayor la cría, ¿qué pasa?
Once the baby gets older, what happens?
But what happens if you place the preposition de (of, from) before una vez (once)? The phrase now means "at once," "right now," or "once and for all." Other similar phrases that are very common are de una buena vez and de una vez por todas, which mean the same and just add more emphasis to the expression.
Mejor me voy al cuarto feo de una vez.
I might as well go to the ugly room right now.
Caption 22, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso
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Termina con mi vida de una vez
Put an end to my life once and for all
Caption 44, Gonzalo Yáñez - Dispara
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A ver si me entendés de una vez por todas.
See if you understand me once and for all.
Caption 51, Yago - 2 El puma
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Just be careful! Más de una vez means "more than once:"
Te lo advertí más de una vez que yo no entro en el juego.
I warned you more than once that I don't enter the game.
Caption 45, Orishas - El Kilo
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And now, for some extra points: How do you say "once upon a time" in Spanish? You use the verb haber (to be):
Había una vez una niña a quien todos llamaban Caperucita roja.
Once upon a time there was a girl whom everybody called Little Red Riding Hood.
The End.
The Spanish expression cómo no (literally "how not") is similar to the English "why not": It's a rhetorical question used to add emphasis to an affirmation. You can find an excellent example in this episode of our Argentinian telenovela Yago:
¡Sí, cómo no, suban, suban!
Yes, of course, get in, get in!
Caption 49, Yago - 7 Encuentros
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You must remember that, even when the phrase means "yes" or "of course," formally, it's still a question, so it's very important to place the orthographic accent on the word cómo, as you can see in the following examples:
¿Puedo pasar? -Cómo no, adelante.
May I come in? -Of course, go ahead.
¿Me das una mano? -Claro, cómo no.
Can you give me a hand? -Yes, of course.
Yo le dije: Cómo no, esperamos verlo pronto.
I said to him: Of course, we hope to see you soon.
Be careful, though. The actual question cómo no also exists in Spanish. In the following examples the interrogative word cómo (how) appears before the word no (no), not as an affirmation, but as an indirect question with a negation:
Ay, Dios, ¡cómo no voy a estar tenso con el estúpido de Lucio!
Oh, God, how am I not going to be tense with that stupid guy, Lucio!
Captions 31-32, Yago - 2 El puma
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It can also be used in a direct question:
¿Cómo no vas a saber? ¡Yo te avisé!
How come you don't know? I warned you!
Without an orthographical accent, como no can also occur in Spanish, usually as part of a conditional. It translates as "because" or "since":
Pero como no se venden,
But because they aren't selling you,
habéis recurrido al sistema de la permuta.
have resorted to the swap system.
Caption 42, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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Pero como no vine a corregirte, sino a avisarte que...
But since I didn't come to correct you, but rather to advise you that...
Captions 15-16, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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Thanks for reading.
The literal meaning of ahora sí is "now yes." But the actual meaning of this expression depends a lot on its context. Let's analyze some examples so you can learn more about how ahora sí is used.
In most cases, ahora sí can be translated as "now" or "this time:"
Yo creo que ahora sí vale los dos mil pesos.
I think that this time it is worth the two thousand pesos.
Caption 19, El Ausente - Acto 2
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Notice how the translation in the following examples adds the verb "to do." The word sí (yes) is meant to add a similar emphasis in the Spanish expression:
Ah claro, ahora sí lo entiendo hija, ¡qué torpe soy!
Oh, of course, now I do understand it, girl. How clumsy I am!
Caption 57, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Chicas, ahora sí tenemos que llamar a los chamanes.
Girls, this time we do have to call the shamans.
Caption 9, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso
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Sometimes "finally" is a better translation:
Bueno. Ahora sí. La historia empieza aquí en la iglesia.
OK. Finally. The story begins here at the church.
Captions 31-32, Salvando el planeta Palabra - Llegada
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Ahora sí can be used as an interjection, similarly to the English phrase "all right, then." In this example, Don Albertote uses it to emphasize that he is serious about his threat:
¡La vara eléctrica, ahora sí! -¡Ay, no!
The electric rod, all right, then! -Oh, no!
Caption 17, Kikirikí - Animales
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A common way to threaten someone in Spanish is:
Ahora sí, vas a ver.
All right then, you'll see.
You will also find the phrase ahora sí que. It also means "now" or "this time," and it's commonly used to emphatically express a confirmation:
No pues, ahora sí que nomás se burla de la gente como nosotros.
No, well, this time he's only making fun of people like us.
Caption 29, ¡Tierra, Sí! - Atenco
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As a final cultural note: in Mexico City, chilangos use the phrase ahora sí (que) a lot, as a rather untranslatable pet expression:
Para ahora sí que no agarren la costumbre.
For them not to get the habit [of having us work all day].
Caption 6, La Banda Chilanguense - El habla de México
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Thanks for reading. To see more lessons please click here.
In our new video from Spain where Leif shares his ideas about architecture, he uses the expression en la medida en que (in that, to the extent that). This phrase can be easily mixed up with another equally common expression: a medida que (as, while). Let's review a couple of examples to learn when and how to use them properly.
En la medida en que (in that, to the extent that) is used to express the degree of correspondence between different actions or processes. Let's start with Leif's example:
El arquitecto se hace en la medida en que es un proceso.
An architect is made to the extent that it [architecture] is a process.
Caption 20, Leif -El Arquitecto Español y su Arte
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When used with the subjunctive, en la medida en que functions as a conditional expression:
En la medida en que los demás colaboren, lo haré yo también.
As long as others contribute, I will also do so.
Sometimes people drop the preposition en. This is not correct but extremely common:
Todo está en movimiento
Everything is in movement
y en la medida (en) que se aproxima la celebración,
and as the celebration approaches,
se prepara el ambiente.
the environment is prepared.
Captions 81-83, Estado Falcón - Locos de la Vela
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In fact, by looking at the translation of the previous example you can notice that the person talking should have used a similar expression instead: a medida que (as, while),which is used to express a parallel progression of two actions:
Además, es muy bonito porque la gente,
Besides, it's very nice because the people,
a medida que va pintando, va comentando.
while they're painting, are commenting.
Captions 57-58, Blanca y Mariona - Proyectos para el verano
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It's very common to use a medida que to give instructions for processes that require us to do more than one thing at a time, like recipes:
Entonces queremos ir mezclando
So, we want to be mixing
a medida que vamos agregando la harina.
while we are adding the flour.
Caption 35, Dany - Arepas
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Finally, there are two words that can substitute the expression a medida que: conforme (as) and mientras (while). In the following quote, we have substituted these alternative to demonstrate their interchangeability.
Hasta después fui aprendiendo conforme se fue haciendo el cómic.
Hasta después fui aprendiendo a medida que se fue haciendo el cómic.
Hasta después fui aprendiendo mientras se fue haciendo el cómic.
Until later [when] I started learning as the comic was being made.
Captions 40-41, Antonio Vargas - Artista ilustración
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Thanks for reading!
This week teacher Carolina shares a video lesson on three different verbs: pedir, preguntar, and ordenar. From what she tells us, the verbs pedir and ordenar have very similar meanings and uses and, in certain contexts, it's not always easy to decide which one to use. Let's review some examples of these two verbs to complement Carolina's video lesson!
The most common way to order food in a restaurant is to use the verb pedir (to ask):
Aquí, por lo regular, por lo... económico, piden la comida corrida.
Here, generally, because it's... cheap, people order the lunch special.
Captions 36-37, Fonda Mi Lupita - Encargado
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However, perhaps due to an influence from English, using the verb ordenar (whose primary meaning is "to command" but also means "to put in order") has become a popular way to order food or products in Spanish:
Estamos ordenando tres tacos y una ensalada.
We are ordering three tacos and a salad.
Si ordenas hoy mismo recibirás un descuento.
If you place your order today, you will get a discount.
Estamos listos para ordenar.
We are ready to order.
¿Qué quieren ordenar?
What do you want to order?
In the previous examples, you can use either ordenar or pedir without altering the meaning of what you are saying. In some contexts, however, you can't use ordenar instead of pedir. For example, you can say Quiero pedir un descuento (I want to ask for a discount), but not Quiero ordenar un descuento (I want to order a discount); you can say Quiero pedir un favor (I want to ask a favor), but to say Quiero ordenar un favor (I want to order a favor) is an obvious contradiction.
Finally, it's worth remembering that the verb ordenar also means "to put in order" and "to command":
¡Vos no sabés,
You have no idea,
estuve media hora ordenando todo el departamento!
I spent half an hour organizing the whole apartment!
Caption 21, Muñeca Brava - 8 Trampas
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No, señora. Usted no me ordenó nada.
No, ma'am. You didn't order me [to do] anything.
Caption 69, Muñeca Brava - 44 El encuentro
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We hereby "order" you to read more free Yabla Spanish lessons!
The use of the orthographic accent on Spanish words such as qué (what), cómo (how), and cuánto/s (how much/many) usually indicates that those words are part of an interrogative or exclamatory sentence. The following examples review how to use qué, cómo, and cuánto as exclamatory words.
Qué can be used right in front of nouns, adverbs, and adjectives. It means "how" or "what a." In our newest episode of Muñeca Brava, Mili uses qué with an adjective when she talks about the Christmas party:
¿Viste todos los regalos? ¡Qué linda! -Sí, estuvo estupenda.
Did you see all the presents? How lovely! -Yes, it was great.
Caption 2, Muñeca Brava - 30 Revelaciones
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Qué can also be combined with an adverb to express surprise about the way an action was done:
¡Qué bueno he sido pa' ti Y qué mal te estás portando!
How good I've been for you And how badly you're behaving!
Captions 17-18, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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Qué can also be placed in front of a noun:
¡Ay, qué espanto! ¡Y pensar que el hombre ese estaba en mi cama!
What a scare! And to think that man was in my bed!
Caption 4, Muñeca Brava - 18 - La Apuesta
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Cuánto (how much) can be used in front of nouns and verbs. When used with a noun, this exclamatory word must agree in gender and number:
¡Cuántos frijoles hubiéramos hecho!
How many beans we would have produced!
Caption 28, Con ánimo de lucro - Cortometraje
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When cuánto is accompanied by a verb, we always use the masculine, singular form. If a direct object pronoun is required, we must place it between the two words:
¡Ay, no sabes cuánto lo lamento!
Oh, you don't know how much I regret it!
Caption 17, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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Finally, the exclamatory cómo is used in front of verbs. This example requires the use of a reflexive pronoun (me), which is also placed between the two words:
¡Guau, cómo me gustan esos hobbies!
Wow, how I like those hobbies!
Caption 38, Karla e Isabel - Nuestros hobbies
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We hope you have enjoyed this brief review on exclamatory words.
Spanish offers multiple ways to express love and affection, each with subtle differences in meaning and usage. Understanding these distinctions will help you communicate your feelings more precisely in Spanish. Let's explore the three main verbs used to express love in Spanish.
The verb amar ("to love") expresses deep, profound love. It's easy to remember because it shares Latin roots with English words like "amorous" and "enamored." This verb is often used for romantic love or other deep emotional attachments.
Si supieras lo mucho que te amo
If you knew how much I love you
Caption 15, Ozomatli - Jardinero
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Querer is a versatile verb that means both "to love" (someone) and "to want" (something). It's commonly used to express affection between family members, romantic partners, and close friends. You've probably heard expressions like Te quiero ("I love you") and Yo quiero tacos ("I want tacos").
Siento que cada día te quiero más
I feel that each day I love you more
Caption 27, Alberto Barros - Mano a mano
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Encantar (literally "to enchant") expresses enthusiasm or strong liking for something or someone. It functions similarly to gustar (to like), meaning the verb agrees with the object being loved, not with the person who has the feeling.
For example:
- Me encanta esta ciudad ("I love this city")
- Me encantan esos pantalones ("I love those pants")
Notice how the verb changes from singular (encanta) to plural (encantan) to match the object (city/pants), not the speaker.
La verdad es que mi trabajo me encanta.
The truth is that I love my job.
Caption 39, Carlos Quintana - Guía de musica latina
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Here's a quick guide to help you choose the right verb for different situations:
❤️ Amar... for deep, serious expressions of love, especially romantic love
🤗 Querer... for everyday expressions of affection toward family, friends, and partners
✨ Encantar... when expressing enthusiasm for things, activities, or qualities
Understanding these distinctions will help you express your feelings more accurately in Spanish and avoid potential misunderstandings in conversations.
That's all for this lesson on expressing love in Spanish! We hope you've found it helpful. Have you used these verbs before? Do you have any questions about when to use each one? Don't forget to send us your questions and suggestions!
Ir ("to go") is a challenging verb, not only because it's an irregular verb but also because it's used in many idiomatic expressions. Equally challenging is the verb irse ("to leave"), which is formed by adding a reflexive pronoun to ir. Some people, in fact, consider ir and irse as two different verbs, while others think of them as the same verb with an alternative reflexive form that alters its meaning. Examples of similar verbs are dormir ("to sleep") and dormirse ("to fall asleep"), caer ("to fall") and caerse ("to abruptly fall"), poner ("to put") and ponerse ("to put on"). The meanings of ir ("to go") and irse ("to leave"), however, are especially different, and people often have trouble distinguishing when to use them.
Ir ("to go") does not use a direct object and focuses on the destination, using prepositions such as a, hacia, and hasta ("to") to indicate where the person is going. You can see two examples (one conjugated and one in the infinitive form) here:
¿Quieres ir a la fiesta? | Do you want to go to the party?
Las niñas fueron al concierto temprano | The girls went to the concert early.
On the other hand, irse ("to leave") focuses the action on the starting point, so it uses prepositions such as de or desde ("from") to express the act of leaving. Note the difference in meaning of the examples if we substitute ir for irse:
¿Quieres irte de la fiesta? | You want to leave the party?
Las niñas se fueron del concierto (desde) temprano | The girls left the concert early.
Now, there is a particular expression that uses the verb irse that has nothing to do with what we have discussed here so far. It is a special construction that links irse directly with another verb in the gerund form (-ndo). These types of constructions are called linked verbs, and while they may use an infinitive or a gerund as the second verb, they all link the verbs without any punctuation or conjunction between them. In particular the irse + gerund construction is used to express the start or continuation of a process. Some examples are below. Pay especial attention to how irse remains in the infinitive form but changes its ending (the reflexive pronoun) to match the subject:
Los niños deben irse preparando para el examen.
The kids must start preparing for the exam.
Yo no quiero irme enamorando de ti.
I don't want to start falling in love with you.
Tú decidiste irte vistiendo mientras me escuchabas.
You decided to start dressing up while listening to me.
The verb irse can be used in the infinitive form, like in the examples above, but it can also be conjugated:
Dejamos el pan ahí fuera, y se va...
We leave the bread there out, and it starts...
se va poniendo blandengue, blandengue.
it starts getting soft, soft.
Captions 9-10, Cómetelo - Crema de brócoli
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The holidays are always a great opportunity to practice the que + subjunctive construction, which is one of the most common (and shortest) ways to express hope and good wishes in Spanish. This particular construction is very interesting because it involves the omission of the main verb, usually desear ("to wish"), but also querer ("to want"), esperar ("to hope for"), and others followed by the subjunctive. The result of doing this is a short phrase that is practical and meaningful. So, instead of saying deseo que te diviertas ("I wish you have fun") you can simply say ¡que te diviertas! ("[I wish] you have fun") which is more likely what a native speaker would use in a casual conversation.
Since this particular construction is used to express wishes or hopes to someone right on the spot, it makes use of the present tense and the present subjunctive. The main omitted verb desear ("to wish") is in the present tense: yo deseo ("I wish"). Therefore the action that you are wishing to happen must be expressed, after the conjunction que ("that"), in the present subjunctive: te alivies ("you get well"). The condensed resulting phrase is then: ¡Que te alivies! ("[I wish] you get well"), which we may as well just translate as "Get well!" Let's see more examples.
Mexicans use this construction a lot to wish you well while saying goodbye:
Hasta luego, nos vemos y... que se la pasen bien.
See you later, see you and... hope you guys have a good time.
Caption 59, La Banda Chilanguense - El habla de México
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Argentinians also like to use it:
Chau, que le vaya bien, chau.
Bye, have a good day, bye.
Captions 38-39, Muñeca Brava - 9 Engaños
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You can wish someone all sorts of good things using this construction, like to have a good night:
Bueno, yo también me retiro,
Well, I will also retire,
que tengan muy buenas noches. -Buenas noches.
good night to you all. -Good night.
Captions 98-99, Muñeca Brava - 43 La reunión
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Or simply to enjoy something:
Eso es todo, gracias.
That's all, thank you.
Que disfruten de, del folklore de Puerto Rico.
Enjoy the, the folklore of Puerto Rico.
Captions 31-32, Baile Folklórico de Puerto Rico - Los Bailarines
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Or to wish someone a nice Christmas:
¡Que tengas una feliz Navidad!
I wish you (have) a merry Christmas!
Soler is an auxiliary verb, so you will always see it combined with another verb. It's used to indicate that an action is done on a regular basis. The only equivalent expression in English is "used to," which can only refer to the past tense, while the Spanish soler can be conjugated in several tenses. Of course, just as in English, Spanish has many adverbs that can be used to convey the same idea: usualmente ("usually"), regularmente ("regularly"), habitualmente ("habitually"), and so on, but the use of soler is much more common in casual conversation.
When using soler you must remember to always use proper syntax: you have to conjugate soler (the auxiliary verb) and then add the infinitive form of the main verb. English has a similar construction in the past tense (used + infinitive). Let's see some examples right away. And remember: if you see them highlighted in blue and you have an active subscription to Yabla Spanish, you can click on the link to watch the video containing the caption.
Después, suelo* lavarme los dientes en el baño,
After that, I usually brush my teeth in the bathroom,
y después desayuno.
and then have breakfast.
Captions 3-4, El Aula Azul - Actividades Diarias
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[*Suelo happens to be also a noun that means "floor"]
If we were to use an adverb to express the same idea, the construction would be different. Notice how the main reflexive verb lavarse changes because it needs to be conjugated:
Después, usualmente me lavo los dientes en el baño, y después desayuno.;p
After that, I usually brush my teeth in the bathroom, and then have breakfast.
In this example, Xóchitl conjugates the verb soler in the present tense (third person plural: nosotros) and leaves the main verb hacer ("to do") in the infinitive form, as per the rule:
... actividades que solemos hacer, eh, o festejar,
... activities that we usually do, um, or celebrate,
cada mes o cada año.
each month or each year.
Caption 10, Xóchitl - Vida en Monterrey
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But here, the band Pericos is talking about an action in the past, so the verb soler is conjugated accordingly:
Qué gano o qué pierdo yo así solías pensar
What do I gain or what do I lose that's how you used to think
Caption 17, Los Pericos - Fácil de Engañar
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Here is a combo (see, in green, a super literal English translation)
Después de comer, solemos echar la siesta
After eating, we usually take a nap
y mi padre suele ver la televisión.
and my father usually watches TV.
Captions 20-21, El Aula Azul - Actividades Diarias
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It is also quite common to combine the use of soler with an adverb reiterating the same meaning. So don't be too surprised if you see something like this:
Usualmente suelo ir al parque los domingos.
I usually go to the park on Sunday.
Have you ever heard someone use the expression, o sea? Chances are you have because this is a very popular and useful expression in both Spain and Latin America. Let's see how to use it.
The expression, o sea, is generally used to introduce an explanation or consequence of something one has already said. If you think about it, the meaning is quite literal: The phrase is made up of the disjunctive conjunction, o ("or"), and the word, sea ("would be"), the third person present subjunctive form of the verb, ser ("to be"). Let's look at some examples.
Porque Barcelona no aburre nunca.
Because Barcelona is never boring.
O sea, siempre hay actividades,
I mean, there are always activities,
Captions 41-42, Escuela BCNLIP - Presentación de la directora
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Nos lo hemos pasado muy bien,
We had a great time,
muy bien. -Qué bien, o sea que buenísimas vacaciones.
great. -How nice, I mean, an amazing vacation.
Captions 48-49, El Aula Azul - Conversación: Vacaciones recientes
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You can also think of o sea as an equivalent of the English expression, "in other words":
O sea que ¿el tipo de hoy era Wilson Ríos?
In other words, the guy from today was Wilson Rios?
Caption 33, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capítulo 1
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Sometimes, the word, que ("that"), is added after o sea without altering its meaning:
Sé surfear, ¿no? O sea que tengo una profesión ahora.
I can surf, right? I mean, I have a profession now.
Caption 43, Costa Azul Surf Shop - Hablando con los Empleados Del Surf
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Be careful, however: The combination "o + sea" can sometimes have a totally different meaning, so always pay close attention to the context:
...sea bueno o sea malo.
...whether it's good or whether it's bad.
Caption 34, Club de las ideas - Intuición
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In Latin America, there is another use of o sea that is very popular among upper/middle-class youngsters, some of whom are considered snobby and superficial. In this case, o sea is used as a sarcastic remark that can be translated as "obviously," "duh," "come on," "give me a break," or "I mean," depending on the context. Let's observe that use in action:
¡Ay pues, obvio que va a querer!
Oh well, [it's] obvious that he is going to want to!
¡Porque nadie le dice que no a una chica popular, o sea!
Because no one says no to a popular girl, duh!
Captions 21-22, NPS No puede ser - 1 - El concurso
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You may also notice that in colloquial speech, o sea is sometimes used incessantly among certain groups or individuals as a filler word in the same way that certain English-speakers (e.g. Valley girls, etc.) constantly use the word, “like.”
Finally, keep in mind that the expression, o sea, is written as two words, and it is incorrect to write it as a single word (osea means "bony"!). Furthermore, it is sometimes used as an alternative for the expression o séase, which should be also avoided.
That's all for today. We invite you to incorporate this useful expression into your vocabulary, and don't forget to send us your comments and suggestions.
The Spanish verb faltar literally means "to lack" and it is a cousin of the English word "fault," which in Middle English often described a "failing" or "lack". The word faltar has many uses, and "to lack" isn't always the best translation. Faltar often indicates that something or someone needs something. The person or thing in need is often referred to using an indirect-object pronoun, while what is needed or lacking (a direct object) can be a noun, like arete (earring), or sal (salt).
(A tu novia) le falta un arete.
She (your girlfriend) is missing an earring.
(A la sopa) le falta sal.
It (the soup) needs salt.
What's lacking can also be a verb in infinitive form, like dormir (to sleep).
A José y Pepita les falta dormir más.
José and Pepita need to sleep more.
Finally, faltar is not an impersonal verb, but it's very common to use it impersonally (always in the present tense):
Antes de eso falta servir la cena.
Before that, dinner needs to be served.
Falta mucha ingenuidad para ser engañado por alguien como tú.
One needs to be very naive to be fooled by someone like you.
And now, to hear how Candelario uses faltar in context, click on the following free demo of the Yabla Player. Thanks for reading!
Abuelo, pero todavía nos falta hacer la película. -¡Sí!
Grandfather, but we still have to make the movie. -Yes!
Caption 24, Guillermina y Candelario - Una película de terror
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This common Spanish expression combines the verb acabar (to finish) and the preposition de (of) to express the idea of having just done something in the very recent past. The phrase must always be combined with a verb in the infinitive form, while the verb acabar itself should be conjugated accordingly. Let's see some examples:
Acabo de dormir una siesta.
I just took a nap.
Toño acaba de salir a la tienda
Toño just left to the store.
No se vayan tan pronto. ¡Acaban de llegar!
Don't leave so soon. You just arrived!
Take note: you can always attach an object pronoun to the infinitive verb, to refer to a direct or indirect object.
Tu mamá acaba de llamarme.
Your mom just called me.
Las niñas acaban de hacerte un pastel.
The girls just baked a cake for you.
And now, you can hear another example by clicking on the following:
Sí, me acaba de llamar que él está ahí en...
Yes, he just called me, as he's there at...
Caption 30, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 8
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Used in an exclamation, the Spanish word ¡qué! is equivalent to "what...!," "what a...!," or "how...!" ¡Qué! can be used with:
¡Qué! can also be used with a noun followed by an adjective. In this case the adjective is usually preceded by the word tan or más: ¡Qué niño tan fuerte! (What a strong kid!). You can hear another example of this by clicking on the following free demo of the Yabla Player. Remember that you can repeat the phrase, pause it, loop it, make it go slow, search the dictionary, and hide the captions.
The noun cuenta (account) and the verb contar (to count, to tell) come from the Latin word computāre, to count, calculate, or estimate. This phrase combines it with the verb dar (to give), always in its reflexive form darse (to give to oneself). Darse cuenta can be used as a complete single phrase or you can add a direct object preceded by the preposition de (of, from).
¡El vidro está roto! -Sí, me doy cuenta.
The glass is broken! -Yes, I realize.
Ella se dio cuenta de la fuga de gas ayer.
She became aware of the gas leak yesterday.
Él no se da cuenta de todos los detalles.
He doesn't notice all the details.
And now, click on the video to listen to Raquel using the phrase in a real situation. You can repeat it, pause it, loop it, make it go slow, search the dictionary, and hide the captions.
*Note that some strong language is discussed, so sensitive readers may wish to skip this lesson.
When something is importante (important), people usually care about it. In Spanish, the simplest way to say that one doesn’t care about something is to negate the verb importar (to care), as Victoria does when Federico asks her how she's feeling:
Que ya no me importa nada, Federico.
That I don't care about anything now, Federico.
Caption 20, Muñeca Brava - 41 La Fiesta - Part 4
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However, it’s possible—and very common—to use the verb importar without negation to express a lack of caring. The trick is to add to me importa (or me interesa) to a noun that conveys the idea of something of negligible value. Comino, pepino, cacahuate, and bledo are a few examples of such nouns. Let’s learn how to actually use them.
Semillas de comino (cumin seeds) are so minuscule that they are close to nothing:
Perdés el tiempo, querido. Absolutamente.
You're wasting your time, darling. Absolutely.
Porque me interesa un comino su candidatura.
Because I don't give a damn about his nomination.
Captions 39-40, Muñeca Brava - 41 La Fiesta - Part 5
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Using pepino (cucumber) or cacahuate (peanut) is also very common:
¡Se lo dije al mayordomo, me importa un pepino!
I told the butler, I don't give a damn!
Caption 30, Muñeca Brava - 7 El poema
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Another common word to use is bledo, or pigweed. For the Spanish, this plant, although edible, was considered flavorless. They brought the expression over with them to Latin America (where in fact the plant and its seeds have been consumed since pre-Hispanic times, for their nutritional and medicinal properties).
¡Me importan un bledo los quinientos mangos!
I couldn't care less about the five hundred bucks!
Caption 35, Muñeca Brava - 8 Trampas
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If you want to add extra emphasis you can use the interjection carajo ("damn" or "hell").
¿Y a vos qué carajo te importa?
And to you, what the hell does it matter?
Caption 20, Yago - 2 El puma
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In fact, you can use any bad word you can come up with. That includes all the really vulgar ones, but here are two examples that are not so offensive:
¿A mí qué diablos me importa su vida?
What the hell does your life matter to me?
Caption 6, El Ausente - Acto 2
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Y no por ellos que me importan un diablo.
And not because of them who don't matter a damn to me.
Caption 4, El Ausente - Acto 3
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Finally, we want to introduce you to a curious expression: me vale. It’s only used in Mexico and it’s interesting because it’s quite contradictory. While its literal meaning would be something like “I care” it actually means the exact opposite. This happens because, in Mexico, the verb valer (to be worth) can replace the verb importar (to care) in phrases such as the ones mentioned before. So me vale un pepino, me vale un comino, etc. are all very common. At some point, Mexicans just shortened these phrases to me vale:
Después de eso me vale si muero
After that I don't care if I die
Caption 32, Los Originales de San Juan - Ojala La Vida Me Alcance
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The common—and very contradictory—Mexican phrase me vale madres belongs to this group. It means “I don’t give a damn about it!” but its literal meaning is something like “It’s worth what my mother is worth to me.” Quite puzzling, right? Especially given the proverbial Mexican affection for their mothers!
We hope you have enjoyed this lesson!
Did you watch our video about Spanish negation? In it, Marta explains that to make a negative sentence in Spanish, you basically need to place the word no before the verb in any given sentence, like this one from our animated friend Guillermina:
No quería que jugáramos con nuestros juguetes.
She didn't want us to play with our toys.
Caption 49, Guillermina y Candelario - El mundo de los juguetes perdidos
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By combining the word no with the word ni (nor) you can negate more than one idea:
Porque sin ti no me importan los minutos ni los días
Because without you I don't care about minutes or days
Caption 8, Belinda - Bella Traición
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As in English, you can use ni (nor) as many times as you want:
No te conoce el toro ni la higuera,
The bull does not know you, nor the fig tree,
ni caballos ni hormigas de tu casa.
nor the horses, nor the ants at your house.
Captions 4-5, Acercándonos a la Literatura - García Lorca - Alma ausente
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There are some other negative words in Spanish: nada (nothing), nadie (nobody), jamás (never), nunca (never), and tampoco (neither). How are these negative words used in Spanish? You place them right before the verb:
Mira, nunca me vayas a olvidar
Look, never forget me
Caption 24, Alberto Barros - Mano a mano
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You can also combine these words with the word no. In this case you should use no before the verb and the additional negative after it:
Porque en el campo no hay nadie. -Claro.
Because there is nobody in the field. -Of course.
Caption 19, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa
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As you can see, this leads us to probably the most interesting thing about negation in Spanish: the fact that double and triple negatives are very common:
No me gusta deberle nada a nadie.
I don't like to owe anything to anyone.
Caption 12, El Ausente Acto 2 - Part 5
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Notice how in the previous quote the English translation uses the negative “don’t” first, and then the affirmative “anything” and “anyone” instead of “nothing” and “nobody” (which are the literal equivalent to nada and nadie). This is so because formal written English doesn’t use double negation. By contrast, the general rule in Spanish is not to mix negative and affirmative words in the same sentence. See for example:
Yo no pido nada más
I don't ask for anything else
Caption 14, Enrique Iglesias Alguien soy yo
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Where Spanish uses two consecutive negatives (no and nada), English uses one negative (don't) and one affirmative (anything). Saying "Yo no pido algo más" or "Yo pido nada más" in Spanish is similar to saying “I don’t ask for nothing else” in English.
Learning the numbers from one to one hundred in Spanish is a very straightforward task. In fact, our friends at El Aula Azul created a very useful video to aid us with the basics.
While you will see that it isn't really necessary to memorize every digit from one to one hundred, we'll give you a couple of tips to keep in mind. Let's learn the numbers in Spanish!
These you do need to memorize, and the numbers from one to ten are as follows: uno (1), dos (2), tres (3), cuatro (4), cinco (5), seis (6), siete (7), ocho (8), nueve (9), and diez (10). We suggest that you practice them by saying them out loud a number of times. Let's see how to pronounce these numbers:
Uno. Dos. Tres. Cuatro. Cinco. Seis. Siete. Ocho. Nueve. Y diez.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. And ten.
Captions 2-11, El Aula Azul Los Números del 1-100
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The numbers from eleven through twenty-nine also require some memorization, specifically those from eleven through fifteen, which are as follows: once (11), doce (12), trece (13), catorce (14), and quince (15). Let's learn how to say them:
Once. Doce. Trece. Catorce. Quince.
Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen.
Captions 13-17, El Aula Azul Los Números del 1-100
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You will then notice that there is a basic pattern to form the following digits: simply take diez (10) or veinte (20) and follow them with y plus the corresponding single digit to form your desired number. For example, if ten is diez, and six is seis, then sixteen will be "diez y seis." Similarly, if twenty is veinte and four is cuatro, then twenty-four must be "veinte y cuatro." Right? Well, almost!
A little trick will help you to learn to spell the names of the numbers sixteen through nineteen as well as twenty-one through twenty-nine correctly. Although those numbers were previously spelled as two words, their modern spellings are now preferred: Sixteen is written "dieciséis," nineteen is "diecinueve," twenty-nine is "veintinueve," and so on.
The pattern is that, while the numbers sixteen through nineteen employ the prefix dieci (rather than diez y) followed by six through nine, the digits twenty-one through twenty-nine use "veinti" (not "veinte y") plus the numbers one through nine. Voilá! The number sixteen is therefore spelled dieciséis while twenty-four is veinticuatro. Let's see some of these numbers:
Dieciséis. Diecisiete. Dieciocho. Diecinueve.
Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen.
Captions 18-21, El Aula Azul Los Números del 1-100
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And some more:
Veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés.
Twenty one, twenty two, twenty three.
Captions 25-27, El Aula Azul Los Números del 1-100
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The good news is that, after treinta (30), the previous spelling returns, and you can once again use the basic pattern: thirty-one is "treinta y uno," forty-eight is "cuarenta y ocho," etc. All that are left to memorize are th
Treinta. Treinta y uno, treinta y dos. Treinta y tres. Cuarenta. Cuarenta y uno, cuarenta y dos.
Thirty. Thirty one, thirty two. Thirty three. Forty. Forty one, forty two.
Captions 28-32, El Aula Azul Los Números del 1-100
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