Favorite Spanish Words

Every language has choice words that sum up a feeling, action, or multiple words in a succinct package. On the whole, it takes more words in Spanish to express the same meaning in English but a few of our favorites capture more meaning than a single word generally expresses...and sometimes it's hard to translate the meaning into English.

Photo: !Ya! Enough doggie kisses already



'Ya' – already, immediately, that's it, enough, done. It's amazing that one little two letter word can say so much. You've finished you're cereal in the morning...”mama, ya.”








'Vamos' – let's go, let's get a move on. When we're trying to get out the door in the morning or go somewhere, one of us is likely to say, 'vamos,' which can be translated as 'move your bootie or we'll be late.'


Colin is quickly becoming the family aficionado of all things Spanish; he has had a few situations where he completely understands what's going on in Spanish but can't translate the exact nuisance into English. It's not uncommon now for us to ask Colin what someone was saying in Spanish or how do you say....in Spanish.


Photo: “Colin, !Venga! Venga!”

'Venga' (pronounced Benga) – come on, go, hurry up, Go! (in a sports game). When walking around town or watching a futbol (soccer) game, you're more likely to hear this word than any other. During Colin's games, instead of parents cheering, “come on, let's go,” you'd hear, “Venga! Venga! Venga!”

'Claro' – that's true, clearly, clear, of course, duh. I love this word. You'll hear Spaniards talking so rapidly that you can barely decipher the individual words and then out pops the more slowly enunciated, “Claro!” (pronounced claaa-ro, with a slight roll of the r that almost makes it sound like an English 'd'), which slows down the rhythm, and provides a pause in the otherwise amazingly fast speech.

'Mira' – look or look here. Usually stated when you're trying to call attention to something quickly. ¡Mira, mira! Or, if someone is trying to explain something to you, she/he could start the sentence with 'mira, to get to the bank, go straight and then take your first right.”

Photo: ¡Mira! Chi Chi and Kelsey are sharing a silly moment



'Verdad' (pronounced Ber-dad) – that's correct, that's true, really. Often stated to agree with another person. 'The Red Sox are the best baseball team.' And the response may be, 'Verdad.'


'Vale' (Bal-ey) – Ok, got it?, um (filler word). Expressed with an upward inflection sounding like 'bal-eh.' When we first arrived in Zaragoza, this word stuck out more than any other. Everyone uses it, with frequency. We thought, 'what is this 'vale'?' I didn't remember it from Spanish 1 in 7th grade. It's often used at the end of a sentence, such as “I'll meet you at the train station at 6pm, vale?” Or, it's used to check in that the other person understood you. 'The history of Zaragoza is very rich as it's rooted in Moors, Jews and Christians, vale?' However, if someone asks you, ¿cómo estás? (how are you?), you can't answer with 'vale.' You would need to say bien or muy bien.

'No pasa nada' – no big deal, nothing happened, it's all good. If you said, “I'm sorry I was late for coffee yesterday,” the person may reply, 'no pasa nada.'