A small language story: from Klaxon (brand) to claxon (any car horn) in Spanish and many other languages. Words and brands In Spanish, many people say el claxon when they talk about the car horn. But at the beginning, Klaxon (with K) was the name of a brand of car horns, not a normal word […] More
“Esteee…” – The Spanish Word When You Don’t Know What to Say One of many little Spanish words people use when they are thinking, hesitating… or buying time. Real-life Spanish In English we say “uh,” “um,” “like…” when we need time to think. In Spanish we often say este… — and if we need more […] More
Spanish English Notes No importa que llueva si estoy cerca de ti Nara nara nana Nara nana nana It doesn’t matter if it rains if I am close to you No importa que + subjunctive (llueva) = “It doesn’t matter if…”. Subjunctive expresses possibility. Hey! Me paso el día molestándote Hey! I spend the whole […] More
Here are ten very common Spanish language expressions, many of them from Mexico. You will see their literal translation and what they really mean in natural English. Spanish expression Literal translation Colloquial English meaning pantalones de mezclilla (MX), pantalones vaqueros (España) mixed-fabric pants, denim pants jeans. In México, it’s very common to hear pantalón […] More
Why familiar words can confuse your ear even when you already know them One of the biggest surprises for Spanish students who speak English is this: sometimes a word looks exactly the same in both languages, but it sounds completely different. Your brain says “I know this word”, but your ear hears something else. This […] More
One of the things that sometimes confuses Spanish students is when a word looks like a diminutive, but it does not really mean “small”. In English, when something gets smaller, we usually add an adjective like small or little. In Spanish, the language often changes the word itself. Sometimes that change is affectionate or about […] More
Why some Spanish speakers imagine a giant city block when they hear the nickname of New York City New York City is famously known as the Big Apple. Most English speakers grow up hearing that name and rarely stop to think about it. It is just a nickname. But when this expression is translated into […] More
Photo taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdAeE_7vRSg This post was requested by my student M.R., who is traveling to Mexico City soon. Many Spanish students feel comfortable in a classroom, but once they arrive in a big city like Mexico City, the vocabulary suddenly changes. Street signs, directions, and everyday conversations use words that are not always the […] More
Spanish is full of expressions that look simple, but when you translate them word by word, they make very little sense. This is especially confusing for Spanish students, because dictionaries usually give you the literal meaning, not the real one. In this post we look at ten very common expressions, some of them apply to […] More
