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    🌀 “Ya” in Spanish: One Tiny Word, Many Meanings

    ya basta

      🌀 “Ya” in Spanish: One Tiny Word, Many Meanings Already, yet, now, not anymore, “I get it”… all in two letters The little word ya appears everywhere in Spanish, but it doesn’t always mean the same thing. Depending on the verb tense, the tone and the context, it can mean already, yet, now, not […] More

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    😵‍💫 10 More Spanish Expressions That Are Not Easy to Figure Out. Soponcio.

    dar un soponcio

          From fainting fits to “letting loose” and covering the macho’s eye Sometimes the most confusing Spanish expressions are the ones that sound “transparent” but actually mean something completely different. In this new set of ten, you’ll see fainting fits, party mode, money slang, and even a macho bull getting his eye covered. […] More

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    😋 Antojarse, Antojar, Antojársele, Antojitos

    Antojitos restaurant at Universal

      😋 Antojarse, Antojar, Antojársele, Antojitos ¡Cuando algo simplemente se te antoja! Have you ever suddenly craved something — like chocolate, tacos, or ice cream — and you weren’t even sure why? In Spanish, there’s one perfect verb for that feeling: ANTOJARSE. 💭 “Se me antojó un helado.” Literally: A craving for ice cream just […] More

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    Spanish Last Names revisited: Why Spanish, Italian, Korean and Russian Last Name Systems Are So Different

    Last names

    Why Spanish, Italian, Korean and Russian Last Names Look So Different We usually think a “last name” is something simple: one family name, one family. But if you compare Spanish, Italian, Korean and Russian names, you see very different systems and very different numbers. Spoiler: different cultures found very different ways to answer the same […] More

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    “¡Aquí mero, por favor!”: Mero, a Very Mexican Little Word

    Aquí mero

    How Mexicans use “mero”, “ya mero”, “aquí mero”, “el mero mero”, “yo mero” and more, plus the formal word “mero” and “meramente”. Mexican Spanish The word mero is small, but in Mexico it has a lot of personality. With just this word you can say things like “almost”, “right here”, “the main boss”, or “me, […] More

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    Claxon: The Old Brand Name That Became the Word for Car Honk in Spanish

    claxon

    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

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    “Esteee…” — The Spanish Word People Say When They Don’t Know What to Say

    esteeee

    “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

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    Lyrics: No Importa que Llueva

    No Importa que Lueva Efecto Pasillo

    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

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    Pantalón de Mezclilla. 10 More Spanish Expressions That Are Not Easy to Figure Out

    Pantalones de mezclilla

    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

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    Arena. Same Word, Very Different Sound, and sometimes different meaning.

    Arena

    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

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    Manos y Manecillas

    Manos and Manecillas

    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

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    New York City: The Big Apple and La Gran Manzana.

    La Gran Manzana

    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

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