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    El Burro

    El Burro

    In many Spanish-speaking countries, the word burro has many uses. It can mean donkey, it can mean a big burrito, or even a stubborn person. But in the school context, to ser burro / ser burra for female students, means something very specific: the least smart or the laziest student in the classroom. In other […] More

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    Pasado Mañana: When “Past” Actually Means the Future

    Pasado mañana

    For many English speakers learning Spanish, the phrase pasado mañana is one of those expressions that makes them stop and think: “Wait a second, why does it mean the day after tomorrow if pasado usually means past?” It looks like it should refer to something that already happened, but in Spanish it actually points to […] More

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    Fulano, Mengano and Zutano: The Mysterious and Funny Names of Nobody

    Fulano, Mengano, Zutano by Cinzano

    If you study Spanish long enough, sooner or later you will hear the words Fulano, Mengano and Zutano. These names don’t really belong to anybody, but they are used to talk about a person without saying the real name, or when the name is not important. For example, someone can say “Fulano me dijo que…” […] More

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    Carrazo 2.0: Spanish words that end with -azo

    Carrazo by Bardhal

    Almost 20 years ago we posted about -azo / -aza on SpanishNY. This is the updated version. In Spanish, this ending can mean bigger/awesome, or it can mean a hit/blow with something. There isn’t a perfect one-word match in English, so the best way is to learn it by examples. “Bigger / awesome” uses Spanish […] More

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    Amanecer: much more than just “sunrise”

    amanecer

    When English speakers learn Spanish, they are usually told that amanecer means sunrise. That is correct sometimes, but the truth is that in Spanish the word amanecer goes far beyond that. It is not only a noun, it is also a verb, and Spanish speakers use it in ways that simply do not exist in […] More

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    Por or Para, last minute refresher

    Let’s say that you are taking an exam about Para and Por tomorrow and you need something quick to remember the most important points, you don’t want to just blindly guess the answers. The use of “por” and “para” in Spanish is a bit tricky, but there are some general rules that, in many cases, […] More

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    Some traffic signs in Spanish

    no estacionarse

    Traffic signs in Spanish-speaking countries.   Traffic signs or señales de tráfico or señales de tránsito in Spanish are similar to international traffic signs, however, not all traffic signs are the same in all Spanish-speaking countries. Estacionarse means to park in Mexico and other Latin American countries, but in Spain, they say to aparcar. Estacionarse […] More

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    Amores Perros. Lucha de Gigantes.

      I saw the film Amores Perros together with one of my students. Below is one of the main soundtrack songs. Its name is Lucha de Gigantes, by the Spanish band Nacha Pop. The actual movie scene is too strong to embed on this website. It’s not for kids and it’s not for many people. […] More

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