polyglot
Latest stories
More stories
-
About people’s ages
adolescente adolescent, teenager quiceañero, quinceañera quince = fifteen A 15 year old person (or about) veinteañero, veinteañera veinte = twenty a person in his/her 20s treintañero, treintañera treinta = thirty a person in his/her 30s cuarentón, cuarentona (fam) cuarenta = forty a person in his/her 40s cincuentón, cincuentona (fam) cincuenta = fifty a person […] More
-
10 expressions that are not so easy to figure out (36)
Expression Approximate literal translation (what you might think you actually heard) Explanation no tener llenadera (Mx) llenar = to fill It is an expresion that means that someone is never satisfied. Like no matter how much he/she eats, it will never be enough. Also, used for politicians who embezzle. They steal and they can’t […] More
-
Phone etiquette in several Spanish-speaking countries?
Phone etiquette in several Spanish-speaking countries? We use several different expressions to answer the phone, so when you travel or watch a foreign movie don’t be surprised. It’s not always as simple as hello. I think no other language has a particular way to answer the phone depending on the region. < This table is […] More
-
Plattdeutsch
Not all Mexican citizens speak only Spanish. Besides the dozens of indigenous languages, in several areas of Mexico like Chihuahua, Campeche, Zacatecas, Quintana Roo, there are people who speak Plattdeutsch. There are different varieties of this language in Germany, Holland, Ukraine, Canada, Mexico. The one that is spoken in Mexico has a base of Prussian […] More
-
10 expressions that are not so easy to figure out
Here are 10 common random idioms you may have trouble with if you hear them for the first time: Expression Approximate literal translation (what you might think you actually heard) Explanation camión (Mexico) a truck? camion is a truck in Italian, French, Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, etc. in Mexico, just in Mexico, they also call buses […] More
-
Not all cognates look like twins, like naranja and orange
Cognates are words that have the same origin. If, in addition, these words have the same meaning, they are true cognates, but if the meanings are different then they are false cognates. Examples of true cognates are teléfono and telephone, auditorio and auditorium, obtener and obtain. Examples of false cognates are the typical example embarazada, […] More
-
El último Grito. 10 expressions that are not so easy to figure out (4)
Here are 10 common random idioms you may have trouble with if you hear them for the first time: Expression Approximate literal translation (what you might think you actually heard) Explanation pasado mañana past tomorrow, past morning the day after tomorrow, passing tomorrow el último grito the last scream? The last shout? the last […] More
-
The Spanish H vs. F in other Romance Languages
There are dozens of examples of words in Spanish that are spelled with a (silent) H, for which you can find at least one cognate in another language that is spelled with F. Most languages followed the original Latin spelling. I don’t like this, haha, why do we have to be different to the […] More
-
Groups of animals
This is how we call different groups of animals in Spanish: Spanish English Notes bandada (f) flock (birds), skein (group of geese) flock of birds, group of geese (gansos) cardumen (m) school fish (peces) colonia colony pingüinos enjambre (m) swarm bees (abejas), some other flying insects escuela (f) school fish (peces) jauría (f) pack dogs […] More
-
in Culture, Translation
Finito is Italian, not Spanish
It’s not uncommon to hear Spanish language students say finito! when they finish doing a quiz or an exercise. The thing is that finito meaning done! is not a Spanish word, it’s the past participle of the Italian verb finire. Finito in Spanish is an adjective that is used mainly in mathematics referring to a […] More
-
All the World
This is how Romance people say everybody: language the world all the world = everybody Spanish el mundo todo el mundo French le monde tout le monde Portuguese o mondo todo o mundo Romanian lumea (the definite article is indicated at the end, “lume+a” in this case). toată lumea Italian il mondo tutto il mondo […] More
-
Spanish verb tenses terminology
In English, you say present perfect, but in Spanish we say pretérito perfecto, antepresente, and in the U. S. people also call it presente perfecto, These differences happen usually between Latin America and Spain, and sometimes between schools, like instituto Cervantes and Columbia or NYU. Here is a table showing these name differences. Example English […] More
Admin
Load More
Congratulations. You've reached the end of the internet.
