Spanish word of the week: alegría

This week’s Spanish word of the week is alegría.  

Alegría is a noun that meanshappiness, joyand you can find out how to pronounce it here:

function playAudio(url) { new Audio(url).play(); }

Alegría is a great quality to have, and it comes from the adjective alegre happy – which you probably already know.

Es un gran motivo de alegría. It’s a great cause for happiness.

Le brillaban los ojos de alegría. His eyes sparkled with happiness.

Alegría is sometimes translated as joy, as in Beethoven’s famous ‘Ode to Joy’, that in Spanish is el Himno a la Alegría.

Estaba rebosante de alegría. He was ovewflowing with joy.

It’s worth bearing in mind that you often can’t translate alegría literally as happiness:

Me llevé una alegría muy grande. I felt very happy.

For instance, in the common phrase ¡Qué alegría + infinitive:

¡Qué alegría verte por aquí! How wonderful to see you here!

And the phrase con alegría is translated in various ways – often not with a noun at all!

Comprobó con alegría que no le habían visto. He was pleased to discover that he hadn’t been seen.

Festejan hoy con alegría la boda de la princesa. Today they are happily celebrating the princess’s wedding.

Come back next week for another insight into Spanish vocabulary!

Other Articles

Spanish words of the week: fosa or foso?

Today we’re digging into the commonest meanings of another pair of potentially confusable Spanish nouns. These are fosa (feminine) and foso (masculine). The two words have rather similar meanings in that they both refer to pit- or trench-like spaces. However, the feminine… Read More

Spanish words of the week: tramo or trama?

So which potentially confusable Spanish nouns are we disentangling this week? Let’s see where we get to with tramo (masculine) and trama (feminine). Read More

Spanish words of the week: conducta or conducto?

Our weekly appointment with a pair of similar-looking Spanish nouns with different meanings is here again, so let’s see where a comparison of the commonest senses of feminine conducta and masculine conducto leads us. Read More