despertar VERB to wake up
Despertar means to wake … up, that is when you wake someone else up. In other words it’s transitive.
Despiértame a las ocho, mamá. Wake me up at eight, mom.
If you want to describe waking up of your own accord — in other words, the intransitive sense — you normally use the reflexive, despertarse:
Hoy me desperté muy temprano. Today I woke up very early.
Despertar also means to cause or arouse some kind of emotion, such as:
La propuesta despertó gran interés. The proposal aroused great interest.
Esta obra pretende despertar nuestra curiosidad. This work aims to arouse our curiosity.
Come back next week to learn a new word!
