Spanish word of the week: dificultar

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

Dificultar is a verb that means to make … difficult or to hold up. You can listen to the pronunciation of dificultar in the audio clip below:

Sometimes you can use a single Spanish word instead of several in English, and dificultar is such a word.

El temporal dificultó la localización del naufragio. The storm made it difficult to locate the wreck.

Esas restricciones dificultan el comercio. These restrictions make trade difficult.

El precio de los departamentos dificulta el acceso de los colombianos a la vivienda. The price of appartments makes it difficult for Colombians to get into the housing market.

Dificultar is also often used to refer to traffic being held up:

La intensa nieve dificultaba la circulación. Heavy snow was holding up the traffic.

Come back next week for another insight into Spanish vocabulary!

Other Articles

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

Spanish words of the week: calzada or calzado?

Putting our best foot forward (or even our second-best one) let’s turn to another pair of Spanish nouns that are nearly identical in form, though not in ending or gender, and which have very different meanings. Read More