Spanish word of the week: motivo

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

Motivo is a noun that means reason or motive. You can listen to the pronunciation of motivo in the audio clip below:

Motivo is one of the many Spanish words which have one meaning like their English equivalent and another which is different. It’s a very common word for the reason for something:

Dejó el puesto por motivos personales. She left her job for personal reasons.

No hay motivo para dudarlo. There’s no reason to doubt it.

Se reía sin motivo aparente. He would laugh for no obvious reason.

It’s widely used in the phrase con motivo de, meaning because of:

con motivo de la visita de dos amigas because of a visit by two friends

The other meaning, motive, is used in a similar way to English:

¿Cuál fue el motivo del asesinato? What was the motive for the murder?

un crimen sin motivo a crime without a motive

Come back next week for another insight into Spanish vocabulary!