This week’s Spanish word of the week is ojalá.
Ojalá is an exclamation that means I hope, I wish or if only. You can listen to the pronunciation of ojalá in the audio clip below:
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This is one of the many Spanish words which originate from Arabic (O Allah!). Originally it might have been used in fervent prayer, but now it means little more than I hope, I wish or the slightly more emotional if only.
Don’t forget the upside down exclamation mark at the beginning and be careful to use a verb in the correct tense of subjunctive after ¡ojalá!
¡Ojalá venga Sara hoy! I hope Sara comes today!
(venga: present subjunctive of venir)
¡Ojalá pudiera! If only I could!
(pudiera: past subjunctive of poder)
¡Ojalá no hubiera dicho eso! I wish I hadn’t said that!
(hubiera dicho: pluperfect subjunctive of decir)
Come back next week for another insight into Spanish vocabulary!
