Spanish word of the week: resultar

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

Resultar is a verb that means to turn out or to be. You can listen to the pronunciation of resultar in the audio clip below:

Resultar is a very common and useful word for describing how situations and events turn out. It’s often used with a following infinitive:

El tipo resultó ser nada menos que el hermano del Presidente. The guy turned out to be the President’s brother, no less.

Tras un examen más minucioso, resultó ser falso. On closer inspection it turned out to be a fake.

It’s also often used in the phrase resulta que it turns out (that):

Al final, resulta que no fue ella quien lo hizo. In the end it turned out that she wasn’t the one who did it.

Resultó que era inocente. He turned out to be innocent.

Resultar is often used with the meaning of to be, usually with a following adjective:

Varias personas resultaron heridas en el accidente. Several people were injured in the accident.

It is often used in the third person (impersonally), as in:

Resulta difícil creer su versión de los acontecimientos. It’s difficult to believe his version of events.

It can also be used with a pronoun or noun complement, to refer to the person involved:

Le va a resultar difícil cumplir su misión. It’s going to be difficult for him to complete his mission.

A Emma le resulta imposible hacerlo. It’s impossible for Emma to do it.

Come back next week for another insight into Spanish vocabulary!