Spanish word of the week: vez

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

la vez NOUN (plural veces) time

Vez can be used in dozens of ways when you need to talk about time in the meaning of ‘occasion.’ Today we’re looking at some of them:

por primera vez  for the first time

por última vez for the last time

Notice that you don’t need the article in these phrases.

Cuando te vi por primera vez, inmediatamente supe que nos llevaríamos bien. When I saw you for the first time I knew right away that we’d get on well.

When you want to say it’s the first / second /etc. time that you’ve done something, remember that in Spanish you use the present tense:

Es la primera vez que viajo en avión. It’s the first time I’ve flown.

Ya es la tercera vez que te lo digo. This is the third time I’ve told you.

Vez is used in many phrases describing how often something happens:

¿Cuántas veces al año?  How many times a year?

Lo ha hecho tres veces. She’s done it three times.

Here are three set phrases which it’s very useful to know:

a veces sometimes

muchas veces often

de vez en cuando from time to time

A veces es imposible entenderle. Sometimes it’s impossible to understand him.

Muchas veces nos traen comida casera. They often bring us homemade food.

Nos vemos de vez en cuando We see each other from time to time.

Come back next week for another insight into Spanish vocabulary!