Language Learners

Spanish word of the week: cabo

16th Sep 2020

el cabo NOUN end In one of its uses cabo means the end of something: con un cabo de cuchillo que le asomaba por la cintura with the end of a knife which was showing at his waist But it is much more often used in set… Read More

Spanish word of the week: principio

10th Sep 2020

el principio NOUN beginning When you want to talk about the beginning of something, principio is one way of saying it: El principio del libro es muy interesante. The beginning of the book is very interesting. desde el principio hasta el fin from beginning to end… Read More

Spanish word of the week: rato

3rd Sep 2020

rato NOUN time, while Rato is a terrifically useful word which is used in many different phrases to do with time: Hace un rato means a while ago, or some time ago Se fue hace un rato. He left a while or some time ago. como… Read More

Spanish word of the week: importante

26th Aug 2020

importante ADJECTIVE important, significant; large Importante is one of those intriguing Spanish words that has one meaning which looks similar to English — important — and another that is a bit unexpected: large: Tu padre es un hombre muy importante en la política. Your father is a… Read More

Spanish word of the week: apetecer

19th Aug 2020

apetecer VERB to feel like If you like something you probably know that the basic way to say so is with gustar: Me gusta jugar al béisbol. I like playing baseball. Apetecer is a word you are likely to come across in Spain, but not in Latin America, and… Read More

Spanish word of the week: tras

12th Aug 2020

tras PREPOSITION after Tras is an alternative way of saying after – después de – and tends to be used in writing more than in speech, except in some set phrases: Salimos corriendo tras ella. We ran out after her. Tras unos días de vacaciones volvió a… Read More

Spanish word of the week: igual

5th Aug 2020

igual ADVERB maybe; anyway Igual as an adverb has some interesting uses. If you really don’t mind about something, you use the phrase me da igual or me es igual: Me da igual or Me es igual hoy o mañana. Today or tomorrow, I don’t mind. Colloquially,… Read More

Spanish word of the week: suceso

22nd Jul 2020

el suceso NOUN event; incident Today will be looking at the ‘false friend’ suceso. Be careful not to use the word success as a translation. It translates into English as either event or incident: los sucesos más importantes de la última década the major events of the… Read More

Spanish word of the week: harto

15th Jul 2020

harto ADJECTIVE fed up, tired If you’re fed up with or tired with something harto de is the phrase you need: Estoy harta de esta comida. I’m fed up with this food. Estaba harto de tener que hacerlo todo para ella. He was tired of having to… Read More