Today’s Spanish word of the day is “dejar.”
It’s a verb that can mean “to leave” or “to let” (in the sense of “to allow”).
It can also mean “to stop” in expressions such as “dejar de” (to stop doing something), for example “dejé de fumar” (I stopped smoking).
It’s thought that the word “dejar” derives from Latin laxare, meaning “to loosen”, and that the current form of the word with a d at the start was influenced by the word “dar” (to give).
Example sentences
Dejé mi teléfono en casa.
I left my phone at home.
¿Puedes dejarme tu coche mañana?
Can you let me use your car tomorrow?
Aunque fue difícil, decidí dejar mi trabajo para perseguir mi sueño de viajar por el mundo.
Although it was hard, I decided to leave my job to pursue my dream of traveling the world.
Dejé de fumar hace un año.
I stopped smoking a year ago.
A veces, lo mejor que puedes hacer es dejar que las cosas sigan su curso.
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is let things follow their course.