Today’s Spanish word of the day is “tarde”.
It’s both a feminine noun meaning “afternoon”, and an adverb meaning “late”.
Some common phrases including the word “tarde” include:
- Buenas tardes – Good afternoon
- Por la tarde – In the afternoon
- Esta tarde – This afternoon
- Tarde o temprano – Sooner or later (literally “late or early”)
- Nunca es tarde – It’s never too late (literally “it’s never late”)
The Spanish word “tarde” comes from the Latin adverb tarde, meaning “slowly” or “late”, which came from the root tardus, meaning “slow”. Some English words from the same root include “tardy” and “retard”, which was originally a verb meaning “to make slow” or “to delay”.
Example sentences
Llegué tarde al trabajo.
I was late to work.
Nunca es tarde para aprender algo nuevo.
It’s never too late to learn something new.
Tarde o temprano lo entenderás.
Sooner or later you’ll understand.
Me levanté tarde esta mañana.
I got up late this morning.
La película empieza a las cinco de la tarde.
The movie starts at five in the afternoon.
