Words

Dañar

Dañar

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “dañar.” It’s a verb meaning “to damage” or “to harm”. It can be used to refer to both physical damage as well as psychological hurt. Another way to talk about damage is to use the noun “daño” (“damage”), which is related to the verb dañar. This word can […]

Dañar Read More »

Dormir

Dormir

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “dormir.” It’s a verb meaning “to sleep.” The reflexive form “dormirse” can mean “to fall asleep.” For example: The word “dormir” comes from Latin dormire, meaning “to sleep”. This is also the root of several English words related to sleep, including “dormant” and “dormitory”. “Dormir” is an irregular

Dormir Read More »

Hotel

Hotel

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “hotel”. Unsurprisingly, it means “hotel”! It’s pronounced a bit differently in Spanish to in English though, with a silent h, a shorter o, and a soft t. Both English and Spanish “hotel” come from the French word hôtel, which originally meant a palace or large house before acquiring

Hotel Read More »

Trabajo

Trabajo

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “trabajo”. It’s a masculine noun meaning “work”, “job” or “labor”. It can also be used to refer to an individual assignment or task. The word “trabajo” comes from the verb “trabajar”, meaning “to work”. The etymology of “trabajar” is contested, but the most common theory is that it

Trabajo Read More »

Paz

Paz

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “paz”. It’s a feminine noun meaning “peace”. Unlike in English where the word “peace” is usually used without the definite article “the”, in Spanish it is common to use the definite article. When talking about the concept of peace in general, you would refer to it as “la

Paz Read More »

Realmente

Realmente

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “realmente”. It’s an adverb meaning “really” or “actually”. You might have noticed that a lot of English adverbs that end in -ly end in -mente in Spanish. The -ly ending in English has Germanic roots, while the -mente ending comes from Latin. Here are a few other examples:

Realmente Read More »

Caja

Caja

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “caja”. It’s a feminine noun meaning “box” or “crate”. The word can also refer to the place where you pay in a shop or other establishment, and can translate as “cash register”, “checkout”, “counter” or “till”. One related Spanish word is the verb “encajar”, meaning “to fit”. This

Caja Read More »

Cualquier

Cualquiera

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “cualquiera”. It’s usually used as an indefinite pronoun meaning “any”, “anyone”, “anybody”, “whichever” or “whoever”. When used before a noun, the word is shortened to “cualquier”, for example “cualquier lugar” (“any place”). The word “cualquiera” was formed by combining the words “cual” (“which”) and “quiera”, which is a

Cualquiera Read More »

Fuego

Fuego

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “fuego”. It’s a masculine noun meaning “fire” or “flame”. Like the English word “fire”, the word can also refer to the shot of a gun or other weapon. The Spanish expression for “fireworks” is “fuegos artificiales” (literally “artificial fires”). The word “fuego” comes from Latin focus, meaning “hearth”.

Fuego Read More »

Muerte

Muerte

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “muerte”. It’s a feminine noun meaning “death”. It comes from the Latin word mors, meaning “death”, which is related to the verb “morir” (“to die”). Some related English words from the same Latin roots include “mortal” and “mortality”. Example sentences La muerte de su perro lo dejó muy

Muerte Read More »