Words

Bebé

Bebé

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “bebé”. It’s a masculine noun meaning “baby”. Although it’s a masculine noun, it can refer to either male or female babies. However, in Latin America it’s quite common to use a feminine pronoun when referring to baby girls, for example “la bebé” or “una bebé”. It’s thought that […]

Bebé Read More »

Entender

Entender

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “entender”. It’s a verb that means “to understand”. The reflexive form “entenderse” can mean “to understand one another” or “to get along with”. The word “entender” comes from Latin intendere, which meant “to turn one’s attention”, and is also the root of the English word “intend”. “Entender” is

Entender Read More »

Navidad

Navidad

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “Navidad”. It’s a feminine noun meaning “Christmas”. It can refer specifically to the 25th of December, or the whole festive season. In Spanish-speaking countries, the 24th of December is a bigger event than the 25th, with a shared meal and the exchanging of presents taking place on Christmas

Navidad Read More »

Parecer

Parecer

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “parecer”. It’s a verb meaning “to seem” or “to look like”. It shouldn’t be confused with the verb “aparecer”, which means “to appear” or “to turn up”. Both “parecer” and “aparecer” derive from Latin parere, meaning “to beget” or “to bring forth”, which is also the root of

Parecer Read More »

Grande

Grande

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “grande”. It’s an adjective meaning “big” or “large”. As you probably know, the standard way to use adjectives in Spanish is after the noun, for example “una casa grande” means “a big house”. However, it’s often also possible to use an adjective before a noun, though this can

Grande Read More »

Ganar

Ganar

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “ganar”. It’s a verb that can have several meanings, including “to earn”, “to gain” and “to win”. Like the English word “gain”, it’s thought to ultimately derive from a Germanic word related to hunting or fishing. Unlike in English, Spanish doesn’t always distinguish between “earning” and “winning”, so

Ganar Read More »

Papá

Papá

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “papá”. It’s a masculine noun meaning “dad”, or “daddy”. Like the English word “dad”, “papá” is informal. The more formal way to refer to your father is “padre” (“father”). The plural, “los papás”, translates as “parents”, so “mis papás” would translate as “my parents” or “my mom and

Papá Read More »

Probablemente

Probablemente

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “probablemente”. It’s an adverb meaning “probably”. You may have noticed that while many English adverbs end in -ly, many Spanish adverbs end in -mente. Here are just a few examples: This doesn’t mean that all Spanish adverbs end in -mente, but it’s a common pattern. The Spanish word

Probablemente Read More »

Calle

Calle

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “calle”. It’s a feminine noun meaning “street”. Like in English, Spanish has several different words for types of street and road. Here are a few of the most common: The word “calle” comes from Latin callis, meaning “path”. Example sentences Hay un perro sentado en la esquina de

Calle Read More »

Gusto

Gusto

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “gusto”. It’s a masculine noun meaning “taste”, “flavor”, “pleasure” or “liking”. The word “gusto” is used in a few conventional polite phrases. These include “con gusto” to mean “you’re welcome” when someone thanks you for something, and “mucho gusto” to mean “nice to meet you” when meeting someone

Gusto Read More »