Today’s Spanish word of the day is “culpa”.
It’s a feminine noun meaning “blame”, “fault” or “guilt”.
A common expression is “echar la culpa a alguien” (literally “to throw blame at someone”), which means “to blame someone”. Here’s an example of this usage:
- Los políticos suelen echar la culpa a otros partidos por los problemas del país. – Politicians often blame other parties for the country’s problems.
The phrase “tener la culpa” means “to be at fault”, for example:
- Él tiene la culpa de que hayamos perdido el tren. – It’s his fault we missed the train.
The word “culpa” comes from Latin culpa, meaning “fault” or “blame”. You might notice the word from the phrase mea culpa, meaning “my fault” or “my mistake”. It’s also the root of the English words “culpable” and “culprit”. Here are some related words in Spanish:
- Culpar – To blame
- Culpable – Guilty/Culpable
- Disculpa – Sorry/Excuse me
Example sentences
Siempre me echan la culpa a mí.
They always blame me.
Fue culpa del conductor.
It was the driver’s fault.
El acusado negó toda culpa.
The defendant denied all guilt.
Hubo culpa de ambos lados.
There was fault on both sides.
La culpa pesa más que el castigo.
Guilt weighs heavier than punishment.
