CHECK OUT THESE 10 INTERESTING SPANISH WORDS WITH NO ENGLISH TRANSLATION
There he was, sitting in a fancy restaurant, in front of that Latin girl who he had a crush on ever since he moved to Colombia.
—Entonces... ¿tienes que madrugar mañana?—She asks with this curious look on her face.
—¿Madrugar? Ain't that one of those Spanish words which have no English translation? Oh god, what do I do? She waiting for an answer!—He thinks as he drinks some water.
I know you're probably thinking that our friend above was exaggerating a little bit. However, he was right about something:
In Spanish, there's no English translation for some words, although you can find a way to express what you mean with these kinds of words, you will never find an exact equivalent for these words.
10 Spanish words with no English translation
The following list will teach you new words with no translation in English, this will open a new door to express ideas in Spanish, just like native speakers do:
1- Madrugar: This word means to wake up early, so if you remember the beginning of this post, we had a girl asking: “¿tienes que madrugar mañana?”
I don't know about you, but I am one of those who hate this word.
2- Trasnochar: When I was in my teens, I used to say this word a lot, it means to stay up all night.
For instance, people who go to college “tienen que trasnochar” doing homework, or people who work at night too.
3- Estrenar: This is one of women's favorite word because it means to wear or have something brand new.
For example, we can say that you “estás estrenando” when you are wearing new jeans, shoes or even when you have a new car!
4- Sobremesa: Whenever you go to a restaurant in a Spanish speaking country, they're going to ask you something like: “¿Qué quiere de sobremesa”, and if you hear this, no, they're not asking you to move to another table.
“La sobremesa” is that drink that goes with every food you eat, for example, with breakfast most Spanish speakers drink coffee or chocolate. With lunch and dinner, people often drink soda or juice.
5- Quincena: I have a friend who only has money during one day of the month, “¡en la quincena!”
Most companies in south-america pay their employees twice a month, the first payment is during the half of the month and the second is at the end of the month, these days are known as “Las quincenas”.
6- Chapuzón: Is it summer where you live right now? You should go get a “chapuzón”.
This word basically means to go swimming, which will really come in handy to when you go to a warm Spanish speaking country like in the costs of Colombia!
7- Antier:This is the day before yesterday in just one word!
8- Te quiero:No, this doesn't mean “I love you”.
Telling someone “te quiero” means that you care about him/her. In a romantic context, it is more than “I like you” but less than “I love you”.
You know, you have to be clear about your feelings!
9- Manco:This is how you call a person with only one arm in Spanish.
10- Tuerto:Remember the funny one eye man from pirates of the Caribbean? Well... He was a tuerto, it is a person who only has one eye.
There you have it!
Just remember that sometimes you can't exactly translate words from English to Spanish.
So next time you struggle with one word in Spanish, just say it and see what happens!
June 21, 2017
