5 common Spanish idioms to speak like a native – Episode 009

5 common Spanish idioms to speak like a native

Podcast episode 9 – SEE ALL EPISODES

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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Today we’ve got a question from Ron, one of my newsletter subscribers.

Ron has asked for some common Spanish idioms. So, I’ve looked for five interesting and very common idioms in Spanish. Here they are:

See also: Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses.

Common Spanish idioms: number 1

This idiom is used very much like in English.

For instance, if you were expecting a parcel to arrive last week and it finally arrives today you’d say: ‘Más vale tarde que nunca’ (Better late than never).

Or, if someone does something that you needed done a while back, and they finally finish it, you’d say: ‘Más vale tarde que nunca’.

Like in English. Better late than never.

Common Spanish idioms: number 2

The second idiom I want to give you today is:

Again, it’s used very much like in English. For example, we could say:

Or, for instance, we could say that a movie is not worth watching:

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Common Spanish idioms: number 3

The third idiom I want to give you today is:

It’s what you’d say to someone who’s nagging you, or bothering you: Get lost! – ¡Vete a freír espárragos!

It’s used, again, very much like in English. Something you’d say to a child, or your sister, or a good friend. Not to your boss.

Common Spanish idioms: number 4

The fourth idiom is:

There, you’ll recognise the word ‘pan’. ‘El pan’ – the bread, and ‘comido’, from the verb ‘comer’, to eat.

For instance, you could ask a friend: ‘Have you seen the new Spanish lesson?’, and she’d say:

Common Spanish idioms: number 5

And the fifth idiom is:

There, you’ll recognise the words ‘cero’ (zero) and ‘la izquierda’ (the left).

Es un cero a la izquierda is, literally: he or she is a zero to the left, a nobody, someone useless.

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Here are some examples. For instance, you could say:

Or you could say:

This fifth idiom is: ‘Es un cero a la izquierda’ (He or she is a nobody, or someone useless).

Let’s recap these 5 Spanish idioms

Here are the 5 idioms I’ve found for you:

Where to learn more Spanish idioms

There are, of course, many more Spanish idioms.

Just like in English, idioms reflect all our emotions and feelings: funny, motivating, ironic, inspirational, sarcastic, thought-provoking. They can reflect all human emotions.

Learning the Spanish idioms will give a great boost to the way you can express your feelings in Spanish. The way you can communicate with people. The way you can make friends, or have deeper connections with native speakers.

The easiest way to learn Spanish idioms is in context.

Learning a list of idioms can be useful. Like here, for example, where I’ve given you five, and I’ve gone through them.

But, usually, the best way to learn idioms is in context: within a dialogue, a narration, or other text.

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Maria’s step-by-step Spanish courses

Let’s recap once more

These are the five idioms I’ve given you in this lesson:

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