Spanish · Upper intermediate (B2) · Chapter 9 of 12
Humour and informal language
Humor y lenguaje coloquial
Understand and use colloquial Spain Spanish: tío, guay, mola, se me olvidó, diminutives and irony, and know when not to use them.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Understand widely used colloquial words from Spain: tío, majo, guay, mola, flipar
- Talk about accidents and things you forgot: se me olvidó, se me cayó
- Recognise irony and use diminutives like un momentito
- Tell a funny story to a friend
Listen
On Friday evening in a bar in Granada, Celia tells her friend Curro about her first week in a new job. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Curro
¡Por fin es viernes, tía! ¿Qué tal tu primera semana en el curro nuevo?
Friday at last! How was your first week in the new job?
Celia
¿Qué tal? Genial. El lunes se me olvidó la tarjeta de la oficina y me pasé media hora en la calle.
How was it? Great. On Monday I forgot my office pass and spent half an hour out in the street.
Curro
¡Anda ya! ¿Y nadie te abrió?
No way! And nobody let you in?
Celia
Al final sí, un chico muy majo. Y el martes, en una reunión, se me cayó el café encima del portátil del jefe.
In the end, yes, a really nice guy. And on Tuesday, in a meeting, I spilt my coffee all over the boss's laptop.
Curro
¡Qué fuerte! ¿Y qué te dijo?
That's unbelievable! And what did he say?
Celia
Nada. Se quedó mirándome un momentito y dijo: «Tranquila, no pasa nada». Pero yo quería que me tragara la tierra.
Nothing. He just looked at me for a moment and said, “Don't worry, it's fine.” But I wanted the ground to swallow me up.
Curro
Pues el jefe parece majo, ¿no?
Well, the boss seems nice, doesn't he?
Celia
Sí, la verdad es que mola. Y la gente es muy guay. Pero espera, que no te he contado lo mejor.
Yes, actually he's cool. And the people are really great. But wait, I haven't told you the best bit.
Curro
A ver, cuéntame.
Go on, tell me.
Celia
Ayer vi a una chica en la cocina y le dije: «Oye, ¿tú eres la nueva becaria? Porque yo también soy nueva». ¡Y resulta que era la directora de la empresa!
Yesterday I saw a woman in the kitchen and said to her, “Hey, are you the new intern? Because I'm new too.” And it turns out she was the company director!
Curro
¡No me digas! Flipo contigo, tía. ¿Y cómo reaccionó?
You're kidding! You're unbelievable. And how did she react?
Celia
Se echó a reír y me invitó a un cafecito. Vamos, que a lo mejor le caigo bien.
She burst out laughing and bought me a coffee. So basically, maybe she likes me.
Understand
Colloquial Spain Spanish
With friends, Spaniards use many colloquial words. The ones below are very common, not rude, and used by people of all ages, although some sound younger than others. Don't use them in a job interview, with a customer or in writing to someone you don't know well.
and (literally “uncle” and “aunt”) are used between friends to mean something like “mate”: Many of these words are typical of Spain and aren't used in Latin America.
| Colloquial | Neutral | English |
|---|---|---|
| / | – | mate, man (between friends) |
| / | / | nice, friendly |
| cool, great | ||
| / | / | it's cool / I like it |
| to be amazed, to be blown away | ||
| job, work; to work | ||
| That's unbelievable! | ||
| No way! Come off it! | ||
| maybe |
Se me olvidó: things that just happen
To talk about accidents and things that happen without your meaning them to, Spanish uses + an indirect object pronoun () + the verb. The person it happens to is the pronoun, and the verb agrees with the thing: (I forgot my pass), (I forgot my keys).
This makes it sound less like your fault: means “I dropped the coffee”, as if the coffee fell by itself. is “I broke it (by accident)”.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| I forgot my pass. | |
| You've dropped your keys. | |
| His phone broke. / He broke his phone. | |
| We've run out of milk. |
Diminutives and irony
The endings -ito / -ita (sometimes -cito / -cita) make things smaller, but more often they sound friendly or soften what you say: (just a moment), (a quick coffee), (Wait a bit).
Irony is very common in informal Spanish. , or can mean the opposite, depending on the tone and the situation:
More in the grammar: The passive and se: fue construido, se vende
New words
- el currojob, work (colloquial) · : to work
- olvidársele algo a alguiento forget something (by accident) · : I forgot my pass
- majo / majanice, friendly (colloquial, Spain)
- caérsele algo a alguiento drop something (by accident) · : I dropped / spilt the coffee
- el portátillaptop · masculine
- ¡Qué fuerte!That's unbelievable! Wow! (colloquial)
- que me trague la tierraI wish the ground would swallow me up · : I wanted the ground to swallow me up
- molarto be cool, to be great (colloquial) · works like :
- guaycool, great (colloquial) · plural: or
- el becario / la becariaintern, trainee
- resulta que…it turns out that…
- fliparto be amazed, to be blown away (colloquial) · : You're unbelievable
- a lo mejormaybe, perhaps · followed by the indicative
- caer bien / malto like / not like (a person) · works like : : I like him / her; , …
Practise
1.You forgot your keys. What do you say?
2.Complete: “I dropped the coffee.”
I dropped the coffee.
3.Complete with : “I think the boss likes me.”
I think the boss likes me.
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.It turns out she was the director.
5.Match the colloquial words with their meanings.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.Where would sound out of place?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
Perdona, se me olvidó.
Sorry, I forgot.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.