🧩 Advanced idioms · Modismos avanzados
Idiomatic expressions that native speakers use every day. 11 words.
Article colours: blue = masculine (el), pink = feminine (la), purple = both (el/la).
| Spanish | Translation | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| a bote pronto | off the top of one's head | Contestó a bote pronto, sin pensar bien la respuesta.He answered off the top of his head, without thinking the answer through. |
| con pelos y señales | in every last detail | Nos contó la discusión con pelos y señales.He told us about the argument in every last detail. |
| de pe a pa | from cover to cover | Se leyó el contrato de pe a pa antes de firmarlo.He read the contract from cover to cover before signing it. |
| irse por los cerros de Úbeda | to go off on a complete tangent | Cuando le pregunté por el dinero, se fue por los cerros de Úbeda.When I asked him about the money, he went off on a complete tangent. |
| tener la sartén por el mango | to have the upper hand | Desde que ganó las elecciones, tiene la sartén por el mango.Since he won the elections, he has the upper hand. |
| poner el grito en el cielo | to hit the roof | Los vecinos pusieron el grito en el cielo cuando supieron el precio.The neighbors hit the roof when they found out the price. |
| cortar por lo sano | to take drastic action | Decidió cortar por lo sano y dejar el trabajo.He decided to take drastic action and quit the job. |
| hilar fino | to analyze very carefully | Para entender el poema hay que hilar fino.To understand the poem you have to analyze it very carefully. |
| a la larga | in the long run | A la larga, esta decisión nos beneficiará a todos.In the long run, this decision will benefit us all. |
| ser un cero a la izquierda | to count for nothing | En esa empresa, sin el jefe, eres un cero a la izquierda.In that company, without the boss, you count for absolutely nothing. |
| echar leña al fuego | to add fuel to the fire | Sus comentarios solo echaron leña al fuego de la discusión.His comments only added fuel to the fire of the argument. |
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