B1 · Unit 23 · 42 words, 3 texts with translation
Understand street Spanish
Understand everyday slang and youth words from Spain and know who you can use them with. Guess what new words mean from their parts: des-, re-, -ción, -dad.
Texts in this unit
Grammar in this unit
Word parts: des-, re-, -ción, -dad
At B1 you can't learn every new word one by one — and you don't need to. Many words are built from a word you already know plus a short part at the start or at the end. Know the part, and you'll understand the word without a dictionary. English works the same way: undo, reread, explanation.
| Part | What it means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
des- | the opposite, undoing an action (like English un-, dis-) | hacer → deshacer (to undo, to unpack), agradable → desagradable, ordenado → desordenado |
re- | again (like English re-) | leer → releer, hacer → rehacer |
-ción | turns an action into a noun (like English -tion) | explicar → explicación, traducir → traducción |
-dad (sometimes -tad) | a quality (like English -ty, -ness) | fácil → facilidad, curioso → curiosidad, difícil → dificultad |
- Todavía no he deshecho la maleta. — I haven't unpacked my suitcase yet.
- Antes de enviar un correo, lo releo dos veces. — Before I send an email, I reread it twice.
- Mi jefa dice que hay que rehacer el informe. — My boss says we need to redo the report.
- La dificultad no es la gramática, es la pronunciación. — The hard part isn't the grammar, it's the pronunciation.
- All words ending in
-ciónand-dadare feminine: la traducción, la dificultad. Never ✗ el traducción. - In the plural,
-ciónloses its written accent:la explicación→las explicaciones. - A verb with a prefix is conjugated like the verb without it:
deshacerandrehacerlikehacer(deshago,he rehecho),releerlikeleer. - Not every
desorreat the start of a word is a prefix:despacio,regaloandrelojdon't split into parts. Test it: take off the beginning. If a word you know is left (des+hacer), it's a prefix.
You already know -mente (A2, unit 18): tranquila → tranquilamente.
Colloquial words: who you can use them with
In Spain you hear words like finde, curro and pasta every day: on the street, in bars, from coworkers over coffee. You definitely need to understand them. Whether you should say them depends on who you're talking to. English is the same: you might say "bucks" to a friend, but "money" at the bank.
OK: with friends, people your age, roommates, coworkers over coffee, in text messages.
Better not: with your boss, your landlady, a doctor, a client, at a government office, in a letter or a work email, at a job interview. There, use the normal word:
| With friends | Anywhere |
|---|---|
el finde | el fin de semana |
el curro, currar | el trabajo, trabajar |
la pasta | el dinero |
mogollón | mucho, muchísimo |
porfa | por favor |
una birra | una cerveza |
es la caña | es muy bueno |
no te rayes | no te preocupes |
- Este finde no salgo: no tengo pasta. — I'm not going out this weekend: I don't have any cash.
- Tengo mogollón de curro. — I've got a ton of work.
To your boss, you'd say mucho trabajo instead of mogollón de curro.
Judging words — be careful. Pijo, cutre, friki and empollón make fun of a person or a place. About yourself, or as a joke with a close friend, they're fine: soy un poco friki. Said to a stranger's face, they're hurtful. And never call someone's apartment or gift cutre.
Swear words (palabrotas): you'll hear them too. It's useful to recognize them, but don't use them: as a foreigner, you can't feel how strong they are. A safe replacement is ¡ostras!.
Common mistake: learning a word from friends and deciding it works everywhere. When in doubt, use the normal word: it always fits. And listen to the other person: if they say curro themselves, you can too.
Words in this unit
el ejemplo — example
Dame un ejemplo, por favor. — Give me an example, please.
la cantidad — amount, quantity
No sé la cantidad exacta. — I don't know the exact amount.
la expresión — expression, phrase
¿Qué significa esta expresión? — What does this expression mean?
la explicación — explanation
No entiendo tu explicación. — I don't understand your explanation.
la traducción — translation
Necesito una traducción de este texto. — I need a translation of this text.
la pronunciación — pronunciation
Mi pronunciación mejora cada mes. — My pronunciation gets better every month.
la dificultad — difficulty
El examen no tiene mucha dificultad. — The exam isn't very difficult.
la facilidad — ease, a talent (for something)
Habla español con facilidad. — He speaks Spanish with ease.
la curiosidad — curiosity, an interesting fact
Lo pregunto por curiosidad. — I'm asking out of curiosity.
la sociedad — society
La sociedad española cambia rápido. — Spanish society is changing fast.
formal — formal, reliable
Escribo un correo formal al banco. — I'm writing a formal email to the bank.
coloquial — colloquial, informal
«Pasta» es una palabra coloquial para dinero. — "Pasta" is a colloquial word for money.
desagradable — unpleasant
Hace un tiempo desagradable. — It's unpleasant weather.
deshacer — to unpack, to undo
Después del viaje deshago la maleta enseguida. — After a trip I unpack my suitcase right away.
releer — to reread
Releo el correo antes de enviarlo. — I reread the email before I send it.
rehacer — to redo, to do again
Tengo que rehacer el informe. — I have to redo the report.
la palabrota — swear word
No digas palabrotas delante de los niños. — Don't use swear words in front of the children.
el finde — weekend
¿Qué haces este finde? — What are you doing this weekend?
el chaval — kid, young guy
Ese chaval toca muy bien la guitarra. — That kid plays the guitar really well.
la pasta — money, cash
No tengo pasta para salir esta noche. — I don't have any cash to go out tonight.
el curro — job, work
Tengo un curro nuevo. — I've got a new job.
currar — to work
Curro en una tienda del centro. — I work at a store downtown.
el mogollón — a ton, loads
Hay un mogollón de gente en la calle. — There are tons of people on the street.
porfa — please (casual)
¿Me pasas la sal, porfa? — Can you pass me the salt, please?
¡qué pasada! — that's amazing!
¡Qué pasada! Mira esa vista. — That's amazing! Look at that view.
alucinar — to be amazed, to be blown away
Alucino con este sitio, es precioso. — I'm blown away by this place, it's beautiful.
la birra — beer
¿Nos tomamos una birra después del trabajo? — Should we have a beer after work?
¡ostras! — wow!, geez!
¡Ostras, me he dejado las llaves! — Geez, I forgot my keys!
¡vaya tela! — unbelievable!
¡Vaya tela, qué caro está todo! — Unbelievable, everything is so expensive!
chungo — bad, sketchy, tough
El examen de mañana está chungo. — Tomorrow's exam is tough.
cutre — shabby, tacky, cheap
El hotel era muy cutre, pero barato. — The hotel was really shabby, but cheap.
pijo — posh, snobby
Mi prima es muy pija, siempre lleva ropa de marca. — My cousin is really posh, she always wears designer clothes.
la movida — situation, hassle, fuss
Tengo una movida con mi jefe. — I've got a situation with my boss.
el/la friki — geek, nerd, weirdo
Mi hermano es un friki de los videojuegos. — My brother is a video game geek.
rayarse — to stress out, to overthink
Me rayo mucho con los exámenes. — I stress out a lot about exams.
liarla — to mess up, to cause trouble
Siempre la lío cuando cocino. — I always mess something up when I cook.
estar de bajón — to feel down
Hoy estoy de bajón, no sé por qué. — I'm feeling down today, I don't know why.
ser la caña — to be awesome
Esta canción es la caña. — This song is awesome.
ser un crack — to be a star, to be a pro
Mi hermano es un crack con los ordenadores. — My brother is a pro with computers.
el botellón — street drinking party (botellón)
Esta noche hay botellón en el parque. — There's a botellón in the park tonight.
el empollón — nerd, bookworm
Mi hermano es un empollón, siempre estudia. — My brother is a nerd, he's always studying.
ir a su bola — to do your own thing
Mi hermano va a su bola y no habla mucho. — My brother does his own thing and doesn't talk much.
Learn these words with flashcards
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