Oír and escuchar deal with the sense of hearing. And just like ver and mirar they are different aspects of the same thing. Oír, according to my dictionary, is to perceive sounds with your ear, to hear. Escuchar is to apply your ear to hear, to listen. My dictionary also cautions not to confuse oír […]

This week we had a friend who’s father went into the hospital. After he had recovered they were going to darle de alta. Though I had heard the phrase before, it still confused me as to what exactly it meant. Today we were visiting a friend who was telling about her short stay in the […]

Like the word comprehend in English, this word has to do with grasping or taking hold of something. It is used to mean to understand. In reality it carries with it the idea that the English idiom “wrap your head around something” tries to convey. It also means to include or comprise of certain substances, […]

Ver, mirar and buscar all deal with different aspects of seeing. Ver is to see. And mirar is to look at or watch. But buscar is to look for. I hope to see (ver) the person I am looking for (buscar) while watching (mirar) this performance.

This is a word that I always know what it means when I hear it, but sometimes I have trouble pulling it up when I need to use it. It does not mean to grab with the hands, rather it is to record. Like we would use the word record when referring to recording audio […]

This is patrol or police car. Patrullar is to patrol. This can also mean a band or a group of people. There is a singing group in Mexico called Patrulla 81. There is also the famous Patrulla Águila from Spain. Recently on a Spanish discussion forum there was a question about what the lights on […]

To answer a knock at the gate or a doorbell you say, “¡voy!” It means I go and is quite opposite from what we say in English–“Coming!” It has been argued that in English there is a lack of understanding of the proper usage of the words come and go (as well as bring and […]