Idioms and Phrases
Figurative expressions of everyday Spanish that add color and richness to the language.
Idioms (modismos) are expressions whose meaning cannot be deduced literally from their component words. They are the soul of colloquial Spanish and vary greatly across different countries.
🔥 Popular Idioms
Idiomatic expressions that Spanish speakers use in their daily lives.
"Estar en las nubes"
Meaning: Distracted, thinking about other things
Example: No me escuchas, estás en las nubes
"Costar un ojo de la cara"
Meaning: To be very expensive
Example: Ese coche cuesta un ojo de la cara
"Tomar el pelo"
Meaning: To tease, joke, or play a trick on someone
Example: No te creas, me estás tomando el pelo
"Estar hasta las narices"
Meaning: To be sick of / fed up with something
Example: Estoy hasta las narices de esperar
"No pegar ojo"
Meaning: To not sleep a wink / not get any sleep
Example: Anoche no pegué ojo
"Llover a cántaros"
Meaning: To rain heavily / to pour
Example: Está lloviendo a cántaros, no salgas
"Ser uña y carne"
Meaning: To be very close / inseparable
Example: Esos dos son uña y carne
"Tener memoria de elefante"
Meaning: To have a memory like an elephant / remember everything
Example: Tiene memoria de elefante, no olvida nada
"Ver las estrellas"
Meaning: To feel intense pain / see stars
Example: Me golpeé y vi las estrellas
"Echar agua al mar"
Meaning: To do something useless / carry coals to Newcastle
Example: Eso es echar agua al mar
"Cortar el bacalao"
Meaning: To be the boss / call the shots
Example: Aquí quien corta el bacalao soy yo
📍 Adverbial and Prepositional Phrases
Groups of words that function as a single unit of meaning.
"A contrarreloj"
Meaning: Against the clock / in a race against time
Example: Trabajamos a contrarreloj para terminar
"Al pie de la letra"
Meaning: Literally / to the letter
Example: Siguió las instrucciones al pie de la letra
"De vez en cuando"
Meaning: From time to time / occasionally
Example: De vez en cuando nos vemos
"En un abrir y cerrar de ojos"
Meaning: In the blink of an eye / in a flash
Example: Desapareció en un abrir y cerrar de ojos
"Sin venir a cuento"
Meaning: Out of the blue / with no relevance to the topic
Example: Dijo eso sin venir a cuento
Premium Challenge
Practice all idioms and phrases with Premium interactive challenges.
Subscribe now🎮 Do you know what it means?
Test your knowledge with this idioms challenge.
Click "Start" to begin the quiz