Latin American Culture

Select one of the following topics for more information about the culture in Latin American countries.

Paronyms Homonyms Vos Formation Proverbs and Refrains Idioms GuatemaltequismsParonyms

Paronyms

The words that are pronounced similarly but are written a little bit differently are called paronyms.

For example:

Spanish	English
Parónimos:	Paronyms:
Actitud/Aptitud	Attitude/Aptitude
Adepto/Adapto	Adept/Adapt
Adicción/Adición	Addiction/Addition
Amén/Amen	Amen/They love
Acta/Apta	Notes/Capable person
Bestia/Vestía	Animal/He,she,you dressed
Cesto/Sexto	Basket/Sixth
Compresión/Comprensión	Compression/Understanding
Corruto/Corrupto	Musical instrument/Corrupt
Índico/Indico	Indian/I indicate
Legión/Región	Legion/Region
Papa/Papá	Potato/Dad
Óptico/Ótico	Vision/Hearing
Poción/Porción	Potion/Portion
Respecto/Respeto	About/Respect
Revólver/Revolver	Revolver (gun)/To mix

Homonyms

The words that are pronounced and written in a similar form but have different meanings are called homonyms. These are divided into two groups:

Homophones: words that have different meanings but are pronounced the same. For example, arrollo (to run over) and arroyo (stream or gutter).
Homographs: words that mean different things but are written the same way. For example, cara (the face) and cara (expensive)

Here are more examples of homonyms:

Spanish	English
Homónimos:	Homonyms
Asar/Azar	To grill/Luck
Barón/Varón	Baron/Man
Bello/Vello	Pretty/Arm, leg hair
Aya/Halla	Nanny/He finds
Bote/Vote	Small boat/She votes
Basto/Vasto	Stop/Vast
Cabo/Cavo	Military Grade/I shovel
Casar/Cazar	To marry/To hunt
Hierba/Hierva	Herb/Boil
Hoya/Olla	Sepulcher/Pot (cooking)
Masa/Maza	Dough, cornmeal/Pool cue (tip)
Sabia/Savia	Wise person/Sap
Cara/Cara	Face/Expensive
Masa/Masa	Dough/Multitude
Quetzal/Quetzal	Native Bird of Guatemala/Currency of Guatemala
Peso/Peso	Weight/Currency of Mexico
Lengua/Lengua	Tongue/Language
Evita/Evita	Evita/She avoids
Capital/Capital	Capital/Quantity of Money

Vos Formation

The vos form is only used:

In the second person singular because, in Latin America, the second person plural is ustedes. For example, Voshablás del presidente. (You speak of the president.)
With people you know very, very well (It is more informal than tú)
In social situations

a)Formation of vos in the present tense:

For verbs ending in ar like hablar you change the ending ar for ás

For example:

Spanish	Spanish	English
Subject	Infinitive: Hablar	To Speak
Vos	Hablás	You (informal) speak.

For verbs ending in er like comer you change the ending er for és

For example:

Spanish	Spanish	English
Subject	Infinitive: Comer	To Eat
Vos	Comés	You (informal) eat.

For verbs with the ending ir like vivir you change the ending irfor ís

For example:

Spanish	Spanish	English
Subject	Infinitive: Vivir	To Live
Vos	Vivís	You (informal) live.

b)There are three irregular verbs in the present tense:

Ir
Ser
Irse

c)There are eleven irregular verbs in the command form and in the subjunctive:

acostarse
contar
dormirse
morirse
pedir
pensar
repetir
sentarse
sentirse
servir
vestirse

2. Related Vocabulary

Spanish	English
Hablar	To speak
Presente	Hablás
Pretérito	Hablaste
Pasado imperfecto	Hablabas
Futuro	Hablarás
Imperativo	habláo no hablés
Condicional	Hablarías
Progresivo	Estáshablando
Presente perfecto	Has hablado
Pretérito perfecto	Habíashablado
Presente del Subjuntivo	Hablés
Presente perfecto del subjuntivo	Hayáshablado
El imperfecto del subjuntivo	Hablaras
Pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo	Hubierashablado
Comer	To eat
Presente	Comes
Pretérito	Comiste
Pasado imperfecto	Comías
Futuro	Comerás
Imperativo	Coméo no comás
Condicional	Comerías
Progresivo	Estáscomiendo
Presente perfecto	Has comido
Pretérito perfecto	Habíascomido
Presente del subjuntivo	Comas
Presente perfecto del subjuntivo	Hayáscomido
El imperfecto del subjuntivo	Comieras
Pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo	Hubierascomido
Vivir	To live
Presente	Vivís
Pretérito	Viviste
Pasado imperfecto	Vivías
Futuro	Vivirás
Imperativo	vivío no vivás
Condicional	Vivirías
Progresivo	Estásviviendo
Presente perfecto	Has vivido
Pretérito perfecto	Habíasvivido
Presente del Subjuntivo	Vivás
Presente perfecto del subjuntivo	Hayásvivido
El imperfecto del subjuntivo	Vivieras
Pluscuamperfecto del subjuntivo	hubierasvivido
Contigo	With you
Con vos	With you (less formal)
Para ti	For you
Para vos	For you (less formal)
Vos me dijiste que tu mamá está enferma	You told me that your mom is sick.

Proverbs and Refrains

Proverbs and sayings are common sentences that express a warning or a moral lesson and are used by tradition. For example:

Más vale lo viejo conocido que lo nuevo por conocer. (It’s better to have an old acquaintance than a new acquaintance to get to know.)
No es rico el que tiene mucho dinero, sino el que vivecontento. (He who has money is not rich, but he who lives happily is rich.)

Common Spanish proverbs and refrains are:

Spanish	English
A caballo regalado no se le mira el colmillo	Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
A gato viejo, ratón tierno	Old cat, young mouse.
Agua que no has de beber, déjala correr	That which you don’t need, leave for others.
A la fuerza, ni la comida es buena	The food is no good when it is force-fed.
A la ley de cristo cada quien con su pisto	Dutch treat
Al mal tiempo, buena cara	Smile in the face of adversity.
Al que madruga, Dios lo ayuda	The early bird catches the worm.
Candil de la calle, oscuridad de su casa	Angel in the street, devil in the house.
A palabras necias, oídos sordos	To foolish words, turn a deaf ear.
Amor con amor se paga	You get what you give.
Árbol que crece torcido, nunca su rama endereza	Old habits die hard.
A todo coche se le llega su sábado	What goes around comes around.
Barriga llena, corazón contento	A full stomach means a happy heart.
Cada cabeza es un mundo	To each his own.
Cada oveja busca su pareja	Birds of a feather flock together.
Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente	You snooze, you lose.
Caras vemos y corazones no sabemos	You can’t judge a book by its cover.
Claro como el agua	Crystal clear
Con la vara que midas, serás medido	You get what you give.
Cuando dios da, da de junto	When it rains, it pours.
Cuando el gato se va, los ratones hacen su fiesta	When the cat’s away, the mice will play.
Cuando el río truena, es porque piedras lleva	Every rumor has a little bit of truth.
Cuando tu ibas, yo venía	I was fishing when you were still a twinkle in your father’s eye.
Del dicho al hecho, hay mucho trecho	Saying and doing are two different things.
De tal palo tal astilla	The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres	Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.
Donde come uno, comen dos	There’s always room for one more.
Donde hubo fuego, cenizas quedan	Where there was fire, ashes remain.
Donde manda capitán, no manda marinero	There’s only one captain to a ship.
Donde cabe uno, caben dos	There’s always room for one more.
El comal le dijo a la olla, “qué tiznada estás”	The pot calling the kettle black.
El padre predica pero no se convierte	Do as I say, not as I do.
El lunes ni las gallinas ponen	On Mondays not even chickens lay eggs.
El pez grande se come al chico	The big fish eats the little fish.
El que busca encuentra	He who seeks shall find.
El que más tiene, más quiere	The more you have, the more you want.
El que no arriesga, no gana	Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
El que no llora, no mama	The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
El que no oye consejos, no llega a viejo	He who doesn’t listen to good advice won’t live to be old.
El que siembra vientos, cosecha tempestades	You reap what you sow.
El que se va a Sevilla, pierde su silla	Finderskeepers, losers weepers.
El tiempo lo dirá	Time will tell.
El tiempo perdido hasta los santos lo lloran	Time is money.
El tiempo vuela	Time flies.
En boca cerrada no entran moscas	Loose lips sink ships.
En el peligro se conoce al amigo	A friend in need is a friend in deed.
Enfermo que come, no se muere	A sick person that eats doesn’t die.
Entre menos bulto, más claridad	Two’s company, three’s a crowd.
Errar es de humanos	To err is human.
Fruta podrida, contagia a las demás	One bad apple spoils the whole bunch.
Gallina que come huevo, ni aunque le quemen el pico	Old habits are hard to break.
Hablando del rey de Roma y él que se asoma	Speak of the devil.
Hablando se entiende la gente	By talking, people come to understand one another.
Hasta no ver no creer	Seeing is believing.
Hay más tiempo que vida	There is always enough time.
Haz el bien y no mires a quién	Do good and don’t consider to whom or how it will benefit you.
Hierba mala, nunca muere	You can’t kill the devil.
Hombre casado, ni frito ni asado	Married men, not fried or grilled.
Hombre prevenido, vale por dos	To be prepared is half the battle.
Hoy por ti, mañana por mí	You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
Justos pagan por pecadores	The innocent often pay for the sins of others.
La curiosidad mató al gato	Curiosity killed the cat.
La educación no pelea con nadie	The educated do not fight with anyone.
La práctica hace al maestro	Practice makes perfect.
Las apariencias engañan	Can’t judge a book by its cover.
La unión hace la fuerza	Two heads are better than one.
Lo barato sale caro	You get what you pay for.
Del cielo a la tierra no hay nada oculto	That which is done at night appears in the day.
Peor es nada	Anything is better than nothing.
Más vale pájaro en mano que cien volando	A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Más vale prevenir que lamentar	Better safe than sorry.
Más vale que sobre y no que falte	Better too much than too little.
Más vale solo que mal acompañado	Better to be alone than in bad company.
Más vale tarde que nunca	Better late than never.
Mientras haya vida, habrá esperanza	When there’s life, there’s hope.
Músico pagado no toca bien	Music paid for doesn’t sound good.
Nadie da algo sin pedir nada a cambio	There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Nadie nace sabiendo	No one is born knowing.
No dejes para mañana, lo que puedas hacer hoy	Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
No hagas a otros lo que no quieres que te hagan	Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
No hay mal que dure cien años	No ill lasts a hundred years and no one can endure it so long.
No hay mal que por bien no venga	Every cloud has a silver lining.
No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver	No one is more blind than he who doesn’t want to see.
Nunca digas: nunca	Never say never.
No todo lo que brilla es oro	All that glitters is not gold.
Ojo por ojo y diente por diente	An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente	What you don’t know can’t hurt you.
Para saber hablar hay que saber escuchar	To know how to speak, you have to know how to listen.
Perro que ladra, no muerde	His bark is worse than his bite.
Preguntando se llega a Roma	By asking you’ll get to Rome.
Querer es poder	Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Todo tiene solución, menos la muerte	Only death has no solution.
Zapatero a tus zapatos	Stick with what you know.
Los niños y los bolos, dicen la verdad.	Children and crazies (drunks) tell the truth.
No puede el buen árbol tener malos frutos	Good trees cannot have bad fruit.
Por el fruto se conoce el árbol	By the fruit, one knows the tree.
Cada uno sabe dónde le aprieta el zapato	Each person knows his weakness.
Acércate a los pobres y te acercarás a Dios	Be near the poor and you’ll be near God.
Corazón sin amores, jardín sin flores	A heart without love is like a garden without flowers.
Por el canto se conoce al pájaro	By the song, one knows the bird.
Por su propio boca muere el pez	To put one’s foot in one’s mouth.
Cuando una puerta se cierra, otra se abre	When one door closes, another door opens.
Cada uno quiere llevar agua a su molino y dejar seco el del vecino.	Each person who wants to carry water to his kitchen leaves the neighbor dry.
Las paredes tienen oídos	The walls have ears.
No hay rosas sin espinas	There are no roses without thorns.
Quien tiene un buen libro, tiene un buen amigo	He who has a good book has a good friend.
Juez limpio de manos, no acepta regalos	A judge with clean hands doesn’t accept gifts.
Palabras sin obras, guitarras sin cuerdas	Words without works are like guitars without cords.

Idioms

Idioms are other ways to express an idea following expressions unique to a language and that have no literal translation into another language.

Common Spanish idioms are:

Spanish	English
Modismos:	Colloquialisms (idioms)
Hacer caso	To ignore
Por si acaso	Just in case
Llevamos dinero por si acaso tenemos un problema.	We carry money just in case we have a problem.
Quiere decir	To mean
¿Qué quiere decir parrandear?	What does to dance in a party mean?
Valer la pena	To be worth the trouble
Vale la pena viajar a Guatemala.	It is worth the trouble to travel to Guatemala.
Echar de menos	To miss a person or the familiar
Echo de menos mi alfombra.	I miss my carpet.
No cabe duda	There is no doubt
No cabe duda que hoy va a llover.	There is no doubt that today it is going to rain.
Tocarle a uno	To be one’s turn
Me toca a mí lavar los platos.	It’s my turn to wash the dishes.
Ponerse de acuerdo	To come to an agreement
Nos pondremos de acuerdo y viajaremos a Tikal.	We will come to an agreement and will travel to Tikal.
Ni siquiera	Not even
No me dijo nada ni siquiera que vendría.	He didn’t tell me anything not even that he would come.
En un dos por tres	In a jiffy
Terminaremos la tarea en un dos por tres.	We will finish the homework in a jiffy.
Tomarle el pelo a uno	To pull one’s leg
¡No me tomes el pelo! El chico no salió de la escuela durante la clase.	Don’t pull my leg! The boy did not leave school during class.
Volver en si	To come to
Cuando volvió en si, supo que había habido un accidente.	When I came to, I thought there had been an accident.
¡Qué barbaridad!	How awful!
Hace mucho calor aquí. ¡Qué barbaridad!	It’s hot here. How awful!
Pasar lista	To call roll
Cuando la maestra pasó lista, supo que no estabas.	When the teacher called roll, she knew you weren’t there.
Quedarse de pie	To remain standing
En el banco me quedé de pie porque no había donde sentarse.	In the bank, I remained standing because there wasn’t a place to sit.
Hacer caso de	To take notice of
Por no hacer caso de ir despacio tuvieron un accidente.	Due to not paying attention to going slowly, they had an accident.
A la larga	In the end, in the long run
A la larga es mejor invertir en inmuebles.	In the long run it is better to invest in real estate.
Al por mayor	Wholesale
Si lo compramos al por mayor sale más barato.	If we buy it wholesale, it will be cheaper.
Darle a uno ganas de	To make one feel
De vez en cuando le dan ganas de bailar salsa.	Sometimes it makes them feel like dancing salsa.
Desempeñar un papel	To play a part
Desempeña el papel de víctima.	She played the part of the victim.
Tener que ver con	To have to do with
El libro no tiene nada que ver con el tema.	The book has nothing to do with the theme.
A escondidas	On the sly
A decir verdad	To tell you the truth
A primera vista	At first glance
Agarrar con las manos en la masa	To catch someone red-handed
Andar con rodeos	To beat around the bush
Andar de boca en boca	To be on everyone’s lips, to be generally known
Caérsele la baba por	To be wild about, to love someone
Correr el rumor	To be rumored
Cuando más	When more
Dar gato por liebre	To pull the wool over someone’s eyes
Dar mala espina	To arouse one’s suspicions
De tal palo tal astilla	Like father like son, a chip off the old block
El hábito no hace al monje	You can’t judge a book by its cover
En menos que canta un gallo	In a flash, in the blink of an eye
Haber gato encerrado	There’s something fishy, more than meets the eye
Pasarse de la raya	To overstep one’s bounds, to go too far
Poner al corriente	To bring up-to-date, to give the low down
Poner el grito al cielo	To hit the ceiling
Quedarse mudo	To be speechless
Ser todo oídos	To be all ears
Tragar el anzuelo	To swallow it hook, line and sinker
Y por si fuera poco	And if that wasn’t enough, to top it off
Ahogarse en un vaso de agua	To make a mountain out of a molehill
Estar de moda	To be fashionable
Faltar un tornillo	To have a screw loose
Hablar hasta por los codos	To speak non-stop
A mil por hora	A mile a minute
Hablar como loco	To talk too much
Hacer acto de presencia	To make an appearance, to show up
Hacerse agua a la boca	To make one’s mouth water
Las malas lenguas	Gossip
Seguir la corriente	To humor someone, to go along with
Ser muy ligero de palabra	To be a blabbermouth
No entender ni papa	To not understand a thing
No poder ver a alguien ni en pintura	Not to be able to stand someone
Para chuparse los dedos	Finger-lickin’ good
Poner en ridículo	To make a fool out of someone
Tener algo en la punta de la lengua	To be on the tip of one’s tongue
Tener fama de	To have a reputation for

Guatemaltequisms

Guatemaltequisms or colloquialisms are expressions that are commonly used in Guatemala and not all Latin American countries.

Some popular Guatemaltequisms are:

Spanish	English
Guatemaltequismos:	Guatemaltequisms:
Aguacate	Person of weak character or body
Aguas	Gaseous drinks
¡Aguas!	Indicates danger
Aguado	Without energy
Al chilazo	Quickly, instantly
Amishado	Timid, shy
A pata	To stand up
Ayote	Head (of a person)
Bien pilas	Intelligent person
Bola	News or lie
Bolo (a)	Drunk
Buzo (a)	Smart
Bronca	Fight
Bote	Jail
Boquitas	Sandwich served with a drink
Babosada	Stupidity, silliness
Babosear	To lie to someone
Cachete	Cheek
Caite	Indigenous sandal
Cañonazo	Sensational news
Canche	A blond
Cantinear	To be in love
Capearse	To ditch classes
Catizumbal	Too much
Catrín	Elegant
Caquero	Presumed
Colgarse	To be in love with someone
Colado	Party crasher
Chafarote	Military person
Chamarra	Blanket
Chamba	Work
Chambonada	Poorly done work
Chancle	Elegant
Chancletas	Old shoes
Chapuzón	A quick dip in the lake or pool
Chaye	Piece of glass
Chévere	Something very nice or beautiful
Chilero	Very beautiful
China	Babysitter
Chivearse	To have shame
Chonte	Police
Chorrillo	Diarrhea
Dar batería	To give work or problems
Dar bola	To give a good result
Dar lata	To bother, to anger
De grolis	For free
De plano	Of course
Echar guante	To rob
Echar penca	To hit
Es otro rollo	It’s something else
Faroles	Eyes
Filo	Hunger, hungry
Flashazo	A good idea
Fondearse	To remain sleeping
Frías	Beer
Fulano	Whatshisname, whatshisface
Farolazo	To do a favor
Gacho	Bad, poorly done or made
Gafo	Without money
Gamonal	Generous
Goma	Hangover
Guineo	Banana
Güirigüiri	To chat
Huevón	Lazy
Hueva	Lazy person
Hacer trompas	To be angry
Hacer leña	To break something
Ir hecho pistola	To go fast
Jabonear	To scold
Jeta	Mouth
Joder	To bother with disagreeable jokes
Lata	Bad
Leche	Luck
Lechudo	A person who has luck, a lucky person
Len	Cent
Lica	Movie
Ligero	Quickly
Maceta	Head
Mara	Gang
Mariachi	Husband
Miarbolito	To pee
Mish	Cat, shy person
Muchá	You (plural)
Nanachos	Twins
Nequis	A negation
Ni rosca	Nothing
Ñañaras	Anguish
¡Órale!	See you soon
Oreja	Spy
Pacha	Baby bottle
Palo	Tree, wood
Parranda	Party
Pedir manita	To ask for help
Pelar	To speak poorly of someone
Pepenar	To collect
Pichinga	Drunk
Pisto	Money
Pollón	Good health
Quemar la canilla	To be unfaithful
¿Qué Honda?	How are you? What’s up?
Rapadura	Unpurified sugar
Rascado	Easily angered person
Ratear	To rob
Ratero	Robber
Remachar	To study a lot
Romplón	Suddenly
Seco	Thin
¡Shó!	Shut up
Shute	To tell someone to join the conversation
Somatar	To hit hard
Suéter	Mother-in-law
Sholco	Without teeth, toothless
Tacuche	Elegant suit
Tecolote	Owl
Tencha	Jail
Tener cuello	To have influence
Timba	Belly
Traido	Boyfriend, lover
Vejiga	Globe
¿Y diai?	What happened?
Zacate	Grass
Zangolotear	To shake violently
Zafarse	To be freed
Zumbar	To run quickly

Latin American Culture

Paronyms

Homonyms

Vos Formation

Proverbs and Refrains

Idioms

Guatemaltequisms

Pronto Spanish