Phrasal verbs in Spanish are an important part of your journey to fluency.Knowing and using phrasal verbs in Spanish will make you sound more fluent with the language in a way that native speakers are.
Phrasal verbs in Spanish are an important part of your journey to fluency.Knowing and using phrasal verbs in Spanish will make you sound more fluent with the language in a way that native speakers are. Why? Because the meanings of these verbs are impossible to directly translate from another language. For beginner to intermediate learners, tackling the challenge of los verbos compuestos en español (phrasal verbs in Spanish) will be worthwhile once you can speak Spanish more comfortably and without direct translations. Ready to learn more? Today we cover both the general usage and 30 common examples of phrasal verbs in Spanish.
Phrasal verbs are multi-word verbs that require the entire phrase to understand the meaning. We mentioned that phrasal verbs in Spanish are not possible to translate directly from another language. Why is this?
Look at any number of examples of phrasal verbs in Spanish, and you’ll see that they are always made up of more than one word. In its most basic form, a phrasal verb combines a verb and a preposition or adverb (verb + preposition, verb + adverb).
With that second word added, the verb changes from its original standalone meaning.
To clearly understand phrasal verbs, examples in Spanish and English will make the concept clearer. Let’s start with the English verb ‘get’.
Phrasal verbs with ‘get’ as the root verb:
We can probably list phrasal verbs using the root ‘get’ for hours. See how just a small sampling of phrasal verbs from one root verb can change the meaning entirely?
‘Get’ means to receive. ‘Over’ means to be at a higher level from something. But ‘get over’ does not mean to receive something while being high up. When used together, the two words create a new phrasal verb completely different from their individual–or combined meanings.
Next, look at these two sentences:
In the first sentence, ‘get over’ means to recover from a disease. In the second sentence, ‘get over’ means to overcome an emotional experience. See how just one phrasal verb ‘get over’ can have multiple meanings depending on the context? The same thing exists in Spanish.
Actually, you probably know a few phrasal verbs in Spanish already. Let’s look at one.
Phrasal verbs in Spanish using ‘dejar’ as the root:
Dejar means ‘to leave’. De is a preposition meaning ‘of’ or ‘by’. When combined, ‘dejar de’ does not mean ‘to leave by’. Instead, it takes on the new meaning ‘to quit’ something. You can use this phrase for everything from dejar de llorar (quit crying) to dejar de hacer ruido (quit making noise). See how useful phrasal verbs in Spanish are?
Phrasal verbs in Spanish, like the example above, are essential for fluency. Because they go beyond direct translation, understanding phrasal verbs deepens your comprehension of idioms. They open your mind to new Spanish vocabulary.
Using phrasal verbs in Spanish also helps you sound more like a native speaker. A major focus of language learning systems like Lingoda is to speak with confidence using the same natural language as native speakers. Phrasal verbs are a huge part of this real-life language usage.
Finally, having examples of phrasal verbs in Spanish to reference significantly enhances your performance in Spanish language levels testing. Higher marks on Spanish language exams make you a better job candidate in the future.
Now that you understand what phrasal verbs in Spanish are let’s look at how they work.
As mentioned, a phrasal verb in Spanish is made by combining a root verb with a preposition or adverb to create new and dynamic meanings. Which are the most common prepositions?
Prepositions commonly used for phrasal verbs
For a longer list of preposiciones (prepositions), review our full Spanish prepositions list. If you still second-guess yourself, refresh your knowledge of common mistakes with Spanish prepositions to avoid making mistakes.
To conjugate phrasal verbs in Spanish, use the grammar rules for the root verb as you normally would. The location of the preposition or adverb may move depending on the conjugation. Struggling with the rules for basic Spanish verb conjugation? Take 60 seconds to watch this short video of verb conjugation in Spanish as a review.
One tip to remember about Spanish verbs is how meaning can change with the tense. For example, when using the preterite vs. imperfect tense, words change meaning. This same change also applies to phrasal verbs:
It’s helpful to know a lot of phrasal verbs in Spanish. If you learn quite a few, you can intuitively use the most appropriate language for your real-life conversations. Without further ado, here are 30 examples of the most common phrasal verbs in Spanish.
Ready for some phrasal verbs in Spanish that you can use in daily conversation?
Acabo de leer este libro y no me gustó. (I just read this book and I didn’t like it.)
Me di cuenta de lo difícil que es el examen de leyes. (I realized how difficult the law exam is.)
¿Me echaste de menos, Bobi? Que tierno. (Did you miss me, Bobby? How sweet.)
No te caigas en las estafas de los taxis de Tailandia. Son obligados a prender el taxímetro. (Don’t fall for the taxi scams in Thailand. They must turn on the taxi meter.)
Silvia quiere llegar a ser una barista de café. (Silvia wants to become a coffee barista.)
Volvieron a comer esquites después de pelearse con el vendedor. (They returned to eat corn after fighting with the vendor.)
Phrasal verbs in Spanish are often useful for expressing emotions about both people and situations.
Me alegra recibir la invitación al matrimonio de Carla.” (I am happy to receive an invitation to Carla’s wedding.)
Me enamoré de Berlín en mi viaje a Alemania el verano pasado. (I fell in love with Berlin on my trip to Germany last summer.)
Estoy para dejarlo todo e irme al Bosque de Chapultepec para un picnic. (I’m in the mood to stop everything and go to Chapultepec park for a picnic.)
No te puedo acompañar. Estoy por irme a la casa de mi tía. (I can’t go with you. I’m about to go to my aunt’s house.)
Nunca pensamos en esta posibilidad. (We never thought about this possibility.)
Anoche soñé contigo. ¿Qué puede significar? (Last night I dreamed about you. What could it mean?)
Me eché a cantar cuando escuché mi canción favorita. (I broke out singing when I heard my favorite song.)
Ir a la fiesta depende del permiso de mi mamá. (Going to the party depends on getting my mom’s permission.)
When it comes to social situations, there are plenty of phrasal verbs in Spanish that you can use to express yourself. Be careful: some of these phrases are more diplomatic than others.
El novio de Laura siempre me ha caído mal. (I always got along poorly with Laura’s boyfriend/Laura’s boyfriend always rubbed me the wrong way.)
El sábado a las 9 para karaoke? ¡Puedes contar conmigo! (Saturday at 9 for karaoke? You can count on me!)
Me gusta reírme de los pandas en el zoológico. (I like to make fun of the pandas at the zoo.)
Nancy se casó con su novio en enero. (Nancy got married to her fiancé in January!)
¿Te fijaste en la prenda que lleva esa chica? Quiero comprar algo parecido. (Did you notice the outfit that girl is wearing? I want to buy something like that.)
Ana hace constar que no ha visitado este museo antes. (Ana sets the record straight that she has not visited this museum before.)
No te metas en problemas ajenos. (Don’t meddle in other people’s problems.)
No me gusta que mi prima se meta con ese chico. (I don’t like that my cousin is involved with that boy.)
La jefa responde por todo el equipo. (The boss voucher for the whole team.)
There are also plenty of phrasal verbs that convey action and movement.
Me quedé sin ganas de estudiar más. (I ran out of motivation to study anymore.)
Date prisa, la película empieza en cinco minutos. (Hurry up, the movie starts in five minutes.)
Al cumplir los 40 años voy a dejar de salir a los antros. Te lo prometo. (When I turn 40 years old, I will stop going out to the clubs. I promise you.)
Mi papá llevó a cabo una fiesta sorpresa para mi mamá. (My dad held a surprise party for my mom.)
¿Puedes pasar por mí a las 6 en la peluquería? (Can you pick me up at 6 at the hair salon?)
¿Tienen que pagar la membresía antes de ir al gimnasio? (Do they have to pay membership before going to the gym?)
¿Ella quiere tratar de bailar salsa? (Does she want to try learning to dance salsa?)
Now that you know over 30 phrasal verbs in Spanish, can you see how important they are for fluency? Not only do phrasal verbs improve your Spanish vocabulary, but they help you to sound natural to native speakers. Plus, knowing a lot of phrasal verbs will give you the confidence to express yourself in real life. Lingoda can help you memorize what you learned today by practicing out loud in small group classes. If you enroll in an intensive Spanish course, be sure and bookmark this page. You’ll be glad to come back for a future study session.
