💡Super natural expressions for everyday situations!

communication strategies Mar 31, 2022

As you know, here at Your Spanish Dreams, we’re all about helping you integrate in Spain and communicate easily and naturally with the locals.

And one of the best ways to know what’s going on is by understanding the colloquial expressions used on a daily basis. Some expressions can be guessed because there may be a similar version in English. But, if you hear people saying…

Estoy hecho polvo - “I’m made dust”

Estamos en el ajo - “We're in the garlic”

Están hasta en la sopa - “They’re even in the soup”

Estoy muy pez - I'm very fish

Estoy empanado - “I’m breaded”

But what on earth do they mean??? 🤔🤔🤔

Let’s take a look!

1. Estar hecho polvo - Estar muy cansado/a, sin energía (to be very tired, with no energy)

Madre mía, he estado trabajando todo el fin de semana y estoy hecho polvo - My goodness, I’ve been working all weekend and I’m exhausted

2. Estar en el ajo - Estar involucrado en algo, o saber sobre algo (to be in on something)

Mi hermana dice que no sabe, pero creo que también está en el ajo (My sister says she doesn’t know, but I think she’s also in on it)

3. Estar hasta en la sopa - Estar en todas partes (to be everywhere, normally everywhere)

No puede ser otra vez este hombre… ¡Está hasta en la sopa! (It can’t be this man again, he’s everywhere!)

4. Estar pez - No saber sobre un tema (Not knowing much about a topic)

Ponme al día, ¡estoy pez! (Update me, I know nothing!)

5. Estar empanado - Estar despistado (To be absent-mind)

Anoche no dormí bien y hoy estoy empanado (Last night I didn’t sleep well and today I’m absent minded)

Idioms like this frequently appear in conversation, listen out for them and notice when Spaniards use it so you can understand the context.

It’s one thing to know them and another learning how to use them naturally in Spanish conversations! But with a little bit of practice, you too wll be able to do it soon 😃

Feliz dia,

Cristina