Pets have a lot in common with their owners. Sometimes it’s funny to observe how domestic animals only respond to orders given in the language their owner has chosen to speak with them. Animals and languages have a give-and-take relationship: the way we speak to them influences their behavior, and at the same time, their behavior has inspired new expressions in our daily language.

Spanish is full of sayings related to animals, especially with man’s best friends: cats and dogs. In today’s post, we’ll discover the meaning of a couple of them. Click here if you prefer to read this post in Spanish.

Llevarse como el perro y el gato

No one is a stranger to the idea that dogs and cats aren’t exactly the best of friends. Of course, you can always find an exception, but the fact is that there is an ancient rivalry between these two animals, similar to the contentious relationship between cats and mice. (Remember Tom and Jerry?)

So, it won’t come as a surprise that the expression llevarse como el perro y el gato (to get along like the dog and the cat) describes an antagonistic relationship with lots of conflicts. Let’s see an example:

Mis hermanos pequeños se llevan como el perro y el gato. Están siempre peleándose por los juguetes.

(My younger siblings get along like the dog and the cat. They’re always fighting over toys.)

Where does this hostility come from? Well, lots of places. The experiences the animals have had with members of the other species undoubtedly plays a key role in the relationship. However, we can’t overlook the differences in the animals’ personalities, their connection with their owners, and above all, their socializing styles.

Llevarse el gato al agua

Today’s second expression is about one of our favorite furry friends: cats. They’re clearly adorable, but it’s hard to deny that they can be a bit stubborn. This headstrong nature points to the origin of the expression llevarse el gato al agua (to take the cat to water).

It’s common knowledge that cats can’t stand water and will avoid coming into contact with it at any cost. Getting a cat wet is quite an achievement, which is why this expression is used to describe a hard-won victory. Here’s an example:

Parecía que el equipo no iba a remontar el partido, pero al final consiguieron llevarse el gato al agua y ganar por dos puntos.

(It looked like the team wasn’t going to turn the game around, but in the end they managed to take the cat to water and won by two points.)

Now that you know two more expressions with perro and gato, we encourage you to check out the video below to learn even more. And if you’re an animal lover, we’ve got something special just for you.

In Playa del Carmen, Mexico, we have a volunteer program where you can learn Spanish and take care of homeless cats and dogs at the SOS El Arca animal shelter. Help us help animals!

Want to boost your brain power, improve your memory, increase your ability to multi-task, and build cultural intelligence? These are just a few of the many benefits of learning a second language.

As with most things, getting started is the hardest part. So why not learn your second language the way you learned your first, in a way that’s natural and fun?

Picking up a colorful, featherlight children’s book is easy! That’s why today we’re bringing you a quick sample of children’s books in Spanish to reawaken your childlike sense of wonder as you explore beautifully illustrated worlds and learn new words.

If you’re ready, why not try reading this post in Spanish?

Teo viaja por España by Violeta Denou

Looking for a friend to share your new adventures with? Teo is a friendly redhead with lots of different books that will put you in contact with basic Spanish vocabulary, like numbers, family members, and household items, and take you on fun trips to a farm, the beach, or all across Spain! The three women who write and illustrate the books under the pseudonym Violeta Denou started working together in Barcelona in 1977.

Fábulas by Félix María Samaniego

This book of fables is a Spanish classic that has been around since the 1780s. You may need a dictionary to learn some of the words, but each fable is very short and easy to digest. Most of the stories are about animals, and they all have a moral at the end. The fables are available online along with audio recordings to help with pronunciation.

Mafalda by Quino

This iconic Argentinian comic strip features a young girl with short black hair who questions the world, society, politics, and the meaning of life with a healthy dose of humor. (Her pet turtle is called Bureaucracy because he moves so slowly.) The strip ran in newspapers in Argentina from 1964 to 1973, but Mafalda continues to be a beloved figure across the world today. There’s even a statue of her on a much-visited bench in Buenos Aires. As Noble Prize winner Gabriel García Marquéz said,

"Después de leer a Mafalda me di cuenta de que lo que te aproxima más a la felicidad es la quinoterapia"

After reading Mafalda, I realized that what gets you closest to happiness is Quinotherapy

Childhood in translation

If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can always look for the Spanish versions of your old favorites. Try Buenas noches, Luna; La oruga muy hambrienta; or El gato ensombrerado!

Whether you’re looking to take baby steps towards language learning as an adult or get your children speaking Spanish from a young age, these books will get the ball rolling. For best results, read aloud and let your mouth and tongue get a feel for all the new words you’re learning!

In Spain, almost 50% of households have pets. Most of these are dogs and cats that are considered regular family members. Today, we invite you discover the meaning of two popular Spanish expressions related to our beloved felines. Click here to read this post in Spanish.

Cats have a magnetic personality. From antiquity, these animals have inspired stories, superstitions, and legends. And really, who likes seeing a black cat cross their path at nighttime? Spanish has many sayings dedicated to these furry creatures. Let’s learn a couple of them!

An animal with seven lives (or is it nine?)

How many lives does a cat have? In Spanish, Italian, Greek, and other languages, cats are said to have seven lives. However, an English speaker will tell you they have nine lives, while Arabic tradition states they have six. Where do these beliefs come from?

First, cats are extraordinarily agile and can endure just about anything. They’re able to always land on their feet and easily avoid or emerge unscathed from falls and accidents. That’s why they are known for having several lives.

The jumble of different numbers of lives we find in different languages is due to purely symbolic reasons. In Western culture, the number seven is related to good luck and even a touch of magic. Meanwhile, in ancient Egypt, the number nine was linked to the gods.

Here’s a fun fact: years ago, there was a popular show on Spanish TV called 7 vidas or 7 lives. It took place in a neighborhood in Spain’s capital city… Do you know a colloquial name for people who live in Madrid? That’s right: gatos (cats).

There’s a cat locked up in here

Today cats are a common pet, but it wasn’t always that way. In 17th-century Spain, for example, cats were street animals that no one cared much about. The Spanish saying about a locked-up cat (gato encerrado) dates back to this period.

No entiendo por qué nos ofrecen este descuento. Aquí hay gato encerrado.

I don’t understand why they’re offering this discount. There’s a locked up cat in here (There’s something fishy going on here).

As you can see from the example above, this expression is used to express distrust or a suspicion you’re being tricked. To understand this saying, we have to forget about the modern image we have of an affectionate, cuddly creature and go back a few centuries.

When cats were nothing more than street animals, their skin was sometimes tanned and made into handbags and change purses. By extension, the word gato began to be used to refer to the place were money was kept out of sight. From there, the expression gato encerrado came to mean that someone is hiding something.

If you liked today’s overview of Spanish sayings with gato, don’t miss the following video. In it, you’ll find lots of other expressions with animals to enjoy. Learn Spanish while having fun!

Spanish is a language that has been alive for many centuries and has spread all around the world. Television, on the other hand, has not been around for as long, but it has managed to depict a number of different eras.

Here’s a list of TV series to add to your watchlist to enjoy hearing how Spanish has been spoken throughout history. Click here to read this post in Spanish.

We’ll start our journey by traveling to 15th-century Spain, although the country didn’t have that name yet. The show Isabel gives us the opportunity to see the life of Queen Isabella The Catholic.

She inherited the Crown at a very young age and came face to face with many men who wanted to take the throne from her. The series offers a historical overview (although it’s not always faithful to the truth) and shows everything Queen Isabella had to go through — wars, envy, and the love affairs of the aristocracy — and all she had to suffer in the name of her people.

After seeing what life was like in that century, let’s jump to the early years of the 20th century, landing at Gran Hotel, a series that begins with Julio’s arrival to one of the biggest and most luxurious hotels in all of Spain.

Julio has come to the hotel with the intention of finding his sister who has disappeared, but in the meantime, he falls in love with the beautiful and wealthy daughter of the owner of the hotel. The two share a love as deep as it is forbidden due to the great difference in their social classes. In this show, nobody is who they seem to be. Everything is a mystery.

Speeding up our travel through time, we arrive to a Spain that is a bit more modern with Cuéntame cómo pasó, the longest running series in the history of Spanish television.

The show is a reflection of everyday Spanish life, something every viewer can relate to. It revolves around everything that happens to the Alcántara family from the year 1968 onward. Each season covers one year; currently they are in 1990.

The hundreds of episodes have shown what life was like in Spain during the dictatorship and the transition to democracy, in childhood, teenage years, and adulthood, and how families have changed with the arrival of cars and TV. It’s a true summary of the country’s most recent history.

After this leg of the trip, if you want to hear what Spanish sounds like today without leaving your couch, your best option is to watch Los hombres de Paco.

This series focuses on a typical police station and three officers, Paco, Lucas, and Mariano, who have good hearts but are accident-prone. As the leader of the team, Paco is in charge of coordinating the missions, but he’s absent-minded, unorganized and easily distracted.

In addition to following the team on all their adventures chasing criminals, this show provides a healthy dose of humor and emotional moments.

There’s a series that covers the various types of Spanish spoken in all the different historical eras: El Ministerio del Tiempo.

It takes place in the current day, but the main characters are part of a government team responsible for preserving the past. They have to time travel throughout history to prevent their enemies from making changes that would prove catastrophic in the future.

Thanks to these travels through time, we get to see famous figures like Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and many others who have played an important role in Spanish history.

That brings our overview of Spanish through the eras as seen on TV. Choose a show, press play, and enjoy listening to the evolution of the Spanish language.

Warm temperatures are one of the strongest draws for tourists who visit Spain and Latin America. Who doesn’t like walking along the beach or sitting on a sunny patio with a refreshing drink?

Nevertheless, in the summertime, the sun can go from being a close ally to a burning enemy. Spanish has an expression that reveals the dark side of our reigning star. To find out what it is, keep reading or click here to switch to the Spanish version of this post.

A Sun of Righteousness

Perhaps you’ve heard a Spanish speaker say hace un sol de justicia. This is one of those expressions that’s easy to understand when you have context. As you might imagine, it means that the sun is blazing and it’s very hot outside.

Hoy hace un sol de justicia en la calle. No pienso salir de casa hasta la noche.

There’s a sun of righteousness in the street today (It’s a scorcher out there today). I’m not thinking of leaving the house until nighttime.

The Origin of the Expression

The meaning of this saying is pretty clear, but the history behind it is less obvious. In fact, there are multiple theories about how it came about, but they all have one thing in common: religion.

The Book of Malachi, which forms part of the Bible, has a passage that mentions a sun of righteousness that will shine on Judgement Day. In this case, the star refers to God, who will appear on the day of the Apocalypse to save the people who have been good Christians.

Mas a vosotros los que teméis mi nombre, nacerá el Sol de justicia, y en sus alas traerá salvación; y saldréis, y saltaréis como becerros de la manada.

Malaquías 4: 2-3

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Malachi 4:2-3

Another possible explanation of today’s expression comes from medieval times and has to do with autos de fe or divine judgments organized by the Spanish Inquisition.

During these events, people were publicly tortured as punishment for their sins and to dissuade others from committing heresy. One of the most common forms of punishment was to leave victims in the sun for hours or even days.

If the person managed to survive, they were considered innocent of all the crimes they had been accused of. If, on the other hand, they died while being tortured, that was taken as proof of their guilt. In this way, the sun acted as an agent of righteousness.

If you’re interested in learning the stories behind more everyday expressions like this one, we encourage you to watch the following video. In it, you’ll find more phrases with the word sol you can use to expand your vocabulary day by day.

France and Spain share more just than a border — they also share words! To celebrate French Language Day, let’s have a look at French words that have made their way into the Spanish vocabulary. Click here to read the Spanish version of this post.

Words have a way of spreading across languages when people, things, and ideas travel around the world.  Word borrowing is a common occurrence any time one language comes in contact with another. In some cases, the loan word is assimilated into the receiving language with changes in spelling and/or pronunciation, while in others the word is transplanted directly from the original language without modifications. 

English speakers will recognize most of the words below, as English is heavily influenced by French.

French                       Spanish                                                       English

avalanche                   avalancha                                                     avalanche

ballet                          ballet (pronounced balet)                             ballet

beige                           beige (no change in pronunciation)             beige

champagne                 champán                                                       champagne

champignon                champiñón                                                   mushroom

chef                             chef (prounounced with ch)                        chef

cliché                          cliché (prounounced with ch)                      cliché

corset                          corsé                                                             corset

gourmet                      gourmet (pronounced gurmet)                     gourmet

hôtel                           hotel (pronounced otel, like in French)        hotel

tour                             tour (no change in pronunciation)                tour

French has also had an impact on the other languages spoken in Spain, especially Catalan, which makes perfect sense geographically since Catalonia touches France.

In addition to loan words, just like English speakers have French toast and French fries, the Spanish have tortilla francesa (omelet), manicura francesa (French manicure), and the expression despedirse a la francesa (French goodbye, meaning to leave without saying goodbye).

Here at don Quijote, we’d like to say thanks to the French language. Spanish and English wouldn’t be the same without you!

Spain and many Latin American countries are famous around the world for their sun and beaches. The mere mention of places like Valencia or Playa del Carmen is enough to send you drifting into a daydream featuring crystalline coastal waters and the warm feeling of sun on your face.

In today’s post, we’ll dig a little bit deeper into the important role the sun plays in the Spanish language. Slather on some sunscreen and step outside to read about two fun Spanish expressions. If you’d like to read this post in Spanish, click here. Let’s get started!

No dejar ni a sol ni a sombra

To not leave [someone] in the sun or in the shade

You really start to realize how important the sun is for a culture when you discover that time is divided into moments with sun and moments without it. That’s exactly what’s happening with this expresión.

El perro de Juan está todo el día pegado a él. No lo deja ni a sol ni a sombra.

Juan’s dog stays close to him all day long. He doesn’t leave his side in the sun or in the shade.

No dejar a alguien ni a sol ni a sombra means to be constantly by that person’s side. Every moment of the day fits into one of these two situations: all day long, either you’re in the sun or you’re in the shade.

This combination of words has also given rise to other names and expressions.

There’s a typical cocktail in Spain called sol y sombra, made with brandy and sweet anisette. If you ever go to a bullfight, you’ll see that the seats of the bullring are divided into sections depending on where the sun will be when the event begins. When you buy tickets, you’ll have to choose between seats in the sun (the cheaper option) and seats in the shade.

Arrimarse al sol que más calienta

To stay close to the warmest sun

Have you ever seen a lizard basking in the sun? Reptiles need the sun to regulate their body temperature because they’re cold-blooded. Today’s second Spanish expression has a lot to do with this natural phenomenon.

Pablo siempre defiende a su jefe porque sabe arrimarse al sol que más calienta

Pablo always defends his boss because he knows how to stay close to the warmest sun

Arrimarse al sol que más calienta means to stay close to people we can use for our own personal benefit.

Just as the lizard uses the sun to heat its blood and stay alive, people who arrimarse al sol que más calienta suck up to powerful people in order to reap some sort of benefit. In the example above, Pablo always agrees with his boss to stay in his good favor. This way, he’s positioning himself for a promotion or maybe a raise.

We hope that reading this post has given you an extra dose of vitamin D. If you’re craving more, we encourage you to watch the following video we’ve prepared for you. Click play to learn more interesting expressions with the word sol.

On March 8, International Women’s Day, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in a mixture of protest and celebration. In today’s world, there is no shortage of events that fuel the fire and desire to fight for a better future.

Even as we continue to march down the long road ahead, it’s valuable to look back and see how far we’ve come. In this post, we’ll draw inspiration from the past by highlighting five female forces who have changed the face of the Spanish-speaking world. Click here to enjoy reading this post in Spanish.

Clara Campoamor

(1888-1972)

Best known as one of the mothers of feminism in Spain, Clara Campoamor came from humble beginnings in Madrid and had to leave school and enter the workforce at the age of 10 after the death of her father. But she didn’t let personal hardships didn’t stop her; by the time she was in her 30s she had become a lawyer and an activist who wrote pieces in the newspaper at a time when more than half of Spain’s population was illiterate.

When the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera fell in 1930, Campoamor was determined to fight for the democratic principle of equality for all. She joined the leftist Radical Party and was elected as a Madrid representative. (Oddly enough, at this time women could be elected for public office although they couldn’t vote themselves.) In an intense debate on October 1, 1931, Campoamor defended women’s suffrage on the floor of Parliament. Thanks to her determination, women’s right to vote was enshrined in the Spanish Constitution of 1931.

This victory for democracy was shortlived. The Spanish Civil War began in 1936 and was followed by decades of dictatorship. No Spaniard, man nor woman, was able to vote in general elections again until 1977. Campoamor fled Spain after the military coup in ’36 and was unable to ever return. Today, she is honored around the country with statues as well as streets, plazas, and schools named after her.

“La libertad se aprende ejerciéndola”

Freedom is learned by practicing it

María Zambrano

(1904-1991)

Another great thinker who went into exile after the Spanish Civil War was María Zambrano. Arguably one of the most original Spanish philosophers of the 20th century, in 1988 she became the first woman to receive the Miguel de Cervantes Prize.

Zambrano was best known for the concept she coined poetic reason. Her philosophy was an attempt to resolve the crisis of Western reason and rationalism. As she saw it, rationalism excludes many aspects of reality that are fundamental to the human experience. By accepting only that which can be rationally explained as real, emotions, dreams, creativity, and even the human soul are denied. With poetic reason, Zambrano insisted on the need for poetry within every philosophy.

“El corazón es centro, porque es lo único de nuestro ser que da sonido”

The heart is the center because it is the only thing in our being that makes a sound

Frida Kahlo

(1907-1954)

This iconic Mexican artist is remembered for her imaginative paintings, mostly self-portraits, that often depict intense physical and emotional pain while incorporating elements of Mexican folk art, indigenous culture, and nature.

Along with her deeply personal art, Kahlo is widely admired for the incredible internal strength she showed throughout her life despite many physical hardships, chronic pain, and around 30 surgeries. Even when her leg was amputated, she managed to stay positive.

“Pies para qué los quiero si tengo alas para volar”

Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly

Rigoberta Menchú

(1959-present)

A member of the Quiché Maya group, Menchú has spent her life fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples. When she was young, her and her family’s activism led them to be persecuted by Guatemala’s military government. Her father died in a fire while protesting human rights abuses committed by the military, while her mother and younger brother both suffered violent deaths at the hands of the military.

Menchú fled the country in 1981 and stepped onto the international stage in 1983 to tell her story. Living abroad, she has continued to work against oppression in Guatemala and fight for the rights of the underprivileged. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her dedication to social justice. Menchú ran for president of Guatemala in 2007 and 2011 and is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.

“No hay paz sin justicia, no hay justicia sin equidad,

no hay equidad sin desarrollo, no hay desarrollo sin democracia,

no hay democracia sin respeto a la identidad y dignidad de las culturas y los pueblos”

There is no peace without justice, no justice without fairness,

no fairness without development, no development without democracy,

no democracy without respect for the identity and dignity of cultures and peoples.

Las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo

(1977-present)

The Grandmothers of the Playa de Mayo is a human rights organization founded by a group of Argentinian women to find the children who were “disappeared” by the Argentinian dictatorship and return them to their families.

From 1974 to 1883, during Argentina’s Dirty War, the military regime “disappeared” tens of thousands of liberal thinkers and dissidents. Hundreds of babies were taken from political prisoners at birth or kidnapped along with their parents. While their parents were killed by the regime, the stolen babies were illegally adopted by military families and allies of the regime. This was a strategy to do away with a second generation of dissidents. The babies grew up with no knowledge of who their real parents were or what had happened to them—in most cases, they didn’t even know they had been adopted.

But their grandmothers were determined to find them. They dared to speak out and fight to find their family members even while the violent regime was still in power. Las Abuelas have marched in Buenos Aires’ main square, Plaza de Mayo, every week since they began their struggle for truth and justice. So far, from 1977 to 2018, they have found 128 grandchildren.

“La única lucha que se pierde es la que se abandona”

The only struggle that is lost is that which is abandoned

Throughout history, there have always been brave women ready to step outside the confines of the status quo. Some say that the future is female — it’s nice to remember that the past was, too.

The Sun is just a small star living in one of many galaxies. In the context of the whole universe, it’s an insignificant pinprick. Nevertheless, for us it is essential. This celestial body marks the rhythm of life on Earth.

Today, the calendars of almost every culture are determined by the Earth’s movement around the Sun, dividing the year into 365 days. Long ago, sundials or shadow clocks were very popular instruments used to split the day into more precise blocks of time.

Clearly, we can’t ignore the fundamental role the sun plays in how we organize our work day. This quality is precisely what today’s Spanish expression, trabajar de sol a sol,  is all about. Continue reading in English to find out the meaning of this saying or click here to read about it in Spanish.

Everyone knows that the early bird catches the worm — or, as the common Spanish expression says, a quien madruga, Dios le ayuda (God helps those who get up early). Back before people had electricity, the sun was practically the only source of light available. That’s why workers made the most of the hours of natural light to get their work done.

Perhaps you’ve heard the expression de sol a sol. In English we have a similar expression, from sunup to sundown. This saying is usually associated with work and it means “all day long” or “a long time.” Let’s see an example:

Juan trabaja de sol a sol para dar de comer a sus hijos.

Juan works from sun to sun to feed his children.

This sentence informs us that Juan works tirelessly from sunrise to sunset. Now, if Juan spent los lunes al sol, that would be a different story. This saying, which became popular thanks to a Spanish movie by director Fernando León de Aranoa, means just the opposite: to be unemployed, or not working. In that type of situation, spending a few months volunteering is always a good option.

Luis Tosar and Javier Bardem in Los lunes al sol

Los lunes al sol (Mondays in the Sun) is a movie from 2002 starring Luis Tosar and Javier Bardem. It tells the story of the mass layoffs that took place in the Spanish port city of Vigo. The movie earned five Goyas, Spain’s most important film awards.

So now you know, if you don’t want to spend los lunes al sol, you’d better get to work de sol a sol. And if you still have time to discover more expressions like these ones, we invite you to watch the following video:

In the weeks leading up to Lent, everyone is getting ready for one of the most spectacular events on the Canary Islands: carnival. During this celebration, the seven islands step into the spotlight for the most colorful and joyful fiesta of the year.

Thanks to the pleasant subtropical climate, locals and visitors can let their imaginations run wild as they prepare fantastic costumes to wear without having to worry about the cold weather the rest of Spain suffers from this time of year.

Nights bursting with color

One of the pivotal moments is the election of the Queen of Carnival, who becomes the face of the festival. To compete for the title, several candidates show off enormous costumes adorned with feathers and beads of every color.

These flashy outfits can weigh as much as 450 pounds and are the result of months of work. International media flock to Tenerife and Las Palmas for the elections to cover the most famous part of Canarian carnival.

Music in the streets

Other highlights include the murgas, the Mogollones, and the parades of floats. The murgas are musical groups who sing satirical songs about current events. They dress up to participate in competitions and are similar to the chirigotas of Cadiz.

The Mogollones are celebrations that take place over several nights during the carnival season. Party-goers visit beach bars and street stands as music flows throughout the city.

One of the biggest crowd-pleasers are the parades. During the Gran Cabalgata in Las Palmas, close to 100 decked-out floats and cars parade through the city streets.

The finishing touch

All good things must come to an end, and carnival is no exception. In the Canary Islands, the burial of the sardine is the perfect finale. In keeping with long tradition, a mock funeral is held, and a large representation of a sardine is burned in the middle of a fireworks show.

This March, we invite you to come to our Spanish school in Tenerife and experience Canarian carnival for yourself. Enjoy a different kind of winter and immerse yourself in the joy of the Canarian people!