Exclamatory phrases in Spanish! Exclamatory sentences are very common in the spoken language, and they keep the conversation flowing and let the person who is speaking know you are following them. I love them because they are such small exclamations, but they mean so much…

- By

 

Exclamations are normally a combination of words. We also have interjections, that is just a exclamatory word, such is the case of Gosh! Oh! Bah! In English and ¡vaya! ¡Ah! In Spanish. Sometimes we get them as well as syllables words whose spelling is trying to reproduce the sound indicating some emotional reaction, example of those in English are: Shhh, and Ugh, and in Spanish ¡uf! ¡zas!…

 

So today we are learning some exclamatory phrases in Spanish, I love them because they are just small phrases but they mean so much, and they can actually sound more natural, as they are really common as an interaction when listening someone.

 

Keep in mind that exclamations and interjections are frequently untranslatable, so I will try my best to give you the closest translation, another thing to keep in mind too is that sometimes the meaning of the exclamation varies depending on the context, such is the case of

 

–¡menos mal! That in Spanish might mean a few things

-Things could be worse

            -Thanks goodness for that!

            -Thank Heaven for small blessings!

 

And some other similar exclamations of relief.

 

So all of that being said…to see some Spanish exclamations:

 

 

Exclamatory phrases in Spanish

 

¡Qué barbaridad!                   How awful! ( What a barbarity!)

 

¡Qué bonito!                          How beautiful!

 

¡Qué raro!                              How weird!

 

¡Qué fastidio!                         What a nuisance!

 

¡Qué mierda!                          What a crap!

 

¡Qué tío!                                 What a guy!

 

¡Vaya un chico!                      What a boy!

 

¡Vaya (un) día!                       What a day!

 

¡Vaya (una) cosa!                   What are you saying! (What a thing)

 

¡Qué lástima!/ ¡Qué pena!    What a shame!

 

¡No puedo creerlo!                I can’t believe it!

 

¡Por Dios!                               For God’s sake!

 

¡Qué susto!                             What a surprise! It’s used to express shock, both to show when you’re shocked yourself and also to show you understand when someone is telling you about a fright they experienced themselves. The literal translation is what a scare! And although for English speaker might sound weird, it is a pretty common exclamation to use in Spanish

 

 

The popular exclamations ¡vamos! ¡vaya! And ¡anda! Could all have several meanings like

Well!              Come one!                  Go on!                         Well now!

 

#note-the use of religious names in simple exclamations is not considered sacrilegious or offensive in Spanish unless they are employed in a violent or angry manner. Ordinary Spanish speech is filled with expressions as: ¡Jesús!, ¡Dios!, ¡Por Dios!, ¡Virgen!

 

And I think those are all the exclamations I wanted to share with you today, but now as usual I would love to hear from you, so come over to the comments and let me know if you know any other exclamatory phrases in Spanish.

 

I am looking forward to reading your comments!

 

And….if you want to download this expressions in an audio format, so you can get familiar with the sound and tone we use in each of them click here  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Responses to “Exclamatory phrases in Spanish!”

  1. Alicia

    Una mujer con quien trabajo siempre dice “Madre de Dios”. Me gusta la frase “¡No me (lo) digas!”

    Reply

    • blancadt

      Gracias por tu comentario Alicia. “¡Madre de Díos!” Es también muy popular. Y me encanta “¡no me digas!” Yo la uso mucho. 🙂

      Reply

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