Spanish Phrasal Verbs

Soñar con / pensar en

2009-12-12T22:59:00.002+01:00

Thanks Domi for the following addition via e-mail:

I really like Soñar con: "To dream about"

I dream about you every night.

Sueño contigo cada noche.

However, when you're awake you "pensar en" ("to think about")

I think about you every day.

Pienso en ti cada día.

Joshua from Seattle shared this one: "llevar a cabo"

2009-01-11T14:27:00.010+01:00

I received the following email from the USA, with a new example of a Spanish phrasal verb:

I wanted to let you know that I really like the blog that you've started. Is it true that there are people who insist that there are no phrasal verbs in Spanish? I can't imagine that anyone could claim that, considering the importance of prepositions in the language and the fact that they can be used to completely change the meaning of a verb rather than merely direct the verb's main definition. Anyway, I was a bit surprised that "llevar a cabo" (to carry out) has not found a place in your blog yet. I find it to be a wonderful example of a phrasal verb whose translation is also one.

Yes, Joshua, there are people who say there is no such thing as a phrasal verb, or anything similar, in the Spanish language. But any day now I expect the RAE will succumb to the might of those of us on this blog and join us in spreading the word that, unlike Santa Claus and Los Reyes Magos, Spanish Phrasal Verbs really do exist.

Meanwhile, thanks for the addition, amigo!

Tengo que decir que te tengo por un genio. = I have to say that I think you are a genius.

2008-12-13T22:28:00.011+01:00

Tener que = To have to (This one's another case of a Spanish phrasal verb having an English phrasal verb as a translation.)

Tenerse por = To think; to be of the opinon

P.S. Thanks La Traductora and Erica for leaving other examples of Spanish phrasal verbs in the comments section under the previous post.

Jean from Chile is responsible for this one: responder de/por

2008-05-07T11:16:00.006+02:00

I received the following email, with a new phrasal verb:

Hola

Muy interesante tu blog. Felicitaciones

Aquí te dejo otro verbo que para mi parece un phrasal verb

Responder de

While responder means "to answer" or "to reply", responder de/por means "to be responsible for".

For example:
Alicia repondió/contestó a la pregunta correctamente

Alicia respondió por/pagó por los daños

Jean (Chile)

Thanks, Jean!

I just found this one! / Acabo de encontrar esto.

2008-04-20T15:33:00.003+02:00

acabar de + verb in infinitive form = to have just done something

Acabo de oirlo. = I just heard it.

You can count on these: contar con; confiar en; constar de

2008-04-20T12:14:00.006+02:00

contar con and confiar en = to count on

contar con and constar de = to have, to include

I'm revealing "Hacer constar"

2008-04-19T20:17:00.002+02:00

Hacer constar = to reveal, to declare, to publish, to make known

Llegar a ser = become

2008-03-07T01:34:00.003+01:00

llegar a ser = a Spanish phrasal verb that means "to become" / un verbo phrasal que significa "to become."

Hurry up! We need more Spanish phrasal verbs!

2008-02-07T21:14:00.000+01:00

to hurry up = darse prisa

Speaking of "giving up" part 2

2008-02-07T01:07:00.000+01:00

How about "dejar de" as in "dejar de fumar" (to give up smoking)?

Speaking of "giving up",

2008-02-07T01:03:00.000+01:00

what about "perder la esperanza" or "to lose hope." Ok, I won't!

I was about to give up... / Estuve a punto de rendirme...

2008-02-07T00:55:00.001+01:00

...when I thought of "estar a punto de" (to be about to)

OK, I'm ready to be overwhelmed with other examples. So, leave your comments, folks!

I hope you agree with me that ESTAR DE ACUERDO is a "phrasal verb"

2007-10-21T13:31:00.001+02:00

Here's a case of an English phrasal verb having a Spanish equivalent!

Agree with = Estar de acuerdo

¿Estas en acuerdo conmigo?

I've fallen on a few with CAER

2007-10-21T02:41:00.000+02:00

The verb caer means to fall. But caer en means to understand, in the sense of to come to understand / to hit upon ; caer bajo means to plunge in the sense of to sink very low; caer bien/mal means to go down well/poorly; estar al caer means about to arrive and caerse bien/mal means to like/not like someone.

And they say phrasal verbs don't exist in Spanish.

The first two: DARSE CUENTA DE and FIJARSE EN

2007-10-21T02:34:00.000+02:00

OK, here's the first one:

Darse cuenta de – fijarse en, notar, observar (to realize, to notice)

Come to think of it, what about:

Fijarse en

Have you noticed the list is growing already!

¿Te has dado cuenta de que la lista esta aumentando ya?

English Phrasal Verbs

2007-10-21T01:28:00.000+02:00

Learning phrasal verbs is the thing many of my students like least about studying English. After all, why should the meaning of a verb be changed by the addition of a preposition, an adverb or a phrase? Why can't a verb like pick (to choose) remain single instead of being mated with other words to give birth to pick up and pick on? Aren't the words collect and tease good enough?
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Sometimes I respond by telling them that as student of Spanish I share their frustration because I have to learn Spanish phrasal verbs. "But," they exclaim, "phrasal verbs do not exist in Spanish!"
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Well, there may not be anything called "verbos frasales" in Spanish grammar textbooks, and the Real Academia Española (the Royal Spanish Academy) may not recognize such a category, but they do indeed exist and I plan on listing some of them here. Fell free to help me by adding ones you come across, either via email or by adding a comment to the most recent post.
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Let's see how many we can turn up, or should I just say how many we can find.
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz