Slow in Spanish 🇪🇸

Pronunciation

Normal speech: deh-SPAH-see-oh
IPA: de.’spa.θjo

8 months ago

despacio info.

**Tips to remember the word ‘despacio’:**
– Associate it with its English counterpart “slow,” think of a “space” that you move through slowly.
– Visualize someone or something moving at a leisurely and calm pace, like a snail.
– Break the word down into “des-” prefix which can mean “down or away” and “pacio,” which doesn’t mean much on its own but sounds similar to “pace.” So, you’re taking the pace down or slowing it down.

**Explanations:**
– ‘Despacio’ is an adverb in Spanish that is used to indicate movement or action carried out at a low speed.
– The term suggests taking your time, without haste.

**Other words that mean the same thing:**
– Lentamente (slowly)
– Con calma (calmly)
– A paso lento (at a slow pace)
– Con parsimonia (with parsimony/slowly and carefully)

**Alternate meanings like slang:**
– In some contexts, ‘despacio’ might not just refer to physical movement but can also imply being slow in understanding, similar to calling someone “slow” in English.

**Examples of sentences that use ‘despacio’:**
– Camina despacio para no cansarte. (Walk slowly so you don’t get tired.)
– Habla más despacio, por favor, no te entiendo. (Speak more slowly, please, I don’t understand you.)
– Por favor, conduce despacio cuando pasas por una zona escolar. (Please, drive slowly when you pass through a school zone.)
– Estoy aprendiendo español, así que por favor explícame despacio. (I’m learning Spanish, so please explain it to me slowly.)
– Aprende a disfrutar las cosas despacio, sin apuro. (Learn to enjoy things slowly, without hurry.)

a few seconds ago

Trick to remember

Despacio means slow because there’s a lot of de-space(io) between something. “To speak more despacio” is like asking them to put more space between words.

9 months ago