Idiomatic Uses of Verbs  

Spanish Resources Spanish Idioms


Gramática
The verb caer and caerse (to fall) has several idiomatic uses:

Le caigo bien: He likes me. / She likes me.
Caer en gracia: To fall into the good graces of one.
Ya caigo, ya caigo en ello: Now I understand.
Caerse redondo: To fall flat.

Examples:
Caí redondo cuando me lo dijiste.
I fell flat when you told it to me.
La niña me cayó en gracia.
The girl fell into good graces with me.

Gramática
The verb dar (to give) has several idiomatic uses:

dar en el clavo - to hit it
dar con una persona - to find a person or animal.
dar por bueno - to consider as good
dar la hora - to strike the hour
no darse nada - to not care a bit
dar igual - don't care either way.

Examples:
Lo doy por bueno.
I consider it as good.

No se me da nada
I do not care a bit.

Gramática
The verb dejar (to cease) has several idiomatic uses
when it is followed by de:

dejar de - to cease from, to omit, to fail to.

Examples:
Dejemos de hablar
Let us cease talking.

Dejó de hacerme la remesa que me había prometido
He omitted to send me the remittance he promised me.

No dejaré de ejecutar su orden
I shall not fail to execute your order.

Gramática
The verb estar (to be) has several idiomatic uses:

estar en que - to be of opinion.
estar por - to be in favor of.
estar para - to be on the point of.
estar por hacer - to be yet to be done.

Examples:
Mamá está por llegar.
Mom is about to arrive.
María estuvo por hacer su sueño realidad.
Mary was close to make her dream come true.

Sentences caerse
Me cae bien ella. - I like her.
Te cae bien él. - You like him.
Ya caí en lo que dijiste. - I understood what you said.
Me cayó en gracia el perrito. - The puppy fell into good graces with me.
Nos cae mal cuando el perro ladra. - We don't like when the dog barks.
Les cayó mal la comida. - The food didn't sit well with them.

Sentences dar
Di en el clavo cuando hablé contigo. - I got it when I spoke with you
Nos dimos por vencidos. - We gave up.
El reloj de la iglesia ya dio la hora. - The churches clock's gave the hour already.
A ellos les da igual que vengas o no vengas. - They don't care whether you come or not.
Diste por bueno el televisor nuevo. - You considered the new TV good.
La mujer dio con su hijo. - The woman found her son.
Me da igual que comamos pizza o ensalada. - I don't care whether we eat pizza or salad.

Sentences dejar
Ella le dejó de hablar a María. - She stopped talking to Maria.
Me deje llevar por mis emociones. - I let my emotions to take over.
Dejaste una buena impresión. - You left a good impression.
Nosotros dejamos una orden. - We left an order.
Ustedes se dejaron mentir. - You let yourselves be lied to.
Ellas dejaron de mandar regalos. - They omitted to send gifts.


Sentences estar
Estaba por llegar. - I was about to arrive.
Estamos para servirle. - We are here to help you.
Ellas están de pésame. - They are in mourning.
Tú estuviste por casarte con Rosa. - You were about to marry Rosa.
Ella estaba por hacer el ridículo, cuando llegué. - She was about to make a fool of herself when I arrived.

Use these free Spanish conjugation charts and guides.





Popular Phrase: how do you say | Conjugated Verb: antojar - to fancy, to feel like [ click for full conjugation ]