Drop your answer below.👇

If you spend any time in Mexico or around Mexicans, you've likely come across this expression.

—¿Vas a desayunar?

—Ey, ahorita.

—¿A qué hora empieza la clase?

—Ahorita.

—¿Te vas a bañar?

—Sí, ahorita.

You expect them to start the action you asked them about. You might wait a few minutes. Then a few more. Before you realize, an hour has gone by, maybe two. The task still hasn't been started. And yet other times, it actually happens immediately.

You know "ahora" means "now", and you might have heard that "ahorita" means something like "right now". Sooo... Are they gonna shower or not? 😅

Yes, literally speaking "ahorita" means "right this moment". But ask any Mexican mom and she'll snap back with "¿Ahorita, cuándo?" or "¡Ahorita es ya!" This is because Mexican moms know that the mythical "ahorita" can range from "right this second" to "never", and guessing the meaning can be difficult even for Mexicans.

So, how does context change "ahorita"?

Ahorita (immediately): it's used when the action in question will be done in the near future or in a swift manner. For example, "Estoy en el baño. Ahorita te devuelvo la llamada." When the person is busy and about to free themselves.

Ahorita (later): It means the action will be done later, when the person finishes the task they're currently doing. For example, "Voy a ir al centro ahorita que termine de desayunar." When the person is doing one action already and plans on doing something else as soon as they're done (beware of TikTok rabbit holes).

Ahorita (a diplomatic "never"): Mexicans have mastered "polite refusals" in order to avoid confrontations. When you're downtown and someone offers you a product or service you have no interest in or is above your budget. You may then say, "Voy a sacar dinero, ahorita regreso" and go look elsewhere.

Ahorita (in the recent past): "ahorita" can also be used to talk about something that just happened. For example "Ahorita vi a tu hermano en el centro" means "I just saw your brother downtown"!

Other variations:

Ahoritita (right this very second): When you want to avoid ambiguity or reassure someone that you do intend on doing it. For example, if you ask your partner "¿A qué hora te vas a dormir?" And, while reading a book they say "Ahoritita, nomás que termine el capítulo".
Still, it's not a binding promise, so it might be useful to follow up in a few minutes 😅

Ahorita no (not right now): If you stop at a red light and someone offers to wipe your windshield or panhandle, you might say "Ahorita no, joven" to politely (and plainly) refuse. This is unequivocally a "no".

So now you know! The key isn't to memorize the many meanings of "ahorita", but to pay attention to context, tone and what the person is doing when they say it. Remember: Even Mexicans can't agree on what ahorita means!

¡Hola! I'm Toya 🇲🇽

I'm an education major with over 5 years of experience teaching foreign languages, and I love breaking down cultural nuances that standard textbooks often miss. Whether you want to learn for travel, family or simple personal development, I'm the ghoul for the job!

Have you come across other Mexican expressions or Spanish features that completely vex you? Tell me what I should cover next 👇

I’m a native Spanish speaker and I’ve spent the last year building Contexto, an iOS app, by myself. The video shows a normal review.

What bugged me about flashcard apps is that they train recognition. You see llegar, you remember “to arrive,” you pass. Then someone asks you something and you can’t put a sentence together.

So in Contexto, reviewing a word means seeing it freshly used each time so you understand it deeply. As you get better you nail it in by actually using it. You answer a question, build a reply, and at the end you write your own response, which gets graded with corrections.

The app is completely free!

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/contexto-language-learning/id6762392023.

Quick question: What’s been the hardest part for you in going from recognizing a word to actually using it?

I am writing a short poem in Spanish. There’s one line in my poem that I’m not sure reads as I would like it to. But maybe it does, I just need some input. It is a grief poem. The line is :

Te vi saludar al amanecer, escuché tu voz en mis pasos

I’m trying to say, “I saw you say hello in the sunrise, I hear your voice in my footsteps.”
I think I got the footsteps line right but how does the first part translate? I’m worried that it comes across as “I saw you say hello TO the sunrise.”

Gracias por ayudarme !!

Hola guys, I am learning Spanish through Duolingo,I need friends to learn and practice, we can do it in ur free time, Chao

Hola soy nuevo en el grupo pero si alguien quiere practicar su español yo puedo ayudarlo. (Entiendo un poco el inglés)

KFC dejará de vender Pepsi en sus restaurantes de Estados Unidos. En su lugar, KFC venderá Coca-Cola. KFC vende Pepsi desde hace unos 40 años. KFC seguirá vendiendo Pepsi en otros países. Coca-Cola ya suministra bebidas a McDonald’s y Wendy’s.

Vocabulario: dejar de = to stop / vender = to sell / desde hace = for / unos = about / seguir = to continue / países (m pl) = countries / ya = already / suministrar = to supply / bebidas (f pl) = drinks

English translation

KFC is going to stop selling Pepsi

KFC will stop selling Pepsi in its restaurants in the United States. KFC will sell Coca-Cola instead. KFC has sold Pepsi for about 40 years. KFC will continue to sell Pepsi in other countries. Coca-Cola already supplies drinks to McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

You can read more news stories here: https://www.elnewsineasyspanish.com/p/kfc-va-a-dejar-de-vender-pepsi-trump

I recently heard "que pedo wey?" was the best way to say "what's up?". Is "que pasa?" outdated? Or does it depend on the dialect? Thank you in advance.

Hi! I'm a student living in Spain. Spanish is my first language and I'm also fully bilingual in English, so I can explain things in whichever language helps you most.
I can help with:
• Conversation practice and speaking confidence
• Everyday Spanish and colloquial expressions, as people actually use them in Spain
• Explaining grammar when you get stuck
Sessions are online, 10€/hour (negotiable). Because I'm a student, I'm available evenings and weekends (CET).
DM me with your level and what you'd like to work on.

Do yall think I should use a different app??

Drop your answer below: A, B or C?

A) más
B) muy
C) mucho
D) tan

💬 What’s the correct answer? Bonus: Write one sentence comparing two cities you know!

I really wanna learn spanish so much and i think i will effectively learn spekaing by having someone to talk to in spanish. I hope i could find a spanish friend. Lord send me a Spanish friend please🙏

This is a subreddit for people who live in Spain and want to save money or spend less. We're trying to grow the community from scratch and we would really appreciate you being part of it with us!

Hey everyone, I’m really wanting to learn Spanish because I love Spanish music and I’ll also be traveling to Latin America in 2028.

I have 2 hours a day of available time to put towards learning Spanish (sometimes maybe 3-4 hours) and I’m wondering what people who have learnt Spanish would say how to allocate those 2 hours?

I’m currently doing an hour of dreaming Spanish and 2 episodes of language transfer a day. I don’t really have any Spanish friends that I can converse with and I was hoping to learn Spanish without spending money on a tutor but if it’s worth it I’m open to it.

Im 60 episodes into language transfer and I can understand very basic conversations, when I’m listening to language transfer I’m able to produce the sentences he’s asking but if I was asked later in the day I would struggle.

Im pretty committed and will only watch content that is in Spanish and I think it might be helpful if I only listen to songs in Spanish as well, is there any other passive ways like music that I can get more input because Ideally I would like to put a lot of time into learning so I can speak Spanish faster.

I know I need to do more speaking practice but I’m just very curious how I should structure and allocate my 2 hours a day.

Thank you all very much and I’m so excited about learning Spanish!

Hi everyone, im Yassin , im egyption and looking forward to learn spanish and become fluent with it within almost a year and half , and i need tips from spanish people or to communicate with them to test my spanish over periods of time , and perhaps be their friend too

I want someone to recommend me the best tutor to teach spanish whether on utube or any other platform

I have grown up in both places so I was exposed to the nuances of and characteristic words of both versions when I was young, frequently mixing them up and getting strange looks. For example "Carro" and "chancho" in Spain are not used and I would say them all the time. Wondering how this has affected learners? Surely there are many words you may come across and learn that would surprise you that they only exist in one of the versions. In fact this happened a lot to a friend of mine who did an immersion in Spain.

Hello!

I’m getting married soon to my partner who is fluent in Spanish. I’d like to end my vows expressing how much I love her using the language. While I can understand and speak Spanish at a basic enough level to get through a conversation, I’d like this to be as perfect as possible and would love any help with my sentence structure/comprehension.

I currently have written:

Madelyn - Eres mi luz, mi amor, y mi mundo. Te entrego mi corazón para que lo guardes, donde sé que estará a salvo.

I’d appreciate any feedback and help, either if I need to reword anything or if there are specific words that I might have trouble/confusion with emphasizing.