350 Frases en inglés que te serán

útiles en cualquier conversación

Expresiones idiomáticas Traducción Ejemplo
con sus sinónimos
after all — despite, después de todo, al fin I knew it! After all, I was
nevertheless y al cabo right!
all along — all the time todo el tiempo I knew about his little secret
all along.
all ears — eager to listen todo oídos I am all ears.
all of a sudden — de repente, de pronto All of a sudden, he refused
suddenly to pay.
all the same — da igual, lo mismo; If it’s all the same to you,
no difference de todos modos let’s start at two.
all thumbs — clumsy torpe He can’t fix anything, he’s
all thumbs.
apple of discord — manzana de la discordia This question is an apple
subject of envy or quarrel of discord in our family.
as a rule — usually como regla general As a rule, we offer a 5%
discount.
as far as I am en lo que a mí respecta As far as I am concerned,
concerned — both the book and the
in my opinion movie are good.
as for me/as to me — en cuanto a mí As for me, you can rely
in my opinion on his support.
as well — also, too también He knows math, and
physics as well.
at all — (not) in the en lo más mínimo, He doesn’t know French
smallest degree en absoluto at all. I don’t like it at all.
at random — without order al azar He chose those places
 at random.
at this point — at this time a estas alturas At this point, we can’t turn
back.
be about to — ready estar a punto de I was about to leave when
(to do) you called.
be after someone — estar tras alguien; insistir, His mother is always after
insist, press presionar him to study.
be all in — be extremely estar hecho polvo I’m all in, I’d better go to bed
tired now.
be back on one’s feet — recuperarse después He’s back on his feet after
healthy again or better de un tiempo difícil; a long period of debt and
financially ponerse de pie otra vez unemployment.
beat around the bush — irse por las ramas Stop beating around the
avoid giving a clear/definite bush! Get to the point!
answer
be beside oneself — estar fuera de sí She was beside herself with
be very upset, nervous, worry / with grief.
worried, etc.
be better off — estar en una mejor He’ll be better off with a new
be in a better situation situación job.
be broke — have estar en bancarrota I spent all my money, I’m
no money at all broke.
be hard on something ser duro con algo/alguien My son is hard on shoes,
/someone — treat roughly they don’t last long with him.
Life was pretty hard
on Tom.
be high on one’s list — encabezar la lista de los A new car is high on my list
be one of the most asuntos importantes of priorities. A new TV is not
important things high on my list.
be in charge of — estar a cargo de, ser He is in charge
be responsible for responsable de of marketing.
be in the red — be in debt estar en deuda, estar Our sales were in the red
 quebrado last year.
be into smth. — estar He is into computers. She
be interested in interesado/apasionado is into sports.
por algo
bend over backwards — hacer todo lo que I bent over backwards
try hard se pueda to help her.
be on one’s way estar en el camino I’m on my way.
be on the safe side — not para mayor seguridad Take an extra key, just
to take any chances to be on the safe side.
be out of — be without estar fuera de, estar We are out of bread,
desabastecido, no tener cheese, and sugar.
be out of shape — no estar en forma / estar He needs to exercise,
be physically unfit en mala condición física he is out of shape.
be out of sorts — in bad estar de mal humor Leave him alone, he’s out
humor of sorts today
be pressed for time / estar presionado por I’m pressed for time now.
money — be short of; not tiempo/dinero (no tener We are pressed for money
have enough suficiente tiempo/dinero at the moment.
por el momento)
beside the point — off the ajeno a la cuestión, What I said to him privately
point no va al caso is beside the point.
be to blame — ser culpable Who is to blame for this
be responsible for awful mistake? Tom
a mistake / something is to blame for this mix-up.
wrong
be touch and go — pender de un hilo He was very sick, and for
be uncertain of the result some time it was touch
and go, but he is better
now.
be up against — enfrentar (a algo/alguien), Our company is up against
be opposed by, have encontrarse ante serious attempts of hostile
problems, be in danger problemas takeover.
be up and volver a andar, He was sick for a month,
around/about — able recuperarse (después but now he is up and
to be out of bed after de una enfermedad) around.
an illness
be up to one’s ears — estar muy ocupado I’m up to my ears in work.
very busy
be up to something — estar tramando algo I have to check what the
do mischief kids are up to.
be up to someone — ser decisión de alguien, It’s up to you to decide. It’s
be one’s own decision corresponderle a alguien up to you to close the office
or responsibility every day at 8 o’clock.
be used to — estar acostumbrado a I’m used to hard work. He’s
be accustomed to used to heat.
big shot — important persona importante He is a big shot around
person here.
bite off more than one sobrevalorar tus fuerzas I couldn’t handle two jobs
can chew — try to do more («morder más de lo que and family. I really bit off
than one can puedes masticar») more than I could chew.
bite one’s tongue — stop morderse la lengua, dejar I almost told her, but bit
talking de hablar my tongue.
bite the dust — die, morder el polvo, morir Many of them bit the dust
be defeated in that war.
black sheep — a good-for- oveja negra Their second son is the
nothing member of the black sheep of the family,
family he is good for nothing.
blind date — a meeting cita a ciegas She refuses to go on a blind
of a man and woman date again because she had
arranged by friends bad experience.
blow it — lose the chance perder la oportunidad He understood that
he blew it.
blow over — pass, end pasar Wait here till his anger
blows over.
bottom line — main resultado The bottom line is, I don’t
result/factor have enough money.
break into — enter entrar por la fuerza, The police broke into the
by force penetrar robber’s house.
break one’s heart — hurt romper el corazón The news of her death
deeply de alguien broke his heart.
break the ice — overcome romper el hielo (superar The party was dull until
shyness in making the first la timidez y dar el primer someone broke the ice with
step paso) a joke and we all laughed.
break the news — tell new difundir la información CNN is breaking the news
facts right now.
bring home the bacon — proveer a la familia He works very hard
earn the living for the family at several places to bring
home the bacon.
brush off — give no hacer caso The boss brushed off
no attention to my project again.
brush up on — review repasar, refrescar You need to brush
la memoria up on the tenses.
by all means -definitely, definitivamente, por Do you need my help? —
certainly supuesto By all means.
by heart — by memorizing de memoria Learn this poem by heart for
tomorrow.
by hook or by crook — como sea She will get what she wants
by any means possible by hook or by crook.
by the way — incidentally por cierto By the way, Ann is coming
back today.
call a spade a spade — llamar a las cosas por He always tells the truth and
use plain, direct words su nombre calls a spade a spade.
call it a day — consider considerar el trabajo We’ve been working for
work finished for the day terminado 10 straight hours. Let’s call
it a day.
call off — cancel cancelar The police called off the
 search.
carry out — fulfill realizar, cumplir She never carries out her
plans.
carry weight — tener peso en, influir, ser His advice always carries
be important importante weight here.
cast down — depressed, desanimar He was cast down by the
sad bad news.
castles in the air — (construir) castillos Instead of working hard,
daydreaming about en el aire he spends time building
success castles in the air.
catch one’s eye — attract llamar la atención This picture caught my eye.
attention
catch one’s breath — stop recobrar el aliento I can’t run, I need to catch
and rest my breath.
catch someone off tomar por sorpresa He caught me off guard with
guard — catch someone his question.
unprepared
catch someone red- sorprender a alguien con The manager caught the
handed — find smb. in the las manos en la masa boy red-handed when
act of doing wrong he was stealing cigarettes.
catch up — become not ponerse al día He needs to catch up with
behind the others.
close call — a narrow por poco sucede algo The speeding car almost hit
escape, a bad thing that malo (escaparse por the man. That was really
almost happened milagro) a close call.
come across — meet encontrar I came across that article
by chance yesterday.
come down with — caer resfriado I’m coming down with
become ill a cold.
come to one’s senses — entrar en razón He finally came to his
start acting reasonably, senses, started to work
intelligently hard, and passed his
 exams.
come true — become volverse realidad My dream came true when I
reality met Pat.
come up with — suggest proponer Mike came up with a brilliant
idea.
count on — depend on contar con You can always count
on me for help.
cut corners — to take buscar atajos, omitir He ran fast, cutting corners
a short-cut; to limit one’s procedimientos where he could. I have
spending to cut corners this week.
cut down on — reduce reducir el consumo You have to cut down
on chocolate.
cut out to be /cut out for estar hecho para (algún She isn’t cut out
it — have the ability trabajo) to be a surgeon. He’s cut
to do something out to be a leader.
do one’s best — try very dar lo mejor de sí I did my best to help him
hard in his work.
do one’s bit — do what’s aportar su granito I’ll do my bit, you can count
needed de arena; hacer on me.
lo necesario
do over — do again rehacer This work is not good,
do it over.
do someone good — beneficiar Fresh air and exercise will
be good for do you good.
do something behind hacer algo a espaldas I hate people who do things
one’s back — do (harmful) de uno behind my back. He did
things secretively it behind my back again.
do without — live without vivir sin, prescindir I’ll have to do without a car
for a while.
down to earth — practical práctico, realista He’s quiet, sensible and
down to earth.
draw the line — fix a limit trazar la línea, limitar He drew the line for her
 at $100 a day.
dress up — put on the best ponerse la mejor ropa What are you dressed
clothes up for?
drop off — deliver llevar (a una persona Can you drop me off at the
somewhere a un lugar), dejar (a una bank?
persona en un lugar)
drop out — quit (school) abandonar He dropped out of school
last year.
duty calls — must fulfill el deber llama He said, «Duty calls» and
obligations left for work.
easier said than done es más fácil decir que It’s easier said than done,
hacerlo but I’ll try to do it.
eat one’s words — take tragarse las palabras He had to eat his words
back words after her report.
even so — nevertheless, aún así I work hard. Even so, I like
but my job.
every now and then - de vez en cuando Every now and then I visit
occasionally my old aunt.
every other day — every cada dos días; un día She washes her hair every
second one sí y un día no other day.
fall behind — lag behind quedarse atrás The little boy fell behind the
older boys.
fall in love — begin to love enamorarse Tom fell in love with Sue
at first sight.
fall out of love — stop dejar de amar They fell out of love and
loving divorced soon.
false alarm — untrue falsa alarma I heard he quit but it was
rumor a false alarm.
a far cry from muy lejos de ser algo, His second book wasn’t
something — very muy diferente a lo que bad, but it was a far cry
different, almost opposite creías from his first book.
(neg.)
feel it in one’s bones — tener una corazonada Something bad is going
expect something bad (presentimiento) to happen, I feel
to happen it in my bones.
feel like doing antojarse de hacer algo, I feel like going for a walk.
something — want to do, sentir ganas de hacer algo I don’t feel like working now,
be inclined to do smth. I’m tired.
feel up to — be able to do tener ánimo para hacer I don’t feel up to cleaning
algo the house.
few and far between — muy pocos, escasos Her visits are few and far
rare, scarce between.
find fault with — criticize encontrar fallos, criticar He always finds faults with
everybody.
find out — learn averiguar, descubrir I found out that Maria left
or discover town.
firsthand — directly from de primera mano You can trust it, it’s firsthand
the source information.
first things first — primero lo primero First things first: how much
important things come money do we have to pay
before others right away?
fly off the handle — get perder los estribos He flew off the handle and
angry yelled at me.
follow in someone’s seguir los pasos de otro Igor followed in his father’s
footsteps — do the same footsteps, he became
thing a doctor, too.
foot in the door — tener un pie adentro Nina got a foot in the door
a special opportunity for (tener una oportunidad because her friend works
a job de trabajo) in that company.
foot the bill — pay the bill pagar Her father footed the bill for
the party.
for good — forever para siempre After her death, he left town
for good.
for the time being — por el momento, por ahora For the time being, this
at this time house is all right for us.
frame of mind — mental estado de ánimo I can’t do it in this frame
state of mind.
from A to Z — completely conocer algo de pe a pa; He knows this town from A
de cabo a rabo to Z.
from now on — now and desde ahora, a partir From now on, I forbid you
in the future de ahora to go there.
get a grip on oneself — obtener control sobre Stop crying! Get a grip
take control of one’s sí mismo on yourself!
feelings
get along with — have llevarse bien con Ann gets along with most
good relations coworkers, but doesn’t get
along with Laura.
get away with — not evitar el castigo, escapar The police didn’t find the
be caught after doing de la justicia thief. He got away with his
wrong crime.
get carried away — get entusiasmarse He got carried away with
too excited and enthusiastic opening a store and lost
about something most of his money.
get cold feet — be afraid entrarle miedo a alguien I wanted to try it but got cold
to do feet.
get even with — have desquitarse I’ll get even with him for
one’s revenge everything!
get in touch with — contactar a alguien Get in touch with Mr. Smith
contact for help.
get lost — lose one’s way perderse She got lost in the old part
of town.
Get lost! — Lay off! ¡Vete! ¡Desaparécete! I don’t want to see you
¡Lárgate! again. Get lost!
get mixed up — get confundir I got mixed up, went the
confused wrong way and got lost.
get off one’s back — dejar a alguien en paz Stop bothering me! Get off
leave alone my back!
get on one’s high actuar como si fueras Every time I ask her to help
horse — behave haughtily mejor que otras personas, me with typing, she gets
towards someone ser engreído on her high horse.
get on (the bus, train, subir (el transporte) I got on the bus on Oak
plane) Street.
get off (the bus, train, bajar (el transporte) I got off the bus at the bank.
plane)
get out of hand — get out salirse de las manos, If he gets out of hand again,
of control fuera de control call me right away.
get over — recover after recuperarse después I can’t get over how rude
an illness or bad de una enfermedad he was to me. She got over
experience o mala experiencia, her illness quite quickly.
superar
get rid of — dispose of, deshacerse He got rid of his old useless
discard car.
get together — meet with reunirse My friends and I get
together often.
get to the bottom — know llegar al fondo de algo He usually gets to the
deeply bottom of things.
get to the point — get ir al grano Get to the point!
to the matter
Give me a break! — spare ¡Dame un respiro! Come on, stop it! Give
me ¡Déjame! me a break!
give someone a hand — dar la mano, ayudar Can you give me a hand
help with cooking?
give someone a lift llevar a alguien en auto Can you give me a lift to the
/a ride — take to some bank? He gave her a ride
place by car in his new Porsche.
give someone a piece criticar, decir abiertamente She lost my umbrella again,
of one’s mind — criticize lo que piensas so I gave her a piece
frankly of my mind about her
 carelessness.
give up — stop doing rendirse I gave up smoking. I gave
something, stop trying up trying to fix my old car.
to do something
go back on one’s word — romper First he said he would
break a promise la palabra/promesa help me, but then he went
back on his word.
go for it — try to do a new intentar algo nuevo If I were you, I would
thing go for it.
go from bad to worse — ir de mal en peor His business went from bad
be worse to worse.
go out — go to parties, salir (de fiesta, al cine, Do he and his wife go out
movies etc.) often?
go out of one’s way -try poner mucho esfuerzo, He goes out of his way
very hard intentar mucho to please her.
go to one’s head — make subirse a la cabeza His acting success went
too proud (éxito), sentirse to his head.
demasiado orgulloso
go to pieces — get very derrumbarse, quedar She went to pieces when
upset, fall apart deshecho she heard it.
go with the flow — lead ir con la corriente She always goes with the
quiet life flow.
grow on someone — gustar poco a poco When she knew him more,
become liked he grew on her.
had better — should más vale que You look ill, you’d better see
a doctor.
have a ball — have a good pasarla bien Yesterday we had a ball
time at the party.
have a bone to pick — tener una cuenta que Mr. Brown, I have a bone
complain or discuss ajustar to pick with you. My mail
something unpleasant was lost because of you.
have a word with hablar con alguien Can I have a word with
someone — talk to you?
have words with hablar muy seriamente I had words with
someone — argue with con alguien /discutir my coworker today because
someone about something he used my computer
again.
have it in him — have the tener habilidades Laura has it in her
ability to be a good doctor.
have no business doing no es tu asunto, no tienes You have no business
something — have derecho de (estar aquí, staying here without
no right to do hacer esto, etc.) my permission.
have one’s back to the estar entre la espada I had no choice, I had
wall — be hard-pressed, y la pared my back to the wall.
on the defensive
have one’s hands full — estar muy ocupado He has his hands full with
very busy hard work.
have one’s heart set querer algo demasiado, She has her heart set
on something — want ansiar algo on going to New York.
something very much He has his heart set
on Betty.
have pull — have influence influir, pesar Does he have pull with the
on director?
(not) have the heart — (no) atreverse a hacer I don’t have the heart to tell
(not) have the courage algo desagradable; him that he wasn’t
to do smth. unpleasant (no) tener corazón para accepted, he’ll
be so unhappy.
high and low — en todas partes I searched high and low for
everywhere (en el cielo y en la tierra, my lost cat.
cuando se refiere
a búsquedas)
hit the nail on the head — acertar You hit the nail on the head
say exactly the right thing when you said our company
needs a new director.
hit upon something — pensar en algo; descubrir They hit upon gold. I hit
to discover upon a plan.
hold it against guardar rencores I lost his book, but
someone — blame en contra de alguien; he doesn’t hold
somebody for doing culpar a alguien por algo it against me.
something
Hold it! — Stop! Wait! ¡Detente! ¡Espera! Hold it! I forgot my key.
Hold on! — Wait! ¡Espera! Hold on! I’ll be back
in a minute.
hold one’s own — mantenerse firme He can hold his own in any
maintain oneself situation. We need men
in a situation, behave who can hold their own.
as needed
hold up — rob using asaltar, atacar This bank was held up twice
a weapon last year.
ill at ease — disgustado, incómodo She felt ill at ease because
uncomfortable of her cheap dress.
in advance — well before de antemano He told her about his plan
in advance.
in a nutshell — in a few en breve, en pocas In a nutshell, my plan
words palabras is to buy land.
in care of someone — (escribir) a alguien I’m staying at Tom’s house.
write to one person at the a la dirección de otra Write to me in care of Tom
address of another persona (al cuidado de) Gray, Chicago, Illinois.
in cold blood — a sangre fría He killed her in cold blood.
mercilessly
in fact — actually, in reality de hecho, en realidad In fact, he works
as a manager here.
in general — generally, en general In general, he likes
generally speaking to be alone. He described
the place only in general.
in one’s element — what estar como pez en el agua He’s in his element when
one likes he’s arguing.
in other words — using en otras palabras In other words, you refused
other words to do it for her.
in plain English — sencillamente hablando I didn’t really like the
in simple, frank terms concert. In plain English, the
concert was terrible.
the ins and outs — all info los pormenores He knows the ins and outs
about of this business.
in someone’s shoes — en los zapatos de alguién, I’d hate to be in his shoes
in another person’s position en lugar de otra persona now. He lost his job, and his
wife is in the hospital.
in the long run — in the al final de cuentas In the long run, it’ll be better
end to buy it.
in the same boat — in the en el mismo barco; Stop arguing with me, we’re
same situation en la misma situacion in the same boat and should
help each other.
in the clear — free from estar fuera de sospecha Pay the bill and you’ll
blame be in the clear.
in time a tiempo (para hacer algo) I came in time to have a cup
(to do something) — of coffee before class.
before something begins
it goes without saying — no hace falta decir nada It goes without saying that
should be clear without he must pay what he owes
words right away.
It’s on the tip está en la punta His name is on the tip
of my tongue. de mi lengua of my tongue.
it’s time — should es hora Hurry up, it’s time to go.
do it right away
It’s worth it. / It’s not lo vale / no lo vale Watch this film, it’s worth it.
worth it. It’s (not) worth vale la pena / no vale Don’t buy this coat, it is not
buying, visiting, watching, la pena worth it. This museum
etc. is worth visiting. This film
 is not worth watching.
it will do — it’s enough es suficiente Stop reading, it will do for
now.
jump at the aprovechar la oportunidad His boss mentioned a job
opportunity/chance — in Europe, and Peter
accept the opportunity jumped at the opportunity.
eagerly
just as soon — prefer this preferiría I’d just as soon stay home,
one I’m tired.
just in case — to be on the por si acaso Take an extra shirt, just
safe side in case.
Just my luck! — Bad / ¡Vaya suerte que tengo! They lost my job
Hard luck! ¡Qué mala suerte! application. Just my luck!
keep an eye on — take estar pendiente; vigilar Betty keeps an eye
care of, watch, look after on my sons for me. I’ll keep
an eye on you!
keep a straight face — not mantener la cara seria I tried to keep a straight
to laugh face, but failed.
keep company — hacer compañía She keeps me company
accompany quite often.
keep one’s word — fulfill mantener la palabra You promised, now keep
a promise your word.
keep someone posted — mantener a alguien Keep me posted about your
inform al tanto / informado plans.
keep your fingers cruzar los dedos I have a job interview today.
crossed — hope that Keep your fingers crossed
nothing will go wrong for me, will you?
kill time — fill/spend empty matar el tiempo I went to the show to kill
time time.
(not) know the first thing no saber nada acerca de I don’t know the first thing
about — not to have any about nuclear physics.
knowledge about
know the ropes — be very estar al tanto He knows all the ropes
familiar with some business in this company.
last-minute notice — little noticia de útimo minuto His arrival was a last-minute
or no time to prepare for notice, we didn’t have time
something to prepare for it.
lay one’s cards on the poner las cartas sobre Finally, we asked him to lay
table — be frank and open la mesa; ser sincero his cards on the table and
y abierto tell us about his plans.
lay one’s life on the poner la vida en juego, He laid his life on the line
line — put oneself arriesgar la vida to fulfill this task, but nobody
in a dangerous situation appreciated his efforts.
lead a dog’s life — live llevar una vida de perros He leads a dog’s life.
in misery
lead someone on — make engañar, hacer a alguien They suspect that you are
someone believe creer que es cierto leading them on. You led
something that isn’t true me on!
leave it at that — accept dejar las cosas como son Leave it at that, what else
reluctantly can you do?
leave word — leave dejar un mensaje He left word for you to meet
a message him at the airport at 6.
let bygones lo pasado, pasado está Why don’t you let bygones
be bygones — forget and be bygones and forget
forgive bad things in the about what he said?
past
let go of — release the soltar, dejar ir Let go of my hand or I’ll call
hold the guard.
let (it) go — forget bad dejarlo ir, superar malas He’s still in despair and
experience, return experiencias can’t let (it) go. You can’t
to normal life change anything, so let
it go.
let one’s hair down — soltarse la melena, She is always so formal.
be relaxed and informal echarse una cana al aire, She never lets her hair
with other people relajarse down.
let someone down — quedar mal con alguien, Don’t let me down this time!
disappoint, fail someone decepcionar a alguien
let someone know — notificar, informar Let me know when you find
inform a job.
like father, like son — de tal palo, tal astilla Paul won a prize in a chess
be like one’s parent tournament. Great! Like
in something father, like son!
little by little — step poco a poco Little by little, he got used
by step to Tokyo.
look for — search for buscar What are you looking for?
look forward to — expect esperar con impaciencia I’m looking forward to your
with pleasure letter. Mary is looking
forward to the party.
look out — be careful, tener cuidado Look out! The bus
watch out is coming!
look up — check with buscar (información If you don’t know this word,
/in a dictionary en un diccionario, Internet, look it up in the dictionary.
or a reference book etc.)
lose one’s temper — perder la paciencia, He loses his temper very
become angry enojarse often.
lose one’s way — get lost perder el camino, I lost my way. Can you
perderse help me?
lose track of — not perder el hilo/la pista I lost track of him years ago.
to know where someone
or something is
lucky break — a lucky golpe de suerte He got his lucky break when
chance he got this job.
make a living — earn ganarse la vida He works hard. His family
money to provide for life is big, and he has to make
a living somehow.
make allowance for — tener en cuenta Don’t criticize him so hard,
take into consideration make (an) allowance for his
when judging inexperience.
make a point of — be sure poner empeño en (hacer Make a point of asking
to do something algo); hacer algo about his wife. Make
intentionally intencionalmente; tender it a point to be here by 10.
a/intentar
make ends meet — llegar a fin de mes; His doesn’t get much
to have and spend only sobrevivir con pocos money. I wonder how
what one earns ingresos he manages to make ends
meet.
make friends — become hacer amigos Anton makes new friends
friends easily.
make fun of — laugh at, burlarse de He made fun of her German
joke about accent.
make no bones about no darle más vueltas, I’ll make no bones about it:
it — say/do openly, without no andar por las ramas I don’t like your attitude
hesitation to work.
make room for — allow liberar espacio para We can make room for one
space for more dog.
make sense — be logical tener sentido What you say makes sense.
make the most of smth — sacar lo mejor de Let’s make the most of our
do the best in the given vacation.
situation
make up — become reconciliarse I’m tired of fighting. Let’s
friends again make up.
make up for smth — recompensar I’ll make up for the time you
compensate spent on it.
make up one’s mind — tomar una decisión When will you go? Make
decide up your mind.
make yourself at home — siéntete como en tu casa Come in please. Make
be comfortable, feel yourself at home.
at home
man of his word — one el hombre de palabra You can depend on his
who keeps promises, promise to help. He’s a man
is dependable of his word.
mean well — have good tener buenas intenciones He meant well, but it turned
intentions out that he spoiled a couple
of things for me.
might as well — a good podrías aprovechar I might as well telephone
idea y hacerlo (es buena idea him now.
hacer algo)
missing person — persona desaparecida The little boy disappeared.
someone who is lost and The police registered him
can’t be located as a missing person.
meet someone halfway — encontrar un término He’s reasonable and tries
compromise with others medio to meet his coworkers
halfway, when possible.
never mind — it doesn’t olvídalo, no importa Thank you. — Never mind.
matter
not to mention — sin mencionar We have three dogs, not
in addition to to mention two cats.
no wonder — not no es una sorpresa He ate three big fish.
surprising No wonder he’s sick.
now and again — de vez en cuando I meet them now and again
occasionally at the bank.
odds and ends — restos, pedacitos I needed to buy some odds
a variety of small and ends for the kitchen.
unimportant things
or leftovers
off the cuff — without de improviso, sin Off the cuff, I can give you
preparation preparación previa only a rough estimate.
off the point — beside the no va al caso, fuera What I think about him is off
point de la cuestión the point.
off the record — not for extraoficialmente Strictly off the record, I think
the public, unofficially the director is going to get
married soon.
once and for all — de una vez por todas You must quit smoking once
decidedly and for all.
on credit — not pay cash a crédito He bought a car on credit.
right away
on edge — nervous, nervioso, irritado He’s been on edge ever
irritable since she left.
on guard — on the alert en guardia, alerta He’s cautious and always
on guard.
on hand — available a la mano Do you have a calculator
on hand?
on one’s own — alone, por su cuenta, She likes to live and work
by oneself independientemente on her own.
on one’s toes — alert, alerta He was on his toes and
attentive, prepared for produced a very good
difficulties impression on them.
on purpose — intentionally a propósito, I didn’t do it on purpose,
intencionalmente it just happened so.
on second thought — pensándolo bien I’d like to sit on the aisle.
after thinking again On second thought, I’d like
a window seat.
on the alert — on guard alerta, en guardia He’s cautious and always
on the alert.
on the carpet — called llamar al despacho del Yesterday the boss called
in by the boss for criticism director, llamar her on the carpet for being
la atención, criticar rude to the coworkers.
on the go — busy, on the en marcha, en movimiento He is always on the go.
move
on the off chance — es poco probable pero On the off chance that you
unlikely to happen, but still don’t find him at work,
here’s his home address.
on the other hand — por otro lado I’d like to have a dog.
considering the other side On the other hand, my wife
of the question likes cats better.
on the spot — right there en el mismo sitio I decided to do it on the
spot.
on the spur of the en la euforia del momento He bought this car on the
moment — without spur of the moment, now
previous thought / plan he regrets it.
on time — punctual a tiempo Jim is always on time.
out of one’s mind — crazy loco, fuera de sí If you think so, you’re out
of your mind.
out of one’s way — away desviado del camino, I can’t give you a lift to the
from someone’s usual route fuera del camino bank, it’s out of my way
today.
out of the question — fuera de la cuestión Paying him is out of the
impossible question!
pack rat — a person who acumulador obsesivo Why does she keep all
saves lots of unnecessary those things she never
things uses? — She is a pack rat.
pay attention — prestar atención Pay attention to his words.
be attentive
pick a fight — start empezar una He often tries to pick a fight
a quarrel pelea/discusión with me.
pick up — take, get elegir, recoger I’ll pick you up at 7.
play one’s cards right — jugar bien sus cartas If you play your cards right,
choose the right steps he’ll agree to your plan.
in doing something
potluck supper — una cena en grupo donde You know what happened
a surprise meal, where cada quien trae lo que at our last potluck supper?
nobody knows what dishes quiere Everybody brought
other guests will bring macaroni and cheese,
apples, and beer!
pull oneself together — sobreponerse Stop crying and
brace oneself, summon complaining! You have
your strength to pull yourself together
now.
pull the wool over engañar Are you trying to pull the
someone’s eyes — wool over my eyes? It won’t
deceive, mislead someone do you any good.
put a damper on — poner un freno a She always puts a damper
discourage on my plans.
put in a word for defender a alguien con I’d be very grateful if you
someone — say positive palabras, decir algo bueno could put in a word for
things about someone acerca de alguien me when you speak to him.
put off — postpone posponer Don’t put it off till tomorrow.
put one’s foot down — oponerse fuertemente Her father put his foot down
object strongly when she said she wanted
to marry Alan.
put one’s foot in it — meter la pata; decir /hacer He put his foot in it when
do the wrong thing, make algo estúpido he told the boss his
a fool of oneself daughter wasn’t pretty.
put up with — accept, aguantar, tolerar I can’t put up with your bad
tolerate work!
quite a bit of — much, mucho I had quite a bit of trouble
a lot of with that car.
quite a few — many, a lot muchos He wrote quite a few good
of stories.
rack one’s brain — try esforzar el cerebro He racked his brain to solve
hard to think the puzzle.
read between the lines — leer entre líneas His books are not easy
find or understand the to understand; you have
implied meaning to read between the lines.
remember me to — say enviar saludos Please remember
hello to me to your family.
right away — immediately de inmediato It’ very important
to do it right away.
ring a bell — remind se parece a algo, luce Annabel Lee? Yeah, it rings
someone of something familiar a bell, but I can’t place
familiar /half-forgotten it right now.
rock the boat — make the causar problemas, Peter always rocks the boat
situation unstable desestabilizar una when we discuss
situación company’s spending policy.
rub shoulders with — codearse He doesn’t rub shoulders
meet with with the rich.
rub someone the wrong irritar, molestar a alguien His remarks rub many
way — irritate, annoy, coworkers the wrong way.
make angry
run into — meet by chance encontrarse a alguien por I ran into an old friend
casualidad yesterday.
save face — try to change rescatar la reputación He said a stupid thing and
the negative impression tried to save face by saying
produced he misunderstood me.
save one’s breath — stop ahorrarse las palabras There’s no use talking
useless talk to him about his spending
habits, so save your breath.
scratch the surface — no profundizar en el tema, He examines all the facts
study something estudiar de manera closely, he doesn’t just
superficially superficial scratch the surface.
see about — make ocuparse de I have to see about our
arrangements for plane tickets.
see eye to eye — agree compartir un mismo punto We don’t see eye to eye
de vista con alguien any longer.
serve someone right — recibir lo que uno It serves him right that
get what someone se merece he didn’t get this job,
deserves he despised all other
candidates.
serve one’s purpose — servir al propósito I doubt that hiring this man
be useful to someone for de alguien, ser útil para will serve your purpose.
his purpose el propósito de alguien
show promise — mostrar esperanza This young actor shows
be promising promise.
show up — appear aparecer I waited for hours but
he didn’t show up.
size up — evaluate evaluar It took me 5 minutes to size
someone up that man.
sleep on it — postpone posponer algo hasta Don’t decide now, sleep
a decision till next morning la mañana siguiente on it.
a slip of the tongue — error, equivocación, It was just a slip of the
a mistake lapsus tongue!
slip (from) one’s mind — olvidar It slipped my mind what she
forget asked me.
smell a rat — suspect sospechar algo I’m not sure what it is, but I
something smell a rat.
so far — up to now hasta ahora So far, I have read 3 books
by King.
so much the better — it’s aún mejor If he can pay cash, so much
even better the better.
spill the beans — tell soltar la sopa, decir Who spilled the beans
a secret un secreto about our plan?
stand a chance — have tener una oportunidad He doesn’t stand a chance
a chance of getting it.
stand out — be noticeable destacarse He stands out in any group
of people.
stand to reason — ser lógico It stands to reason that
be logical he apologized.
straight from the sin rodeos, abiertamente Don’t try to spare
shoulder — speak frankly my feelings, give
it to me straight from the
 shoulder.
take a dim view tener una opinión negativa My sister takes a dim view
of something — acerca de algo of the way I raise
disapprove of something my children.
take a break — stop for tomar una pausa Let’s take a break, I’m tired.
rest
take advantage of — use aprovecharse de We took advantage of the
for one’s own benefit, low prices and bought
to profit from a computer and a monitor.
take after — be like one parecerse a los padres Tom takes after his father
of the parents in character, and after his
mother in appearance.
take a stand tomar una posición firme People need to take a stand
on something — make respecto a algo on the issue of nuclear
a firm opinion/decision weapons.
on smth.
take care of — look after, cuidar de Can you take care
protect, see that smth. of my dog while I’m away?
is done properly Tom takes good care of his
car.
take hold of something — tomar, sujetar Take hold of this rope and
take, hold pull.
take into account — tomar en cuenta You must take into account
consider smth. her old age.
take it easy — relax, no te preocupes Take it easy, everything will
be calm be OK.
take (it) for granted — dar por sentado Mother’s love is always
accept as given taken for granted
by children.
take one’s breath away dejarlo a uno sin aliento That great view took
my breath away.
take one’s time — tomarte tu tiempo, hacer Don’t hurry. Take your time.
do slowly algo despacio, sin prisa
take one’s word for it — creer en la palabra Take my word for it,
believe de alguien, creerle he won’t go there.
a alguien
take pains — try hard esmerarse He took pains to make his
to do it well report perfect.
take part in smth. — tomar parte, participar Mary is going to take part
participate in in the show.
take place — happen tomar lugar, suceder The accident took place
on Oak Street.
take someone’s mind off distraer a alguien de sus Go to a concert or a movie
things — distract from pensamientos to take your mind off things.
fixed ideas/thoughts
take steps — take action tomar medidas, actuar We need to take steps
/measures against it.
take the words right out quitar las palabras I was about to say the
of one’s mouth — say the de la boca (decir algo que same! You took the words
same before somebody quería decir otra persona) right out of my mouth.
else says it
take time — take a long tomar tiempo It takes time to get used
time to a new place.
take time off — be absent tomar un día libre He took time off to attend
from work the wedding.
take turns — alternate cambiar turnos, hacer We went to Minsk by car.
doing something one after algo por turnos We didn’t get tired because
another we took turns driving
talk back — answer rudely replicar, responder Don’t talk back to the
insolentemente teacher!
talk it over — discuss discutir I’ll talk it over with
my family.
tell apart — see the distinguir Can you tell the twins
difference apart?
That’s just the point. — Este es el punto. That’s just the point! I hate
That’s it. this job!
the writing on the wall — premonición (de algo The plane crashed. Tim
a sign of future events malo) said he saw the writing
(usually, trouble) on the wall about this flight.
not think much of — think tener un concepto bajo I don’t think much of her
low de alguien cooking.
think over — consider pensar en detalle, Think over your answer.
carefully considerar Think it over carefully.
till one is blue in the esforzarse demasiado I repeated it till I was blue
face — try hard in the face!
to make a long story en pocas palabras To make a long story short,
short — in short we won.
to say the least — to make para no decir más The film was boring and
the minimum comment long, to say the least.
about smth.
try on — put on new probarse (la ropa) Try on this leather coat, it’s
clothes to test them for size very good. She tried it on,
or look but it didn’t fit her at all.
try one’s hand probar algo, probar suerte I want to try my hand
at something — try con algo at painting.
turn on / off — switch on / encender/apagar Turn on the radio. Turn off
off the water.
turn out to be — resultar He turned out to be a very
result/end this way good actor.
turn over a new leaf — empezar de nuevo, hacer He promises to turn over
make a fresh start in life, borrón y cuenta nueva a new leaf and quit alcohol
work, etc. for good.
turn the tide — reverse the cambiar el curso de los The new evidence turned
course of events eventos the tide, and the defendant
was acquitted of charges.
twist one’s arm — make retorcer brazos, obligar They twisted his arm to sell
to agree a alguien a hacer algo the house.
en contra de su voluntad
under the weather — feel resfriado I’m a little under the weather
ill today.
up-and-coming — prometedor He is an up-and-coming
showing promise of future young lawyer who might
success help you with your case.
up in arms — hostile to, protestar, estar en contra The employees are
in strong protest against up in arms about the new
something retirement rules.
up in the air — undecided colgado en el aire, My vacation plans are still
indefinido up in the air.
up to par — equal adecuado y normal His behavior isn’t up to par.
in standard
used to — did often in the solía (hacer algo) I used to play the piano
past, but not now when I was in school (but I
don’t play it now).
walk on air — be very estar en las nubes, estar He got the job and
happy muy feliz is walking on air now.
waste one’s breath — esforzarse en vano Don’t waste your breath
speak uselessly, trying to make him do it,
to no purpose he won’t change his mind.
watch one’s step — tener cuidado, ser Watch your step!
be careful cauteloso
watch out — look out, tener cuidado Watch out for that car!
be careful Watch out!
wet blanket — a kill-joy, aguafiestas Remember what a wet
who spoils everybody’s fun blanket he was last time?
Please don’t invite him
again.
What’s the matter? — ¿Qué pasa? What’s the matter? What
What is it? happened?
which way the wind cuál es la situación real He knows which way the
blows — what the real (en qué dirección sopla wind blows and always acts
situation is el viento) accordingly.
white lie — unimportant lie mentira piadosa A white lie is told to spare
your feelings.
word for word — in the literalmente Tell me word for word what
same words he said.
would rather — prefer preferir I’d rather stay at home
today.