From 'I love you' to 'madrugar': know some of the words in Spanish that have no translation into English

According to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), Spanish has more than 88,000 words, making it one of the richest languages in the world. In fact, their linguistic diversity is such that there are terms that do not have an exact translation into English. Therefore, within the framework of World Spanish Language Day, which is celebrated every April 23, we tell you what some of these peculiar words are.

This list must be started with one of the most used words in Spanish to express affection for someone: 'I love you'. Although in English the closest term is 'I love you', the reality is that there is no exact equivalence that makes it possible to distinguish between the feeling of loving or feeling affection for someone to loving a person.

The same goes for 'cloying', a word that Spanish-speakers use to refer to a food that is too sweet or to a person who expresses his affection for someone too much. The truth is that in English the most similar way to express that feeling would be by using 'Too sweet'.

And what happens when we are in a relationship and we want to refer to our 'in-laws' or 'brothers-in-laws' in English? Like the other terms, there is no precise one with which English speakers designate that degree of kinship.

According to a CNN publication, compound words should be used in English to indicate that there are such links between two people. This is how, depending on the gender you want to refer to, you should say: 'father in law' or 'mother in law' (for father-in-law or mother-in-law), or 'brother in law' and 'sister in law' (for brother-in-law or sister-in-law).

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And, speaking of relationships, if we want to indicate in English that we are in a 'friends' relationship with someone, that is, a bond of “less formal commitment than a courtship” according to the RAE, Spanish speakers will not find an exact translation either.

The same article on the American television network explained that the word that could be used is 'friends with benefits' which, although in Spanish translates “friends with benefits”, is not the same as amigovios.

If we talk about words that are much more used in daily life such as' late 'or 'get up early', when we mean that a person spent the night awake or that he has to get up early to do his work, in English they will have to use three or four terms: 'stay up late' or 'be out all night' , according to CNN.

The same thing happens with the verb 'merendar', which, according to the newspaper El Español, refers to eating something about mid-afternoon of the day to satisfy the stomach before dinner. In this case, the word similar to the 'snack' would be 'snack'.

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The word list continues with 'brand new', a word that Spanish speakers usually use to indicate that we will be wearing some element or dressing up in some clothes for the first time. In English, according to the Spanish media, the phrase would be used: 'I'm wearing it for the first time'.

Other terms, which do not have an English translation, are: 'shame or sorrow', which explains the discomfort or rejection one feels about another person's embarrassing or erroneous actions. 'I feel embarrassed for her/him' would be the closest expression, said El Español. For its part, the word 'tutear', which we use in Spanish to address someone from 'you' and not 'you', does not exist for English speakers.

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