1. ¡Olé!
Translation: Well done!
OK, to me, there’s nothing more Spanish than Olé! The Spanish may not be too proud of me for choosing this as the first one on the list of Typical Spanish Expressions, since it is used in the bullfighting context (when the bullfighter performs well), and not all Spanish people are in favor of it. Nevertheless, this expression is very common in Spain, especially in the south (Andalucía). You can use it if you think someone deserves an applause, if someone sings well for example, at a sports match etc.
When my Spanish students pass an important exam, I always exclaim: ”Oléee!”
You may want to keep in mind that this expression can be used in an ironic way as well. For example, if someone wants to impress you by doing a cartwheel but falls, you can say ”¡Olé!”. Not that it ever happened to me *looks away*.
2. ¡Vale!
Translation: OK/ OK?
¿Vale? Vale, vale.
If you hear ”vale” being repeated multiple times, both as a question as an answer, FEAR NOT – all is well. Vale is the Spanish equivalent of okay or yeah.
-I’ll call you at 3.
-¡Vale!
Feel free to use it when you want to confirm something, in the same way as you’d use OK or All right.
It’s interesting that vale comes from ”valer”, grammatically speaking. Valer means to be worth, hence expressions such as: vale la pena/it’s worth it.
3. ¡Vaya!
Translation: Damn/Wow
Vaya is the Spanish equivalent of Damn/Wow/ Well well well. It can be used to express surprise or sadness/shock. Example:
¡Vaya! Y yo que pensé que eran mis amigos.
Damn! And I thought they were my friends
Another example is:
¡Vaya! Cuanto tiempo sin vernos.
Wow! We haven’t seen each other in so long.
4. ¡Qué Guay!
Translation: Awesome/Cool
¿Vamos a la playa? ¡Qué Guay!
We’re going to the beach! Awesome!
Guay can also be used as an adjective, for example:” Tu camiseta es muy guay!” (Your t-shirt is very cool)
5. Tío/tía
Translation: Guy/Girl
The literal translation would be aunt.
-Tía, escucha…
-Ummm I’m not your aunt!
However, in Spain, tía/tío also means ”girl/guy” and is used informally.
6.¡Anda ya!
Translation: Come on!/ I don’t believe you
This one is used to express disbelief and is the English equivalent of ”You’re kidding” or ”Come on”.
For example, your friend has just told you he’s won the lottery, you can tell him: ”¡Anda ya!”
By the way, don’t forget to study these words in the proper context, such as the one I provided in the example sentences. This is essential because you can’t just expect your brain to retain something that doesn’t make sense. Read more about why I don’t recommend learning a list of words by heart here.
If you’d like to see more examples, look the words up on Word Reference.
Hope you liked my list of 6 typical Spanish expressions, if so – ¡QUÉ GUAY!✌
