Voices en Español

A frequent verbal crutch (muletilla) for English speakers is the word “thing”. We use it everywhere and it is a great all-purpose word that is particularly handy when we either can’t or don’t want to specify the “thing” we’re talking about. So when English speakers speak Spanish, we tend to translate “thing” directly as “cosa” in all situations (la buena cosa, la mala cosa, etc.), even though there is a better way.

Here’s a quick tip: Use the Spanish pronoun “lo” + an adjective and, voíla, you are expressing the same “thing” but in a more efficient manner.

For example:

Juan ha encontrado trabajo. Lo bueno es que ahora puede comprarse un coche nuevo. Lo malo es que tiene que madrugar todos los días para llegar a tiempo. (John has found a job. The good thing is that now he can buy himself a new car. The bad thing is that he has to get up early every day to arrive on time.)

Lo maravilloso de Sevilla es sus barrios. Lo pesado es que a veces cuesta encontrar un taxi. (The wonderful thing about Seville is its neighborhoods. The annoying thing is that at times it is hard to find a taxi.)