5 Phrasal verbs in Spanish (Mexican Slang)

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Today’s phrasal verb is “ECHAR” this has a literal translation, which would be “TO THROW”, but depends on how you use it. Not all the expressions have translation, but we see this as an opportunity to stop translating when learning a new language, read the phrasal verbs, do your research, understand it and let it flow naturally.

It has many different meanings, you will find this as an idiom, but I call it a phrasal verb because you’re going to use the same verb with different words, so this is basically a phrasal verb.

First one would be “ECHARLE GANAS” (Remember to watch the video to listen to pronunciation). So, this doesn’t have a translation, but the meaning would be “TO CHEER UP”. In a school context, it may be to study hard or work related, it may be to work hard.

So, an example in a phrase would be “Yo tengo examen mañana, voy a ECHARLE GANAS“ – “I have an exam tomorrow, I need to study hard/do my best/work hard”. In this case we can express a similar meaning.

Also, when someone is down and you want to cheer them up, you may say “ECHALE GANAS”. It doesn’t have a proper translation, but literally is like saying “Come on, cheer up”.

Next one is “ECHAR FLOJERA”, which is super informal, so don’t use it at work. It is use it when you want to express a lazy mood, not being that productive.

This is a very common phrase, at least in Mexico (depending on the region you are) and you may hear a very similar phrase, which is “ECHAR HUEVA” however, this is even MORE informal than “ECHAR FLOJERA” so be careful, some people may consider it rude.

For example, you may hear something like “Hoy no tengo ganas de hacer nada, ECHARÉ FLOJERA” and it’s really hard to encapsulate everything that this phrase means. A good interpretation would be the Lazy song from Bruno Mars, “ECHAR FLOJERA” is that song. But attempting to translate the phrase, it would be like “Today I don’t feel like doing anything, I’ll just be lazy”, kind of the same.

Next we have “ECHAR DE MENOS” – “To miss someone or something” and this goes from memories, to a friend, lovers, etcetera. We also have “EXTRAÑAR” which is the same, miss something, someone or even memories.

An example would be “Mi amiga se fue de Mexico, la ECHO DE MENOS” – “My friend left Mexico, I miss her” as you may see, this one does have a translation.

Now, for the last phrase, we have “ECHAR EN CARA” and the translation is “Rub in someone’s face” for something that they did for you or viceversa.

So, those were the four phrasal verbs that we have for you today “ECHARLE GANAS”, “ECHAR FLOJERA” “ECHAR DE MENOS” and “ECHAR EN CARA”.

Remember that… If you’d like to start learning Spanish from scratch, we do have Spanish classes for you! Either you want to study Spanish in Tijuana or online Spanish classes.

I hope you find this very useful you can use them in your context or in your next trip to Mexico. Take care and see you next time, bye!

If you want to start to learn Spanish online, here’s a program we created for you: