echar una mano
Literally to throw a hand
Means to help someone out
English idiom lend a hand
Example ¿Me echas una mano con las maletas?
Can you give me a hand with the suitcases?
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 26 most common Spanish idioms, ranked by how often you will actually meet them, each with its literal translation, real meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Spanish idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, echar una mano literally means "to throw a hand" but is used to mean to help someone out. This free page ranks the 26 most common Spanish idioms by how often you meet them, each with its literal translation, meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation.
All 26 idioms, most common first.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
echar una mano
Literally to throw a hand
Means to help someone out
English idiom lend a hand
Example ¿Me echas una mano con las maletas?
Can you give me a hand with the suitcases?
tomar el pelo
Literally to take the hair
Means to tease someone by telling them something untrue
English idiom pull someone's leg
Example ¿Me estás tomando el pelo?
Are you pulling my leg?
meter la pata
Literally to put the paw in
Means to make an embarrassing mistake
English idiom put your foot in it
Example Metí la pata al olvidar su cumpleaños.
I put my foot in it by forgetting her birthday.
estar en las nubes
Literally to be in the clouds
Means to be distracted and not paying attention
English idiom have your head in the clouds
Example No me escuchas, siempre estás en las nubes.
You don't listen to me, you're always daydreaming.
ir al grano
Literally to go to the grain
Means to deal with the essential part of a matter without preamble
English idiom get to the point
Example Déjate de rodeos y ve al grano.
Stop going round in circles and get to the point.
no pegar ojo
Literally to not stick an eye
Means to not manage to sleep at all
English idiom not sleep a wink
Example Con el ruido de la fiesta no pegué ojo en toda la noche.
With the noise from the party I didn't sleep a wink all night.
estar hasta las narices
Literally to be up to the nostrils
Means to be completely fed up with something or someone
English idiom be fed up to the back teeth
Example Estoy hasta las narices de sus excusas.
I'm fed up to the back teeth with his excuses.
Note Informal but not offensive; the same pattern has much cruder versions, so this is the safe one to use.
costar un ojo de la cara
Literally to cost an eye of the face
Means to be very expensive
English idiom cost an arm and a leg
Example El coche nuevo me costó un ojo de la cara.
The new car cost me an arm and a leg.
ponerse las pilas
Literally to put in one's batteries
Means to start making a real effort
English idiom get your act together
Example Tienes que ponerte las pilas si quieres aprobar.
You need to get your act together if you want to pass.
estar hecho polvo
Literally to be made dust
Means to be completely exhausted or emotionally drained
English idiom be wiped out
Example Después del trabajo estoy hecho polvo.
After work I'm completely wiped out.
Note The adjective agrees with the speaker, so a woman says estoy hecha polvo.
llover a cántaros
Literally to rain in pitchers
Means to rain very heavily
English idiom rain cats and dogs
Example No salgas ahora, está lloviendo a cántaros.
Don't go out now, it's raining cats and dogs.
por si las moscas
Literally in case of the flies
Means just in case, as a precaution
Example Llévate el paraguas, por si las moscas.
Take the umbrella with you, just in case.
Note Chatty and informal; in writing or formal speech use plain por si acaso.
por los pelos
Literally by the hairs
Means only just, with almost no margin to spare
English idiom by the skin of your teeth
Example Aprobé el examen por los pelos.
I passed the exam by the skin of my teeth.
dar en el clavo
Literally to hit on the nail
Means to be exactly right about something
English idiom hit the nail on the head
Example Diste en el clavo con esa idea.
You hit the nail on the head with that idea.
tirar la toalla
Literally to throw the towel
Means to give up on something
English idiom throw in the towel
Example No tires la toalla, ya casi lo consigues.
Don't throw in the towel, you're nearly there.
ser pan comido
Literally to be eaten bread
Means to be very easy
English idiom be a piece of cake
Example El examen fue pan comido.
The exam was a piece of cake.
matar dos pájaros de un tiro
Literally to kill two birds with one shot
Means to solve two problems with a single action
English idiom kill two birds with one stone
Example Si voy en bici al trabajo mato dos pájaros de un tiro: ahorro y hago ejercicio.
If I cycle to work I kill two birds with one stone: I save money and I get some exercise.
hablar por los codos
Literally to talk through the elbows
Means to talk far too much
English idiom talk someone's ear off
Example Mi vecina habla por los codos.
My neighbour talks your ear off.
no tener pelos en la lengua
Literally to not have hairs on the tongue
Means to say exactly what you think, without softening it
English idiom not mince your words
Example Ella no tiene pelos en la lengua y dice lo que piensa.
She doesn't mince her words and says what she thinks.
hacer la vista gorda
Literally to make the fat look
Means to pretend not to notice something wrong
English idiom turn a blind eye
Example El profesor hizo la vista gorda con los que llegaron tarde.
The teacher turned a blind eye to those who arrived late.
estar como una cabra
Literally to be like a goat
Means to be completely crazy
English idiom be off your rocker
Example Ese chico está como una cabra.
That guy is off his rocker.
Note Informal and usually affectionate rather than insulting, and heard mostly in Spain.
quedarse de piedra
Literally to be left of stone
Means to be left stunned by something you hear or see
Example Me quedé de piedra al oír la noticia.
I was stunned when I heard the news.
ser uña y carne
Literally to be fingernail and flesh
Means to be inseparable, said of very close friends
English idiom be joined at the hip
Example Esos dos son uña y carne desde el colegio.
Those two have been joined at the hip since school.
irse por las ramas
Literally to go off along the branches
Means to wander off the subject instead of answering
English idiom beat about the bush
Example No te vayas por las ramas y dime qué pasó.
Stop beating about the bush and tell me what happened.
la media naranja
Literally the half orange
Means the person who is a perfect match as a partner
English idiom your other half
Example Después de tantos años, por fin encontró a su media naranja.
After all those years, he finally found his other half.
Note Warm and a little playful, used about a partner or spouse, sometimes half jokingly.
buscarle tres pies al gato
Literally to look for three feet on the cat
Means to make something needlessly complicated, or to look for problems that are not there
Example No le busques tres pies al gato, es muy sencillo.
Don't overcomplicate it, it's very simple.
Note You will also hear the older variant buscarle cinco pies al gato with the same meaning.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Echar una mano comes out as "to throw a hand", which makes no sense until you know it means to help someone out.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Spanish sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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The most common Spanish idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with echar una mano, tomar el pelo, meter la pata, estar en las nubes, ir al grano. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This page lists 26 of them with meanings and example sentences.
In Spanish, "echar una mano" translates literally as "to throw a hand", but it actually means to help someone out. The closest English idiom is "lend a hand". Example: ¿Me echas una mano con las maletas? ("Can you give me a hand with the suitcases?")
The Spanish equivalent is "echar una mano", literally "to throw a hand". Example: ¿Me echas una mano con las maletas? ("Can you give me a hand with the suitcases?")
In Spanish, an idiom is called modismo, and a proverb is refrán. A modismo (also called a frase hecha) is a fixed expression that slots into a sentence, while a refrán is a complete saying, often rhymed, that passes on traditional advice.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Echar una mano translates literally as "to throw a hand", yet it means to help someone out. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Spanish with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.