Author: Maria del Mar Pérez

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Improving language

Spanish Christmas Words and Capitalisation Tips

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Claves del Uso de Mayúsculas en Español en Navidad | iScribo

The most festive time of the year is approaching and any Spanish Christmas you write must be up to the task.

Today iScribo shows you the best Spanish Christmas words and greetings without making the typical mistakes during this time of year.

Common Nouns and Adjectives in Lowercase

All adjectives are written in lowercase, even if it is Christmas! Bear in mind that all words have to follow the standard grammatical rules, for example, at the beginning of a sentence or after a full stop, in that case, the word has to be capitalised.

We say “feliz Navidad” (Merry Christmas) and “próspero Año Nuevo” (Happy New Year).

The adjective “navideño” is also written in lowercase.

El equipo de iScribo os desea una feliz Navidad y un próspero Año Nuevo.

(The iScribo team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.)

Esperamos que en las festividades navideñas seáis muy felices.

(We hope you will be very happy during the Christmas holidays.)

Navidad o navidad?

The names of festivities are written in capital letters as they are proper nouns and have to follow the rules of the Spanish Academy (RAE).

When we talk about the period of the festivity, it is possible to write it in lowercase:

Recuerda estas navidades que, si bebes, mejor ir en taxi y no conducir.

(Remember this Christmas that, if you drink, it is better to take a taxi and not to drive.)

We would then write Navidad (Christmas), Año Nuevo (New Year) and Nochevieja (New Year’s Eve).

Me he comprado un vestido rojo para Nochebuena.

(I bought a red dress for Christmas Eve.)

Al Fin de Año lo llamamos Nochevieja.

(We call New Year’s Eve Nochevieja.)

Proper Nouns, Capitalised

Niño Jesús and Jesús are proper nouns, so they should be written with a capital letter.

As for the plural, it is formed according to the rules for compound nouns, so it would be Niños Jesús and not Niños Jesuses.

The same applies to Papá Noel, which we would write in the plural Papás Noel and not Papás Noeles.

However, if we talk about the most Christmas-like man internationally as an ornament or as a doll, we will write it all together and in lower case, as it is a common noun:

Hay un concurso de papanoeles en el centro.

(There is a Santa’s contest in the city centre.)

Avoid Anglicisms

Let’s take care of Spanish language! Use Spanish words whenever you can.

For Christmas, we write a tarjeta de Navidad and not a Christmas or a crismas.

The same goes for Father Christmas, who is called Papá Noel, San Nicolás, Santa Claus, Santa Clos or Viejito Pascuero, depending on which Spanish-speaking country you are in. However, we will not say Santa Klaus or Papa Noël.

Esperamos la llegada de Papá Noel con mucha ilusión.

(We await the arrival of Father Christmas with great excitement.)

iScribo and Christmas Vocabulary Words in Spanish

There are many other writing tips to improve your writing, such as writing Nochebuena y Nochevieja as one word, which although they can be written as two separate words, is highly recommended to write them as one.

There are also other interesting expressions that you can learn en vísperas (while we wait for) Christmas Eve. No one better than the Fundéu and the RAE to guide you through the process. Remember that iScribo helps you to use capital letters correctly and improve your Christmas writing for when you want to wish your loved ones the best Christmas greetings.

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IA and iScribo

Artificial Intelligence and the Christmas Lottery

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Inteligencia Artificial en la Lotería de Navidad | iScribo

Spaniards have been buying Christmas lottery tickets for months in the hope of winning the Christmas lottery jackpot that is coming soon. Normally, people choose a number that looks nice or a date that is special, but can artificial intelligence guess the numbers that are most likely to win? How do lottery algorithms work? Can you use algorithms to predict lottery numbers?

In other blog posts we have discussed how artificial intelligence improves our daily lives and how it makes our spelling and grammar checker work. New technologies are the order of the day, even in events that we had always considered completely traditional.

Discover today with iScribo how artificial intelligence and the luck factor can make you dream on a day with more than two hundred years of tradition.

What is the Christmas Lottery in Spain?

It is actually called the Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad and is what unofficially marks the start of Christmas in Spain.

The most exciting time of the year starts on 22 December every year in Madrid. The “gordo” – which is what the main prize is called, and yeah it means “the fat one” as an appreciative nickname, is four million euros to be shared out among those lucky enough to have the winning number, i.e. for every euro you bet, you would win an extra twenty thousand. There are a number of secondary prizes that are not bad either and could make every person very happy.

I don’t know anyone from Spain who doesn’t play at least one decimo, which is the lottery ticket. It is also very common to look forward to the long-awaited Christmas lottery advertisement a few weeks before the big day.

Artificial Intelligence Lottery Analysis

The Christmas lottery is a game of chance and, like all games of chance, it is based on statistics and algorithms through the study of big data.

Are artificial intelligence lottery predictions a real thing? We are sorry to say no, it is mostly a matter of luck. However, artificial intelligence is used to make patterns of users, which numbers tend to sell out first, in which months we prefer to buy and which number endings are most likely to be drawn. Not to mention that it is also used to connect all the lottery sales administrations on the day of the draw.

We’ll tell you where artificial intelligence works wonders: in sports. The macro data of each athlete helps us to draw a fairly reliable trend. Therefore, artificial intelligence is used in other types of lotteries such as sports results.

How can Artificial Intelligence Help Us?

We have already seen that it is impossible for artificial intelligence to tell us which numbers to choose to win the lottery, but we can benefit from it for other things. After all, the lottery is advertised as the most exciting day of the year, where the main objective is to share if you win the prize. Nice values, isn’t it?

For example, artificial intelligence reduces the risk of fraud in games of chance. Applied to the Christmas lottery, it means that the ball of the draw has the same dimensions and weighs the same, so it is very difficult for someone to take advantage of a failed ball to win the draw. These tedious processes used to be manual and consumed a lot of resources; nowadays it is done in a faster way thanks to the use of new technologies.

AI Corrects your Grammatical Mistakes

We can benefit from technological advances in many aspects of everyday life, such as in the workplace. Nowadays, virtually every profession requires writing skills, whether it’s in emails, reports, administration or marketing departments.

Good writing is your letter of introduction to the world, so you must do your best to ensure that what you write in Spanish is error-free.

iScribo works with artificial intelligence. Its engine feeds in correct Spanish grammar and implements changes to your documents in real-time. Our spelling and grammar checker corrects spelling and grammar mistakes you make unintentionally or through lack of knowledge. Visit our website and discover how to use our tool, you will see that it becomes the Spanish writing assistant you need. Have you tried iScribo yet?

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Spanish as a language

6 Tips for Giving Positive Feedback to a Colleague at Work

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Dar feedback a un compañero es una tarea importante en la motivación de una persona. iScribo te enseña cómo dejar una marca positiva en tu lugar de trabajo.

Constructive feedback at work allows us to pursue a given objective.

Feedback at work helps to understand what is done well at work and what can be improved. If the individual in question improves, it will be reflected in the teamwork.

In this form of a conversation between two employees or between manager and employee, they talk about results, which are not always fruitful, how they were achieved and what repercussions they had. Therefore, it is important to focus on speaking positively to trigger an effective result in the person in question.

Remember that the purpose of constructive feedback is for the employee to be motivated and achieve better work results. Giving feedback is not an easy task, especially because it requires great communication skills on the part of the person in charge of conveying the message.

Today, iScribo shows you what are the best responses to employees in a company.

What is Feedback Useful for?

Giving positive feedback to a colleague is very useful:

– It allows you to improve behaviours.

– It recognizes the employee’s effort and commitment.

– You evaluate the employee’s performance.

– You learn the appraisal from other colleagues.

– You look for solutions for the proposed measures.

– You resolve possible labour conflicts.

– The one we like the most: it can lead to a salary increase.

How to Give a Constructive Feedback

1. Define the objectives:

We start from the assumption that the employee is going to face their appraisal, but we have already learned in the previous section that this does not have to be negative feedback.

Define specific, achievable and result-oriented goals for a specific period of time. They also need to be specific to the job itself so that they are realistic.

2. Plan the meeting in person:

It’s all about making the employee feel valued, so give them the time they deserve. After all, you are investing in the future of the company and its position. Feeling appreciated and valued improves motivation and therefore performance.

Another advantage is that by being face-to-face, the employee can see the body language in the meeting and you can witness their reactions first-hand. This avoids confusion and misunderstandings in most cases.

3. Give examples, always

It is very important to let the employee know with examples what they are doing well and what needs to be improved. Assertive and direct communication is much more effective and makes the employee adopt a receptive attitude. This will make them react positively and stimulate their motivation.

4. Use the “sandwich technique“

The importance of assertiveness is underestimated. The message will always be the same, the impact of the message will vary depending on how you deliver it.

This technique tries to ensure that negative criticism is not perceived as such, but as an opportunity to see the things you do well and the ability to improve. It consists of giving sincere praise, followed by negative criticism and ending with a positive proposal.

5. Make feedback an ongoing process

Employees need to feel that they are constantly valued and evaluated so that talent management is progressive and systematic. Visual support always helps the message and progress to sink in more quickly and effectively with employees.

6. Emphasise the employee’s strengths

It doesn’t help to know that you make the same mistakes over and over again, but it does produce a positive result to remind the employee of the skills they are best at. Think of it as a learning plan with improvement as a result.

If the employee does some things wrong, you can offer support through training or with the help of other colleagues.

Honesty in the Team

Honesty and real facts help the most as a method of giving feedback about a colleague. Everyone needs a pat on the back from time to time to improve motivation and performance at work.

At iScribo we believe in good work practices, so having top-notch communication is essential in a good work environment. With our spelling and grammar checker you can learn many aspects of Spanish while improving your writing. Visit our website and find out how to use our tool.

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Writing in Spanish

10 Homonym Words in Spanish for Every Now & Then

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Si quieres saber a qué llamamos palabras homónimas y aprender algunos ejemplos, no te pierdas esta entrada de iScribo. Escribe mejor en español hoy mismo.

Homonyms in Spanish language are words that are pronounced the same or in a very similar way but are spelled differently.

They are divided into homophones, which are those that are pronounced the same but their spelling and meaning are different, and homographs, which are spelled and pronounced the same but their meaning is different. Here are some Spanish homonyms and examples to help you understand them.

5 Homophone Words

1. Astaand hasta

Asta is a noun and means “horn”, like that of the bull, and it can be as well the “mast” of the flags.

Ese toro tiene un asta muy afilada, el ganadero debe tener cuidado. (That bull has a very sharp horn, the rancher should be careful.)

La bandera está a media asta en señal de duelo. (The flag is at half-mast as a sign of mourning.)

Hasta, is a preposition and indicates the final limit of a trajectory in time and space.

Hoy trabajaré hasta que me canse. (Today I will work until I feel tired.)

2. Bello and vello

The first word is an adjective and indicates that something is beautiful or pretty:

Qué bello el final de la película. (How beautiful the end of the film.)

The second word is a noun synonymous with short, soft hair on the human body or on fruit:

El melocotón me da dentera por su vello. (The peach gives me chills because of its fuzz.)

3. Hora and ora

Hora is a noun used as a measure of time, although it has several meanings:

Sesenta minutos hacen una hora. (Sixty minutes make an hour.)

Ora is distributive conjunction meaning “now” and is also a conjugation of the verb “orar”:

Ora ríe, ora llora. (Now they laugh, now they cry.)

Ora, que estamos en misa. (Pray, so we are at Mass.)

4. Naval and nabal

Naval is an adjective relating to navigation and nabal is another adjective pertaining or relating to turnips:

La flota naval está expuesta en el puerto. (The fleet is on display in the harbour.)

El campo nabal está listo para la recolección. (The nabal field is ready for harvesting.)

5. Sabia and savia

Sabia is an adjective indicating “wisdom” and savia is a noun meaning the liquid of plants.

Jaime es una persona muy sabia. (Jaime is a very wise person.)

El árbol tiene un corte y se le ve la savia. (The tree has a cut and you can see the sap.)

5 Homograph Words

6. Amo

It can be the first person of the verb “amar” or the noun synonymous with “owner”:

Te amo más que a mí misma. (I love you more than I love myself.)

El amo de ese perro debe estar cerca. (The owner of that dog must be nearby.)

7. Clavo

In both cases it is a noun, one is a piece of metal and the other is a cooking spice:

Dame el clavo que cuelgue el cuadro. (Give me the nail so I can hung the picture.)

A esta carne le pega el sabor del clavo. (This meat should be flavoured with cloves.)

8. Gato

Defines two completely different nouns. One is the animal and the other is the mechanical tool.

El gato de Marina es siamés. (Marina’s cat is a Siamese.)

Para cambiar la rueda necesitas un gato. (To change the wheel you need a jack.)

9. Pasta

Two different nouns to express food or as a colloquial synonym for “money”:

Hoy comemos pasta con pesto. (Today we are eating pasta with pesto.)

No tengo pasta para pagar el cine. (I don’t have money to pay for the movies.)

10. Vino

Can be the noun defining the alcoholic beverage made from grapes or the verb “venir” conjugated:

Me encanta el vino tinto. (I love red wine.)

Marta vino a jugar al tenis. (Marta came to play tennis.)

Practise with iScribo

With our spelling and grammar checker you can learn many aspects of the Spanish language while improving your writing for work or personal reasons. Visit our website and find out how to use our tool.

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Culture around Spanish language

The Importance of the Olive Tree History in Spain

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El olivo en España y su producto estrella, la aceituna u oliva, es fundamental en la dieta mediterránea. Descubre con iScribo el símbolo cultural de este país.

Tell a Spanish that you are going to dress their salad with something other than authentic Spanish olive oil. The situation will probably end in a fierce argument. For the Unesco-endorsed World Olive Day on 26 November, iScribo teaches you some interesting facts about this tree, as well as the importance of olive oil in Spanish culture.

The cultivation of the olive tree has been rooted throughout the Mediterranean for centuries. The climate and terrain of the Mediterranean geography have made it grow in a healthy and fruitful way. There is evidence of the existence of olive tree varieties as far back as 12,000 BC. Its origin is marked by Greek mythology through a Greek legend.

Do you know where the word olivo comes from, and do you know how to form words from its root? Discover some linguistic and grammatical facts in this article and impress your friends with this symbol that Spaniards use and consume with pride.

Jaen, Land of Olive Oil

Spain is the country with the most olive trees in the world. It is normal that in Spain they feel immense pride when talking about their tree, even more so in the south.

Jaen, a province located in Andalusia, is home to the largest number of olive trees in the country. In total, this province yields 586,000 hectares to more than 70 million olive trees, which represents 78% of the province’s agricultural area and 20% of the world’s olive oil production. Such is the euphoria that it is marketed under the name AOVE, extra virgin olive oil.

As if this were not enough, Jaen offers olive oil tastings in almost all its municipalities. Come along, you won’t regret it!

Olive oil is the basic ingredient of the well-known Mediterranean diet, with numerous properties that benefit your health. What’s more, its flavour is unmistakable and adds a taste to food that will make you smile.

Etymology and Curiosities

To understand the history of a word we must look at its etymology. As in all Romance languages, the influence of Latin is more than frequent in Spanish vocabulary. We also have Arabic influence, so many other words derive from this language.

Our star product could not have a longer history, as its etymology comes from both Latin and Arabic, depending on where we are.

If we go to the north of the Iberian Peninsula, we are talking about “olivo” and “oliva”, which come from the Latin olea, which in turn comes from the Greek eala.

On the other hand, the Arabic word for the tree is zaitum, which comes from zait, a common root in Semitic languages. In the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, of course, the word aceituna is used because of the Arabic influence of the word zaytunah.

Lexical Family of Aceite and Olivo

The lexical family of a word is formed by adding prefixes or suffixes to its root or lexeme. From aceite, we find words such as:

– Aceitoso: something that has a lot of oil in it.

– Aceitera: small container with oil, for example for salads.

– Ajoaceite: a sauce based on garlic and olive oil, which in turn is synonymous with alioli.

As for the olivo, we have derived words such as:

– Olivete: small olive tree.

– Olivillo: the same as the previous one, it is a diminutive of olive tree.

– Olivar: field with many olive trees.

– Olivera: synonym of olive.

There are also proper names derived from the olive tree:

– Oliver: is a masculine name meaning “blessed by the olive tree”.

– Olivia: is a feminine name that literally means “olive”, as a symbol of peace. Pretty, isn’t it?

Immerse Yourself in the Culture

Olive oil has been known since ancient times as “liquid gold” because of the benefits of the olive oil and its immense and incomparable attributes. Also, depending on the type of olive, the colour will be more yellowish, almost golden, another reason for the name.

At iScribo we not only take care of the language, but we also make sure that you learn about the culture that revolves around all Spanish-speaking countries so that you increase your love for this language, just like us.

With our spelling and grammar checker, you can practice the use of synonyms and lexical families in real-time. Remember that knowledge is a gift and writing well provides you with countless employment benefits.

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IA and iScribo

Can Humans be Replaced by Machines at Workplace?

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Descubre si las máquinas pueden sustituir a las personas en una empresa con este artículo de iScribo. Te explicamos el papel de la inteligencia artificial.

While it is true that more and more machines and robots are replacing humans in the workplace, we also must consider that advances in technology are improving the conditions and quality of work.

We hear more and more that machines have replaced humans in the workplace and that jobs that were once for people are now for machines. However, few people see that the creation of new jobs resulting from artificial intelligence is increasing and outweighs the number of jobs being lost.

Even if you are still wary about machines and artificial intelligence, today we are going to try to show you some of the benefits they have for you.

iScribo explains how artificial intelligence influences our daily lives and how we can adapt to make the most of it.

Emerging Jobs

Thanks to the development of artificial intelligence, professions that previously did not exist or were not known for their limited role in society have started to become popular in recent decades. These include jobs in robotics engineering, computer software development, such as iScribo’s orthographic and grammar checker, data analysis, and digital transformation specialists.

Many people will argue that we are not all interested in this field or that we are not “good for it” but think about it for a moment – pharmaceutical laboratories exist and not all the people who work in them are biologists, microbiologists or doctors. There are departments that are essential for the development of their activity, such as administration, finance, sales, logistics, reception and cleaning staff and others.

Machines or People?

Machines help us to automate processes and minimise the margin of error, as well as increase organisation, but this does not mean that they can replace human labour.

Take supermarket checkouts as an example. I’m sure you’ve used them, haven’t you? I’m sure at some point in your life you vowed never to use them. That’s OK! We all adapt to the times, don’t feel guilty. Well, these cash registers are replacing the real cashiers, but not completely. There is always one or two people to assist when the machine needs help, such as for alcohol sales to check the customer’s age, or to fix mistakes in item names or if the customer makes a mistake and swipes the same item twice through the barcode reader.

By using the automated checkout, we increase the rate of sales because we generate less queuing, which increases the number of staff working to sell inside or replenish the shelves, for example.

Machines help us to manage processes, but humans provide the knowledge to create these processes. In turn, it is people who make the decisions that ensure that organisations function.

The Costs of Robotics

Another reason to not panic is to think about the costs generated by machines. Many activities performed by intelligent machines are not profitable for companies. One example is the amount of energy some machines need to work and the scarcity of resources we face today.

The cost of technological equipment is not cheap either. Moreover, in most cases, the space needed for machines is infinitely larger than the space needed to locate people, so logistical problems remain a challenge for robotics.

Besides, for a robot to replace a human being, it would have to be able to do many things at once, not just one. Have you ever seen the famous automatic supermarket checkout driving a motorbike? I hope that if the answer is yes, you have a way to prove it!

Collaboration is the Key

The ideal way to contribute to the progress and improve the quality of life at work is to combine human power with artificial intelligence. This is the only way to get the most out of the tasks at hand.

iScribo is a spelling and grammar checker that works thanks to an engine driven by artificial intelligence and a team of linguists, computer scientists and engineers who teach it. Without the teaching of grammatical rules by the team of linguists and the rules and learning patterns of our IT and engineering departments, iScribo would be neither accurate nor fast. Can you imagine sending a document and having it corrected in a couple of days?

Try our tool and discover the magic of combining human talent with artificial intelligence.

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Spanish as a language

20 Spanish Suffixes To Sound Like a True Native Speaker

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La lista de sufijos en español es inmensa. Hay tantos sufijos como variantes geográficas, y nos ayudan a expresar sentimientos y a formar familias de palabras.

What are suffixes in Spanish? You might be wondering… Well, they are grammatical elements that are added to the end of the lexical root of a word to form a derivative. Thanks to suffixes we can create word families, for example, from an adjective to a noun (feliz – felicidad), from a verb to a noun (crear – creación).

Suffixes also help us to express feelings and emotions of all kinds, for example: ¡Qué bonico!

They usually come from Latin and Greek.

There are different types of suffixes in Spanish, as many as there are cities, as their use has a marked geographical tendency. Learn today the types of appreciative suffixes with iScribo.

Augmentative Suffixes in Spanish

They are part of the appreciative suffixes and are used to indicate greater size:

1. -ón/a: cabezona, moratón (big head, big bruise)

2. -ote/a: gordote, altota (very fat, very tall)

3. -azo/a: ojazos, montonazo, tenaza (big eyes, many things, big tongs)

4. -arrón/a: nubarrón, mozarrona (storm cloud, big woman -colloquial-)

5. -ullón/a: grandullón, grandullona (big man, big woman)

Diminutive Suffixes in Spanish

They indicate a smaller size or less affection:

6. -ajo: pequeñajo, boscajo (little one, grove)

7.  -ecito/a: pececito, florecita (little fish, little flower)

8. -illo/a: tonelillo, mariposilla (little cask, little butterfly)

9. -ico/a: bonico, casica (handsome, cosy house)

10. -zuelo/a: cazuela, pozuelo (casserole, bowl)

Derogatory Suffixes in Spanish

They add negative or contemptuous connotations:

11. -acho: poblacho, hilacho (ugly village, loose thread)

12. -ato/a: niñata, cegato (rude girl, sightless)

13. ucho/a: delgaducho, casucha (scrag, unwelcoming house)

14. uzo/a: gentuza, merluzo (bad people, silly person)

15. -aco/a: pajarraco, berraca (big ugly bird, upset person)

Other Types of Suffixes in Spanish

We have the inflectional suffixes, which indicate grammatical inflections:

16. -o/a: maestro, maestra (indicates gender – ‘teacher’)

17. -ndo: cantar and cantando, coser and cosiendo (indicates gerund mood from the infinitive form – ‘sing’ and ‘singing’, ‘sew’ and ‘sewing’)

There are also derivational suffixes, which we can use to form word families:

18. -ísimo/a: rápido and rapidísimo, contenta and contentísima (adjectives that come from other adjectives – ‘fast’ and ‘very fast’, ‘happy’ and ‘very happy’)

19. -ente: dormir and durmiente, vivir and viviente (adjectives that come from verbs – ‘sleep’ and ‘sleepy’, ‘live’ and ‘living’)

20. -ría: tonto and tontería (nouns that come from adjectives – ‘silly’ and ‘nonsense’)

Search for Words and ACTION!

Suffixes follow the rules of coherence. Bear in mind that a person from Extremadura will say ¡qué pequeñino! (how little!) and a person from Andalusia will say ¡qué pequeñito!

Both people are expressing the same thing but with the most frequent suffixes of their land. Imagine if we include the rest of the Spanish-speaking countries.

Don’t be discouraged by the formation of suffixes, yes, we know there are a lot of them, but they are also the most flexible grammatical part of Spanish. Remember that diversity is richness.

You can practice the suffixes with iScribo’s orthographic and grammar checker to learn new possibilities and correct the ones you are using incorrectly. Check it out with our artificial intelligence-based tool.

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Culture around Spanish language

Complete Guide to the Day of the Dead in Mexico

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La Tradición del Día de los Muertos en México | iScribo

The Day of the Dead in Mexico is an indigenous tradition whose roots go back to pre-Hispanic times. It is a joyous festival dominated by homemade costumes and involves the transitory return of the souls of the dead. They return to the world of the living, to the homes of their relatives, to nourish themselves with the food offered to them on the altars lovingly set up in their honour.

The Day of the Dead is a celebration of life, to use the antithesis. This popular tradition encompasses several material and philosophical meanings in which the main thing is to bring the family together and pay homage to those who are no longer with us.

Origin of the Festivity

The festivity is celebrated on 1st and 2nd November. November 1st is All Saints’ Day for Catholics, so the celebration is dedicated to children or muertos chiquitos, and on November 2nd, some Christian groups celebrate All Souls’ Day, which venerates adults.

The Day of the Dead involves the coexistence of Catholics and indigenous people. On the one hand, the Spanish brought Catholicism to Latin America, and on the other hand, the original indigenous peoples, such as the Zapotecs and Mixtecs, included the concept of veneration of the dead in the Catholic calendar. This date coincides with the end of the cultivation of maize, Mexico’s main crop.

The Altars for the Offering

Tombs and cemeteries are decorated with flowers, sometimes even altars are set up in the same place as in the indigenous culture. In this way, the souls are transcended on the right path after death.

Marigold flowers (called cempasuchil flowers in México) decorate the offerings, ofrendas, on the altars along with papel picado (carved garland), a dish of the food that the loved one liked the most, sugar skull sweets, pan de muerto (Day of the Dead’s bread) and mole. The altars also include a photograph of the loved ones being honoured. Symbolic of the adaptation of the culture to pre-Hispanic times is the inclusion of incense to scent the scene.

A small path of marigolds with candles is also made so that the souls do not get lost in the attempt to reach their families. Marigolds are born in autumn and their orange and yellow petals mark the path that the dead must follow. This flower holds the warmth of the sun and the scent it gives off calls to the souls.

Altars usually have several levels. The two-tiered ones usually recreate earth and heaven, and the three-tiered ones include heaven, earth and purgatory. There is also a seven-tiered version that represents the seven steps to enter the afterlife or the seven deadly sins. Here we have another example of the coexistence of indigenous and Catholic cultures.

Each offering includes elements that correspond to the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. 

Influence Around the World

The Day of Dead’s make-up and homemade costumes have crossed borders and are used in celebrations all over the world. In the United States, Mexican make-up is a staple of Halloween parties.

Mexican culture derived from the Day of Dead has also been reflected in the seventh art with films such as Disney’s Coco and Spectre, from the James Bond franchise.

Millions of tourists flock every year to see how this traditional and unique holiday is celebrated, whether in small towns or in Mexico City, with its parade commemorating the day. Whatever the case, if you are visiting Mexico during these days, always do so with the respect it deserves.

Day of the Dead, a UNESCO Heritage Site  

Since 2008, the Day of the Dead in Mexico has been part of UNESCO’s cultural heritage because of the importance and significance of the festivity, which expresses both contemporary and living traditions, integrates cultures, and is communal and representative. As you can tell, Mexican culture is rich. Don’t forget to use iScribo’s spelling and grammar checker to improve the level of your Spanish documents. iScribo distinguishes between the different variants of Spanish. Check it out with our artificial intelligence-based tool.

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Writing in Spanish

9 Expressions and Idioms in Spanish Easy to Learn

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9 Expresiones y Dichos Populares en Español | iScribo

Spanish language has an endless number of expressions worthy of the most creative minds. Many of these idioms in Spanish have very curious stories that were born in past centuries.

Popular sayings vary from region to region and from country to country – what can we say about the diversity of Spanish! All the variants we appreciate are what make our language so rich and diverse.

Discover different ways of expressing situations like a real Spanish speaker. iScribo explains how to say some everyday Spanish expressions in a vivid way.

Expressions with Household Utensils

1. En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo (the shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot): Apart from Spain, this is a very popular saying in Latin America. It means that someone lacks something they should have. It is also used when children do not follow the same career path as their parents.

— Tú eres profesor de inglés, seguro que hay algún diccionario por aquí.

— ¡No tengo ninguno! En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo.

(You’re an English teacher, I’m sure there’s a dictionary around here somewhere.

I don’t have one! The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.)

2. Irse la olla (to lose your marbles): There are variants such as irse la pinza. Its origin goes back to the time of Louis XV of France, when the pot containing the entire court’s dinner disappeared. It had been a joke by the kitchen helpers, but it was decided that it was the cooker’s fault because he was mad.

Se me ha ido la olla y no he cerrado la puerta de casa al salir.

(I lost my marbles, I didn’t close the door when I left the house.)

3. Pagar los platos rotos (to pay the price): When you unjustly suffer the consequences of an action committed by a third party. Another expression that means the same thing is pagar el pato or cargar con el mochuelo. Its origin dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries when the Christian society charged against the Jewish people.

He pagado los platos rotos por tu culpa.

(I have paid the price for you.)

Expressions with Animals

4. Dar gato por liebre (to take for a ride): To deceive or cheat someone. The expression dates back to the Middle Ages, when due to the similarity of the two animals, cat was served as the main course but was advertised as a hare instead.

Creía que este bolso era verdadero pero me han dado gato por liebre.

(I thought this bag was original, but I’ve been taken for a ride!)

5. Ver las orejas al lobo (to see the writing on the wall): Means that you have become aware of imminent danger. Its origin is unknown.

Están despidiendo a mucha gente en mi trabajo y le he visto las orejas al lobo.

(A lot of people are being made redundant at my job and I’ve seen the writing on the wall.)

6. Tener memoria de elefante: (to have an elephant’s memory): To have a brilliant memory. It comes from a study published in the 19th century in which the brains of some animals were measured. It was surprising that elephants had this muscle very well developed and, moreover, their learning capacity was extraordinary. The opposite expression is tener memoria de pez (to have a goldfish memory.)

Marcos se acuerda de lo que hizo hace diez años, tiene memoria de elefante. Yo, en cambio, tengo memoria de pez.

(Marcos remembers what he did ten years ago, he has the memory of an elephant. I, on the other hand, have the memory of a goldfish.)

Expressions with Colours

7. Verlo de color de rosa (to see all peaches and cream): It means that someone is too optimistic. It comes from the 19th century when optimistic ladies became interested in current affairs.

El examen no es tan fácil, lo ves todo de color de rosa.

(The test is not so easy, you see all peaches and cream.)

8. Poner verde a alguien (to call someone every name in the book): It means that someone is being criticised. The origin is uncertain, one of the theories is that when food expires, it turns green. However, all the supposed origins coincide with the negativity of the expression.

No deberíais poner verde a Carla si ella no está delante, qué mala educación.

(You shouldn’t call Carla every name in the book if she’s not here, that’s rude.

9. Ponerse morado/a (to fill your boots): overeating until you can’t eat anymore. There is also the variant ponerse ciego/a or ponerse las botas. Its origin is purely medical, as there is a disease called cyanosis, which consists of having breathing problems after having eaten too much and the skin turning purple.

Me puse morada en la boda de Pepe, qué rica estaba la comida.

(I filled my boots at Pepe’s wedding, the food was so good.)

Expressions for All Tastes

Idioms in Spanish are used on a daily basis. Knowing the expressions of all the Spanish-speaking countries is a complicated task, as there are countless of them.

The best way to learn them correctly is to use them over and over again until they stick in your mind. Don’t forget to use iScribo’s spelling and grammar checker to improve the level of your Spanish documents. Ensure the correct spelling of your Spanish documents with our artificial intelligence-based tool.

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