Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

A posessive adjective is a word which shows possession or who owns something. Sometimes it agrees in gender (masculine and femenine) and always in number with the noun and not the possessor.

In Spanish, the three forms of possessive adjectives are: mi - mi amigo (my friend); tu - tu amigo (your friend); su - su amigo (their, your, his, or her friend); nuestro - nuestro amigo (our friend).

Unlike English, just add “s” to both words (the possessive adjective and the noun that follows) when talking about more than one. For example, mis amigos - my friends; tus amigos - your friends (familiar form); sus amigos - their, your, his or her friends; nuestros (as) amigos (as) - our friends.

Again, notice that these plural forms are different than English in that if the noun is plural, the possessor has to be plural. This concept seems to be very confusing for many language students because it does not exist in English.

There is another form of possessive adjectives in Spanish which i wil,discuss in a future column.

Tiquismo of the week:

Here is your Costa Rican expression of tiquismo for this week which requires a somewhat lengthy explanation: ¡Regálame!. You will hear the locals use this word many times while shopping in Costa Rica. Don’t get confused because this term usually means to give a gift with no intention of monetary compensation. The nearest English translation is “I’ll take it” or “Give me X product” with an exchange of money for an article shortly after.

Last week I talked about the type of Spanish that is spoken in shops, offices, everyday conversations, movies, on street corners and among family and friends.This slang is ofteen referred to as “Street” or Colloquial Spanish.

If your goal is to speak the language fluently and understand native speakers, you should study the expressions I have listed below.

• Hablar por los codos - to be very talkative.
• Vender gato por liebre - to cheat or deceive.
• Meter la cuchara - to meddle or to butt in to a conversation etc.
• Como para chuparse los dedos - delicious or finger licking good.
• Hacérsele agua la boca - to make your mouth water.
• Andar de fiesta or andar de parranda - to go out partying or paint the town red.
• Media naranja - spouse, better half.
• Andar para arriba y para abajo - go all over the place
• Estar limpio - to be broke

Tiquismo of the week:
Cascarudo is a shameles person in Costa Rica.

You may find it hard to believe that there is almost as much difference between the Spanish you learn in school and the Spanish spoken in everyday life, as there is between Spanish and English. That is to say what we call,”Street Spanish” is really another language.

Many students spend years studying Spanish in a formal setting only to find they cannot understand native Spanish speakers. Spanish like English has become very idiomatic. That is to say daily speech contains many expressions not taught in traditional Spanish courses.

The only way to learn this specialized vocabulary is to practice with native speakers as often as possible and/or memorize the expressions listed below.

Ahogarse en un vaso de agua - means to get all worked up over nothing or to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Estar en un apuro - means to be in a jam or in trouble.

Gastar saliva - means to waste one’s breath figuratively speaking.

Poner a uno al día - to bring someone up-to-date.

Tomarle el pelo a uno - to pull someone’s leg or tease.

Ser pan comido - to be easy or a “piece of cake.”

Partir la espalda - to break one’s back by working hard.

Faltarle a uno un tornillo - to be missing a screw or crazy.

Tiquismo of the week:
Cortar el rabo means to fire someone from a job.