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Dominican Spanish
How it sounds, what people say, and how to get through a day in it. Caribbean Spanish at its most compressed: the s goes, words get cut, and tú comes first.
Santo Domingo and Santiago, Dominican Republic
9sound rules44words and phrases30everyday lines
Neutral fine anywhere Casual friends, street Vulgar swearing Insult aimed at a person
How it sounds
Left: the sound, in pine. Middle: standard spelling. Right: meaning.
S1The s at the end of a syllable disappears
The single biggest Dominican marker. An s before a consonant or at the end of a word becomes a soft breath or nothing at all. The plural survives because the article still shows it: lo' amigo' can only be plural.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| lo' amigo' | los amigos | the friends |
| ¿tú quiere' café? | ¿tú quieres café? | do you want coffee? |
| má' tranquilo | más tranquilo | more relaxed |
| e' tarde | es tarde | it's late |
NoteStart here. If you drop only one sound, drop this one.
S2The d between vowels disappears
Past participles lose the d, so -ado becomes -ao and -ido becomes -ío. Short everyday words go the same way.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| cansao' | cansado | tired |
| enamorao' | enamorado | in love |
| tú ha' vivío | tú has vivido | you've lived |
| to' el tiempo | todo el tiempo | the whole time |
| na' | nada | nothing |
S3Short words get cut down
The first syllable of estar falls away in every form, and para shrinks to pa'. These are the words you say 50 times a day.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| pa' mí | para mí | for me |
| ta' bien | está bien | it's fine |
| toy cansao' | estoy cansado | I'm tired |
| tamo' viviendo | estamos viviendo | we're living |
| pa'llá / pa'cá | para allá / para acá | over there / over here |
S4The r at the end of a syllable changes
Around the capital and the east, r turns into l. In the Cibao (Santiago and the north) it turns into an i sound. Both are Dominican; the clean r is too.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| en velda | en verdad | honestly (capital, east) |
| vamo' a comel | vamos a comer | let's eat (capital, east) |
| poique | porque | because (Cibao) |
| vamo' a comei | vamos a comer | let's eat (Cibao) |
S5Tú goes before the verb in questions
Most dialects put the subject after the verb or drop it. Dominicans keep tú in front, and it sounds Dominican immediately.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| ¿Cómo tú tá'? | ¿Cómo estás tú? | how are you? |
| ¿Qué tú quiere'? | ¿Qué quieres tú? | what do you want? |
| ¿Dónde tú vive'? | ¿Dónde vives tú? | where do you live? |
| ¿Qué tú hace'? | ¿Qué haces tú? | what are you up to? |
S6Say the pronoun out loud
With the s gone, tú habla' and él habla sound the same. Dominicans fix that by saying yo, tú and ello' far more than other speakers do.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| yo creo que sí | creo que sí | I think so |
| ya tú sabe' | ya sabes | you know how it is |
| ello' dicen que… | dicen que… | they say that… |
S7Volver y + verb means "again"
A construction you hear constantly and almost never see in textbooks.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| vuelvo y te explico | te lo explico otra vez | let me explain again |
| volví y lo llamé | lo llamé otra vez | I called him again |
S8Words run together
Fast speech glues the cut-down words into single chunks, heard as one word.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| ¿Qué e' lo que? | ¿Qué es lo que? | what's up? (texted as KLK) |
| ¿Pa' dónde tú va'? | ¿Para dónde vas tú? | where are you headed? |
| mi'a ve' | mira a ver | let's see, go check |
| ta'n loco' | están locos | they're crazy |
S9The n at the end of a word goes to the back of the mouth
A final n sounds close to the ng in English song, so pan sounds like pang. Small, but it is part of why it sounds Caribbean rather than Mexican or Spanish.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| pan | pan | bread (sounds like pang) |
| ¿y entonce'? | ¿y entonces? | so? what now? |
Words and phrases
44 entries, each tagged by register.
W1Greetings and fillers
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| ¿Qué e' lo que? / ¿Qué lo que? | ¿Qué es lo que? | what's up? Reply: aquí, tranquilocasual |
| ¿Cómo tú tá'? | ¿Cómo estás tú? | how are you?neutral |
| ¡Dímelo! | ¡Dímelo! | talk to me (answering the phone)casual |
| dale | dale | OK, go ahead, byecasual |
| ¿me entiende'? | ¿me entiendes? | you get me? (filler)casual |
| mano, manito, manín | hermano | brocasual |
| mi pana | mi pana | my buddycasual |
| ombe / ombe, no | hombre | come on, man / no waycasual |
| dizque | dizque | supposedly, so-calledcasual |
| ta' to' | está todo | all goodcasual |
W2Describing things
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| bacano | bacano | great, coolcasual |
| ¡qué heavy! | ¡qué jevi! | how cool!casual |
| chévere | chévere | greatneutral |
| nítido | nítido | spot on, perfectcasual |
| la cabra | la cabra | the best there iscasual |
| durísimo | durísimo | amazing, intensecasual |
| pila de | pila de | loads ofcasual |
| un chin | un chin | a little bit (dame un chin)casual |
| chulo | chulo | nice, pretty, cutecasual |
| to' e' to' | todo es todo | everything's setcasual |
W3People
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| tíguere | tíguere | street-smart hustler; praise or warning depending on tonecasual |
| jeva / jevo | jeva / jevo | girlfriend / boyfriendcasual |
| carajito | carajito | kidcasual |
| chamaquito | chamaquito | little kidcasual |
| pariguayo | pariguayo | awkward, uncool guycasual |
| un tipazo | un tipazo | a great guyneutral |
| doña / don | doña / don | respectful title for older peopleneutral |
| dominicanyork | dominicanyork | Dominican raised in New Yorkcasual |
W4Daily life
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| vaina | vaina | thing, stuff, situation; the most used word in the countrycasual |
| ¡qué vaina! | ¡qué vaina! | what a mess! damn!casual |
| cuadrar | cuadrar | make plans, sort something outcasual |
| bregar | bregar | deal with, work at (toy bregando)casual |
| chercha | chercha | banter, joking aroundcasual |
| de coro | de coro | hanging out with friendscasual |
| teteo / bonche | teteo / bonche | partycasual |
| jartura | hartura | food coma after a big mealcasual |
| tirar bulto | tirar bulto | to show offcasual |
| rebú | rebú | commotion, a scenecasual |
| de chepa | de chepa | by pure luckcasual |
W5No filter
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| ¡coño! | ¡coño! | damn! Used everywhere, by everyonevulgar |
| ¡diablo! / ¡diache! | ¡diablo! | wow, damn (the mild version)casual |
| ¡concho! | ¡concho! | dang (softer still)casual |
| ¡carajo! / vete pa'l carajo | ¡carajo! | hell! / go to hellvulgar |
| comemierda | comemierda | snob, someone who thinks they're betterinsult |
Everyday lines
Scenes and the lines that go with them.
L1Small talk
The questions everyone asks in the first 2 minutes.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| ¿De dónde tú ere'? | ¿De dónde eres tú? | where are you from? |
| ¿Y qué tú hace'? | ¿Y qué haces tú? | and what do you do? |
| ¿Cuánto tiempo tú lleva' aquí? | ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas tú aquí? | how long have you been here? |
| Me encanta el paí' | Me encanta el país | I love the country |
| Un chin, toy aprendiendo | Un poco, estoy aprendiendo | a little, I'm learning |
L2At the colmado
The corner store that is also a bar, a delivery service and the neighbourhood meeting point.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| Dame una fría | Dame una fría | a cold beer, please |
| Vestida de novia | Vestida de novia | "dressed as a bride": a bottle frosted white with cold |
| ¿Cuánto e'? | ¿Cuánto es? | how much? |
| Dame un chin de queso | Dame un poco de queso | give me a little cheese |
| ¿Me lo fía'? | ¿Me lo fías? | can I pay you later? |
| Échame la ñapa | Dame la ñapa | throw in a little extra |
L3Food
Lunch is the main meal. Expect a jartura.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| la bandera | la bandera | rice, beans and meat: the daily lunch |
| mangú con lo' tre' golpe' | mangú con los tres golpes | mashed plantain with fried salami, cheese and egg |
| sancocho / locrio / moro | sancocho / locrio / moro | meat stew / rice dish / rice cooked with beans |
| tostone' / concón | tostones / concón | fried plantain / the crispy rice from the bottom of the pot |
| morir soñando | morir soñando | orange juice and milk |
L4Getting around
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| guagua | guagua | bus |
| carro público / concho | carro público | shared car on a fixed route |
| motoconcho | motoconcho | motorbike taxi |
| Déjame en la esquina | Déjame en la esquina | drop me at the corner |
| Hay un tapón | Hay un tapón | there's a traffic jam |
L5Time and plans
Ahorita is the trap: it means later, maybe, not right now.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| ahorita | ahorita | in a while (could be hours) |
| ahora mismo | ahora mismo | right now |
| Toy llegando | Estoy llegando | I'm on my way (often: I haven't left yet) |
| Vamo' a cuadrar | Vamos a cuadrar | let's make a plan |
| Se fue la luz / Llegó la luz | Se fue la luz / Llegó la luz | the power's out / the power's back |
L6Respect and family
Small habits that people notice.
| How it's said | How it's written | English |
|---|
| ¡Bendición, doña! | ¡Bendición! | greeting to an elder; the answer is Dios te bendiga |
| mi amor / mi vida | mi amor / mi vida | what shopkeepers and strangers call you; not flirting |
| mai / pai | madre / padre | mom / dad |
| ¿Y tu gente? | ¿Y tu gente? | and your family? |