Costa Rican Spanish→English

Translate Costa Rican Spanish to English the way locals mean it.

Costa Rican Spanish often uses usted with friends, turns pura vida into a greeting or thanks, and uses mae and chunche in ways a textbook gloss will miss.

Going the other way? English to Costa Rican Spanish

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between Spanish varieties

What locals actually say

Usted me avisa cuando llegue, ¿sí?

Just let me know when you get there, okay?

Usted can be warm and familiar in Costa Rica, so it does not necessarily signal distance or formality.

Mae, pásame ese chunche.

Hey, pass me that thing.

Mae is a casual way to address someone, while chunche means an unspecified object whose name is not worth mentioning.

Pura vida, ahí nos vidrios.

Thanks, see you around.

Pura vida can mean thanks or sound like a friendly sign-off, and ahí nos vidrios is a playful way to say see you later.

¿Me hace la segunda y me presta cinco rojos?

Could you spot me five thousand colones?

“Hacer la segunda” is a Costa Rican way to ask someone for a favor, while “rojos” means thousand-colón bills and signals local money slang.

Diay, ¿me dice cómo llego a la soda de la esquina?

So, could you tell me how to get to the little restaurant on the corner?

“Diay” is a distinctly Costa Rican discourse marker, and “soda” means a small local restaurant rather than a soft drink.

Qué rico ese casado, pero écheme un poquito más de plátano.

That casado is delicious, but could you give me a little more plantain?

“Casado” is a Costa Rican plate combining rice, beans, salad, and usually meat, while “écheme” is a polite local way to ask for an serving.

Mi tata está cuidando a los güilas mientras trabajo.

My dad is watching the kids while I work.

“Tata” means dad and “güilas” means kids in Costa Rican Spanish, both signaling familiar local vocabulary.

Mae, hoy me atraso con el brete; ¿me espera para la reunión?

Hey, I’m running late finishing work today. Can you wait for me for the meeting?

“Brete” means work or a job, and “me espera” uses the Costa Rican usted form even in a casual request.

Notes like these come with every AIRTranslate translation, so you learn why locals phrase it that way as you go.

How Costa Rican Spanish differs

Costa Rican Spanish. Usted dominates even informally; vos among close peers, tú rare. Local colour where casual: pura vida, mae, tuanis, chunche for thing.

Sound like a local everywhere, not just here.

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Choosing Spanish (Peru) from 471 local variants

Localization Notes explaining why locals say it that way