Cuban Spanish→English

Translate Cuban Spanish to English the way locals mean it.

In Cuban Spanish, greetings, time words, and everyday slang can sound literal to a textbook reader while signaling familiarity, flexible timing, or having no money.

Going the other way? English to Cuban Spanish

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between Spanish varieties

What locals actually say

¿Qué bolá, asere?

Hey, what’s up?

Qué bolá is a casual Cuban greeting, and asere is a familiar way to address someone, not a literal question about what is happening.

Ahorita te caigo.

I’ll drop by in a bit.

Ahorita often means soon or sometime shortly, while caerte means to come by or visit, so the timing is less exact than textbook ahora.

Estoy pelao, no puedo salir hoy.

I’m completely broke, so I can’t go out tonight.

Pelao is colloquial Cuban Spanish for having no money, not for being physically bald or shaved.

Dobla en la esquina y sigue derecho hasta la bodega.

Turn at the corner and go straight until you reach the neighborhood shop.

Bodega is the Cuban term for a small neighborhood grocery, signaling a local everyday setting rather than a generic store.

Vamos a buscar jama, que tengo un hambre de padre y señor mío.

Let's go get some food, because I'm absolutely starving.

Jama is informal Cuban Spanish for food, signaling a casual, familiar register.

La vieja está fajada con los nietos.

My mom is busy looking after the grandkids.

La vieja is an affectionate colloquial term for one's mother in Cuba, while fajada con signals being hard at work on something.

Estoy fajado con el papeleo desde temprano.

I've been wrestling with paperwork since early this morning.

Estar fajado con is a Cuban colloquial construction meaning to be working hard at or struggling with a task.

Se soltó un palo de agua y la calle se puso como un río.

It started pouring, and the street turned into a river.

Palo de agua is a Cuban colloquial expression for a sudden, very heavy downpour.

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

How Cuban Spanish differs

Cuban Spanish. Tú everywhere, direct warm register; local colour where casual: asere, qué bolá, guagua for bus, jama informal for food.

Sound like a local everywhere, not just here.

Every one of 474 dialects, with voice, camera, a keyboard for any app, and offline packs.

Choosing Spanish (Peru) from 471 local variants

Localization Notes explaining why locals say it that way