Mexican Spanish→English

Translate Mexican Spanish to English the way locals mean it.

Mexican Spanish often softens, intensifies, or changes the force of a message through words like ahorita, órale, and no manches that a textbook reader may take too literally.

Going the other way? English to Mexican Spanish

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between Spanish varieties

What locals actually say

¿Qué onda? ¿Sí vas a caer o qué?

Hey, are you coming or what?

Qué onda is a casual greeting, while caer can mean to show up or drop by, not to fall.

Ahorita te lo mando, no te me desesperes.

I’ll send it in a bit, so don’t get impatient.

Ahorita is flexible and often means soon rather than this exact second; te me desesperes softens the warning and makes it sound more personal.

Está padrísimo, pero no manches, sí salió caro.

It’s really great, but wow, it turned out expensive.

Padrísimo signals strong approval, while no manches is a mild expression of surprise or disbelief, not a comment about touching anything.

Sigue derecho hasta el Oxxo y ahí das vuelta a la derecha.

Go straight until you reach the Oxxo, then turn right.

Oxxo is a distinctly Mexican convenience-store reference, while dar vuelta is the everyday Mexican way to say turn.

¿Me pones la salsa aparte, porfa? No aguanto tanto picante.

Could you put the salsa on the side, please? I can't handle that much heat.

Me pones is a common Mexican restaurant construction for making a request, and porfa is a casual shortening of por favor.

Mi jefa dice que lleguemos temprano el domingo.

My mom says we should get there early on Sunday.

Jefa literally means female boss, but in very common Mexican slang it can mean your mom.

Está lloviendo recio, mejor nos esperamos tantito.

It's raining hard, so we'd better wait a little while.

Recio means intensely or heavily in colloquial Mexican speech, and tantito is the characteristically Mexican diminutive for a little bit.

Ando medio agüitado, pero se me pasa.

I'm feeling kind of down, but I'll get over it.

Ando plus a feeling adjective describes a temporary mood in Mexican Spanish, and agüitado is informal Mexican slang for sad or discouraged.

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

How Mexican Spanish differs

Mexican Spanish. Ustedes for all plurals, tú informal; celular, computadora, carro, jugo; local colour where casual: órale, padrísimo, qué padre, ahorita, güey (only very informal). Avoid vosotros and Spain-only slang. Never use coger for take — use tomar/agarrar.

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