Menu
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE
Hey, Julio here! ¿Cómo va todo?
Well, here we are… February already, and we all know what that means — Valentine’s Day. Yes, fully booked restaurants, flowers suddenly costing three times as much, and that unforgettable look on your partner’s face when she opens your gift and decides she hates it so much it’s going straight on eBay first thing in the morning!
Since I’m in a bit of a romantic mood today, I thought we could take a look at seven cute nicknames that Spanish speakers use all the time to talk to their boyfriends and girlfriends. You’ll hear these everywhere — in the streets, in cafés, even in text messages.
So, let’s get to it…
CHEAT SHEET
Cariño… – darling
Corazón… – sweetheart
(Mi) cielo… – literally “my heaven,” but in this context it means “my sweetheart” or “honey.”
(Mi) amor… – love, honey
Mi vida… – my love, literally “my life”
Preciosa… – babe, beautiful (used mostly by men to address women)
Bebé… – my little one, babe (also mostly used by men to address women)
Sometimes this kind of thing can be hard to translate, since we don’t always have exact equivalents in English. The good news is that using these expressions will make you sound super Spanish, because you’re not translating word-for-word in your head — something most learners tend to do.
Here’s a great tip: if there’s more than one way to translate something, choose the one that sounds least like English. That’s the one that will make you sound the most natural and authentic in Spanish.
And there you have it — seven super cool nicknames to impress the love of your life, plus a solid tip to help you sound even more fluent and confident when speaking Spanish.
