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Spanish grammar lessons › Level B1 › Idioms, Idiomatic Usage & Structures

Everyday idioms: tomar el pelo, estar hecho polvo, ponerse las pilas

Common idioms you will hear every day in Spain, and how to fit them into a sentence.

Part of the free B1 Spanish course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.

An idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning is not the sum of its words. Tomar el pelo is literally "to take the hair", but it means to pull someone's leg. Idioms are learnt whole, but the verb still conjugates and words still agree, so you need to know how to fit them in.

Tiredness, mood and attention

  • estar hecho polvo (literally "be made dust"): be exhausted. Hecho agrees: hecha polvo, hechos polvo.
  • estar en las nubes: be daydreaming, miles away.
  • estar muerto de cansancio: be dead tired (muerta, muertos agree like hecho).
  • quedarse en blanco: your mind goes blank.
  • estar como una cabra (Spain, colloquial): be completely mad.
  • Después de la mudanza estoy hecho polvo.After the move I'm shattered.
  • Perdona, no te he oído, estaba en las nubes.Sorry, I didn't hear you, I was miles away.
  • En la entrevista me quedé en blanco.In the interview my mind went blank.
  • Mi vecino está como una cabra.My neighbour is completely mad.

People and what they do

  • tomar el pelo a alguien: pull someone's leg. The person is an indirect object: me tomas el pelo.
  • meter la pata: put your foot in it.
  • echar una mano a alguien: give someone a hand.
  • no tener pelos en la lengua: not mince your words.
  • ponerse las pilas (literally "put your batteries in"): get your act together, get going. The pronoun matches the person: me pongo, ponte, poneos.
  • No te creo, me estás tomando el pelo.I don't believe you, you're pulling my leg.
  • Metí la pata y le conté la sorpresa a Ana.I put my foot in it and told Ana about the surprise.
  • ¿Me echas una mano con estas cajas?Can you give me a hand with these boxes?
  • Mi abuelo no tiene pelos en la lengua.My grandfather doesn't mince his words.
  • Tienes que ponerte las pilas si quieres aprobar.You need to get your act together if you want to pass.

Easy, expensive

  • ser pan comido: be a piece of cake.
  • costar un ojo de la cara: cost an arm and a leg.
  • El examen fue pan comido.The exam was a piece of cake.
  • Este piso cuesta un ojo de la cara.This flat costs an arm and a leg.

Idioms are informal. Use them with friends and in conversation, not in an email to a bank.

Latin America

Tomar el pelo, meter la pata, echar una mano, costar un ojo de la cara and ponerse las pilas are understood everywhere. Estar hecho polvo and estar como una cabra sound very Spanish; in much of Latin America people say estar muerto or estar molido for exhausted, and estar loco for mad. More idioms come in Idioms and set phrases for B2.

Common mistakes

  • Estoy hecho polvo said by a woman: hecho agrees: Estoy hecha polvo.
  • Me estás tomando mi pelo: no possessive; the pronoun already shows who: Me estás tomando el pelo.
  • Pon tus pilas: the idiom is reflexive: Ponte las pilas.
  • Translating English idioms word for word: it's raining cats and dogs is llueve a cántaros, not anything with animals.

Practice

  1. Mi hermano me dijo que había ganado la lotería, pero me estaba _____.
    ...but he was pulling my leg.
    Options: tomando el pelo · echando una mano · poniendo las pilas · metiendo la pata
    Show the answer

    tomando el pelo

  2. Después de correr la maratón, Laura estaba _____ polvo.
    After running the marathon, Laura was exhausted.
    Show the answer

    hecha — Hecho agrees with Laura: hecha.

  3. El profesor dice que tengo que ponerme _____ si quiero aprobar.
    ...I need to get my act together...
    Options: las pilas · el pelo · la pata · las nubes
    Show the answer

    las pilas

  4. ¡Qué vergüenza! Metí la _____ delante de todos.
    How embarrassing! I put my foot in it in front of everyone.
    Show the answer

    pata

In the app, this lesson is taught one idea at a time with the examples read aloud, followed by questions that explain the rule when you get one wrong. It then comes back for review on later days, until you've answered it correctly on three separate days.
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