Refranes and how they are used

A refrán is a short traditional saying with a moral or practical lesson. Spanish has thousands, and Spaniards and Latin Americans of every age still use the common ones, often with a touch of irony. Knowing them helps you understand conversation, newspaper headlines (which love to twist them) and literature. The rule for your own speech: few, well-chosen and at the right moment.

Twenty you will hear

• Más vale tarde que nunca.Better late than never.
• No hay mal que por bien no venga.Every cloud has a silver lining.
• En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo.The cobbler's children go barefoot.
• Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
• Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.
• Del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho.Easier said than done.
• A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.The early bird catches the worm.
• No por mucho madrugar amanece más temprano.Things happen in their own time.
• Perro ladrador, poco mordedor.His bark is worse than his bite.
• Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente.What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over.
• Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos.Bring up crows and they'll peck your eyes out.
• Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente.You snooze, you lose.

Others to recognise:

• A caballo regalado no le mires el diente: don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
• Quien mucho abarca, poco aprieta: if you take on too much, you do nothing well.
• A buen entendedor, pocas palabras bastan: a word to the wise is enough.
• En boca cerrada no entran moscas: least said, soonest mended.
• Por la boca muere el pez: people get into trouble by talking too much.
• Cada maestrillo tiene su librillo: everyone has their own way of doing things.
• Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo: experience counts more than cleverness.
• Al pan, pan, y al vino, vino: call a spade a spade.

How refranes are used

Framing. Speakers introduce them with como dice el refrán, ya lo dice el refrán, ya sabes lo que dicen or, in formal writing, como reza el refrán.

Shortening. Because everyone knows the ending, people often say only the first half: Bueno, en casa de herrero, Ya sabes, a buen entendedor. Saying the whole refrán is fine too, but the short form is very common.

Irony and twists. A refrán can tease (Más vale tarde que nunca to a friend who arrives two hours late). Headlines twist them: A quien madruga, Dios le sube el alquiler.

Register. In conversation they add warmth or humour. In academic or professional writing, use them sparingly, typically once, to open or close an argument, and framed.

• Ya lo dice el refrán, no hay que vender la piel del oso antes de cazarlo.As the saying goes, don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

Latin America

Most refranes are shared across the Spanish-speaking world, sometimes with small variations: Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente is especially common in Latin America, and Mexico has its own rich stock of dichos. Regional sayings are often best recognised rather than reproduced.

Common mistakes

• Translating English proverbs word for word: Un pájaro en la mano vale dos en el arbusto. Use the Spanish refrán, Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando.
• Mixing two halves: Perro ladrador, cuchillo de palo.
• Using a refrán in every paragraph of an essay: one, well framed, is plenty.
• Taking them literally: En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo is not about blacksmiths but about experts who neglect their own house.
• Missing the irony: Más vale tarde que nunca said with a smile to someone very late is a gentle reproach, not a compliment.