Learners of Spanish often find certain words confusing or otherwise challenging to use. Here are more than a dozen of them of that begin with E.

echar: Although echar is usually thought of as the Spanish word for "to throw," it can be translated in dozens of ways depending on its context. For example, echar el vino is "to pour wine," echar humo is "to give off smoke," echar un vistazo is "to have a look" and echar un mano is "to lend a hand."


el:El is the masculine singular definite article, and thus it is almost always one of the Spanish equivalents of "the." However, it is often used in situations where English doesn't use "the." These include use with names of languages (Me gusta el español. I like Spanish.), with many nouns that don't refer to tangible objects (El feminismo es parte de mi vida. Feminism is part of my life.), with days of the week (El viernes es el quinto día de la semana. Thursday is the fifth day of the week.) and with personal titles (El presidente Martín es peligroso. President Martín is dangerous.)

él: When él is a subject pronoun meaning "he" or a prepositional object pronoun meaning "him," its use usually is straightforward for English speakers. However, unlike "he" or "him," él can also refer to a thing if that thing is masculine in gender. Example: El móvil es caro. Compré una funda para él. The phone is expensive. I bought a case for it.

ello:Ello is a neuterpronoun meaning "it." However, it is seldom used, as it refers only to concepts rather than to specific nouns.

An example would be "No quiero hablar de ello" for "I don't want to talk about it" where "it" doesn't refer to a specific thing but to an idea or concept.

embarazada: This adjective means "pregnant," not "embarrassed."

emocional vs. emocionante: Something emocionante provokes an emotional reaction: It may be touching, moving, exciting or thrilling, to give a few examples. An emotional person is emocional.

en:En is a common preposition that usually means "on" or "in." However, it can also be translated in many other ways depending on the context. For example, in "Pienso en ti," it means "about" (I'm thinking about you). It also is used in many prepositional phrases.

encontrar: Although encontrar can be the equivalent of the cognate "to encounter," it usually is better translated as "to find." The reflexive form, encontrarse, is often used to indicate location: El hotel se encuentra en el centro. The hotel is downtown.

entre:Entre, usually meaning "between" or "among," is unusual among prepositions in that it is followed by the subject pronouns yo and tú rather than the preposiontal object pronouns mí and ti, respectively. Entre tú y yo, no es difícil. Between you and me, it isn't difficult.

estar:Estar is one of the verbs meaning "to be," but it shouldn't be confused with ser. Its uses include referring to states of being (Estoy triste. I am sad.), specifying location (Estaba en Madrid. She was in Madrid.) and to form progressive verbs (¿Estás comiendo? Are you eating?). Estar is conjugated irregularly.

excepto: A preposition meaning "except," excepto, like entre listed above, is followed by the pronouns yo and tú rather than mí and ti.

excitado: Be careful with this adjective. Although it can mean "excited," it frequently has sexual connotations, much like "aroused."

éxito: An éxito is something successful; in entertainment it can refer to a hit. It has nothing to do with exits.

experimentar: Although this verb can mean "to experiment," it sometimes means "to experience." Experimenté mucho dolor. I experienced a lot of pain.