Spanish Lesson- De Nada–It’s Nothing

Today I thought I would start on my first bi-weekly Spanish lesson. There are a few basic niceties that everyone should know when traveling to a foreign country in order to, at the very least, be polite and to find your way around. You will want to know the important phrases that will help you interact with people and find out where the hotel, bank or restaurant are located and assuming that people in other countries speak English is rude. I will assume that you already know a thing or two since many Spanish words and phrases are commonly tossed around in casual American conversations, like “hola” (pronounced ō-la) is for “hello” and “gracias” is “thank-you”, but sometimes you have to be careful not to try to make a literal translation.

For instance, when someone says “gracias” the appropriate response is not “you are welcome” translated word by word as “tú åre bienvenido”, any Spanish-speaking person would be a bit confused by this phrase and wonder what they might “be welcome” to do. You see, Spanish-speaking people like Costa Ricans are, generally, a humble people and it is considered appropriate to respond to “gracias” with “de nada” which means “it’s nothing”. This is sort of meant to downplay the importance of a kind act as not being a big deal rather than coming off as being too self-important or puffed up–that is just not the way of Costa Ricans.

So, definitely say “gracias” to everyone who does a kind deed, from handling your luggage, to serving a meal or giving directions and if someone should say “gracias” to you, make sure to let them know it was no trouble, not a big deal…de nada.