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Spanish Word of the Day Archive
Saturday June 21, 2008
desodorante, noun:
deodorant
Spanish adds elements to the beginning of other words — prefixes — just as English does, for example the des- in el desodorante, deodorant. The prefix des-, which makes the word to which it is attached negative, appears in many Spanish words. You can sometimes translate it using de-:
despoblarse
to become depopulated
Sometimes it translates as dis-:
desordenado
disorganized
desaparecer
to disappear
desaprobar
to disapprove of
But often you need to use a rather different prefix.
pasar desapercibido
to go unnoticed
desatar
to untie
desatento
inattentive
And sometimes, of course, the prefix does not appear at all in the English translation!
descansar
to rest
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