Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 51

CEFR B2

Test yourself (14 questions)

Spanish Fixed Similes: como un tronco, como una mula

Ask a Spanish speaker how they slept and, if the answer is "well", they will not say profundamente (deeply). They will say they slept como un tronco - like a log. Ask why a friend will not budge on an argument and you will hear terco como una mula, stubborn as a mule. Spanish runs on these ready-made comparisons, and reaching for the plain adjective where a native would use a simile is one of the quiet tells of a learner.

A fixed simile is a stereotyped comparison that stands in for an adjective: como (like) plus a noun, or más (more) plus an adjective plus que and a noun. English does exactly the same thing - good as gold, deaf as a post, happy as Larry - and the fun is that the two languages almost never pick the same picture.

The one rule: the noun is welded on

Before the table, the rule that matters most: these phrases are frozen. The noun is not a free choice you can improvise. You sleep como un tronco, not como una piedra; you are strong como un toro, not como un elefante. Swap the noun for a synonym and you either sound foreign or dismantle the phrase. Learn each one as a single unit, the way you learned single words, and half the battle is won.

The big table

SimileLiteralMeaningEnglish equivalent
dormir como un troncoto sleep like a logto sleep deeplyto sleep like a log
más bueno que el pankinder than breadvery kind, gentlegood as gold
más lento que una tortugaslower than a tortoisevery slowslow as a snail
fuerte como un torostrong as a bullvery strongstrong as an ox
terco / cabezota como una mulastubborn as a mulevery stubbornstubborn as a mule
feliz como una perdizhappy as a partridgedelightedhappy as Larry
sordo como una tapiadeaf as a wallcompletely deafdeaf as a post
más claro que el aguaclearer than waterperfectly obviouscrystal clear
blanco como la nievewhite as snowvery white / palewhite as snow
más listo que el hambrecleverer than hungervery sharp, cunningsharp as a tack
comer como una limato eat like a fileto eat a great dealto eat like a horse
trabajar como una mula / un burroto work like a mule / donkeyto work very hardto work like a dog
más pesado que una vaca en brazosheavier than a cow in your armsextremely tiresomea real pain in the neck
estar como una cabrato be like a goatto be crazyto be barking mad
más viejo que Matusalénolder than Methuselahancientold as the hills
dormirse como un bebéto fall asleep like a babyto drop off easilyto sleep like a baby
llorar como una Magdalenato cry like a Magdaleneto cry your eyes outto cry your eyes out
ponerse rojo como un tomateto go red as a tomatoto blush deeplyred as a beetroot
temblar como un flanto shake like a flanto tremble with fearto shake like a leaf
más feo que Piciouglier than Piciovery uglyas ugly as sin
estar en la edad del pavoto be at the age of the turkeyto be at the awkward teenage stageto be a moody teenager

Why these images? The cultural logic

Most of the animal similes come from a rural, working past. The mula was the beast every village knew, notorious for planting its hooves and refusing to move, so terco como una mula is a farmer's observation set in stone. The same mule, worked into the ground all day, gives trabajar como una mula - to graft. The toro, the fighting bull, is raw power, hence fuerte como un toro.

Others lean on shared references. Matusalén (Methuselah) lived, the Bible says, to 969, so más viejo que Matusalén is the natural yardstick for ancient. Picio was a real nineteenth-century Granadan whose face, legend has it, was so disfigured by shock that his name became the byword for ugliness: más feo que Picio. Una Magdalena is Mary Magdalene, weeping in the Gospels, so to llorar como una Magdalena is to sob uncontrollably.

A few just paint a picture. A flan, the wobbly set custard, shakes at the lightest touch, so temblar como un flan is to be a bundle of nerves. Sordo como una tapia compares a deaf ear to a tapia, a mud or stone garden wall - about as responsive as you would expect.

Glossed examples

  • Estaba agotado y dormí como un tronco. (I was exhausted and slept like a log.)
  • No discutas con él, es terco como una mula. (Do not argue with him, he is stubborn as a mule.)
  • Mi vecina es más buena que el pan. (My neighbour is as good as gold.)
  • Cuando le preguntaron, se puso rojo como un tomate. (When they asked him, he went red as a beetroot.)
  • Ese niño está como una cabra, pero me hace reír. (That kid is barking mad, but he makes me laugh.)
  • Está claro que miente, más claro que el agua. (It is obvious he is lying, crystal clear.)

Estar como una cabra and friends: the jokey register

Notice how many of these are affectionate insults. Estar como una cabra (to be like a goat, meaning slightly mad), más pesado que una vaca en brazos (as tiresome as carrying a cow), estar en la edad del pavo (the "turkey age", that mortifying early-teen phase) - these belong to teasing, over coffee, among friends. They are warm rather than cruel, and dropping one at the right moment is the fastest way to sound like you belong. You would not, of course, write está como una cabra in a work email.

A note on the más ... que pattern

Half the table uses como (fuerte como un toro), the other half uses más ... que (más bueno que el pan, literally "more good than the bread"). Both are fixed. Do not try to convert one into the other: it is más bueno que el pan, never bueno como el pan, and fuerte como un toro, never más fuerte que un toro as a set phrase. The frame is part of the memory unit too.

Store them whole, respect the welded-on noun, and deploy them in speech rather than formal writing. Get that right and you will sound, as the Spanish would say, más listo que el hambre.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

0/8

Complete each fixed simile with the missing noun. Remember the noun is fixed, so only one answer sounds native.

  1. Anoche dormí como un . (I slept deeply.) (a piece of wood, a log)

  2. Es más bueno que el . (He is very kind.) (you eat it with butter)

  3. Es terco como una . (She is very stubborn.) (a working farm animal)

  4. Mi abuelo está sordo como una . (My grandfather is very deaf.) (a garden wall of stone)

  5. Se puso rojo como un . (He went bright red.) (a red salad vegetable)

  6. Está fuerte como un . (He is very strong.) (a large male farm animal)

  7. Es feliz como una . (She is very happy.) (a small game bird)

  8. La niña temblaba como un . (The girl was shaking a lot.) (a wobbly egg pudding)

Pick the right one

0/6

Choose the noun that completes each fixed simile. Only one is the set phrase; the others are plausible but wrong.

  1. Es más listo que el . (very clever)

  2. Es blanco como la . (very white)

  3. Trabaja como una . (works very hard)

  4. Está más viejo que . (extremely old)

  5. Lloraba como una . (cried a great deal)

  6. Está como una . (is a bit crazy)

Frequently asked questions

What is a fixed simile in Spanish?
A fixed simile is a set comparison - usually como (like) plus a noun, or más (more) plus an adjective plus a noun - that Spanish uses in place of a plain adjective. Instead of saying someone is very stubborn, you say terco como una mula, stubborn as a mule. Instead of very kind, más bueno que el pan, kinder than bread. The comparison is stereotyped and shared: every speaker knows it, and it carries a flavour a plain adjective cannot. They work exactly like English fixed similes such as good as gold or deaf as a post, and often the two languages pick completely different images for the same idea.
Can you change the noun in a Spanish fixed simile?
No, and this is the single most important rule. Fixed similes are frozen: the noun is part of the phrase, not a free choice. You sleep como un tronco (like a log), never como una piedra if you want to sound native, and you are terco como una mula (a mule), not como un burro in that particular frame. Swapping the noun for a synonym either sounds odd or destroys the expression. Learn each simile as one unit and store it whole, the way you would learn a single word. Half the humour of these phrases comes from the specific, non-negotiable image they use.
Why does Spanish compare a stubborn person to a mule?
The images come straight from a rural, agricultural past. A mule was the working animal every village knew, and it was famous for planting its hooves and refusing to move - so terco como una mula (stubborn as a mule) is a farmer's observation frozen into speech. The same logic runs through the whole set: trabajar como una mula (work like a mule) recalls beasts of burden, fuerte como un toro (strong as a bull) the power of a fighting bull, and sordo como una tapia (deaf as a wall) the blank silence of a stone wall. The images are old, but the phrases are alive.
Are these similes used in normal conversation or only in writing?
Overwhelmingly in speech. Fixed similes are conversational, warm and often a little jokey - you would say estar como una cabra (to be like a goat, meaning to be crazy) to a friend, not in a formal report. They are exactly the kind of thing that makes a learner sound relaxed and fluent rather than stiff. A few, like más claro que el agua (clearer than water) or blanco como la nieve (white as snow), are neutral enough for writing, but the bulk of them belong to the register of a chat over coffee, and that is where you should deploy them.