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Fixed Similes: dormir como un tronco, más bueno que el pan, terco como una mula",null,{"type":49,"value":50,"toc":663},"minimark",[51,56,81,110,115,136,140,452,456,481,505,523,527,567,571,588,592,620,625,629],[52,53,55],"h1",{"id":54},"spanish-fixed-similes-como-un-tronco-como-una-mula","Spanish Fixed Similes: como un tronco, como una mula",[57,58,59,60,64,65,68,69,72,73,76,77,80],"p",{},"Ask a Spanish speaker how they slept and, if the answer is \"well\", they will not say ",[61,62,63],"strong",{},"profundamente"," (deeply). They will say they slept ",[61,66,67],{},"como un tronco"," - ",[61,70,71],{},"like a log",". Ask why a friend will not budge on an argument and you will hear ",[61,74,75],{},"terco como una mula",", ",[61,78,79],{},"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.",[57,82,83,84,87,88,91,92,95,96,99,100,76,103,76,106,109],{},"A ",[61,85,86],{},"fixed simile"," is a stereotyped comparison that stands in for an adjective: ",[61,89,90],{},"como"," (like) plus a noun, or ",[61,93,94],{},"más"," (more) plus an adjective plus ",[61,97,98],{},"que"," and a noun. English does exactly the same thing - ",[61,101,102],{},"good as gold",[61,104,105],{},"deaf as a post",[61,107,108],{},"happy as Larry"," - and the fun is that the two languages almost never pick the same picture.",[111,112,114],"h2",{"id":113},"the-one-rule-the-noun-is-welded-on","The one rule: the noun is welded on",[57,116,117,118,121,122,124,125,128,129,124,132,135],{},"Before the table, the rule that matters most: these phrases are ",[61,119,120],{},"frozen",". The noun is not a free choice you can improvise. You sleep ",[61,123,67],{},", not ",[61,126,127],{},"como una piedra","; you are strong ",[61,130,131],{},"como un toro",[61,133,134],{},"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.",[111,137,139],{"id":138},"the-big-table","The big table",[141,142,143,162],"table",{},[144,145,146],"thead",{},[147,148,149,153,156,159],"tr",{},[150,151,152],"th",{},"Simile",[150,154,155],{},"Literal",[150,157,158],{},"Meaning",[150,160,161],{},"English equivalent",[163,164,165,179,192,206,220,232,245,258,272,285,299,313,327,341,355,369,383,396,410,424,438],"tbody",{},[147,166,167,171,174,177],{},[168,169,170],"td",{},"dormir como un tronco",[168,172,173],{},"to sleep like a log",[168,175,176],{},"to sleep deeply",[168,178,173],{},[147,180,181,184,187,190],{},[168,182,183],{},"más bueno que el pan",[168,185,186],{},"kinder than bread",[168,188,189],{},"very kind, gentle",[168,191,102],{},[147,193,194,197,200,203],{},[168,195,196],{},"más lento que una tortuga",[168,198,199],{},"slower than a tortoise",[168,201,202],{},"very slow",[168,204,205],{},"slow as a snail",[147,207,208,211,214,217],{},[168,209,210],{},"fuerte como un toro",[168,212,213],{},"strong as a bull",[168,215,216],{},"very strong",[168,218,219],{},"strong as an ox",[147,221,222,225,227,230],{},[168,223,224],{},"terco \u002F cabezota como una mula",[168,226,79],{},[168,228,229],{},"very stubborn",[168,231,79],{},[147,233,234,237,240,243],{},[168,235,236],{},"feliz como una perdiz",[168,238,239],{},"happy as a partridge",[168,241,242],{},"delighted",[168,244,108],{},[147,246,247,250,253,256],{},[168,248,249],{},"sordo como una tapia",[168,251,252],{},"deaf as a wall",[168,254,255],{},"completely deaf",[168,257,105],{},[147,259,260,263,266,269],{},[168,261,262],{},"más claro que el agua",[168,264,265],{},"clearer than water",[168,267,268],{},"perfectly obvious",[168,270,271],{},"crystal clear",[147,273,274,277,280,283],{},[168,275,276],{},"blanco como la nieve",[168,278,279],{},"white as snow",[168,281,282],{},"very white \u002F pale",[168,284,279],{},[147,286,287,290,293,296],{},[168,288,289],{},"más listo que el hambre",[168,291,292],{},"cleverer than hunger",[168,294,295],{},"very sharp, cunning",[168,297,298],{},"sharp as a tack",[147,300,301,304,307,310],{},[168,302,303],{},"comer como una lima",[168,305,306],{},"to eat like a file",[168,308,309],{},"to eat a great deal",[168,311,312],{},"to eat like a horse",[147,314,315,318,321,324],{},[168,316,317],{},"trabajar como una mula \u002F un burro",[168,319,320],{},"to work like a mule \u002F donkey",[168,322,323],{},"to work very hard",[168,325,326],{},"to work like a dog",[147,328,329,332,335,338],{},[168,330,331],{},"más pesado que una vaca en brazos",[168,333,334],{},"heavier than a cow in your arms",[168,336,337],{},"extremely tiresome",[168,339,340],{},"a real pain in the neck",[147,342,343,346,349,352],{},[168,344,345],{},"estar como una cabra",[168,347,348],{},"to be like a goat",[168,350,351],{},"to be crazy",[168,353,354],{},"to be barking mad",[147,356,357,360,363,366],{},[168,358,359],{},"más viejo que Matusalén",[168,361,362],{},"older than Methuselah",[168,364,365],{},"ancient",[168,367,368],{},"old as the hills",[147,370,371,374,377,380],{},[168,372,373],{},"dormirse como un bebé",[168,375,376],{},"to fall asleep like a baby",[168,378,379],{},"to drop off easily",[168,381,382],{},"to sleep like a baby",[147,384,385,388,391,394],{},[168,386,387],{},"llorar como una Magdalena",[168,389,390],{},"to cry like a Magdalene",[168,392,393],{},"to cry your eyes out",[168,395,393],{},[147,397,398,401,404,407],{},[168,399,400],{},"ponerse rojo como un tomate",[168,402,403],{},"to go red as a tomato",[168,405,406],{},"to blush deeply",[168,408,409],{},"red as a beetroot",[147,411,412,415,418,421],{},[168,413,414],{},"temblar como un flan",[168,416,417],{},"to shake like a flan",[168,419,420],{},"to tremble with fear",[168,422,423],{},"to shake like a leaf",[147,425,426,429,432,435],{},[168,427,428],{},"más feo que Picio",[168,430,431],{},"uglier than Picio",[168,433,434],{},"very ugly",[168,436,437],{},"as ugly as sin",[147,439,440,443,446,449],{},[168,441,442],{},"estar en la edad del pavo",[168,444,445],{},"to be at the age of the turkey",[168,447,448],{},"to be at the awkward teenage stage",[168,450,451],{},"to be a moody teenager",[111,453,455],{"id":454},"why-these-images-the-cultural-logic","Why these images? The cultural logic",[57,457,458,459,462,463,466,467,469,470,473,474,477,478,480],{},"Most of the animal similes come from a ",[61,460,461],{},"rural, working past",". The ",[61,464,465],{},"mula"," was the beast every village knew, notorious for planting its hooves and refusing to move, so ",[61,468,75],{}," is a farmer's observation set in stone. The same mule, worked into the ground all day, gives ",[61,471,472],{},"trabajar como una mula"," - to graft. The ",[61,475,476],{},"toro",", the fighting bull, is raw power, hence ",[61,479,210],{},".",[57,482,483,484,487,488,490,491,494,495,497,498,501,502,504],{},"Others lean on shared references. ",[61,485,486],{},"Matusalén"," (Methuselah) lived, the Bible says, to 969, so ",[61,489,359],{}," is the natural yardstick for ancient. ",[61,492,493],{},"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: ",[61,496,428],{},". ",[61,499,500],{},"Una Magdalena"," is Mary Magdalene, weeping in the Gospels, so to ",[61,503,387],{}," is to sob uncontrollably.",[57,506,507,508,511,512,514,515,518,519,522],{},"A few just paint a picture. A ",[61,509,510],{},"flan",", the wobbly set custard, shakes at the lightest touch, so ",[61,513,414],{}," is to be a bundle of nerves. ",[61,516,517],{},"Sordo como una tapia"," compares a deaf ear to a ",[61,520,521],{},"tapia",", a mud or stone garden wall - about as responsive as you would expect.",[111,524,526],{"id":525},"glossed-examples","Glossed examples",[528,529,530,537,543,549,555,561],"ul",{},[531,532,533,536],"li",{},[61,534,535],{},"Estaba agotado y dormí como un tronco."," (I was exhausted and slept like a log.)",[531,538,539,542],{},[61,540,541],{},"No discutas con él, es terco como una mula."," (Do not argue with him, he is stubborn as a mule.)",[531,544,545,548],{},[61,546,547],{},"Mi vecina es más buena que el pan."," (My neighbour is as good as gold.)",[531,550,551,554],{},[61,552,553],{},"Cuando le preguntaron, se puso rojo como un tomate."," (When they asked him, he went red as a beetroot.)",[531,556,557,560],{},[61,558,559],{},"Ese niño está como una cabra, pero me hace reír."," (That kid is barking mad, but he makes me laugh.)",[531,562,563,566],{},[61,564,565],{},"Está claro que miente, más claro que el agua."," (It is obvious he is lying, crystal clear.)",[111,568,570],{"id":569},"estar-como-una-cabra-and-friends-the-jokey-register","Estar como una cabra and friends: the jokey register",[57,572,573,574,577,578,580,581,583,584,587],{},"Notice how many of these are affectionate insults. ",[61,575,576],{},"Estar como una cabra"," (to be like a goat, meaning slightly mad), ",[61,579,331],{}," (as tiresome as carrying a cow), ",[61,582,442],{}," (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 ",[61,585,586],{},"está como una cabra"," in a work email.",[111,589,591],{"id":590},"a-note-on-the-más-que-pattern","A note on the más ... que pattern",[57,593,594,595,597,598,600,601,597,604,606,607,609,610,613,614,609,616,619],{},"Half the table uses ",[61,596,90],{}," (",[61,599,210],{},"), the other half uses ",[61,602,603],{},"más ... que",[61,605,183],{},", literally \"more good than the bread\"). Both are fixed. Do not try to convert one into the other: it is ",[61,608,183],{},", never ",[61,611,612],{},"bueno como el pan",", and ",[61,615,210],{},[61,617,618],{},"más fuerte que un toro"," as a set phrase. The frame is part of the memory unit too.",[57,621,622,623,480],{},"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, ",[61,624,289],{},[111,626,628],{"id":627},"see-also","See also",[528,630,631,645,655],{},[531,632,633,638,639,641,642,480],{},[634,635,637],"a",{"href":636},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fser-vs-estar","Ser and estar"," - most of these similes attach to one or the other; ",[61,640,345],{}," but ",[61,643,644],{},"ser más bueno que el pan",[531,646,647,651,652,654],{},[634,648,650],{"href":649},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fcomparatives","Comparatives and superlatives"," - the ",[61,653,603],{}," machinery that half these phrases are built on.",[531,656,657,658,662],{},"The ",[634,659,661],{"href":660},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar","Spanish grammar cheatsheet"," collects the most useful fixed expressions on one card.",{"title":664,"searchDepth":665,"depth":665,"links":666},"",2,[667,668,669,670,671,672,673],{"id":113,"depth":665,"text":114},{"id":138,"depth":665,"text":139},{"id":454,"depth":665,"text":455},{"id":525,"depth":665,"text":526},{"id":569,"depth":665,"text":570},{"id":590,"depth":665,"text":591},{"id":627,"depth":665,"text":628},"B2","Spanish fixed similes: the stereotyped comparisons like dormir como un tronco and más bueno que el pan that Spanish reaches for instead of a plain adjective, with the English equivalents and the cultural logic behind them.",[677,709],{"type":678,"instructions":679,"items":680},"fill-blank","Complete each fixed simile with the missing noun. Remember the noun is fixed, so only one answer sounds native.",[681,685,689,692,695,699,702,706],{"prompt":682,"answer":683,"hint":684},"Anoche dormí como un ___. (I slept deeply.)","tronco","a piece of wood, a log",{"prompt":686,"answer":687,"hint":688},"Es más bueno que el ___. (He is very kind.)","pan","you eat it with butter",{"prompt":690,"answer":465,"hint":691},"Es terco como una ___. (She is very stubborn.)","a working farm animal",{"prompt":693,"answer":521,"hint":694},"Mi abuelo está sordo como una ___. (My grandfather is very deaf.)","a garden wall of stone",{"prompt":696,"answer":697,"hint":698},"Se puso rojo como un ___. (He went bright red.)","tomate","a red salad vegetable",{"prompt":700,"answer":476,"hint":701},"Está fuerte como un ___. (He is very strong.)","a large male farm animal",{"prompt":703,"answer":704,"hint":705},"Es feliz como una ___. (She is very happy.)","perdiz","a small game bird",{"prompt":707,"answer":510,"hint":708},"La niña temblaba como un ___. (The girl was shaking a lot.)","a wobbly egg pudding",{"type":710,"instructions":711,"items":712},"which-one","Choose the noun that completes each fixed simile. Only one is the set phrase; the others are plausible but wrong.",[713,720,727,733,739,746],{"prompt":714,"answer":715,"options":716},"Es más listo que el ___. (very clever)","hambre",[715,717,718,719],"zorro","libro","sol",{"prompt":721,"answer":722,"options":723},"Es blanco como la ___. (very white)","nieve",[722,724,725,726],"leche","pared","sal",{"prompt":728,"answer":465,"options":729},"Trabaja como una ___. (works very hard)",[465,730,731,732],"abeja","hormiga","máquina",{"prompt":734,"answer":486,"options":735},"Está más viejo que ___. (extremely old)",[486,736,737,738],"el mundo","un abuelo","la piedra",{"prompt":740,"answer":741,"options":742},"Lloraba como una ___. (cried a great deal)","Magdalena",[741,743,744,745],"niña","fuente","nube",{"prompt":747,"answer":748,"options":749},"Está como una ___. (is a bit crazy)","cabra",[748,750,751,752],"oveja","gallina","vaca","md",[755,758,761,764],{"q":756,"a":757},"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.",{"q":759,"a":760},"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.",{"q":762,"a":763},"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.",{"q":765,"a":766},"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.","higher","Ask a Spaniard how they slept and they will not say they slept deeply. They slept como un tronco - like a log. Ask why someone will not change their mind and you will hear terco como una mula, stubborn as a mule. Spanish has a rich stock of fixed similes: ready-made comparisons that speakers reach for instead of a plain adjective, and that everyone recognises instantly. They are the idiomatic gravel of everyday speech, and knowing them is one of the clearest markers of moving beyond textbook Spanish into the real thing. The trap for the learner is that they are frozen solid. You cannot sleep like a rock, or be stubborn as a donkey, or be as good as bread and swap in a different bread - the noun is welded on, and changing it either sounds foreign or breaks the phrase entirely. This page gathers the most common fixed similes into one table, glosses what each one literally says, gives the English equivalent, and explains the cultural logic - why a mule means stubborn and a log means fast asleep. Learn them as whole units, exactly as a Spanish speaker did.","spanish",{},true,"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fidiomatic-similes",{"title":46,"description":675},"spanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fidiomatic-similes","vvY0gVIbgMQY4y-tgNtjjD1kTBnQ4PADUq_4VriFvuw",[],{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":778},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M13 21h8M15 5l4 4m2.174-2.188a1 1 0 0 0-3.986-3.987L3.842 16.174a2 2 0 0 0-.5.83l-1.321 4.352a.5.5 0 0 0 .623.622l4.353-1.32a2 2 0 0 0 .83-.497z\"\u002F>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":780},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"M12 15V3m9 12v4a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H5a2 2 0 0 1-2-2v-4\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"m7 10l5 5l5-5\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":782},"\u003Cg fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\">\u003Cpath d=\"M20 20a2 2 0 0 0 2-2V8a2 2 0 0 0-2-2h-7.9a2 2 0 0 1-1.69-.9L9.6 3.9A2 2 0 0 0 7.93 3H4a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v13a2 2 0 0 0 2 2Zm-8-10v6\"\u002F>\u003Cpath d=\"m15 13l-3 3l-3-3\"\u002F>\u003C\u002Fg>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":784},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M11 4.702a.705.705 0 0 0-1.203-.498L6.413 7.587A1.4 1.4 0 0 1 5.416 8H3a1 1 0 0 0-1 1v6a1 1 0 0 0 1 1h2.416a1.4 1.4 0 0 1 .997.413l3.383 3.384A.705.705 0 0 0 11 19.298zM16 9a5 5 0 0 1 0 6m3.364 3.364a9 9 0 0 0 0-12.728\"\u002F>"]