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(Refranes): Más vale tarde que nunca, A quien madruga Dios le ayuda",null,{"type":49,"value":50,"toc":478},"minimark",[51,56,73,89,94,330,334,355,362,366,389,411,414,418,425,432,436],[52,53,55],"h1",{"id":54},"refranes-the-sayings-everyone-knows","Refranes: the sayings everyone knows",[57,58,59,60,64,65,68,69,72],"p",{},"A ",[61,62,63],"strong",{},"refrán"," is a traditional Spanish proverb: a short, fixed, often rhyming line that bottles up a piece of folk wisdom. Real Spanish leans on them constantly. A grandmother scolds a late riser with ",[61,66,67],{},"a quien madruga Dios le ayuda","; a friend consoles you after a flop with ",[61,70,71],{},"no hay mal que por bien no venga",". They are anonymous, centuries old, and completely woven into everyday speech, which is exactly why a textbook that never mentions them leaves you sounding like a textbook.",[57,74,75,76,79,80,84,85,88],{},"A refrán is not quite an ",[61,77,78],{},"idiom"," (a ",[81,82,83],"em",{},"modismo"," like ",[81,86,87],{},"estar en las nubes",", to be daydreaming). An idiom is a phrase; a refrán is a whole little sentence with a moral, built to stick in the memory with rhythm or rhyme.",[90,91,93],"h2",{"id":92},"the-fifteen-everyone-knows","The fifteen everyone knows",[95,96,97,116],"table",{},[98,99,100],"thead",{},[101,102,103,107,110,113],"tr",{},[104,105,106],"th",{},"Refrán",[104,108,109],{},"Literal",[104,111,112],{},"Meaning",[104,114,115],{},"English equivalent",[117,118,119,134,148,162,176,190,204,218,232,246,260,274,288,302,316],"tbody",{},[101,120,121,125,128,131],{},[122,123,124],"td",{},"Más vale tarde que nunca",[122,126,127],{},"more is worth late than never",[122,129,130],{},"doing a thing late still beats never doing it",[122,132,133],{},"better late than never",[101,135,136,139,142,145],{},[122,137,138],{},"A quien madruga Dios le ayuda",[122,140,141],{},"God helps the one who rises early",[122,143,144],{},"effort and an early start get rewarded",[122,146,147],{},"the early bird catches the worm",[101,149,150,153,156,159],{},[122,151,152],{},"No hay mal que por bien no venga",[122,154,155],{},"there is no bad that does not come for a good",[122,157,158],{},"setbacks often lead to something better",[122,160,161],{},"every cloud has a silver lining",[101,163,164,167,170,173],{},[122,165,166],{},"En boca cerrada no entran moscas",[122,168,169],{},"flies do not enter a closed mouth",[122,171,172],{},"say nothing and you cannot say the wrong thing",[122,174,175],{},"silence is golden",[101,177,178,181,184,187],{},[122,179,180],{},"Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando",[122,182,183],{},"a bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying",[122,185,186],{},"a small certain thing beats a big uncertain one",[122,188,189],{},"a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush",[101,191,192,195,198,201],{},[122,193,194],{},"Perro ladrador poco mordedor",[122,196,197],{},"a barking dog bites little",[122,199,200],{},"someone loud and threatening rarely follows through",[122,202,203],{},"his bark is worse than his bite",[101,205,206,209,212,215],{},[122,207,208],{},"Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente",[122,210,211],{},"eyes that do not see, a heart that does not feel",[122,213,214],{},"what you do not know about cannot hurt you",[122,216,217],{},"out of sight, out of mind",[101,219,220,223,226,229],{},[122,221,222],{},"A caballo regalado no le mires el diente",[122,224,225],{},"do not look at the tooth of a gift horse",[122,227,228],{},"do not criticise a gift",[122,230,231],{},"do not look a gift horse in the mouth",[101,233,234,237,240,243],{},[122,235,236],{},"Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres",[122,238,239],{},"tell me who you walk with and I will tell you who you are",[122,241,242],{},"your friends reveal your character",[122,244,245],{},"you are known by the company you keep",[101,247,248,251,254,257],{},[122,249,250],{},"No es oro todo lo que reluce",[122,252,253],{},"not all that shines is gold",[122,255,256],{},"appearances can deceive",[122,258,259],{},"all that glitters is not gold",[101,261,262,265,268,271],{},[122,263,264],{},"Más vale prevenir que curar",[122,266,267],{},"preventing is worth more than curing",[122,269,270],{},"stop the problem before it starts",[122,272,273],{},"prevention is better than cure",[101,275,276,279,282,285],{},[122,277,278],{},"El que no llora no mama",[122,280,281],{},"the one who does not cry does not suckle",[122,283,284],{},"speak up or you get nothing",[122,286,287],{},"the squeaky wheel gets the grease",[101,289,290,293,296,299],{},[122,291,292],{},"Quien mucho abarca poco aprieta",[122,294,295],{},"who grasps a lot squeezes little",[122,297,298],{},"spread yourself too thin and you achieve nothing",[122,300,301],{},"do not bite off more than you can chew",[101,303,304,307,310,313],{},[122,305,306],{},"Donde hay confianza da asco",[122,308,309],{},"where there is trust, disgust appears",[122,311,312],{},"too much closeness breeds bad manners",[122,314,315],{},"familiarity breeds contempt",[101,317,318,321,324,327],{},[122,319,320],{},"No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer hoy",[122,322,323],{},"do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today",[122,325,326],{},"stop procrastinating",[122,328,329],{},"do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today",[90,331,333],{"id":332},"notice-the-fossilised-grammar","Notice the fossilised grammar",[57,335,336,337,339,340,343,344,346,347,350,351,354],{},"Proverbs are little museum pieces, and the grammar inside them is often older than modern speech. Look at ",[61,338,67],{},": the relative clause ",[81,341,342],{},"a quien madruga"," (to the one who rises early) has a formal, slightly archaic ring, and the word order puts the beneficiary before the verb in a way you would rarely construct from scratch today. In ",[61,345,71],{},", the verb ",[61,348,349],{},"venga"," is a ",[61,352,353],{},"subjunctive",", frozen in place inside a fixed relative clause. You do not modernise these. The whole value of a refrán is that the wording is locked; rebuild it with current grammar and it stops being a refrán.",[57,356,357,358,361],{},"So learn each one as a ",[61,359,360],{},"single unbreakable phrase",", the way you learn a song lyric. Do not parse it, do not tidy it. Just memorise the line whole.",[90,363,365],{"id":364},"half-a-refrán-is-enough","Half a refrán is enough",[57,367,368,369,372,373,376,377,380,381,384,385,388],{},"Because everyone already knows them, Spanish speakers routinely say only the ",[61,370,371],{},"first half"," and let it hang. Oversleep, and you will hear a pointed ",[61,374,375],{},"a quien madruga..."," with the ",[61,378,379],{},"Dios le ayuda"," left unspoken and aimed straight at you. Someone gossiping unwisely gets a warning ",[61,382,383],{},"en boca cerrada..."," and the rest is understood. It works exactly like an English speaker muttering ",[61,386,387],{},"when in Rome..."," and stopping. Catching the point before the sentence finishes is a real marker of fluency: you are reading the room the way a native does.",[390,391,392,399,405],"ul",{},[393,394,395,398],"li",{},[61,396,397],{},"Más vale pájaro en mano..."," (take the safe option.)",[393,400,401,404],{},[61,402,403],{},"No es oro todo lo que reluce..."," (do not trust the shiny surface.)",[393,406,407,410],{},[61,408,409],{},"Quien mucho abarca..."," (you are overcommitting.)",[57,412,413],{},"The trailing dots do half the work. Your job is to recognise the opening and supply the rest in your own head.",[90,415,417],{"id":416},"collect-them-in-a-notebook","Collect them in a notebook",[57,419,420,421,424],{},"Refranes reward the oldest trick in the language-learning book: write them down. I have kept a language-learning notebook for years, and the refrán entries are the ones that pay off fastest, because each is a ",[61,422,423],{},"ready-made sentence"," you can drop into a conversation whole. Rule three columns - the literal wording, the meaning, the English cousin - and add a refrán the moment you actually hear one in the wild, not from some random list of a hundred.",[57,426,427,428,431],{},"Recognition comes before production. Aim first simply to ",[61,429,430],{},"understand"," them when they fly past, then, once one or two feel comfortable, deploy them yourself. Nothing warms a Spanish speaker to you faster than landing the right refrán at the right moment. Overdo it, though, and you sound like a talking calendar, so choose them like seasoning, not the main dish.",[90,433,435],{"id":434},"see-also","See also",[390,437,438,449,460,470],{},[393,439,440,445,446,448],{},[441,442,444],"a",{"href":443},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fsubjunctive-triggers","The Spanish subjunctive"," - the mood fossilised inside proverbs like ",[81,447,71],{},".",[393,450,451,455,456,459],{},[441,452,454],{"href":453},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fcommon-idioms","Spanish idioms and expressions"," - the ",[81,457,458],{},"modismos"," that sit alongside the refranes in real speech.",[393,461,462,455,466,469],{},[441,463,465],{"href":464},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fcomparatives","Comparatives with más... que",[81,467,468],{},"más vale... que"," frame that half these sayings are built on.",[393,471,472,473,477],{},"The ",[441,474,476],{"href":475},"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar","Spanish grammar cheatsheet"," has the most common refranes on one card.",{"title":479,"searchDepth":480,"depth":480,"links":481},"",2,[482,483,484,485,486],{"id":92,"depth":480,"text":93},{"id":332,"depth":480,"text":333},{"id":364,"depth":480,"text":365},{"id":416,"depth":480,"text":417},{"id":434,"depth":480,"text":435},"B2","The traditional Spanish refranes that pepper real speech: fifteen everyone-knows proverbs with their literal wording, their meaning and the closest English equivalent.",[490,526],{"type":491,"instructions":492,"items":493},"fill-blank","Complete each refrán with the missing word.",[494,498,502,506,510,514,518,522],{"prompt":495,"answer":496,"hint":497},"Más vale ___ que nunca.","tarde","the opposite of early",{"prompt":499,"answer":500,"hint":501},"A quien madruga Dios le ___.","ayuda","gives help",{"prompt":503,"answer":504,"hint":505},"No hay mal que por ___ no venga.","bien","the opposite of mal",{"prompt":507,"answer":508,"hint":509},"En boca cerrada no entran ___.","moscas","small flying insects",{"prompt":511,"answer":512,"hint":513},"Más vale pájaro en ___ que ciento volando.","mano","the part of the arm you grab with",{"prompt":515,"answer":516,"hint":517},"No es ___ todo lo que reluce.","oro","the precious yellow metal",{"prompt":519,"answer":520,"hint":521},"Dime con quién andas y te ___ quién eres.","diré","future of decir, I will say",{"prompt":523,"answer":524,"hint":525},"No dejes para mañana lo que puedas hacer ___.","hoy","the opposite of tomorrow",{"type":527,"instructions":528,"items":529},"which-one","Choose the meaning of each refrán.",[530,535,540,546,551,556],{"prompt":531,"answer":203,"options":532},"Perro ladrador poco mordedor.",[203,533,534],"let sleeping dogs lie","every dog has its day",{"prompt":536,"answer":231,"options":537},"A caballo regalado no le mires el diente.",[231,538,539],"you can lead a horse to water","hold your horses",{"prompt":541,"answer":542,"options":543},"Quien mucho abarca poco aprieta.","do not take on more than you can handle",[542,544,545],"the more the merrier","strike while the iron is hot",{"prompt":547,"answer":217,"options":548},"Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente.",[217,549,550],"love is blind","the eyes are the window to the soul",{"prompt":552,"answer":273,"options":553},"Más vale prevenir que curar.",[273,554,555],"no pain no gain","time heals all wounds",{"prompt":557,"answer":245,"options":558},"Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.",[245,559,560],"actions speak louder than words","birds of prey fly alone","md",[563,566,569,572],{"q":564,"a":565},"What exactly is a refrán?","A refrán is a traditional proverb: a short, fixed saying that carries a nugget of folk wisdom, usually anonymous and centuries old. It is distinct from a modismo (an idiom like estar en las nubes) because a refrán is a complete little sentence with a moral, often rhyming or rhythmic to make it stick. Más vale tarde que nunca (better late than never) and no es oro todo lo que reluce (all that glitters is not gold) are classic refranes. They are so embedded in the culture that speakers reach for them automatically, and knowing a handful instantly makes your Spanish sound lived-in rather than learned.",{"q":567,"a":568},"Why do Spanish speakers only say half the proverb?","Because the whole refrán is common knowledge, so the first few words are enough to summon the rest. Someone who oversleeps hears just a quien madruga... and knows the unspoken Dios le ayuda is aimed at them. It works like an English speaker muttering when in Rome... and stopping. The listener fills in the ending themselves, which is partly the fun and partly the mild reproach. If you can recognise a refrán from its opening words, you are reading the room the way a native does, catching the point before it is even finished.",{"q":570,"a":571},"Why is the grammar in refranes sometimes strange?","Because proverbs are fossils. They preserve older Spanish - subjunctives, archaic word order, verb forms that modern speech has moved on from - frozen at the moment the saying set. In a quien madruga Dios le ayuda the relative clause and the word order feel formal because they are old. Do not correct them or modernise them: the fixed wording is what makes it a refrán. Learn each one as a single locked phrase, the way you learn a song lyric, rather than trying to rebuild it from current grammar rules.",{"q":573,"a":574},"How do I actually learn refranes so they stick?","Collect them the way you would collect vocabulary: in a notebook, one per line, with the literal wording, the meaning and the English equivalent side by side. I have kept a language-learning notebook for years and refranes are the entries that pay off fastest, because each one is a ready-made sentence you can drop into conversation whole. Write down the ones you actually hear, not a random hundred from a list, and star the moment you first catch one in the wild. Recognition comes before production: aim first to understand them, then to deploy one or two naturally.","higher","A refrán is a traditional Spanish proverb: a short, fixed, often rhyming saying that packs a piece of folk wisdom into a line or two. Real Spanish is stuffed with them. A grandmother warns you that a quien madruga Dios le ayuda when you sleep in, a colleague shrugs that no hay mal que por bien no venga when a plan collapses, and half the time nobody even finishes the sentence - they say a quien madruga... and trail off, because everyone already knows the ending. That trailing-off is the whole point: the refrán is common property, so quoting the first half is enough. The grammar inside them is often old. You will meet subjunctives, archaic word order and verb forms that no longer feel modern, all fossilised in place because a proverb is a museum piece you are not allowed to redecorate. This page collects fifteen of the refranes every Spanish speaker knows, lines up each one against its nearest English cousin, and shows why keeping a notebook of them is one of the fastest routes to sounding like a local rather than a textbook.","spanish",{},true,"\u002Fspanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Frefranes",{"title":46,"description":488},"spanish\u002Fgrammar\u002Frefranes","fxdUOS-QiYqDLzsh_UGUVgJkFStS77JIyACkvBcggC4",[],{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":586},"\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":588},"\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":590},"\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":592},"\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>"]