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How to use the verb “pegar” in Spanish Posted by on May 7, 2012 in Spanish Vocabulary

¡Buenos días! ¿Cómo están Uds. hoy?

Today we are going to learn the several uses of the verb pegar. Pegar is a very common and useful verb in Spanish so let’s get down to work!

Here are some useful collocations and uses of pegar:

The first idea that comes to mind when we talk about pegar is to stick, to glue. Here are some examples:

Le gustaba tanto Justin Bieber que tenía su póster pegado a la pared. [She liked Justin Bieber so much that she had her poster glued to the wall.]
Tengo que pegar un botón a la chaqueta. [I have to sew this button on the jacket.]
Pega esta sofa a la pared. [Put this sofa against the wall.]
No pudo separar las hojas porque se habían pegado. [He couldn’t separate the sheets because they got stuck.]
El arroz se ha pegado a la paellera. [The rice stuck in the paella pan.]

Pegar is also used to say that you hit someone or knock/bang yourself.

Tu mamá te va a pegar si descubre que has hecho eso. [Your mother’s going to hit you if she finds out that you have done this.]
Dejó su marido pues él le estaba pegando fuerto todos los días. [She left her husband because he was hitting her hard every day.]
Me pegué con la mesa. [I knocked myself on the table.]
Al salir del aparcamiento me he pegado contra una farola. [When I left the parking lot I hit a traffic light.]

Pegar has several cool and common collocations:

pegar un susto – to have a fright
pegar un disgusto – to feel disgusted
pegar un salto / un bote – to jump
pegar un grito – to scream
pegar fuego a – to set fire to
pegarse un catarro – to catch a cold
pegarle una bofetada a alguien – to slap someone
pegarle un golpe / una paliza a alguien – to give someone a beating
pegar brincos de alegría – to jump for joy
pegar un repaso (a un capítulo) – to review, look over a chapter

Some more uses of pegar:

Esta camisa pega bien con estos pantalones. [This shirt goes well with these pants.]
El colegio está pegando a mi casa. [The school is really near my house.]
La luz pega en la pared de mi habitación. [The light hits my bedroom wall.]
Estos dos últimos versos no pegan. [These two last verses don’t rhyme.]
Esta música es la que está pegando (fuerte) este verano. [This song is a hit this summer.]
Se me ha pegado esta canción. [I can’t stop singing this song.]
En esta curva me la pegué hace un año con el coche. [I crashed (with the car) at that curve last year.]
Somos tan ingenuos que nos la pegan cada dos por tres. [We are so naive that people deceive us every other minute.]

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About the Author: Adir

English / Spanish teacher and translator for over 20 years. I have been blogging since 2007 and I am also a professional singer in my spare time.


Comments:

  1. Margaret Nahmias:

    Pegar can mean right next to or very close especially in the expression estar pegado a