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Idioms with the verb “hacer” Posted by on Jul 1, 2011 in Spanish Culture, Spanish Vocabulary

The verb hacer (to make, to do) has several idioms and I chose four of them so you can improve your colloquial Spanish a little bit, ok?

Let’s start off with the idiom hacer la pelota. Well, hacer la pelota is a very common idiom at the workplace, when an employee butters up the boss, so that he can get some benefits and advantages. The person who hace la pelota is called un pelota. Here are some examples:

¡Deja de hacerle la pelota al jefe!
Stop sucking up to the boss!

Es un verdadero pelota. Nadie lo soporta.
He’s a brown nose. Nobody can stand him.

Now let’s move on to the expression hacer novillos, which means to play hooky or skip school.

Si sigues haciendo novillos así vas a reprobar.
If you keep cutting classes you’ll flunk.

Todavía piensa que su madre no sabe que hace novillos.
He still thinks his mother doesn’t know he skips classes.

Ah, the next one is a very cool idiom: hacer el ganso. Literally it means to play the (role of a) goose. It actually means to goof off, to lie around and not do anything. It can also mean to play the funny guy, to clown around.

Ya me dijo que no va a hacer nada hoy. Va simplemente a hacer el ganso.
He already told me he’s not doing anything today. He’s only going to goof off.

Nos reímos mucho con él pues siempre hace el ganso.
We laugh a lot with him because he’s always playing the fool.

Our last, not not least, expression is hacer el primo, to play the cousin. This expression means to be taken for a ride, to be fooled or deceived. Here are some examples:

Juan no tiene remedio, siempre hace el primo.
Juan is hopeless, he’s always taken for a ride.

Hace el primo por ser muy bueno con la gente.
He’s deceived because he’s too good to people.

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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.