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Idioms with verb “quitar” Posted by on Apr 22, 2013 in Spanish Vocabulary

 

Hello, there!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about how to use the verb quitar correctly, because it is so similar to sacar. Today I am going to teach you some idioms, those expressions that always give us a hard time due to the fact that they don’t usually mean what their independent parts mean.

01. Quien quita. = Quien sabe, quizá. Who knows! God knows! Tal vez.

02. Quitar de la cabeza = to get something off your mind.

Si crees que vas a salir esta noche sin mi permiso, quítatelo de la cabeza. [If you think you’re going out tonight without my permission, get that off your mind.]
No se me quita de la cabeza lo mal que se portó con nosotros. [I can’t stop thinking how badly she treated us.]

03. Quitarse de delante / de encima = to get rid of something / someone.

Se quitó de delante a los que protestaban. [She got rid of those who were protesting.]
No sé cómo quitarme de encima este trabalho. [I just can’t get rid of this job.]

04. Quitarse de en medio = to get out of the way; to commit suicide

Se quitó de en medio para no interrumpir nuestra conversación. [She got out of the way so as to not interrupt our conversation.]
Se quitó de en medio abriéndose las venas. [She killed herself by slitting her wrists.]

05. Sin quitar ni poner = exactly as it was told

Estas fueron sus palabras, sin quitar ni poner. [Those were her words, exactly as they were said.]

06. Quitar el hipo = to take someone’s breath away; to blow someone’s mind

Este chico quita el hipo. [This kid takes my breath away.]
Pedro se ha comprado un coche que se quita el hipo. [Pedro bought a car that blows your mind.]

07. Quitar la careta/máscara = to unmask yourself, to show your true colors

Le hemos quitado la careta y ha confesado que quería quedarse con todas nuestras acciones. [We blew her cover and she confessed that she wanted to take all our shares.]
Ella se quitó la máscara cuando dijo que se casaba por dinero. [She showed her true colors when she said she was getting married for money.]

08. Quitar un peso de encima = to lift a weight off one’s shoulders

Cuando resolvió el problema, Ana se quitó un peso de encima. [When she solved the problem, Ana lifted a weight off her shoulders.]
Cuando vimos entrar a los niños se nos quitó un peso de encima. [When we saw the kids come in, it lifted a weight off our shoulders.]

Have a great week! See you next time!

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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.