aguardar
/aɡwaɾˈdaɾ/
To wait for someone or something to arrive or happen in Spanish is aguardar.
Aguardar is used to describe the act of awaiting an event, a message or the arrival of a person. It is frequently employed in formal writing to express anticipation.
Which one should you use?
While aguardar means to wait, the verb esperar is much more common and is used for both the meaning 'to wait' and 'to hope'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
Aguardar is a formal and literary verb. If you want to express 'to remain waiting' in a highly formal manner, you can use the phrase permanecer a la espera.
How does it change in a sentence?
When aguardar has a person as its direct object, it is often used with the preposition a.
How do you pronounce it?
/aɡwaɾˈdaɾ/
Did you know?
- While aguardar means 'to wait', its root guardar means 'to keep' or 'to save'. This suggests that waiting was historically viewed as 'guarding' the time until something happened.
- While aguardar implies a state of patient anticipation, using it in a casual setting like a restaurant might make you sound like a character in a 19th-century novel.
- The linguistic ancestor of this verb, the Frankish '*wardēn', is the same root that gave us the English word 'ward' and the concept of a 'guardian'.
Examples in context
- Debemos aguardar un poco más.We must wait a little longer.
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are waiting for a friend at a cafe.
- Lucía¿Crees que llegará pronto?Do you think he will arrive soon?
- JavierNo lo sé, mejor aguardar un poco más.I don't know, we'd better wait a bit longer.
- LucíaEstá bien, pediré otro café.Alright, I'll order another coffee.
- JavierBuena idea, Javier también quiere uno.Good idea, Javier wants one too.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry aguardar, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries aguardar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
