vacío
/baˈθio/
The Spanish word for empty is vacío.
vacío is an adjective used to describe something that is devoid of content. If you want to describe the action of making something empty, use the related verb vaciar.
Meaning: devoid of content (adj)
Which one should you use?
While vacío describes the state of being empty, the verb vaciar is used to describe the action of emptying something.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes. It changes to vacía for feminine nouns, vacíos for masculine plural or vacías for feminine plural.
How do you pronounce it?
/baˈθio/
Did you know?
- In some Latin American countries, a vacío refers to a specific, highly prized cut of beef from the flank.
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, if you say a person is vacío, it might imply they are intellectually shallow or lack personality rather than being physically empty.
- The word vacío shares the same Latin root as the English word 'vacant', making them distant linguistic cousins.
Examples in context
- El bus está vacío.The bus is empty.This sentence shows how to use vacío to describe a bus.Tatoeba #13431838 by Seael, translation #8729302 by Ergulis
- Su auto está vacío.His car was empty.This sentence shows how to use vacío to describe a car.Tatoeba #1748450 by marcelostockle, translation #1580074 by fanty
- El vaso está vacío.The glass is empty.This sentence shows how to use vacío to describe a glass.Tatoeba #2435366 by Shishir, translation #2423572 by CM
- La sala está desocupadaThe living room is empty.
- Estoy vacíoI feel empty.
- Es un lugar despobladoIt is an empty place.
- 68 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucía and Daniel are in the kitchen looking for food.
- LucíaDaniel, ¿viste la leche?Daniel, did you see the milk?
- DanielNo, el cartón está vacío.No, the carton is empty.
- LucíaQué mal, no hay nada.That's too bad, there's nothing.
- DanielIré al supermercado ahora.I will go to the supermarket now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “empty” translations and entries vacío, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries vacío, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
