arruinarse
/arwinaɾse/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'go broke' is translated into Spanish as arruinarse.
The phrase arruinarse is used to describe the act of losing all of one's money and becoming completely bankrupt.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because arruinarse is a reflexive verb, you must use a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) that matches the subject of the sentence. For example, to say 'I went broke' in the past tense, you use the first-person singular reflexive form me arruiné. To say 'he/she went broke' in the past tense, you use the reflexive pronoun se with the third-person singular form arruinó to create se arruinó.
How do you pronounce it?
/arwinaɾse/
Did you know?
- While arruinarse means to go broke, Spanish speakers often use the phrase quedarse a dos velas to describe being penniless. This literally means 'to be left with two candles', referring to a time when people could only afford the cheapest light source.
- In some Latin American countries, people use the slang term estar pelado to say they are broke. It literally means 'to be peeled' or 'bald', implying that all their money has been stripped away like a layer of skin.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, if you want to say you are 'broke' without using the formal arruinarse, you might say you are limpio, which literally translates to 'clean'.
Examples in context
- Después de invertir todo su dinero en el negocio, se quedó sin dinero.After investing all his money in the business, he went broke.
- La mala gestión financiera llevó a la empresa a perder todo el dinero.Poor financial management led the company to go broke.
- Mi amigo gastó todo su dinero en casinos y ahora está pelado.My friend spent all his money in casinos and now he's broke.
- Después de su mala inversión, quedaron en la bancarrota y perdieron todo su patrimonio.After their bad investment, they went broke and lost all their assets.
- Después de perder su empleo, se quedó en la ruina y tuvo que vender su casa.After losing his job, he went broke and had to sell his house.
- Si sigues gastando así, te vas a arruinar.If you keep spending like that, you are going to go broke.
- Él teme arruinarse con este nuevo negocio.He fears going broke with this new business.
- Muchos jugadores de casino terminan por arruinarse.Many casino players end up going broke.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
